BOOK OF REVELATION L12

when Jesus returns, the door of grace will be closed and God will pour out His wrath on the wicked

being holy, God is infinitely pure and perfect

wrath and judgment are the only proper response to evil

-while God will discipline us, He will nv punish or condemn us
-God judges the righteous but in a fatherly sense

there is only 1 time tt God's wrath is being poured out, happening on the Day of the Lord

-both dreams is speaking abt the same thing
-double mention is to establish and confirm what God has revealed what He is abt to do

-Book of revelation is a book of double mention
-Rev 1-11, we are given a macro view of events
-Rev 12-22, certain key events and personality are being highlighted, in greater details
*why the repetition... Jesus wants to give us the certainty tt this has been established by God and He will bring it to past

-the 7th seal reveals how this present age will come to an end
-7 angels getting ready in heaven to release the wrath of God

-God responds to prayer!
   -prayer is impt, powerful

-Rev 8 focuses on prayer. Rev 15 focuses on the testimony (the ten commandments)
   -the 10 commandments (=moral law) is the witness of God's morality
-these 10 commandments cannot save us, but disobeying them is a attack on the character of God Himself

-the Holy Spirit helps us to live out the 10 commandments to fulfil the righteous requirement of God's moral law
   -only then we are changed, transformed

7 angels with 7 trumpets preparing to pour out the wrath of God

1/3 of the earth (trees and plants) is destroyed by fire
-trees and plants are required for all living creatures on earth (oxygen and carbon dioxide, food chain)

-judgement poured into the sea
1/3 of the marine creatures in the sea die
-food chain affected

-wormwood: bitter, poisonous, undrinkable
-water supply being contaminated

God's judgement is never vengeful.. His punishment is always fit for the crime

1/3 of the sun is darken... Energy is lost, man scorched with great heat
-God's wrath exposes the unrepentant nature of the wicked

-they are tormented by pains
-they are in such pain that they want to die but don't know how to die

-scorpions are known as demons

Abaddon and Apollyon = destruction

-every trumpet and bowl is worse than the previous
-those angels tt were bound are released... They have been preparing for this day
-during the 4th seal, 1/4 of the population were killed
   - 1/3 of remaining population will be wiped out
      -only half of total population remains
-River Euphrates is one of the oldest river which flows to the Garden of Eden
   -waters dried up

-evil trinity = Satan, Antichrist, false prophet
-they will go out to draw world leaders for a world war

-Jesus speaks, promising us blessings if we remain faithful
   -Jesus wants us to keep our righteousness, purity on
      -don't live in sin..  But if we do sin, we can receive forgiveness if we confess our sins
-our life of righteousness and holiness must be the evidence of our conversion

the Wicked are so hard-hearted tt they refuse to acknowledge God and continue to sin against God in idolatry, adultery, in all manner of sin

-by pouring out the plague into the air, God is judging Satan's entire realm
   -darkness of Satan
-there will be no more judgement on the earth after the 7th trumpet / 7th bowl.. it is done

-one by one, the cities tt alight with the Antichrist will fall
-during the tribulation, seems like there's no God and evil seems to be the victor, no deliverance is insight
   -but God remembers... He will make right every wrong

-the world is angry cos of God's reign...the world wants anything but the reign of God
-God's kingdom can nv be established as long as hostile ppl are allowed to defiant God's rule
   -God's wrath is necessary in order to establish His kingdom rule and reign in the world

-all will be dead and stand before the judgement of sin, Christ
-believers
   -will not be punished but to receive rewards
      -varies according to what we have done during our life time
   -will never be condemned nor perish
   -cos Jesus has taken all our sins in the cross
   -we will be in His millennium

-the presence of God is now open to all by faith, not visible
-on tt day, all of us can see God by sight

PURPOSE IN THE MIDDLE

-this shall come to pass
   -nothing tt come to us will be forever
-we know the end of the story, but being stuck of the middle still hurts

Jesus loved them but let them wait..

-if we feel tt Jesus is not with us, its not tt God has forsaken us... its for our sake
   -to build us up

God allows season of waiting for our faith to produce new beginning

don't give up!

during famine, when we are stuck, what fears us is the lack of provision

-there is a purpose being every pain
-purpose give us hope and hope connect us to action (practical steps) and action eventually leads us to God's provision

Jeremiah is in prison and it was a very dark time for Israel

Jeremiah invested into tt land for the future of Israel

a new beginning with us
in the mist of waiting, don't lose our purpose

whatever we have lost, God can restore

the way God restore is by helping stranger in need

Samuel helped the stranger and the stranger led him to the raiding party

we cannot stop doing the purpose of God while we are stuck