Episode Transcript
Welcome to Countdown. Back to the future. Glad you've joined us. We're going to be looking this time at Holocaust, but horizons of hope. Sounds a bit scary, doesn't it? But thank God we're going to see the tremendous love of God in what we're going to be talking about. What we want to be sharing in this presentation is actually the seven last plagues. Now that sounds pretty scary right off the bat, doesn't it? But we're going to see some amazing things as we journey through this presentation together. Notice what the Bible says. John says, then I saw another sign in heaven. Great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is filled up the wrath of God. Now what the Bible is telling us here is that the plagues fall as a result of the rebellious world. And that world has been separated from God because they choose to hold on to sin. So God removes his protective hand, you see, and all the hellish forces now break loose, so to speak. God has to remove his protective hand. He's held things back as long as he can. Remember we saw in an earlier presentation, the angels are holding things back because people are not yet ready. But finally God has to let go. Now here's a good question that we need to answer, and that is this one. Do God's people go through the tribulation? Let's notice what the Bible says because there are many people who think that no God's people are taken out. Before the tribulation comes these last plagues. The Bible says after this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Now notice what it says about these people, what they've gone through. These are they who have come out of the great tribulation, meaning they've gone through and come out the other end. They've come out of the great tribulation. The plagues, they've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore, nor, says the Bible, the sun shall not strike them anymore. Cause that's one of the plagues. Scorching heat. God's going to look after his people. So God protects his people in the plagues, they go through them. But God protects his people just like he did in Egypt. He protected his people from those plagues that fell on the Egyptians. I love the way the Bible makes this promise that God will protect us in what's coming on this planet. Notice what the Bible says Psalms, those who live in the secret place of the Most High. That means those who have a relationship with God, they have. God made God their number one in life. They're following God. In other words, those who live in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. You know, like on a scorching heat, you find shade. God's going to be the shade of his people. He shall cover you with his feathers like a mother hen covers her chickens. He will cover you with his feathers. And under his wings you shall trust. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. Now, let's just stop there for a moment. In this series of presentations in Countdown Back to the Future, we've been sharing truth after truth after truth, because truth is vital. Truth will shield us in that day because we've been following the truth that is. And God will protect those who make truth his truth, theirs. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walks in the darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at your side, 10,000 at your right side, your right. But it shall not come near you, not going to touch you. Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked. Yes, tragically, we'll see what's happening around us. To people who haven't made God their shield, who haven't put their life in the hand of God, who have clung to sin. Your eyes shall see and behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation. The there shall no evil come to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. Why? For he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. What a God. My friend, we don't need to be afraid of the plagues. Not if we've got God as our friend. That's the security when we put our life in the hand of Jesus and say, lord, I will walk with you. I will follow you, my Savior. Nothing to be afraid of. God is going to protect his people now the plagues fall on Babylon and everyone inside of Babylon because of her sins. Notice what the Bible says. Go back to Revelation 18 after these things. I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He cried mightily with a loud voice saying, babylon the Great is fallen. It's fallen. