and take your bibles and turn to revelation chapter fourteen revelation chapter fourteen beginning with verse seventeen. The preacher of certainty today not in two thousand nine but it will happen. Not it's not going to happen in two thousand nine but it is going to happen. Today I've. Got my grandson back. Justin stand up Justin and have your pretty wife stand up there Amber. OK sit down you've had enough time. And they are in, he's in the 82nd Airborne in Fort Bragg, but their home is in Alabama. Yeah, I got some Alabama people here. My brother's here from Alabama today. Poor Mrs. Dickerson, I tell you what, they're sending her to Alabama. And who else do we have from Alabama here? OK, all these, oh yeah, all these hands went up around Alabama. OK. I had a little boy moved in from Alabama, moved to Florida and went to school the first day. And the teacher trying to make him feel at ease said, young man, were you named after anybody? He said, yes, I was named after my father and my mother. Oh, yeah? said, yeah, my father's name was Ferdinand. What was your mother's name? Liza. Liza? Yeah. So what is your name? He said, Ferdinand Liza. OK. All right. OK. Revelation 14, 17 through 20. Don't start laughing in the middle, if you just catch it. All right, verse 17, and another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven. He also having a sharp sickle and another angel come out from the altar, which had power over fire. and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress even unto the horse's bridle, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Now, shall we pray? Now, Fathers, we have looked at this passage, and we see something prophesied that's going to happen, but it won't happen in 2009. Yet, it's something that should have an effect on every person under the sound of my voice today. And now I'm asking, Lord, that Thy Holy Spirit take over this message and do the work in the hearts that only You can do. There's one in this auditorium that does not know that they died today, that heaven's their home. I pray, Lord, that today be the day they come to Jesus Christ. And we ask this in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, the great thing that I can tell you about 2009 that will absolutely certainly not take place is the Battle of Armageddon. The Battle of Armageddon is not going to happen in 2009, and I can tell you that on the authority of the Word of God. But we look over this past year, we've had elections, we've had insurrections, national emergencies, insurgencies, earthquakes, hurricanes, markets crashing, budgets slashing, and on you could go of the headlines from around the world that have graced our newspapers, it seems like, day after day after day. And you wonder, what does it all mean? What is the direction? for our country, and for that matter, for this world. Is it really just a little more than a lot of surface noise? It upends life for sure, but it really sheds a little light for the man that's seeking some insight on what's coming up and what's about to happen. We're trying to strain our ears, you might say, to hear God speaking and we're not really sure what he's saying in some cases, maybe in most cases. Let me also insert, I think that the skeptic and the unbeliever should look honestly and intellectually at the irrepeatable fact that God reveals the future events in detail with complete accuracy. with no mistakes. Look at all those prophecies in the Old Testament about the first coming of Jesus Christ. Every one of them in detail fulfilled. We've seen in Ezekiel 37 through 39 that Israel in the latter days after and Hosea says after two days or after that 2000 years would be coming back into the land. We see them gathered together in unbelief. And then we also see the various nations, Russia and her cohorts lining up. We saw that in Ezekiel 38 and 39 this year in one of our messages. And they're lining up and we see all these things coming about from things that were written 2,600 years ago being fulfilled. And all a skeptic, all an unbeliever needs to do is open their eyes and they can see it. So I can tell you on the authority of God's Word, the Battle of Armageddon will not take place this year. However, I cannot say with authority that I can say that there is a possibility that the rapture could take place in 2009. What a great thing that would be. Some ask, well, what is the rapture? The rapture, the Bible tells us, takes place in a moment. in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we're told, we which are alive shall be caught up with them, the dead in Christ rising first, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The rapture is not the second coming of Jesus Christ. Because at the rapture, Jesus Christ is not touching this earth, we're meeting him in the clouds. Those that meet Jesus in the clouds will be the people who are saved. First of all, those that died in Christ. And then those that are alive on the earth right now, that are in Christ. And by the way, when I say in Christ, I'm not saying, are you depending on salvation on Jesus and the church? Jesus and Mary. Jesus and baptism, Jesus and confirmations, Jesus and central Baptist. Matter of fact, even in so-called Protestant denominations, there are those who say, well, I'm going to heaven because of Jesus and he's elected me. And so I'm going because I'm one of the few that's been chosen to go. And that's just as bad as Mariology. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. At least that's the way the Bible says it. I think God's right and man's wrong. And we also read that he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So I don't think that I've been chosen to go to heaven and that poor Joe over there, boy, he's just been chosen to go to hell. No, no, we've got a Savior that wants all men to be saved. Not all men get saved because he's given them a free will to choose. Not all men are intelligent enough through repentance and faith to do that, but nonetheless, it's through Christ we get saved. And in that salvation, at the rapture, you'll be caught up just like that. And that's the next event on God's calendar. There is nothing that has to happen on God's calendar for the rapture to take place. There is nothing that must happen according to the Bible. The rapture could even be before this day is out. What about those people who are left behind? You might say there are two groups of people left behind. Those who heard the gospel but did not get saved. And those who did not get saved because they never heard the gospel. But the Bible makes a distinction in those two groups. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9-12, we read this. Even him who's coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. That's talking about the Antichrist, the beast, that world leader that rises up in the tribulation period and becomes a great world leader. He sets a covenant with Israel that I'll say more about in a few moments, but he his coming is after Satan, he gets his power from Satan. And it says, "...and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." In other words, here's a person that sat in a church, they heard the gospel preached, And they realized, I'm not saved. They heard it from the Word of God. Somebody maybe gave them a personal witness, and their idea was, well, not now. Maybe later. Or, no, I just don't want it. Whatever the reason, they don't get saved. And they'll be left behind. But what II Thessalonians is saying is those people will not have a chance to get saved in the tribulation period. Some people will be able to be saved in the tribulation period. However, the cost for that might be their head, because there will be many that will be beheaded for the testimony of Jesus Christ. That's why in this age that we live in is the best age in which to be saved. Again, the rapture could take place today. And my question is, are you ready to meet God? Are you ready to meet Him? Because it could take place today. As a Christian, are you ready? Will you be ashamed before Him at His coming? Or as a Christian, will you have confidence? knowing that there are crowns laid up for you. My friend, the Bible gives us instruction in our Christian living. Just like I said, not saved by some kind of a, well, you're chosen to be saved and you're chosen to go to hell and your Christian life is not, you were chosen to live righteously, but you were just chosen to be saved, but not live righteously. Yeah, I wouldn't want to live life like that. You know what? I mean, if I was walking, fell off these steps and got to the bottom and was able to stand up, I'd say, boy, I'm glad that's over. You know, I mean, hey, everything's predestined. No, it's because I wasn't watching where I was going. And what I'm trying to say is, Christian, God gives you instruction on how to live. Live it! That you might be ready when you see the Lord. The rapture is followed by the seven-year tribulation. I do not believe that the tribulation starts with the rapture. I believe it starts probably a little bit after the rapture. Daniel chapter 9 tells us in verse 27, And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the ablation to cease. And for the overspreading of abomination he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determent shall be poured upon the desolate. Let me explain what that means. The Antichrist This world leader is going to sign a covenant sometime after the rapture. Now, it could be the day of the rapture. It could be a couple of years after the rapture. As a matter of fact, it could be four or five years after the rapture. That might be one of the deceits that are used in that day to say, oh, well, where are all these things that were predicted after the rapture? They're not happening. Because the rapture takes place, and then a covenant is confirmed with Israel by this world leader. World peace. Evidently, Israel will be allowed to, on the Temple Mount, build their temple as a result of this. And there will be a temple that they build. It's not the one that God's going to build when He comes back at the beginning of the millennium. That covenant is confirmed for one week, and that one week is a day, is a year, so it's confirmed for seven years. In the middle of the week, at three and a half years, The Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel, and he'll go into that temple and sit down and have all the world to worship him. And from that point, you've had three and a half years of tribulation, and now the second half is three and a half years of great tribulation. Tribulation like man has never known, the seven worst years man has ever known. Over half of the world's population will die during that seven years. Now you just think about it. If the world population after the rapture is six billion people, that means in a seven year period, over three billion people die worldwide. Jeremiah calls it the time. Jacob's trouble Near the end of a tribulation For a period over a year. There'll be a military campaign. That's all pushing towards Israel We call it from the Bible. We call it the Battle of Armageddon Armageddon is not a one-day battle. It's one that's going to end in one day when Jesus comes But it's actually a campaign that's been building up The armies of the East are coming, and there's 200 million strong, that coalition of Eastern armies from the Asian countries. Revelation 9 speaks of that, and here they are coming, and they're coming to Israel, into that area we call Armageddon. By the way, Mrs. Lloyd had mentioned some stuff about Israel today, and understand, that is one of the most fertile valleys in the world. And you stand up there and you see that not just this battle of Armageddon is going to take place there, but you realize so many other things. King Josiah died there. So many things happened in that one little area there that we were able to look over and talk about while we were there. This is the place that our text is referring to right now that we've read this morning. This is the world army. They're all together. They're going to try to eliminate Israel. And as they're gathered together to eliminate Israel, Jesus returns in disguise. Every