Armageddon!

So I was preparing to come up here, I was reminded of something that Pastor Jeff Nixon, who's the Associate Pastor at Grace Chapel in West Liberty, said yesterday. We had an orientation meeting yesterday for men in our area, in our churches. We're going to begin a school called the Titus School of Leadership Development. and Jeff was closing us in prayer and he said something I thought that was really appropriate, especially for Sunday morning.

He said, you know, all the nations around Israel had temples that looked just like Israel's, except in their Holy of Holies they had an idol. In Israel's Holy of Holies they had a box that held the words of God written on stone that set the people of God apart in the fact that they worshipped a God who had spoken. And that's what we're doing here now as we come.

We come now to worship the God who speaks in His Word. Our worship is not around some idol. Our worship is not around some images. Our worship is around Jesus who's revealed in His Word. And so I'd ask you this morning to take your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 16 16 as we look at that today and find the revelation of Jesus again as we worship the God who has spoken.

Before we look into our text this morning, let's pray and ask God to meet with us. Father, we have sung our praises to you and we have given of our monies. We have come to you in prayer and the reading of the scriptures. We come now to hear you apply your word to us. we are utterly and completely dependent on the spirit that you have sent to show us Jesus and to change us by the life transforming truth of the word of God give us ears to hear now and hearts ready to believe in a will that will determine to serve you in whatever way you would have us as it's revealed in your word help us now we pray as once again we look into the apocalypse the revelation of Jesus We ask this in his glorious name.

Amen. What the most famous battle in the history of the world And what interesting about this battle that the most famous battle in the history of the world the most notorious the most famous the most decisive battle in the world has not yet been fought It's not even happened. And yet just about everybody knows about it and how it's going to end. It's the Battle of Armageddon.

Now we've all heard about that battle. Ever since we were kids, we've heard about that battle. The term itself has become synonymous with any ultimate decisive fight. You know, it's even entered our language. Man, if he brings that up with the boss, there is going to be Armageddon, right? Armageddon symbolizes annihilation. so why does God tell us about the battle of Armageddon when most people hear the word they spin off into speculations about the end times they try to visualize which country is going to be marching across the Euphrates and which confederation of this and that and the other thing is going to march against Israel and they try to visualize what the end of the world will look like.

But that is not why God tells us about Armageddon. Let's read about that in Revelation 16, verses 12 through 16. We'll be reminded here the context. We're in the middle of the bowl judgments. Seven angels given seven bowls to pour out on the earth. And now we come to the sixth bowl.

Verse 12. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed. And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. God tells His people, the church, about Armageddon so that they will be prepared for His coming That what Armageddon is about Armageddon is about the surprising sudden without warning return of Jesus Armageddon is a warning to you against compromise Armageddon is a warning to you against selling out.

It's about resisting the seduction of Babylon's prosperity and Sensual pleasures. Armageddon is about being prepared, being awake, having your clothes on when Jesus returns. That's what Armageddon is about. So let's take this apart. Let's look at it. How does the Apostle John tell us this narrative, tell us this story about this battle so that we're prepared?

We need to have an understanding so that we will be prepared for the Lord's coming. What is the ultimate cause of Armageddon? What's the ultimate cause? You find that in verse 12. Find that in verse 12. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.

Clearly, God initiates the events leading to Armageddon by his sovereign will. The sixth angel, acting according to God's decree, steps out of the tabernacle, receives his bowl from the living creature that is there, and then begins to drain it upon the earth, which dries up the Euphrates River. Thus begins the chain of events that culminates in the battle, that cosmic battle of Armageddon.

But what you have to see here in verse 12 is that Armageddon is God's deliverance of his people. It is God's deliverance of his people. now you know that because of the symbolism that John uses in verse 13 now remember I'm going to remind you again because I find myself even me slipping into a photographic view of revelation as opposed to a symbolic view these are symbols not photographs okay if I didn't think it would disrupt this, I would all have you like Mr. Rogers say, can you say that?

It is symbols, not photographs. Can you say that with me All right Say it to yourself It is symbol not photographs Don start looking for Iran Iraq Pakistan India China and Russia to come marching across this dry riverbed that was once the great Euphrates River That is not what John is trying to communicate here. What he is doing is using symbolism that is based on the Old Testament to tell us something.