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her sins. You can see why God says, come out my people. Leave Babylon. Don't stay there. In those denominations, those religions, those ideologies that are not following God's word, don't stay there. Run for your life. Only two groups, those in Babylon and those who come out of Babylon, who we saw are called the remnant in the Bible. Only two groups. So God says, come out my people. God has his children, but they must leave. Thank God that he shares that message with us. So let's look at these plagues now one by one. And what we're going to notice is these plagues are actually sort of similar in respect to the Egyptian plagues, where the plagues were actually against the various gods of the Egyptians, the various gods that they held in importance to them. God was saying, no, they're not really gods at all. These things are not really going to give you security. So let's notice the first plague. The first plague is sores. The Bible says this is what happens. The first, that's the first angel with the plague, the cup of plagues. He went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and there fell a terrible and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshiped his image. In other words, those people who worship the beast's image, the church state union in Protestant apostate America. Remember, we saw and upon those who take the beast's mark, which we see in the end time is Sunday worship. It'll be just that clear. So plagues on those who worship the image of the beast. They want this amalgamation of church and state union which is starting to form in that country, Protestant America today. We saw and those who take the beast mark, people you see, choose the beast mark. And what did we notice? The beast mark was Sunday, the first day. Even the church acknowledged this. We saw. Of course, the church claims that the change to Sunday was her act. And the act is a mark and authority in religious matters. Church of Rome says no. This is something that comes from us. We're allowed to do this, so to speak, but they're not allowed to do that because God says no. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, not Sunday. You see, how is it that people choose the beast mark? Notice what the Bible says, the way and why they choose it. No one could buy or sell unless they had the mark. Do you see why People are going to take the mark. They received the mark for economic security. They want to buy and sell. They want to have their job that may be on Sabbath, rather than give up the job to follow God's Sabbath. No, we want to buy and sell, so we must keep our job or we must, you know, we must take the beast mark so we can buy and sell food. But sadly, too late. They discover that the beast mark fails to deliver economic security. It doesn't work, and people are marked with sores. Tragically, in the end of time, what God is trying to shout to people because it seems they're not listening. And sometimes he has to shout loudly. He's saying, listen, Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, he is our only security. Not in the beast's mark, not in worshiping the image of the beast. Number two, plague. The Bible says the sea turns to blood. Notice what the Bible says. And the second angel poured out his bowl upon the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man. And every living soul died in the sea. So the sea appears like the blood of a dead person. The Bible says. Now you remember in the book of Revelation, the sea, of course, has been representing humanity in the symbolic sense, the masses of humanity. You see, people often think that security lies in following the crowd, right? Peer pressure, we call it. Dads always belong to this religion, so I have to belong to this religion. Mum's always followed this way, so I'll have to follow this way. Or the priest does this, so I must do that, or the pastor. We follow the crowd, we follow others. We don't want to be on our own, stuck out like a sore thumb. You know, sometimes we have to stick out to follow God. Cause Jesus said the road to destruction is broad and most are going to go that way. But the road to the kingdom is narrow and few go that way. They needn't go the broad way. So, my friend, sadly, people think there's security in following the crowd. But too late, they realize that's not true. And sadly, the seas become like the blood of a dead man, literally. Security, you see, is found only in following Christ, not the crowd. Never forget that. Truth is never seen by how many do it. Truth is seen by what the Bible says. You see, most people thought they should kill Christ, but that wasn't right, was it? That wasn't the truth. Never think that security lies in following the crowd, my friend. Security lies only in following Christ through his word. Number three, plague. The rivers and the springs turned to blood tragically. I want you to Notice what the Bible says here. In Revelation chapter 16, the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the fountains of water, that is the springs, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, you are righteous, O Lord, who is and who was and who is to be. In other words, the eternal God. Because you have judged the way you have. For they have shed the blood of saints, that means God's friends and prophets. And you have given them blood to drink, for it is what they deserve. You see, tragically, people reject the water of life from Christ's servants. From God's servants. How do they do that? Well, they killed them hoping to find security in silencing them. That's one of the reasons for persecution. Let's get rid of the people who are speaking the truth so we can get rid of the conviction that comes to us who are not following the truth. So they try