In this sermon on Revelation chapter 9, the preacher discusses the fifth and sixth trumpets, which represent supernatural judgments that will befall those who reject the light of God. The fifth trumpet is sounded by the fifth angel, and it brings forth smoke and locusts from the bottomless pit. These locusts have the power to torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads for a period of five months. The sixth trumpet is sounded by the sixth angel, and it releases four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates. These angels are prepared to kill a third of mankind, but despite these judgments, the people do not repent of their sins. The preacher emphasizes the importance of seeking forgiveness through Jesus Christ and warns of the dangers of rejecting God's light.

Will you turn please to the ninth chapter of the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 9, and I shall read it in two portions. Verses 1 through 11 constitute the fifth trumpet and the first woe. Verses 12 through 21, the sixth trumpet and the second woe. 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 he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power 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, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their forehead. 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 he 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 battle, and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as 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 the sound of chariots and many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto 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, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon. One woe is passed, 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. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand, and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them having breastplates of fire and adjacents of brimstone. And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, and out of their mouth issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, by the smoke, and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails were like unto serpents, and they had heads and with them they do hurt. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone of wood, which neither can see nor hear nor talk nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. This portion actually begins with the thirteenth verse of the eighth chapter. And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound. Now chapter eight, we saw last Sunday evening, set forth in clear picture form by means of symbols, the judgment which is to fall upon men who reject light. Light has come into the world and men have loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. And thus we see that these woes that have been pronounced are judgments. These trumpets that sound are judgments, which describe a supernatural judgment with an increasing terribleness. It is something that gets worse from the first to the second to the third and right on through. Now, in this case, the world is viewed perhaps as Egypt is seen by us. You recall that Egypt had light from Moses. Moses came and spoke the word of God and said that God was going to do something. And they resisted. The first plague was followed by an entreaty. Then the second plague followed by an entreaty until finally the worst of all, when the firstborn of Egypt died. They had light, they rejected light, and God dealt with them. Now the world has far greater light in John's vision, far greater light, the light of the word, the light of Christ. And therefore, its sin of rejection is infinitely greater than that of Egypt, rejecting the word of Moses. And thus John saw the increase of rejection and the guilt of that rejection, a growing opposition to God and an unceasing resistance to his will and his purpose. And therefore, the plagues that John saw are far greater, far worse than the plagues that came upon Egypt. Now, the horror of each trumpet is to be viewed as a whole. I'm not suggesting to you, and we haven't followed that, procedure that characterizes some teachers where they try to explain everything. I am not trying to explain everything. I believe that each event is complete in itself. And the symbolism presents a whole. And it's not to be plucked apart, for instance, to say the fire equals this and the hail equals that and the blood equals the other. That's not the way we're approaching it. Because I believe that whenever men have done that, they've gotten themselves into a morass from which they couldn't be extricated. And they've just had to end up out on left field somewhere because all of their types have broken down sooner or later. And so we're not approaching it that way. Now, I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm just saying that that's not the way we're approaching it. Nor do I feel that we're to date these trumpets. It might be that someone would say, well, since the trumpets come in succession, let's break up the centuries and say the first trumpet covers the area of the first three centuries and the second trumpet of the next two and so on. It may be that that's the case, but I don't think we have the facts available at our hands at the moment so that we are justified in doing it that way. Now, if you feel you can, if you feel that someone that you know can, I have no objection to it. It's just that all the material that I've been able to accumulate presents so many different opinions when they come to date these trumpets that I personally feel that I can't decide between them and have no intention of endeavoring to do so. Finally, we've discovered that the four trumpet blasts or the announcements that came with the trumpets were actually destructive religious delusions that came from heaven upon men because having the light, they spurned the light. They rejected the light. Let's turn to second Thessalonians again, the second chapter, and let the spirit of God bring to us his own testimony concerning what was transpiring. Verse seven is a good place to begin. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let. This is one of the archaic expressions. The only place you find that in common English is in tennis where you read or where you hear a let ball and nine times out of ten the person makes a mistake and says a net ball. But the word actually is let, meaning a hindered ball because it came up against the net and couldn't go over. And so that's the meaning of it, to hinder. Now in the course of years it's completely changed so that we say let means to permit. But this is the way it's translated. Only he who now hindereth will hinder until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness. Now notice, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all powers, signs, and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now notice, and for this cause because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned to believe not the truth but their pleasure in unrighteousness. Now you mark that scripture and carry it to this portion in Revelation because I believe it's a key scripture to understanding it. Religious delusions touch the very center of the life and thus they affect every part of the life. For instance, you find a man that's an atheist he's going to live according to his own standard of morals. You find a Mohammedan, he's living according to what he's been taught the way he plants, the way he operates his home and what he eats all is concerned, all is governed by his religious belief. This is true of the Hindus, they find that today in India one of the great causes of starvation is the fact that they have how many hundred thousand or million of cattle that roam the streets and eat all the grass that's there. They're too tough and old to kill, to eat and the country won't allow them to be killed and so they're impoverishing the people. The monkeys that thrive because the religion of the Hindus as you know has it that all life is sacred and that these are the appearances of someone that's died in previous days and now is reincarnated in the form of a monkey or a cow and thus their whole economic life is governed by what they believe. Every part of human life is affected by a religious delusion. You see it extended into finance, into government, into commerce, into education. In fact, there's no part of life that isn't affected by religion. Now everyone is religious, even the one who says there's no hell yet he'll spend his time and money and effort going around leaving cracks on front doors trying to prove to people that there isn't something. To me this is consummate insanity. If they actually believed there wasn't a hell and weren't just trying to whistle past the cemetery so to speak they wouldn't bother to waste their time carrying cracks to prove that something doesn't exist. If it doesn't exist and they believe it, the people who do believe in it aren't being hurt by it since it doesn't, but you see they don't really believe in it. They're just trying to make themselves think that they do and if they could prove to everyone else and get everyone else to agree to it they'll be that much more certain. And then the man who says there isn't any God, the atheist, makes no God, he is God. And he has to have some point of beginning in order to establish his religious system. Now everyone's religious, it's just a matter of where, how. The nature of war is a vacuum and this is one place where everyone you meet is religious. Everyone you talk to on Times Square or anywhere you'll ever meet them has a plan of salvation. Maybe his plan is there isn't any hell. Maybe his plan is there isn't any God. Maybe his plan is he's doing the best he can. But everybody has a plan of salvation. Nine times out of ten or ninety-nine times out of a hundred or nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand as the case may be, they're laboring under a delusion. A religious delusion but nevertheless it is to them an intellectually satisfying explanation for life. Religious delusions affect every part of the personality and every part of the life. We've heard the woe announced. Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall. And I beheld that he in verse 13 of the eighth chapter and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven. Actually in this case the word angel is correctly understood by the word eagle, not angel. It's an eagle that he saw flying through the midst of the heaven. That is, he was between in the first heaven over the earth because the woe that he had to bring was pertained to earth dwellers who were living upon the earth. Now this expression, they that dwell upon the earth, the inhabitants of the earth, is the biblical way of designating the people that have rejected the gospel and who love the world. You know that all that's in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And so he's bringing woe to the inhabitants of the earth, woe to the people that have rejected the gospel, woe to the people that love this present evil system. Now this is threefold woe. You see previously he'd only used one, but now it's woe, woe, woe. Signify that this was to be the most fierce and consuming of the trumpets thus far sounded. These two, five and six, belong together because they are monsters beyond description. It's impossible actually to conceive if you try to draw out the picture of what John saw from his words. See the fifth one, the fifth trumpet that we've read here, tells us about the woe that's coming or the judgment that's coming to torment men. But they aren't killed, they're just tormented for a period. And then the sixth judgment tells us about that which kills, that which destroys. And the sixth one just precedes the final ultimate end of all things. And the sixth judgment or delusion is the one most terrible of all, and it just precedes the final judgment. Now as this woe has been announced, so we can interpret or endeavor to interpret the vision that John saw. He said, I saw a star fall from heaven onto the earth. Reading that, your mind immediately would go back, and I think mine did and does, to the fact