 We're going to be going through Revelation chapter 9 and we're going to look at verses 1 through 12 and What we are looking at is what has been called the fifth trumpet this particular portion of Scripture has a very deeply personal application to my life and I'll I'll be sharing a couple things about that in a little while, but Revelation chapter 9 has a very special place in my heart and You'll see in just a moment and some of you perhaps already know but you'll see in the moment when I share with you but beginning at verse 1 Revelation 9 Reading to verse 12 John writes then the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth To him was given the key to the bottomless pit and He opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit Like the smoke of a great furnace So the Sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth and to them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads and They were not given authority to kill them but to torment them for five months Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man in Those days men will seek death will not find it They will desire to die and death will flee from them The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle on their heads or crowns Something like gold and their faces were like the faces of men They had hair like women's hair their teeth were like a lion's teeth and They had breast plates like breast plates of iron and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots With many horses running into battle they had tails like scorpions and There were stings in their tails the power was to hurt men five months And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit Whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek. He has the name of Pollyon One woe is passed the whole still two more woes are coming after these things So I'll begin by saying there have been many surveys that have been conducted That have asked people a question a simple question they've asked asked people who is Jesus Christ One survey by the Barna group sought to see what Americans believe about him and So after conducting the survey they found that 92% Believe that he actually lived which means 8% don't believe Jesus ever existed at all But they found that 35% of the Millennials surveyed Say that he's only a religious figure like a Buddha or a Muhammad 52% of those surveyed believe that he actually committed sins Now many Americans have a concept of Jesus Christ and it's formed really by our two major holidays they Intellectually believed that he was born and did great things and that would speak concerning Christmas And they act they actually Believe that he died and was resurrected which is Easter and these two facts are true But what they failed to see is what we would call a more full picture In other words, they don't realize that he was born that he might die as a sacrifice And they'd never put Christmas and Easter really together and they also don't understand How deadly sin is and here's something a lot of people don't understand how much God hates it The Bible tells us that there are things that God hates and I'm I'm certain that many Christians aren't familiar with this But the Bible teaches us there are things that God hates for example in in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy Chapter 16 verse 22 it says that he hates idol worship in Malachi chapter 2 verse 16 it says there that he hates divorce in Isaiah 61 verse 6 it says he hates robbery and wrongdoing in Psalm 11 verse 5 It says that he hates those who love violence Proverbs 6 15 through 19 says he hates arrogance He hates a lying tongue the killing of the innocent He says he hates those who plan and do evil those who make wicked plans and run to execute them He says those who lie in wait to harm others He said these things I hate and those he said who stir up strife These are things that the Bible says God actually hates and and part of the reason that that God hates these things Is because they hurt other people Today many think that Jesus is simply a good and a very kind man one who forgives easily and that's true But that view of Christ actually limits him to a single dimension What it does is it emphasizes love and goodness, but it doesn't make room for his righteous wrath And as we've been looking at the last few chapters, we have seen the wrath of the lamb The meek and the mild lamb of God has revealed himself to be the lion of the tribe of Judah We saw how he took from the hand of God the title deed of the earth and that that title deal Deed is sealed with with seven seals and and we notice as he is one by one opened those seals and Each of those seals have unleashed judgment on the earth There are three sets of judgments and each set gains in intensity. You have the seal Judgments that lead to the trumpet judgment and then you come to the very greatest the bull judgments So the opening of the seventh seal unleashed what is called the second wave of judgment the trumpet judgments It's also called the judgment of thirds And so in chapter eight chapter eight revealed the sounding of four of the trumpets And these trumpets were sounded by powerful angels. They signaled ecological disaster So as we read of nature coming under violent change, we need to keep one thing in mind Why would God bring judgment on nature? And the answer at least in part would be that the universe has been designed in a special way The universe has actually been designed to bring attention and glory to God himself The one who created all things It's been called the general revelation of God And and creation is intended to draw the attention of man In