PT-1 Because the Marriage of the Lamb is Completed (Rev. 19:7-10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/19/2015 10:45 AM

My Worship Time                 Focus:  PT-1 Because the Marriage of the Lamb is Completed

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 19:7-10

            Message of the verses:  “7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, "Write, ’Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”

            Let me say first that this section will take longer to go over than what we have been looking at, and what we have been looking at in these last few SD’s is why heaven was rejoicing, and why were they shouting out all of the Hallelujahs we have read in this chapter so far.  The last rejoicing we see in this section is because the marriage supper of the Lamb will be completed.  On November 4, 2005 I wrote the following on verses 7-8 and I want us to look at what I wrote then:  “The question that could be asked of verse seven is how has the bride made herself ready?  I think part of the answer is found in verse eight where John states what it is that the bride will be wearing and that is fine linen, for fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 

            “After a person is born again they still continue to sin and do things wrong by not keeping the commandments of the Lord.  They also do things wrong by not doing the works that God has prepared for them to do for one reason or another.  When the rapture of the Church takes place all believers from the Church age will go before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged.  At this judgment believers will not be judged for sins committed because Christ was judged for all of their sins at the cross, however believers will be judged on what they did for the cause of Christ while they were in the body and some will receive a reward of gold, silver, or precious stones, while others will receive wood, hay or stubble.  All of those who are present have been saved, but some will be without rewards.  The rewards will be thrown at the feet of Christ, for He truly is the reason for anyone to receive a reward.  Ephesians 5:27 states, “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”  Dr. Wiersbe states that after the judgment seat of Christ the bride will not have any spots or wrinkles, and will then be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the bridegroom.”

            As we begin this portion of this SD we want to talk about marriage, for after all when we once again go back to the book of Genesis we will see the first wedding that God ordained and after making Adam and Eve we see that God’s design for marriage is one man and one woman forever.  However we know that sin came in and although this did not change God’s design for marriage sin caused marriage to be changed by man in ways that God did not design it to be. 

            Now as we look at marriage John MacArthur writes that “A marriage was the single greatest celebration and social event of the biblical world.  Wedding preparations and celebrations in ancient times were even more elaborate and involved than those of today and also lasted longer.  They consisted of three distinct stages.  First was the betrothal, or engagement.  This was an arrangement by both sets of parents contracting the marriage of their children.  It was legally binding and could only be broken by a divorce (cf. Matt. 1:18-19).  A betrothal contract was often signed long before the children reached the marriageable age of thirteen or fourteen.  Since a marriage represented the union of two families, it was natural for the parents to be involved.  And there were years of preparation for the time of marriage, as the boy prepared for his bride.  The second stage of a wedding was the presentation, a time of festivities just before the actual ceremony.  Those festive could last up to a week or more, depending on the economic and social status of the bride and groom.  The third and most significant stage of a wedding was the actual ceremony, during which the vows were exchanged.  At the end of the presentation festivities, the groom and his attendants would go to the bride’s house and take her and her bridesmaids to the ceremony.  After the ceremony would come a final meal, followed by the consummation of the marriage.”  I realize that this was a rather long quote, but what we will see in the way marriages were conducted during Biblical times goes along with what we will be looking at in this section of Scripture, at least we need to understand it before we can understand what John is writing about in these four verses. 

