Turn with me to the book of Revelation
chapter 9. Last week we began the first
part of the ninth chapter. which actually, and I will not
labor over those things that were said last week, but just
to bring us to that point. In the thirteenth verse of the
eighth chapter, John heard an angel flying through the midst
of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the
inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet
of the three angels which are yet to sound." Now remember,
these trumpets, there were seven seals that were opened by the
Lord Jesus Christ. In these seven seals, we were
told how Almighty God preserves His people in the midst of this
world. At the seventh seal being opened,
there were to be seven trumpets that would sound. The seven trumpets
set forth the judgment of God that is poured out upon this
world But these trumpets did not sound until all who were
the servants of God, the elect, the chosen by the Father Himself
were sealed, were kept, and His name was written in their forehead. As we looked and listened to
the trumpets being sounded, we came to after the fourth one
was sounded in the eighth chapter. The fifth trumpet was being prepared
to be sounded, and before that fifth trumpet sounded, an angel
went through and announced that there was going to be woe, woe,
woe. When that fifth trumpet sounded
in the beginning of the ninth chapter, John said he saw a star
fall from heaven unto the earth, and to that star was given the
key of the bottomless pit. That star was Satan himself. The Lord said, I saw Satan fall
from heaven as lightning. A key was given to him, which
means that he didn't possess it. A key is that which symbolizes
the ability to open. You have a key to a door, you
can open the door. Without the key, you can't open
the door. A key was given to him because all power in heaven
and earth belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. I've heard men
falsely say that Satan has power and Christ has power and they're
both vying for the souls of men. That's a lie. Satan has no power
but that which is given unto him, and we saw that when we
looked in the book of Job when Satan had gone about throughout
the earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The Lord
asked him, Have you considered my servant Job? Satan told him
in so many words, he said, You can't do anything to Him as long
as you've got Him hedged about. How can I get to Him? You're
protecting Him. How am I going to get to Him?
The Lord allowed Satan to get to Him, but only as far as the
Lord allowed it. In the second verse of that ninth
chapter, He opened the bottomless pit, and there arose smoke out
of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the
air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit." This smoke
we looked at was false religion, heresy, that which blinds and
covers over the sun. It comes out of the bottomless
pit. Therefore, as we are looking
now at this next portion of Scripture, realizing in verse 3 that in
that smoke, We're going to see something that's going to actually
come out of that smoke. It says in verse 3, "...there
came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them
was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And
it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of
the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but
only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that
they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented
five months. And their torment was as the
torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man. And in those
days shall men seek death, and shall not find it, and shall
desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes
of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle,
and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their
faces were as the faces of men, and they had hair as the hair
of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions, and they
had breastplates as it were breastplates of iron. And the sound of their
wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails likened to
scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power
was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them,
which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew
tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past, and behold,
there come two more woes more hereafter." Now, I don't know
how far we'll get this morning. That is one thought. That's the
first of the last three woes that the angel that flew through
said, woe, woe, woe. realizing that this is judgment
that God is pouring out on this earth. We look and we realize
that these words set forth something that we are actually beholding.
We are seeing it right now. The Scripture says that these
locusts are said to come out of the smoke. Now, realizing
that these locusts, and we'll look and figure out, Lord willing,
just exactly who are these locusts? What are these locusts? They
came out, the Scripture says, of the smoke. So they were not
distinctly seen. They came out of the smoke. It
was hazy. But the smoke, obviously, was
their hiding place. That's what it says. They came
out of the smoke. Turn back a few, just back to
Jude, just before the book of Revelation. If this smoke is
deception, and it is, this deception, this smoke, haze that comes out
of the bottomless pit, what is or who are these that come out
of the smoke? In Jude chapter, well, there's
only one chapter, it says, In verse 3, Jude 3, Beloved, when
I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that
you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept
in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness
and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, listen, the Scriptures set
forth that there are without a doubt, there are false And
we're going to look, I'm going to look at about three or four
things here and show you what the Word of God says concerning
these men. These locusts, and it's symbolic. Now you know these locusts are
symbolic, and here again I'll show you why I'm trying not to
get ahead of myself. But these locusts, they come
out of the smoke. These locusts are actually, and
we'll see this, Lord willing, in a minute, These are false
preachers. Now, Jude says that these men,
there are certain men that have crept in unawares. That crept
in means they lodge stealthily. You know what a stealth fighter
is, a bomber. It's a plane that's not easily
detected on radar. Stealth. You can't see it. You
can't figure out. They've crept in and lodged stealthily. They're there. They're out of
the smoke. It's just a hazy thing. But these men, Jude said, certain
men crept in unawares is actually one word. It's defined as one
word. Crept in unawares. It means to
lodge stealthily. But these men, the Scripture
says, before of old, ordained." That is, they were written before. Whenever we read of how the Lord
has ordained us to eternal life, ordained us from the beginning,
written before. When was the believer's name
written in the book of life? Here again, I brought this out.