psalm 19 verses one and two it says the heavens declare the glory of God And the firmament shows his handiwork day and today utter speech Night and tonight reveals knowledge Creation is intended to reveal the magnificent mind of God and his creative ability In romans 120 it says since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made Even his eternal power and godhead so that they are without excuse The writer of Hebrews says every house is built by some man and he who built all things Is God you never drive by an empty lot one day in the next day see a house built on it Every house is built by some man and the universe Is to be an explanation of a natural revelation Of the one who built all things And so creation is intended to speak concerning God So it's interesting That what was intended to reveal the glory of God also reveals his wrath We have seen that one third of the trees and vegetation have been destroyed by hail and fire We've seen a great mountain perhaps an asteroid has been thrown into the sea and one third of the sea turned into blood A third of the ocean creatures have died We see that a star has fallen to the earth perhaps a meteorite And one third of the springs of water became poisonous and many died We saw that one third of the sun moon and stars had been struck with darkness And that's temporary and it's partial Because the sun later that this temporary partial blocking will later be removed But these judgments are all ecological Man is impacted but the judgments have been on nature But chapter nine records two judgments on man himself Now remember in chapter eight verse 13 how how the angel had cried whoa Whoa and whoa So an angel is warning of upcoming calamity But in the midst of all of this that we've seen so far Man still refuses to repent And that reminds me of the warning found in the book of proverbs proverbs 29 verse one Where it says he who is often rebuked and hardens his neck Will suddenly be destroyed in that without remedy And so man instead of taking these judgments to heart And hearing the preaching of the 144 thousand all that's taking place Instead of turning from their sin. They're hardened in it So the three woes that the angel cries out are the last three trumpet judgments And what we see here in chapter nine verses one through twelve is called the fifth trumpet judgment It's also been referred to as the first woe Verses 13 through 21 We'll give the sixth judgment the second woe Then we're going to see in chapter 10 into chapter 11 the seventh trumpeter third woe Up sounds That sounds so today we look at the fifth trumpet judgment. So beginning at verse one reading verses one and two The fifth angel sounded I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth To him was given the key to the bottomless pit And he opened the bottomless pit And smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace So the sun and the air were darkened Because of the smoke of the pit So the seal and trumpet judgments have taken us deeply into the period called the tribulation We're now seeing the sounding of the fifth trumpet Notice how in verse one it says I saw a star fallen from heaven and it says to him Was given the key Now we've already seen as we've gone through revelation chapter six and chapter eight We've already seen unusual occurrences in what are called the star heavens All of these passages were speaking of stars, but they were speaking of material stars Here the scripture speaks of a personality. I want you to see that verse one It says the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth So in this passage, it's obvious that john is not writing of a star an actual star, but a living being And this star that has fallen has great authority Now in scripture Angels can be spoken of as stars For those of you who are coming here on wednesday night and i'm teaching through job You'll see in job chapter 38 verse seven how how it reads When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of god shouted for joy When it says the morning stars sang together, they were speaking of harmony we're speaking of actual praise and worship to god and these angels Did so at the direction of what would be called the heavenly choir director and all of us know who that was that was lucifer And so lucifer has various names we'll see in a moment But there's one angel in heaven that is spoken of as a fallen star And i say if you take notes chapter 14 verse 12 It says how you are fallen from heaven. Oh lucifer son of the morning How you are cut down to the ground you who weakened the nations. He is a fallen star He's the fallen angel in luke 10. Jesus said in verses 17 and 18 in response to the 70 He had sent out to do works and they had come back to report with him report to him. They had said to him Lord even the demons submit to us In your name. He replied i saw satan fall like lightning from heaven luke 10 17 and 18 Now scripture gives us various names of this arch enemy of god He's called satan, which is adversary. He's called the devil the word devil means slanderer He's called lucifer. He's referred to as the accuser of the brethren. He's referred to as bay alzabab The lord of the flies He's called the prince of this world. He's the prince of the power of the air He's referred to as the god of this age He's the adversary the dragon the serpent the deceiver He's spoken of as an angel of light. He's the prince of demons. He's also called the wicked one And when you read your bible you discover that he was the mightiest angel He was what is called a covering cherub He was close to god's glory and a covering cherub was intended to protect the glory of god