September 21, 2003
Title: Tribulation
Text: Rev. 9:20-21; 16:9, 11; 3:19
Introduction
1. A couple weeks ago, I faced quite a challenge as I endeavored to share a 1-sermon summary of the 7,000 year plan from Creation to Eternity.
A. This week, I faced another challenging endeavor in my desire to share with you 1 sermon on the Tribulation.
Although the Tribulation only lasts 7 years, there is SO MUCH that goes on during those 7 years...
that I was somewhat overwhelmed at the task.
B. The Tribulation is covered in 3 of the Gospels in what is called "The Olivet Discourse"
This is an extensive conversation that Jesus had with some of His disciples on the Mount of Olives.
It is also covered in the Book of Daniel...
and the Book of Revelation...
and perhaps to a smaller degree in other books of the Bible.
I was tempted to divide this up into several sermons...
but I really wanted to have a good 1-sermon summary of this important event in Scripture.
2. The Tribulation is mainly made up of three 7-fold judgments upon the world
A. The 7 Seals
B. The 7 Trumpets
C. The 7 Bowls
Read Text: Rev. 9:20-21; 16:9, 11; 3:19
Body
1. The 7 Seals
A. Seal #1: White Horse Rev 6:2
The First seal has the picture of CONQUEROR
This paints a picture of the Anti-Christ coming as a conqueror.
B. The 2nd Seal: Red Horse Rev 6:4
The Red horse is symbolic of warfare and bloodshed.
Jesus Christ, in His Olivet Discourse, refers to "wars and rumors of wars" Mt. 24:6
Throughout the 7 year Tribulation there will be much war and bloodshed (even though the anti-christ will be seen as bringing in a period of peace).
C. The 3rd Seal: Black Horse Rev. 6:5-6
The black horse symbolizes famine
When war comes, inflation and famine often come too.
Also, several of the other judgments that we will talk about in a moment will bring horrific environmental effects...
which will make growing crops nearly impossible.
D. The 4th Seal: Pale Horse Rev 6:8
The Pale horse represents Death.
1/4 of the population of earth will be destroyed by sword (red horse)
famine (black horse)
and death.
E. The 5th Seal: Martyrdom of Christians Rev. 6:9-11
The white robe symbolizes their purity...
and that they are ultimately victorious...
even though they died a martyr’s death.
F. The 6th Seal: Great Earthquake Rev 6:11-15
With the opening of the 6th seal, several horrific events take place...
a huge earthquake that literally shakes the whole world..moving mountains and islands.
the sun will become black...and the moon red Joel 2:31 says, "Joel 2:31 The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before that great and terrible day when I appear.
stars will fall to the ground like figs from a fig tree in the wind.
At this point, the situation on earth will be so terrible that Scripture says, "The kings of the earth, its famous people, and its military leaders hid in caves or behind rocks on the mountains. They hid there together with the rich and the powerful and with all the slaves and free people. Then they shouted to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us! Hide us from the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb. That terrible day has come! God and the Lamb will show their anger, and who can face it?" (Rev 6:15-17 CEV)
G. In Rev. 7, it describes the picture of Christians in the Presence of Christ, John writes, "After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb." (Rev 7:9-10 CEV)
Then verse 14 says, "These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
And, therefore, many Christians believe that the Rapture will have occurred by this time...
and thus the remainder of this time is experienced by those who will be left behind.
While we Christians are in the presence of the Lord. Scripture describes it so beautifully. " Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Rev 7:15-17 WEB)
H. The 7th Seal: Silence from Heaven Rev 8:1, 6
With the opening of the 7th seal, there is silence from heaven...
And it also sets the next 7-fold judgment loose, the 7 Trumpets.
2. THe 7 Trumpets: This next round of judgments are even more terrible
A. 1st Trumpet: hail, fire and blood. Rev. 8:7
1/3 of the earth will burned up, including trees and grass.
B. 2nd Trumpet: a huge mountain, all ablaze falls into the ocean. Rev. 8:9
This sounds like a huge meteor or asteroid hitting the earth...
As a result of this catastrophy, 1/3 of the sea will turn to blood, killing sea creatures, and taking out 1/3 of all the ships.
C. 3rd Trumpet: Another meteor or asteroid, called "wormwood" because of all the death and destruction that is causes. Rev. 8:10-11
This catastrophy takes out 1/3 of the fresh waters.
D. 4th Trumpet: loss of light... Rev. 8:12
1/3 of the light from the sun, the stars, and the moon will be lost.
E. And, if that were bad enough, John tells us that he saw and heard an eagle saying, "Rev 8:13 I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe! Woe! Woe for those who dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, who are yet to sound!"
F. The 5th Trumpet: Locust/scorpions. Rev. 9:3-11
Another star falls to the earth opening up an abyss...
out of the abyss comes locusts that had the ability to sting like scorpions.
Scripture tells us that this sting will be so horrible that people will wish they could die...but will not be able to.
The locusts will be given the power to torment mankind for 5 months...
which, interestingly, is the average lifespan of a locust.