            I wish to make one more point before we stop for today and that point is that the Bible uses the familiar imagery of a wedding to picture our Lord’s relationship with His church.  Let us look at 2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”  We can see from this verse that Paul states that he has betrothed the Corinthian believers to One Husband that is of course Jesus Christ.  Some of the comments that I made on my SD from November 4, 2005 speak of this kind of thing as I also quoted passages from the book of Ephesians in that SD which I want to look at again here:  Ephesians 5:25-27 says “25  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26  so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27  that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”  John MacArthur writes “That presentation will take place at the Rapture.  Speaking of both the present time of preparation, as He makes a home for His bride and the moment of presentation, as He comes for her, Jesus said, ‘In My Fathers’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also’ (John 14:2-3).”  Now we have already looked at the imagery of an ancient wedding and so the Rapture marks the time when the Bridegroom who is the Lord Jesus Christ will take the bride to the Father’s house, which of course is in heaven.  We believe as stated in the earlier SD that once the Rapture takes place and the church is taken to heaven that the judgment seat of Christ will take place and then at the end of the tribulation period Christ will bring His bride back to planet earth and the celebration will take place on earth during the Millennial Kingdom age.  We said that some of these weddings took a long time well this choosing of the bride took place in eternity past and then Christ came to pay for the sins of the bride and went back to heaven to prepare a place for His bride and will then return to take His bride to the Father’s place in heaven and will then bring the bride back to celebrate for a thousand years on earth.  Talk about patience for the bride, we have to be patience.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at how God set up marriages I can see where I am in this process at this point and that is waiting until the Lord comes for His church and doing His bidding while here on earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Dot the work of the Lord while I am waiting for Him to return.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus Christ” (Matthew 11:28).

Today’s Bible question:  “Goliath was from what country?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/19/2015 11:34 AM

 

Because God is in Control (Rev. 19:4-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/18/2015 8:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:   Because God is in Control

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 19:4-6

            Message of the verses:  4  And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." 6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

            In this section we see “hallelujah’s” ringing out from the twenty-four elders and also from the four living creatures in agreement with the angelic chorus.  We have written on who we believe the twenty-four elders in an earlier SD, but for review we believe that they are members of the church and the four living beings are high ranking order of angels.  These two groups have worship the Lord throughout the book of Revelation.  The phrase “Amen, Hallelujah” comes from Psalm 106:48 “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the LORD!”  John MacArthur writes that this “indicates their solemn agreement (cf. the use of ‘Amen,’ ‘so let it be,’ in 5:14; 7:12) which the heavenly rejoicing over Babylon’s downfall.”

            We also hear a voice that comes from the throne but is not identified.  MacArthur feels that this is likely an angel, since he refers to God s our God.  He goes on to write that “The voice authoritatively calls another group to join in anthem of praise, saying, ‘Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.’”  When we look at the term ‘bond-servants” we see that this is speaking of the redeemed believers who are in heaven, which include the raptured saints.

            We see John using the simile like a number of times in this section which shows that he is searching to find the words to describe what he sees in this great vision of praise and adoration to the Lord for which this vision speaks of, that is this vision shows all these beings praising the Lord because He is in control.  We see that when John writes “For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”  What a wonderful thing to praise the Lord for, especially during times of great trouble which the world has surely seen during this seven year period we call the tribulation.  John MacArthur writes “This use of Hallelujah is reminiscent of Psalms 146-150, which repeatedly offer praise for God’s sovereign rule and eternal fellowship with the redeemed.  The title ‘Almighty’ is used nine times in Revelation (v. 15; 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 21:2).”  Here is a small section from the book of Psalms mentioned here as we look at the short and last Psalm “1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. 2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 3 Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. 4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”  Verse six of Psalm 150 is how the book of Psalms ends.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to confess that I should be giving praise to the Lord much more that what I do, as I should do it throughout the day, especially for the fact that God is in control, even when things seem to get out of control, He is in control and this is worth praising Him for through different times of the day.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Think more about praising the Lord today.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Thomas” (John 20:24-29).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said’ Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest’?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/18/2015 9:28 AM

Introduction to Rev. 14:14-20 (Rev. 14:14-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2015 8:39 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  Introduction to Rev. 14:14-20

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Rev. 14:14-20

                 Message of the verses:  “14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18  Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”

                 As we look at these verses we will see that they are about the judgment at the end of the Tribulation period, a judgment that is seen in different parts of the Bible, some of them we will look at today.  First let us compare the first coming of Jesus Christ to the earth with the second coming of Him to the earth at the end of the Tribulation period.  First we can look at a section from the book of Philippians, a section that speaks of the humiliation of our Savior when He first came to planet earth:  “6 Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  (Phil. 2:6-8)

                 John MacArthur summarizes the two appearances of Jesus Christ to planet earth:  “Jesus came the first time as a servant; He will return as the sovereign King.  In His first coming, He came in humility; in His second coming, He will come in majesty and splendor.  The first time He came to earth, ‘the Son of Man [came] to seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10); when He returns, to will be to ‘judge the living and the dead’ (2 Tim. 4:1).  Jesus came the first time as the sower; He will come again as the reaper.”  As we begin to study these verses from the book of Revelation we could say that the theme of them is reaping, reaping the lost who, although they have had time to repent, they have not and now judgment is coming to them.  We can even say that what we are looking at in this passage can be defined as “The Day of the Lord,” and this is not the only place where this is spoken of in the Word of God.

                 Let us take a look at some of the verses in the Word of God that speak of this time of judgment beginning with what John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:7b “"You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  We can see here that John knew of the judgment that would come upon the earth.  Next we can look at some of the things that Jesus said about this coming judgment:  Matthew 10:15 “"Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.’”  Matthew 11:22 and 24 “22 “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.”  “24  "Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you."”  Matthew 12:36 and 41-42 “36  "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”  “41 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42  "The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”  John 5:28-29 “28  "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”  Romans 1:18 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” and Romans 2:5-6 “5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”  2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”  Hebrews 10:26-27 “26  For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27  but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.”  Next we will look at 2 Peter 2:9 and also 3:7 “9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,”  “7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

                 Now we will look at some OT verses that speak of this judgment:  Isaiah 13:11-13 “light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.”  Next Isaiah 24:21-23 “21 So it will happen in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.”

                 John MacArthur writes that “Two Old Testament passages present striking parallels with Revelation 14.  Isaiah 63:1-6 records a fascinating soliloquy of Messiah as He comes to execute the bloody final judgment of the unbelieving world:  ‘1 Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 2 Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? 3 “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. 4 “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. 5 "I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. 6  "I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

                 “This passage, like Revelation 14:19-20, uses the metaphor of trampling grapes in a winepress to depict the devastation of God’s final judgment.”

                 “The prophet Joel recorded the devastation caused in Israel by drought, fire, and a massive invasion of locusts (Joel 1:1-2:11).   Then the prophet used those temporal judgments to warn of even more devastating judgment of the Day of the Lord (2:18-3:21).  In Joel 3:12-13 that judgment is described using the same imagery found in Revelation 14:  ‘12 Let the nations be aroused And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.’”

                 Next we want to look at a parable that the Lord gave in the book of Matthew about the wheat and the tares.  It is found in Matthew chapter 13 and after the parallel is given the disciples asked the Lord to explain it and He said the following in Matthew 13:39-42 “39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41  "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42  and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

                 John MacArthur concludes his introductory commentary with the following paragraph which gives us the outline we will follow as we conclude this 14^th chapter of the book of Revelation, a chapter we began to look at on the 5^th of July.  “This passage pictures the final harvest of divine wrath in two agricultural motifs:  the grain harvest (vv. 14-16) and the grape harvest (vv. 17-20), raising the question as to why John recorded two visions of the same event.  There are many depictions of this event by the prophets, including those mentioned above, so it is not unusual for John to record two visions of it.  But there is also a specific situation at this point in the book of Revelation that suggests a purpose behind the repetition.  As the Tribulation nears its climax, two main aspects of God’s eschatological wrath remain to be poured out on the sinful world.  The first aspect involves the seven bowl judgments 16:1-21), a rapid-fire sequence of frightening and deadly worldwide judgments that will destroy the final Babylon—the Antichrist’s empire.  The second aspect in the Battle of Armageddon, at which point Jesus Christ returns to judge and destroy His enemies (19:11-21).”

                 Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can’t help but look again at a verse from the book of Second Peter who after writing that there will come a day when the entire universe will be burned up with fire he writes “11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To live that way that Peter describes.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Italy” (Acts 27:6).

Today’s Bible question:  “What woman and her family were saved when Jericho was destroyed?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/25/2015 10:08 AM

                

Because Rebellion is Ended (Rev. 19:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/17/2015 9:06 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  Because Rebellion is Ended

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 19:3

            Message of the verses:  “3 And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER."”