And the bible tells us when you look at the passages related to them To him that he was a model of perfection. He was wise. He was incredibly beautiful He was created by god and intended to guard god's glory as a covering cherub It is believed as mentioned a moment ago that he was originally the heavenly choir director He directed praise to god So when you read your bible ezekiel 28 12 through 17 tells us he was beautiful But that iniquity was found in him Ezekiel 28 17 tells us that satan was lifted up by pride And that god cast him out of heaven. This is the star fallen from heaven You see by being close to the praise of god lucifer desired to receive praise for himself And by pride satan fell a desire to be worshiped even as god is worship satan had the ability to make choices he chose to rebel against god i say it makes that clear and i say of 14 12 through 15 When he says how you have fallen from heaven oh morning star son of the dawn You have been cast down to the earth You who once laid low the nations You sat in your heart I will ascend to heaven I will raise my throne over the stars of god I will sit and throne on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain I will ascend above the tops of the clouds I will make myself like the most high But you are brought down to the grave to the depths of the pit the five five wheels of satan I will ascend into heaven. That's the sin of selfish ambition and self promotion I will raise my throne above the stars of god. I desire to rule the angels I will sit and throne down the mount of assembly. I'm going to rule the earth I'm going to rule over israel. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds I'm going to take the glory that belongs only to god I will make myself like the most high. I will be worship as a god This man not man. I'm sorry this angel that was in the presence of god Directing the praise if you will to god desired the praise they only god should receive And as that heavenly choir director Directing all praise and attention to god. He began to covet for it for himself I will make myself like the most high. I will be worship One music minister said I can't imagine any other skill That would make a created being so full of himself as to think he could overthrow god himself He was there in the midst of the worship Directing the worship and desiring it The devil was not created as the opposer of god. He became the opposer Through pride. He left his position voluntarily And that's why in first timothy 3 verse 6 when paul is speaking concerning The uh the qualifications of an elder He said that he is not to be a novice Less being puffed up with pride He fall into the same condemnation as the devil so satan desires worship And satan possesses limited but great power And influence on earth When you read concerning what he does he bestows kingdoms Luke 4 verse 6 satan said I I will give you all their authority and splendor of these kingdoms on the earth for It has been given to me. I can give it to anyone. I want to The bible teaches that he can inflict illness And job verse 7 of chapter 2 it says satan went out of the presence of the lord and afflicted job with painful sores From the sores of his feet to the top of his head The bible tells us that he buffets believers because jesus prayed for simon In luke 22 31 and he said satan has asked to sift you as wheat We know he controls the weather because job chapter 1 verses 18 and 19 says Well, it was still speaking another messenger came and said Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine At the oldest brother's house When suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house It collapsed on them. They're dead I'm the only one who has escaped to tell you He keeps people in spiritual blindness second chrithians 4 verse 4 The god of this age is blind to 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 And he keeps people In fear of death Hebrews 2 14 Since the children have flesh and blood He too shared in their humanity jesus shared in their humanity So that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death That is the devil if there's anything that the enemy is doing right now And he's being very successful. I have to be honest with you about this is he's heaping even believers in fear of death He's keeping even believers in fear of death. Now by the way, I don't take death lightly. It's the last enemy It's been destroyed by christ It's been swallowed up in victory But that doesn't mean That I should be presumptuous in the way that I live and I'm not I'm not presumptuous in the way that I live I simply know That when all things are said and done And the day comes when I close my eyes here on the face of the earth, which every man will it's appointed and demanded I but once after this judgment I'm not afraid of it That's the whole thing I'm not afraid of death because I I I am with the one who conquered it I'm with jesus christ, you know and jesus christ gives life And when he's speaking to martha, he says he said i'm the resurrection life He said you believe he said he said those who believe in me shall never die And then he asked her a question. He said do you believe this see that's the big thing Do you believe it? Do you believe that you shall never die? Do you believe that you have passed from death to life because that comes through jesus christ And and death where is thy sting o grave? Where is thy victory? It's all been swallowed up in life by jesus christ and that's why as a believer i'm not concerned for it That's why I don't hide my you know what man because it's my ticket to heaven and one of these days and in that long from