that the Lord Jesus said, I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven. But you know, it never described him as a star. It said he was the brightness of the morning, but never described him as a star. And I do not believe that this refers to Satan. Personally, I think this is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who may not have the keys of death and hell. And that he is the one that here is exercising his authority. This judgment that we're about to consider comes from God, and it comes upon men as a curse. I saw a star fall from heaven onto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And that key is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the keys of death and hell were given to the Son of God. Now notice, there arose a smoke from the great furnace. Isn't this an excellent comparison to what the Bible elsewhere tells us about hell, a place of fire and brimstone? It seems to fit the imagery, the scriptural imagery of hell completely. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. But notice what happened. The sun and the air were darkened. The sun was blotted out. The oral source of light was extinguished. And I firmly believe that what this delusion is, is that a religious delusion that's going to extinguish the light of the word of God from the minds of men. Unquestionably, my old friend, this is what it is. That it is going to have the effect of totally depriving men of the word. Totally depriving them of that which beholds unto them the light of life. The moral air that men breathe when they have rejected the gospel. The moral air in which they secure their education, do their thinking, and their governing, and their living, is as black and as murky as hell itself. Heaven's light still shines, but because there's this cloud of smoke coming out of the pit, it completely obscures the light. Men dwell in hell's blackness and fail to see it. And I am convinced that the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not. And essentially this is the thing that you find here. The smoke out of the pit has obscured the sun. And oh, when you think of what's happened. What's happened in the world because of the rejection of Jesus Christ. Because of the fact that in days past men have spurned. Take for one moment the various things that have grown up. Think of what's happened with the deterioration and the corruption of Christianity. Think of this monstrous thing of ecclesiasticism becoming as it was in the dark ages under Rome. And under Constantinople, and the Orthodox, and the Catholic churches. Why the multitudes of people held in gross blackness and darkness because of it. That's what you find here. Smoke that's obscured the sun. All of the paraphernalia, and the ceremony, and the ritual, and everything that's meant. All obscures the sun of God like smoke that rises at night. And then the sound of smoke came grasshoppers. Grasshoppers, what a description of grasshoppers this is. They don't have their own nature. They're not grasshoppers such as you and I have ever seen or know. These are grasshoppers which have been given the power of scorpions. I remember during the Second World War when we developed the Flying Fortress. Do you remember the Flying Fortress? It had a tail gutter in it. Don't you know that one of the preachers out in the Midwest in Indiana preached a sermon on it? And he said now we have seen the fulfillment of Revelation 9 because we have scorpions. And he just went ahead to describe them. And there was the tail gutter in the back of the Flying Fortress that was bringing death. I don't know. I want to reflect on him, but it just seems a little immature in my mind now. To try and equate these sections and pieces of this vision, it's the effect we're interested in. We're not trying to assign meaning to everything that's there. We're trying to see that here is something that has come out that has the power not to kill. And, you know, the ancients have understood this, that scorpions don't kill. I've been stung by a scorpion. I remember my little figure here one day went out to the Murray Lake Country. The car broke down. We had to camp right out in the blue. We'd just been through a herd of roan antelope and driven along in the midst of about 35 or 40 giraffes. And we got to the edge of where they were, this open area, and the truck broke down. We had to stop and put up our tents. I went out and picked up some wood. When I did like that, a scorpion stung me. Well, here I am. And it hurt. It hurt like everything. You just want to chop your finger off. It hurts bad. But I didn't refuse the finger. It was a scorpion bite. It wasn't pleasant. And I'm not the least, I don't encourage it, but the fact is it wasn't fatal. Now, I'm not saying in some cases it hasn't been or that it couldn't be. But we're talking here about torment. We're talking here about that terrible twisting, resting, that pain that's going to come. And it's going to be poured upon human beings. That's the thing. The grasshoppers, you know, eat green. They eat foliage. They eat trees, leaves of trees. But here is something that John saw completely contrary to nature. It wasn't eating foliage. It was hurting men. And only one class of men. The only ones that he had power to hurt were the ones who did not have the seal of God in their forehead. I wonder if you understand what he's talking about. Delusions. Where do delusions come? They come into the intellect. They come into the mind. And there is only one way, only one way to keep your mind from the invasion of delusions. And that is, I believe, to bring it into the captivity of Jesus Christ. He said bring every thought into the captivity of Christ. There's only one standard that you can trust. I do not for one moment trust. I don't trust for so much as a moment. Apart from the word of God. Your idea or mine for that matter, I don't trust it. I trust the word of God. God's word is the rule. And against it we will measure our lives. And into conformity with it we will bring our lives. And the one who has the seal of God in his forehead is the one