I've heard when I was in religion coming up that whenever a person
came and gave their heart to Jesus, and that their name was
written in the Book of Life by an angel. An angel wrote their
name in the Book of Life. Scripture doesn't say that. Somebody
made that up. We've heard it, so therefore,
you know, well, we just believe it. Why? Because we always heard
it. But that doesn't make it so. When does the Scripture say
that the names were written in the Book of Life? Well, the Scripture
says in Revelation 17 whose names were written before the foundation
of the world. These men were ordained. And that word ordained means
it was written before. They were ordained to condemnation. I looked up that word condemnation.
Do you know what it means? The decision. That's what it
means. The decision. Decision for or
decision against. But it's the decision. Whose
decision was it? Almighty God has purposed to
leave a man to himself to do exactly what he wants to do or
to give that man a heart and to not leave him in darkness. If God Almighty leaves a man
to himself, that man will do exactly what he wants to do and
God Almighty will judge him for what that man decided that he
would do. Whenever Adam rebelled against
God, whose decision was it? He had got a decision. Man is
going to make a decision. And Adam made the decision. For all mankind, Adam made a
decision. What did he do? I decide I'm
going to rebel against God. That's what I'm going to do.
I've heard men say, but it's not fair what you're preaching.
God ought to give all men a chance. He did. All men had a chance
in Adam. And every man in Adam decided
to rebel against God. Give a man a chance. I tell you
what a man is going to do. He will rebel against God every
time. Man says, You don't know that. God said he would. Now let every
man be a liar and let God be true. These men, the Scripture
says, have crept in unawares, their wolves in sheep's clothing,
described as locusts because of their destructive manner,
and they do nothing but leave desolation in their wake. Let me ask you something. How
do you know? How do you know? that these men
are liars. Number one, turn to Galatians
1. Galatians chapter 1, verse 6 to 9. How do you know? How do you know that I'm telling
you the truth? What basis do you rest your soul
on this morning? of what I'm telling you, Freddy,
is the truth. How do you know? Well, Galatians 1, 6-9, I marvel,
Paul says, that you're so soon removed from Him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is
not another. But there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ, but though we are
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As
we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be
accursed." Someone says, I see where the Scripture right
here says, if any man preaches any other gospel unto you, but
how do I know you're preaching the gospel? Everybody says they're
preaching the gospel. Everybody. Everybody says that. We're preaching the gospel. What
is the gospel? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1 to 4,
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand,
by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you, first of all, that which also I received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was
buried and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. So I know this. I know that these
men, the Scripture says, they've crept in unawares. The Scripture
says that I know that they're not of God because they don't
preach the Gospel. Well, then you say, well, what
is the gospel? Well, Paul said it's the gospel, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. I started to
write down this morning the scriptures that talks about how Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures, and I thought we'd
be here a long time, Brother Scott. But I've got one other
question that I think will nail this down. What does the scriptures say?