now I'll be looking face to face of the one who died for me on the cross I won't regret a single minute. I wanted to live in such a way that I don't regret a single minute of my life He has been a blessing god to me. He has been a caring god to me. He is the healing god to me He is the supporting god to me. He is the god of life. That's who we worship and believers are not to be afraid I'm not to be afraid. What's the worst thing that could have happened to me? Say I would have succumbed to covid Thank you jesus that I did but say that I would have guess what? I'd be viewing the face of the one i've been worshiping without seeing all these years That's where that's what would have happened And I I don't I'm not concerned of those things I haven't been since the day gave my heart to christ Because death has been swallowed up in victory and that's where I can say oh grave. Where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting because the sting of death is sin But jesus christ has given us victory you need to walk in that fear not your god is with you fear not He is with you keep that in mind hold fast to that. We can't be as the world afraid of something like that You see this is one who keeps people in bondage And this one is aided by demons fallen angels He's a created being he's limited He's not omniscient. He doesn't know all things He's not omnipotent. He doesn't have all power He's not omnipresent. He's not everywhere at the same time So he has legions of devils Who aid in his rebellion? At the present time he has limited access to heaven You see that in chapters one and two of job But ultimately he's restricted from heaven Because in revelation chapter 12 verses 9 and 10 those verses tell us that during the tribulation he's cast down to earth He has great authority But he's limited Remember this if you take notes remember this god protects those who belong to him In first john 4 verse 4 you are of god little children And have overcome them Because he who is in you Is greater than he who is in the world And in first john 5 18 we know that those who have become part of god's family Do not make a practice of sinning For god's son holds them securely And the evil one cannot get his hands on them And so we're protected by the lord He keeps us and strengthens us. He's there for us Well this fallen star in verse one Is given the key to the bottomless pit The bottomless pit is the abyss It's in greek it's a bustle So the keeper of the keys Is the one who has power to open or to close And in the new testament a key is used to denote power and authority over various kinds Well, he's given the key to what is called the bottomless pit the abyss And this abyss speaks of the prison that some evil spirits are incarcerated in It is called a temporary detention center It is actually a temporary detention center until the lake of fire which is final judgment So satan is spoken of as having the ability to summon evil spirits To spread desolation Notice how in verse two it says he opened the bottomless pit and smoker rose out of the pit With the sounding of the fifth trumpet satan is allowed to open the abyss And the smoker rose out of the pit like smoke of a great furnace And so a huge amount of smoker rises It darkens the sun it pollutes the air The corruption and impurity of hell overwhelms the atmosphere of the earth And as he's speaking he says in verse three out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth And then was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power So hordes of ferocious demons are allowed to escape And they begin to attack people and these are demons who have been incarcerated since the days of noah When you look in the new testament book of jude verse six it says The angels which kept not their first estate But left their own habitation He has reserved an everlasting chains and under darkness until the judgment of the great day This is what this place is that is being spoken of these are demons incarcerated since the days of noah Second peter two verse four says if god spared not the angels that sin But cast them down to hell Delivered them into chains of darkness reserved unto judgment. These are the demons that are spoken of When you look in luke in chapter eight Verses 30 and 31 Jesus was speaking to a demonized individual and jesus asked him saying what is your name? He said legion Because many devils were entered into him And they besought him that he would not command them to go into the deep into the abuso Which was an incarceration place. They did not want to be sent to And so these are the demons that have been there since the days of noah who are being released These have been there wanting to do harm on humanity And they're finally released for a time to do that and they take the form of locus and they begin to swarm the sky Notice in verse four how it says they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree But only those men who do not have the seal of god On their foreheads So the command isn't from satan because satan desires to steal kill and destroy This command comes from god He controls everything he directs the outcome. They're not to destroy vegetation, but they are allowed to attack people Notice there to attack those who do not have the seal of god on their forehead When it speaks of the seal of god the seal of god is is another way of speaking of them Those who are identified as belonging to god god owns him and the seal identifies them So the believers are going to be spared Even the jews were spared even as the jews were spared in the plagues plagues of egypt But this includes the 144 000 evangelists As well as the