“Releasing Demons from the Abyss”
Unveiled Hope • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 24 viewsThe invisible conflict that we expereince today in the form of spiritual warfare is nothing like what will happen in a full frontal assault in the future when all hell will be released on earth. Yet this passsage helps us today with principles to apply to the conflict that we face on a daily basis as we resist the devil and his stupid little schemes.
Notes
Transcript
There is an invisible war raging…
In this war…warriors attack unsuspecting victims without warning…attacking them at the weakest moment.
Their attacks are subtle & harmful…leaving individuals & families reeling in pain & heart ache.
This invisible war has been raging for centuries…actually for thousands of years.
No, I am not referring to tariff wars, political battles over borders fought between nations.
I am not referring to current wars on terrorism, poverty, drugs. cultural war of ideologies…
No, this is a SPIRITUAL WAR…between the kingdom of DARKNESS & the kingdom of LIGHT…
I believe that every human being…the world over…is in danger of imminent attack.
Ever since the Garden of Eden…Satan & his demons have been at work
Tempting…Attacking…Discouraging & Deceiving mankind
Ever since the infamous attack in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3)
They have never stopped…
They are opposed to anything & everything which points us to God.
They will do what they can to destroy human dignity…
They are cintinually trying to drivw a wedge between mankind & God…
The Bible warns us that Satan is actively working to destroy God’s plans and God’s people.
PLEASE Know that this is not me being an alarmist/sensationalist…this is what God’s Word actually tells us.
Turn to Revelation 9…a passage that shows us that a time is coming when this invisible warfare we experience today will seem…like nothing…compared to the horrific reality of the armies of darkness that will appear during the time of the tribulation.
This part of John’s vision…as horrific as it is…we see another page of God’s judgement on sinful earth
In it we see the reality of the armies of darkness battling in the future…
Why is it here?
It helps us better understand the spiritual battles we face today…
It helps us better understand the enemy…and how he tries to torment us and affect us even today.
Background…
Remember there have been 7 SEALS of God’s Judgment laid out on the earth Revelation 6:1-8:6
Followed by the more intense 7 TRUMPETS of God’s Judgment…Revelation 8:7-13
We looked at the first 4 trumpet blasts last week…actual, physical events affecting the entire earth.
In each of the first four trumpet blasts…God uses nature to punish sinners.
It concluded with the omnous words in Revelation 8:13
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
“woes” …a word…used throughout Scriptures as an expression of judgment, destruction and condemnation.
Now we begin the last three trumpet blasts…some refer to them as the… “three woes”.
The first Woe…Trumpet #5 begins here in Revelation 9:1
1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
As soon as the fifth angel blew his trumpet John watched as “…a star fell from heaven to earth…”
Note: “a star” …is often used symbolically in Scripture referring to:
A prominent person (Num. 24:17)…
Satan (Isa. 14:12-17)…once known as “Day Star”
Angels (Job 38:7)…
Church leaders (Rev. 1:20) and even
Jesus Himself is referred to as “…the bright and morning star” Rev. 22:16
Some believe this to be some other high ranking angel given authority over the abyss.
I lean toward this star in v.1 being Satan falling from heaven.
You can read about his fall in Isaiah 14
Where he was once a beautiful & powerful angel…maybe even the highest…
But he became proud…wanting to be greater than God…so he led angels in rebellion.
This resulted in his ejection from heaven along with every angel that followed him. Ezekiel 28:15-18
Now he prowls the earth seeking to hinder all he can from choosing salvation in Christ.
For now…he still has access to the throne room…and he is relentless in his accusations…
He hates God and all that God is…
He hates God’s mercy, and forgiveness shown to humanity…
He is known as the Accuser of the brethren…
He wanted to destroy Job…
He accuses us of our sin day & night before the throne.… “accuser of the brethren”.
But we have a Defence Attorney...Jesus Christ who defends us…I want Jesus to defend me!
Revelation 12 Satan will fall again for the last time…finally given the boot out of heaven.
So this verse possibly looks back at his first fall from heaven…then in Revelation 12 when he is finally given the boot out of heaven and in his fury he will bring literally hell on earth.
Note: the star is “given the key” …noteworthy…WHO gave him the key?
I am glad you asked…Revelation 1:18
Jesus alone has the keys…has the authority to hell and death!
