The Promise (Rev. 6:11)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/28/2015 8:47 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  The Promise

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 6:11

            Message of the verse:  “11  And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

            I wrote the following on May 12, 2005:  “It may seem from this verse that patience has to be exercised in heaven too.  This verse also speaks of these martyred believers receiving a white robe, which speaks of righteousness, and also means that they have a body in order to put this robe on.  The last part of this verse shows, like many other places in the Bible, that God has a plan and nothing will be able to stop this plan, and part of that plan is that there will be a number of believers who will die for the cause of Jesus Christ, and when that final number is complete then God’s plan will be complete and His wrath will be satisfied, and justice will be served by Him.”

            In Revelation 6:9-11 we have been looking at the prayers of the saints who have been transported to heaven because they have died for the cause of Christ.  There prayer is that God would bring about vengeance upon those who have been committing these crimes.  In today’s SD we will look at the promise that God gives to these saints.  I spoke of these saints has having a body, and I do believe that when a believer dies that they will receive a body, but not the type of body that they will receive at the rapture which will be like the glorified body that Christ now has.

            Now as for the gift that God gives to each of these believers it is a white robe and John MacArthur writes the following about it.  “The gift that was given to each of them by God as they arrived in heaven was a white robe (stole; a long robe flowing to the feet).”  Now we have learned earlier that this white robe symbolizes righteousness, eternal righteousness. 

            Next we see that God tells them to rest for a little while longer, and this certainly is not a rebuke from the Lord to them for being impatience for these saints are now perfect and cannot sin.  God wants them to trust Him and His plan to care for the judgment that the evil men on earth deserve and to just stop and enjoy heaven.  We know that it will not be too long before God does exercise judgment on these men.  In the tenth chapter of Revelation and verse six we read “there will be delay no longer,” so this must mean that the waiting of these saints is over.  God tells them that others will be killed for the cause of Christ and He had to wait for that to happen.   MacArthur writes “God sovereignty predetermined the exact number of those who would be killed.  The petitioners were told to enjoy heaven’s rest until that number had been reached.  Robert L. Thomas notes:  ‘The word to the souls under the altar gives them reassurance that God will eventually avenge their blood, but the time for the culmination of that vengeance has not yet arrived.  One feature that must yet transpire beforehand is the increase of their number through additional martyrdom.  The earth dwellers under the dawning leadership of the beast from the sea will take an even greater toll of human lives before Christ finally intervenes through His personal arrival back on earth.  Until then, the already martyred are told to rest and enjoy their state of blessedness already attained.’”

            Now as far as the “fellow servants and brethren,” they are two different classes of people.  The fellow servants may or may not die for the cause of Christ, but the brethren are the ones who will die for the cause of Christ. 

            The world today seems to forget the things that are right and wrong.  Our parents fought in WWII against a demon possessed Hitler who was trying to kill all of the Jews and thus what came out of it was the Jews were brought into their land and given a nation in May of 1948.  Now we see that our government is trying to distance themselves from the very people that our parents died to save.  Is it so hard to believe that we will go through the same type of thing that Hitler was trying to accomplish in the Tribulation period?

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What I can learn from this is that God surely does answer prayers in His own time when He is ready, and that God has a plan and nothing will stop it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and also to live in the love that the Lord has for me.  To better understand that love.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The first day” (Luke 24:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace?’”

Answer in our next SD.

3/28/2015 9:19 AM

 

Petition From the Souls under the Altar (Rev. 6:10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/27/2015 11:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  Petition From the Souls under the Altar

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 6:10

            Message of the verses:  “10 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?"”

            On May 11, 2005 I wrote the following in my Spiritual Diary about this verse:  “I am sure that this verse has given problems to many people throughout the ages as they have read it because some perhaps cannot understand why these martyred saints are calling for their own blood to be avenged.  As believers on this earth we are told to pray for those who are our enemies, and both Jesus Christ and Stephen have done this just before they died, but these believers are now in heaven and they, along with I suppose martyrs throughout the Church age, have been asking when will God avenge their deaths and when will God’s justice be given upon this earth to all those who have rejected Him.  It is in God’s character to judge sin because justice is part of His character.  There are many of the Psalms which cry out this same cry, and one day soon God will answer all of these prayers.”  I certainly cannot say that I have changed my mind about what I wrote in May of 2005.

