He's already been afflicted once. You can't do it again. You can't put his son to an open shame again. And all those that are involved with him are perfectly safe. God is merciful, isn't he? I like those last two verses in Isaiah 28 where it says, Come into thy chambers, my people, and close the door behind thee, and hide thyself, for the Lord is going to go out. You come into your place, I'm going out of mine. You be safe in here. Shut your door or voucher. I'm going out of my place to judge the earth. And I can see it happening already. And I know that the place that we are shut up in is Christ. And I'm glad of that, aren't you? Could talk to you for a long time. Let me go to work. Revelation chapter 9, verse 1. We're looking at the third message on the first woe. The first woe, part 3. We had three questions this morning. We had an introduction. Remember that this woe is a woe of a fallen star. First question, who brings the locusts? God brings the locusts, he's Alpha and Omega, he's the only one who can take them away when he does bring them. Question two, what brings the locusts? Lack of humility. Question number three, what is the locust's purpose? To blacken out all of the goodness of God, take the talent from him and cast him into outer darkness. It is to bring darkness greater than that which you found in the fourth trumpet. The last question today is who are the locusts? Let's begin reading in Revelation chapter 9 and well let's just start at verse 1. And the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth and to him See, the star is a hymn, was given the key of the bottomless pit. He didn't have it, but it was given to him. And he opened, see that's the second time it's referred to him as a person, the bottomless pit. And there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. We asked you to cross-reference Revelation 8.12 with that verse and see the difference in the smoke and its relationship to the sun and the light than with that of the fourth angel. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth. And unto them were given power. To the angel of the star they were given a key. To the locusts there was given power. and as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, nor any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battling on their heads, or as it were crowns of gold in their faces, whereas the faces of men And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. They had breastplates as it were breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. They had tails like under scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit. The star in verse one is called an angel here of the bottomless pit whose name is in the Hebrew tongue is a bad But in the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon and it comes from the word in John 3 15 and 16 should perish and then verse 12 one woe is passed and behold there come two woes more hereafter and Father, we thank you for what you gave us this morning. We thank you for giving us yourself this morning. We thank you that you gave the Holy Spirit to cause men's hearts to fear and tremble before thee. That is appropriate in such a message, and I'm glad that you gave us that. We do not want this blessed gospel to harden us further and callous us, but we want to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for we know it is you that have worked in us to will and to do of your good pleasure. Encourage us now, make us attentive to heavenly things. Manifest yourself to us, break the bread and bless it and hand it out for us. Lord, we pray you would and glorify yourself therein, in Christ's name, amen. First thing we want to say is that these are not literal locusts. In chapter 9 and verse number 11, it says, and they had a king over them. They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit. So This thing is controlled by the powers of darkness that was once illumination. The devil was once an angel of light. He can still act like one in our day and age. He was a glorious being standing in the presence of God, I think at the foot of the throne, according to the scriptures talking about the sapphire stone pavement upon which the throne sat on. I think he was higher than any of the rest of the angels, but he fell and his darkness became that of the most demonic character there is, that of the devil. So that's what you have. And so it says there was a king over them. This is a very simple statement, Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number 27. tells us about natural locusts. So you know that these are not normal. These are not literal locusts. I'm going to read you Revelation 9, 11, down to the first comma. And they had a king over them. Now, would you read me down to the first comma in Proverbs 30 in verse 27? Proverbs 30 and verse 27, would you read me down to the first comma there? It says in Revelation 9, 11, and they had a king over them. That is these locusts that we are looking at in the book of the Revelation. But in Proverbs 30 and verse 27, would you read me the first phrase in that? So your locusts have no king, but the ones I read about have a king and it gives his name in two different languages, Hebrew and Greek, to make sure you understand who their king is. And their king is the devil himself. It is that which brings you to damnation or destruction. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. You take the never out and shall perish is the Greek word in John 3, 15 and 16 from which the word Apollyon comes from. So it is the destroyer, a destroyer, that is these locusts. So the Lord said, I'm going to give these to be like locusts. That is in their number. But I'm going to give them tails like scorpions just to burn in the fire of that which pollutes the man. That serum, I can't think of the word. when the scorpion strikes and burns you from the inside, has effect upon your inner organs and brings a great pain to you. These have no king, yet they go forth, all of them by bands. We know that the natural locusts don't have a king, but these do. So I'm understanding that these are similar to literal locusts, but these are not literal locusts. 