who has committed to his whole life, his whole being, to the authority of the word of God. They have the seal of God in their foreheads. They think as the scripture would have them think. They have recognized the lordship of Christ. They've submitted to the authority of the word. They are those that have been born of God. And the born of God ones are the ones who bring their life into the conformity to this word. And so the only ones that cannot be hurt are the ones who take the word. Now, most everybody, most every sect you'll ever meet. And every crackpot you'll ever encounter, excuse my using the colloquial. But everyone you'll ever meet has some scripture that they ride on. Like a child takes a little broomstick and gallops down the road. They've got three or four scriptures or three or four pet expressions. And they'll ride and gallop down the road with these. You take, let someone come to your door and you say, let me, let me play a record. You open the door and let them in. They'll play the record. But if you talk with them, it's just like a record. Because if you ever get them off of, stop them and ask a question or interrupt or get them off of the little groove of this car. They don't know how to handle it. They simply know how, see it's stacked up like dominoes. The way children put them on the table and touch this one and they just go click, click, click all the way around the table. But if you ever break it, they don't know where to go. They're hopeless. They have scripture, but just enough scripture to present the delusion and substantiate the delusion that they want. You can make the Bible teach anything. But you have to let the authority of the word of God come into the life and take the whole of its testimony. And to allow the spirit of God to do it. And that's the people that we're talking about. There are those who have taken the seal of God in their forehand. These are the only ones that are going to escape. Now John had a vision. He had a vision of this creature. And the creature we now accept, I accept at least, as being the delusions that God has allowed to come at various periods across the centuries. I'm sure that early centuries you had the entrance of some of the Platonistic dualism. I'm sure that Manichaeism captured many people. We know that Arianism came in. Some of these things that are familiar to those in church history. And down across the years you had Ceremonialism come in through the Catholics and the Orthodox groups. And then you've had, in more recent years, Liberalism with all of its devastation. And Pharisaical Fundamentalism has come in. And we find that Atheism has come in. And all out here to the periphery you found that multitudes have been captured by the religions of the world. The ethical religions of the world. Stopped short of Christ. And then of course the world is being consumed today by Atheists and Communists. These are the delusions. The religious delusions. I believe that. Now the sixth trumpet. And we begin with the twelfth verse. One woe is past. And behold there come two woes more hereafter. This sixth trumpet again is a delusion. Sent from God is a curse. It's the climax beyond which comes the final judgment. Its spread may be swift or slow. The duration may be longer or shorter. All of this is determined by God. I wouldn't hazard to put the time as to when it begins or when it ends. The times or the seasons are held in the hands of God. It's not given to us to know them. What John saw was this. That there came now from the river Euphrates four angels which had been bound and were loosed. Now I don't want you to think that the river Euphrates here. At least in my mind. Stands for a geographical place. As much as for the source of world dominion. You remember there were four kingdoms that rose in the Euphrates basin. Way back the Assyrian. And then you had the Persian. And the Medes as well. Babylon. And so on. And all of these various kingdoms rose right there in that Euphrates Tigris river basin. And when it says that there were. Four angels which are bound in the great river the river Euphrates. I believe that it is. Referring to those powers of darkness that you'll read about in Ephesians six. If you turn to them I think you'll be helped at this time. Because this too is part of our battle in Ephesians six twelve. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. But against principalities. Against powers. Against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Against wicked spirits in high places. You remember that when Daniel prayed. He was withstood 21 days by the prince of Persia. And now we find that the Lord Jesus has the keys of death and hell. The power to bind and the power to loose. And apparently from this John saw that four angels which had been bound. Were loosed. And were prepared for a given period of time to do their wicked work. And the six angels sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar. Which is before the throne of God. What's happened? People have been praying. The prayers of the saints have been gathered up. This is golden altar. Doesn't have reference to the altar of burnt offering. This is the altar of incense. And John said I heard a voice crying out from the horns of the altar. He said the prayers of God's people. The prayers of the saints. That have been gathered up and treasured in the bottle of God's remembrance. Now are crying out from the horns of the altar. And God now is hearing the cry of his people that have been gathered. As throughout the centuries they've cried. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We sing holy, holy, holy. Lord God almighty. The holiness of God is manifest. Not only in saving the penitent. But the holiness of God is manifest in damning the impenitent. Just as much. And consequently. The saints have cried out. Lord thy will be done on earth. For a period of time God found. These angels of world dominion. World government. But then the cry that came from the horns of the altar of incense. Rose up and God said it's finished. And he that hindered. Has withdrawn his hindrance and he's allowed them to come. Because it's now the time of this judgment. They come. Destroying. They come to damning. They come slaying. The third part of men. I don't think this is war. I know we have weapons now that can do that. I can be proven wrong before tomorrow morning. I hope I'm not. I'm sure that with the fact that we have nuclear submarines now. With missiles. Nuclear warheads in there. On the missiles. That it wouldn't be at all difficult for a third of the earth to be destroyed. By a lethal nuclear war. I don't think that's what he's referenced to. Maybe. I think it is referenced to these delusions. These religious systems. These concepts. These ideas. That are going out and penetrating like a creeping miasma. Like a smoking noxious fog. Like the fallout of hell. That are affecting the minds and the wills of men. I believe far more people are being slain. Eternally damned. Eternally destroyed. By wrong ideas. Wrong thinking. Delusions, if you please, that have ever been slain. By all the wars of all the ages put together. I'm confident that there are more people in hell tonight. And will be. That have been slain by the terrifying powers of mental misconception. And hellish religion. And by all that have been touched by swords. And after all, this touches only those that have not the seal of the Lord in their forehead. And you know full well that war touches Christians. And famine touches Christians. And persecution touches Christians. There's nothing at all to indicate that if nuclear warhead were to explode over New York City tonight. That we who live here wouldn't be destroyed by it. God makes no exception for us. God doesn't allow us to be excluded and exempt from this. Oh, I think that it's these delusions that come. That have the power to bring great world systems into being that have never existed before. Great cartels of countries. That are all committed to atheism or other dogmas or doctrines. And this has been going on for centuries past. And probably will intensify as we near the end. Now, you may or may not agree with this. But to me it makes sense. To me it makes sense. And to me, it also impresses upon us the tremendous necessity of keeping on the helmet of salvation. Which is the blood of Christ. Over our minds. And I submit to you that the moment that in disobedience to the will of God you countenance sin in your life. You leave a protrusion in your life. That is going to allow Satan to touch you. And to obtain hold in your life and bring you under control. And bring you under dominion and bring you into destruction. And I submit to you tonight. That the spirit of God would have you warned by this. And have me to lay hold upon it. And show us the necessity of keeping on the helmet of salvation. Which is the blood of Christ. Now, what happened to people? What was the result of this? Did this cause men to repent? And let's go back to the second world war. Do you remember the reports that came out of it? How many tens of thousands of people in our army camps made profession of faith in Christ? I wonder where they all are today and I wonder how many are living for Christ. Do you remember how countries were devastated and destroyed? Blasted by the bombers? Ruined by plague? Do you think in the light of what you've experienced if you've lived for the last 30 years with any consciousness of what's been transpired? Do you think that international holocaust and national calamity brings men to God? Someone said just recently what we need is a great depression to bring men to God. I went through that with my family. It didn't bring men to God. And we went through a war and that didn't bring men to God. Are you surprised when you read here? And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils? Do you think so? I don't think so. I don't think that this is to be wondered at. I see absolutely nothing in national holocaust. Absolutely nothing in international war that has the effect of bringing men to God. I see absolutely nothing in it. Bring men to God. You know why? Because conviction of sin is a supernatural work of the Holy Ghost. And conviction of sin can be resisted by men. Conviction of sin can be resisted by men. Men can resist the truth and resist the light. Can't resist a gun in the hands of a Chinese communist that's exterminating or depriving of life those that are Christian. But truth can be resisted. And so it says that these were not killed by the plagues yet they repented not of their works that they should not worship devils. The idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And whereas they rejected God, they rejected Christ, they rejected the truth of the gospel, they opened their heart for idolatry. What was the idolatry? Baal, Ashtaroth and Moloch. Baal, the placating of evil spirits to secure things. Ashtaroth, acquiring a mental intellectual license for immorality. Moloch, the placating of demons for the acquisition of power. Baal, Ashtaroth and Moloch. They worshiped the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And they repented not. Notice, neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their sin. Oh, the hardness and the impenitent of the heart is the heart of the man who rejects the light of the gospel. When they reject the gospel, then they believe a lie. If the spirit of God has ever moved on you, if you've ever had anyone entreat you or implore you or beg you in Jesus' name to repent of your sin, you better do it. Because God doesn't always entreat, he doesn't always implore, he doesn't always beg. And the light rejected becomes a protrusion upon which the demons of darkness can fasten their talons and drag you down into the pit. Why, what a grueling, what a terrifying thing it is to grieve the Holy Ghost. And grieve away the only one that can ever prepare the human heart for grace. That's what's happened. This city is filled with people that have been hardened by the gospel. Because the gospel is the savor of life unto life, and the savor of death unto death. I plead with you tonight to recognize. John has given this as a warning to us. To keep tender toward