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Trumpet Judgments - Part 4 - Revelation 9:1-4

God 1st / Brian C Thomas
The Truth Network Radio
June 12, 2021 2:00 pm

Trumpet Judgments - Part 4 - Revelation 9:1-4

God 1st / Brian C Thomas

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June 12, 2021 2:00 pm

Brian answers listener questions concerning did any apostles witness Christ coming in His kingdom, why Catholics herald Peter as the first pope, and should we greet one another with a holy kiss? The sermon of the week covers the fifth trumpet of Revelation 9:1-4 which describes locusts coming from a bottomless pit to torment mankind.

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Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. Welcome to the program. My name is Brian Thomas, and it is a joy to join you on the God First program. Well, today I am answering listener questions. If you have a question that you would like for us to answer on the air, you can email them to us at questions at God first dot org. That's questions at G.O.D., the number one S.T.O.R.G. You can also mail them to us by writing to God First Bible Fellowship P.O.

Box 266 Knightdale, North Carolina 27545. Well, we begin in Knightdale with Brian. Brian writes, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, verse 28, that some standing there would not die until they saw him coming in his kingdom. All that were there have died and Jesus has not yet returned. So how can this statement of Christ be true? I personally struggled with this for quite some time to make sense of this verse many years ago. So let's look first at Matthew Chapter 16, verse 28. It reads, Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Now, most interpret the words of Christ to the apostles to say, to paraphrase, some of you standing here will not die until you see me return to establish my kingdom. Well, as of today, all of the apostles have died. They all died more than a thousand years ago. But Christ has not yet returned as king. Well, we know that God cannot lie as Numbers Chapter 23, verse 19 declares. So how do we make sense of this?

I believe there are actually two possible answers to this question. The parallel quotes of Jesus's declaration in Matthew 16, 28 are Luke Chapter nine, verse 27 and Mark Chapter nine, verse one. So for the first possible answer, note that in each of the synoptic gospels, the next event that is recorded immediately after the statement of Jesus was the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is the event in which Jesus led Peter, James and John up a high mountain. Jesus was transfigured before them as his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light, as is recorded in Matthew 17, verse two. Moses and Elijah appeared representations of the law and the prophets of the Old Testament and spoke with Jesus. The three apostles, therefore, saw Jesus in all of his splendor and glory.

The Greek word translated kingdom can also mean royal splendor, another way of saying king. So Matthew Chapter 16, verse 28 could be translated to read some standing here shall not taste death till they see the son of man coming in his royal splendor, which is why some translations read see the son of man coming as king. So it is possible that Jesus was referring to the Transfiguration rather than his coming to establish his kingdom on the earth. The three disciples at the Transfiguration witnessed him as he really was in royal splendor as king.

Now to the second possible answer. That was an apostle who did see Jesus Christ return to establish his earthly kingdom. Now, you're probably saying you just said Christ is not yet returned, but now you say one of the apostles saw him return.

Well, turn to the Book of Revelation, Chapter 19, and let's look at verse 11. Now I saw heaven open and behold, a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true. And in his righteousness, he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns.

He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called the word of God and the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with the rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So there was one that was standing there that saw the return of Jesus Christ. That was the Apostle John. He wrote the Book of Revelation while in exile on the island of Patmos for preaching the gospel of Christ. The Lord sent his angel to John in Revelation chapter one, verse one. And the angel literally took John into the future to the time of the tribulation and return of Christ. So the Apostle John saw all of the events of Revelation that are yet still future for us. So he witnessed Christ coming in his kingdom before his death. So thank you, Brian, for sending in that question.

Next, we have a question from Rhonda in Wake Forest, North Carolina. She writes, Why does the Roman Catholic Church say that Peter was the first pope? Well, I certainly do not claim to be a scholar on the Catholic faith, but it is true that the Roman Catholic Church considers the Apostle Peter to be the first pope upon whom God chose to build his church. They hold to the belief that Peter had authority over the other apostles becoming the first bishop of Rome.

At some point after the recorded events of the Book of Acts, they declared that the Roman bishop was accepted as the central authority within all churches. There is a teaching called apostolic succession, which is the belief that Peter's apostolic authority was given by God and passed along to subsequent bishops in the Catholic Church. Their faith teaches that Peter and the subsequent popes were and are infallible, giving them the ability to oversee the church without error. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be able to trace the line of popes back to Peter as evidence that it is the true church. They proclaim that God built his church upon Peter, pointing to Matthew Chapter 16, verse 18, which reads, And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Now, the Apostle Peter certainly was a key figure in the spreading of the gospel in the early church, but there is no scripture that designates him as having authority over the other apostles. Scripture also does not teach that Peter was the bishop of Rome. There is even a scripture that explicitly states that Peter was ever in Rome.

