All This And Yet You Will Not Repent

I recently participated in an online study of the book of Revelation with a fellow pastor who is also a dear friend in the LORD. He had been presenting to the viewers some possible scenarios that will appear on the Earth during the time of what Scripture refers to as "the Great Tribulation" (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:21), a specific period of time where God judges the world for its rebellion, wickedness, and hatred of all things holy pertaining to the Gospel and its message of redemption through the work of Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12, 16:31; Romans 5:6-11, 10:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:7-12; Revelation 1:8). It is during this time that God will allow evil to run its course in the person of the Antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3; 2 John 7; Revelation 13:1-10). Before this judgment is poured upon the earth, all those who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation will be raptured to meet the LORD in the air and be with Him always (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 4:13-18). The book of Revelation has a logical flow of historical and supernatural events occurring on Earth and within the portals of heaven. When we arrive in heaven, we will behold, as did the apostles John and Paul (2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Revelation, Chapters 4, 5), the glory, wonder, holiness, and majesty of God Almighty with the heavenly realm offering Him praise and worship. We will see His plans put into action to be fulfilled for His glory. He will not tolerate sin any longer. His justice will fall on both deviant humanity and the hellish creatures who have maligned, blasphemed, denied, and hated Him since the Fall in Eden (Genesis 3). His promise to make all things new will come to pass (Revelation 21:1), evil will be judged and punished (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15), and Paradise (Genesis 1, 2) will be recreated again, lasting for eternity.

Beginning in Revelation 6, God pours out judgments on the world that grow in intensity. For seven years, the unredeemed will witness and suffer plagues upon the wildlife, plants, waters, and overall living conditions. These approaching judgments and their consequences ought to terrify and awaken every person on this world. Everyone should tremble over their sins, repent now, and surrender their lives to the saving grace, mercy, and peace offered by God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and listen to the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:2). There will be multitudes during the time of the Great Tribulation who come to Christ (Revelation 7:9-17). These people were unbelievers who were left behind at the Rapture, and by the mercy of God the Holy Spirit, have had their eyes opened to what has occurred. These are the "Tribulation Saints", and many of them will be killed for their faith (Revelation 20:4). These dear brethren in the LORD are part of the redeemed, but at a tremendous cost.

What amazes me is even with all of the literal hell on earth that God promises is coming, people will harden their hearts and turn against Him. I want to focus on one chapter in Revelation that perfectly illustrates the progression of demonic evil on this world and the eternal consequences for every person who foolishly decides to embrace it. They deliberately reject the only hope of rescue that God Almighty, in HIs mercy, offers during that terrifying time. The ninth chapter of Revelation describes an angel coming to earth to open what is called a "bottomless pit (9:2), words that describe the horror and viciousness of hell. The pit is opened, allowing fierce and savage demons to bring torment upon anybody who has rejected the saving offer of God. These creatures are ordered not to touch the foliage of the world (what's left of it by this time), but to inflict the unredeemed with pain equal to the sting of a scorpion. This pain will be so unbearable that people will beg to die in order to have relief. For five months, these beings from hell will continually torment anyone who has chosen to reject God and His offer of salvation.

This is bad enough, but upon reading further, four malevolent angels who had rebelled against God and bound at the river Euphrates are then released to slaughter one third of humanity. On top of this, an army of 200,000,000 marches upon the world, along with an outbreak of varied plagues. Whether this is an actual human or demonic army is a point of discussion. The consequence of this slaughter is that out of a population estimated as of 2023 to be 8,000,000,000, the body count at this point in Revelation is 2,000,000,000, with the full force of judgment yet to come. You would think that common sense and the collapse of everything would bring people to their knees in repentance, begging God for forgiveness of their sins and embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I am afraid not, and the trouble is that a lot of you who are reading this message are going to find yourselves in the situation described in Scripture: