Act 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Act 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
Act 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
There are a rather odd assortment of teachings today that, simply put, defy the very Word of God. More and more, these days, I find myself having reason to teach elementary school basics to young adults due to the true State of the Union. There is no story nor any written record that can be, properly, used without the lost art of comprehension. The above text is one, such, example.
The Book of The Acts of the Apostles is not well taught in churches these days and it is easily overlooked due to the lack of the proper name being used as the title, thereof. When we read the least read part of the Bible, the Index, and we read Acts, it has no real impact. And yet, herein, lies the recorded History of the Early Church, after the Genesis, a major foundation block for the building of Grounded Christianity.
Often, I have been reminded of my years as a soldier and as a carpenter. In Basic Training, Boot Camp to the Marines, we were taught the foundation a successful soldier builds his life on. As a carpenter before I could ever erect the first wall I needed a solid foundation to build on or all my work would fail. As a soldier, if my machine-gun failed because I was to drunk to clean it before I laid down to rest I would not have been successful the next day when the enemy sought to bring my chopper to the ground. The same is true of the Christian, with no foundation, nothing can be built that can endure.
Saint Luke begins this historical record with mention of it´s intended recipient, Theophilus. The name is oft defined as the Lover of God and it is a popular belief that he was Luke´s benefactor and reason for his education as a doctor. Both this record and the Book of Luke are addressed to him and look to be for his Spiritual Profit.
In verse 2 we learn that, to the horror and disdain of the, Self Proclaimed, New Testament Christian, that Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, left His Apostles and therefore, His Followers with commandments! This is a touchy subject among a rebellious people and that is just what these Modern Day ?Converts? are, rebellious.
If a man, any man will revere God so much as to hunger for His Word, he or she will read it... from beginning to end. The remarkable thing that is discovered by such a reader that has prayed and submitted themselves to the perfect Will of God is that the context of the scriptures is one, from Genesis 1:1 through the very last Amen of The Revelation of Jesus, the Christ. The message, throughout is the message of Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
On one forum I am presently about to reply with the reasoning behind my rebuke for his heretical offering that Salvation is offered through faith but can be earned by good works. The saddest point of this is that this gent is not alone in this belief. If a person does not read the scriptures in their context they are without a foundation to stand on and if you do not swtand on the truth, you will fall for anything.
In verse three it is important to note that the record of Jesus´ death and resurrection is verified and particularly that He taught for forty consecutive days after His death and burial. And in verses four and five comes the heart of the matter for this lesson, all followers of the Christ are indwelt (baptized) with or by the Holy Spirit of God, the Father and God, the Son.
We are commanded not to quench the Spirit (1Thes. 5:19) so it is possible to be a saved man and still be Carnal. That being said, the single, most important thing any man can ever do is a Spiritual Inventory. This is a matter that needs to be cared for over and over, the more often the better. No-one can do it for you and you cannot do it for yourself without an honest Prayer Life. You must, prayerfully submit yourself to the will of God for your life!
This, inventory, is best accomplished by the person that has devoted their life to the study of the Word of God. This Does Not Require A Degree In Biblical Studies! A degree can be a hindrance. There are teachers in seminaries, around the world, that teach against the Word of God being infallible. Couple bad information, teaching, with the truth that the mind, like the computer, is only as good as the information it contains.
If you can fall on your face and submit to God, He is able and He will accomplish the work He has begun in you. May God bless you and yours.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Revelation 20
Revelation 20:1:
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2:
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3:
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Most people, lost and saved, alike, have heard enough of the truth of the scriptures that they know of the Millennial Reign of the Christ. Today, however, most folks have the idea of the Devil being a cartoon character with a long tail and wearing a red pajama suit. These folks, some of them calling themselves Christian, tend not to believe in the second coming of Jesus nor in the truth of Satan. But the truth is that Jesus is returning and the Devil will be contained during His reign.
Revelation 20:4:
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Revelation 20:5:
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
These two verses and the next three require a man to think and that is not a popular past time these days. Some today have taken verses 4 and 5 to prove the rule of Christ does not include the members of the Bride but that, in their opinion. It is, however worthy and necessary to note the next three verses before deciding such a thing.
Revelation 20:6:
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Revelation 20:7:
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Revelation 20:8:
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Here is the truth of the whole situation and it looks to me as though the martyrs, if not part of the Bride, are at least their equals. During that thousand years we shall rule together, under the guidance of Jesus, the Christ. Then, after one thousand years of peace, in an agrarian world, the lost will, once more, be deceived by him and gather to do battle with God.
Revelation 20:9:
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Revelation 20:10:
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Here is the portion that, just, baffles me. Satan has had two thousand years to read and to understand the prophecy in this book of the Bible and some of these people will have lived six, seven or even nine hundred years of life, lived under the rule of Jesus and yet they team up to overthrow Jesus and the Saints.
Revelation 20:11:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Revelation 20:13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Revelation 20:14:
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:15:
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
This is the End of the world! The Earth has been destroyed by fire and all life here has ceased to be and the Second Resurrection has occurred. It is a popular teaching today that all people of all faiths will go to Heaven (Universalism) and in a manor they are correct. I do see the Great White Throne being in Heaven but anybody that is not I the First Resurrection will not be in Heaven for very long. I am, because of my Spirit and prayer filled studies, of the opinion that when one is shown that one´s name is not in the Book of Life, that then the books containing their deeds will be opened and the degree of their punishment will be shown to them and applied. I do believe that many will be cast, along side Satan, into the Abyss, forever. From my studies I have determined that not all in the Second
Resurrection will suffer equally, just as all in the First are rewarded equally.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2:
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3:
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Most people, lost and saved, alike, have heard enough of the truth of the scriptures that they know of the Millennial Reign of the Christ. Today, however, most folks have the idea of the Devil being a cartoon character with a long tail and wearing a red pajama suit. These folks, some of them calling themselves Christian, tend not to believe in the second coming of Jesus nor in the truth of Satan. But the truth is that Jesus is returning and the Devil will be contained during His reign.