            There are some who think that the fifth seal is martyrdom, but when we look at the purpose of these seals that Christ is opening they are judgments and martyrdom is not a judgment, so we have to conclude that this fifth seal depicts God’s wrath and God’s judgment upon those who are evil and who are killing the believers who are trying to tell the truth about Christ, and about what is going on during the Tribulation period.

            I have been thinking a lot about prayer in the last few months and have come to some conclusions about it that to me, are very important in my walk with the Lord.  Prayer is having God’s will be aligned with my will and that is an important thing to remember.  As we look at these saints who are now perfect because they are in heaven we see that what they are praying is in the will of God for they have no sinfulness about them, the flesh is not a part of them so they can pray with a pure heart which is unlike those of us who are believers still in our bodies here on earth. 

            Jesus prayed for those who had Him crucified, and Stephen did the same as seen in Acts 7:60, but there will come a time when the patience of God will come to an end and He will judge because that is also a part of His nature, and we are seeing that time described in the book of Revelation beginning with chapter six.

            John MacArthur writes the following about prayer:  “May Christians act as if prayer were a mere formality that has little effect.  Yet, amazingly, the prayers of the Tribulation martyrs will move God’s hand of judgment.  Jesus illustrated that same principle in the parable of the persistent widow and the unrighteous judge:  ‘Will not God being about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly’ (Luke. 18:7-8).  The prayers of the Tribulation martyrs will participate in activating the torments of the sixth and seventh seals along with the trumpet and bowl judgments which follow.

            “God’s hand of judgment will move in response to the martyrs because their prayers will be urgent, fervent, impassioned, and consistent with His purpose and will. Krazo (cried out) is a strong word that emphasizes the urgent need and denotes strong emotions (cf. Matt. 9:27; 14:26, 30; 15:22; 20:30-31; Mark 9:24).  The twenty-four elders and the angels loudly praised God (5:12), and the Tribulation martyrs will petition Him ‘with a loud voice.’  In keeping with their call for vengeance and justice, they address Him as the ‘Lord, holy and true. Lord’ does not translate kuios the common New Testament word for Lord, but the stronger term despotes (‘master,’ ‘ruler).  It speaks of God the Father’s might, power, majesty, and authority.”  I surely find the book of Revelation opening up more when I better understand some of the words that are given meaning to by John MacArthur. 

            I write about the attributes of God in my Spiritual Diaries because it is a good way to better understand God as we look at His different attributes.  Also by knowing His attributes one has a better idea of how to pray to Him about different things as seen here by the martyrs in this verse for they appeal to the holiness of God along with the truthfulness of God, the faithfulness of God and the justice and wrath of God.

            These martyrs have  question for God and that question is, as I stated in my May 11, 2005 Spiritual Diary, may be asked of God by all the martyrs, and that is how long will you wait before you avenge our blood and take action upon those evil men on the earth.  How long is a prayer that I am sure has been asked of God many times in the past, and will continue to be ask of God, probably every day.  One more thing I want to look at and that is the phrase “those who dwell on the earth,” as we have seen this phrase in 3:10 and will see it again in 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 12; and 17:2 and 8. This phrase speaks of the ungodly.  MacArthur adds “As was the case with murdered Abel, the very ground cries out for their blood to be required at the hands o their killers.” 

            We are living in the last days of God’s grace upon this earth as we know it now, for once the Tribulation period begins it will signal that God is about to take back His universe, and He will do it with the series of judgments that are found in the book of Revelation as we are beginning to see.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to the Lord for the privilege of prayer, and for also teaching me more and more about it and how to better pray better.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in the glorious love that Christ has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Titus” (2 Corinthians 2:13).