to silence the convictions by killing the messengers. And sadly, too late, the streams turn to blood for these people. Let's put it in modern day talk. One day many of these people sadly are going to go to the tap and turn on the tap and out will come blood instead of pure water. That's what God is trying to get across. Hey, listen, don't go that way. It leads to destruction. I love you. Don't go there. You see, people want these things. So God gives them what they want. He honors their choices. They wanted to kill God's servants. All right, now blood to drink. God never forces us to do anything. Security is only found in accepting Christ's servants messages, not in criticizing them or in getting rid of them. It doesn't work that way. That's where security is found, in accepting the message that comes from God's word. Plague number four, the Bible says, is scorching sun. The sun scorches people, the Bible Sundays. And the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. And power was given to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat. And they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues. And they repented not to give him glory. A second plague that deals with the sun. You see, people chose to worship on the day of the sun. And now God honours their choice. They refused the Sabbath, the seventh day. Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Bible. God's sign of true worship of the Creator. They refused it. So God says, all right, you wanted the Son, well you have to have the Son. I'll honor your choice. You see my friend, God Is speaking to us. God is shouting to us. Security is found only in resting with the Lord of the Sabbath on his day, not some other day. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you'll labor. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. That's when God's resting. Honor me. God says, join me. Worship me as creator. Plague number five. There is terrible darkness in the world. Notice what the Bible says. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the seat of the beast. This plague is destined for the sea beast. The Dark Age church revived in the end of time upon the leaders and his kingdom was full of darkness. And they gnawed their tongues for pain. In other words, this plague comes on the seat of the beast. That means the headquarters, sadly, of the leaders of the Church of Rome. That's what the Bible is saying here. John is predicting this is going to happen. Why? Well, sadly, they led people to follow the darkness of errors, as we already saw. How did that happen in the Dark Ages? Well, don't let people translate the Bible into their own language. There are other modern ways to get people not to follow what the Bible says. Let us be the interpreters of scripture rather than let people read the Bible and let God speak to them from the Bible. You see, the tragedy is they rejected the light of the world by following his word. They wanted darkness rather than light. So God says, I will honor your choice. And now the beast kingdom is plunged into darkness. So darkness so intense that darkness that people chew on their tongue. That's what the Bible says. They gnawed their tongues. But I want you to notice what happens. Even though these plagues have come and they blaspheme the God of Heaven, these church leaders, sadly, because of their pains and their sores, and they repented not of their deeds. The plagues didn't make them repent. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened. They had closed minds. You know what the Bible is telling us here, my friend, is this. It is dangerous to turn from Bible truth. It leads to darkness. I've had people attend my presentations who at first they see the beauty of the Bible and truth and they start to follow it. But then something is shared from this book that cuts across the path of somebody, some cherished thing that they want to keep doing. And they say, I'm not going to come anymore to those presentations. I don't want to listen anymore. Oh, my friends, that's dangerous. That's dangerous because if we keep that up, we will soon be calling light darkness and darkness light. That's why? Jesus said, walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you. I plead with you, my friend, if there's some things that God is speaking to you from this book that we've been sharing, follow the truth. Do what the Virgin Mary said. Whatever he says to you, do it. Good advice for all of us, isn't it? Don't turn from any truth, my friend. Cause once we turn from truth, we never know where we will end up, what we will end up doing. Security is only found in following the light of the world that comes through his word. The Bible. Now, plague number six is an interesting one. The Euphrates river is dried up, according to the Bible. Notice what the Bible Sundays. And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And do you know, there are many people who believe, oh, the Euphrates river there in Mesopotamia is now getting lower because of damming it up, that this is what it's talking about. No, my friend, it's much bigger than that. We've seen Revelation as a symbolic book. What's it saying here? Well, Euphrates was code for Babylon the Great, because Babylon sat on the river Euphrates. That's what we've already seen. So it's code for Babylon the Great. The Euphrates river ran through Babylon. It was Babylon's life support. Without the Euphrates River, Babylon would cease to be. You see these waters flowing in. They brought transport boats. Not only that, they irrigated the crops with the water of the Euphrates, kept things going for the people living in Babylon. It was the life support of Babylon, just like Nile was the life support for ancient Egypt. So the Bible is saying the Euphrates is going to be dried up. Now you remember we saw in a previous presentation that King Cyrus, a Medo Persian leader, came from the east, that's east of Babylon. And he came with his soldiers and he had a big fight with the Babylonians, remember outside the city. They won the battle. So the Babylonians withdrew inside the city of Babylon, thinking they were secure behind their big walls. Massive walls where you could have chariot on the walls, huge walls. They thought they were safe. And you remember that while Cyrus, the Medo Persian leader had surrounded the city, they were having a party inside. You remember the story? Actually we're told by ancient historians that there was a festival going on in Babylon that last night while they're drinking their wine, intoxicating drinks from God's. Temple vessels. Because the king said, let's get some of those vessels that we took away from the temple in Jerusalem. Let's drink out of them. Let's mock the God of heaven. So they praised the gods of wood and stone and gold and so on while they drank out of God's holy vessels from this temple. And then as they're partying on wine, women and song, suddenly there was that bloodless hand that wrote a message on the plaster of the palace wall. Mene mene teikil up Hassan. They wondered, what does it mean? Some strange omen of something to come. So they tried to get their astrologers to tell them, what does that mean? Nobody could tell them what it meant. The queen finally comes in, says, well, why don't you call Daniel in? So Daniel comes in, king says, listen, I'll make you the third ruler of Babylon. I'll give you a gold chain. And Daniel says, keep your chain, King, I'm not really interested. But I will tell you what that means because God has told me, king, you've been playing life in the fast lane. You've been ignoring God. And that says, you are weighed in the balances and you're found wanting. You don't come up right on those scales of judgment. Your kingdom is going to be given to the Medes and the Persians. And that very night the king lost his life, lost his eternal life. Living life in the fast lane. You see what happened after that. When the Medo Persians took the kingdom, they conquered Babylon and they let the Jewish people go home, go back home to Jerusalem. The kings from the east, they dried up the river. That's how they got into Babylon. Remember, they lowered the river level as it flowed through Babylon, lowered it, marched through, got inside the city that very night, kings from the east to deliver God's people. And that's what's going on here. In this picture that we have from John is drawing from the story of this great experience. Drying up of the river Euphrates by Cyrus. What did it mean? It meant, simply meant this. They could now gather the people, the masses of people had been flowing into Babylon because remember, the waters stand for multitudes of nations. And now it's been, it's being dried up. The support for Babylon is ceasing. That's what's going on here. The Bible says the waters which you saw are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. Babylon the great, just like ancient Babylon, supported by the masses who flow into her like the waters of ancient Babylon flowing to Babylon, keeping the city Going. So it's the masses of people that flow into Babylon the Great. The end time. Babylon the Great, made up of the dragon, the sea beast and the land beast. Babylon the Great. What is it? Christian and non Christian religions and worldviews that are not following God's word. They have their own opinion, their own traditions, their own teachings which are opposed to God's word. Non Christian religions and worldviews. The Church, the Dark age Church of Rome, revived in the end of time. Apostate Protestantism led by the United States. Apostate Protestantism. These three powers of Babylon, remember, they gather everyone to Armageddon. They gather everyone into Babylon. How do they gather everybody into Babylon? How do they bring everybody along to support Babylon? In other words, because Babylon's nothing, Babylon the Great's nothing without people. They need people. How do they get people to come into Babylon the Great? Remember we saw, I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, coming out of the mouth of the beast, out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are the spirits of demons performing miracles, performing signs and wonders. What for? They go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And