Revelation 20:4:
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Revelation 20:5:
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
These two verses and the next three require a man to think and that is not a popular past time these days. Some today have taken verses 4 and 5 to prove the rule of Christ does not include the members of the Bride but that, in their opinion. It is, however worthy and necessary to note the next three verses before deciding such a thing.
Revelation 20:6:
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Revelation 20:7:
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Revelation 20:8:
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Here is the truth of the whole situation and it looks to me as though the martyrs, if not part of the Bride, are at least their equals. During that thousand years we shall rule together, under the guidance of Jesus, the Christ. Then, after one thousand years of peace, in an agrarian world, the lost will, once more, be deceived by him and gather to do battle with God.
Revelation 20:9:
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Revelation 20:10:
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Here is the portion that, just, baffles me. Satan has had two thousand years to read and to understand the prophecy in this book of the Bible and some of these people will have lived six, seven or even nine hundred years of life, lived under the rule of Jesus and yet they team up to overthrow Jesus and the Saints.
Revelation 20:11:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Revelation 20:13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Revelation 20:14:
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:15:
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
This is the End of the world! The Earth has been destroyed by fire and all life here has ceased to be and the Second Resurrection has occurred. It is a popular teaching today that all people of all faiths will go to Heaven (Universalism) and in a manor they are correct. I do see the Great White Throne being in Heaven but anybody that is not I the First Resurrection will not be in Heaven for very long. I am, because of my Spirit and prayer filled studies, of the opinion that when one is shown that one´s name is not in the Book of Life, that then the books containing their deeds will be opened and the degree of their punishment will be shown to them and applied. I do believe that many will be cast, along side Satan, into the Abyss, forever. From my studies I have determined that not all in the Second
Resurrection will suffer equally, just as all in the First are rewarded equally.
Revelation 19
Revelation 19:1:
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
Revelation 19:2:
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Revelation 19:3:
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Revelation 19:4
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
Father God has sent down His righteous judgment on the Great Whore, Babylon, and His judgment is forever. One thing we must all remember is that the Lost Man will know this truth for the first time but God has known the outcome since before time was created and the Christian that has studied to show himself approved has known since a short time after his or her conversion. So it is that we, like the twenty-four elders, the four beasts and all the angels in Heaven willingly fall at the feet oif God in worship.
Revelation 19:5:
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
Revelation 19:6:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
One of the difficult to understand truths of scripture is illustrated here, there are more humans in Heaven than those that comprise the Bride of Christ. The best explanation of this picture here is found in Matthew 22:2-14 where the parable of the Wedding Feast is began with, ¨The kingdom of heaven is like unto,¨ and goes on to explain that there will be guests at the Wedding Feast in Heaven.
Revelation 19:7:
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Revelation 19:8:
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:9:
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
All that are found at this Heavenly event, the Bride, as well as the guests, will remain in Heaven throughout Eternity.
Revelation 19:10:
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 19:11:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Revelation 19:12:
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Revelation 19:13:
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Here we find the reason for one of my pet peeves. There is an element inside the Church Family today that is concentrating on teaching heresy. One of the, apparent, key points in the New Testament Theology is that God changed. In the Old Testament, these people teach that God was the God of wrath but that when He was born of Mary as a man child He took on a new nature and is no longer the God of wrath. Here we find, in the New Testament, that this is not the case!
Not only does God judge and send sinners to an Eternity in the Fiery Abyss but He also does what they themselves find impossible and makes war. We will never begin to grasp the truths of the New
Testament without the study of the Old because all that occurs in the New is referenced from the Old Testament.
Revelation 19:14:
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Revelation 19:15:
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Revelation 19:16:
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
I grew up knowing that life can be and often is tough. It is a lesson that every American needs to come to grips with as has the rest of the world. God/Jesus is not fooled by a soft word from a dictator with the atomic bomb at his disposal and when He leads the Bride, His Army, back here He will come as the concurring King of the worlod.
Revelation 19:17:
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Revelation 19:18:
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Revelation 19:19:
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Revelation 19:20:
And the beast 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.
Revelation 19:21:
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
We must take notice of one thing here, God does all of the fighting! Yes, the Army of God is there, following Him, but God, Himself, does all of the fighting.
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
Revelation 19:2:
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Revelation 19:3:
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Revelation 19:4
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
Father God has sent down His righteous judgment on the Great Whore, Babylon, and His judgment is forever. One thing we must all remember is that the Lost Man will know this truth for the first time but God has known the outcome since before time was created and the Christian that has studied to show himself approved has known since a short time after his or her conversion. So it is that we, like the twenty-four elders, the four beasts and all the angels in Heaven willingly fall at the feet oif God in worship.
