Matlock | 10/05/26 | Revalation 9 | Neal Garratt

Matlock 

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/354059/episodes/19152101-matlock-10-05-26-revalation-9-neal-garratt.mp3

Neal continued our Revelation series, preaching from Revelation 9.

Neal's notes (in PDF format): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fpTcR79MR7sPNYqev3qqOqupLvRgqHmg/view?usp=drive_link

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Church in the Peak podcast. We hope you enjoy this message. For more information, visit churchinthepeak.org. Or come and join us at 10 a.m. every Sunday. I have the joy of bringing you Revelation chapter 9 this morning. But so before we get into the um into the text and so forth, um I want to ask you a question. Do you have a smoke alarm in your house? And most people are probably going to say yes. And um when I take people back home from hospital to their house, one of the things I have to say to them is, Do you have a smoke alarm and does it have batteries in it? And does it work? And so I press the button on it and it beeps, and I know that it's working. That's part of what we do. Now the thing is, smoke alarms have one job and one job only. And that is not to wake you up at three o'clock in the morning when the battery starts to go low and it beeps at you all night long. Why does it always happen in the night? Why doesn't it do it at 10 o'clock on a Saturday morning? No, it's always three o'clock in the morning, and it's that beeping you cannot ignore and drives you to distractions. You have to get up, change the battery, remember how to do it, and by then you're wide awake and it's a nightmare. But they have one job, and that is to warn you of danger. One job. And if they do that job properly, you are saved, and the fire does not hurt you. That is their job, and it's loud and it's annoying, but if it does its job, you are forever thankful. That is what these chapters in Revelation are doing. They are loud, they are annoying, but the one thing they are saying is they are warning of danger to come. And we have to listen. No matter how loud, no matter how confusing, no matter what these pictures are, we have to listen to what God is saying. And what He's saying is repent. The day of grace is still here. You still have a chance to come to God and repent of your sins and turn your way around and face God and go back to God. Repent, repent, repent. That's what all these chapters are saying. And there may be some weird and wonderful pictures and things we don't quite understand. That's absolutely fine. The overarching thing is repent. Okay, we need to remember that today. When we get involved in pictures that are a bit weird and wonderful, this is what God is saying. It's make it made to wake you up and to take notice, just like your smoke alarm at home. Okay, that's what we're doing here. So I just want to give a little bit of background. I I find it difficult to keep up with all the different preachers and so forth. Even if you listen online, it's not quite the same. So I just want to go into a little bit of background. There are three lots of seven in Revelation. There's the seven seals of Revelation 6 and 7, which we've already done. The seven trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9, we're in the middle of those. And then there's the seven bowls which come later in Revelation chapter 16. Now you can view these three separate things as three separate historical events. Okay, they're separate, they're different. That's one view. Another view is that they're all the same, but they're just viewed at from a different way. That's another view. I'm not saying which is right or wrong, I'm just telling you there are some views. So that's why there are views because they're very similar. And I just want to go into a little bit of uh background about why they're similar, and when you see it, you see it. Okay. Now, just to add into that another little equation. Some people believe that these events in Revelation have already happened. Okay? They're past events. That is people's viewpoint. That's fine. Some people believe that we're half and half. We are in the middle of these events. Some have already happened. We're in the middle of these events, and there's more to come. That's another viewpoint. And the last viewpoint is they're all yet to come. I'm not telling you which one you should believe in. That's up to you. But those are the three major viewpoints that are out there. And when you read all the commentaries, that is what they say. But they're all the same, they're all a warning of danger, a chance to repent, a chance of salvation. And the judgments in Revelation follow very clearly the judgments from the Old Testament against Pharaoh and Egypt. So in the Old Testament, Pharaoh was keeping the children of Israel as slaves, and we know that Moses went and kept saying to Pharaoh, release my people, set them free. Set my people free, and he hardened his heart and he wouldn't let them go. And so God sent plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, one after the other, ten plagues in all. And a lot of those plagues are the same plagues