In this powerful episode of Hope for Today, dive deep into the prophecies revealed in the Book of Revelation. Explore the pivotal moments where angels proclaim judgments, and the eternal decisions that lie before humanity. Join us as David Hawking unravels the meaning behind the fall of Babylon and the chilling consequences faced by those who worship the beast. This isn’t just a religious narrative; it’s a scriptural revelation that demands our attention.
It was God’s will that Hitler be on the planet. It was God’s will that Pharaoh be raised up. It was God’s will that Nebuchadnezzar was there. It is God’s will that every ruler, no matter who he is, is in power, whether we like it or not. They’re not in control, and neither are we when we’re voting, as much as we think we are.
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It’s a blessing to have you with us for the midweek edition of Hope for Today. On our last broadcast, we stood in the shadow of revelation, angels proclaiming judgment falling and the mercy of God still reaching into the darkest hour. But the vision doesn’t stop there. The scene intensifies, warnings grow louder, and the choice between truth and deception becomes impossible to ignore. This isn’t religious talk. This is the word of the living God, unfiltered, unashamed, and unstoppable. Today on Hope for Today, David Hogging takes us even deeper into that vision. So open your heart, open your Bible, and get ready for what God has to say. Just before David’s teaching, let me tell you about his book, Hope in Difficult Times. You might have asked yourself at some point during a difficult season, where is God in all of this? Or does anyone really care? Does God care? This book, Hope in Difficult Times, answers with a resounding truth. Yes, there is hope. Hope in Difficult Times is a resource to encourage you and strengthen your faith when life feels overwhelming. In fact, it’ll help you encourage someone else as well. Hope in Difficult Times, just $20 when you call 875-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, or order online at davidhawking.com. And let’s join David.
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And worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. That great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “‘If any man worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.'” and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. We’ve said, first of all, that the first proclamation is a proclamation of the gospel, verse 6 and 7. Secondly, we have the prediction of the fall of Babylon. Of course, there’s a lot more in Revelation about Babylon that we’ll be coming to before too long. Number three, very serious matter in verses 9 to 11, and that is the punishment of those who worship the beast. What’s the tribulation about? And the third angel comes with a message that those who worship the beast are going to be punished forever and ever. Now, in verse 9, the evidence that such punishment is deserved is presented to us in two ways. One, when they worship the beast and his image, if any man worship the beast and his image, and two, if they receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand. And that’s the evidence that they deserve this punishment. The explanation of this punishment is, is that they’re drinking, verse 10, of the wine of the wrath of God. Turn back to Psalm 75, 7 and 8. in explaining what this punishment is going to be, it quotes from an Old Testament passage telling us that these who worship the beast and receive his mark are going to drink the wine of the wrath of God. That’s what it says. Chapter 75, verse 7 and 8. But God is the judge who putteth down one and setteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red. And it is full of mixture. And he poureth out of the same, but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth, shall wring them out and drink them. What an interesting verse, sitting right there in the midst of all these psalms of praise and of worship. Like, for instance, the psalm begins in verse 1, unto thee, O God, do we give thanks. But verse 2 introduces God’s judgment. I’ll judge uprightly. And that the earth, verse 3, and all the inhabitants are dissolved. Speaks in verse 4, saying to the fools, deal not foolishly into the wicked. Lift not up your horn on high and speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east or the west or the south. God is a judge. He puts down one, sets up another. God’s in control of all these nations. But in his hand is a cup. and it’s fully mixed, and he’s going to pour it out, and all the wicked of the earth are going to have to drink it, and it’s the wine of the wrath of Almighty God. It’s a warning to all the nations of the world who become so proud, we don’t need God, we’re running things, and God’s warning is, one day you will experience my wrath. You will drink the results of what you have done. Now that is quoted in Revelation 14. Let’s go back there. That the punishment as to what it really is, is the wrath of God against nations who have been proud and rebellious against God. Who have assumed that they were in charge. But he says, no, promotion doesn’t come from man. Doesn’t come from anywhere on the earth. God is totally in charge. It was God’s will that Hitler be on the planet. It was God’s will that Pharaoh be raised up. It was God’s will that Nebuchadnezzar was there. It is God’s will that every ruler, no matter who he is, is in power, whether we like it or not. They’re not in control, and neither are we when we’re voting. as much as we think we are, but understand something. God is in charge. And what he says to all the nations of the world in the tribulation period, you are going to drink the wine of the wrath of God. The extent of this punishment is described here very thoroughly in verse 10 and 11 of chapter 14. It says, He shall be tormented. with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Is that awesome or what? I want to ask you a question. Does God punish people forever? There are many, many groups that don’t want to believe that. There are some so-called evangelicals who teach that God does not punish people forever. They speak about punishment enduring for an age, that there’s a period of time, but then ultimately God being a God of love will save everybody. Does God punish people forever? I’d like to just give you a few notes about this. Number one, this punishment is described as being torment. Did you notice that? Torment. He shall be tormented, verse 10. Verse 11, the smoke of their torment. Well, this punishment in Revelation 14 is described, first of all, as torment. And it reminds us of what Luke 16 says. A story of the rich man and Lazarus. One goes to hell and one goes into the bosom of Abraham and into the blessing of the Lord. Now, if you look, please, at chapter 