All right? Have you ever heard the story of the New York 69th and the 4th Alabama Regiment? The 69th came out of New York and fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. They faced, crossed the way on the Confederate lines, the 4th Alabama. Of course, we all know the unions got whooped pretty bad. Union forces got whooped pretty bad at Fredericksburg.

Well, guess what? In 1917, the 69th and the 4th met again when they were put together in the Rainbow Division ready to go and fight in Europe. As the army was putting together the various regiments from across the country, they happened to put the New York 69th and the 4th Alabama together into the Rainbow Division. And you know what happened in training camp?

Yeah, they got into a fight. They got into a fight again. They started fighting one another. What if during the night of that great fight in the camp, someone said to you, whoa, hey, look, it's Fredericksburg. What would you say? Would you say, no, we're not Fredericksburg.

We're here in camp in Virginia. Fredericksburg, we're not Fredericksburg. You'd think, that's not what he means. He means it's like Fredericksburg happening all over again. All right, that's the point of verse 12 here. It's not that the Euphrates is going to dry up and a confederation of Asian nations is going to come marching across a dry riverbed.

It's not what he's trying to say. He's trying to say, hey, this happened before. It's going to happen again. What happened before? John refers to what God said and did in the past as a symbol of what he will do. The drying up of the Euphrates River in the Old Testament, Well, the drying up of anything in the Old Testament symbolizes what?

It symbolizes the deliverance of God's people. Right? What did God do when he delivered people from Egypt? He dried up the Red Sea. So all this drying up of water should make bells go off in your head saying, God's in the act of deliverance, and particularly the Euphrates. Let me show you how.

Turn back to, we're going to look at three passages. Now there's more passages than this. We're just going to look at three Old Testament passages, and there are more in the Old Testament that do the same thing with the same river. We're just going to pick out three. Isaiah 44. Okay, Isaiah is speaking about the future, about his people being in Babylonian captivity long before it ever happened.

And in Isaiah 44, beginning in verse 24, he says this, Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb, I am the Lord who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars, and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messenger, who says to Jerusalem, she shall be inhabited, and the cities of Judah, they shall be rebuilt, and I will raise up their ruins, who says to the deep, be dry, I will dry up your rivers, who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusalem, she shall be built, and of the temple your foundation shall be laid. Here is Isaiah talking about the people being rescued from Babylonian captivity. And how is that going to happen?

He says to the deep, be dry, I will dry up your rivers. Why? So that Cyrus can come and deliver his people. Now the river here, the water he's talking about is clearly the waters of Babylon, which would be the Euphrates. And by the way, in chapters 41 and 46, Cyrus is identified as a king from the east. All right? and so God delivers his people and he will dry up the river so he can accomplish that purpose some think I'm not entirely convinced of this but I'll just and I don't normally do this in a sermon you don't throw out things you're not sure of but I thought this is interesting I'm not entirely convinced of it but something that Isaiah is picturing here when Cyrus actually diverted the rivers of the Euphrates so that he could invade Babylon and the night the Persians conquered the city of Babylon You remember We get a picture of that in Daniel chapter 5 You know with the drunken feces going on the writing on the wall the hand that comes and writes on the wall that was the night that Babylon fell to the Persians And they were drinking They were having a feast because they thought they were impregnable.

And they were, except that Cyrus came along and diverted the rivers of the Euphrates and came in to Babylon under the water gates. And so some think that this is talking about how it was dried up by Cyrus' engineers. All right? That's interesting, and it could be true, I'm not sure. But the point is that God dried up the river in order to accomplish the deliverance of His people by this one who comes from the east.

Alright, turn to Jeremiah chapter 50. Wow, this is babbling all over again. Get it? Jeremiah 50. Let's look at verse 33. Thus says the Lord of hosts, The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them.

All who took them captive have held them fast. They refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is His name. He will surely plead their cause, that He may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials and her wise men.

A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools. A sword against her warriors that they may be destroyed. A sword against her horses and against her chariots and against all the foreign troops in her midst and that they may become women. A sword against all her treasures that they may be plundered. A drought against her waters that they may be dried up for it is a land of images and they are mad over idols.

