When you're turning your Bible to chapter eight in the book of the Revelation, your page, your lesson page will be number fourteen. And we are on the second section of that lesson, beginning with paragraph number three, I believe. We begin in chapter eight at verse six and seven. I would like to read the chapter through. It's not a very lengthy one. And we'll have the connection from the preceding study of a week ago. Chapter eight, reading the chapter through, and may the Holy Spirit illumine our eyes and our hearts as we read the precious word. And when he, meaning the Lamb of God, had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour, and I saw the seven angels which stood before God. To them were given seven trumpets, and another angel came, and stood at the altar having a golden censer. There was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came or came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hands. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar. had cast it into the earth. And there were voices, and thundering, and lightning, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angels sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. And they were cast upon the earth. And the third part of trees was burned up. And all green grass was burned up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and their life died. And the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were, a lamp or a torch. and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters, and the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became Wormwood. Many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon had the third part of the stars. so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shunned not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld and heard an angel, I believe the proper translation is an eagle, flying through the midst of heaven, singing 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. May God bless the reading of his precious word. May I very briefly once again introduce the chapter before us, as we had it last week, in the opening part of it, from verse one going down through verse five. We noted in this interval between the sounding of the trumpet and the opening of the seventh seal, rather, for the seventh seal There's no special judgment, we might say, regarding the seventh field, but the seventh field issues into the coming of the seven trumpet judgments. They flow one into the other. And may we repeat, the judgments in the revelation, field judgments, trumpet judgments, upon which we are beginning now, and later on the vile judgments, they come in succession, they are not concurrent, They do not come at the same time, but there's no question of doubt as we shall see it. They come with intensity that becomes greater as the judgments are poured out upon the earth. But we notice in the opening of the chapter a person who acted as an angelic priest at the altar of God. If you will please note again, if I may say, in verse three, you have the angel standing at the altar with a golden censer. And then you have also, at the end of the verse, the mention of a golden altar. Now, may I very briefly, we went into detail last week, but just briefly, for the sake of those who may not have been with us, may I very briefly state, the pattern of the Old Testament tabernacle built by Moses at the command of God was patterned after the heavenly tabernacle. Moses was told to build it entirely and perfectly following the heavenly pattern that was shown to him. So we can certainly believe without any reservation, what Moses built in that earthly tabernacle was a replica of that which existed in the heavens above. And we also noted that in this verse particularly we have two altars mentioned. One is the brazen altar. We'll note that particularly when we come to our beginning of the trumpet judgment in verse five. He takes fire from the brazen altar and pours it out upon the earth. But he officiated, we note it, particularly before the golden altar. Now the golden altar was in the holy place before the curtain veil, the thick curtain veil that separated the holy place from the holiest of holies. And there the incense, representative of the prayers of the worship of God's earthly people long ago, ascended from the priestly hands of the high priest when he officiated long ago in the years of the tabernacle existence and the temple. Now here we have the scene in heaven. But may we be very careful to realize who the angel priest is. And we particularly emphasize it could be none other than the Lord Jesus himself. For it would be contrary to all the teaching of your New Testament to have an angel offering the prayers of the saints before the throne of God. We know from the book of Hebrews particularly, it is our Lord Jesus who is the minister at the throne of God when he brings the prayers of the saints that are brought from the earth through the saints as they petition God above. It is the Lord Jesus who presents those prayers in the value of his person, so that we can relegate. Now, don't be disturbed about the fact that the manifestation is as an angel priest. You've got the Old Testament to prove that he made himself known in the Old Testament. as even as an angel again and again to his earthly