Revelation 19:5:
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
Revelation 19:6:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
One of the difficult to understand truths of scripture is illustrated here, there are more humans in Heaven than those that comprise the Bride of Christ. The best explanation of this picture here is found in Matthew 22:2-14 where the parable of the Wedding Feast is began with, ¨The kingdom of heaven is like unto,¨ and goes on to explain that there will be guests at the Wedding Feast in Heaven.
Revelation 19:7:
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Revelation 19:8:
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:9:
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
All that are found at this Heavenly event, the Bride, as well as the guests, will remain in Heaven throughout Eternity.
Revelation 19:10:
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 19:11:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Revelation 19:12:
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Revelation 19:13:
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Here we find the reason for one of my pet peeves. There is an element inside the Church Family today that is concentrating on teaching heresy. One of the, apparent, key points in the New Testament Theology is that God changed. In the Old Testament, these people teach that God was the God of wrath but that when He was born of Mary as a man child He took on a new nature and is no longer the God of wrath. Here we find, in the New Testament, that this is not the case!
Not only does God judge and send sinners to an Eternity in the Fiery Abyss but He also does what they themselves find impossible and makes war. We will never begin to grasp the truths of the New
Testament without the study of the Old because all that occurs in the New is referenced from the Old Testament.
Revelation 19:14:
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Revelation 19:15:
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Revelation 19:16:
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
I grew up knowing that life can be and often is tough. It is a lesson that every American needs to come to grips with as has the rest of the world. God/Jesus is not fooled by a soft word from a dictator with the atomic bomb at his disposal and when He leads the Bride, His Army, back here He will come as the concurring King of the worlod.
Revelation 19:17:
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Revelation 19:18:
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Revelation 19:19:
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Revelation 19:20:
And the beast 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.
Revelation 19:21:
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
We must take notice of one thing here, God does all of the fighting! Yes, the Army of God is there, following Him, but God, Himself, does all of the fighting.
Revelation 18
Revelation 18:1:
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Revelation 18:2:
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Revelation 18:3:
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Another angel from heaven proclaims the fall of mystical Babylon. MHCC
In chapter 17 we saw the righteous Judgment of the Great Whore that ¨sitteth on many waters¨ a.k.a. Many peoples and nations and here we find mystical Babylon going down with her. There are many faces of this proclamation for possible examination and not many of them should be dogmatically taught. This being said we must, however, never be willing to compromise what the text proclaims and we do see, here, that everything evil has manifested itself through Babylon and the nations of the world have embraced it. We see that the merchants have become rich because of her and merchants do not wax rich without the people participating. All of the earth has bought into mystery Babylon.
Revelation 18:4:
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:5:
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Revelation 18:6:
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Revelation 18:7:
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Revelation 18:8:
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
A voice from heaven admonishes the people of God, lest they partake of her plagues. MHCC
When we look at these passages it must always be remembered that John is recording events that will occur in the natural realm as they are affected by the Spiritual realm. John is seeing one angel speak when an unseen voice interjects. This is God calling all that will hear Him, He states ¨my people,¨ proving, to my satisfaction that it is Father God. In verse 5 we see that God has not been slumbering, no, God knows everything.
Verse 6 requires prayer and care when considering the meaning of what is said. In verse 4 God is speaking to His people and the Rapture has already taken place, indicating that, without the presence of the Holy Spirit Some have Spiritually awakened and are seeking to follow God. And so it is that God say, ¨reward her even as she has rewarded you.¨ Remember that we learn that evil devils have filled Babylon with evil.
Many have misused Matt. 7:1 by drawing it out of context to shut the mouth of the Christian to keep themselves from being judged righteously but the context makes a lie of that as does this passage where the future Christ Follower is called upon to judge evil. In verse 7 they are even called to rise up in rebellion, it appears to me, to prepare mystery Babylon for the soon falling righteous judgment of God, described in verse 8.
Revelation 18:9:
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Revelation 18:10:
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Revelation 18:11:
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Revelation 18:12:
The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Revelation 18:13:
And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Revelation 18:14:
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Revelation 18:15:
The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Revelation 18:16:
And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Revelation 18:17:
For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Revelation 18:18:
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Revelation 18:19:
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
The lamentations over her. MHCC
What we have here is a list that needs close scrutiny for if we are careful to consider, a good deal of what we enjoy partaking in today is going to be lost here. In verse 13 we learn that even the souls of men have been traded or sold. And I will tell you that such is being done right now! In my years of work I worked with Christians, Lost Men and men that had sold their souls to Satan for certain kinds of success. One such young man was so indwelt, or possessed, that he just reeked of evil. He laughed at all the wrong things, lied, stole, swindled and did all manor of evil... he was solod out to mystery Babylon, Satan!
When God judges this world there will be a great change and I do not see many that will be willing to live without their ¨comforts¨ and live a simple but fulfilling life. No, it is very much as the Matthew Henry out line suggests, they will sorrow deeply.
Revelation 18:20:
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Revelation 18:21:
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Revelation 18:22
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Revelation 18:23:
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Revelation 18:24:
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
The church called upon to rejoice in her utter ruin. MHCC
This is, among men, a very controversial passage. My understanding, perhaps wrong, is that all the Christ Following Converts have been beheaded. In verse 21 we see a stone like a great millstone cast into the sea and in 22 we see the sound of the millstone, industry, will be heard no more. Then, in verse 23, it looks to me like like the Light and Power companies also fail. When we read the Genesis, the beginning, account, we were an agrarian people that had very, very little industry. It is my perception that the Earth will, under the reign of Jesus, by of that nature once more. We worship our autos, electric drills, TVs and even the computers, like the one I type this message on but I tell you we will have no need of the Internet then.