16, verse 24, it says, He cried, this is the rich man. He cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Do you think Jesus is tricking us to tell us a gruesome, so-called middle-aged horror story in order to scare us into believing him? Or is Jesus telling the truth that there is going to be a place where people will go who will be tormented? Look at verse 28. This man who’s in torment says, I have five brothers. I want you to send Lazarus to my father’s house, verse 27. I have five brothers, verse 28, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of what? Torment, it says. Please don’t misunderstand. God has a place called hell, and it is a place of torment. The Bible speaks of it as weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. No, it’s no party time in hell. Some people say, well, I’m going to hell because that’s where my friends will be. We’ll have a good time anyway. Oh, no. It’s a place of excruciating torment, according to the Bible. Well, back to Revelation 14. It’s not only described as a place of torment, it’s described as a place of fire and brimstone. And here you’ve got a lot of liberal critics of the Bible kind of laughing out of the side of their mouth and saying, well, this is but an illustration. It’s just talking about the trials that we go through in life. I don’t think so, folks. It’s a place of fire and brimstone. Look at chapter 19, verse 20. It says the beast, this world leader, this Antichrist, was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. That’s what it says. Look at chapter 20, verse 10. Verse 15, Is this literal? Well, folks, if it’s not literal, only God knows how awful it must be because a symbol is always less in intensity of that which it represents. My friends, to say this is symbolic language doesn’t help anybody. To say it’s only a symbol, God only knows how awful then it must be. Isn’t it bad enough to say that it’s a lake of fire and brimstone where people are going to be tormented? Does God punish people forever? Go back to Revelation 14 again and look at verse 11 carefully. The smoke of their torment, Revelation 14, 11, ascendeth up forever and ever. Does God punish people forever? You see, it’s described not only as a place of torment and a place of fire and brimstone, but it’s described as a place of eternal torment. Now, there are some people who say, well, forever and ever doesn’t mean forever. It’s only for a period of time. Now before you be too amused with that, the Greek word ion, age, can mean a period of time. But ionion, which carries it out a little further, usually means eternal. But I want to just let the word of God speak for itself. The same exact words are used in chapter 4, verse 9 and 10 of the Lord God himself. Is the Lord God eternal? So is the place of torment. And there’s a fourth thing said in Revelation 14, verse 11, and that is that it’s described as a place of eternal restlessness. It says they have no rest day or night. I wish that I could somehow cause everyone who’s listening who doesn’t know the Lord to be born again now. That’s how serious it is. If something happens to you, or the Lord comes and you’re not ready, we are talking about you being in hell forever and ever in a place of torment. We don’t want you to go. We want you to respond to the love of God and his forgiveness. We want you to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, who’s the way, the truth, and the life. We are not kidding. We are not playing a game here. There is a heaven and there is a hell. And it’s very serious. Come to verse 12 and 13. We’ve talked about the proclamation of the gospel, the prediction of the fall of Babylon, and the punishment of those who worship the beast. I like the way this section concludes with the patience of the saints. Verse 12 and 13. 12 says, here, imagine after saying they’re going to suffer forever and ever, and then it says, here is the patience of the saints. Now there’s a very important issue here. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The important point is this. Look, Christian friends, it may get really rough. The Bible says all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It is certainly going to be rough on those who live in the tribulation period. And it’s rough on many of us right now. And sometimes the sufferings of this present time are overwhelming. Yet God reminds us this is the patience, the endurance of saints. What is that? What is he talking about? Why are we patient, enduring all the hassles of life and all the problems and all the trials and all the sufferings? Why? Because, my dear friends, we’re headed for heaven now. not hell hallelujah we are saved from hell and we’re on our way to heaven why because we deserve it no because we’ve earned it no because we trusted in God’s only provision the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says you will be saved and this is the patience of saints because I know where I’m going I can endure a lot I’m not going to hell I’m going to heaven how about you And I hope you’re ready to go to be with the Lord if he should come before we’re through. The primary characteristic of saints is listed here. Did you catch it? Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. There’s a lot of people going around saying they belong to him, proclaiming him as Lord. But Jesus said many people in that day will claim it. And they’ll even say, we’ve done wonderful works in your name. And he’ll say, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you. We don’t keep the commandments in order to go to heaven. We believe in Jesus Christ. But those who believe in Jesus Christ keep the commandments. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. His commandments are not burdensome. I just finished marking down every commandment of Jesus Christ. I don’t know how many you found. I found 197 in the Gospels. You say, oh, great. I’ve got to keep 197. I just want you to know that every last one of them is a blessing. Here’s one that he says a lot. Don’t be afraid. You like that one? You go out here, boy, I tell you, it’s hard to live the Christian life. You know what they want us to do now? They don’t want us to be afraid. The Bible says His commandments are not a burden at all. Not a burden. All those traditions of the Jewish elders and priests and scribes, you talk about heavy burdens. In addition to the 613 laws of the Torah, they had all the traditional interpretations. They just buried people under all of this. You couldn’t hardly move without doing something wrong. Jesus, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Do you like that command? He said, just come to me and I’ll give you rest. Our Lord is so beautiful in all he commands. It’s wonderful. What really struck me is what verse 13 says. The future condition of all the saints. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Is that great or what? 2 Corinthians 5, 8 says, absent from the body and present with the Lord. Do not weep as those who have no hope, Paul said. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then even so then that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. The dead in Christ will rise. We have a blessed hope. Two things I point out to you here. One is their eternal rest. You can’t help but contrast this with what was said in verse 11. Concerning those who go to hell, they don’t rest day or night. But concerning those who go to be with the Lord, it says they rest from their labors. Labor to the point of exhaustion. You can’t take another step. You’re tired. Hey, rest time is coming. It’s coming. When we get to glory, we’re talking eternal sack time. I mean, we’re talking rest. No more hassles anymore. Nobody pressuring us to do anything. We’re going to rest. Praise the Lord. But their eternal reward is also mentioned. Their works do follow them. What a precious little thing to say. Though nobody else notices them, the Lord does. God will never forget your work and your labor of love, says Hebrews 6.10. He’ll reward. you greatly. Revelation 22, when Jesus says, I’m coming quickly, he said, and my reward is with me. Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has entered the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him. Father, I thank you and praise you for your wonderful word, for the hope that is there. And Lord, I pray for the folks who are listening now who are not really sure of their relationship to you. What an awesome, awesome, terrible, horrible thought that we would be in hell, tormented day and night forever and ever. Oh God, help us not to go on another day until we settle our relationship with you, until we do what you said, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we would be saved. To believe that when he died on the cross, he paid for all of our sin, that he rose again from the dead, and because he lives, we shall live also. God, I pray that you’d cause by your Holy Spirit many to turn to you now. and trust you as Lord and Savior. And those of us, Lord, who have been fooling around with our Christian experience and not walking with the Lord, God, help us to be careful, to watch, to be on the alert, for our redemption is drawing nigh. You said every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Thank you, Lord, for what you’re going to do in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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One of the wonderful statements of Revelation is in chapter 14, verse 13. It says, I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5 says, Absent from the body and present with the Lord. And the end of chapter 14, which we have been studying today, mentions the judgment of God upon planet Earth. And that judgment is called the great winepress of the wrath of God. Wow. And blood will come out of the winepress to the space of 1,600 years. furlong. That’s about 200 miles. In other words, the whole land of Israel. Wow. That’s the judgment of God that is coming. We don’t want you to go through that judgment. We want you to be caught up in the rapture that happens before the tribulation period. You need to settle your relationship with the Lord. the Messiah of Israel, the one who died on a cross for your sins and mine and rose again from the dead the third day. And he’s the one that’s coming back for us. Praise be to the Lord.
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This is Hope for Today with David Hawking. And if you’d like to know more about a relationship with Jesus Christ, we want to send you two free gifts and free means free. First, David’s booklet, What is Christianity? And also a Bible study by mail that will help you understand what the Bible says about the Christian faith and how to grow strong in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Call 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And you can also visit us online at davidhawking.org. And just before David returns, Matt’s here, and we have a resource to share with you that’s going to help you get the most out of our current radio series, We have David’s original sermon outlines and notes for each message in our current Revelation series.
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You know, these are great for following along through the series and then into the future when you want to review or share it with others.
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Discover and experience Revelation in a deeper, more encouraging fashion with our Revelation radio series on MP3 and David’s message outlines and sermon notes. You know, Jim, the Revelation series sermon notes pack is just ten dollars. That’s sermon notes for each message in the entire series, 48 messages altogether. And you can purchase or download at davidhawking.org or receive them by PDF CD when you call us.
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And then you can save and store all your learning in our current series with the Revelation Radio Series Message Pack. All 48 messages on MP3 format, download or MP3 CD.
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Just $30. Or on DVD, a special price this month for the DVD set, $50. Get your copy of these resources by calling 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, or you can order online at davidhawking.org. And quickly, I want to let you know that every day people turn on their radios or maybe stream online through their computer to hear God’s teaching from Hope for Today at the darkest of moments in their lives. And through God’s Word, they discover that He has not forgotten them. Your prayers, your financial gifts, make that moment possible. It pours the gospel into hearts that are broken, into homes that are struggling, and into places where people are desperate for truth. Tell us you’re praying or send a donation by mail to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, Hope for Today, Box 15011, Tustin, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S 8P1. Or call us at 875-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Or online, go to davidhawking.org. And let’s get back to David.
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Thanks for listening and plan to be with us for our next broadcast as we study the end of chapter 14 on the harvest of the earth that I just mentioned. Don’t miss that.
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Thank you, David. And friend, if you missed any part of today’s program or a recent broadcast, just head over to davidhawking.org and you can listen again to the latest broadcast for a limited time. Oh, by the way, share that link with a friend. On our next broadcast, don’t miss day one of The Harvest of the Earth, right here on Hope for Today.
