The Seven Seals

Dear Brethren,

The Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Jesus Christ.   It is a memorial (Leviticus 23:24).  "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation."  A memorial is a reminder.

The Holy Scriptures give us an exacting prophetic sequence of many end-time events leading to the return of Christ.  Today's text, Countdown to the Return of Jesus Christ, puts the Scriptural sequence of many events in an easily understood form.  We need to know how our future is going to be impacted by these events.

We are reminded by God today, just as His prophets, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, etc., wrote for the purpose of warning Israel of the punishment that would come upon them if they rejected His Way.  Let us ponder this question:  When Jesus returns, will He be for us, or against us?

Countdown to the Return of Jesus Christ

The Seven Seals

The First Four Seals – The Four Horsemen

First Seal – The First Horseman – False Prophets

(Matthew 24:4-5) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

(Revelation 6:2) And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Second Seal – The Second Horseman – Wars

(Matthew 24:6-7) And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

(Revelation 6:4) And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.


Third Seal – The Third Horseman – Famines

(Matthew 24:7) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

(Revelation 6:5-6) And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.


Fourth Seal – The Fourth Horseman – Pestilences

(Matthew 24:7-8) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

(Revelation 6:8) And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Wrath of Satan

Fifth Seal – Tribulation – Begin The Three and a Half Years

(Revelation 12:12) Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil [Satan] is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

(Matthew 24:9) Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

(Revelation 6:9) And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

(Revelation 7:14) And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Sixth Seal – Heavenly Signs

(Matthew 24:29) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

(Revelation 6:12-13) And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

(Joel 2:30-31) And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
 

Seventh Seal – The Seven Trumpets

(Revelation 8:1-2) And when he 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; and to them were given seven trumpets.
 

Seventh Seal – First Trumpet – Third of Trees and Grass Burnt

(Revelation 8:7) The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Seventh Seal – Second Trumpet – Third of Sea Becomes Blood

(Revelation 8:8-9) 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 had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

Seventh Seal – Third Trumpet – Third of Fresh Water Becomes Bitter

(Revelation 8:10-11) And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, 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; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

Seventh Seal – Fourth Trumpet – Third of Light Taken from Sun, Moon, Stars

(Revelation 8:12) And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

(Revelation 8:13) And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

(Luke 10:18) And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

(Revelation 9:1-11) And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit… 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 they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

(Revelation 9:12-15) One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter… And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

(Revelation 1:7) Two Witnesses Slain

(Revelation 11:14-15) The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded.

(Revelation 15:1) And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

(Revelation  15:7) And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever.

(Revelation 16:1) And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

(Matthew 24:30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

(Revelation 16:2) And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.

(Revelation 16:3) And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Seventh Seal – Seventh Trumpet – Third Woe – Third Vial – Rivers as Blood

(Revelation 16:4) And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

Seventh Seal – Seventh Trumpet – Third Woe – Fourth Vial – Sun Scorches

(Revelation 16:8-9) And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him toscorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

(Isaiah 30:26) Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

Seventh Seal – Seventh Trumpet – Third Woe – Fifth Vial – Darkness

(Revelation 16:10-11) And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Seventh Seal – Seventh Trumpet – Third Woe – Sixth Vial – Euphrates Dries Up

(Revelation 16:12-14) And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared… to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Seventh Seal – Seventh Trumpet – Third Woe – Seventh Vial – Great Earthquake

(Revelation 16:17-21) And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great… And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

777

When the Seventh Seal – Seventh Trumpet – Seventh Vial are Finished,

The Countdown to the Return of Jesus Christ is Complete

(Revelation  11:15) And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.

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Sermon:

"Glory Revealed"