2 Corinthians chapter number 11. You do know the devil has preachers, you do know the devil has a church, you do know the devil has a gospel, which is no gospel, there are no preachers, not a true church. But so we begin to see who they are. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 13. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if, two words, Who's ministers? Satan's ministers. So if the king over them, if they have a king over them, then they're not literal locusts. Because literal locusts, you read me in Proverbs, says they do not have a king over them. So these are spiritual locusts. And they have a boss, a king. His name is Apollyon, means they destroy you. And we've come and see here that there are false apostles. There are those who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. And there are those who are deceitful workers. And then there is the devil himself who's transformed into an angel of light. And come to find out in verse 15, those false apostles in verse 13 are Satan's apostles mentioned in verse number 14. Therefore it is no great thing if his, Satan's ministers, also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works. Dear soul, America will hear the word from God. They will not hear it if they will not hear it from God's true church and from his true ministers preaching in the anointing of the Holy Ghost. They will hear it from the harlot church. They will hear it from the devil's ministers and God will give Satan that key and let him let his ministers out and cover this earth with that false gospel. It will be. One way or the other, God will be heard. He will not be ignored. It will happen, dear soul. So they are not literal locusts. How do you know that? Number one, these have a king. Literal locusts don't have a king. Number two, in Exodus, well, let's go to Revelation 9-4 to begin with, and then we'll go to Exodus chapter 10 again. Revelation 9-4. How do you know these are not literal locusts? They have a king. Number two, these hurt not the grass and trees. What do literal locusts do? They drive stock cars? Do you milk them like cows? Can you hook them up to a buggy and let them pull your cart like a horse? What do locusts do? They eat trees and grass. What do these do? They don't. eat trees and grass. Listen, Revelation 9 and verse 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree. Now green things, we've already seen this. We've already seen it in the seals. It was brought out In Revelation 8, 7, the first angel sounds and the third part of trees were burned up, the third part of green grass, and we saw the people is grass. In Isaiah 40, verse 6 and 7, we know that I saw men as trees. We see that all flesh is grass, today is, tomorrow is put in the oven. We understand that this is talking about that these locusts are specific and unique and they don't go after, excuse me, They don't go after just common everyday folks. They go after those men that have not the seal of God in their foreheads. That's what it says in Revelation 9 and verse number 4. They are given, dear soul, to come after those who had opportunity. You say, well they're not elect so they didn't have opportunity. They had responsibility to have the seal of God in their forehead. They needed to be stamped with the gospel. They needed to have their mind consumed with the gospel. Their heads, their brains, their understanding, their comprehension needed to be in the awareness of God through the gospel, but they didn't have that. So God said, don't go after the grass, don't go after the commoner, don't go after the trees. Go after those who have turned their back upon God and his gospel. Only those men. What it says in 9.4, only those men which have not the seal of God in their forage. And I don't need to go to Exodus 10.5 to prove there that they will eat trees and grass and everything. You know that. So I'm not going to go there. But anyhow, the other thing in the literal locus, they will eat trees and grass. That's what they're supposed to do. So you can find that in Exodus 10.5. I want to get on back to this other thing. Secondly, we know who the locusts are because they are given to hurt the reprobate only. Now, how do you get to be a reprobate? Well, you can't apostatize from that you never have confessed. Well, how did you come to confess it? they went out from us, these antichrists. First John 2, 18, 19, 20. How do you know that? The Bible says that they sat on the benches, they heard the gospel, they confessed the gospel, but they went out from us. And the thing about them was they had the word of God and the Bible in their head, but they never did have Christ in their heart. They weren't truly sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Ephesians chapter number 1 and verse number 13. We're sealed with the Holy Ghost of promise. And that's the seal of God. That's regeneration. That's salvation by the grace of God. These men were among us, but they were never of us. And God sends his judgments upon those people. These woes come specifically to destroy those men who have been rejecters of a gospel that was provided them. And I'll tell you something, folks. It kind of smites at some legalistic intellectual Calvinism, but I believe that it's the true gospel of Christ. Jesus said, how oft would I have gathered you? But you are going to be cast into outer darkness. You knew not the day of your visitation. Now, wait a minute. In what way was God ever determined to gather the reprobate? Well, either he's a liar or in some way or another he was determined to do it. And so what it makes you understand is men going to hell go to hell in spite of the mercy and the grace of God that's provided at least in a general way. And yet God in his humanity can look at them in his true benevolent human state and say, I would have gathered you, but you would not. The burden is on you. The responsibility is on you. It's not on God. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." You say, well, God, did he ever intend to save anyone that was not the elect? No. Is there any history or any example of God ever saving one who reprobated? No. But dear soul, he said, how oft would I have gathered you? The problem is ours. Why? Because we have had a gospel, we have had a preacher, we have had a church, we have had them as salt, we have had them as light, we have had morality, decency, all the things that emit from the church, the true church, we have been spoiled rotten in the goodness of a gospel age and we didn't take advantage of it. So he says, okay, go after those that have not the seal of God in their forehead. In Ezekiel chapter nine, I just want to remind you of this. Ezekiel chapter nine, you have the same thing. It's the same God writing about the same situation. Ezekiel chapter nine, verse one. He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice saying, cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. You understand these are not sheriffs, deputies, these are not mayors, these are not chancellors or vice chancellors, these are not politicians, these are powerful agencies of God that he turns loose in judgment against the city. And behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate which lies toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen." I wonder who that was. Sounds like Christ. With a writer's ink horn by his side. What's he going to do? He's going to mark them. And they went in and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub whereupon he was to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's ink on by his side. And here's the Lord's commission of those that are represented by Christ and his righteousness, the linen garment. Go through the midst of the city and through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the forage of the men that sigh and that cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. That's the effect of the gospel. Bring a mark upon them. Preach the word of God. I don't preach to people in order that I might save them. My preaching had never saved anybody. But dear soul, everybody that God does save while I'm preaching or has been saved, they will have the fruit of the Spirit and they will groan and sigh over abominations. And it says, even their prayers, they are made with utterances, with groanings that cannot be uttered. They're groaning and crying and God's interpreting that thing. And their hearts are communing with the glory of God. They're communing in the presence of God like God hates wickedness. So they're hating wickedness and their beings and their hearts are in oneness with God and the gospel goes forth and brings forth those men to life and to light and makes them understand who they are and makes the world understand who they are. So that's the gospel, that's the white horse. Now he's gonna say to the others, verse five. And to the others he saith in mine hearing, go ye after him through the city and smite. Let not your eyes spare, neither have ye pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids, little children, and women, and come not near any man upon whom is the mark. You need to cross-reference Revelation chapter nine and verse number four with that. Heard? not the grass and the green tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." So he says here that you do not come near any man upon whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary, then they begin at the ancient men which were before the house. And you can read the rest of that later. But you see, the Lord is going to make a difference. He's going to make a difference between the Egyptian and the Israelite and he's going to separate them into two distinct piles, into two distinct groups. And when you get all the grouping of the wheat into the barn and all the grouping of the chaff and the stalks, dear friend, gathered in the field, there ain't nothing left to do. That's harvest time and it's over with. God's not going to start it all over again and cause his son to be put to an open shame all over again. When it's over, it's over. And this is God saying, it's going to be over one day and I'm going to separate the goats from the sheep. And I want you to remember in Revelation 8, 13, the first woe as well as the other two, are addressed to the inhabitants of the earth. You remember that? Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth. And we looked over into the book of Revelation in chapter 12, in verse number 12, just to refresh you, it says, Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them, Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that his time is but a short time. So this is the little season. A short time. The devil's going to be loosed. He's going to have his ministers prepare men for eternal damnation and death. Who are they? They're the ones that rejected Christ's gospel. Will they hear the preaching of the word? They will from the devil. It's the strong delusion that causes men to believe a lie and to be damned. And suddenly, dear soul, they're going to have a church and they're going to believe in this stuff, but it's going to be for the damnation of their soul. So, who are these locusts? They're not literal locusts. They are those that are given to hurt the reprobate only. And again, this third thing is this, they are those that come from the result of a fallen star. We read you that in Revelation 9 and verse number 1. To remind you, refresh you again, Revelation 1.20, who are the stars? Revelation 1 20 it said the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches or are the messengers