Do you see what he's saying here? All this sword is coming. All this judgment is coming against the Chaldeans, against the Babylonians, which includes the drying up of her waters. Again, God's bringing judgment on them, delivering his people, and he does it by drying up the waters. Look over at the next chapter, Jeremiah 51, verses 34 through 37. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has devoured me.

This is Israel speaking. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies He has rinsed me out The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon Let the inhabitant of Zion say my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea Let Jerusalem say, therefore thus says the Lord, behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you.

I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, the haunt of jackals, a horror and a hissing without an inhabitant. You see what he's saying here? He's saying that because his people have been captured by this city, he's going to dry up her sea. Now Babylon's not near a sea. You know, Babylon is in present day Iraq on the Euphrates River.

What's the sea? The sea in the fountain here is the river, the Euphrates. and what happens because of that drying up. Babylon becomes uninhabitable. It's judged and its people are released. By the way, if you look in this chapter at verse 11, verse 11, note this, the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it for that is the vengeance of the Lord and the vengeance of his temple.

And verse 28, Prepare the nations for war against her, the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies in every land under their dominion. These are the kings from where? They come from farther east. The kings from the east are coming across a dried up Euphrates in order to deliver the people of God. So the drying up the Euphrates so that the kings of the east can conquer without any hindrances symbolizes God delivering his people.

The drying up of the Euphrates River so that the forces from the east may ride unimpeded signals the relief and the release of God's people, the church, and the defeat of her enemies. So, John sets us up by giving us this great symbol of God's deliverance from the past. Kings coming from the east across the dry Euphrates River. Armageddon, in the first count, means deliverance.

Armageddon means deliverance for the people of God. But how does that deliverance happen? And in fact, you might say to me, wait a minute, how is that deliverance? Because it looks to me like the kings of the east are coming across the river in order to attack not deliver the people of God And you would be right in that They are coming to attack the people of God But verses 13 through 14 and then verse 16 explain how God accomplishes the deliverance of his people He does it through judgment.

So the next thing to remember about Armageddon is this. Know that Armageddon is God's judgment. You see, God's deliverance of his people comes, is accomplished by God judging, destroying the attackers. Okay? Coming, drying up means deliverance, but wait a minute, they're coming to attack exactly. But in the attack, God delivers his people by judging them.

I want you to imagine something with me. I want you to think about Pearl Harbor in reverse. Now you remember, I assume most of you know about December 7, 1941. Some of us have had my dad served in World War II. I mean, he remembers that day. I know about it.

Remember December 7, 1941, the Japanese forces surprise attack the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. and just about destroyed, except by God's providence, about destroyed our fighting ability in the Pacific on that one day. Imagine for a moment if the radar had been on that day. Imagine for a moment if they had broken the code and they knew the Japanese were coming.

Imagine for a moment that there were planes in the air and the whole Pacific fleet was on alert. What would have happened to the Japanese attackers that day? They would have been absolutely annihilated. Now, I want you to think about that. What starts out as a surprise attack would result in surprise destruction of the attackers. That is Armageddon.

That is Armageddon. These forces intend to destroy God's people, yet they end up as the prey. The destroyers end up the destroyer. That's what the picture he's trying to draw here. Now let's see how he draws it. Okay?

In verses 13, 14 and verse 16, he draws the picture of attackers coming to destroy the people of God when in fact they end up dying. being destroyed. All right? Verse 13. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

Drop down to verse 16. And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Okay? Here we see what happens. The draining of the sixth bowl unleashes a strategy of deception by the unholy trio. The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.

Now you remember who these three are. The dragon is the devil. We've already seen that. The beast are the powerful political authorities who demand total allegiance, promoting a kind of idolatry swaying you away from Christ by harsh force and threats. The false prophet that's called here we know also as the second beast. The seductive religious authorities who serve the beast and his idolatry but using their deceptive, gentle, kind, persuasive talk, teachings, and doctrine. all three deceive their audiences by the by the same means all three use these unclean demonic spirits symbolized by frogs they're called unclean because in the old testament frogs were classified with the unclean animals okay no frog legs in israel's dining okay That didn't happen back then.

So they're unclean animals. They symbolize demonic forces. They remind you again of what? What constant theme do we see running through this? Bulls. The plagues against Egypt, right?