that we are going to see in Revelation 8 and 9 and Revelation 16. Locusts, flies, blood, water turning into blood, darkness, all those types of things come in this picture in Revelation, which we've already seen in Exodus. Now, what was God saying to Pharaoh? He was saying, repent. He was saying, turn back from your position, which is to keep the children of Israel as slaves and to work them into the ground. Change your view. Let my people go, repent of the position you're in. That's what God's message was to Pharaoh. Now, whether he listened or not is a different matter. We know he didn't listen until the very last one. And the last one is the key one. Because the last one was the firstborn of all the Egyptians died on that night. But the firstborn of the Israelites did not die because they put the blood of the Lamb over the doorposts and the lintels. We talked about this a few weeks ago when I spoke about the Passover. The Passover. The Holy Spirit comes and passes over your house. Why? Because of the blood of the Lamb. Now in Revelation, they have in these chapters we're looking at at the moment, there are plagues that come, but the last one in each of the three is the Lamb. It's the revelation of the Lamb. The Lamb comes at the end of the seals, the Lamb comes at the end of the trumpets, which I can't do into because that's another preach. And in Revelation 16, finally, the Lamb comes not as the Lamb on the cross or the Lamb that dies for our sin, but the risen Lamb, the king of all the earth. And once and for all he deals with Satan. And that is another preach for another day. And I hope I get that week. Can I just put my name down for that now? But that's the revelation of Jesus Christ that now he is the risen, ascended Lamb of God, and he deals with the enemy and all his minions. Hallelujah. Absolutely. Can't wait for that week. We need to preach that over about three or four weeks. But in each one there is the Lamb at the end. And that's so important because God knows how important this is. Jesus was the Lamb of God that came to what? Take away the sin of the world. He came to save you and me. I loved it this morning as we were worshiping. And God comes and he says, I didn't call you as a lot. I called you by name. How beautiful is that. Elizabeth brought that wonderful picture of God putting a ring on your finger. Listen, there's only one finger. There's only one ring and it's got your name on it. If you're saved this morning, Jesus came and he saved you by name. He didn't come and save church in the peak as a lot, job a lot of people. Yeah, I'll save 60 or 70 people there, and I'll save 60 or 70 people there. No, I'm coming to save you. This is the moment that you come to know Jesus. Hallelujah. Jesus always triumphs in the end. And that's what revelation is all about. It's a revelation of Jesus Christ. We've preached this already. Right. I need another drink. But we need to remember God's heart towards the people on the earth. 1 Timothy 2, verse 4 says, God our Saviour desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Peter 3, verse 9 says, The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. That's why God in Revelation chapter 9 and chapter 8 and chapter 9 and then in chapter 16 always is calling for people to repent. I give you another chance. Today is still the day of grace. You can still come and be saved, right to the very end of time. That's God's heart. And we stand and sit here this morning because of God's heart. Hallelujah. I read this yesterday in my daily readings, and I thought it was so good. It's about revelation. It says, your assignment is not to live terrified of the future. Your assignment is to know Jesus, walk in peace, love people, preach the gospel, and live anchored in eternity. Fear constantly pulls believers into survival mode mentally. But the Holy Spirit continually pulls believers back into trust. That is such a good sentence. I wish I had written this. Fear constantly pulls believers into survival mode mentally, but the Holy Spirit continually pulls believers back into trust. That is so key. So many people are so fearful of what is happening. And God says, Don't fear, have faith. That's the opposite. Don't fear, have faith and trust in me because I know what I'm doing. Hallelujah. Remember, our Father is not nervous about the condition of the world. Jesus is still on the throne. The cross is still enough. Hallelujah. Grace is still sufficient. The Holy Spirit is still moving, and no global events can separate believers from the love of God revealed through Jesus Christ. Whoa! Hallelujah. I read that yesterday. It was like, wow, that's so good. All the things I'm thinking about in my mind have been put into one paragraph. Whoever this person is, and it didn't actually say who it was from, is amazing. Okay, so we'll just we'll just say that. It's not me, it's someone else. Bless them, whoever they are. So good. And that's where I want us to be this morning. We're going to look at some weird stuff this morning, but ultimately, what I want you to keep in your heart and mind is Jesus is in control. He knows what he's doing. God the Father has it in hand. So last week Phil looked at chapter 8, which finishes like this and sets us up for chapter 9. Chapter 8, verse 13. Then I looked and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead. Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow. Great start. Woe, woe, woe. So he's setting us up for chapter 9, but it's still the day of repentance. Remember that. So let's read Revelation 9. We're going to read the first twelve verses, and then we'll come back to the uh the second bit. Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke. And locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them, but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. They had hair like women's hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollon, the destroyer. The first terror is past. But look, two more terrors are coming. It's kind of, you know, you turn the page and it's like, what's next? So this is the first, the fifth trumpet. And let's just look at it kind of a little bit verse by verse. I saw the angel fallen to earth from the sky. So it reminds us of Jesus' words in Luke 10, verse 18, where he says, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. And we know that Satan set himself up to be in competition with God. He wanted to be equal with God, and he fell from heaven. And this star that has fallen here in chapter 9 is probably Satan, or it could be a demonic archangel. We're not exactly sure 100%. There's different people that think different things, as always, with Revelation. But whatever, it's evil. Okay. I tend to view that it is Satan, but it doesn't really matter if they're demonic angels or not. It's undoubtedly the pit of hell or the abyss. And that reminds us of the legion of demons that inhabited the man in the tombs in Luke chapter 8. You remember the story? Jesus goes to the tombs, and there is a man that has many evil spirits, and the evil spirits recognize Jesus straight away. And they say to him, Who are you, Son of God? Jesus, Son of God. And they say to him, Do not send us to the abyss. Because they don't want to go there. They know how bad it is in the abyss. Do not send us to the abyss. And so Jesus doesn't send them to the abyss, he sends them into the pigs who then run over the cliff and die. So the abyss is a place that they're very well aware of. And that is what we're talking about here. One of the commentaries that I read says, This is the smoke of deception and delusion, of sin and sorrow, of moral darkness and degradation that is constantly belching up out of hell. This is not a place you want to be. Definitely. But what's important is who holds the key to this pit is not Satan, but it's Jesus. And this is always the key. That only certain things are allowed. So Revelation 1, 17 to 18 says, Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one. This is Jesus speaking. I died, and behold, I'm alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and hell. Jesus has the keys and he opens the bottomless pit as part of these trumpet calls to get people to repent. So the locusts are released, and the locusts are demonic in nature, there's no question about that. They're not human, they're a hybrid, they're they're weird, basically. Now, some people think that they're like helicopters in a in war situation or something like that, but I don't think that's true. Helicopters are made by man, these are not made on the earth, these are from the abyss. So they're demonic. That's where we have to start from. Okay, some people might think they're helicopters personally, I don't, up to you to make your choice. But they are there to hurt people, and they are there to destroy, which is always what Satan does. But you note that they are only allowed to do certain things, they're not allowed to harm the grass or the plants, but only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They're not allowed to kill them, but they can torture them for five months. So God is controlling what can happen here. It's not out of control. It may seem like that when you read it, you think, my goodness me, what is going on here? Ultimately, what we need to remember is that God is in control. Now, some people are going to think, oh my goodness, I haven't got a seal of God on my forehead. What's going to happen to me? Listen, you don't need a seal of God on your forehead, you need a seal of God in your heart. And Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 says this 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. Okay, this is a promise of God, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. When you get saved, the Holy Spirit comes and he seals your heart with him. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit. So you are not going to be harmed in these days when this happens because you have the seal of the Holy Spirit on you. You are God's. This is talking about people who need to repent, who are not saved. The whole point of this is repent. Repent. Repent. Okay. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollon. And that means destroyer, or from the place of destruction. And this is his plan all along and has been is to destroy what God created. Satan hates what God has created, and he will do anything he can to destroy it. John 10, verse 10 says, and this is Jesus speaking. He says he comes only to steal and kill and destroy. And sometimes we forget about that about the enemy, don't we? Listen, he comes to steal, he comes to steal your peace, he comes to steal your joy, he comes to steal your conversion, he comes to steal anything you have in your life that God has given you. He comes to steal it and he comes to kill and he comes to destroy. Totally the opposite from God. Jesus says he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. This is God's warning. To the people of the earth. He is the deceiver. Do not listen to what he says. Everything he does is counterfeit. It has no value. And ultimately, if you follow him, it will only lead to destruction. You know, I don't know if you've ever had a 20-pound note and you try and give it in and they put it in their little machine. Oh no, sorry. It's gutting, isn't it? Counterfeit looks very similar to the original. But when you go to cash it in, it has no value. Listen, the enemy is not stupid. He makes things look like the original. He is subtle. He makes things look like the original, but they're not, they have no value. And this is the warning to the people don't you understand, don't listen to the deception of the enemy. And yet, people do. And people don't listen to what God is saying. Okay, that's the fifth trumpet, the sixth trumpet. We're just going to read from verse 13. The sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River. And the four angels who'd been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one third of all the people on the earth. I heard the size of their army, which was two hundred million mounted troops. And in my vision I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armour that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulphur billowed from their mouths. One third of all the people on the earth were killed by these three plagues, by the fire and smoke and the burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. Their power was in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails had heads like snakes with the power to injure people. But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts. So the sixth trumpet. Don't be confused here by the word angels. These four angels are not God's angels. They are demonic angels. They are part of Satan's kingdom who've been held in place by God for this moment. That's what the Bible tells us. It says the four angels have been prepared for this hour and day and month and year. And what does that tell you once again? It tells you God's in control. Those angels cannot release this army until God says, now is the hour, the day, the time. God is in control. They're only released on his say-so. Now, the 200 million, some people think that speaks of the army in China, that there's 200 million troops in China. Google it, I did yesterday. That's exactly what it says. 200 million troops. Some people think that's China. Personally, I don't, because these are demonic. They're not human. And this is what we need to understand. We always try, or people always try and fit revelation into what is happening in the world. But this is a different, this is a different realm. We're not talking about things that are in the world. We're talking about a demonic realm, something that is yet to happen, I believe. But these are demonic. There's nothing like these. When you read the description of them, there is nothing like that in the world. You can't relate it to anything. So they're from demonic, they breathe fire, smoke, and sulphur, which always shows the demonic. 200 million troops, and they're allowed only to kill only a third of mankind. And once again, the terror that these things bring should turn people back to God, should make people stop what they're doing and return to God. And unfortunately, they don't. Remember what we said right at the very beginning. What is the message of this book? It is repent, repent, repent. You still have time. God could close the whole thing down, but he doesn't. He says, No, I'm going to wait. I'm going to give you all these chances to come back to me. All these things happening on the earth. Come back to me. But we read at the end of that chapter the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. It's incredible how stubborn people are, isn't it? We all know people like this in our lives. They can go through the most terrible things and still not turn to Jesus. And I find that amazing. My mum said to me the other day, I'm so glad that I know Jesus. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't. And I'm thinking, you're right. And yet you can be witnessing to people and talking to me, going through terrible things in their lives, and you're saying, Come to Jesus, he can help you. And they'll do everything else but come to Jesus. Because man is stubborn in his heart and he thinks he knows best. And I can get through this, I can do this. And God just constantly comes and says, Let me help you. Let me stand with you. Let me be with you. Let me bring you my peace. Let me bring you my love. Let me bring you what you need to get through this life. And people are so stubborn. Has to be a work of the Holy Spirit in people's hearts to turn them to Jesus. If you have got someone on your mind, when I said about being stubborn, I'm sure someone came into your mind. All of you. I know someone came into my mind. Pray for that person. Okay? Don't forget about everyone else. Just pray for that person who came into your mind this week. Pray that the Holy Spirit would come and reveal himself to them, that they would repent and turn away from whatever they're doing. But the warning to us here as well is that we have to be careful what idols we allow into our lives. Because all these idols are available in the world. And we can so easily get caught up with them and think it's okay, but it's not okay. If you look around the world at the moment, what do people worship? They worship idols of money and power, of wealth, of influence, careers, the world's pleasures. That's what they worship. That's what they have in their hearts. And we have to be really careful that we don't let things into our hearts because Jesus wants our hearts for himself. You know, the Bible says he is a jealous God. What's he jealous for? He's jealous for your heart. And you have to be very careful who is on the throne of your heart. Is it Jesus or is it money? Is it Jesus or is it your career? Is it Jesus or whatever you want to put in there? And things from the enemy are he's very sly. He can bring things into our lives with us hardly noticing, and suddenly they become more important than Jesus. And Jesus says, You need it the other way around. I am to be everything to you. The other things will follow. So I just want to finish by reading this quote from Philmore in his book, Straight to the Heart of Revelation, which is one of the books we we look at when we uh we're preparing these talks on Revelation. Superb book. Um, he's done a whole series called Straight to the Heart, and uh Straight to the Heart of Matthew, Straight to the Heart of John, Straight to the Heart of Revelation. And he says this at the end, and this really spoke to me uh the other day when I was preparing it, and I think it's really important for us. True spiritual warfare is not shouting at demons and telling them that we've bound their work in the world, it is spotting demons at work in our own lives and binding their activity by kicking them out along with the idols they inspire. Every time we write a check that means genuine sacrifice and put it in the collection basket, we perform a powerful act of spiritual warfare against the demon god Mammon. Every time we resist the temptation to visit a pornographic website, we win a spiritual battle with the demon goddess Aphrodite. Every time we refuse to sacrifice our families, our rest, and our worship on the altar of career advancement, we strike a mighty blow to the demon god of worldly success. We have all been made to worship, and we will all worship someone or something. All we get is to choose who and how much. Feed your mind on the descriptions of demons in Revelation chapter 9, which we've just done. And remind yourself that it is because of demon gods like these that God's judgment is falling on humankind. Get radical with Satan's foot soldiers and choose to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength. That's where we need to be. Loving God with all our heart, our mind, our soul, our strength. Because when we do that, there is no room for anything else. Don't let Satan have a foothold in your heart, in your life in any way, shape, or form. Really important that we recognize the work of the enemy. This is blatant, this is over the top, this is completely crazy and wild. But Satan is not like that in your life. He is subtle and sly. And we can just accept things and accept things and accept things, and actually they're not acceptable. And sometimes we have to come back to God and say, you know what, Lord, I'm so sorry. I've let that in, and that is wrong. And that's a call for us today. This is chapter 9, is a call for the unsaved. What is the call to us? It's be careful. Watch out. Make sure that God is on the throne of your heart 100%. Because he loves you. Hallelujah. Right, I just want to go back to that quote I read earlier because it's so good. Your assignment is not to live terrified of the future. Your assignment is to know Jesus, walk in peace, love people, preach the gospel and live anchored in eternity. Fear constantly pulls believers into survival mode mentally, but the Holy Spirit continually pulls believers back into trust. That's where we need to be. That's the phrase from today's talk, all right? That's where we need to be. Not into survival mode, but back into trust, having faith in God. Remember, our Father is not nervous about the condition of the world, hallelujah. Jesus is still on the throne, hallelujah. The cross is still enough, hallelujah. Grace is still sufficient. The Holy Spirit is still moving, and no global events can separate believers from the love of God revealed through Jesus. Amen.