Today’s Bible question:  “On what day of the week did the women bring spices to Jesus’ tomb?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/27/2015 12:14 PM

           

 

The Persons of Rev. 6:9 (PT-2) (Rev. 6:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/26/2015 7:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  The Persons of Rev. 6:9 (PT-2)

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 6:9

            Message of the verses:  “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;”

            We have been talking about the vengeance of God as seen in chapter six and also we have been talking about the persecution against believers which is going on during the Tribulation period, and in particular what had happened to those who were found under the altar in heaven when the fifth seal was broken by our Lord Jesus Christ.

            The persecution will probably begin slowly for at the beginning of the Tribulation period there will not be too many believers since the rapture had recently occurred which took all the true believers out of the world.  It will probably take a while for those on earth to figure out what happened when the rapture occurred, and it will take a while to clean up the mess that happened when drivers of cars, planes, trains and boats just up and disappeared leaving those vehicles to go off on their own.  I suppose that many people will think that this was an alien invasion and probably will be glad that all of these fundamental Christians have left the planet, but some will be in grief, losing loved ones and probably in time they will figure out exactly what happened to them leaving them open to the Gospel.  After time people will grow tired of hearing what happened to the believers in the rapture and also what these new believers will be telling others what will soon happen, and then the persecution will begin, especially when as we learned in our last SD that the Holy Spirit’s influence will be taken out of the world leaving men to act like men act when there is no restraint.  Now as has always been the case there will be as Christ described in Matthew 13:24-43, there will be tares among the wheat and when the persecution begins the tares will run, not willing to die for the cause of Christ and will probably in some cases become a part of the persecution of real true believers.

            We have been following the events that will take place during the Tribulation period as seen in Revelation with what Christ has said in the book of Matthew, the Olivet Discourse.  “15 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short (Matthew 24:15-22).”  Now as we look at verse fifteen we see that Christ mentions the “Abomination of Desolation” which signals the mid-point of the tribulation period, so what we see with the fifth seal being opened could be some of those who had been slain for the cause of Christ during the time leading up to the middle of the Tribulation period and even up past the mid-point.  Some of the timing of this is difficult to determine, but we do know that all of this will happen.  One of my favorite movies, in spite of the infidelity in it is Dr. Zhivago and in one of the last scenes the mistress of Dr. Zhivago tells him that “this is an awful time to be alive,” and I am sure that many people who are living through the Tribulation period will be echoing those same words.

            Now I want to quote what John MacArthur has to say about which altar is described here in this verse as it is not completely described as it is possible that it could be one of two altars.  “The text does not define which altar is in view, nor does that scene in heaven parallel the earthly temple (or tabernacle), which had no throne (cf. 4:2).  The altar John saw is most likely emblematic of the altar of incense in the Old Testament (Ex. 40:5), because of the association of incense with prayer.”  Now in my previous study of Revelation I wrote the following about this altar:  “As the fifth seal is broken it tells of those who have given up their lives for the cause of Jesus Christ, and they are now in heaven and are underneath the altar.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that this is the place where the blood of the OT sacrifices was poured out when an animal was sacrificed.  The OT teaches that the life is in the blood, and thus when the blood was poured out it was reprehensive of the animal.”  Not often to Warren Wiersbe and John MacArthur disagree on Scripture but this point, which cannot be proved one way or the other is one of them.

            As we finish this verse we can see exactly why these saints had been persecuted and slain:  “who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;” These true believers had maintained their testimony for the cause of Christ and therefore were killed because of it and now were in heaven praying that God would take revenge on those who had done this to them.  These believers were now perfect as they were in heaven in new bodies without a sin problem from the flesh which we all have while on earth.

            We will look at more of their prayer request for vengeance in our next SD.

3/26/2015 8:21 AM     3/26/2015 11:39 AM

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Those who are under the altar because of their testimony for Christ had gone through a lot of pain similar to what Christ went through to buy them out of the slave market of sin.  I have to go through pain at times, either mental or physical in order to grow in my walk with the Lord even though I know that it is not pleasant.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in the love of the Lord even though I am still trying to understand it.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “40 days and 40 nights” (Exodus 24:18).