people. We mentioned Manoa and his wife in the book of Judges, chapter five. And it was none other than the Lord. They thought it was an angel. And Manoa questioned and asked his name. Why do you ask? It is secret, meaning wonderful. And Manoa wished to give him worship, offer his sacrifice. He committed it. Now no angel is worthy of a sacrifice of worship. No angel ever is the object of the worship of the saints. So don't start doing it. The Lord Jesus himself was the watchman. And as when Noah made the sacrifice, he ascended from the flames of that altar back into glory. And Minoan looked at his wife and said with all solemnity, We have seen the face of God and we live. So when we look at this person, and let me give you this encouragement I needed and you do too, my fellow believer. What a joy to know the incense that the angel priest offered with the prayers of the saint just added efficacy. To the prayers of the... You know, sometimes when you pray, you feel so weak, don't you? Your prayers and mine never rise to the Lord without the efficacy of the Lord Jesus. Bringing those prayers to the Father in his name and through his own blessed value. How precious. Now, in relation to our book, how needful. The prayers of the saints of the earth, which we noted in chapter five, chapter six, rather, under the fifth sea of judgment, where the souls of them that had been beheaded and given their lives for the testimony of the Lord in the tribulation period, cried for vengeance. So the Lord always adds his own value to the prayers of his people. Now we begin in verse five, please. Let me note with you verse five, as we thus begin. And we've got in verse five the facts. The angel took the censer filled it with the fire of the altar. Again, let me emphasize, it is the brazen altar. It was at the brazen altar that the fire burned. It was from the brazen altar that even the priest would carry fire to the golden altar when necessary to burn the incense at the golden altar. But it's from the brazen altar. And then we pause with worship and solemnity to realize Why the brazen altar? That brazen altar that speaks so clearly of the death of Christ in his blessed typical teaching. Where the judgment of God came upon that sacrifice, when he was upon the tree of Calvary, and the fires of holiness and divine judgment burned, and his own soul suffered it. He bore the wrath of God for the believer, did he not? What a joy he knows, a wrath of a divine God in judgment for our sin, and their penalty. You and I will never feel. He bore it for us. Now may I reverse the thought. From that brazen altar, the precious souls upon the earth that have rejected and refused them, are going to feel the fires of judgment. But I'll bless, let me say it again, you and I can say with the words of the poet, there is no condemnation. There is no hell for me. The fire and the torment mine I shall never see. But oh, may I solemnly present to your heart as well as to mine own the thought of what those judgments are going to be upon men and women upon the earth as we shall see. The fires of divine judgment are going to begin pouring out when he breaks the seventh seal and the trumpets are given to the angels to sound and bring forth the judgment. You know at the end of the verse, if you please, there were voices, there were thundering, there were lightning. Now we found that in chapter four. relative to the throne of God. But there was one particular word omitted in chapter four, and it's the last one. Earthquakes are added. Now may I suggest to you, here you have the indication, not only of lightnings and thug rings and voices too, indicating a judgment that is coming, but earthquakes adding to the intensity of what will and must take place. Now let's look at the first judgment, trumpet judgment. Verse six. Let me read. Well, in verse six we read the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared of sound to sound. Can I pause for just a moment to realize with you, heaven is not too swift when carrying out judgment. And even in the text that we have just read, one can recognize the angels that were the instruments that must be used, made preparations that prepare themselves for the sound. One can almost realize, if I may suggest, the reluctance of God to pour out judgment upon the earth. I don't know how many of you read the Old Testament much, but if you read the prophecies, particularly the major prophet, And I've often noticed him in reading through a now Bible, reading his home in Jeremiah, who's recently, how long-suffering God was with his earthly people. How again and again and again he pled with them. He called for repentance. He offered to hold out just that, until at last he could not. And may I say very solemnly, God has certainly shown patience with this world. in all the centuries that the gospel of his grace has been going out. But may I give you something to think about. It's been in my mind this week particularly. You recognize and see in the world around, you hear, you observe, and I do too, the increasing lawlessness and violence and wickedness and declension spiritually and morally. May I give you this thought? Some of us may be older and old enough to remember that in our former days, in our childhood and days of youth, the morals of this country were much higher