THE SOUNDING OF THE 6TH TRUMPET...

“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 prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” Revelation 9:13-15

Chapter 28

“LOOSE THE FOUR ANGELS”...

We’ve been talking about the sounding of the Seven Trumpets, which we want you to see again, is the core of the seventh seal message. We’ve already read in the beginning of the 8th chapter of the Revelation and now over into the 9th chapter. John said when he opened the seventh seal that there was silence, which we dealt with, and then the trumpets began to sound out. I pray that God will help us to see that the seventh trumpet message is truly the seventh seal message. We found the reason that these trumpets sounded and we found by reading prophecy in Gospel that the trumpet is the sounding of God’s voice in a particular way as in sounding out a warning that something is approaching. Even so, as we have sounded out these trumpets down through the fifth, God would have us see by His Word that something happens to people when they take the attitude that people are taking today toward God’s eternal Word.

Let’s look in the 13th verse of the 9th chapter of the Revelation. Everyone that understands the message knows that we have a big job before us preaching on this sixth seal (trumpet). “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 of jacinth and of brimstone. And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths.”

We’re showing that the battle of Armageddon goes right on today and it’s a battle of spiritual warfare and is being fought on a wide battle front, not only in the souls of men, but into civil powers and into political forces and on into the religious world. We’ve seen down through here, that it’s a great part of the Battle of Armageddon, when truth is raised up against error and whenever truth is preached, there’s a battle on. As long as the teachers of false doctrine stand for their convictions, every thing will go smooth; but when truth begins to stand up, there’s a battle on. I pray that God will help us to see this. All of you know without me telling you, that this sixth trumpet began to sound out at about 1880 or a little earlier with the sixth seal ministry. Bro. Warner and others began to sound out the truth. Now we will get some understanding and prove every one of these things. But first, let me give you a picture to get you to thinking in the context or right way.

In the 11th chapter of the Revelation we find in the 11th verse, that the two witnesses lay dead in the streets of Babylon for three and a half centuries, (three and a half days) or three hundred and fifty years, which has brought us to about 1880. Beginning at about 1530, add 350 years and you’ll get 1880. Now he said, at that time a voice from heaven sounded out to them. Don’t think or feel that the Word of God or the Spirit never worked down through Protestantism…they did! But as far as the work of the church is concerned they were far from being the vicars of the church. Why? Because the Protestant churches are under man rule and have human heads. We know that many people of that day were filled with the Holy Spirit and much of the Word of God was preached during the 350 years. But the Word and the Spirit, as far as being the heads of the Church, which God ordained them to be---were dead. Why? Because they couldn’t operate in the Church, for man would not allow them. They tramped them under foot, or ignored them---in that capacity. But we’re told that when the three and a half days were ended, a voice from heaven said: “Get up on your feet.” We read on, “They stood up on their feet and ascended up to heaven.” What heaven? Not God’s heaven! (Literal) They ascended up to a heavenly Jerusalem (spiritual position) where people would let them be the vicars. (Word and Sprit) How do we know this? We know this, because their enemies beheld them going up in a cloud. What kind of cloud? A cloud of witnesses! They stood up on their feet. The only feet the Word and the Sprit have, are your feet and mine and they can only stand up when God has a people who will stand up for them and acknowledge them as vicars of Christ in the Church.

God is giving us a picture of the people of 1880 who stood for the whole truth again, and so, gave the Word and the Spirit their proper place once more in the church. When the Word and the Spirit stand up again and the whole truth is preached, there’s a battle on. The powers of darkness will fight truth today, as hard as it ever did. All the false spirits in the world, will rise up and war against this truth, but the Spirit of God will stand up. The false teachers that have talked to the saints so long about not being contentious, have succeeded in hushing the voice of the saints and that’s what has brought on this great silence; but the silence is broken. Thank God! Here and there, the truth is rising and God is getting some people to stand up for it. It will no longer bow to the false teachings or anything short of God’s eternal Word. There are people who will let God have His way in their hearts and lives. It’s hard for us to preach on the sixth trumpet and stay out of the seventh.

Revelation 9:13, “When the sixth angel sounded, I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.” (We must find out what the voice is, then, we’ll know who’s directing.) “The voice said to him that had the sixth trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound in the River Euphrates.” That was the commission of the ministry of the sixth seal angel under the sounding of the sixth trumpet.