redeemed in general The demonic locus attack of unbelievers But god is protecting those who belong to him notice. They have a scorpion sting And they're harming those who reject jesus It says in verse five they were not given authority to kill but to torment for five months They bring incredible pain on men and the pain is suffered for five months and it's Intense and five months by the way is the normal life lifespan of a locus And the torment that they inflict Is like a scorpion I was reading about that that scorpion stings produce pain And it can last for several days And some scorpion poison Is so strong it can even kill children This pain that they're going through cannot be remedied God has given them five months It's actually an act of mercy God has given them five months. They're going through pain and they're seeing all of this But instead of turning they harden their hearts Notice how it says in verse six in in those days men will seek death and will not find it They will desire to die and death will flee from them You know sometimes when you think about it somebody in an accident or somebody going through a prolonged illness In some ways you may consider death to actually be a relief to them. They long for it. Sometimes they they even beg for it or ask assistance for it to occur But in these five months, they're in such horrible pain And death escapes them. They will remain in that pain They're going to want to die for an escape, but they cannot They cannot and they're still refusing to repent They're going to look upon the earth They're going to see devastation so many ecological disasters earthquakes and fires volcanoes That's going to make the world into a wasteland As we've gone through this the sea will be filled with rotting animal carcasses The atmosphere will be polluted the water supplies will be poisoned Vegetation will be wiped out intense famine will hit the world The destruction of the world and the intense pain is going to crush them And they're going to desire to escape they want to die But even death evades them they need to live and they will live on in it And imagine living in such intense pain But being unable to escape in any way Notice in verse seven the shape of the locus is like horses prepared for battle These are like locus They're bringing terrible devastation And what he's seen can only be described in terms that he's familiar with He uses the word like many times it may indicate something other than literal is intended They're portrayed as fierce. They're the evil. They're powerful. They have women's hair and lion's teeth. That's interesting When I when I first got saved I was 20 years old and I was a hippie and When I read long hair like women's hair, that's what they used to say to us They would they would the older generation my parents, you know Would would would say man you look like a girl you look like a girl Because of the long hair I was arrested on one occasion and I was in the norwalk substation And a sheriff was speaking to me and I and I won't go into detail other than I deserved to be where I was at that moment And I had been drinking And so I they had me put my hands against a wall Like that as they were frisking me and everything And I had long hair and so one of the sheriffs It was standing right here. I still remember they're standing next to me like this and he looks at me He goes, what are you a girl or a boy like that? What are you good because that's what they would say What are you a girl or a boy and I looked at him? I said at your age if you don't know the difference You're in a lot of trouble He didn't like that And he maced me. I'll never forget that. He said look at me. I looked at him and And these two police officers laughed as they took me to the holding cell They didn't like long hair because they said it was feminine So when I first got saved and I had the long hair and I'm reading this I'm thinking oh, that sounds familiar They have women's hair And but it has lion's teeth So so as you look at it their their shape is like battle horses Their heads are crowned with something like gold So when it speaks of their heads being crowned the gold crown is what it is called a victor's crown And that that means that they're unstoppable Their faces are like the faces of men meaning that they are rational beings In verse eight again, they have hair like women's hair teeth like lion's teeth their hair is long And long hair can actually be used to describe attractiveness Their teeth are like lion's teeth. It speaks of being deadly Notice verse nine they have breast plates like breast plates of iron And so the iron breast plates speak of them being impossible to destroy or overcome Their wings is like the sound of chariots or horses Which gives us the insight that none can escape And in verse 10 it speaks concerning them having tails like scorpions And there were stings in their tail Their power was to hurt men for five months So this has led some to speculate as you're looking at the description of armor and the sound This has led some to speculate that this could be a first century description of someone seeing a cobra helicopter There are there are different authors who have suggested that's a possibility So is it possible that John is describing military helicopters military helicopters that are spewing nerve gas Notice that they're portrayed as being immune from destruction because they have armor And they have in verse 11 a king over them the angel over the bottomless pit So unlike actual locusts the demons have a king And that that helps us to know this isn't literally a locust why because proverbs 30 verse 27 Says the locusts have