            We see the second time that the word Hallelujah is used in chapter 19 and the reason is for the aftermath of the destruction of Babylon.  When we were studying the 17^th and 18^th chapter we saw the destruction of both the religious and economical Babylon, and now we see in this verse from chapter nineteen the aftermath of what happened to Babylon, that is that “Her smoke rises up forever and ever.”  What exactly does that mean?  John MacArthur tells us that this speaks of the permanence of her destruction.  We can look at a couple of verses in the OT that are similar in the permanence of the destruction of both Sodom and Gomorrah and also Edom.  “27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28  and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace (Genesis 29:27-28).”  “9  Its streams will be turned into pitch, And its loose earth into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch. 10 It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever and ever (Isa. 34:9-10).” These two verses speak of Edom’s destruction.  John MacArthur writes “The flames and smoke will eventually die out, but the judgment is eternal on the souls of the sinners destroyed.  And hell is a place ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ (Mark. 9:48), where the damned ‘will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever’ (14:10-11).”

            I have one more paragraph to quote from John MacArthur and then I want to also quote what I wrote in 2005.  “The destruction of the last and most powerful empire in human history marks the end of man’s day.  The rebellion that began long ago in the Garden of Eden is finally ended (apart from the futile, short-lived revolt at the end of the Millennium; 20:7-10).  There will be no more false religion, worldly philosophy, injustice, unrighteousness; all the sorry results of human depravity will be vanquished.”

            “As stated in a previous SD there are two types of Babylon’s, one is the religious Babylon, which Antichrist destroyed when he set up the worship of him, and the other Babylon is the satanic economic-political system which God destroyed as recorded in chapter 18.  The words in verse 1 “after these things” refers to the destruction of this political Babylon.  Even though religious Babylon has been referred to as a harlot it seems that this time it is referring to the political Babylon, or it may be referring to both.  At any rate these is a celebration in heaven over this event, and it is important to note that these beings are celebrating because of the attributes of God, and one of them is that His judgments are righteous, as Psalm 19:9b describes them, “The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.”

            Verse 2 speaks of God avenging the blood of His Bond-servants on this great harlot.  The word translated avenged has this meaning:  “to protect, defend, one person from another.”  God does take care of His own and even though He most always does not pay His bills at the end of the week, He will pay them at the correct time set up by Him.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to better understand what the Lord will be doing in the future to stop the sin problem on earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Carnal”  (1 Corinthians 3:1).

Today’s Bible question: “Who refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw Him?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/17/2015 10:00 AM

 

           

Because Justice is Meted Out (Rev. 19:2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/16/2015 8:08 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  Because Justice is Meted Out

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  Revelation 19:2

            Message of the verse:  “2  BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER."”

“because His judgments are true and righteous,  because He has judged the notorious prostitute  who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;  and He has avenged the blood of His servants that was on her hands (HSCB).”

            I don’t think that I have ever heard of the word meted and so I looked it up and this is what I found “dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment.”

 

            Let us compare this verse with Revelation 16:7 “And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."”  What we see here is that heaven is rejoicing because God’s judgments are true and righteous, and this is evidenced by the destruction of wicked, deserving Babylon. 

 

            I think that people who are true believers have always longed for justice to be served and look forward to a coming day when the Lord will rule in righteousness which will happen during the millennial kingdom.  Isaiah looked forward to this day as seen in Isaiah 9:6-7 “6  For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

           

            Jeremiah 23:5 “"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.”

 

            In an earlier verse we looked at in Revelation (6:10) we read the following as a cry from the martyrs:  “and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"”

 

            John MacArthur writes “God’s people hate sin because it mocks God and love righteousness because it exalts Him.  They long for world characterized by holiness and justice.  But that will only happen when Christ establishes His righteous kingdom and rules with a rod of iron (cf. v.15; 2:27; 12:5; Ps. 2:9).”