than they are now. And the moral pollution down to the youngest of children today is so astounding. Now why is it? When a nation or a world puts God out of their mind and heart, they continue to deteriorate morally and spiritually, and it becomes worse. It's become so bad today that even decent people can't enjoy the picture. In other words, People with morals, they may not even be Christians. The people with some sense of morality are astounded at the immorality and the low morals of the country. What? The avenue of sin has taken the world to that degree. Beloved me, I say when it comes right down to where the moral corruption of little children in schools is taking place today and in families, it sucks. Let me say. We're near the fulfilling of these judgments. Now please note then, in verse seven, we'll read verse seven. We have the first angels sounding. They're followed hail, fire, mingled with blood. They were cast upon the earth. The third part of trees was burnout, and all green grass was burnout. Look at your lesson sheet, if you please. Now let's particularly follow the lesson outline as you have on the paragraph number three. The first trumpet judgment. Now you have noticed, as we have read in verse seven, hail and fire going along the ground. They're very reminiscent of the judgments that God poured out upon Pharaoh in the land of Egypt long ago. You remember there was great hail and fire. We won't turn to the scripture reference, but there was the judgment of that upon the land of Egypt. And may I give you this thought, there's a parallel, not in their intensity, of course, but there is a parallel with those judgments in Egypt and with what you find in the book of the Revelation. And there's much similarity too with many of them. But one can recognize that was only on what? The land of Egypt. Just one land to deliver God's earthly people long ago, as we well know, under Moses. But now, if you'll please, look at your next note on your lesson sheet that we had. The language symbolizes supernatural destruction. Hey, may I give you the thought, because we're entering into a section where much of it is symbolic and some of it is literal. One of the great difficulties of the book of the Revelation is to interpret what may be symbolic and what may be literal. It may not be difficult to discern, but much is symbolic. And there's only one way to understand the symbols of the book of the Revelation. For oftentimes I believe the symbolic meaning in the book of the Revelation implies greater than what you could express by literal ways. But you look back in the Old Testament, not only to the book of Exodus, but in other scriptures of the prophetic scriptures. And Hale is often mentioned as a violent dissertation of judgment. And so we've got the reference here. Hale expresses violent, destructive judgment. And we have some references here. In Joshua ten, we'll not turn to that in the days of Joshua. God used even the recitation of Hale. to help the people Israel destroy and conquer their enemies. And it was literal in that day. And then in Isaiah twenty-eight. Isaiah twenty-eight is really a prophetic scripture relative to what we're studying the coming day of tribulation upon the earth. And Isaiah speaks of the destruction of hail that will come, more or less secretively. Now we're going to come later on to The bold judgments or the vile judges will feel one particular destruction of ale that unquestionably is written as being literal. So great were the hailstones. But nevertheless, it has figuratively the meaning of violent destruction. And then if you note further on, fire. Now again, let's realize from the altar... fire is God's holiness in judicial action. Now let me give you some thought. God's holiness in judicial action. I want to give you two, if I can remember correctly, two illustrations of it from the Scripture. Back in the book of Leviticus chapter nine, chapter eight, you've got the institution of the priesthood. Chapters nine and ten, you have the priesthood beginning. Some of you may remember that God himself, when everything was instituted, when the sacrifice, the first sacrifice in Israel was placed upon that altar, and the priest, Aaron the high priest, is for some, the assistant priest with him, God said fire from heaven to consume the altar. He lit the fire of the altar with fire from above. Later on, they dab and abide you, two of the sons of Aaron, who were to officiate at the altar, they brought their own fire. God struck them dead. Now you may ask the question, why did he do it so quickly? The scripture calls it strange for When he himself had instituted the fire of the altar, and it was the fire of the altar that must only be used. And he smites them dead. God's holiness was manifested as never before amongst his people of Israel in that beginning of the tabernacle worship. And when his holiness is so manifested, his judicial action is sudden. His judicial action is sudden. Likewise, you've got it in the book of Joshua later on, in the case of Aten. And you come to chapter seven in the book of Joshua. When Joshua and his people had to flee from the city of A.I., from their enemies, after conquering Jericho. And what was the trouble? Joshua knew it not. But there was one man in the whole nation of Israel that had