no king yet they advance in ranks And this king's name is given to us a baton A baton in Hebrew and a polyon in Greek A baton means destruction A polyon is destroyer So many believe that this is speaking of satan Now one reservation about this would be that satan is referred to as a prince of the power of the air He's not identified with the abyss until he's cast into it in revelation 20 But others believe this is speaking of a high-ranking demon in satan's hierarchy Though there are debates about it. I personally believe this is speaking of satan the ruler over a demonic army One woe is past verse 12 Behold still two more woes are coming two more woes Conclude the trumpet judgments and they bring the bowl judgments and he's saying If you think it's over Think it again It's going to get worse So I was 20 years old December 27, I was invited to go hear the gospel and My friend bill had invited me He had taken me to a small church called Calvary Chapel in Costa Besa The church that was meeting in a small building with hundreds of hippie kids And I had refused to give my heart to christ that day because Because I had friends from thailand who would receive shipments of kilos of marwana from thailand used to ship them in stuffed animals Before they had the dog sniffing at the airport And so kilos would be shipped in stuffed animals. My friends would go pick up the kilo and we'd smoke It was december 27th and I had I had plans to go get loaded And my friend bill had said I want to take you To a maranatha concert. I want you to come with me and I had said no But he really was insistent. So I decided I'll just drive to his house and let him know personally. I just felt it was It was more proper for me to refuse his His invitation face to face and so I went and saw him. I pulled my car up into his driveway and And he went and ran and erin came back and pulled his Volkswagen bus up behind my car And I was in the house visiting with some friends And they said well, we've got to go now. Are you coming with us? And I said no, uh, maybe some other time They said you really ought to go. I had a friend named george adams And george had really really been changed. I mean I saw real changes in this guy And I loved george alive. It's a good friend of mine But I said no george. I'm not gonna go but I'll go some other time So I climbed in my car and uh Volkswagen van load of kids climbed in the in the van behind me And I turned my car on And I looked in the rear view mirror and I saw bill and everybody else's head disappear for a moment And then went back up and I didn't know what was going on So bill climbs out of the driver's seat and hits my window and I rolled it down And he said we just talked to god. God says you have to go turn your car off. You're coming with us So I figured man if there if god's talking to him about me, I'd listen And so I turned my car off and I said and I went and I went with them to a marinata concert If you go into the hallway, you'll see pictures of marinata concert could very well be the one I got saved in And I heard the message of the gospel And I fought for hours against it. No, no, but finally when arthur blessed came up gave an invitation And said If anybody needs christ stand to your feet, that's the day that I I whispered to god in a prayer and I hadn't spoken in prayer to god for for a while And I said I know I need you but I can't stand because I'm shy and I can't stand in front of people But if someone would stand with me, I would stand And as god is my witness When I had thought those words if someone would stand with me, I would stand That's when arthur blessed said perhaps you're afraid to stand by yourself But if someone would stand with you, would you stand and my friend george was seated to my right tap me on the shoulder And he said I'll stand with you And that's how I gave my heart to christ. I stood up because a friend tapped me on the shoulder and said I'll stand with you And I gave my heart to christ And I came home And the first thing I did is I went across the street and I spoke to the neighbor woman At uh because it was her son that I was going to get I was going to get high with And I shared with her I gave my heart to christ And then I went home And I walked into the den and my mom my dad my sister madeline becky. You saw them on the video today And I walked in And I said mom dad becky madeline. I love you praise the lord and my mom freaks because My mom was the leader of the she did the rosary. She's the one who was they head over the Some society of marion at the church and and here's her her sons all freaked out weirded out talking about Jesus and love And and mama freaked out and I remember daddy taking her past me as he was patting her on the back And just kind of walking her and and she's just stood at the door shaking her head like oh god What what happened to my son and she goes to do a rosary. My mom did a rosary for me So what I was taught to do was to tell people about Jesus and that night The same night that I got saved my sister madeline went to bed And she said to jesus she said whatever it is you did for my brother Would you please do it for me and she came to christ? She's the first convert that I ever had and how significant is that She led marie to the faith of jesus christ and brought my wife to know jesus That's how significant that is And so I started doing what they told me to do they said read the bible You know pray read the bible fellowship tell people about christ And so I started reading the bible and I got to revelation chapter 9 And you got to know this, you know my my I'd been arrested three times. There was drug and alcohol