 

            We have already studied how the Lord judged the great harlot in chapters 17 and 18, and this set the stage for establishing the kingdom of the Lord which will soon take place after that event as we are learning in chapter 19.  Again it is good to remember that when we study the book of Revelation we are studying about Jesus Christ and we also must remember that in eternity past that God the Father promised a kingdom for His Son and when He came the first time He died for the sins of those who would participate in His kingdom, and when He comes again as we will see later on in chapter 19 He will set up His kingdom.  We have been stating throughout this study of Revelation that we find in this book that God is taking back control of planet earth and will give it to His Son to rule over and that since sin entered the world in Genesis chapter three that Satan has been ruler of the world system that is thriving on planet earth at this time.  Once Babylon, the system of Babylon is destroyed this as stated sets the stage for the return of Jesus Christ to planet earth.

 

            John MacArthur writes “A further reason for Babylon’s judgment was her maltreatment of God’s people (cf. 18:24).  As a result, ‘He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.’  That God will exact vengeance for His people is clearly taught in Scripture.  Deuteronomy 23:42-43 reads:  “42  ’I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.’ 43  "Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people."””

 

            Another verse that we studied when we looked at Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians fits in here:  “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

 

            The Bible has much to say about God’s justice and as we look at this second verse in chapter nineteen we too can praise the Lord for the justice that He will bring upon those who disobey Him, especially what we have seen in chapters 17-18 of Revelation

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I think about what we call the “Lord’s Prayer” it makes me think of a part that says “thy kingdom come” and when I pray for that I am actually praying that God will bring justice to those who are preventing this to happen, but in His time will bring it about.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember what Paul wrote in Ro 12:19  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.”

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “600,000” (Exodus 12:37).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “The Corinthians, being babes in Christ, were also what?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/16/2015 8:45 AM

 

Because Full Salvation Has Come (Rev. 19:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/15/2015 10:09 AM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  Because Full Salvation Has Come

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 19:1

            Message of the verses:  “1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.”

            A short reminder that we are looking at the first of five reasons for heaven’s joy has become evident and the first on is seen with the first “hallelujah” in chapter 19.

            First we want to look at a familiar phrase “After these things,” as this has been in 4:1; 7:9; 15:5; 18:1 also and this marks the beginning of a new vision that John is now seeing.  John MacArthur writes that “This new vision takes place after the destruction of Babylon (chapts. 17-18) and before the triumphant return of Jesus Christ (19:11-21) to establish the Millennial Kingdom (20:1-10).  As the loud laments over Babylon’s destruction fade into silence, loud hallelujah’s ring out in heaven.”

            When we first began our study in the book of Revelation I mentioned that the words like and as are used many times in the book.  I believe the reason that these similes are used so often is that John is seeing things that he has a difficult time describing and thus uses familiar things that he knows to help his readers understand what he is seeing.  We see an example in verse one when John writes “I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven.”  MacArthur writes “The text does not identify those whose composite voices make up the ‘loud voice’ John heard, but they are likely angels.  This ‘great multitude’ does not appear to include the redeemed saints, since they are encouraged to join in the praise later (vv. 5-8).  The uncounted millions of holy angels make up a majestic, awe-inspiriting choir.”

            Now we come to the word “hallelujah” in this verse which is an exclamation of praise to God.  MacArthur explains “The Greek word Allelouia is a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase comprised of the verb halal (‘to praise’) and the noun Yah (‘God’).  It appears only in this chapter in the New Testament (cf. vv. 3:3-4, 6).  The Hebrew phrase first appears in Psalm 104:35, ‘Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more.  Bless the Lord, O my soul.  Praise the Lord!’  In its first Old Testament appearance, as in its first New Testament appearance, ‘Hallelujah’ expresses praise for God’s judgment on the wicked oppressors of His people.  The Hebrew phrase is associated with God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt in Psalms 113-18, which are know collectively as the Egyptian Hallel.  It is a word often associated with both judgment of the ungodly and the salvation of God’s people.”