If I know that He died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
is there a Scripture that sets forth the difference between
what a false prophet is preaching and what God's preachers are
preaching? Turn with me to Romans 11, 1-8. Romans 11, 1-8. Paul says, I say then, hath God
cast away his people? God forbid, for I am an Israelite
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not
cast away his people, which he foreknew. What, or know ye not
what the scripture saith of Elias? How he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy people,
the prophets, and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone,
and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then,
at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election
of grace." Now here, in the next few verses, is going to give
you what the Scripture says. He died according to the Scriptures. He rose again according to the
Scriptures. And if, verse 6, by grace, then
it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise the work
is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it,
and the rest were blinded, according as it is written, God hath given
them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and
ears that they should not hear unto this day." Turn back a few
pages to Romans 4. Romans 4, verse 1 to 5. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? If Abraham
were justified by works, now listen to me, try as hard as
a man can to say that he believes in salvation totally by grace. He says, I believe in salvation
by grace. God, in their explanation, offers
salvation to a man. A woman. He offers salvation
and He says, they say, if you will accept it, God will graciously
save you. That's not grace. That is works
no matter how you look at it. If I offer you this pair of glasses,
you go, Gary, they're yours. They're yours, free grace. All
you've got to do is accept it. If you do anything, then you
did something. What is salvation by grace? Verse 2 of Romans 4 says, If
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but
not before God. Women that believe that salvation
is an offer, that God offers men or women salvation, and if
they take it, this is the bottom line. I know I didn't do much, but at least I believed. You didn't, but I did. I walked
down the aisle. I gave my heart to Jesus. And
therefore, He saved me. You have whereof the glory, but
not before God. What saith the Scripture? Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now
I'm going to tell you what this Scripture, what verse 3 means.
And if you want to, later we can go by and I'll show you the
Scripture to back this up. But for the sake of time in Revelation,
This is what Abraham believed. Abraham believed God and it,
you know what the it there is? That righteousness was imputed
to him by grace. Abraham believed that Almighty
God imputed the righteousness of Christ to him. Not that Abraham's
faith was what God looked at and counted for righteousness.
Faith is the evidence. It is the means by which Almighty
God teaches a man or teaches a woman what He has done freely
by grace. Now, to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not. but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." His faith
is the evidence that Almighty God has justified him freely
by grace. This is salvation according to
the Scriptures, that Almighty God saves a man, saves a woman
without any effort on their part. If a man or woman is ungodly
and realizes it before Almighty God in themselves, that man or
woman has got some hope. They have seen themselves in
need of a Savior. Well, back in Revelation 9, it
came out of the smoke, locusts. And the Scripture says that these
were given power as the scorpions of the earth. These scorpions,
the Scripture says, in verse 4, it was commanded them that
they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green
thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not
the seal of God in their foreheads. Now, the Scripture reveals that
these are not real locusts. Real locusts eat grass. Real
locusts eat wheat. Real locusts eat barley. Real
locusts devastate the vegetation of this world. These locusts,
that they should not hurt the grass, neither any green thing,
any tree, but only those men. Now, a locust, a true locust,
doesn't bother a man. So these locusts right here we're
seeing are not truly these things that we and television and stuff
like that that fly through and destroy these fields and devastate
this vegetation. These locusts are men that Almighty
God has revealed to be false prophets. In 2 Corinthians 11,
verse 1 to 4, Paul says, 2 Corinthians 11, 1 to 4, "...Would to God
you should bear with me a little in my folly, And indeed, bear
with me. Paul says, I am jealous over
you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear less by any means
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he
that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
Or if you receive another spirit which you've not received, or
another gospel which you've not accepted, you might well bear
with him. Look at verse 13 to 15. For such
are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no
great thing if his ministers also, that is, ministers of Satan,
transform Wait, let me start over at verse 15. Therefore,
it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
The Scriptures are saying that these locusts that come out of
this smoke, they're given power as the scorpions of the earth
have power. They poison men with heresy and
sting them with false religion, and men do not know it. until
according to Proverbs 7, their heart is pierced and struck through
like a dart. These locusts from the pit, false
preachers, they are under, the Scripture says, the divine constraint
of Almighty God. It was commanded them, verse
4, that they should not hurt the grass of the field, neither
any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which
have not the seal of God in their foreheads." They have no power
over God's elect. None. They preach a false gospel. They set forth a false Christ.
They make salvation to be by works. And only those that have
the seal of God upon them won't believe it. Only those. And to them, verse 5, it was
given that they should not kill them, but that they should be
tormented. Now who are they tormenting? Those men, verse 4, which have
not the seal of God in their foreheads. Now remember what
we're seeing right here. Don't think that this is going
to be one of those days. This is going on right now. Right
now, in this world that we live in, this is happening. Do you
not think that there are false preachers? Paul said back in
Corinthians, we just looked, he says, brethren, I'm jealous
of you with a godly jealousy. Someone says, well, you just
sound a little bit too hard. No, I'm not. Do you know that
only a man that loves you will tell you the truth? Would you rather that Almighty
God reveal the truth to us now and teach us of Himself now than
to stand before Him in that day and hear Him say, I never knew
you? This is by the indescribable mercy of Almighty God that God
reveals, number one, that there are false preachers, and number
two, what they're doing, what they're saying. Verse 5, it was
given, that is, to the locusts, the false preachers, that they
should not kill them, who? Those that have not the seal
of God upon them. They couldn't kill them. Why? Because Deuteronomy 32, 39 says,
the Lord speaking, He says, There is no God with Me. He said, I
kill and I make alive. These locusts are not killing
men in the sense right now going through stinging them or biting
them or something like that. No, no. This is going on right
now. What are they doing? They shouldn't
kill them, but that they should be tormented for five months. And their torment was as the
torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man. Now, that they,
that is, those without the seal of God, should be tormented for
five months." Now, when I first read that, I thought, you know,
and as I read this, I realized that this is the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. As we look in this book, we realize
that if these things are actually going on right now, and this
is something that we see and witness right now, then we realize
that there are some things that are being said that appear to
say one thing, and unless we understand what the word means,
we miss the meaning of it. The Scripture says, obviously,
we realize that there is strong delusion that has come out from
the bottomless pit. We realize that there are locusts
shown to be those that come out of the smoke stealthily, crept
in unawares. And they are actually going about
and have the power from Almighty God given to them, the Scripture
says, to not hurt grass and stuff, but those only that have not
the seal of God. And that they shouldn't kill
them because God Almighty is the One who possesses death in
His hands. He said, I kill. You don't kill,
I kill. It's appointed unto man who wants
to die. I'll put it. But what are they going to do?
They're going to torment these for five months. When I began
to look at that word and torment, I thought, okay, if this is going
on now and I know that there's false preachers and if those
that have not the seal of God upon them and God's name is not
written and they're being tormented, I think of torment in the sense
of just great pain and just writhing and hurting. They're tormenting.
And I think of these things, these locusts, stinging them
or something, and that's not what's being said. Torment. They're tormenting them for five
months. Well, the word torment there
means to test. To test. That's what the word
torment means. Look it up. And actually, it
means to test by the touchstone. Now, I'll explain that to you
just like I had to read it for myself. A touchstone, I found
out, was a stone used to test the purity of silver or gold
by rubbing either metal, silver or gold, on this stone. If someone claimed that this
is pure gold right here. A touchstone was something that
you could rub that metal on. And if there was a certain mark
that was left on that touchstone by either gold or silver, then
that touchstone revealed that that's not real gold and it's
not real silver. That rubbing right there is called
torment. Same word, torment. That they
should torment these that have not the seal of God for five
months." Now, what are they actually being tormented concerning? What are they being tested for? Well, concerning God's people,
they are shown to be true believers in what they believe. 1 Peter
1.7 says of the believer that the trial of your faith. And believers are tried. They're
tried. You're being tried right now.
You're being shown, proven, proving ground. But the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the peering of Jesus Christ, whenever A believer is
tried against the gospel, the touchstone itself. They are shown
to be true believers. Why? Because they believe the
gospel, Paul says, that we preached unto you. The gospel according
to the Scriptures. How that Christ was raised, buried,
and raised. They died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. The gospel, Paul, that we preached
to you. This torment or testing will
be that which shows the wicked to be false. How do we know that
a man or a woman is not one of God's? It's because they die
in unbelief. And it might be that there are
some right now that believe not the gospel. Does that mean that
they're not one of God's elect? No. It doesn't mean that at all. But I tell you this, if they
die in unbelief, it will prove it to be so. This torment, the
Scripture says, these locusts, it was commanded that they shouldn't
hurt grass, but only those that have not the seal. It was given
unto them, verse 5, they shouldn't kill them, but that they should
torment them for five months. The five months, what that is,
that is a period of time when actual locusts, real bugs that
we know of, I found out that that was the average time for
locusts, the lifespan of a locust, somewhere between May and September.