sinned. And because of that one man's sin, They were defeated at AI. And Joshua and the people had to come before God and have it exposed and judged. The judgment was very severe. Achan, his family, his possessions were stoned to death. He was trash. The holiness of God's presence was so good. Let me give you a third example in the book of Acts. Chapter five, Nadab and Abihu. Now I beg your pardon, you've got two Ammoniahs and Sapphira, two early Christians who purposely, selfishly, seek a place of reputations that they didn't deserve by holding back what they had promised God. They were judged and carried out of the presence of the saints dead. the holiness of God was more manifest. And where the holiness of God is fully manifested, when sin rises, judgment comes in quickly. Now, God waited a long time to bring His judgments upon the earth. But here we can recognize, when His judgments fall, and from the fire of the altar, the judgment of God in it. Can I just illustrate it this way if I possibly can? Please let me put it this way. My beloved, did you ever realize that Calvary God revealed his holiness? No matter what men were doing to that blessed son of him, but when the darkness covered the earth, the fire of God judgment burned into the soul of that blessed sacrifice the Lord Jesus you know the old-fashioned altar in the tabernacle sometimes it's not clearly pictured in in paintings as it should be but that raised an altar as it was built And there was a grate upon which the victim was laid. But the altar was a little higher than the grate. The grate was in the altar place. And the victim was placed in the altar. And the suffering of the victim could not be seen from the outside as the fire of the altar burned it. And beloved, may I say, you and I can never know what our Lord passed through. None of the ransomed ever knew, the hymn writer wrote, how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through where he found his sheep and were lost. But I want to bring this truth out. God showed his holiness, showing to us what he thinks of sin. when Christ was made sacrificially what we are actually, sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Please let me say, you not only see the love of God at Calvary, you not only see the mercy of God, you see the exhibition of his holiness. This is what God thinks of sin that picked him after the Holy Burn. Go back into the book of Leviticus sometime and see the offering. See, particularly the burn offering store, the beautiful aspect of Christ in his death to the Father. And that one offering is the one offering that holy sacrifice on the altar. Burn to ashes. Beloved it pictures. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus in the satisfaction of the heart of God, meaning His divine holy requirement, deeming with sin. And my belovedly let me say to you as well as to my no-no, praise God the Lord Jesus dealt with the question of sin, imperfection, and God's whole in it was satisfied. But again, may I contrast it from what we have here. How terrible when his holiness will pour out his judgment on the earth. On men and women that have rejected the Savior. Note particularly as we read on now. As we go further, you've got, as we have it, here you've got blood in your nose. Death under the terrible judgment of God. Now one thing in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus, in the land of Egypt, it was hail mingled with fire that ran along the earth. Here you've got hail and fire. and blood, indicative of the destruction, indicative of the lives that will be taken. I don't know. Have you ever wondered why the earth is so greatly populated more than ever and seems to be growing? We mentioned last week, I believe, when these judgments shall all be finished, there will not be one ungodly person left on the earth. And it's a solemn but a sad thing to realize, and I quote the words of Jesus, when he said, Narrow is the gate that lead us unto life, and few that dare be that find it. But broad is the road that lead us to destruction, and many there be which go in thereafter. Can I ask a question? In your own mind and heart today, are you convinced that the majority seem to be on the broad road? to destruction. And one can recognize the sad truth that the world in those days of terrific judgment is going to be exposed to God's wrath and judgment and many will, when you have an expression in one of the prophets, many shall be the slain of the Lord. Now that doesn't mean you're going to roll on the floor like some Pentecostals do, say they were slain of the Lord. That's not the meaning of it. Many shall be slain of the Lord. Beloved, it's a sad commentary. But one can recognize the indication of this judgment mingle with blood. Now let's finish the reading of those notes. Now here we have something here. If you please note in the verse, you have the third part. Look at the end of the verse by reference. The third part of trees. When Burn Up, all green grass was Burn Up. Now, on your notes, you find this suggested thought. The area of judgment is specific. Probably, most scholars believe it's a prophetic, revived Roman Empire. Now, you will find... Now, let me point out this distinction. We'll find it as we go through the book. There's judgments that have come upon the whole world. ...come