THE BLOOD SPEAKS FROM THE ALTAR...

It’s been quite awhile since we heard about the golden altar. When the golden altar begins to be mentioned, it illustrates that people are getting “back to business”. In the 8th chapter, we dealt with Pentecost and showed you that our high priest worked before the golden altar, before the very throne of God. Christ went up there as our High Priest and offered His incense, and after He had prayed, the Scripture says, He took that censer and filled it with fire and cast it into the earth and there was Pentecost. This is the first time we’ve heard of the golden altar, since then. John said he heard a voice sounding out from the horns of the altar. Let’s deal with a little typeology and find out for the benefit of those that weren’t here. Lev. 4:16, “And the priest that is anointed shall bring the bullocks blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: and the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before His veil. And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord.” He will get the blood, catch it from the sacrifice, sprinkle it seven times, then, he will take some on his finger and rub it on the four horns of the golden altar. Now, what is that voice? Verse 25, “And shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.” Let’s turn to Heb. 9:12, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood he entered once into the Holy Place having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Here we find that Christ just entered in one time. He didn’t go before the mercy seat, but He went into the very presence of God. He went before the throne of God and took His blood there. And in the 10th chapter of the book, Paul let us know that we can come boldly into the very holiest place and not only go there, but stay there. Now, we want to know whose voice this is, that speaks from the horns. Let’s remember that the sacrifice was taken and the blood rubbed on the four horns of the golden altar. Not that which stood before the veil, but the one before the throne of God. We read in Heb. 12:22, “But ye are come to Mt. Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels. (23) To the general assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. (24) And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” So, when John heard a voice speaking out from the four horns of the altar, what was he hearing? John was hearing the blood of Christ speaking out! When we come to Mt. Zion, we can hear it. We may just stop here and jump over to the 7th again. We’ll get away from those old dead church of God congregations, where they have stopped talking about the blood. When we get to Mt. Zion the blood speaks. That’s our message! When we “boil the thing down”, it’s about all we have. In fact, it was what purchased the Church. All these other things didn’t purchase it. We’re not the church or bride of Christ, until we get the blood. Blood bought men and women are the church! Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” Paul said there’s one way you can know the place is really Mt. Zion. It’s the place where the blood speaks. It speaks better things than that of Abel. He said he heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar. The blood was rubbed on there. Did he spill it there? He poured out His blood on Calvary’s mountain; then He took the same sacrifice and went before the Father and offered it there. And he said: “I will go and pray the Father and He will send another comforter, which is the Spirit of Truth. So, that voice from the four horns is the blood of Christ speaking of better things than Abel’s voice spoke. What did it speak? In the 11th chapter of Hebrews God tells us that Abel’s blood cried out even after he was dead. His voice cried out from the earth, witnessing that his salvation was true for he was clear before God.

Christ’s blood speaks greater things. Paul said it spoke from heaven. It witnesses salvation to every man’s heart of his salvation and of the righteousness of Jesus Christ---a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God or a voice speaking from heaven. What did the voice say? “Loose the four angels that are bound in the river Euphrates.” That was the message. They were bound and they needed to be loose. This angel (the sixth) received the message and the commission to release them. By this, we mean heathenism. Literal Babylon was built on the river Euphrates. It is taken as a symbol of heathenism. Now we go a little further: Euphrates in the Revelation is a symbol of heathenism or any false religion that has bound God’s people. Babylon was down there, and you know what happened. People were carried away and put in bondage and God had to release them. Who were the four angels that were bound? They were the second, third, fourth, and fifth trumpet angels; a people in this false religion, who were bound and needed the truth that would deliver them out of it.

THE SAINTS IN BABYLON LOOSED...

Let’s go back to literal Babylon, just a little. This is to give us a little more understanding. Now, you’re well aware, that’s what the message Bro. Warner and others came preaching---a message that loosed people from the bondage of spiritual Babylon and let them come back to Zion. Now, for it to be truth, it has to be true to type. After God was so careful to have men go through things back there, that didn’t mean a thing to them, yet was imposed upon them. Why did they bear the imposition? Because it was going to be a type of our reality and if God had not made them keep the types straight, we’d have never known what the reality was supposed to be or anything about it. They did many things that didn’t mean anything to them. They carried the incense around and burnt it and lit the lamps, it didn’t mean a thing to them---just so much work, but every move had to be cautiously made, for it was to be a type or shadow of the New Testament. That’s just exactly what it means---and the woman is pictured with the moon under her feet.