the Lord, broken toward God. Because light resisted, continually resisted, is proof of impenitence. And how many there are, how many there are today that have had a profession of faith in Christ. I told you I'm sure of what my friend from Minneapolis, Mervyn Rosell, said in Philadelphia two years ago, three years ago. That in his estimation, based on these 25 years in evangelism, that only one half of one percent of those that make profession of faith in Christ give Bible evidence of regeneration. I hope that's wrong. But I submit to you tonight, that it's a tremendous thing to have light and not walk in it. Tremendous thing. And if God is speaking to your heart and you're here unsafe, there's only one of two things you can do. And that's bow and bend and break before the Lord and come for forgiveness and cleansing. Or harden your heart and expose yourself to all the ravaging attacks of hell. He stands mercy seated tonight. He stands with extended arms and nail pierced hands saying, come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. He knows your sin, the mountain of it and the extent of it and the guilt of it. Yet he loved you. If you'll come to him hating your sin and forsaking your sin and opening your heart to him. Tonight, he'll forgive you. Tonight, he'll pardon you. Tonight, he'll cleanse you. If you'll come. But if you don't, you harden your heart, you reject. Sometime, somewhere, there's going to be that protrusion left that the enemy can get his talons in. Then he'll draw you out into the delusions that God has said can come. Because men have loved darkness rather than light. Let's bow our hearts in prayer. Have you ever felt the spirit of God moving upon your heart, convicting, speaking? Perhaps I'm speaking to someone that for years past heard the gospel. Had many entreaties, many appeals, many exhortations. And you know that it's absolutely true that if you reject the light, the vacuum is filled by all kinds of satanically devised delusions. And yet God in grace has brought you back again under the sound of the gospel. Oh, I plead with you tonight to come to Christ. He's still waiting to pardon, still waiting to receive. The delusion persisted in will mean the damning of your soul eternally. But if tonight you'll turn and flee and run to Calvary, run for cleansing, he'll receive you and he'll forgive you and he'll pardon you. What of you? What of your need? You see on every hand the delusions, you see the onrush of them. Liberalism, licentiousness, immorality, atheism, all of these terrible things that are scourges on the earth, killing far more than all the wars of history. There's only one safe place, and that's in the cleft of the rock, in the wounded side of the Lamb of God, under the blood of Christ. The only ones that are protected are those that have the seal of God in their foreheads and have received Christ as Lord and submitted to the authority of his word. Am I speaking to someone tonight that's tired of sin and tired of being a pawn of Satan, tired of being pushed and driven by your lusts and appetites and you want deliverance and freedom? Am I? If I am, why don't you make known your need? We're going to stand together in just a moment. We're going to ask our brother Bynum to come. We're going to sing that hymn, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, but just now. There's great danger, you know, of being passed. God calling yet. God is calling. But impenitence, rejection of the gospel, like a hot iron sears the conscience. Oh, I plead with you, if you feel the tug of the spirit of God in your heart tonight, flee from the wrath to come. Turn, turn and flee. Run to Christ for cleansing. Are there those here tonight that by the upraised hand would say, yes, I know I'm lost. Or I know I have a great need or I'm not. But whatever it is, you define what it is. But tonight you say, I want the prayers of God's people. It's not easy. But I'm tired of the way I'm going and I want deliverance. I want to get right. I'm willing to leave my sin. I'm willing to leave the things that have held, bound me. The delusions that I've cherished. I want to get straightened out. I want my life to be set right. Would you by your upraised hand indicate your desire and your need for prayer? Put it up and take it down again. Anyone, anywhere. Anyone? Number 464, the first and second stanzas. We'll stand as we sing. As we sing, the spirit of God has spoken to your heart. You know your need. Then you come here and stand at the front. We'll carry you, walk with you into the Romans of the side. And have time of prayer together. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Let us stand. God, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Savior, Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Notice that second stanza. Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief. Kneeling there in deep contrition, help my unbelief. The only ones that are going to be protected are the ones that have the seal of God in their foreheads. The damning delusions and satanic deceptions that are going to destroy. If you're here tonight without the assurance of sins forgiven, the only wise thing for you to do is to turn and flee from the wrath to come and run into the outstretched arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. Won't you do it? Make known your need. You come and stand here. We'll go with you into the side room and talk and pray. Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief. You will if you'll come in contrition and in faith. Sing it. Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief. You will if you'll come in contrition and in faith. Sing it now. Savior, Savior, hear my heart while I cry. Lord, hear my cry. Dear Christian friend, may God show you through the scripture and through the word the importance of clinging close to him because the fiery darts of the enemy are aimed at any that will leave uncovered their minds and hearts and spirits. And oh, may he give you great burden for the lost around you this week and desire to see them come to know and love and trust Christ.