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Revelation 18:2:
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Revelation 18:3:
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Another angel from heaven proclaims the fall of mystical Babylon. MHCC
In chapter 17 we saw the righteous Judgment of the Great Whore that ¨sitteth on many waters¨ a.k.a. Many peoples and nations and here we find mystical Babylon going down with her. There are many faces of this proclamation for possible examination and not many of them should be dogmatically taught. This being said we must, however, never be willing to compromise what the text proclaims and we do see, here, that everything evil has manifested itself through Babylon and the nations of the world have embraced it. We see that the merchants have become rich because of her and merchants do not wax rich without the people participating. All of the earth has bought into mystery Babylon.
Revelation 18:4:
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:5:
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Revelation 18:6:
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Revelation 18:7:
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Revelation 18:8:
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
A voice from heaven admonishes the people of God, lest they partake of her plagues. MHCC
When we look at these passages it must always be remembered that John is recording events that will occur in the natural realm as they are affected by the Spiritual realm. John is seeing one angel speak when an unseen voice interjects. This is God calling all that will hear Him, He states ¨my people,¨ proving, to my satisfaction that it is Father God. In verse 5 we see that God has not been slumbering, no, God knows everything.
Verse 6 requires prayer and care when considering the meaning of what is said. In verse 4 God is speaking to His people and the Rapture has already taken place, indicating that, without the presence of the Holy Spirit Some have Spiritually awakened and are seeking to follow God. And so it is that God say, ¨reward her even as she has rewarded you.¨ Remember that we learn that evil devils have filled Babylon with evil.
Many have misused Matt. 7:1 by drawing it out of context to shut the mouth of the Christian to keep themselves from being judged righteously but the context makes a lie of that as does this passage where the future Christ Follower is called upon to judge evil. In verse 7 they are even called to rise up in rebellion, it appears to me, to prepare mystery Babylon for the soon falling righteous judgment of God, described in verse 8.
Revelation 18:9:
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Revelation 18:10:
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Revelation 18:11:
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Revelation 18:12:
The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Revelation 18:13:
And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Revelation 18:14:
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Revelation 18:15:
The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Revelation 18:16:
And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Revelation 18:17:
For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Revelation 18:18:
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Revelation 18:19:
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
The lamentations over her. MHCC
What we have here is a list that needs close scrutiny for if we are careful to consider, a good deal of what we enjoy partaking in today is going to be lost here. In verse 13 we learn that even the souls of men have been traded or sold. And I will tell you that such is being done right now! In my years of work I worked with Christians, Lost Men and men that had sold their souls to Satan for certain kinds of success. One such young man was so indwelt, or possessed, that he just reeked of evil. He laughed at all the wrong things, lied, stole, swindled and did all manor of evil... he was solod out to mystery Babylon, Satan!
When God judges this world there will be a great change and I do not see many that will be willing to live without their ¨comforts¨ and live a simple but fulfilling life. No, it is very much as the Matthew Henry out line suggests, they will sorrow deeply.
Revelation 18:20:
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Revelation 18:21:
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Revelation 18:22
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Revelation 18:23:
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Revelation 18:24:
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
The church called upon to rejoice in her utter ruin. MHCC
This is, among men, a very controversial passage. My understanding, perhaps wrong, is that all the Christ Following Converts have been beheaded. In verse 21 we see a stone like a great millstone cast into the sea and in 22 we see the sound of the millstone, industry, will be heard no more. Then, in verse 23, it looks to me like like the Light and Power companies also fail. When we read the Genesis, the beginning, account, we were an agrarian people that had very, very little industry. It is my perception that the Earth will, under the reign of Jesus, by of that nature once more. We worship our autos, electric drills, TVs and even the computers, like the one I type this message on but I tell you we will have no need of the Internet then.
Revelation 17
Revelation 17:1:
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Revelation 17:2:
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Revelation 17:3:
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
One of the single most important points to remember and yet the most difficult to grasp is the illustration given in scripture that there is no relevance to earth time in Heaven. (2Pet. 3:8, Psa. 90:4) For this reason we can nad should understand, in my opinion, that John saw these things happening, first hand. I know that it is difficult to support but it is my position that the Glorified Body that Jesus now has and we will have is not at all like the body we now have in composition.
If we can get past the natural (what we are familiar with) arguments and learn to accept the teaching of the Holy Spirit, on it's face value, it is easier to grasp what is told here. This angel did not, again, in my opinion, deliver a vision to John but rather, with the consent of God, allowed John the use of one of the normal functions of the Glorified Body and John, in this passage, is actually viewing the judgment of Babylon.
Revelation 17:4:
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Revelation 17:5:
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
So it is that here we find one of the passages, that without the Holy Spirit's input, can be extremely confusing. Remembering that we take the Bible in the Literal manor, here is a metaphor. We know from the archaeologists that Babylon is not some fable dreamed of but rather is a historical fact and if we are up on current affairs, we know that Saddam Hussein was busy rebuilding that old city again. Now we find it here in the pages of this prophecy, some 2,000 years old, represented by a whore. It is a matter worthy of prayer for understanding, meditation and study.
Revelation 17:6:
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Revelation 17:7:
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
It would seem certain that John was just as normal as the rest of us, he was impressed by what he saw. The angel, much like the Holy Spirit, in us, corrects and begins to instruct however.