A lot of people want to throw the Old Testament away! It’s our foundation! Just because she put the moon under her feet, she didn’t kick it away---she’s standing on it. The only way we can stand in the light of the New Testament, is to see that it’s founded upon the Old Testament. The apostles and prophets, when they preached the truth they went back to the Old Testament to lay a foundation and told them what the law was and then came over and showed its fulfillment in the Gospel Day.

We’re living in a day and age when too many want nothing to do with the Old Testament. We’re living under the New one, but we have the Old under our feet to give us our foundation to step on (in that sense) until we could get up here and put on the New. Now, with that thought in mind, let’s go back just a little bit, to literal Babylon. God’s people were carried away. We told you, our glory is our defense. When we lose our glory, we have no defense. As long as God was in that temple, nobody but the high priest could come in that second room, but once a year, and if he didn’t line up or meet the conditions, he fell dead.

We read, where Nebuchadnezzar’s blood thirsty soldiers walked right into the second room (and they didn’t fall dead) and they picked up the golden vessels (that no man was to touch) and carried them away. It didn’t hurt them a bit! What happened? God had moved out, first. Now, they carried them over to Babylon. We find out, that while they had God’s people down there, they made an image, which is the type of the image right over here. They built an image and said that when the music stops, everybody is going to bow; but God had three children down there, that didn’t believe in “going to church down in Babylon”.

God’s true people won’t go to church down in Babylon yet! No, they just won’t do it---because of their very presence, they’re bowing down to that old image. You know what was going to happen? They were gonna throw them into the fire---and they did throw them into the fire! That king died; Belshazzar grew up---scripture says he made a great feast, drinking and having a big time. God just let him go right ahead. We want to show you something here. We can “carry on out in the world” and God will let us alone. They were drinking and having a good time, and got so drunk with that wine; he said, “Bring some of those golden vessels from Jerusalem and let me drink out of them.” There’s where he got into trouble! God never touched him in any way, in all his debauchery, until he went to put that old filthy wine into the consecrated golden vessels, that were from the temple---and the handwriting appeared on the wall, Me-Ne, Me-Ne, Te-Kel, U-Phar-sin. “You are done king, your kingdom is divided, you are weighed and found wanting.” Right while he carried on that night, history tells us, that Darius and Cyrus, Kings of the Medes and Persians, went down to the river that Babylon was built on---she was so secure, that nobody could get there. But God put it in their minds, to turn the river; dig a channel and dry it up. And so they walked in on the riverbed. They had not been there but a short while, until God moved the kings and said, “I want my people to go back to Jerusalem.” So, via the same dry riverbed, that the kings used to enter in, the children of Israel came out. They went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Now, that’s the Old Testament. It’s a type of something, and we want you to get it by the help of God.

Spiritual Babylon has the same kind of foundation that old literal Babylon had. It’s built on the river Euphrates. This was her foundation. If we ever get God’s people out of (spiritual) Babylon, the first thing we have to do is dry the (spiritual) river up. Too many run down to the riverbanks and say, come on over. They can’t get out! We have to get in. The trouble is, we run off with the New Testament and forget all about the Old. Before any of God’s people get out of Babylon the two (spiritual) kings have to get in. There’s just one way to dry the river up. We must turn the sun loose, and the wind loose on them.

The first thing we have to do, is, to go right to the foundation of the thing and cut of the source of supply and then, turn the sun and the wind loose on it and it will dry up. It couldn’t work here because the third part of the sun could not shine. The Revelation, 9th chapter, said: the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke out of the pit. It couldn’t work right, but thank God, He turned her loose. The first thing we do, is to take the mantle and show the fountain of Old Babylon to be corrupt and shut her off. Show people that (spiritual) Babylon has no Bible foundation and that its foundation head is not in Christ, not in the Holy Ghost, not in God’s Word, but its foundation was the dragon. And when you get the fountain cut off, turn the sun and wind loose on it, and dry it up.