of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. So one of God's true churches falls. It is the fifth trumpet and the fifth angel is at the church of Sardis. We studied that in Revelation 3, 1 through 6. And he says, I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. God uses one of his churches that apostatizes and turns it over to the devil and makes it effectual that he might destroy. Everything that's been good, that's been given, not only turn the gospel light down in the fourth trumpet, but blacken out the effect of the gospel in the fifth trumpet so that men can have no benefit thereby. You think that's the only church? You ought to read Acts chapter 20 and listen to Paul talking to the church of Ephesus when he leaves them. He says, listen, My heart is grieved that I'll see your faces no more, but the reason it is grieved is because when I leave, grievous wolves are going to come in and destroy the flock, but that's not all. The other reason I'm so sad is because there will be some among you that will raise up preaching another gospel so that you might draw men away to yourselves. So some of the very elders that wept with Paul on those shores as he was getting in the boat to go to his next missionary location and his next destination, those very men that wept and hugged his neck were going to be some of those that raised up in pride to show themselves as Christ sitting in the temple of God showing themselves that they were God and that thing already had its death in it. Don't think that Grace Baptist Church is great of itself. I'm warning you, I'm warning me, we better listen to this. Grace Baptist Church is good because God made it good if it is good. And Grace Baptist Church will endure because God wants it to endure if God wants it to endure. And there so we must not think that just because that we have a name among the other religions or the other religious groups that we are anything because they can come up from amidst of us that which will destroy this thing and take it down and damn our children rather than save them. Scary stuff, isn't it? You know, it's amazing to me that the ham that you've got in the back of your refrigerator right now, that bone you're going to make soup out of, or the rest of that turkey, I'll tell you what you do. You throw it in the garbage can. Put it in a sack and throw it in the garbage can. Go back in five days and open the sack. Seal it up. Good, you know, ziplock bag. And then you tell me something. Where did those maggots come from? You say, go on brother, don't talk about that. This is worse than that. They're so, that which is mine and your bread. God blow that fifth trumpet, put the light out in that church, it becomes their damnation. It's a scary thing isn't it? You know what makes me thankful for them? God ever having presented to me the truth of the gospel and me ever having ears to hear it Brother Carl. Thank God for both of them. It's a good thing. And I want to show Christ my respect to him by respecting this. I want to show Christ my loyalty to him by being loyal to this. I want to do what I can to uphold and sustain the name of Christ for as long as I possibly can. So we see, dear soul, that this is what it was. Go back to Jeremiah, if you will. Jeremiah chapter 23. In verse 15. Brother John, if those popsicles are ready, it's alright with me if you turn that thing off. Jeremiah 23 and verse 15. Therefore thus saith the God of hosts concerning the prophets. Now who's talking? Did it say the God of Israel? No. What does it mean when he says the God of hosts? It means the God of everything. If there's a bunch of anything, he's God over. If there's a host of anything, host of zebras, a host of pelicans, if it's a host of men, if it's a host of demons, if it's a host of anything, if you bunch them up, God's Lord over. So this is God over all the universe, you understand. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts. Alright, that's who's talking. Now what's he talking about? Concerning whom? The prophets. Are you ready? Behold, I will feed them with wormwood. Hadn't we seen that? And make them drink the water of Gaul. Now would you read the rest of that verse for me after the word Gaul? Who did God say was profaning the whole country? He didn't say it was the harlots. He said they go in ahead of these boys. He didn't say it was some of the hypocrites. He saved some of them. These boys right here, the prophets, it's from them. that the curse and the ungodliness is coming. They are the wellspring of all of this putrefaction that's going out into the world. God holds the church responsible for that. Do you see that? Let me show it to you again. Go back to chapter three of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter three. Listen to this, Jeremiah 3.1, they say, you know Jesus said, they say unto you but I say, you know they say means this is what you've been hearing at the preaching down at that old whore church. They say if a man put away his wife and she goes from him and become another man shall he return again unto her, shall not that land be greatly polluted, okay, you know, and it's straining it. Now, they're good at that stuff. They ain't saying it's not right. They're saying that's all they harp on. They just got a little legalistic hobby horse to harp around on so they can tell everybody else how they ought to live their life. But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places and see where thou hast not been lain with. In the ways hast thou sat for them as the Arabian in the wilderness, and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness." I will eat your hat if he's not talking to Israel and Judah. thou hast polluted the land. My prophets have profaned the land." Folks, I feel sorry for Wall Street, I feel sorry for the White House, I feel sorry for the workplace, I feel sorry for all those places, but I'm going to tell you this. If they had heard the gospel They