Revelation 17:8:
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Revelation 17:9:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Revelation 17:10:
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Revelation of John 17:11:
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Revelation of John 17:12:
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Revelation of John 17:13:
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Revelation of John 17:14:
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
7-14 The beast on which the woman sat was, and is not, and yet is. It was a seat of idolatry and persecution, and is not; not in the ancient form, which was pagan: yet it is; it is truly the seat of idolatry and tyranny, though of another sort and form. It would deceive into stupid and blind submission all the inhabitants of the earth within its influence, except the remnant of the elect. This beast was seven heads, seven mountains, the seven hills on which Rome stands; and seven kings, seven sorts of government. Five were gone by when this prophecy was written; one was then in being; the other was yet to come. This beast, directed by the papacy, makes an eighth governor, and sets up idolatry again. It had ten horns, which are said to be ten kings who had as yet no kingdoms; they should not rise up till the Roman empire was broken; but should for a time be very zealous in her interest. Christ must reign till all enemies be put under his feet. The reason of the victory is, that he is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He has supreme dominion and power over all things; all the powers of earth and hell are subject to his control. His followers are called to this warfare, are fitted for it, and will be faithful in it.(MHCC)
Revelation of John 17:15:
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Revelation of John 17:16:
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Revelation of John 17:17:
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Revelation of John 17:18:
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
These last four verses give us the playbook to work from when dealing with this chapter so that we can take the meaning of this chapter and some others as literal. The Book of the Revelation is recorded in the same manor and style as the Bible, the books now called the Old Testament. The first thing we learn is that warters, plural, is often used to represent peoples of different nations and tongues or languages.
Here, we also learn that God does exercise His sovereign will to the point that even the lost and going to Hell will do His will. This is one of the points that the Five Point Calvinist loves to use to prove their erroneous theory of Predestination. Predestination is a fact because it is taught in the Revealed Word of God. The problem enters when men take the Bible out of context.
When we allow the scriptures to interpret themselves, the way Father God intended it becomes imperative to, as scripture teaches, understand that the wisdom of God is limitless. Then we must learn one very vital lesson from the Bible, there is no relationship with time in Heaven! (2Pet. 3:8 and Psa. 90:4) It is my opinion from the study I did, some years ago, that God is. To explain; As demonstrated by these scriptures and a book I read recently, ¨Heaven Is For Real,¨ God is, simultaneously in the present, the past and the future. So it is that God knows the future.
I´m not saying that God that God will not, has not nor that He will not force His will on the lost. Clearly, He has and from the prophetic readings, he will. But, before He created the universes, He knew the names in the Book of Life. From our reading, meditating and praying over the scriptures, we know that our God is not a cruel God, He is Just! It is the Calvinist´s view that God creates a few to go to Heaven and all the rest to spend eternity in Hell, NOT! If a man has read the scriptures, he or she knows that God loves all of His creation but He is also a Just God and will serve justice.
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Revelation 17:2:
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Revelation 17:3:
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
One of the single most important points to remember and yet the most difficult to grasp is the illustration given in scripture that there is no relevance to earth time in Heaven. (2Pet. 3:8, Psa. 90:4) For this reason we can nad should understand, in my opinion, that John saw these things happening, first hand. I know that it is difficult to support but it is my position that the Glorified Body that Jesus now has and we will have is not at all like the body we now have in composition.
If we can get past the natural (what we are familiar with) arguments and learn to accept the teaching of the Holy Spirit, on it's face value, it is easier to grasp what is told here. This angel did not, again, in my opinion, deliver a vision to John but rather, with the consent of God, allowed John the use of one of the normal functions of the Glorified Body and John, in this passage, is actually viewing the judgment of Babylon.
Revelation 17:4:
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Revelation 17:5:
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
So it is that here we find one of the passages, that without the Holy Spirit's input, can be extremely confusing. Remembering that we take the Bible in the Literal manor, here is a metaphor. We know from the archaeologists that Babylon is not some fable dreamed of but rather is a historical fact and if we are up on current affairs, we know that Saddam Hussein was busy rebuilding that old city again. Now we find it here in the pages of this prophecy, some 2,000 years old, represented by a whore. It is a matter worthy of prayer for understanding, meditation and study.
Revelation 17:6:
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Revelation 17:7:
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
It would seem certain that John was just as normal as the rest of us, he was impressed by what he saw. The angel, much like the Holy Spirit, in us, corrects and begins to instruct however.
Revelation 17:8:
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Revelation 17:9:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Revelation 17:10:
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Revelation of John 17:11:
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Revelation of John 17:12:
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Revelation of John 17:13:
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Revelation of John 17:14:
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
7-14 The beast on which the woman sat was, and is not, and yet is. It was a seat of idolatry and persecution, and is not; not in the ancient form, which was pagan: yet it is; it is truly the seat of idolatry and tyranny, though of another sort and form. It would deceive into stupid and blind submission all the inhabitants of the earth within its influence, except the remnant of the elect. This beast was seven heads, seven mountains, the seven hills on which Rome stands; and seven kings, seven sorts of government. Five were gone by when this prophecy was written; one was then in being; the other was yet to come. This beast, directed by the papacy, makes an eighth governor, and sets up idolatry again. It had ten horns, which are said to be ten kings who had as yet no kingdoms; they should not rise up till the Roman empire was broken; but should for a time be very zealous in her interest. Christ must reign till all enemies be put under his feet. The reason of the victory is, that he is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He has supreme dominion and power over all things; all the powers of earth and hell are subject to his control. His followers are called to this warfare, are fitted for it, and will be faithful in it.(MHCC)
Revelation of John 17:15:
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Revelation of John 17:16:
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Revelation of John 17:17:
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Revelation of John 17:18:
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
These last four verses give us the playbook to work from when dealing with this chapter so that we can take the meaning of this chapter and some others as literal. The Book of the Revelation is recorded in the same manor and style as the Bible, the books now called the Old Testament. The first thing we learn is that warters, plural, is often used to represent peoples of different nations and tongues or languages.