eye shall see him, Revelation chapter 1 tells us. Revelation 12 tells us they'll be headed for the caves and the rocks and saying, fall on us and hide us from him. And he comes to the defense of that Israel and to set up a millennial kingdom. Now, with that background, let's look at verse 20 of our text. He says, And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse's bridle, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. Now, the scene here looks forward to the final slaughter of the beast armies at Armageddon. But it's not just the beast armies, it's the world's armies. As we said, according to Revelation chapter 9, there's 200 million in the Eastern Coalition armies. The Antichrist, who heads up a European, old Roman Empire type of army, that is the number one at that day, he is there and he is marching in. And then on top of that, there are kingdoms from the south, that are going to be coming at them, and the kings of the north. All of them coming against Israel. And their various ones are battling against one another. They all want control of Jerusalem. And they make it to that valley. Here's a great conflagration of people extending from below Basra, deep in Edom, up beyond Megiddo, into the plain of Armageddon, through the Valley of Jezreel. Its center is in the Judean wilderness that is opposite Jerusalem, in what's called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. This space of 1,600 furlongs comes from the Greek word stadion, and it corresponds in our mileage to approximately 180 miles. This valley at points is over a mile wide, and other points it's less than a mile wide. But the valley is there. Now you imagine, not only these millions upon millions upon millions upon millions of men, women, but also animals, horses, mules, camels, and so forth, they're gathered there. And the blood flowing out from all these people and all these animals, that I believe that at places, according to the Word of God, the blood is going to flow to the horse's bridle. Now, sometimes people say, well, that's the book of Revelation. And you don't really see much about that in the other part of the Bible. Oh, yes, you do. I think the Old Testament prophets saw this. They saw this valley like a great vat of grapes in a wine press bursting all out at once. For example, in Zechariah chapter 14, verses 12 through 15, it says, And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem. Now listen to this. This is what's going to happen that day. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth." Just think, this will be so fast that their flesh, blood just melts faster than their skeleton can fall to the ground. Eyes just they bust out with blood the tongue that they go to scream out. There's no tongue there It's that quick And he goes on to say in that passage of Zechariah 14 And it shall come to pass in that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them And they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor in other words he's saying These guys are armies from different countries gathered together. Some are fighting in unison. And all of a sudden, they see comrades dying left and right, and the matter in which they're dying, that their flesh just consumes away right there, they probably think that there's some kind of a special weapon. And they're doing it. And they begin to kill one another. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold and silver and apparel in great abundance." You know what that means with the gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance? The Antichrist was coming in thinking, I'm taking over Jerusalem and Israel, and this is going to be my kingdom, not God's. And so shall be the plague of the horse, and of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. But that's not the only place. Joel also speaks of this day. In Joel 3, 12 and 13, let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full. The fats overflow. What does it mean the fats overflow? The idea, and some of you, I used to work in a Pepsi plant years and years ago. And in the Pepsi plant, we had these great big vats, I mean much taller than I am. And this is what your Pepsi and so forth, is they'd make it and fill into there, and it would fill all the way up. And I'd heard stories of people actually drowning in vats. And so that thing would fill up. Well, that's the idea of the fats overflowing. These big vats that they would use in producing large quantities of grape juice, of wine, or what have you. All of a sudden these grapes are crushed and it overflows. And that's the look here. But only instead of grapes, it's people, it's human flesh, it's blood. And it says, for their wickedness is great. And the Lord told us that things of the last days, the things that would be great, In wickedness, first of all, men would not endure sound doctrine, but rather they would turn to that which is sensual. And that's why you have a contemporary movement in your churches today. It goes directly against the holiness of God. And that's particularly the last days of one of the great, terrible sins of the last day. Immorality abounds all around this world today. Everywhere you go, it's there. The home is almost a joke today. Its sin is on every hand. I've told people I feel safer in Israel than I do in our own city streets. And they think, well, you're crazy. But then those that go with me agree. But that's pretty well worldwide. And we're told those will be the conditions. when Jesus prepares to come back. In Isaiah 63, verses 1 through 4, Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. I that speak righteousness, mighty to save. Other words, this is Jesus Christ. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thine garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat. I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me, for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." The whole of the day of vengeance. You read through Hebrews chapter 11. Read that entire chapter. And oh, you see, those saints that suffered for the cause of Christ, some were sawn asunder. Some had to live in caves of the earth. Some were beaten, handled unmercifully. And the world of their day thought they got away with it. But the day comes. The day comes. Every eye shall see Him. And they also Even 2,000 years later, they also which pierced him. And all, all of them shall wail because of him. Even so, come Lord Jesus. My friend, They can call you a funny mentalist and call you all kinds of names and say that you're the trouble with your country and you're the trouble with everything else that's going on in the world, but you stay true to the Word. Stay true to the Word because the Lord is going to avenge you. In Revelation 19 verses 11-13 it says this, And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. He was clothed with the vesture dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. There he appears and the armies of the earth gathered fighting one another suddenly see Jesus coming and they try to battle against him They're going to unite and they're going to defeat that one that's coming in the blue However listen as the psalmist describes that coming He says in Psalms chapter 2 Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision." Oh, they laughed at the Christian. They laughed at the gospel. They laughed at the Word of God. They mocked it. They loathed it. They did everything against it. And now God laughs at them. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. And they, my friends, shall be instantly slaughtered with the sword of his mouth. He who spoke the world into an existence, he that upholds all things by merely the word of his power, is the same one who is going to speak, and the destruction will come. He who is called Immanuel, God with us, he is coming a second time, and he's going to touch earth. And when he touches there on the Mount of Olives, and that mount splits from the north to the south, and the people of God walk in through the eastern gate. Now, folks, we still have a story to tell to the nation. And they still will not believe. But we tell it anyhow, because God tells us to. You know what I'm concerned about? What if the rapture were today? And what if that covenant was somehow signed with Israel immediately and that seven years started? What does that mean? That means children, 10 and 11 years old, that are riding in on our buses are going to be a part of that scene I just described to you at Armageddon. Should the rapture take place today, and there's a few years of time in between that, then we see these children that are four and five years old riding on our buses. They're going to be at that battle of Armageddon, if they live through the tribulation period. I think it's both great, and I think it's both a shame at the same time that we have men in their late 60s, near 70, and they're working that bus route. I think of Brother Eby, every week he's the top bus. He gets out there six or seven hours a week on Saturdays that he's not in the hospital getting his heart worked on. And yeah, it's a lot of trouble to go get a CDL license and work on buses, but I hope that you can get in your mind a picture of boys and girls going to hell and that you can step in there and do something about it. And God can use you. What happens when those older guys pass away? What happens when they can't do it anymore? Why can't we stand in the gap right now? Why not stand for Jesus right now? Why not get involved today? Why not on the job? People you work with. No, you don't witness to them when you're supposed to be working, but you do witness to them on breaks and at lunchtime. Be a witness for Jesus Christ. You might save somebody from this place that the Bible says is actually literally going to happen. Let me just say one final thing. I've done this, and I know others have as well. Ask a person, are you saved? Do you know that if you died today, that heaven's your home? And I've heard this answer. I hope so. I think it's all right. That's vague. That's uncertain, that answer. That is so lacking of faith. What an inadequate answer to such a battle question. Because we're not talking about, are you saved for today? We're talking about for eternity. We're talking about 1 billion, 1 trillion years into eternity. That after your soul departs this life, it's either going to be in hell forever and it's going to be in, or in heaven forever. You've got to decide in this life, which way it's going to go by receiving Christ or rejecting him. And let me say, I could even tell on the faces of some folks here today, when I was describing that gruesome scene at the Battle of Armageddon, it would turn your stomach just about. Armageddon is going to be a Sunday school picnic compared to eternity in the Lake of Fire, where man never ceases to exist. where he's tormented day and night, forever and ever, and there is no rest. Hell is a literal place. But Jesus Christ is a literal God. And he will save you. For he says, Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus says in Revelation 22, His final plea to those without Christ is, whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely. He'll do that for you if you'll come to him. Let's bow our heads, pleading. Father, I pray for those who are not saved. Some could not raise their hand that they're saved. Some, although they couldn't raise their hand that they're saved, didn't raise their hand to say, pray for me. No Lord, I don't know what it'll take to break down that hardness, but I pray that you would I Pray for those that did raise your hand said pray for me. I need to be saved I'm not sure if I died in heavens my home. I prayed that today would be the day that they come and receive the salvation God offers I pray father that if you spoke to a Christian's heart And you've given them a vision of souls going to hell, whether it's children, whether it's people they work with. I pray that they'd come and seek you for the power and the help to be the witness they ought to be and to give the time, to give the effort that you'd have them to give and do it continually so. And we'd ask this in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.