So once more, you're reminded of the frog plague that came against Egypt. And like those frogs, what do these demons do? They harden the hearts of unbelievers. You know, when you read about the frogs in the Old Testament, those plagues, what did those plagues do? Harden the heart of Pharaoh. God hardens Pharaoh heart by sending those plagues Right So these demonic frog spirits like the original frogs harden the hearts of unbelievers these these spirits express themselves in the meaningless croaking of false teachers those of us who know the gospel is very very irritating right those of you who love frog legs you love to hear that croaking going out or if you're a naturalist of some kind you like to hear the croaking, okay?

I guess that says something about you, doesn't it? Anyway, the croaking, the meaningless croaking of these false teachers behind, always remember this, behind all false teaching, behind all attempts to turn away your allegiance from Christ, behind all of this idolatry, behind all of it is the working of demons. Don't ever forget that. Those who would turn us away from Christ, be they political or religious, are motivated by demons.

Isn't that something to wrap your mind around? Wow. That takes it to another level, doesn't it? The seriousness of our faith. How do I know that? Well, for example, in 1 Corinthians 10, we won't turn there.

In 1 Corinthians 10, you remember what the Apostle Paul said about offering things to idols? He says you're really offering to demons. 1 Corinthians 10, he makes it clear that demons stand behind all idolatry. And so it is here. Demons stand behind the deceptive strategy of this unholy trio. And they deceive the kings of the whole world.

Now I want you to notice something here. It says they deceive the kings of the whole. Let me see. I'll make sure I have it right here. the kings of the whole world these are the same kings that are called the kings of the east in verse 12 they're the same group of people different symbol same people all right the kings of the whole world he hasn't he hasn't said there's this little confederacy that all sudden the whole world gets behind them what he's saying is that the kings of the whole remember what world means in this book remember the inhabitants of the world the earth dwellers who are they all the way through this who are they they're the unbelievers so here are the the powerful political leaders although they going to prove to be the deliverance of god people because they kings from the east they are the tools of the dragon and his servants All right?

Even though they're instruments of deliverance, they are still the tools of the dragon and his servants. Is that too hard? Can you wrap your mind around that? Right? You got that, right? God can use Satan's tools to accomplish his purposes.

Essentially, that's what he's saying here. And they deceive the kings by performing signs. Of course, this reminds you of the second beast that we found in chapter 13, who performed signs so that people give their allegiance to the first beast. But remember also what we saw in chapter 13. This can be signs and wonders that we cannot explain. Do not think that if someone can perform a sign or a wonder that it has to be from God.

Don't think that. Just because something is inexplicable, just because something seems to have a supernatural origin, just because you can't scientifically explain how that happened, doesn't mean it's from God. All right? Man, we've got to get that in our minds. So many people say, wow, I can't explain it. It must be from God.

Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Some people ask me, for example, again, be reminded, and again, I think there's echoes of this. Do you remember what happened when Moses turned the water to blood? Do you remember when he threw his, first of all, he threw his rod down and turned it into a snake? What did the Egyptians do?

The same thing. When he turned the water to blood, what do you think the Egyptian magicians did? The same thing. Alright? When the frogs came, the Egyptians did the same thing. Wow. there must be a reason for that.

How do you explain that? Maybe they had frogs in cages somewhere and they kind of let them out. Or maybe they had some dye in their pocket and they kind of squirted it in the water, you know. No! You can't explain it! There's a lot of things in this world we can't explain, but you don't determine what's right or wrong by whether you can explain it or not.

It's got to line up with the Word of God. and no matter what the supernatural wonder is, if it denies God, it is from Satan. It doesn matter what it is All right So what the point I kind of got off track there What the point I making The point I making is this They can do signs and wonders that we won't be able to explain many times. They'll use those to deceive the powerful people of this world.

But it doesn't, when it says they perform these things, they perform these great works, performing signs to deceive the leaders, It doesn't necessarily mean that they are. It can mean that they're doing something that you can't explain, but it's anything that's powerful enough that can convince people something other than the truth. I think about North Korea.

They have attributed supernatural powers to their former leader, Kim Il-sung. You know that? There are people in North Korea who believe that he did supernatural things. There are people who worship him as their great father. All right? Now, I don't think there are any signs and wonders being performed, but the deception is so strong, is so powerful, that they believe it.

