The Consequences Of Non-Repentance.
Revelation 9:1-20ESV
When someone is in contempt of court, it means behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the court.
When it comes to contempt against the Lord it means knowingly defying God’s Lordship and Kingdom authority.
The consequences are eternal and will not be reversed. Contempt against the Lord is a very serious verdict.
So in these days before Jesus returns, wake up, sober up, and dress up, because very soon, we who believe in Jesus will go up to meet Him in the air. Jesus is coming to take us out of this world before the great and terrible “Day of the Lord.” Christ will snatch away every believer before God pours out His wrath on unbelievers who remain behind during the 7-year tribulation to come.
Revelation 9:1-2ESV And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 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 from the shaft.
Notice, the fifth angel blew his trumpet. Throughout God’s word the trumpet is a sign of staying alert, on go, ready, the trumpet blast spelled out victory, warning etc. However, greater than any of that, the return of Jesus!
Doug Mendenhall wrote a parable that gives us all something to think about:
Jesus called the other day to say he was passing through and wondered if he could spend a day or two with us.
I said, “Sure. Love to see you. When will you hit town?”
That's when Jesus told me he was actually at a convenience store out by the interstate.
I must have gotten that Bambi-in-headlights look, because my wife hissed, “What is it? What's wrong? Who is that?” So I covered the receiver and told her Jesus was going to arrive in eight minutes, and she ran out of the room and started giving guidance to the kids—in that effective way that Marine drill instructors give guidance to recruits…My mind was already racing with what needed to be done in the next eight—no seven—minutes, so Jesus wouldn't think we were reprobate-loser-slobs.
I turned off the TV in the den, which was blaring some weird scary movie I'd been half watching. But I could still hear screams from our bedroom, so I turned off the reality show it was tuned to. Plus, I turned off the kids' set out on the sun porch, because I didn't want to have to explain shipping wars or storage wars to Jesus.
My wife had already thinned out the magazines that had been accumulating on the coffee table. She put Christianity Today on top for a good first impression. Five minutes to go.
I looked out the front window, but the yard actually looked great thanks to my long, hard work, so I let it go. What could I improve in four minutes anyway? I did notice the mail had come, so I ran out to grab it. Mostly it was Netflix envelopes and a bunch of catalogs tied into recent purchases, so I stuffed it back in the box. Jesus doesn't need to get the wrong idea—three minutes from now—about how much on-line shopping we do.
I ran back in and picked up a bunch of shoes left by the door. Tried to stuff them in the front closet, but it was overflowing with heavy coats and work coats and snow coats and pretty coats and raincoats and extra coats. We live in the South; why'd we buy so many coats? I squeezed the shoes in with two minutes to go.
I plumped up sofa pillows, my wife tossed dishes into the sink, I scolded the kids, and she shooed the dog. With one minute left I realized something important: Getting ready for a visit from Jesus is not an eight-minute job. Then the doorbell rang.
Revelation 9:3-4ESV Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
I think it’s interesting that only God can speak to those that don’t realize they're God’s created; Those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Verse 4, say’s those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
The wonderful news is, those who are sealed know. They don’t walk around wondering if they’re sealed, they know.
Ephesians 1:13-14ESV In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
1 John 2:20ESV But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge
Revelation 9:5-6ESV They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
Seeking death because of 5 months of torment. However, once again, Death will flee from them.
Revelation 9:5-6TM They were ordered to torture but not kill, torture them for five months, the pain like a scorpion sting. When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won’t find a way—death will have gone into hiding.
Revelation 9:7-10ESV In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.
Horses but a whole lot more. Their assignment will be to torment mankind. For most—repentance will not be in their vocabulary.
Revelation 9:11ESV They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.?
Everyone will have a king over them, even atheist. P.H
Though uncontrollable by any human power, they are not independent of the rule of God. He keeps them imprisoned in the abyss (bottomless pit), and even when He releases them He determines the extent of their activity (9:1-3).
Revelation 9:12ESV The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
As a horse trainer, woe meant stop. It’s one of the first things taught by the trainer of a horse.
In God’s Kingdom—Woe, means a whole lot more. Woe, is used to get our attention, It’s a strong warning to change paths, or directions. Here, woe is used to announce plagues and such. P.H
Revelation 9:13-14ESV Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
Release the enemies of God! Notice, God’s in complete charge or rule over these four angels. Remember from Revelation 9:11, their satanic leader whose name, whether in Hebrew or Greek, means ‘destroyer.’
Revelation 9:15ESV So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
Again, Released to kill. These angels fit Jesus’ criteria set in John 10:10TPT A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!
Revelation 9:16-19ESV The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.
According to the latest census, 7.7 Billion People 2019. So one-third of that will be about 2 billion, 5 hundred million, and eighty un-repented people destroyed at this time. www.quora.com
Revelation 9:20-21ESV The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Pastor Chuck Smith made this simple statement about Revelation 9:20-21, If your life is not being governed by Jesus Christ, then Satan is controlling your life.
He goes on to say—Today people are not really honest. They like to deny that their god is Molech or Mammon.
Just because you do not have an idol before which you pray and offer sacrifices, the truth is that pleasure is your god, or power is your god.
A person's god is the master passion of their life.
If pleasure is the main pursuit of your life, then you are a worshipper of Molech.
If education is the greatest passion of your life, then you are a worshipper of Baal.
If the desire for power controls your life, then mammon is your god.
If your sexual desires control your life then you are a worshipper of Ashtoreth.
If a man does not believe in the God who created him, then with his head, he creates his own god.
Non repentance, or atheism, becomes god. Atheism can be defined as the worship of your own self.
Romans 1:21-32TPT Throughout human history. the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. 22 Although claiming to be wise, they were in fact shallow fools. 23 For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles!
24 This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires. They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— 25 all because they traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served the things God made rather than the God who made all things—glory and praises to him forever and ever! Amen! 26–27 For this reason God gave them over to their own disgraceful and vile passions. Enflamed with lust for one another, men and women ignored the natural order and exchanged normal sexual relations for homosexuality. Women engaged in lesbian conduct, and men committed shameful acts with men, receiving in themselves the due penalty for their deviation. 28 And because they thought it was worthless to embrace the true knowledge of God, God gave them over to a worthless mind-set, to break all rules of proper conduct. 29 Their sinful lives became full of every kind of evil, wicked schemes, greed, and cruelty. Their hearts overflowed with jealous cravings, and with conflict and strife, which drove them into hateful arguments and murder. They are deceitful liars full of hostility. They are gossips 30 who love to spread malicious slander. With inflated egos they hurl hateful insults at God, yet they are nothing more than arrogant boasters. They are rebels against their parents and totally immoral. 31 They are senseless, faithless, ruthless, heartless, and completely merciless. 32 Although they are fully aware of God’s laws and proper order, and knowing that those who do all of these things deserve to die, yet they still go headlong into darkness, encouraging others to do the same and applauding them when they do!
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10ESV For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
“As a believer, whether you know what’s going on or not, Jesus is coming for you!' ‘So wake up, sober up, and dress up, because you are going up at any moment.’ ‘Be aware of the times. Prepare for the trip.’ ‘And as you wait, do it with eager anticipation.” P.H
Benediction.
