Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. Look, Satan and his demon forces are not in hell. Satan is roaming the earth seeking whom he may devour. The good news is In Jesus' name, the victory is ours. On today's PowerPoint, Dr.
Grant brings a message about how you can stay hopeful amid all the evil in the world.
Now here's Doctor Graham with his message. blacklist. Jesus is coming soon.
Soon. The trumpet is going to sound. And we will rise. to meet him. This is called the rapture.
When we are taken as believers into the presence of the Lord, immediately, instantaneously, we are out of here. But following That rapturous moment when we are in heaven. Back on earth. There is great tribulation. to follow.
And what we're going to see in Revelation 8 and 9 today is not only more natural disasters, cataclysmic events in the heavens and on earth. There will be hail. And fire, and a burning mountain, and a meteorite, a falling star called wormwood. And there will be blood. And there will be demons.
And Satan himself.
So far, the judgments have been Terrifying. For it is a fearful thing. The scripture says to fall into the hands of a living God.
So wake up. Be warned. And if you are a believer, lovingly, compassionately, Warn others. Revelation 8 verse 1 says, When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, There was silence in heaven. for about a half hour.
Now stop right there. This is an ominous Eerie Silence. As far as we know, It's the longest silence ever known in heaven. And this silence in heaven. Is in anticipation of a hellish judgment.
that will take place not only on earth but in eternity.
So, when it says there was silence in heaven, this is a sobering silence. It's like before the jury or the judge pronounces the verdict. And everyone is leaning forward. Everyone is hushed. There is a Holy Hush in heaven.
Is the silence of What's next? What's the verdict? God's judgment is about to be poured out. The seventh seal. Which leads to the trumpet judgments is about to be open and in fury.
Full fury, the wrath of God. will be displayed.
Now remember As I said, the church, the true church. We'll be Absent.
Now there will still be churches in operation, I'm certain. Because there are a lot of unbelieving churches and religions in the world.
So there's religious activity. But Christians Are in heaven. Real Christians are in heaven. And as a result, The world gets what the world seemingly wants. A world without God, a world without Christ.
A world without the church telling them what to do. No commandments. No Bible-thumping preachers. Preaching about the end of the age. No more self-righteous, judgmental people.
The world wants to be done with all of us.
Okay. The restraining Witness and influence of the salt, the light will be gone. The proclamation of the word of God in truth will be no more. And when the world gets what the world seems to want, they won't want what they get. Everything comes apart.
The world goes crazy. Verse 2 says, This: Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, verse 4, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of an angel. And then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth.
And there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashing, and lightning. and an earthquake. Stop right there. The angels of The Lord's presence. These are Seven unique angels, there are ranks of angels.
Just as there are ranks of demon powers and unholy angels, principalities and powers. In the darkness, there are holy angels who are Ranked, and they have various responsibilities. These are the angels of God's presence. Seven of them who stand near. The throne of God.
They're close to the heart of God. Gabriel is one of these. According To Luke chapter 1, verse 19. He was an angel who stood in the presence of the Lord, and he came delivering the message of the good news that Christ would be born. And these seven angels are given seven trumpets.
And they will blow these trumpets.
Now, trumpets. are the instruments of choice in the Bible. And These trumpets were used to herald announcements. They were used to make significant. Worship And praise offered to God, they were used to call to battle, to sound an alarm.
When the children of Israel walked around the walls of Jericho, they were then told to blow those trumpets. And when they blew the trumpets, it was a sound of war. The walls came down, they advanced.
So these trumpets are judgment trumpets. Heralding, announcing. that the war is on. This supernatural battle that is taking place on the earth that will ultimately end at the battle of Armageddon. But with these trumpets blowing With each trumpet sounds, a judgment follows.
Now, initially, these judgments... are on The natural world. Here are the judgments, the seven trumpet judgments. The first trumpet is bloody hail and fire. And one-third of vegetation is destroyed.
The second trumpet is a fiery mountain of volcanic. Eruption, one-third of the oceans are polluted. A falling star, one-third of fresh water is polluted. When this star, which has a name, Wormwood, Is the name of this star that falls in this judgment. and therefore one-third of fresh water is polluted.
Fourth trumpet, darkness. One-third of the sun and the moon and the stars are... darkened. The fifth trumpet. Chapter 9 is demonic invasion.
and torment. The sixth trumpet is an army of 200 million. One-third of mankind is killed. This is a supernatural, demonized army of 200 million terrorists. who will attack the world.
And then the seventh trumpet over in chapter 11 is the announcement of Christ's reign, the kingdom which is to come. And these trumpets are about to blow, and this series of judgments will follow. But before the trumpet blows, in this interlude of silence, That I was talking about, there is a beautiful truth regarding prayer. prayer in the midst of all Of this. Verse 4 talks about the prayers.
Of all the saints that are lifted up to the Lord. Like incense. fragrant and beautiful in the presence of the Lord.
Now the saints are all believers. There is no evidence in the Bible That saints in heaven pray for saints on the earth. We pray to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. All the saints. Jesus taught us to pray.
And when he taught us to pray, he taught us to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You have prayed this prayer. Millions of Christians have prayed this prayer through the centuries. And the collective prayers of God's saints. through the years, through the centuries, are in heaven.
And now that prayer, these prayers are about to be answered. That the kingdom of God would come. I hope you pray that prayer for yourself, for your family. Lord, your kingdom come in my life, in our family, in our community, in our world. Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done.
And it's about to be done here because now all of these prayers. Precipitate. The trumpet judgments. Before the kingdom comes, before God's kingdom comes. Satan's kingdom.
Must go. These prayers are mixed with incense at the altar, which is a picture of. The cross And they are always answered. In God's way, in God's time. You never prayed a prayer in Jesus' name that didn't get to heaven.
Not one prayer that you offer sincerely before the Lord is ignored. Not one is wasted. The answer is on the way. The answer is on God's to-do list.
So when you pray, count on the fact That God hears and God knows. and his kingdom will come. That's the goal that the kingdom would come. And the kingdom will come. Pray for it.
Wait for it. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. blacklist. How would your life change if you applied a bit of practical wisdom each day of the month? Find out by joining Dr.
Graham in October as he dives into practical wisdom from the Bible. Each day will send its short teaching from God's Word to help you grow in wisdom and live the life He desires. If you're ready, text CHALENGE to 59-789 and we'll get started. Again, that's challenge to 59789. We'd love to send you a powerful resource from Dr.
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Now, let's get back to today's message. blacklist. Well, that brings us then to this terrible judgment, the sinner's punishment.
So in these first judgments. Judgments 1. through four. These are natural disasters of various kinds, and you can read about those, but I want to focus on. Trumpets five and six, which is chapter nine.
because these judgments now come against humanity. We come against people. And God judges First, with a demon Infestation. Look at chapter 9, verse 1. And the fifth angel, blew his trumpet and I saw a star falling from heaven to earth.
This is Satan. The morning star is described in Isaiah chapter 14. The morning star, the son of the morning, who became the The Father of the Night. Satan himself. This is a reference to Satan who fell.
Out of heaven, out of a high and exalted place, as an angel. Satan was an angel. in the presence of God, a high and exalted angel. Who rebelled against God before there was revolt on earth? There was a riot in.
in heaven. and a revolt in heaven. And with Satan, one-third of the heavenly host rebelled. These holy angels became unholy angels. Therefore, we know them as demonic spirits or demons.
They are evil angels. And they manifest themselves in various ways. And we see this manifestation of these demons in verse 1. The fifth angel drew his trumpet, a star fell, and he was given the key to the shaft. of the bottomless pit.
And he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the shaft. And then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions. Belching out of heaven. The black smoke of torment and demonized Angels. Who are described here as locusts.
They're called scorpions. They're called lions. But all of these are references to demon spirits. In chapter 9, for example, we learn that demons are activated. Yeah.
With crowns like gold on their heads, verse 7, like horses prepared for battle. They are active, and they are active in the world today, not just when the end comes. This is a special. special kind of demon. In the tribulation period, but there are demons active in the world today.
Jesus dealt with them constantly. And many of the things that we see today in the world that are unexplainable. Are the result of principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, demon spirits? ruled by Satan himself. They possess, they oppress.
They kill and destroy. They're active. They are deceptive. They have faces like humans, verse 7.
So they're intelligent. They have the hair like a woman, verse 8. That is, they are seductive. Teeth like lions, they are destructive. The breastplates like iron, verse 9, they are asserted: the sounds of wings like horses and chariots, the tails like scorpions.
This is all symbolic language describing This infiltration of demons, and of course, all of this. Terror. is but a precursor. of the hell That is to come. The Bible describes here in verse 12 a dark angel of the abyss.
His name is. Abaden. or in the Greek, that's Hebrew, or in the Greek, Apollyon. This is either Satan himself are one of his key lieutenants, but it means disaster. Look, Satan and his demon forces are not in hell.
Satan is roaming the earth to and fro like an evil monster, like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. And he presides over this. Army of demonized terrorists Who can possess and empower mankind.
Now all of this is descriptive. Of a cosmic war and an unseen battle that goes on all around us. The good news is Take a deep breath. In Jesus' name, the victory is ours. Demons must flee at the name of Jesus, at the mention of his name.
There's no reason for you to fear a demon. All of the artillery and weaponry of hell is powerless against the mighty name and power of Jesus. Call on the name of Jesus. Repent of your sin. Return to Christ, and Satan will flee.
We overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. and the word. of their testimony.
So demons are poured out. But then in the blowing of the sixth trumpet, The Bible says in chapter 9... Beginning at verse 14. Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, release the four angels. These are more.
Filthy, foul, demonic angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.
Now that's an interesting. Phrase there, bound at the great river Euphrates. Euphrates is the place near the Garden of Eden, the cradle of mankind. It will also ultimately be the coffin of mankind. Out of the Euphrates, there are four more.
Angels of mass destruction. who rise up And they call forth. Mounted troops in verse 16. twice 10,000 times 10,000 and I heard their number. In other words, 200 million.
John heard that number. It's probably A number he could not even fathom. Two hundred. Million. In this Army.