There is one reference in the Bible of Peter writing from Babylon, which is First Peter, Chapter 5, verse 13, what was sometimes used as a code name for Rome. What this question really boils down to is the long running debate on who the rock is in Matthew Chapter 16, verse 18. The Catholics argue that using a play on words because Jesus in Mark 3 16 changed his disciple Simon's name to Peter, which is Petros in Greek, thus promised to build the Messiah's church on this rock, Petro in Greek. Now, the Protestant counter argument is that whereas Peter is Petros, a small stone, Jesus is Petra, the rock. Thus, Jesus was speaking of himself as the cornerstone of the church, which is recorded in Ephesians Chapter two, verses 19 through 20. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Now, a second popular Protestant interpretation states the rock is Peter's confession about the identity of Jesus Christ.

For in Matthew Chapter 16, verse 16, he says, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. But regardless of the rock's true identity, nowhere does the Bible teach the apostles were infallible. If they had been, Peter would have not been called out by Paul for what he deemed hypocritical behavior in attempting to hide fellowship with the Gentiles. The Roman Catholic Church has taken a lot of liberties in proclaiming Peter as the first pope, and the Bible warns us about false teachings. Yes, the apostle Peter held a leadership role among the apostles. Yes, his role was very important in the early church's spreading of the gospel. But even if he was the rock that Christ would build his church upon, none of it supports the idea that Peter was the first pope. Rather than declaring himself as an infallible authority over the church, Peter, in his own words, instead pointed us all to Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, which was rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious. That's First Peter, Chapter two, verses four through eight. Rhonda, thank you for sending in that question.

Next, we'll go to Stacy in Wake Forest, North Carolina. She writes, How are we supposed to know when to take something in the Bible, literally or spiritually? For example, greet one another with a holy kiss. I would assume should be observed as the spirit behind it rather than the exact letter. Do we observe the spirit or the letter and who is the authority on when we should take something literally or spiritually?

One of my ministry mentors coined a phrase which stated when the plain sense makes sense, look for no other sense or else you will end up with nonsense. Now, that is a very important measuring tool to guide us when interpreting Bible passages, especially when it comes to prophetic scriptures. For example, in the book of Isaiah, Chapter 55, verse 12, it states that mountains and hills will sing and trees will clap their hands. Well, we know that mountains and hills do not have voices to sing with and trees do not have hands to clap.

So we can easily conclude that this is symbolic language. Another good rule of thumb is to allow scripture to interpret scripture. In the book of Revelation, an account is given of a beast with 10 horns. Revelation, Chapter 17, verse three.

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. Now, I don't know about you, but I've never seen a creature with 10 horns. But it could be that in the tribulation that is yet to come, maybe God will create a creature that would fit that description.

I mean, that is a valid possibility. But as we read further into the chapter, we come to the following verse in verse 12 of Revelation 17. The 10 horns which you saw are 10 kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. So right there we see scripture interpreting scripture. And that is why, folks, it is so important to read passages in its full context. People often end up with errors in interpretation of scripture because they pull one passage out without reading the surrounding text.

This is called pulling out of context. The Bible further confirms the meaning of the 10 horns with parallel passages in the book of Daniel. Daniel, Chapter seven, verse seven. After this, I saw in the night vision and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth.

It was devouring, breaking in pieces and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it. And it had 10 horns. Well, further down in the same chapter in verse 24, we find the 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this kingdom.

So since the plain sense did not make complete sense, we dug further and found that the 10 horns of the beast symbolically or spiritually represent 10 kings. So as for the Greek one another with a kiss, this is recorded in four places in the New Testament. Romans Chapter 16, verse 16. First Corinthians Chapter 16, verse 20. Second Corinthians Chapter 13, verse 12.

And First Thessalonians Chapter five, verse 26. The Greek words denote the kiss as to be sacred, not physically impure, not lustful. Apparently, it was the norm in the culture of the people to which these letters were written to greet each other with a kiss. We must keep in mind that these letters by Paul were written to specific congregations from a historical vantage point.

