Sermon Tone Analysis

Business Meeting

Prayer and Praise

The Word has Gone Crazy Part II

Two weeks ago we ran out of time and did not make it through our study of chapter 9 of Revelation, and The World has Gone Crazy, therefore, tonight we will pick up where we left off, with part two.

We had only made it through our first point that night as we looked at the Prayer Factor, and we looked at Five Factors about prayer: Prayers can be fired from any spot, Prayers can travel undetected at the speed of light, Prayers hit the target every time, Satan has no defense against prayer, and Prayers often have a delayed detonation.

Tonight hopefully we will make it through the last four points.

I.

The Power Factor

It is so easy to divert our eyes from God and get deceived by Satan’s power.

Indeed, I would venture to say that all of us at one time or another have thought God was up in heaven wringing His hands and walking around saying, What am I going to do?

But we must recognize the power factor.

The Euphrates River is both the cradle and the grave of human civilization.

It is the river that divides the East from the West.

We say, East is east and West is west , and never the twain shall meet.

One of these days, in the great tribulation, they will meet in a great conflict.

The book of Genesis tells us: Genesis 2:10

One of these four rivers was the Euphrates, Genesis 2:14

In Genesis 10:8-10 we see a man named Nimrod (who was an Old Testament picture of the Antichrist) and led the building of the Tower of Babel, the first world empire, alongside the Euphrates River in Genesis 11:1-9.

And alongside the Euphrates River is where Saddam Hussein reigned in Iraq.

Dictators like these are only tools in the hands of the prince of Babylon, Satan.

In His sovereign wisdom and power, God is restraining four of the most wicked and powerful of all the demonic fallen angels (we might call them the filthy four) who have been given dominion over the four world empires.

When He is ready in the fullness of time, God will give His permission to release them.

And when that happens, and I do not mean this jokingly all hell will break loose.

To understand a little about these four demonic powers, let’s look at a prayer Daniel offered that God did not answer immediately.

Who is the prince of the kingdom of Persia?

It certainly wasn’t an earthly man who could do battle with an angel.

I believe the prince of the kingdom of Persia was one of these four angels that are bound here.

The story continues in Daniel 10:20-21

Wicked demons rule over world empires.

How do we know this?

Well Paul told us this in Ephesians 6:12

Have you ever wondered why government officials are unable to negotiate with some of these countries?

It is because they are trying to negotiate with men and not the evil power behind those men’s actions.

But let us never forget that despite the power of these rulers of darkness, there is only so much they can do.

Satan cannot do whatever he wants when he wants.

The Bible says, 1 John 4:4

God allows Satan to do certain things.

Satan wanted to sift Peter as wheat, but he had to get God’s permission.

Luke 22:31-32

Satan wanted to harm Job, but he had to get God’s permission: Job 1:6-12

In some measure Satan is restrained on a leash.

There is not some sort of conflict that has God on one side and Satan on the other, while we wait to see who will win.

Satan is a created being.

He may be sinister, but God is sovereign.

Robert Louis Stevenson told a story about a ship on a rocky coastline during a storm.

The sailors beneath the waterline were being tossed and turned.

They knew the danger and were wondering how they were going to make it.

One of the sailors couldn’t take it any longer, so he left his duty, went up to the pilothouse, pushed open the door, and saw the captain steering the ship.

The captain knew the sailor was worried, and without saying a word, he turned and smiled.

The sailor returned below deck and said, Don’t worry.

It’s all right.

I have seen the captain, and he smiled at me.

Corrie ten Boom said, Look at the world, you will be distressed.

Look within, you will be depressed.

Look at Christ, you will be at rest.

We must keep our eyes on Him in a world that is so chaotic.

II.

The Purpose Factor

The words hour, day, month, and year are not talking about actual periods of time.

The Greek says, This very hour and day and month and year.

God has a purpose and a plan for a specific hour when these angels will be loosed.

And not a speck of dust moves in this universe unless God gives permission.

Not a blade of grass moves in the wind without God’s permission.

God is strategically moving in His world in His own timing.

There was a time when a mission of the space shuttle Columbia was called off because the computer was off by one twenty-fifth of a second.

Can you imagine the wast of money for an error of only one twenty-fifth of a second?

Timing is important.

God said to Abraham, in Genesis 17:8

But God had a condition, one condition for Abraham Genesis 15:13-14

Why? Genesis 15:16

God waited as the iniquity of the Amorites went into the reservoir of His wrath drop by drop for four hundred years.

Imagine how long people prayed for the Messiah, who had been prophesied over and over again.

A few verses down Peter reassured them, 2 Peter 3:8

God is never ahead of time, and God is never late.

He does not punch a clock when He goes to work.

The day of the Lord will come.

We are told in Galatians 4:3-5

Just because it has been two thousand years since our Lord stepped into glory, don’t think for one trace of a second that God has forgotten His promise.

One day the trumpet will sound, the sky will roll back, and Jesus will rise from His throne and step down to receive His own.

He is coming,

Paul exhorts Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:14-15

If you want to know where God is, He is on time.

With God timing is more important than time.

III.

The Perversity Factor

When God gives His permission to loose the filthy four from the Euphrates River, an Incredible onslaught will be released upon mankind.

The deception of the horsemen here may be a symbolic description of modern warfare.

These instruments of war shoot fire, smoke, and brimstone.

They have tails like the tails of serpents.

It sounds much like the kinds of tanks, helicopters, and rockets we see today.

What if God had given John the vision of when man landed on the moon?

John may have described what he saw as a great spider sending forth fire, smoke, and sulfur.

Of course, nobody knew anything about helicopters, airplanes, or tanks back then.

But thee knew something about horses prepared for battle.

Some have speculated that the army of 200 million mention in Revelation 9:16 is an army of men.

Most likely, this army of 200 million will be wave after wave of demons released from the pit, bringing colossal chaos to this earth and ultimately bringing death to one-third of mankind.

When will this happen?

it seems it is going to happen after God removes His church.

Then He will remove His hand of mercy and announce that the four angels can be let loose.

Man, who has wanted to live his own life his own way, will now be vulnerable to the full reign of terror from Satan.