upon the whole world. There are specific judgments that are going to come upon a portion of the earth. And particularly, if you know your biblical geography, we well recognize that the old world was really the prophetic world. You have a hard time finding United States in the geographical Bible. We know it's part of the world. But when you read prophecy, please, go back to all the empires of the past, whether the Phoenician, the Babylonian, and so on, and the Grecian and the Medo-Version, the Rome. It's the old world that the picture of prophecy revolves around, chiefly. And of course, we shall see, as the study develops later on, that the old Roman world is going to be one centrality, if it were a prophetic event, taking place even in the book of the Revelation. And one can realize that third part doesn't mean all the world, but specific areas. We'll find other references when it says the fourth. But there's no question of doubt. There will be specific areas. We come to the final judgment at the end. You find certain places belonging to the country and to the particular person of the man of Spain who will be waning over the old world at that time as well as the whole world and you find special judgments specifically coming but please note the meaning of these judgments note the objects of the judgment trees and grass now not necessarily literally but when you think of trees They speak of men in power. And you've got a reference here. We turn not to it. We've got a reference in Daniel chapter four. And you've got another in Ezekiel thirty-one. But in Daniel chapter four, let me bring this before you. Remember Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter four of Daniel? Are the great tree branches covering the earth, the birds of the air lodging in the branches, and the beasts of the field under it? And that great tree of Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation, thou art that great tree? God has given me a kingdom that covers the earth. And that tree represented Nebuchadnezzar himself in person, the great monarch of the empire and of the then known world. And you remember what God did? Cut it down, was the angelic voice. even though they left the stuff that he was revived again. And Nebuchadnezzar was ultimately restored from the judgment that God made upon. But you'll read that fourth chapter of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and you'll find Nebuchadnezzar telling you how God converted him. Took a lot. Daniel kept begging the king to depart from his unrighteousness and his sin. But he didn't. And God dealt with it. Humble him. Representative of men in power. May I give you the suggestion? How truly we can recognize that in that coming day, great men of the earth are going to be visited. Well, let me give you this thought. Have you not noticed that in the acts of terrorism today, those terrorists are going after the leading men? A brother called me up just before the inauguration from Philadelphia here, brother. And as we chatted, he said, John, he said, we ought to pray for the president. He said, this inauguration, he said that some terrorists would be delighted to kill him. I said, well, you've got a thought there. I'm not sure it's true. And one can realize, under this first trumpet judgment, some of the great men of the earth, may be cut and then grass well grass is so symbolic of prosperity as well as the failure of men all flesh is as grass fades away but it's indicative of prosperity too symbolic of that and one can recognize the judgment will affect the prosperity of the earth. Let me read what we have here. And you know, the objects of judgment, free, great ones of the earth, and then green grass, judgment upon earth's prosperity. Now let's go to verse eight and nine. Look at the second trumpet judgment. And please note, and I hope the Lord will give us some help in understanding the meaning, and would be able to see more symbolic meaning in this verse, As we read the second angel sounded, and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. The third part of the sea became blood. The third part of the creatures which were in the sea and light died. The third part of the ship were destroyed. Now this is the second trumpet judgment. Note your lesson, she pleads, for a reference. And I want to turn to those two references. On your lesson sheet we have the thought, a great mountain is the symbol of great power being destroyed in the midst of the nation. Go with me to Jeremiah fifty-one. Jeremiah chapter fifty-one, relative to Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. Near the end of the book of Jeremiah, we are Jeremiah prophesying. Did you ever notice something very significant in reading Jeremiah? Nebuchadnezzar seemed to be very fond of Jeremiah. When the city of Jerusalem was finally captured by Nebuchadnezzar's army, he gave command to his army. Take care of that man. Don't let anything happen to him. Whatever he wants to do, wherever he wants to go, let him do it. Let him go. Jeremiah, in his prophecies, Nebuchadnezzar must have heard about them because he sent to the Babylonian captives, the Jews in Babylonia. He sent messages telling them what they should do. Stay where you are. Do what you're doing. And say there, God's going to keep you there until it's time to bring you back. And his own fellow countrymen were against Jeremiah. In fact, they wanted to put him to death. He said he wasn't patriotic. They wanted to slay him. And they would have done it. He said, God watched over his servants. But Nebuchadnezzar, nevertheless, recognize Jeremiah's influence over the nation. But Jeremiah, by the Spirit of God, never forgot what Nebuchadnezzar had done to his people. And God never forgot. He must pay back Nebuchadnezzar for what he does. Look at this chapter, please. Fifty-one. Let me read with you the verse that we have a reference for. In verse twenty-five, verse twenty-five, here are the words. Let me read verse twenty. I hope I got the right one. Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm looking at the wrong chapter. Verse twenty-five, note these words in chapter fifty-one. Behold, now look. Go to verse twenty-four, get the connection. I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. Now let me give you a divine principle you must not forget. Whenever God permits a nation to persecute and to judge his own people as he did Israel, God turns around later on and punish punishes that nation for what they did because they usually exceeded the punishment that God wanted them to feel. Let me propel that thought a little further. You know what the nations have done to the Jews throughout the century? God hasn't forgotten it. God hasn't forgotten it. They've gone much further. And his judgments always come back upon the nation or the nations that persecuted his people and treated them far more in their suffering than he himself would have done. Likewise with Nebuchadnezzar. Now read the twenty-fifth verse. Behold, I'm against him. Now note these words. All destroying mountains. Set the Lord, which destroyeth all the earth. I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rock, and will make thee a third mountain. This is now exfiguratively. There, you can't call it literally. But here's Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. A great mountain, the greatest, in fact, for the glory of any Gentile nation it has never been exceeded, nor equal. But it never is doomed. You read the whole fifty-first chapter of Jeremiah. It tells it's doomed, and it came to pass. And then you've got another reference, if I may turn to that too, please. In Matthew chapter seventeen, in the life of the Lord Jesus, oftentimes one may wonder at the words that the Lord Jesus said in the seventeen chapter of Matthew. Let me read in the context a little bit. these words of Jesus chapter chapter seventeen in verse twenty Jesus said unto them because of your unbelief they could not cast out the child the demon out of the child for verily I say unto you if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall stay unto this mountain Remove hence beyond the place. It shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Albeit this kind goeth not all, but by prayer and fasting. May I bring before you in memory, in a later chapter, the Lord Jesus will remember cursed the victory that's borne our truth, so symbolical of Israel that was fruitless. Now here you've got the suggestion of Israel being a great mountain. and to be cast into the tree of the nations. And one can well recognize what did God do to the Jewish people? Then He cast them out of their land amongst all the nations of the earth to be scattered abroad. And they have been. And they still are to a great degree we well know. so that you have the figurative expression of a great mountain representing a great power. Now go back to your chapter in Revelation, please. And I want you to note with me the result of this great mountain. And without question or doubt, please let me say we have to take it as being representative of some great power. And I would like to pass some thoughts along. I don't know whether I could call them scriptural, but I think they have some suggestion in the light of scripture. We find, if I may point out to you, the result of this judgment first. In verse eight of our chapter, the great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. Now the sea is symbolical of the nations, and is a great nation, as it were, cast into the sea as a burning fire. Burning with fire. In other words, it's suggestive of the destruction of a great nation. Amidst all the other nations. And note the effect. Here's the result of it in a specific area again. The third part of the sea became blood. And the creatures which were in the sea had died. The third part of the ships were destroyed. Read your paragraph for just a moment. The result in a specific area, again, probably the prophetic, revived Roman Empire, probably physical and spiritual death. In the midst of political anarchy, apostasy will be rampant, more than a spiritual death flourish in times of social disturbances and revolutions. And all this will affect the prosperity of the earth. Let me look with you at verse nine particularly. the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life. May I suggest to you, well, now let me ask you something. If this was literal and God destroyed a third part of the creatures in the sea, that wouldn't be a judgment upon men. That would be a judgment upon the animal life in the sea. Figuratively, it represents life among the nations. in the