related every time Um, I could have done time in prison for burglarizing a jewelry store. I had been kept by the grace of god in many ways My dad was a good man My dad was a hard worker My dad was the man who worked five days a week and if he was sick he would he could go to work Anyway, that was my dad. He taught me to work ethic And so He was a good man So i'm talking to my dad and I was actually in their den. I was reading revelation 9 And I read this about scorpion stings and and longing for death and women's hair and iron teeth and And I walked in with the bible and I held it and I I looked at my dad and I looked at my mom And I said mom dad. This is the word of god. Listen to what god says. I read this chapter. It's a terrifying chapter And I said daddy and I closed the bible. I said daddy. I don't know what this means But I do know this it isn't speaking to me It's speaking to you And I said dad, you're a good man. You are the best man I will ever know But you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to jesus christ I said I love you daddy, and I'm not going to heaven without you bow your head You're receiving christ right now And my mom and my dad both bowed their heads and that's how they came to faith in jesus christ through this chapter Through this chapter Through this chapter I believe in heaven But I also know there's a hell I believe in god's grace, but I also know there's a judgment And I know there's a space to repent And as I see this they've been given five months of hell on earth in pain, and they still refuse to repent What's it going to take? What's it take for some people to realize they're coming to the end of their opportunities? Five months desiring to die And death fleeing from them and all they have is pain and judgment that is being poured out The earth has been devastated in front of them. The ocean is filled with pollution dead animals and rotting carcasses The sky is filled with smoke The beauty of the earth has been turned upside down And there's in such pain But they refuse to turn to god What does it take? What does it take? For me It was almost dying For me It was drinking almost a half gallon of wine and dropping five reds Almost overdosing Almost died. I was inside the backside back seat of my My ford falcon station wagon I started to vomit and I knew I was going to vomit and choke in my own My own vomit. I knew I was going to I knew a guy named freddy reyes, and that's how he died And there were others who had died in their own vomit well known people And I knew I was going to And I laid there and I still remember I was about 19 20 years old and I said god I'm I'm too young to die. God help you please And obviously I survived that very close call But I still remained hard Until finally one day God's love broke through Finally one day I said I can't do this anymore I can't live this way anymore I've been breaking my mother's heart my father's heart my sisters I've embarrassed the family I'm known as an alcoholic. I'm known as a druggy. I'm known as a thief. That's what I'm known for God if you can change Anybody Please change me I don't love people god I don't know how I don't trust anybody lord I don't know how Give me a new heart forgive me of my sins cleanse me Make me new And god did 50 years ago. He transformed my life And I'm grateful I'm grateful had god not broken through This moment i'm sharing with you Would never have happened I had never met that girl that I love with all my heart that I'd be willing to walk through a valley They shadow of death with so she doesn't have to walk by herself I walked with her because I love her With all my heart And I love my church. I love you guys too I want you to know that because god has been gracious to me and I want to have grace to you May we together serve jesus christ May we be aware of the work that he can do and may we Be open and willing to share with dads and moms brothers and sisters friends and neighbors Of the wonderful works of god Because have you been saved if you have Then you ought to have a desire for your friends and family to be saved too Don't give up on them keep praying for them keep seeking the lord for them My sister becky lived in lesbianism for 28 years and we didn't give up We held fast we loved her and she came to faith in christ And when my sister came to faith in christ She began to serve the lord and then one day somebody came and knocked on her door And said hey do you need some work done and she said yeah come on in she meets this guy and this guy Becomes a boyfriend and then we begin to speak and he tells me how he got saved and he was he was a gangster He lived on the street since he was 12. He spent time in prison for killing the man who killed his child And this man is knocking on the door and my sister's house And my sister who had lived in a homosexual lifestyle Met a guy who had spent time for killing a man and these two people are both serving the lord jesus christ together Because god transforms lives That's what he does That's what he does And we've seen the grace of god And so why go through it? You don't have to go through Give your heart to christ if you haven't already Yield yourself to him say god be merciful to me. I'm a sinner forgive me And god is faithful. He will make you into a new creation someone so different even your best friends Won't recognize you because he changes you that deeply we have a good god A powerful god a transforming god a saving god a loving god a gracious god But we also have a righteous god may we live for him Righteously and justly in this present age and may we love people and tell them the truth about jesus christ