Today’s Bible question:  “Paul had no rest in his spirit because he could not find whom?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/26/2015 11:48 AM

 

 

 

"The Persons PT-1" (Rev. 6:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/25/2015 10:03 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  The Persons PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 6:9

            Message of the verses:  “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;”

            Let’s begin with a quote from John MacArthur which if from the end of his introductory comments on this fifth seal:  “The fifth seal marks the midpoint of the Tribulation period in bridging the gap between the beginning of God’s wrath in the first half of the Tribulation and its full fury revealed in the second half.  Like the horsemen of the first four seals, it also portrays a force.  That force is the prayers of God’s saints for Him to extract vengeance on rebellious mankind.  Three features become evident as the fifth seal is unveiled:  the persons involved, the petition they have, and the promise they receive.”  In today’s SD we will look at the persons who are involved as seen in verse nine.

            Just a little review and that is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who is breaking the seals, and the scroll is the title deed to the universe, and the reason that He is breaking the seals is to take back the universe.  The fifth seal is that underneath the altar are souls of those who had been slain for the cause of Christ.  These are the martyrs who had been killed because of their testimony for the Lord.  These are people who, with the aid of the Holy Spirit began to understand what it was that was going on, on the earth at this time, and that is that God was judging the people who were sinning against Him.  It is Satan using the Antichrist who is causing people, these people seen in this fifth seal to be killed. 

            We have been following what our Lord said in the Olivet Discourse which, is found in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, but mostly from Matthew 24.  We have talked about the first seven verses in Matthew 24 which describe the events that we have seen in the first four seals.  Now we will look at Matthew 24:9 “"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.”  MacArthur writes “The events that marks the midpoint of the Tribulation, the ‘abomination of desolation,’ does not occur until verse 15 of Matthew 24.  Therefore the persecution Jesus spoke of (that associated with the fifth seal) will begin the first half of the Tribulation and escalate in the second half, after the abomination of desolation.”  Now we have written about the abomination of desolation in our study of Revelation and also in the book of Daniel, for it is Daniel who mentions it in Daniel chapter nine and then our Lord mentions it in Matthew 24.  There was a preview of this when a man named Antiochus Epiphanes went into the Holy of Holies and sacrificed a pig in the second century BC.  This pictured what Antichrist will do at the midpoint of the Tribulation.  We read what now restrains him will be taken away in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 “6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.”  This is interesting in that there are some people who believe in a mid-tribulation Rapture and this is one of the verses that they use to make sense of this theory.  I do not agree with this for I have always believed that the Church will be taken out before the beginning of the Tribulation Period for God does not deal with the Church in the Tribulation for we see no mention of it after chapter three.  God will be dealing with Israel during the Tribulation Period along with those who are opposing Israel. 

            I can see now that I will not finish with this section today, but I do want to make something clear, something that has been on my mind for a while that has to do with something similar that we find in Revelation.  There will be a false religion during the Tribulation period that is seen in Revelation chapter sixteen and this religion will be responsible partly for the persecution of true believers.  Now today we have dominations who do not believe that God will ever deal with Israel again.  They take the promises that are given to Israel in Scripture and apply them to the church, and this is wrong.  In doing this there are many of them who are against Israel at this time in history, a time when all true believers should be in support of Israel.  There are some who even believe that the church began in the Garden of Eden.  I visited one such church while on vacation last year in Florida and the Pastor of that church made reference to the church being in the Old Testament.  I emailed him to see if he had though he made an error to which he replied that he had not.  I emailed him again stating that the Bible teaches that the Church age began on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two.  He never emailed me again and I never went back there again.  It is sad to me to see how Satan has blinded the eyes of true believers who think that God is done with Israel.  Just read Romans 9-12 and you will see that God is not done with Israel.  In our next chapter we study Revelation seven we will see that God calls 12,000 men from each tribe of Israel to spread the good news during the Tribulation Period.  If He was done with Israel how could He do that?

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Be like the Bereans and study the Word of God carefully so that I am not like those who have wrong ideas of what it says.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in the love that Christ has for me as I better understand that love He has for me.