sea of the nations. And he suggests, if I may suggest this thought, it's more indicative of moral and spiritual death. Remember the words of Ephesians two, verse one. You who, you have been made alive, you have God quickened, who were what? Dead. In trespasses and in sin. Please, Let me link that truth. We believers, you were before you were saved dead, morally, spiritually, in a state, a condition of death. God bless you. Beloved and larger, we're living in a world today where moral and spiritual death is even greater. In that which covers the earth today, And may I say this, with all due respect to the desire of many that pray for revival, to see the world brought to the feet of the Lord Jesus, you will not see the world brought to the feet of the Lord Jesus until he comes himself in power. The moral and spiritual state of things is going to deepen and exceedingly manifest a state of moral and spiritual death. And what is it? Look, go back one book in Jude, if you see. Look in the people of Jude. Let me point you out something, which I think is very significant in relation to this judgment, of the trumpet judgment we're on, in this only one chapter. Let me read what Jude said regarding apostates. And may I point out, just in verse eleven and verse twelve, and even verse thirteen, more unto them they choose. And these are the men that deny the word of God. Read the context in the beginning. Men are denying the word of God. More unto them. They've gone the way of pain. They have a bloodless profession. They ran greedily after the error of bail and the reward. Their profession, they are only after their own personal gain. And they perish in the gain thing or the retelling of Korah, one who rebelled against God's way. Now, these, now, no, these, says Judah, are spots in your feats of charity. When they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, clouds they are without water, carried about a wind, trees whose fruit reverence, without fruit. Now, no, twice dead, propped up by the root, twice dead. Now, the context remains. the apostasy away from God's truth. May I repeat what I said previously some minutes ago? When men turn away from God's truth, they go further and further away from God. And they get so far away from God, there's no turning back. They are apostas. They are apostas. Go back with me to Second Thessalonians, chapter two, if you please. I want you to note it, very particularly in St. Thessalonians, where the beloved Apostle Paul speaks of that which will happen following the rapture of the church, if you please. Let me read in verse one. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our gathering together unto him, meaning the rapture of which he has spoken and revealed in chapter four of the first epistle, that ye be not soon shaken in mind. or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter and from on as that the day of Christ is at hand nor the day of the Lord is at hand those days of judgment the day of the Lord is what we're reading about in Revelation these judgments that are coming upon the earth let now know let no man deceive you by enemy that day shall not come except there come and let me literally put it as it should be the falling away the apostasy first And that the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Please, may I say, may I say it lovingly, just as Jude writes it, and Paul writes it, he writes of it, John writes of it. When it comes to the end of Christendom's day, the end days of Christianity, the truth is not revised. The truth is gone further away from by mankind. And as Jude calls them, twice dead already. No hope, no hope. They put God completely out of their thoughts. And beloved, do you not believe as we look at conditions today? The evidence is this. God is not in the thoughts of man at all, chiefly. And our blessed it is to be amongst the few who love the Lord and love his word. But now let's go on and finish today. the second trumpet judgment, or rather the third trumpet judgment, verses ten and eleven. Note, the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, it fell upon the third part of the rivers, upon the mountains of waters, the name of the star, which called wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. But do you note very quickly, please, The third trumpet judgment, a star. Now, will you please note, here you've got the symbol of authority in government, a fallen great ruler who should be a source of light and blessing. But the moral sources of life are affected and corrupted. They're set forth by the symbol rivers, fountains of waters. Beloved, do you ever stop the thing? Let me give you this illustration. You know, I remember many years ago, I was amazed when I first heard the word ecology. One of my good Christian friends amongst the Inders was telling me he was studying ecology. I said, ecology, what are you doing that for? Very seldom heard that word. But now the world awakens. The whole country's awakened to the ecological problems that we had. Please let me say. They're more concerned about the physical pollution than they are the moral and the spiritual pollution. And rivers, thousands of waters, they have a symbolic meaning of God wanting to bless the people. May I say, the waters have been polluted. Please let me say, loving men, how