So the grand theme of this section…God is in CONTROL!!
Jesus…gives the key…Jesus…sets the time…Jesus sets the limits/parameters…God is in control
If I lived in this world today without knowing that God is in control I would be extremely distraught!
Jesus is the one who gave the key to the devil…Jesus gives the key…
Note: “bottomless pit” Greek “abyssos”= means “depth” or “underworld” “pit of the abyss”
It is the dwelling place of demons that are imprisoned waiting to be released for judgement.
The Bible says demons are fallen angels…there are some who are not allowed to roam the earth because they are so wicked, fierce,”bad” they are locked up… See: Jude 6; Luke 8:31; 2 Peter 2:4
Know this: Satan will one day join them in Gehenna…but for now they are in this bottomless pit.
So this bottomless pit is the place where certain demons have been kept in prison until judgment.
So somewhere in the spiritual world here on earth is a deep pit where God has incarcerated all these horrific demons…which is a frightening thought. Thank God that He is the One who holds the keys!
Imagine if the world opened up all the prison doors of the most violent offenders…and just let them all go…imagine Satan opening the abusso…and for five months given
When we consider the context of the passage..it appears that the opening of the bottomless pit foretells to brief time of release of the demons before they meet their final condemnation in the lake of fire. (Matthew 25:41)
2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
When the door of the bottles pit is swung open…smoke spews forth, darkening the sun and making the sky black…demonic darkness. (We could spend a lot of time here and look at all the details.)
Revelation is like the Union Station of Scripture…everything culminates in this book.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
A swarm of insects like creatures emerge unleashed from the smoke.
John calls them “locusts”.
Buiut from the description in v.7-10 ...they’re anything but grasshoppers.
They are something the world has never seen before.
Remember John is using words & images of his world as he describes these dark spiritual realities.
Locusts…have a shocking capacity for devastation.
Locust swarms were greatly feared in Bible times and still are in many parts of the world.
Apparently, “…entire regions..including essential crops could be stripped by a locust plague: “Areas up to 100 sq. km (40 square miles) can be covered by locust swarms which leave a barren stripped landscape in their wake.”
But the locusts that will come from the pit will be far worse than normal locusts.
These creatures will be able to sting their victims like scorpions.
We can marvel at the overwhelming number and the startling appearance of these supernatural locusts but we must not miss the limitations placed on them.
Do not miss the LIMITATIONS…
Their power is GIVEN to them… (Revelation 9:3)
“exousia”=power = authority or permission.
It may appear at first that this swarm of hideous creatures is completely out of control…
We must remember that…they can do nothing apart from God’s permission.
b. They are not permitted to harm vegetation, crops grass…what locusts usually devour…
These are not your average grasshoppers. Their targets will not be plants…but people.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
c. They ONLY inflict torment on certain people…
People who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
This takes us back to Revelation 7:2-3 where there is a remnant of God’s people of Israel…who are sealed by God for protection…these believers will be spared from the suffering inflicted by these locusts. God knows those who are His…He sets the time limit…(Exodus plagues…Israel preserved)
d. They are given authority to torment…but not to kill.
5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
Apparently the sting of a scorpion is excruciating…feeling like your whole body is on fire…burning and even debilitating…but in this case it is not deadly.
A frightening thought.
e. God places a limit of 5 months on their mission of torment…
But in these 5 months the physical mental emotional and spiritual agony these people will experience will drive them mad.
v.6 has to be one of the most haunting words in all Scripture that describes their desperate situation:
6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
Death does not happen…there will be no relief…for the unrepentant sinners rejecting Jesus.
Thank God…the HS restrains this evil…but once the church is removed…the light of the world is removed evil will come upon this earth
NOTE: If you’re a Christians you don’t have to be afraid of demons…
The Bible says “…greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”
You are a child of God…sealed by God…protected by God…so we must keep our eyes on Him.
Demons are real and powerful and they want to destroy your life…but they cannot touch you.
Revelation 9:7-10 describes them
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.
What a monstrous graphic sight.
Like horses prepared for battle…
Crowns like gold on their heads…
Human like faces…
Hair like women…
Teeth like lions…
Breastplates like iron…
Sound of wings like horses and chariots…
Tails like scorpions…
“like” repeated…warns us not to take this description completely literally…symbolism used…
John was using vocabulary available to him in order to describe something virtually indescribable.