“But you haven’t any Bible for that.” Yes, we have. Along with preaching the trumpets we like to pour out the vials. A lot of people don’t know what the vials are. They’re nothing more than symbolic expressions of God’s vials of truth or judgment on false religion. You study those vials, and find that they’re flat bowls. You try to pour them out at all, and you’ll dump the whole thing. We believe, God’s sick of this peddling around and dripping. He said they poured out their vials. We need to pour out judgment on everything false and let people know what the truth is! No man ever got out of Babylon, unless someone told him the truth. Someone may say, “I did”. The trouble is: you’re not out! You can be around a church of God congregation and still be in Babylon. You have to know the truth, if you ever get out of Babylon. In the 16th chapter, the 12th verse, “And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the river Euphrates” and the water there was dried up. We can dry the river up, if we will put the truth on them. The sixth angel poured out his vial on the river Euphrates and the river was dried up. What dies it mean? The water is still the people. They’ll babble, babble, but if you’ll pour the truth out on them it will hush them---it will dry them up. Just cut the source off, and if you get the source of supply cut off, then, you can bring the kings in and they will open up a way for the people to get out. We cannot get people out until we do some other things first. Before one begins to call people out of Babylon, the first thing one need to do is dry the river up. This will take pouring out the sixth vial. Somebody said I don’t know what it is. Well, then, let’s quit trying, to preach against Babylon, until we do know. We may bring people “out of one confusion” and into another. You can’t get them out of there without drying the river up. Too many preachers think they’ve got them out of Babylon, but they just moved them from the east side of town to the west side. We haven’t any confidence in preaching about this church of God movement being new Babylon. It’s the same old Babylon---as long as there’s confusion it’s still the same old Babylon. You’ll never get people out of there until you get the river dried up

The sixth vial will dry up the river Euphrates. What was it dried up for? It was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. Before old Israel could get out, Cyrus and Darius had to get in, and they came from the East. The Revelation said that it had to be dried up, that the way of the kings might be prepared. As far as Israel was concerned, all knowledge and wisdom came from the East. They built their temple toward the East. The wise men that came to Jesus, came from the East. Before literal Israel could get out of old Babylon, the river had to be dried up and the kings of the Ease had to get in. After they got in, God moved in on Cyrus’ heart to let the people come. Who are the kings? What has to happen here? How can we get people out today? Let’s study this together. But someday we’ll get the people out. I can’t tell you when. The river cannot dry up over night.

Now who are the kings of the East? Even as Cyrus and Darius had to get in there before the people could get out, these kings of the east in this book of symbols is that which had to reach the people before they could get out. What are they a symbol of? Knowledge and understanding! The thing that God’s people have to be reached with, before they can ever get out, is, to recognize there’s a Jerusalem. God has ordained a way for them to get back. They must understand where Jerusalem is. And after he dried the river up, I saw three unclean spirits like frogs. People today don’t know that Babylon is an unclean work. Why? As long as those frogs are under the water, nobody will ever see them. When we get the river dried up they will have no place to hide. When it dries up, there are those three frogs, right on the bottom. They’ve been there all the time, but the people will never find out until the river dries up. Do you know who they are? We know what Babylon is. We know what the river is; we know what is in the river---there are three unclean spirits like frogs working. The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, are all there, but the world doesn’t know it. Why? They mistake the Euphrates for the river of life. You can stand on the banks and say there are frogs in there, but they will never believe you until you dry the river up. You say, I told them the truth; they’ll have to accept it. No, no! Dry the river up and let them see them frogs!

Brother Warner and others preached the message that Babylon is fallen. This is drying the river up! It once was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand. Now, they’ve emptied the cup out of the true wine and filled it with the wine of fornication. What’s the wine of her fornication? It was filled with the true wine, well refined, which would cheer the heart and give joy and happiness. But now, what‘s she give you to sip? She’s more interested in you joining her organization than she is in you having peace in your heart. That’s what she’s filled her cup with. She’s become a habitation of devils, a cage of every unclean bird and fowl spirits---a habitation of devils. What are we talking about? We’re talking about a place where the devil can hand out! No power there whatsoever!