Here, we also learn that God does exercise His sovereign will to the point that even the lost and going to Hell will do His will. This is one of the points that the Five Point Calvinist loves to use to prove their erroneous theory of Predestination. Predestination is a fact because it is taught in the Revealed Word of God. The problem enters when men take the Bible out of context.
When we allow the scriptures to interpret themselves, the way Father God intended it becomes imperative to, as scripture teaches, understand that the wisdom of God is limitless. Then we must learn one very vital lesson from the Bible, there is no relationship with time in Heaven! (2Pet. 3:8 and Psa. 90:4) It is my opinion from the study I did, some years ago, that God is. To explain; As demonstrated by these scriptures and a book I read recently, ¨Heaven Is For Real,¨ God is, simultaneously in the present, the past and the future. So it is that God knows the future.
I´m not saying that God that God will not, has not nor that He will not force His will on the lost. Clearly, He has and from the prophetic readings, he will. But, before He created the universes, He knew the names in the Book of Life. From our reading, meditating and praying over the scriptures, we know that our God is not a cruel God, He is Just! It is the Calvinist´s view that God creates a few to go to Heaven and all the rest to spend eternity in Hell, NOT! If a man has read the scriptures, he or she knows that God loves all of His creation but He is also a Just God and will serve justice.
Revelation 16
Revelation 16:1:
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
We learned at the end of chapter 15 that the Temple of God, in Heaven, has been opened but no man can enter there because volumes of very intense some is pouring out. These seven angels have had seven bowls or vials of God´s wrath given to them by one of the four beasts (Arch Angels?) to be poured out on the remnant of the Earth. Now a Great Voice (God?) is sending them off to complete their charge!
Revelation 16:2:
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Revelation 16:3:
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Revelation 16:4:
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Revelation 16:5:
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Revelation 16:6:
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
How many lessons have we studied that verify and reinforce the teaching that as we live, so shall we die? These peoples have hatted, desired to and have killed the prophets God sent to them and then gloated for three days, as they lay dead in the street and the World celebrated their demise.
There is the Spiritual extension of this to cover all of time, here on the Earth and we must be careful not to center on just this, that we remember to study to learn to be obedient to our Master.
Revelation 16:7:
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Here I see, and some might argue with me, but I see one of the four Angels or possibly one of the foru and twenty speaking and being heard, form the outside.
Revelation 16:8:
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Revelation 16:9:
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
I am forever battered with the debate designed remark, ¨If God would do miracles, the way He did in Bible Times, I and many others would believe.¨ First off, we see that, even though Israel is, daily, in the presence of God, few believed, in the Wilderness. Then when God took on the form of Jesus, the man, and performed great miracles, few believed!
And today? God has not ceased to do His works! There are, litterbug, thousands of miracles happening, every day, and people respond... coincidence! And in these verses, God, who knows all, is teaching us that in the face of God´s wrath, men still refuse to believe the truth.
Revelation 16:10:
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Revelation 16:11:
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
I have heard this passage used more oft than can ever be justified to prove that Satan rules in Hell and this is a popular belief that is found, even, in the churches on Sunday morning. The beast is not Satan, in Rev. 13:2 we learned that that old dragon, Satan, gave the beast his power, making the beast a servant of Satan.
The beast will rule here on the earth for a very short spell. What we are taught here is that God´s wrath will be poured out on the earth, his seat, and as men refuse to repent of their sins they will so unsure of their lives that they will bite their tongues to feel the pain and know they have not died. You see, they know the truth, at least to a degree, and still, they refuse to repent.
Revelation 16:12:
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
There seem to be a good many different ways to look at this passage but knowing what I do about highways built by China, to the east, Bible prophesy and the size of the Chinese Army, what I see here is the Communist Army of China moving toward the valley of the Battle of Armageddon.
Revelation 16:13:
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14:
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
An understanding of Biblical Imagery and Metaphor are essential to get any grasp or hold at all on the passages now. We must pay strict attention to the context here or others, not can but, will delude us. Frogs did not, and I say once more, did not, come out of their mouths! Verse 14 even stresses the point that hey are Spirits!
This is a very dangerous passage and must be dealt with prayerfully and with much thought and consideration... with prayerful meditation!
Revelation 16:15:
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
It is always important to pay attention! In this case, God is making a point that is easily over looked in the context of the passage. As I have repeatedly stated in past lessons, there will be people saved during the Tribulation Period and I see this verse as singled out and yet applicable to the man and woman of that period and of this! God is teaching us to pay attention!
Revelation 16:16:
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Revelation 16:17:
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Revelation 16:18:
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
It is generally taught, and I agree, that this great city is just as is expressed, it is Babylon. I have not had the good fortune to see earth history from the perspective of Heaven, as John did, and I cannot stand still and teach anyone that this is the Babylon Saddam Hussein was busy rebuilding or if it is the spiritual interpretation so many are fond of today, it might be both! In any case, the people have learned to hate God so much and to depend completely on Satan and when the infra-structure he has established collapses it will leave such a void, or rather make them aware of the void that exists without God.