            In our verse today this hallelujah is specifically used because of salvation and this salvation has come for God’s people, and with it we see the glory and power of our God to which it belongs.  “"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all (1 Chronicles 29:11).”  MacArthur writes “The word salvation does not focus on justification or sanctification, but celebrates the final aspect of salvation history, the glorification of the saints in the kingdom of Christ.  The imminent coming of Jesus Christ prompts this praise as the angels anticipate the glory of His kingdom.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It seems that in the books that I am reading and the sermons that I have listened to lately that they focus in on praising the Lord and this theme continues today.  In the book “Before Amen” that I am reading Max Lucado goes through the alphabet giving praise to the Lord for each letter.  In Psalm 119 the writer does something similar as he writes about the Law of the Lord and uses the Hebrew alphabet in a series of 13 verses each for each letter do this.  I am told that there are only three verses in all of the 176 verses of Psalm 119 that do not have a reference to the Word of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to experience peace as we get ready for our company.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Daniel.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many men were in the group when the Israelites left Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/15/2015 10:45 AM 

           

PT-2 of Introduction to Rev. 19:1-10 (Rev. 19:1-10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/14/2015 10:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:   PT-2 of Introduction to Rev. 19:1-10

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  Revelation 19:1-10

            Message of the verses:  “1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2  BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER." 3 And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER." 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"

    5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." 6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9  Then he said to me, "Write, ’Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”

            John MacArthur writes “As that long-awaited time approaches, the scene in Revelation shifts from earth, where it has been since chapter 6, to heaven.  The intervening chapters have detailed God’s cataclysmic explosion of judgmental fury on the sinful world.  That fury began to be poured out when the Lord Jesus Christ, the rightful heir to the universe, received the title deed to the earth from His Father (5:1-14).  As He unrolled that scroll and broke its seven seals, terrifying judgments struck the earth.  The seal judgments were followed by the equally devastating trumpet and bowl judgments.”  The long awaited time of having the enemies of God defeated is what MacArthur is writing about here and because they are defeated heaven sends out its hallelujahs.

            As stated we have learned that the target of God’s wrath was Antichrist’s worldwide religious, political, and economic empire and also the capital city of Babylon a symbol of what this evil empire represents.  We have mentioned also that this system began back in Genesis chapters 10-11 a time after the flood had been used to judge the world the first time, and now even after that horrible judgment mankind goes back to doing the same things of rejecting God and trying to bring about their own worship system.

            MacArthur continues “Some might think heaven’s rejoicing over Babylon’s destruction to be insensitive and uncaring.  But that shortsighted view ignores the reality that those sinners will have had the greatest opportunity to repent of any people who have ever lived.  They will have experienced the unprecedented disasters of the Tribulation, which they will acknowledge to be God’s judgments (6:17).  They will also have heard the most powerful preaching of the gospel in history, from the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the two witnesses, the host of the redeemed saved during the Tribulation, and even a powerful angel (14:6-7).  Yet despite all that, they will remain unrepentant to the very end (9:20-21; 16:9, 11), hardened into irreversible unbelief and defiant hatred of God.” 

            As we have been looking at the different chapters in Revelation we have seen much praise that has gone on.  Sometimes it begins with a seemingly small group like the four living beings and then goes to the twenty-four elders and then the angels and saints and then all who are believers get into the act of praising the Lord.  There is nothing wrong with praising the Lord over the destruction of the wicked.  Can you imagine how people celebrated after the victories of WWII came about against two wicked empires, and this was just done by people, and it may have also had praises in heaven too, but people were happy that these two evil empires were defeated just the same.  Ezekiel writes some things that we need to look at showing us that this heavenly rejoicing is not over the damnation of those who reject God “"23 Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?”  “32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live."”  “11 “Say to them, ’As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ’I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”  (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11)  This is a difficult thing to understand, but knowing God’s attributes helps me understand it better.

            MacArthur gives us a preview of what we are going to look at in these ten verses:  “As the text unfolds, five reasons for heaven’s joy become evident, Heaven rejoices because full salvation has come, because justice is meted out, because rebellion is ended, because God is in control, and because the marriage of the Lamb is completed.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that there are times when I study the Word of God that I do not fully understand what I am studying, but one of the things that helps me in these situations is that God is holy and can never do anything wrong even if I don’t fully understand all of it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to help us get things ready for our company in a peaceful way.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Esau” (Genesis 27:19).

Today’s Bible question:  Which book describes Gentile rule from the rise of the new Babylon empire to the time of the settlement of Messiah’s kingdom?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/14/2015 11:17 AM