they gathered them together to the place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon. Remember, global demonic deceptions. Signs and wonders to deceive. And under the sixth plague, you see, the support for Babylon ends up until this point thanks to miracles, signs and wonders. People have been flowing into Babylon just like the waters of the Euphrates into old Babylon and support it. So people have been coming in and becoming part of Babylon being its support system. But then it dries up just like the river Euphrates dried up so the kings from the east could take Babylon and deliver God's people. So too late, tragically too late. The masses see we've been led, we've been sold down to destruction. And so they stop supporting Babylon the Great after they've been deceived to become part of the whole thing. Too late. Too late. And Jesus, who's like the king from the east, he comes to deliver God's people because Babylon the Great is going to be attacking God's people in the end of time. It's going to be seeking to destroy God's people, to take them out. Bible makes that very clear. We read in Revelation, you die if you don't take the beast's mark. Remember, you won't buy or sell if you don't take the beast's Mark, they've been attacking God's people. Now Jesus comes to rescue them. Remember Jesus? Actually, the king is likened like the Son in the Bible. Notice what it says here. The day comes, that's God's day of judgment. The day comes that shall burn as an oven and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. But to to you that fear my name, meaning who love me, respect me and obey me, you who fear my name, shall the Son of righteousness arise. The sun rises in the east, remember. And with healing in his wings, Jesus is coming, just like Cyrus came from the east to rescue and deliver God's people, Israel out of Babylon and take them back to Jerusalem. So King Jesus, the son of righteousness is going to come as king of kings and Lord of lords, he's going to put down their enemies so he can rescue his friends and he's going to take them to the new Jerusalem. That's the picture we have here in the Bible. You see, the Bible is telling us right here this great truth. Security is only found in Christ and not in Babylon. There's no security in belonging to this system of the dragon, the sea beast and the land beast. There's no security there. People think there is so that we can survive, but it doesn't happen that way. No security only in Jesus. Well, then there comes the last plague, and that's the battle of Armageddon. This is the destruction of Babylon and all who stay inside of Babylon. That is the seventh last plague. What the Bible calls the Battle of Armageddon. Not a literal battle fought out there on the plains of Jezreel in Israel. No, no, no. This is across the world. It's the day when God comes to rescue his people. Whether they're in Africa or Asia or Americas or Europe, wherever they are his children, he's come to rescue them, has to put down their enemies in order to rescue them. The battle of Armageddon. This is Babylon's destruction. The Bible says this is where Babylon ceases to be. I want you to notice what the Bible says. Then God says the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, it is done. In other words, it's finished. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now, the Bible says the great city was divided into three parts. In other words, this great union of the sea beast, the dragon and the land beast it falls apart now because people have seen through it and it falls apart. Now, the great city was divided into three parts. And the cities of the nations fell. Those nations which were part of Babylon, part of the system. Now these cities collapse. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Do you know how much that is? It's like about 56 kilograms of ice coming. No wonder the cities of the nations fall. And that's a huge hailstone. Hailstones about the weight of a talent. Men blaspheme God because of the plagues of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. You see what God is telling us through these plagues, and this last one is this security is only in Christ. It's not in Babylon, because one day it's going to come crumbling down. It's all going to fall apart. And that's why God says, come out of Babylon. I don't want you to be part of that. I don't want you to be part of Babylon so that you receive any of these plagues. Please, I love you. Run for your life. Leave Babylon. Be part of my remnant prophetic movement that I've been doing. An interdenominational movement. Remember, People from different denominations following what God says in his Word. And all becoming part of his remnant movement. Do you know, my friends, no one needs to receive these plagues. Not one single person needs to receive any of those plagues. It's not because God wants to destroy them, no way. But it's their choice that leads to this. But they don't need to go that way. None of us need to go there. And how come? That is, how come none of us need to receive any of these plagues? How is that the case? Well, let