I have, from childhood been heard to remark, when it thunders, that God is speaking and in Houston, in the fifties, it was normal to see Ball Lightening and Lightening Displays that would last thirty minutes and on to what seemed an hour and my mom would scream for me to stand up and get into the house before God struck me dead. I was not fearful, I was impressed. My mother´s reaction is much closer to normal than mine and when God unleashes all His power the people will tremble.
And that much heralded and much loved city is split, by our God, into three pieces!
Revelation 16:19:
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Revelation 16:20:
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Revelation 16:21:
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
This is a terrible end to the world the Lost Man has come to cherish in this short span of time, they will be reeling and looking for any Christ Believer to abuse in any manor their minds will conjure. The strange thing is, they will give the death they desire to the Christian they despise.
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
We learned at the end of chapter 15 that the Temple of God, in Heaven, has been opened but no man can enter there because volumes of very intense some is pouring out. These seven angels have had seven bowls or vials of God´s wrath given to them by one of the four beasts (Arch Angels?) to be poured out on the remnant of the Earth. Now a Great Voice (God?) is sending them off to complete their charge!
Revelation 16:2:
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Revelation 16:3:
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Revelation 16:4:
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Revelation 16:5:
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Revelation 16:6:
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
How many lessons have we studied that verify and reinforce the teaching that as we live, so shall we die? These peoples have hatted, desired to and have killed the prophets God sent to them and then gloated for three days, as they lay dead in the street and the World celebrated their demise.
There is the Spiritual extension of this to cover all of time, here on the Earth and we must be careful not to center on just this, that we remember to study to learn to be obedient to our Master.
Revelation 16:7:
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Here I see, and some might argue with me, but I see one of the four Angels or possibly one of the foru and twenty speaking and being heard, form the outside.
Revelation 16:8:
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Revelation 16:9:
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
I am forever battered with the debate designed remark, ¨If God would do miracles, the way He did in Bible Times, I and many others would believe.¨ First off, we see that, even though Israel is, daily, in the presence of God, few believed, in the Wilderness. Then when God took on the form of Jesus, the man, and performed great miracles, few believed!
And today? God has not ceased to do His works! There are, litterbug, thousands of miracles happening, every day, and people respond... coincidence! And in these verses, God, who knows all, is teaching us that in the face of God´s wrath, men still refuse to believe the truth.
Revelation 16:10:
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Revelation 16:11:
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
I have heard this passage used more oft than can ever be justified to prove that Satan rules in Hell and this is a popular belief that is found, even, in the churches on Sunday morning. The beast is not Satan, in Rev. 13:2 we learned that that old dragon, Satan, gave the beast his power, making the beast a servant of Satan.
The beast will rule here on the earth for a very short spell. What we are taught here is that God´s wrath will be poured out on the earth, his seat, and as men refuse to repent of their sins they will so unsure of their lives that they will bite their tongues to feel the pain and know they have not died. You see, they know the truth, at least to a degree, and still, they refuse to repent.
Revelation 16:12:
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
There seem to be a good many different ways to look at this passage but knowing what I do about highways built by China, to the east, Bible prophesy and the size of the Chinese Army, what I see here is the Communist Army of China moving toward the valley of the Battle of Armageddon.
Revelation 16:13:
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14:
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
An understanding of Biblical Imagery and Metaphor are essential to get any grasp or hold at all on the passages now. We must pay strict attention to the context here or others, not can but, will delude us. Frogs did not, and I say once more, did not, come out of their mouths! Verse 14 even stresses the point that hey are Spirits!
This is a very dangerous passage and must be dealt with prayerfully and with much thought and consideration... with prayerful meditation!
Revelation 16:15:
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
It is always important to pay attention! In this case, God is making a point that is easily over looked in the context of the passage. As I have repeatedly stated in past lessons, there will be people saved during the Tribulation Period and I see this verse as singled out and yet applicable to the man and woman of that period and of this! God is teaching us to pay attention!
Revelation 16:16:
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Revelation 16:17:
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Revelation 16:18:
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
It is generally taught, and I agree, that this great city is just as is expressed, it is Babylon. I have not had the good fortune to see earth history from the perspective of Heaven, as John did, and I cannot stand still and teach anyone that this is the Babylon Saddam Hussein was busy rebuilding or if it is the spiritual interpretation so many are fond of today, it might be both! In any case, the people have learned to hate God so much and to depend completely on Satan and when the infra-structure he has established collapses it will leave such a void, or rather make them aware of the void that exists without God.
I have, from childhood been heard to remark, when it thunders, that God is speaking and in Houston, in the fifties, it was normal to see Ball Lightening and Lightening Displays that would last thirty minutes and on to what seemed an hour and my mom would scream for me to stand up and get into the house before God struck me dead. I was not fearful, I was impressed. My mother´s reaction is much closer to normal than mine and when God unleashes all His power the people will tremble.
And that much heralded and much loved city is split, by our God, into three pieces!
Revelation 16:19:
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Revelation 16:20:
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Revelation 16:21:
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
This is a terrible end to the world the Lost Man has come to cherish in this short span of time, they will be reeling and looking for any Christ Believer to abuse in any manor their minds will conjure. The strange thing is, they will give the death they desire to the Christian they despise.