G. The 6th Trumpet: 4 angels leading an army of 200,000,000 troops Rev. 9:13-21
The horses that these troops are riding have heads like lions...
and they are able to inflict death by the fire, smoke and sulfer from their mouths...
and from their tails, which resembled snakes that will be able to inflict injury that way.
1/3 of all mankind will be killed...
you would think that the remainder would finally repent of their wickedness.
but no...Rev. rev 9:20-21 says, "But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent from the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and of wood, which neither are able to see nor to hear nor to walk. And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their drugs, nor of their fornication or their thefts." (Rev 9:20-21 EMTV)
H. The 7th Trumpet: Just like the 7th Seal, which opened the way for the judgment of the 7 trumpets... Rev. 11:15-19; 15:1
So also, the 7th Trumpet opens the way from the 7-fold judgments of the 7 bowls
3. The 7 Bowls
A. The First Bowl Rev 16:2
All who take the mark of the beast will break out in ugly and painful sores.
B. The 2nd Bowl Rev 16:3
Turns all the sea into blood.
Every living thing in the ocean dies.
C. The 3rd Bowl Rev 16:4-7
All the fresh water, rivers, and lakes turns in to blood
D. The 4th Bowl Rev 16:8
The sun had the power to scorch people with fire..
they were burned by the sun
but, in spite of this, Scripture tells us that the people still refused to repent.
E. The 5th Bowl Rev. 16:10
The sun now becomes dark...
Things always seem worse at night.
men are still suffering from their sores...
and they are in agony.
Scripture tells us that they gnaw their tongues in agony...
they curse God...
and they still refuse to repent.
F. The 6th Bowl Rev 16:12
Dries up the Euphrates River in preparation for the Battle of Armeggedon
(which we will talk about more next week)
G. The 7th Bowl Rev 16:17-21
With the 7th Bowl, comes a huge earthquake, such as never before experienced in the history of mankind.
Along with the terrible earthquake, comes hail stones weighing in at 100 pounds.
And a voice from heaven proclaims, "It is done"!
Conclusion
1. I have quickly covered the main parts of the Tribulation...
A. The 3 seven-fold judgments upon mankind...
B. There are other things going on concurrently with these judgments...
The rise of the Anti-Christ
During the first 3 1/2 years of Tribulation, there are 2 prophets prophesying about all these things... Rev 11.
Some commentators believe these prophets are Moses and Elijah, or Enoch.
After 3 1/2 years, they are killed by the Anti-Christ... Rev. 11:7-12
But then, after 3 1/2 days, they are raised from the dead.
And ascended on high.
C. The Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt...
The Anti-Christ will re-instate animal sacrifices
And then he will later stop them about mid-Tribulation
D. There is also much mention about the "unholy" trinity...as opposed to the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit)
The unholy trinity are: Satan, Anti-Christ, and the Beast. Rev 12 & 13 et. al.
2. The Tribulation will end with the 2nd Coming of Christ, and the Battle of Armageddon. (which we will talk about next week)
A. And following that is the Millennium (which we will talk about in 2 weeks)
3. The point that I want to make very clearly this morning is...
A. NOW IS THE TIME OF REPENTENCE!!
I know people that think that they will just delay becoming a Christian...
and if the Tribulation comes, they will just refuse the mark of the beast.
That’s all fine and good....
but John has seen all this already...
What he has written in PROPHESY...
It contains the Biblical record of what WILL take place at some point in the future...
And over and over again, in the Book of Revelation, Scripture tells us,
Revelation 9:20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
Rev. 9:21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts
Rev. 16:9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. Rev 16:9 (NIV)
Rev. 16:11, They cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. Rev 16:11 (NIV)
"they refused to repent"
To the Church in Thyatira, Jesus said, "I have give her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling"
To the Church in Laodicea, Jesus said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent Rev 3:19 (KJV)
B. You might be surprized that the people refused to repent...
even after God came upon the people in powerful judgment...
you would think that they would repent...
you would think that they would be sorry for what they had done...
But I don’t find it surprising in the least...
Week after week, in pulpits all around the world...
people are given the opportunity to repent...
Jesus said that He is actively speaking to His people...
and He calls us to repentance...
Now...
before it is too late.
But the altar call largely falls upon deaf ears...
people think that they will take care of that spiritual business later...
at another time...
some are even arrogant enough to think that they will repent during the tribulation...
even after hearing John say that the people will refuse to repent...
4. What is wrong with people today?
A. Why are they so reluctant?
Is it because following Christ is too difficult?
Is it because they don’t find being a Christian desireable?
Is it because they don’t want to give up their life of sin?
B. I’ve always felt like it was better to become a Christian out of a spirit of love and humilty for sin...
instead of a spirit of fear...
but if fear is what it takes to get some people to repent...
then I hope that thoughts of the Tribulation are so frightening to some people...
that they realize how important it is to become a Christian now...
to make sure they avoid the horrific judgments that are coming...
C. Is Jesus rebuking and chastizing you today?
Well, Scripture says that just means that He loves you!!!
He loves you and wants what it best for you...
and what is best...
Is for you to repent of your sin...
and for you to have a personal relationship with Him
2 Corinthians 6:2 God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation. 2 Cor 6:2 (NLT)