What he's saying here, what he's symbolizing here, is the power to deceive by doing great things. All right? Now, note. Note. They deceive these powerful political figures to assemble against the people of God for the purpose of destroying them. That's what the text tells us.

They're using their deceptive powers. Okay, here's the unholy trinity using demonic forces to persuade earthly political figures to assemble for the purpose of destroying the church. Now this has been going on all through the age in which we live. Spirits are already at work and have been at work in the world deceiving governmental powers to destroy the church.

Consider such places as Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Belarus, Russia again, China, India, Venezuela, even Canada. Even Canada. And that opposition takes many forms, from outright oppression and killing of Christians to accusations of hate speech. Okay? Those spirits are at work. leaving powerful figures to be against the church. But something is different here.

This is not the norm. Because what he seems to indicate, what John describes here is a little bit different. This deception that's going on in the world culminates in a worldwide attempt to crush the church. This is a worldwide attempt to snuff out the life of the church. This is not just individual nations now. This is now the nation somehow, somehow working together to crush out the life of the church.

Now we've seen it already, if you remember, and maybe you don't, in chapter 11, verse 7. We see it hinted at, or at least we get a glimpse of it in chapter 11. And remember the symbolism of the two prophets that symbolize the church who are speaking in this world. And in verse 7 it says, And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them.

You remember when we were back in chapter 11, I said this is talking about the beast accomplishing the near destruction of the church. And it's described two more times. So we hear it described there. We see it described here. We see it described in chapter 19. Okay.

In chapter 19, look at verse 17. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun and with a loud voice. He called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, Come, gather for the great supper of God to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured with the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

That's the same thing we see in chapter 11, verse 7. We're seeing it now in chapter 16. We see it in 19. Now we see it also in chapter 20 beginning in verse 7 And when the thousand years are ended Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog by the way powers from the north and east on the other side of the Euphrates to gather them for battle their numbers like the sand of the sea, and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.

But fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they'll be tormented day and night forever and ever. Same scene, different angles. That's what we've seen in chapter 16. There's going to be some kind of a worldwide attempt to crush the church.

Demonic spirits will deceive governments to the point they'll seek to destroy the church. I don't think that day has come yet. I don't think we're seeing it. Not yet. It's coming. But here's the point.

When that happens, the trap is sprung. For in gathering to crush the church, they gather for their own destruction. That's what this is about. and the place of their destruction is Armageddon. All right? Now, I know it's warm and maybe you're getting a little bit tired, but stay with it, all right? I have a heart for this because I can remember growing up and hearing all the stories of Armageddon.

And I think God's people, because they heard all those stories and did not have the right interpretation of this passage, there's many that won't be prepared for Jesus coming. What is Armageddon? What is it? Can I say it once again? Can you say this with me? This is a symbol, not a photograph.

It's symbolic. Armageddon is symbolic. How many places in the Bible is Armageddon mentioned? One. It's only mentioned once. Does that surprise you?

Because I can remember thinking, man, I remember, didn't all those Bible teachers I had when I was a kid talk about Armageddon all through the Old Testament? It's only mentioned once, this verse. It's the only place Armageddon is ever mentioned. Now that says something to me. And what else it is, is no one can quite figure it out. Because there is no geographical place called Armageddon You can find a geographical place in all of the Bible called Armageddon There is no geographical place.

And John makes the point of saying this place in the Hebrew is called Armageddon. So you're saying, well it must be in the Old Testament. If it's in Hebrew, it's not. What does he mean? He's saying there are two Hebrew words put together here. The first is har.

Of course, it doesn't come out in English translation because when you, I won't tell you why. Just take my word for it. Har. It's really harmageddon. All right? In English, it comes out armageddon.

So the first word is har, which is the Hebrew word for mountain. And then the next word is megiddo, which are the plains of megiddo, which by walking were two and a half days north of Jerusalem. this wide open plains of Megiddo. That we see all the way through the Old Testament. But, here's the problem. There is no mountain in Megiddo. It's a plain.

There's no mountains there. So what is this mountain of Megiddo? Because there isn't one. There is no place called Armageddon. Now that may surprise you. But that's the truth.

There just isn't. This is the only place it's mentioned. And he puts together two Hebrew words. And here's another problem. The mountain could be, and I think this is the best answer, the mountain could be Mount Carmel, which is right on the edge of the plains of Megiddo. All right?