Based on John’s description of these locusts we can assume they are warlike…brutal…and fierce…unstoppable, they will pursue their purpose of torment without flinching. They are intelligent creatures…perhaps even alluring using deception and persuasion to attract people….but their end goal is to torture, tear apart and to destroy.
11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
Clearly the locusts are spiritual demonic creatures…not cute little grasshoppers…but supernatural soldiers in the kingdom of darkness.
John also mentions they are lead by a king.
John identifies him by title and Hebrew name Abaddon and Greek name Apollyon…
Both words mean destroyer.
Many writers identify this demonic ruler of the abyss as Satan himself…or a high ranking demon.
Satan’s abode is not in the abyss…at least not yet until he is cast down into the bottomless pit at the end of the tribulation (Revelation 20:1-3)
So who is this angel of the abyss…we cant be dogmatic but he’s either Satan or a high ranking lieutenant of Satan who will do Satan;’s bidding.
In any case…at the close of this frightening vision…John gives this ominous warning: “The first woe is past; behold two woes are still coming after these things.”
Even though the release of the demons is unspeakably dreadful…something even worse is coming.”
This is the first woe…
I believe that the church will have been caught up in the rapture prior to this horrific scene on earth
Jesus said the devil comes to steal kill and destroy. but I have come that you might have life. John 10
PERSONAL Reflection & Action…
Why on earth would God want us to know this passage?
How does this passage inform our situation?
1. God wants you to KNOW the REALITY of Heaven & Hell…the invisible battle that rages.
A lot of people today believe in a real literal HEAVEN…but very few believe in a real literal HELL.
Many say “There is no hell…no heaven…earth is all there is…you’re born…you die and that’s it.
The fact is…Jesus spoke more about HELL than any other person in the Bible?
If you take all the references to Hell that Jesus spoke…and put them on one side of a sheet of paper…and then on the other side all the references He made about heaven…there are more statements about Hell than Heaven (in great detail) simply because He doesn’t want us to go there.
God…is not wishing that any should perish…but that all should reach repentance…2 Peter 3:9
Here in Revelation 9 we see literally…the reality of Hell breaking loose on earth.
This is part of God’s judgment of those who REJECT Him who are on the earth during this time.
2. God Wants You to KNOW that…the demonic world is REAL and AGGRESSIVE…
Not all demons are confined to the abyss…countless spirits of wickedness roam freely…
They will pounce at any opportunity…to attack believers and non believers.
Sometimes we pretend they don’t exist…or that that we don’t need to worry about them.
Not true! When we don’t know about the enemy…they have the advantage.
Satan is not all powerful…he is not all-knowing and he is not everywhere…
3. God Wants you to KNOW…there is an ENEMY COMMITTED to our destruction…
“They are a battle hardened enemy, they know how to wage war…to conquer the hearts and minds of all people.” (Weirsbe)
From subtle tricks to full blown spiritual blitzkrieg they are ready to use whatever it takes to win
Take a close look at 1 Peter 5:8 So how can you be more sober and alert in this warning?
Peter gives us instruction in 1 Peter 1:13-16
So are you prepared for spiritual battle? {Read & Memorize Ephesians 6:10-20}
4. God Wants You to be ENCOURAGED…Satan’s forces are powerful…they are LIMITED.
Even during the Tribulation…these wicked angelic beings can only do what they are allowed to do.
Today, we live in the day when the Holy Spirit is restraining evil through the Church…
That means their abilities are even more limited today (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8)
We must not underestimate the deceptive and destructive power of the enemy Jude v.8-10
As soon as we drop our guard we are liable to crumble under his attacks…
We cannot…we must not neglect our spiritual lives…we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together or trust in our own strength.
5. We must NEVER Forget that these horrific creatures flee at THE NAME of the Lord Jesus.
At the matchless name of Jesus…they cower in fear…run for cover and scramble for survival.
With a single rebuke Jesus can flatten Satan’s entire army. They are no match for Him… Luke 8:26-31
Let Jesus handle your spiritual battles. Submit to Him. Give all of your anxiety to Him in prayer.
1 Peter 5:6-8
Resist the devil in faith, resting in Christ and trusting that He alone can shut the mouth of the roaring lion and quench the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Be encouraged!
Through Jesus …we can be victors over the forces of darkness…not victims of their evil schemes.