many times in many Churches of Christendom. Well, I remember a dear man said to me many years ago, and said, well, Grandma, I went to certain cities of business. I had never been there before. I didn't know where to go to church when I went to some church. And he said, when I got it, he said, all through that service, I never heard the name of Jesus once. Can I say very earnestly, one of the greatest evils of today is departing from the truth of God. departing from the truth of God. And what happens? The waters become bitter. Wormwood. There's no spiritual life. Minutes it. How can an apostle minister spiritual life? An apostle can only take you further away from God. But may I say with a very sad heart, I'm sorry to believe most of the world is headed that way. They'd rather listen to a lie than the truth of God. So God's going to make that judgment pause to indicate that they will indeed experience not life but even death and bitterness. Poisoning in, don't say under the name Wernwood, it means poisoning influence, moral and physical to those who drink. And you've got some scriptures you can refer to Oh, beloved, oh, please let me say that. You know what? Physical drink is nothing to be compared to spiritual drink. All the importance of the soul drinking. I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream. My thirst was quenched, my soul revived. And now I live in him. Beloved, please, look, of all... The physical problems that are upon the earth, they're minor compared to the spiritual and the moral. Oh, beloved, the filthy streams of immorality, untruth that is propagating the earth today, flooding the bookstore. And in many places, beloved, look, I want to tell you very frankly, You want to be careful what you read. You'll get some of this wormwood. You'll get some of this wormwood. Dinner! But one can read it. Because it's all right. You rejected me. This is the judgment. And then you've got the false trumpet judgment. Where you have the whole governing body of the earth nation smitten. Sun and moon and stars. and their third part darkened, that they shone not for the third part of it, and the night likewise. Let me read the paragraph on your lesson sheet. The highest and all forms of government are affected, sun, symbol of supreme authority, moon of light derived from the supreme, stars of all in authority, all together an expression of every order of human authority in government, and restricted perhaps to the third part, the Western Roman Empire, but confusion and darkness prevailed instead of peace and security. Beloved, let me just state lovingly, we cannot indeed visualize all that is going to take place upon the earth, but some of this language symbolically presents to us the anarchy and the confusion that's going to increase. But may I give you this thought regarding the mountain falling into the sea and affecting the nations of the earth. Could I say lovingly I wonder what's going to happen to our own nation? I'd like to give you two quotations. One from a British historian by the name of Lord Macaulay. I doubt if he was a Christian. I don't think so. I've read some of his writings and he used to ridicule certain Christians because they gave out trance. But nevertheless, he was a very astute historian. But in the past century, the last century, he made this He made this forecast regarding the United States. He said, I believe that the United States will be devastated in the twentieth century, not from without, by barbarian aggression, but from within, through political corruption. Now just pause for a minute. And beloved, one can recognize Our greatest danger is not Russia as a nation. Our greatest danger is ourselves. Our own nation. It's unrighteousness. It's sin. It's lawlessness. It's corruption. Another William Kelly, a real but biblical scholar of great repute, made the statement they believed that before the end time, the United States, though it had become a great world power, would lose His world power authority before the end time. And he based upon the fact that he could not see in prophetic scriptures where the United States as a world power was given a place in the prophecies that he had to be fulfilled. And he made the statement, I believe, before the end it will break up into smaller factions. The reason he gained, it has taken into it the wise, the skill of all other nations. And at the same time it has permitted the scum of all other nations to enter also. And he said, before the end the scum will rise to the surface, corrupting the whole. And believe you and me, we've got a lot of scum around. But anyway, I'm glad I'm saved. And the Lord's coming for his own. Shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, how we thank thee for salvation. in and to invite a person that's ideally beloved Son alone. For neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, and we want to thank thee together. We're not only saved, but we're saved. Save from judgment. Blessed Lord, we thy people, who would say, we would pray too, for requests. Draw us nearer to thyself as we wait thy coming. Keep us walking in thy pure and favour for thy glory. Second request, Lord, preach mercifully the lost around us. In the gospel of thy grace, and our cherishing souls, to come to the Savior, we ask in thy word in aim. Amen.