Now, another problem is that throughout the Old Testament, the final cataclysmic battle throughout the entire Old Testament, the final cosmic cataclysmic battle symbolically takes place in Jerusalem, not two and a half days north in Megiddo. It takes place in Jerusalem. And in fact, John Mosier read this morning from Zechariah chapter 14. Did you hear what it said?

Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will divide it in your midst, for I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle And if you kept reading through that if you read through Zechariah chapters 12 through 14 you keep seeing the cataclysmic cosmic final battle takes place at Jerusalem, not north. What is John doing here? It's not a geographical reference.

It's a? Very good. It's a symbol. All right? It's a picture, a symbol. Consider two things that happened in these geographical locations in the Old Testament.

Judges chapter 5, verses 19 through 21. Turn there. Judges 5, verse 19. Now let me give you what's going on here. This is a hymn of praise to God after Deborah and Barak have defeated a number of Canaanite kings. Okay?

On the plains of Megiddo. It says in verse 19, The kings came, they fought. Then fought the kings of Canaan at Taanak by the waters of Megiddo. They got no spoils of silver. From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The torrent Kishon swept them away.

The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon, marched on my soul with might. Here's a song of praise. What happened? On the plains of Megiddo, a small, tiny Israelite force beat an incredible, overwhelming force of kings. On the plains of Megiddo. God delivered them.

By defeating their enemies. And then Mount Carmel. What happened on Mount Carmel? 1 Kings 18 should be very familiar to you. On Mount Carmel, it was where the prophets of Baal were slaughtered. The false prophets were slaughtered.

Armageddon, then, is a symbol for the world when it's not Armageddon yet. when God destroys the enemies of his people who come against us with overwhelming force, who are going to crush the life out of the people of God, and somebody appears and absolutely destroys them. That is Armageddon. And it says they assemble on the great day of God the Almighty.

Now here's something else to keep in mind. The great day of God. When you read that, what should go through your mind is a reference in the Old Testament. Many, many, many, many references in the Old Testament. If you read through the Old Testament, particularly the prophets, you're going to come across this phrase all the time. The day of the Lord.

The day of the Lord. It's always a day of judgment. And some days of the Lord appeared in the history of Israel when God appeared in judgment. And yet there are some references that look way off to the future. When the day of the Lord comes and every false teacher, every idol, everything is destroyed. That's a reference here.

The day of God the Almighty. That's another way of saying the day of the Lord. It's a day of darkness and judgment when God appears to judge the wicked. So what we find out from this is the greatest fulfillment of the day of the Lord happens when Armageddon happens. The day will come when God's enemy gather to kill the church only to find that they have been gathered for their destruction.

That's what it's about. God will not leave his people to be crushed out. He will deliver them by judging their attackers. That is Armageddon. It is judgment. Against the enemies of God's people.

And I might remind you here. That that judgment flows from the cross of Jesus. Because at the cross he has already conquered Satan. Right? And that this is just the outworking of that. The great cataclysmic event that changes the whole history of the world is not going to happen then.

It happened back there. And it is there that Satan was defeated so that when the enemies of God's people gather to crush them, they will be crushed for they will be powerless before the Son of God who was raised from the dead. You see? Now Armageddon is not just deliverance. It's not just judgment. Armageddon means warning that what verse 15 is all about Now Jesus in verse 15 Jesus is talking Alright?

He utters this warning for His people. Behold, I am coming like a thief. Does that sound familiar? Jesus said that all kinds of times in the Gospels. I'm going to come. It's going to be like a thief in the night.

And then even in the epistles. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, which was read in your hearing just a little while ago. What does it say? The what? Did you notice what it said? The day of the Lord will come like what?

Like a thief in the night. So you see, here it is. Can you see all the connections there? The day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. The day of that great destruction when all the carnage of all of the enemies of Christ who have come against his people will come like a thief. You're not expecting it.

The day of our enemies' destructions will come like a thief. Jesus will arrive unexpectedly. Have you ever had a thief in your house? Some of you have. I don't think I have yet. Other than that one time when Josh broke in.

But that's a story for another day. Just thought of that, Josh. It was amazing. He got past the dog and everything. Like a thief in the night. He didn't steal anything.