would not have a polluted priesthood and a polluting and a profaning church over them right now. This nation was great when we truly did in God we trust. When it was truly one nation under God and everybody knew that God was Jesus Christ. You get a lot of these folks say God, but they ain't talking about the God of the Bible. You say Jesus and see how much trouble you get into. Just don't listen. We wouldn't have this mess in America today going on and other nations are eating us up, just gobbling us up, and politicians and big money men eating us up from within that's already here. This thing wouldn't be being destroyed like it was if we had maintained our humility and our obedience to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We got too big for our britches. That's what grandmama used to say, you boy, you done got too big for your breeches. And I knew what that meant. That's what's happened to America. We decided we don't need God no more. And God said, okay, but I'm gonna tell you this. You don't like walking with Moses, you gotta walk with Pharaoh. You don't like walking with Christ, you're gonna have to walk with the devil. You don't wanna hear the words of the true gospel, you will hear the words that come from the false church with these locusts. And buddy, have they got a back spin that you won't like. It's a back sting on the backside of them. So the church, to the church, he says, thou has polluted the land. These locusts, number one, are not literal. Number two, they only hurt the reprobate. Number three, they are the result of a fallen star. And number four, they come out of a pit that has been previously locked by gospel sovereignty. It says in Revelation 9, 1-3, and I won't reread it, we've read it so many times. And a key, to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. Now I want to stop right there. First of all, Revelation 3-7. Who is it that's got the key, and what key does he have? Revelation 3-7. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things saith he that is holy. Who do you think that is? Isn't that the Lord Jesus? He that is true. He that hath the, what are the keys of David? What was David? The king. That is, he's sovereign over everything. Joseph had the key around his neck to them storehouses. You didn't open them up until he said you could open them up. Christ is in control of all things. Listen, I have the key of David, that is the key of sovereignty. I am he that openeth and no man shutteth. They're not going to shut this church down until God gets ready for it. This church and its purity in the gospel will remain for as long as sovereign God determines it to. And it will have that gospel sovereignty, not because of her, but because God backs it up and says, I'll open that door and everybody I want that comes in there that are mine elect, I am going to save them. I am going to deal with them. I am going to reveal myself to them. Ain't nobody going to stop it. Brother Jamie, what was that verse you read this morning? It said, the kingdom that cannot be moved. Isn't that good? All right, listen, and then he says, and shutteth, and no man openeth. Sad, sad that bitter well, almost, but lost. And he goes on in verse eight and says, I've got an open door, no man can shut it, and so forth. So the key is had by the person of Christ, and there's so, in chapter one in verse 18, Revelation 118, We find these words, I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore amen and have the keys of what? I have the keys of hell and death and he gives that key to this fallen star. He says, I'm going to make your gospel effectual. I'm going to make your ministry effectual. But I'm going to make it a hellish ministry. And I'm going to make it a hellish doctrine. I'm going to put it in league with death. You're going to be really popular. And you're going to really be able to prosper in what you're doing. But it's going to be prospering to damned souls and bring you down too for what you did. Isn't that amazing? I have the keys of hell and death. So who is it, the one that gives? the key to the fallen star. It's the one that has the keys of David. It's the one that used to be dead, now he's alive forevermore. It's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, listen to this in Matthew chapter 16 and verse number 19. Matthew 16 and verse number 19. Verse 18, thou art Peter, upon this rock, the rock of the revealed faith, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Verse 19, and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. That's why I call it the keys of gospel sovereignty. God's true church is given the word and the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, insomuch that they beseech you instead of Christ Be ye reconciled to God. It's as though that Christ did beseech you by us. Be ye reconciled to God. And God will make his gospel sovereignly and effectually applied through those churches that he opens and no man can shut it. But dear soul, he can shut off that gospel, and no man can ever get it back open again, and that's what you have over there with those locusts. He said, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. That which we do that God sovereignly makes effectual through his purposes and through the power of his Holy Spirit are eternally done. You have things in your heart and soul. You've been helped in your afflictions and in your crosses. Effectually, by the word of truth, it's going to cross this desk. Nobody can take it away from you. It's yours eternally. Now, the undetected is going to get your watch. And you ain't going to be able to take your body with you. But everything that God has given you through the gospel by the Holy Spirit is yours and that's really who you are. You take you with you a gospel changed and a gospel matured soul going in the presence of God in better shape. Your soul's in better shape to turn it back in than it was when God