Or it was the given time that they should be able to afflict
all those that have not the seal. Now, this time or this period,
this five months, that is just a A period of time, that's how
long they last. How long does a man live? As long as Almighty God allows
him to live. Five months, that's the average
time. What's the average time of a
man's lifespan? Well, the Scripture says somewhere
around, you know, 3 score and 10, about 70, a little more,
a little less, somewhere in that area. Five months, these locusts
were lived. The average period of time. And their torment, though, The
Scripture says, was the torment of a scorpion when he striketh
a man. After this five months, it says
that they tormented him for five months. Tormented five months,
average lifespan. And their torment was of a scorpion,
as a scorpion, when he strikes a man. After five months are
the general or average life of an unbeliever. He goes through
this life. He was tormented. He was tested.
He was tried. He was proven. He was shown.
And after that period of time, that torment was as the torment
of a scorpion. When that revelation before Almighty
God, which has been proven by these false prophets, it's going
to sting a man initially. and eternally. Matthew chapter
7. Matthew 7. We're going to read this. You
know, I got to thinking, when I read that at first, I thought,
well, you know, men are going through this world right now.
And I don't see people, as far as what I think of, torment,
writhing, You know, sitting in false churches and hurting and
stuff like this. What it means is they're being
tested and tried right now. Proven against the Gospel. The Gospel is being preached
in this world. It's being preached in Katy.
I'm convinced I'll rest my soul on this truth right here concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Scripture says after
five months, These men are tormented. Their torment is going to be
shown to be as a scorpion when it strikes a man. Got him. Phelps,
you ever been stung by a wasp? You know? Buddy, I mean, all
of a sudden, that's serious business. A hornet? A scorpion? Serious business. Matthew chapter 7. I just quoted
this, but let's read it. Matthew 7, verse 21, Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, And oh my, how many are
saying that today. I believe. I believe in the Lord.
I believe in the Lord. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. What is the
will of the Father in heaven? I've brought this out before,
but boy, how many times do we need to hear it. This is the
will of God. This is the will of Him that
sent me that you believe. Believe what? believe that Almighty
God justifies the ungodly without works. Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied Your name? In
Thy name have we not cast out devils? In Thy name have done
many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me that work iniquity. In that day, After a man, a woman,
has been tormented for five months, tested against the touchstone
of the gospel, and proven to be false gold, not real, the
mark of life is not left. Their torment is going to be,
the Scripture says, as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes
a man. When they hear him say, there
is no words to describe the depth of hearing Him say, Depart from
Me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Bind Him hand
and foot and cast Him into outer darkness." Oh, how thankful,
thankful that Almighty God would seal a man and seal a woman and
give them a heart after Christ to say, Don't leave me to myself. Lord, I come. Lord, I believe. Lord, if You save me, I'm saved. If it's left up to me to save
myself, I have absolutely no hope, no peace, no comfort. God, keep me from looking to
my own works of self-righteousness and thinking that I have in myself
done something to merit your salvation. God Almighty justifies
the ungodly and teaches that man or that woman this, you've
done nothing. I saved you by grace. I saved
you apart from yourself. You have nothing, nothing in
my hand I bring. Simply to Christ I cling. He's my hope. He's my peace. Do you believe God justifies
the ungodly apart from any works? Not by works of righteousness
that we've done. According to His mercy. Mercy. Lord, I couldn't save myself. Lord, I couldn't keep myself.
Lord, I can't do anything. Lord, I can't even believe unless
You cause me today to believe. Give me a heart today to believe.
Oh, listen. Look to Christ. The Scripture
says, Why will you perish? Why? Why will you perish? Cast yourself upon the mercy
of Almighty God. If you have a heart to do that,
He gave you that heart. He put that there. I'll give
my heart. Thy people shall be willing in the day of your power.
They come. They come willingly. They look
to Him. Well, my time's up. Lord willing,
we'll pick up there tonight. Okay.