me tell you. We come now to some amazing good news. We find the gospel in the seven last plagues. Now, right there in those horrific plagues, you see, Calvary mirrors the seven last plagues. Do you remember what happened when Jesus was in Gethsemane? You remember what he cried out? He talked about a cup. Remember the cup? How did he put it? He said these words. He said, abba, meaning daddy, Father. Talk to his father like a child talks to his dad. Oh, my father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will. What cup was it that Jesus did not want to drink from? What's he talking about? Take this cup from me. He's talking about the cup of God's. Wrath. That's what he's talking about. That's the cup that he didn't want to drink. Cause those plagues mean separation from God. They mean being cut off from God. The Bible says. Then I saw the seven last plagues. For in them is filled up what the wrath of God. You see at the cross, Jesus experienced the seven last plagues, so to speak. They mirror what happened at Calvary. Mirrors the plagues. It's amazing when you think about it. Think about the first plague for a moment. What was that first plague? People going to be marked with sores, remember? What does it say happened to Jesus on Calvary's hill that day? I like the way Isaiah put it, but he was wounded for our transgressions. Put your name where it says our. My transgressions. He was wounded, he was bruised. That means he was crushed like the grapes are crushed under the press. Jesus was crushed for our iniquities. It's our sins that did that. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, by his blows, we are healed. I don't know whether you saw Mel Gibson's blockbuster movie, the Passion of the Christ, but let me tell you, my friend, that graphically portrays pretty much what Jesus experienced. Do you know, you think about the fact that when Jesus was whipped that. That whip, cat o' nine tails about so long a handle and pieces of leather off that, that handle and tied to or embedded in those leather thongings as pieces of bone or pieces of lead. Now you can imagine when a man struck the back and then pulled back, it would just tear pieces of flesh off. Jesus received 39 lashes twice with that thing. No wonder he couldn't carry the cross which was thrust onto him after that horrific torture. A terrible experience. He was wounded, he was crushed, he received blows, he received wounds, he received marks because of our sin. Not only that, when you think about the fact that they nailed his hands to the cross and they nailed his feet to the cross, think of the. Think of the nails going through the flesh and then he's hanging there on a cross. Let me tell you, this was a Roman invention, crucifixion, to slowly kill a man, with emphasis on slowly. You can imagine a person's got his hands nailed and his feet nailed. He's got pain all the time. He's going to pull himself up on the nails to ease the pain on his feet. But after that, the sagging weight on the nails. Now he has to let go and go back to the feet because it's too painful on the hands. But then after a while, it's shockingly painful. And all the time it's between one point and another, lifting your weight up to relieve yourself of the pain. But let alone that difficult to breathe, you're hanging there, gasping for breath. It was a shocking way to kill a person when you get to heaven, my friend. And also they thrust a crown of thorns on his head. These are not little tiny thorns. I've seen these sorts of bushes that they have thorns, you know, like 3 or 4 centimeters long. Thrust it onto his head and whacked it with a stick. When you get to heaven, my friend, you're going to see Jesus with those scars. Scars on his hands, scars on his feet, scars on his back, scars in his side from the spear that was thrust through, scars on his head. The nail with the thorn imprints there. I remember reading a story of a little girl talking to her mummy. She's looking at her mummy's hands. Mummy, you got ugly hands. They're terrible. They've got scars all over them. Mummy said, let me tell you how I got those scars. There was a fire in our house, and you were trapped in the bedroom in that fire. So Mummy raced through the house and she grabbed hold of you, managed to pull you out, but my hands got burned. In the process of getting you out, little girl looked at her hands, Mummy's hands. She said, mummy, they're beautiful hands, wonderful hands. You see, what makes the difference is love. When we get to heaven, my friend, we'll see that Jesus bore the marks like people one day. Take those sores. They don't need to because Jesus has been there. He's done that for them. Remember the second plague? What was the second plague? The seas turned to blood. Jesus shed enough blood at Calvary, my friend, for everyone, for the vast sea of humanity. There's enough blood to go around and more to spare. I love the words of that poem. The love of God is greater far. It goes beyond the highest star, reaches to the lowest hell. Could we with ink the ocean fill. Fill up all the ocean with ink? And were the sky of a parchment made? And were every. Every stalk on earth a quill? You could not write the love of God that flowed from Calvary. You wouldn't have enough ink, you wouldn't have enough parchment to write about the love of God. The Bible says, for the love of Christ compels us. Why? Because one died for all. There's more than enough blood. Just like the sea, the huge ocean that the masses of humanity. That represents Jesus. Shed enough to cover us all. What about number three? Plague. What was that? That was the springs of water turned to blood. What happened at Calvary? The source of life. Jesus shed his blood to give life. That's how come we have life if we have Jesus. Because he shed his blood. I like the way Jesus put it, way back there when he was here. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise him or her up at the last day. What's Jesus saying? Drinks my flesh and eats my flesh and drinks my blood. I should say what he's saying is whoever falls on me, throws themself on me and what I did for them and Calvary and says Jesus, make it mine. Christ, you took my sin. I accept it. I will throw myself on Christ. I will cling to Jesus. I will say, lord, come into my life. They have life because Jesus shed his own blood, his own life. What was the fourth plague? Scorching sun, remember? Terribly scorching sun. Notice what the Bible says. Let's remind ourselves. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. Why are they thirsty? Cause the sun, remember? It makes you thirsty, Dries us out. We sweat so much and we need to drink. Why do no one need to receive that plague of the horrific sun, the scorching heat? Why is that? Because, you see, Jesus experienced that. No doubt hanging under the dry, the hot Judean sun there get pretty hot in Palestine. And what did he cry out on the cross? I thirst. I thirst so that no one will ever have to go through that horrific plague of the sun scorching them. I thirst. You see what's happening at Calvary? It's mirroring, mirroring the seven last plagues. What was that plague? Number five? The darkness. Darkness on the seat of the beast. Darkness on the headquarters of those who lead the Church of Rome. They don't need to go through that. God loves them. God loves all those people who lead. He cares about them. He died for them. What did Jesus experience on the cross? There was darkness on the cross, around the cross, you see? Why is that? Because Jesus was becoming sin for us. What does the Bible say? To open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light. And from the power of Satan to God to darkness stands for Satan's kingdom, you see? So that they may receive forgiveness of sins. Darkness is Satan's kingdom. Jesus entered Satan's kingdom. How did he do that? By taking our sins. So he entered the domain of the devil. So to speak, so that we would never be taken in darkness. Or my friend, maybe you're a leader in the church and you know God is speaking to you. You need to follow what he says. You need to come out. God loves you. God has a plan for your life. He has a plan for you to help bring people out, to make them part of God's remnant in the end times. He cares about you. He went through the darkness so that you'll never have to be plunged into the darkness where people gnaw their tongue. He's experienced it for us. What was plague number six? Remember? Babylon's river Euphrates was dried up. The support system for Babylon ceased. People finally saw through it, remember? And they stopped giving their support. What happened to Jesus at the cross? Don't you remember? Support was withdrawn from Jesus that day. The Bible says his disciples stood afar off. It was great to be his friend when they were. He was coming in on a donkey like a king. They were pressing in around him. But now that he was dying like a criminal, it's a different story. They moved back. The priests mocked Jesus. They sure didn't support him. The soldiers mocked him. If you're the son of God, save yourself and us. Get off the cross. All the people mocked him. Even his two friends. Well, not his friends. They became one of them, became his friend. He loved them both. But both thieves mocked him. And it seemed even God had withdrawn his support because Jesus cried out on the cross. What did he cry out? My God, why have you forsaken me? What does the Bible say? Your iniquities, your sins, have separated you from your God. And your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. That's why Jesus felt God had forsaken him. That's why these words. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's because you, my son, have been made sin. And sin separates from God. That's why you feel like that. Because you have taken the sin of the whole world on yourself. So he felt abandoned. Support seemed to be drawn even from God. God was happy for his son to go through that. Not happy in a happy sense, but happy to save you. He loved you so much. The Father and the Son, they were both willing to go through this feeling of eternal separation so you would never have to experience a lack of support like ancient Babylon will feel. Babylon, of course, is made up of people, isn't it? It's not buildings. It's A system of people. And one day those who stay in Babylon will feel that all support is gone, that they're alone and without God. Jesus has been there. He's felt that. What was plague number seven? Well, you remember, it was a horrific earthquake, removed all the mountains and the islands. The Bible says terrible hail fell. And there was that cry in that last plague that said, it is done, it's finished. What do we hear on Calvary? We see an earthquake. We would have felt an earthquake. The Bible says the rocks came rolling down the mountains. There was an horrific earthquake. And there was that cry from Jesus. It is done. It is finished. What was Jesus saying? He was saying, the cup's empty. I've drunk the wrath of God. I have experienced it. The cup is empty. Oh my friends at the cross. Jesus felt the judgment of God. That's what he felt. He felt all of that. He felt that God had said, jesus, my son, I can have no more to do with you. You have been made sin. And the judgment of God must be upon you. Cause the wages of sin is death. And you have taken sin of all people on yourself. And so he felt that horrific earthquake that will finally destroy Babylon and all those within her. He's been there. He's experienced the plagues. Calvary mirrors the seven last plagues, my friend. And that's how you can be sheltered from the plagues. If you and I accept Jesus and what he's done for us at Calvary. How can you be sheltered in those plagues, my friend? Well, you know what we have to do. If we have not yet let Christ into our life, we need to let him in now, my friend. Don't hold him out any longer. Let Christ in and follow him. It's the safest and the most happy thing you can do in life. Let Jesus in. He that is not with me is against me. Jesus said so. My friend, if you're holding Jesus out at arm distance, if you're not letting him come into your life, do it now and then you won't have to experience the holocaust of the seven last plagues. We need to die with him to self and turn from sin, my friend. We need to let that stuff go that we hold dear, that we know is wrong. Let it go. Die with Jesus. I'm crucified with Christ. And then Jesus will live in you. The Bible says if you really love me, you will keep my commandments. And that includes his Sabbath, my friend. You heard about the Sabbath and still maybe you're holding back on God on this one. My friend, if you love God and keep his commandment, including the Sabbath, you're gonna be happier for following whatever it is that God says. Don't let the opinions of others deter you from following Christ. The plagues. Come on those who hold on to no one's sin. No. And sin means not only doing the wrong, it means not doing what we know we should do. Don't do that, my friend. Love God and follow what he says. My friend, maybe you know God is speaking to you to come out of Babylon. You belong to one of those denominations, one of those religions that's clearly not following all of God's word and his commandments. You know that it doesn't teach that you should keep God's commandments, including the Sabbath. And you know you should leave, but it's finding it hard. My friend, do what God says. Come out. Remember, it's God calling you, not Webster. Come out. My people, says God. God will help you. He will help you to have victory as long as you say, lord, here am I. Give me your strength. Give me your power. Give me Jesus. When you go to Calvary, my friend, when you see what Jesus has done for us in experiencing the plagues, how can we not say I will follow you even out of Babylon? Maybe you need to be an Israelite by coming into the water. Remember we saw that's how you become a true Israelite, true Christian, a genuine follower of Jesus. Get into the water. Follow Jesus in baptism. Oh, my friend, God is speaking to you and I today. He wants to help us. He wants us to be sheltered in the time of the plagues. Why don't we pray together? Father, we thank youk so much for the Bible. I thank youk for these plagues. It's an eye opener to me too, Lord. To make sure that Jesus is everything to us. Then we can be sheltered in the plagues. Cause he's taken the plagues Himself really upon himself. Lord, help us. Whatever decision we need to make who are as we're watching this presentation, help us to do that now, not to put it off for a better time. There's no better time than now. We may never be this close to the kingdom of God again. Oh God, help us to say yes to you right now as we pray. Thank you, Lord, that you have promised you will help us if we cry out to you for help. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Well, it's good to have had you join us in this presentation. It's a vital one. You can see God loves us and he wants us to be ready for his coming. Whatever you do, don't miss the next presentation in our Countdown Back to the Future series. We're going to be looking at Secrets of the Psychics From Prophets to Prophets. A vital presentation in our series. Invite a friend to watch it. They'll be so glad you did. We look forward to seeing you in this presentation of Countdown Back to the Future.