gave it to you to start with. Why? Because he led you to a gospel church under a gospel ministry and he made the gospel effectual to your soul and nobody could shut it down. it off. But now, God locks her up. The star falls, not the angels of God come out of the seven churches, but the locusts come out with scorpion tails and God sends forth a strong delusion. And he makes it as effectual for the reprobate to believe the lie and be damned as he made it for the elect to believe the gospel and never perish. That ain't no Santa Claus, Jesus. That's God's Jesus. Scary stuff, ain't it? So this gospel church has fallen. Now, Revelation 20. Just got a few more scriptures and I'll be through. Revelation 20. Some of y'all just sitting there itching for me to get to Revelation 20. Here I am. Now, what two things were we talking about in Revelation chapter 9? We're talking about a bottomless pit and a key and a star falling from heaven. That's three things. Okay. All right. Revelation 20 verse one. And I saw an angel come down from heaven. Jesus said, no man's going up to heaven. Peek over the cloud and see what God's doing. You got to believe the one that came down from heaven. Who is that? That's Christ having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." That's Christ. When this happened, John chapter 12 tells you it happened at the cross. Now, shall the prince of this world be something? I forgot the word. Destroyed? Somebody say it. Yeah. Thank you. I didn't hear you but I'm sure that's right. Revelation, excuse me, John 12, 20 or 30, 30 and 31. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Thank you. And so here he is. It happens at the cross. And he laid hold of the dragon. Who is that? That old serpent. Who is that? That's the devil. Who is that? That's Satan. And bound him for Ever and ever. No. For as long as the gospel is going to be preached on earth. A thousand years. Why does it say a thousand years? Is that 999 plus 1? No. That's the most glorious number in the Hebrew language. They never say a million. They don't know what a million is. They say 10,000 times 10,000. Stuff like that. A thousand thousands. Thousands high as they go. That means it's as glorious as they can think. Okay. Bound him for a thousand years of gospel glory. How long that is? and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up. He locks and no man can open and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled." I'm going to lock up the devil and not let him be as effectual in deceiving the nations while the gospel ministry is going on around the world while evangelism under the Holy Ghost is going on. I'm going to lock up the devil and set a seal upon him. I have the key to shut him up and no man can open it. But when I am through with the gospel, I know where he is. I still got the key. I'll turn it over to that fallen star and let him unlock it and let the devil out and let him go back to do what he was doing to start with. And what was that? Deceiving the nations. And the rest of verse 3 of Revelation 20 says, and after that, he must be loosed a little season. Drop down to verse 7. And when the thousand years were expired, that is, when the gospel is through, going around the world and all of the ransomed church of God is saved to sin no more, he says, and after that, He says, verse 7, and when the thousand years were expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters, where? of the earth. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for the devil is come down." If I was you, I'd cross reference Revelation 12, 12 right there. It goes into four quarters of the earth. Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. So we see, dear soul, that God is bringing Satan to be loosed. He's opened it back up. He's the alpha that shut him up so that the gospel kingdom could flourish under the preaching of the word of God and he kept him on a short lease. But then when the gospel ministry is over with, then he turns him loose and sets him forth, dear soul, and brings that darkness and that depth of deception to deceive the nations anymore. I will send them strong delusion. Who is that? But the devil is an angel of light going about in the whore church system to destroy souls and bring them to an eternal end of themselves. Isn't that awful? That's awful, isn't it? One of these days, If you'll notice that beast with the ten horns, at one time he has a crown on his horns. Next time he has the crown on his head. When he has the crown on his head, he's the angel of light trying to be like Christ. These locusts had a crown on their head. But you're going to get tired of that old whore. Ain't nothing worse than an old diseased whore. Embarrassment to men. She's gonna take that crown off his head, quit being angel of light, hanging on his horns, gonna be the roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And one of these days, that whore's gonna pay for what she did, and God's gonna destroy them from off the earth, and you will see, by the mercy of God, religion completely destroyed off the face of this earth. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. I'm talking about all organized, traditional, soul damning religion will be destroyed off this earth. I want to finish out in Revelation 17, 8. My last verse. Revelation 17, 8. And the beast that thou sawest was and is not. Let me help you a little bit with that. The beast that thou sawest was, in the Old Testament, deceiving the nations. But he is not in Gospel days during the thousand years because Christ binds him up and the Gospel pushes him back and the glory of God is seen in the Gospel preaching. Okay, the beast that thou sawest was, that is in the Old Testament days, he was deceiving the nations. Where was the revelation during the Old Testament? Strictly on Israel. Strictly among Israel. So this beast that thou sawest was having a big time in all the Gentile nations. But he is not because Christ locked him up in Revelation 20 for the gospel to go forth. Uh-oh, here he comes again. And shall ascend out of what? The bottomless pit. There it is. Revelation 9 lets him out. Revelation 20, here it is in Revelation 17, and shall go into perdition. There's a whole history of the devil right there. And they that dwell where? On the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was in the Old Testament having his heyday among the Gentile kingdoms and is not in the gospel era and yet at the end of the gospel age God shall open up the pit during the little season and yet is. I'm glad today that God can show us who these locusts are. They are the ministers of the devil. Sending their droves to take all the blessedness out of life. I'll tell you what. I was in a super soul winning church. One of the things that they like, they like to get mafia guys. And bad guys come sing in the choir and give their testimony. And they tell how they slept with a gun under their pillow. And how they shot so many people and then Jesus saved them and we'd all say, woo, let's go to the Waffle House. The Bible says it's a shame for him to even mention what stuff they did, but this church liked that stuff. There's one old boy that just used him up. He had a special song he sang. He's just a poor boy. And they'd make him give his testimony. We'd go to South Carolina, the double-decker bus, and sang. And he'd give his testimony. And everybody said, whoo, let's go to Waffle House. And then one day, we looked around, couldn't find him. And I was the associate pastor, I think I was. I forgot what my title was, assistant pastor, associate pastor, something like that, assistant pastor. Man, I was big cheese. I got free gas, so you know I was really good. And they said, Brother Gene, we want you to go out and visit Po'boy. And I said, where has he been? They said, well, he's kind of fell back, fell aside a little bit. Why don't you go out there and visit with him? So I got my map out, I didn't have GPS or GSP or whatever it was, ESP or whatever, where you can satellite find you. I got my little map and I'm finding out there and I found his house out there in Stone Mountain somewhere. Knocked on the door and Flo come to the door, old brother Jim, glad to see you. I don't know whether he'll see you or not, he's in a bad way today. And me and him had a gospel ministry. We went up to the Stone Mountain State Prison. Y'all don't know it, but there's a prison inside of Stone Mountain Walls up there that's a federal pen. He was used to bill that. He was in Rikers. No, that ain't it. That's too much MTV. What did I mean? The law and order. He was down there in South Georgia. What's the name of that place? Reidsville. He was in Reidsville. One of the first inmates in Reidsville. He was a bad dude. And he was a plumber. So they sent him up there to Stone Mountain to build that prison, put the plumbing in. He did. And all them old boys know him. We'd go in there on Sunday afternoon and he'd get up and say, now this man, he ain't going to try to out-carn these cons. He's going to tell you the truth and you listen to him. And he was a great benefit to my preaching. Me and him used to really enjoy going and having these ministries. But they kept on making him tell over and over and over and over how bad he was. Never would get him to tell how good Jesus was. So Flo said, come on back and I'll see if he'll see you. Went back in that back room and I saw a man that looked like the devil was in his eyes. I was scared. I've never been scared of him in my life. Me and him rolling up down the road, what I saw in his face, it scared me. I was scared he had a gun under that pillar over there on that bed. He was gonna shoot me because he had burned slap out on religion and he didn't want no more part of it. And I didn't get Pope Boy to come back to church, but I learned something. You get through messing around with hellish churches, with a hellish spirit that's seeking for their own glory, their own vain glory, you're gonna burn up some souls and prepare them for eternal damnation irrecoverably. America is there. And you better be careful whose door you knock on and who you try to stick a track in their pocket because you could get killed because they may not know the difference between you and the whole church. But this gospel that we got, I'm going to tell you how serious it is by giving you this illustration. The reason I'm giving you this illustration is to get you to understand how serious this thing is. That man had all he could take. He couldn't trust me no more. He told those men in the prison, every 4th, Sunday, every Thursday, whatever it was, we went out there and preached. He told them, he said, this man is going to tell you the truth. I want you to listen to it. And he didn't trust me no more because that whole spirit had burned him out. And he scared me. And I didn't stay long with him. I don't even know if I had prayer with him because he did not want anybody praying with him or having nothing to do with him and didn't want no scripture being read. How oft would I have gathered thee, America, but you would not. Now, here's your new boss. Opens up the pit, lets out the smoke like a furnace. Wonder what that was? It's hell, folks. And here come all these locusts. The scorpion stings in their tail. And God said, finish them off. If you will not hear me, there's one you will hear. And God will bring them down. Two things I want to remind you that the that what was a fierce seal, God said you had, you better rejoice in, robes of righteousness and rest. If you've got the peace of God that passes understanding in your soul and you are righteous before God by the imputed righteousness of Christ, I'd rather have that than a half a million dollar home on 17th Street in New Orleans where the levee broke. I'd rather live in Floville and have to work a garden to get me something