Revelation 15
Revelation 15:1:
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God.
These chapters remind us that the Book of The Revelation of Jesus, the Christ, are, likely, not recorded chronologically and that we must view them in the same manor that is required for us to be saved, by faith! In fourteen we saw the Harvest and the sorting of the Wheat and the Tares and up to this point we have seen three and a half years of false peace, the kind of peace a man or, in this case, a False Christ can generate and in the previous fourteen chapters we have seen some of the wrath of God mixed in and it can be confusing without the peace of the Holy Spirit and His understanding. But we take heart here for it is announced that these seven Messenger/Servants of God hold the end of Godś wrath... if the world will just be still and seek after God!
15:2: And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.
15:3: And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages.
It is a Human Tendency to lump these first three verses with the next three or four before commenting but I find such a strong emphases that is worthy of note here. Jesus, when teaching us to pray taught us to always praise and to glorify God, the Father. And then again we are instructed to pray always and without ceasing. Here we have the victorious in the Christ and they are on their cloud recliners playing their harps to themselves...NOT!
No, they are singing, glorifying and praising God... for all eternity. For the great majority, this is next to impossible to conceive because we tend to reference everything to our Earthly Journey, and nothing can be further from correct! In 1Cor. 15:52 we are instructed that in an instant (my note: at the Rapture) we will be changed and add that to the truth taught by Jesus in the Gospels that there will be neither male nor female in Heaven and our entire perspective is changed!
We will no longer lust for our wives or our husbands because we are not sexual beings any longer and we will be eager to praise our LORD! We, absolutely, will not be the same people!
15:4:Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.
Holy! This is a word so often not understood and therefore misapplied. It is so misunderstood that if the Watch Tower people had began to grasp it, their entire mission to translate the New World Translation Bible would have taken an entirely different course. In the early versions of this abomination, on a fly-leaf they explained how they had interpreted the text. They assigned ¨A¨ meaning to each Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek word and from these assignments the text arose!
The word Holy in it´s context here sets God apart from all else. It denotes His perfection and absolute absence of fault. Now, in First Peter 1:16 we learn that I am holy. Notice that I use the lower case h in reference to myself! I am not Holy as is God,rather than being perfect I am separated from the people around me for God´s purposes. A single definition can not be used to interpret the word holy! I have often been called foolish by the young of today because of my insistence that the entire composition of the Bible is of one context but it is and we will never understand the first thing about the scriptures without learning to discern composition.
15:5:And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
15:6:and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed with precious stone, pure and bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles.
This message and all of these events come right out from Heaven.
15:7:And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
15:8:And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.
It has long been understood by the men that have taken the study of scripture seriously that it is a terrible thing to find one´s self in the hand of the Wrathful God and these last two verses are a great illustration of that truth.
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God.
These chapters remind us that the Book of The Revelation of Jesus, the Christ, are, likely, not recorded chronologically and that we must view them in the same manor that is required for us to be saved, by faith! In fourteen we saw the Harvest and the sorting of the Wheat and the Tares and up to this point we have seen three and a half years of false peace, the kind of peace a man or, in this case, a False Christ can generate and in the previous fourteen chapters we have seen some of the wrath of God mixed in and it can be confusing without the peace of the Holy Spirit and His understanding. But we take heart here for it is announced that these seven Messenger/Servants of God hold the end of Godś wrath... if the world will just be still and seek after God!
15:2: And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.
15:3: And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages.
It is a Human Tendency to lump these first three verses with the next three or four before commenting but I find such a strong emphases that is worthy of note here. Jesus, when teaching us to pray taught us to always praise and to glorify God, the Father. And then again we are instructed to pray always and without ceasing. Here we have the victorious in the Christ and they are on their cloud recliners playing their harps to themselves...NOT!
No, they are singing, glorifying and praising God... for all eternity. For the great majority, this is next to impossible to conceive because we tend to reference everything to our Earthly Journey, and nothing can be further from correct! In 1Cor. 15:52 we are instructed that in an instant (my note: at the Rapture) we will be changed and add that to the truth taught by Jesus in the Gospels that there will be neither male nor female in Heaven and our entire perspective is changed!
We will no longer lust for our wives or our husbands because we are not sexual beings any longer and we will be eager to praise our LORD! We, absolutely, will not be the same people!
15:4:Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.
Holy! This is a word so often not understood and therefore misapplied. It is so misunderstood that if the Watch Tower people had began to grasp it, their entire mission to translate the New World Translation Bible would have taken an entirely different course. In the early versions of this abomination, on a fly-leaf they explained how they had interpreted the text. They assigned ¨A¨ meaning to each Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek word and from these assignments the text arose!
The word Holy in it´s context here sets God apart from all else. It denotes His perfection and absolute absence of fault. Now, in First Peter 1:16 we learn that I am holy. Notice that I use the lower case h in reference to myself! I am not Holy as is God,rather than being perfect I am separated from the people around me for God´s purposes. A single definition can not be used to interpret the word holy! I have often been called foolish by the young of today because of my insistence that the entire composition of the Bible is of one context but it is and we will never understand the first thing about the scriptures without learning to discern composition.
15:5:And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
15:6:and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed with precious stone, pure and bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles.
This message and all of these events come right out from Heaven.
15:7:And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
15:8:And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.
It has long been understood by the men that have taken the study of scripture seriously that it is a terrible thing to find one´s self in the hand of the Wrathful God and these last two verses are a great illustration of that truth.
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