Invading the earth.
Some people have looked at that verse regarding an army of 200 million and suggested that it's a a human army. Maybe. But most likely I believe This is not a human army, but a demon army. But the point of this passage: don't get caught up. Please don't get caught up in all the details.
Of this. Because you might say it's one thing, I could say no, it's something else, and we could get all in the debate about that, but the point of this. That war and destruction and vileness and depravity is coming to the earth. Remember, when he talks about horses and lions and serpents and scorpions, it's the visualization of devastating and destructive, powerful weapons. It sounds like nuclear war here.
John is using the only vocabulary that he has. to describe things that are unimaginable. Under the Authority of the Holy Spirit. He writes these words that he may not even understand, but it's a description of this. Supernatural war and this devastation and this blood and this pain.
And people are crying out to die. They're stung by these scorpion beings, and it's so painful. They pray to die, but they can't die.
Now, after reading this, you might expect those who somehow survive all of this. Would run to the Lord and repent one last chance, one last time to run to Him, but. Bursts Of chapter 9 is one of the most stunning and saddest verses in all of the Bible. The rest of mankind who were not killed by the plagues. Did not repent of the works of their hands, nor give up worshiping demons.
And he mentions in closing The sins that will characterize the last days in the tribulation. First, there are murders. We live in an increasingly violent. Violent. culture.
So we've got this increase of violence in the world with terrorism and. ISIS and all the others, but what about the violence in our own society? God have mercy. On a culture that has aborted in the last 40 years, 60 million babies in their mother's wombs. It's a culture of death.
Killing Jews and killing Christians. Increasing. And in the tribulation, it will be hunting season. on good people. And then sorceries.
The sin of sorcery. You say, what's that?
Well, obviously the occult and spiritism, and if there's demon worship, there's a lot of that going on. Uh it's the word literally Pharmacon. which we get our word pharmacy. Or pharmacists, and it means having to do with drugs.
So those doing drugs, dealing drugs. And then sexual immorality. Lewdness. Desecrating the body, homosexuality, rape, sex trafficking. All in the tribulation.
And then thefts. People will steal openly. These are the sins of the last days. when the judgment comes. We are on this road.
to Armageddon. These trumpets of judgment are going to blow. But I'm waiting for another trumpet to blow. The trumpet will sound. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
And then we who are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so will we ever be with the Lord. I'm listening for that trumpet. I'm waiting for that sound. And I'm calling on you today.
to tell the world about Jesus. Because we don't want our family, our friends, our children, grandchildren to be here when this happens. I'm not going to be here. And if you're in Christ, neither will you. But we want to tell as many people as possible with love.
Of the hope that they have in Christ. What more? Do you need? to convince you. God sent his son into the world.
to reveal himself. His love for you. He went to the cross and died on the cross and paid the penalty for your sin. He paid it all. He took God's wrath and God's judgment.
Your sin. and judgment. on the cross. And then on the third day he rose again and he ascended and he's coming. Again, Christ is Lord.
What more? Could he do? in order that you would be saved. from the wrath to come. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message.
Blacklist. In a time marked by confusion, anxiety, and spiritual compromise, your support of PowerPoint helps point others to the source of unshakable hope. God's Word. Through your generosity, we're proclaiming the gospel across the airwaves. reaching hearts in living rooms, prison cells, and far beyond.
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So, to thank you for your gift of $10 or more, we'd love to send you Dr. Jack Graham's powerful book, The Jesus Book. This life-changing resource walks you through every book of the Bible and shows how each one points to Jesus. To give your gift and receive your copy of the Jesus book? Text book to 59789.
Again? Book to 59789. How would your life change if you applied a bit of practical wisdom each day of the month? Find out by joining Dr. Graham in October as he dives into practical wisdom from the Bible.
Each day will send its short teaching from God's Word to help you grow in wisdom and live the life He desires. If you're ready, text CHALENGE to 59789. Again, that's CHALENGE to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? It's amazing to me that a person could reject Jesus Christ.
Knowing Jesus and following Jesus is the only Way to live. It's the only way to live, and it's the only way to die. And when the reality of God's Word and the good news of the gospel is given, people have a choice. And unfortunately, many people choose to reject the good news of eternal life and salvation in Christ. But that doesn't mean we should stop telling the truth.
We should keep preaching because many will choose to follow Christ. And I believe there are people right now who are listening to my voice who are ready to respond and receive Christ into your life. He promises to change your life. He will transform you and make you a brand new person. Again, let me say it.
There's no other way to live and no other way to die but to trust in Jesus and to live for him. He promises that he will forgive all of your sin and live in your life and that you can experience an abundant life. A beautiful life in Christ, and then one day. you will be with him in heaven. You will join millions and millions of other believers who will praise God and delight in his presence forever and ever in eternity.
But the choice is yours. Choose life, not death. Choose heaven, not hell. Choose Christ, not antichrist. and choose him.
Jesus today. by receiving Him as your Lord and Savior. And that is Today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Graham's book, The Jesus Book, as our thanks.
Text the word book to 59-789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can reinvigorate your faith. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