to eat, and know Jesus, then I had to live in the high rises among the hoi polloi in Atlanta, and ride around in fancy cars, and not know who God is. God's serious about this thing, folks, and I hope I am, too. Thank you for your prayers, thank God for his mercies, and you continue to pray for me. God bless you. Do you feel, do you see that we're, from what you're saying, what you're preaching, that we're in the little season now that he's gathered, that as far as worldwide, as with the effects of evangelism, that that has been, that it's being, has been restricted or is being restricted and the church is being brought into a little chamber, as you described it there, Isaiah. and then that it is the little season and that this thing of the church being gathered tighter and tighter into a lesser effect except for those in our city. Yeah, the question for the tape is do I think that this is the little season that we're we're entering into and God sending the light more brighter and the life of God more brighter in his churches. Let me say it this way, you'd have a hard time convincing those folks down in New Orleans, the people of God down there, and I'm not talking about everybody, but the people of God, that that wasn't a judgment of God and it was complete and it was utter devastation. That city won't ever be the same again. And so what you have down there, if you don't have the beginning of the day of Noah, which is universal judgment, that's what I mean when I say that. They understand without doubt it was a day of lot and it was complete and utter devastation of a localized area that God said. And I'm telling you folks, we are already in God coming against this nation in utter devastation in local areas in specific ways. Personally, I feel that we are entering in or have entered in to the little season. There's too much of the depravity of man glazed over with Like that poor boy I was talking about, they've had the gospel, they're sick of it, they're tired of it. They're beginning to let down, they're beginning to be angry, let themselves be vulgar. Mankind's character is beginning to be diminished. It's like God's getting them ready for hell. General public is getting to the place to where they're sick of everything. They're tired of having to work for all their life, and then the fat cats take away everything they got, shut down their business, take away their retirement. All this, all these locusts is on us. And God's destroying this thing down. The other thing is that the churches, the true churches, are having greater light and greater revelation. And folks, These things that God's showing y'all, it didn't come from a book, it came from studying the scriptures by the Holy Ghost, revealing the major part of it while I'm standing here talking. I don't even know it myself until I hear myself say it sometime. Isaiah 26, 20 and 21, the little chambers, greater light, hide thyself but for a moment. You come in, I'm going out. I'm going out to judge this world. It's evident that we're in that kind of situation. Now I'm not gonna get up in public, and I hesitate to say it on tape because it goes everywhere, and say we're in the little season. But we're in a day and age like unto the little season, and if this ain't it, I don't wanna be in it. People are looking for some sensationalistic little season type thing. You get into it gradually. I would mention my frog to you, but y'all won't let me do that no more. But it's come so gradually, but look around you. The names of companies that we used to trust in, gone. The Americanism of America is gone. Our streets are full of foreign gods' temples. They're here. We are forbidden to say Jesus. We can say God. But what else do you want? Yes, I believe that we're there. Now, here's what you've got to understand. After every nation is given the gospel, it goes all the way around, bottoms out, then it goes to the next nation. Now, I don't see another world for this gospel to go to once it leaves America's shoulders. It goes in a spiral, and once it has fulfilled its complete spiral, it goes on to the next one. But the last spiral When there's no more nations, and the nation is a segment of the gospel to which we are to preach. Preaching to all the nations, it says. Going to all the nations. Then the last day won't be a localized judgment as in the days of Lot, but it will be a universal judgment on the day of Noah. And I just don't see that there's any more days of lot, cycles, that whatever ends this thing out, and I don't know, it may not come in my lifetime, but I believe it will. That's the reason I preach with such fervency, because I just believe it will. I see judgment like we saw down there in Louisiana. It's unbelievable, folks. It has changed that whole, the America is changed. They fixed the change of map. just in a few more years, that whole tip end of Louisiana will be underwater. It ain't even going to be there. And people just say, well, everything's just like it was. No, it ain't. And I do believe, Brother Ted, that we are in such a day of judgment that there's no recovery as far as it not finishing itself out. I think it will finish itself out where we go from there. You can debate with me. I won't debate, but you can try if you want to, but I ain't going to say nothing. The Gospel's got some other shore to go to, but where is Magellan? Where's Columbus? What was their job? To discover new land so the church could go over there and have religious freedom. Am I right? Yeah, they were God's discoverers. That's what we're doing here. What are you going to do? Go to the moon? I don't know. But it looks like to me that we're in the last half of the bottom of the ninth. And it looks like to me that the Lord's fixing to come back and He's finishing this thing out. So I'm trying to be political enough not to actually say that I believe we're in the little season, but I do believe we're in the little season.