Now, that is not to say that they do not apply to us today, but understanding the culture of who was being addressed in the Bible is critical in this case. Now, many cultures today still greet each other with a kiss, and we are not referring to kisses again that are romantic in nature, not lips to lips, but instead cheek to cheek. It is done upon seeing someone to display sincere affection and joy for one another.

It would be the equivalent of a handshake in our culture. The holy kiss was to be genuine, not deceitful, as the one Judas gave to Jesus during the betrayal in Luke Chapter 22, verses 47 through 48. The biblical account of greeting with a holy kiss was to display brotherly love and unity. It was common that new converts of the early church were deemed outcast by their families for their acceptance of Christianity. So it meant a lot to them to feel sincere love and acceptance by their new spiritual family.

Also, we must keep in mind that Judaizers during this time were prominent in falsely teaching that Gentiles needed to go to the Mosaic law for acceptance into the faith. A holy kiss from a Jewish believer to a Gentile believer displayed acceptance that they were brothers and sisters in the family of Jesus Christ. So I do not believe that we are in violation of scripture if we as believers in Christ do not carry on the tradition of a literal holy kiss. As a matter of fact, many would be offended by a literal kiss in our culture.

Although the plain sense makes sense in some cultures, it would not make sense in our American culture to greet one another with a literal kiss. So I think you are correct, Stacy, in stating that we are to follow the spirit of the command, whereas again, in our culture, that would mean greeting believers with a warm handshake or hug. The key is to demonstrate sincere love in Christian fellowship. And the Holy Spirit is our authority and guide as to whether to interpret something literally or spiritually.

We must always follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. So, Stacy, I want to thank you for sending in that question. And again, to all of you out there, if you have a question that you want answered on the air, please email it to us at questions at God first dot org. You can also write God First Bible Fellowship P.O.

Box 266, Knightdale, North Carolina 27545. We would love to get your questions. We would love to put them on the air so that everyone can learn the great things that the Bible has to say. The Bible is so full, is so deep, is so rich in the word of God.

Don't go away. Coming back with the sermon of the week on the other side, you are tuned into the God First program. You are listening to Brian C. Thomas on God First. For more of Brian's teachings, please visit God first dot org to browse our extensive library of material. There you will find devotionals, blogs, articles and audio messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation, Bible prophecy, marriage and the significance of Lesson Israel, just to name a few.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our Web store. So please visit us at God first dot org. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's message. There is a great attack against truth that has taken place in the world today. And this attack is coming by the hands of lying and deceiving spirits. And the reason these lying and deceiving spirits are attacking truth is because of their hatred for Jesus Christ. For Jesus is truth. As the Bible tells us in the words of Jesus, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father except through me. So we're in a time in which lying and deceiving spirits or are twisting things around to deceive people. And sadly, many in society are falling for these things as we see this this flood right now in the world of things that are not true, but they're being promoted. They're being pushed forward as as propaganda.

And many are going along with it. Folks, we're in a spiritual battle. We're in the deep, deep spiritual warfare that is real. And we're going to see today that in the time that is yet to come and what the Bible says is the worst time that this world will ever see. There will be demonic forces. That will torment those who have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So I want to draw your attention to the Book of Revelation, Chapter nine, and we're going to look today beginning with verse one. 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. When we look at scripture, we must always interpret literally when it makes sense to do so. But here the word star is obviously symbolic as it is referred to as him.

You can think about in our society the way we often refer to celebrities as a star. And so this star, this angel is given the key to the bottomless pit. And apparently this is the same angel of Revelation, chapter 20, verse one, where we find and I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. So whoever this angel is that was selected to be given this key to the bottomless pit, apparently he held this key throughout the tribulation period, which is a great responsibility. Because in this bottomless pit, also known as the abyss, that there are these demonic spirits.

This is not hail. This is not Hades, because we must remember that there's this great gulf that is fixed in Hades between the place of comfort and the place of torment. Jesus spoke about this is as the abode of the dead in the Book of Luke, chapter 16, verses 19 through 31. The Bible tells us of two types of demons, those that have free will to dwell and seek bodies, and then there are those who are confined to gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment. Second Peter, chapter two, verse four tells us, for if God did not spare the angels who sin, but cast them down to the earth and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment.

Jesus Christ spoke of free demons in Matthew, chapter 12, verses 43 through 45. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none. Then he says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept and put in order. Then he goes in and taken with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter and dwell there.