That's another story. But like a thief in the night, he got in. Totally. And unexpected. Unexpected. Just whoosh.

That's what Jesus is saying here. That's how the utter destruction of our enemy is going to happen. And he's going to appear and no one's going to expect the least of all that. And he's going to appear. You never get a call that says, hello, is this Tim Pazma? Yes.

Listen, are you going to be home on Wednesday? Who is this and why do you want to know? Well, I was thinking of breaking in. Right? Thieves don't do that. They try to arrive unexpectedly, don't they? they try to try to arrive when you're not expecting them to be there and what does Jesus say he says you gotta be alert stay awake and keep your garments on you have to be alert you have to be watching you need to be awake in order to be prepared for any kind of a thief and you have to have all your clothes on alright have you ever thought you heard an intruder in the night while you were still in your pajamas That happened to me a couple times A couple weeks ago there was something going on that I didn know and I won't tell you everything that I did, just because it probably would sound stupid to you.

But I'll tell you what, the very first thing I did, you know what it was? I put a pair of pants on. You know, you don't go out after an intruder half naked, do you? It just doesn't seem right, does it? If you're not prepared, if you're not dressed, you're not prepared. I mean, if you got a 22 in your hand and you just got your boxer shorts on, who cares what you look like, but you put a pair of pants on, don't you?

You got your clothes on. You put your clothes on. You do. And that's what he's saying here. Be prepared. You're not ready if you're not dressed. and if you're drowsy and unprepared you'll be ashamed at Jesus coming because your nakedness will be exposed now of course this ought to remind us of what's going on in the churches you remember back there with Sardis and Laodicea he told Sardis to wake up and he told Laodicea look you know what you've got to put on some white garments you're compromising you're compromising with the world that's what he's driving at here You're compromising.

Here's what he says. Here's the point. What does he mean by being alert, clothed, and avoiding the shame of nakedness? He's saying this. You don't know when Jesus is going to return. Be ready to meet him.

That is, don't compromise. Don't get into bed with the harlot Babylon, with her fast-fading beauty of prosperity and pleasure. this is no time for Jesus' followers to be lulled into sleep by the promise of pleasure and prosperity. And folks, that is where we are in this country. That is where we are. I say that right now to my shame. I know that I am way too enticed by pleasure and prosperity.

Way too enticed. And Jesus is saying don be caught naked in the arms of compromise and pleasure That what he saying Don't be caught in the arms of the harlot. Don't be, don't have your nakedness exposed. Because that means judgment. That means judgment. He's warning us.

Armageddon is coming and you don't want to be found naked and ashamed wow now let me remind you what do we hear in our New Testament reading you want to look at it turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 very quickly as we conclude this morning 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 again this is talking about the day of the Lord arriving like a thief. You remember what he said? Verse 8, But since we belong to the day, well, verse 7, verse 6, So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

You hear the same themes? For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet of the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to attain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him.

You see that? Listen, if you don't want to be naked and ashamed when Jesus returns, when Armageddon happens, then please, please, please understand this. You must come to Christ. That's the only way of being delivered from this wrath that's coming. Without Christ, you will easily fall into the arms of pleasure and prosperity. Without Jesus, you will be captured.

There's no doubt about it. You will love those things and you will love them more than God and God will judge you for your idolatry. But Jesus has come so that we will not suffer wrath but be delivered on that day. So when you hear the term Armageddon, what should you think? Think three things. Think deliverance.

Think judgment. Think warning. That ought to go through your mind every time you hear this. That word. Deliverance. Judgment.

But most of all. Warning. Be ready. When you hear the word Armageddon. From now on. You ought to think.

Am I ready to meet Jesus? That's what you need to think. Father. we're thankful for your word we're thankful for its clarity we're thankful that it is powerful to change us and transform us we're thankful Father that when it reaches out it converts our hearts it gives us ears to hear the warning that we might be prepared Father I pray that we would neither fear the coming attack but that we would look for you to deliver us and that we would be ready to meet you.

God, help us to remember that every time we hear that word because we want to glorify you. Keep us from endless speculations and help us to be sober, awake, and clothed. Help us, we pray, by your grace in the Spirit for the glory of Jesus our Savior. Amen.