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

Today’s Bible question:  “How long was Moses on Mount Sinai?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/25/2015 10:45 AM    

Prayer for Vengeance: Fifth Seal PT-1a (Rev. 6:9-11)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/24/2015 9:33 AM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Prayer for Vengeance:  Fifth Seal PT-1a

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  Revelation 6:9-11

            Message of the verses:  “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 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?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

            I want to continue to look at the introduction to these verses which tell of what the fifth seal is about. 

            Let us look at Isaiah 34:1-3 and verse 8 to see what one of God’s prophets wrote on the subject of God’s vengeance:  “1 Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it. 2 For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter. 3  So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood… 8  For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”   Now we look at Isaiah 59:17-18 “17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. 18 According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.”

            We have mentioned in our study of Ezekiel when the prophet was speaking of judgment against some of Israel’s enemies that even though the Lord had punished Israel for the many sins she committed it was like a Father disciplining His own children with the purpose of causing them to repent, while the enemies of Israel were destroyed because of the way that they treated Israel, God’s own.  God will always have a remnant of Israel and even though He has punished them in the past both in the time of their great idol worship and also when they rejected their Messiah, He always had a remnant and the prophet Malachi speaks of this in 4:1-2 “1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

            I believe that many of those who we are speaking of in our verses from Revelation who are under the altar may very well be from the nation of Israel, and so it is important for us to look at some of these OT passages that speak not only of God’s judgment on Israel, but also His lovingkindness for Israel.  In the NT the apostle Paul wrote three chapters in the book of Romans about God’s plans for Israel, and he poured out his heart for his nation because of their hard hearts.  I don’t want to get too far off the track, but many people do not believe that God does have and will bring about His vengeance upon those who deserve it, and when we look at the judgments from the book of Revelation we can see that one of the reasons that God brings judgment upon the world is because of the way that they treat the Jews, which is a part of His covenant with His people that goes all the way back to Genesis 12:1-3 ground we have covered before:  “   1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."  We see here that anytime a person does wrong to a Jew because they are a Jew that God will curse them, and we must remember that all of the hatred for the children of Israel is from Satan.  I am not saying that if a child of Abraham does you wrong that you cannot do something about that, but if they are persecuted because of who they are then God will take care of the one or the nation who does this.

            John MacArthur writes “The knowledge that God will one day execute vengeance on those who reject Him does not justify any personal vengeance on the part of believers.  Proverbs 25:21 commands, ‘If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.’  Paul echoed that thought in Romans 12:19-20:  ‘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.  ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for I so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’  Neither Jesus (Luke 23:34), Stephen (Acts 7:60), nor Paul (1 Cor. 4:12) sought personal vengeance on their oppressors.  Even God Himself declares, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live’ (Ezek. 33:11), because ‘The Lord…is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance’ (2 Pet. 3:9).

            “The realization that the Day of the Lord is coming in which God will take vengeance on the wicked is a bittersweet one for believers.  On one hand we rejoice, because God’s glory will be put on display, sin will be done away with, the world will be taken back from the usurper, Satan, and God will be vindicated.  But on the other hand, that day will bring about the destruction of the ungodly and their sentencing to eternal punishment.”

            All of this is seen pictured in Revelation 10:8-11 where we read “8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land." 9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." 10 I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they said to me, "You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings."”

            MacArthur writes “John’s initial reaction to the judgment described in the little book was the sweet realization that God will be vindicated and His glory put on display.  But the sobering realization of the horrors that would be inflicted on unbelievers nauseated him.”

            While studying God’s attributes and looking in particular at the long-suffering of God which has to do with God being patient with sinners we know that one day that will come to an end as we are seeing in our study of the book of Revelation, but it is still here now and if anyone reading this does not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord there is still time to care for this by acknowledging that you are a sinner, and then also knowing that in and of yourself you can do nothing to care for that.  Then realize that Jesus Christ has cared for that if you will accept that Jesus paid for you sins and then ask Him to come into your heart and forgive your sins.  This will be the very best day of your life.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  More than ever I am thankful for the books that I have read to help me better understand the attributes of God so that I can accept passages like we are looking at in this chapter, and also in this book.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better live in and understand the love that Christ has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Benjamin” (Genesis 42:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who wrote the first five books of the Old Testament?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/24/2015 10:17 AM