And the last state of the man is worse than the first. So we shall also be with this wicked generation. That is why, folks, it is so important that when you are delivered from a demonic spirit, that you do not let your guard down. That is why when you have been been preyed upon and laid hands upon and you are free, that you should not let your guard down, because when that demonic spirit leaves and can't find a place to dwell, it's going to look to return.

And it's going to bring even more spirits, even worse than the one that you had before. And they will seek to dominate your life. It appears that over a thousand demons possess the man in Luke Chapter eight, verse 30, as they call themselves Legion. Apparently, some of these demons travel as packs or in groups. And this could indicate that one evil spirit cannot dominate a person. But when you get multiple evil spirits, that is when they begin to to dominate a person. These demons are likely angels who rebelled with Satan, which are described in the book of Ezekiel Chapter 28, verses 11 through 19.

And in the book of Isaiah Chapter 14. But one thing we must remember that if we remain in an abiding relationship with Christ, we need not fear demonic possession. We find that in John Chapter 15, verses one through 11, there are some Christians out there that are so worried there. So so being out of shape and uptight, worried about demonic possession. But if you are saved, if you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, which is what happens when you become born again, when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you do not have to worry about a demon taking possession in your life. Because the Bible tells us that 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.

So what we have in us, the Holy Spirit is greater than what is in the world. We need not worry about demonic possession. But demons can influence a believer.

They can torment you. And that is why we must still pray and seek the Holy Spirit at all times to keep demonic spirits at bay. The Antichrist will produce miracles through evil spirits during the tribulation. Second Thessalonians Chapter two, verses nine through 10 says the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.

Unrighteous deception. And we see that already taking place in our society today. And it's going to continue. It's going to increase as we get closer to the return of our Lord. And in the book of Jude, verse six, it speaks of angels who abandoned their position of authority and the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, who has reserved in everlasting chains under the darkness for the judgment of the great day. These are likely the angels that produce children with the daughters of men in Genesis Chapter six, verses two through seven. They were so wicked that they looked down on the earth and as fallen angels, they came down and they contaminated mankind by having children with women. And so therefore, God sent the flood in Noah's day to destroy them because of the wickedness that it came upon the land.

Well, I strongly believe that these demons being so wicked are the ones that God has confined to this bottomless pit that we see here in Revelation Chapter nine. And then as we look at verses two through three, 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 giving power as scorpions of the earth have power. When this angel opens this bottomless pit, smoke arises to create smog like conditions.

It is so dense that it discolors the air and partially blocks out the sunlight. And these locusts scorpion type of creatures arise from the pit. And this seems to fulfill Joel Chapter one, verses two, in which it speaks of these locusts coming upon the land.

And as we look at verse four of Chapter nine, 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. Just as Jesus protected the nation of Israel, the Hebrews in Goshen during the plagues in the land of Egypt, he will protect his people during this judgment. Those seal will be the 144,000 in which God says that they cannot be harmed during the Great Tribulation. But Matthew Chapter 24, verse 13 says, For those who do not have the seal, but he who endures to the end shall be saved. There will be many that will be martyred for their belief in Jesus Christ during the seven year tribulation. And that is why John, he saw under the altar souls of those who have been slain for the word of God.

But those who have been murdered will receive great possessions during the millennium. Now, the fifth trumpet judgment may very well be an act of mercy from God to convince people to accept Christ and therefore gain eternal life. There are some that may say this is terrible of God to do this, but we must remember that in Matthew Chapter 10, verse 28, our Lord says, And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Listen, folks, a great day of judgment is coming, a time in which is going to be the Bible says it's going to be the worst time that our earth has ever seen or ever will see. And that is why today is the day to give your heart to Jesus Christ, because this judgment that is coming, these demonic spirits out of the bottomless pit are going to be one of many judgments that is going to come to torment mankind for its rejection of Jesus Christ. And so I am urging you today to give your heart to Jesus while you have time so you can be taken away by way of the rapture. And you do not have to to be here to to suffer during this time that is coming, because the Bible says that one day there will be the shout of the archangel and then the trumpet will sound. And then the Bible says the dead in Christ will rise first out of the graves.

And then those of us who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with our Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. It's a message of comfort. It's a message of hope because for the loss, there is great torment that is coming. Will you give your heart to Jesus Christ today? Give your heart to God while you still have breath in your body. You've been listening to the Bible teacher, Brian C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Brian and God First reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our Web site, God First dot org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-11-05 01:59:00 / 2023-11-05 02:09:39 / 11

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