Prayer for Vengeance PT-1 (Rev. 6:9-11)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/23/2015 7:20 PM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Prayer for Vengeance PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  Revelation 6:9-11

            Message of the verses:  “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 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?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

            As the fifth seal is opened we do not hear anything from the four living beings, but only see what John had to write and what he writes is that he sees underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain and the reason that they had been slain is for the cause of Christ, and then he goes on to write what these slain believers are asking Christ to do for them and that is what we will be discussing as we look at this fifth seal.  What we are about to look at is not popular with many people, and for that matter not many Christians, but what we will be discussing is the truth and we will show different verses from the Word of God to show this truth.  As the focus shows we are going to be talking about God’s vengeance, and the fact that the prayers of these slain believers are asking for is that God will bring about His vengeance on those who are killing believers on the earth.

            I like the way that John MacArthur begins his commentary on this section where he writes “It has been observed that God created man in His image and man has returned the favor.  People have created God in whatever form pleases them and accommodates their sinful lifestyles.  In the cynical words of British author D. H. Lawrence, ‘God is only a great imaginative experience’ (cited in The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Copyright 1993, 1995 by Columbia University Press).  God rebuked such foolish people in Psalm 50:21:  ‘You though that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.’  God is who He has revealed Himself to be in Scripture and not what people imagine Him to be.”  I think that this is a good way to begin our discussion of what we are going to see when this fifth seal is opened by the Lord.  As I listened to the message, or at least part of it this morning by John MacArthur on these verses I learned that he had not totally figured out exactly what to call this fifth seal.  He was going between calling it “Prayer for Vengeance” or calling it just “Vengeance.”  I see in his commentary that he had decided to call it “Prayer for Vengeance:  The Fifth Seal.”

            I have mentioned in many of my Spiritual Diaries that it is very important for believers to learn what the attributes of God are in order to better know who the God that true believers worship is, and what the Bible shows us what He is about.  I don’t think that Scripture tells us all about God, but what it does tell us about God we need to learn so we don’t end up creating Him in our image.  I have mentioned in the past some of the books that I have read over the last several years in order to better see what the attributes of God are according to the Scriptures.  “The Knowledge of the Holy” by A. W. Tozer is a very short book, but well worth ones reading.  “The Attributes of God” by Arthur Pink is another worthwhile read.  “Knowing God” by J. I. Packer is also one worth reading.  Chip Ingram has written a book and also has a study guide out with the book he entitled “God as He Longs for You to Know Him.”  My favorite book that I have read two times is entitled “The Joy of Knowing God,” and it is written by Richard Strauss, as in that book he lists many attributes of God and does a wonderful way of explaining them that makes it easy to understand.  It has been said that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion, and in a relationship one has to know the person who is in that relationship with you.  God knows us better than we know ourselves, and it is up to us and the working of the Holy Spirit to get to know Him.  When we get to know God we will see that there are many Scriptures that show that not only is God love, but that He is a God of vengeance.  However it is okay for God to have vengeance for He is the only one who can do it properly.  Look what Paul wrote “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.”  We cannot handle vengeance, only God can and as in everything He does it perfectly.

            Let us look at some of what are called the imprecatory Psalms and to refresh your memory about these I want to go back to when I was writing my Spiritual Diaries on the Psalms and at the time I spoke of the different kind of Psalms that we find in the Word of God.  We will be looking at a quote from Dec. 20, 2011 and in that SD I wrote about what I learned from the fifth Psalm which is the first imprecatory Psalm and we will look at what Warren Wiersbe wrote about the imprecatory Psalms:  “:  “Because of the prayer in verse 10, Psalm 6 is classified as one of the ‘imprecatory psalms’ (see 12, 35, 37, 58, 59, 69, 79, 83, 109, 139, and 140).  In these psalms, the writers seen to describe a God of wrath who can hardly wait to destroy sinners.  The writers also seem to picture themselves as people seeking terrible revenge against these enemies.  But several facts must be considered before we write off the psalmist as pagan brutes who cannot forgive, or God as a ‘dirty bully.’  To begin with, the enemies described are rebels against the Lord (5:10), and in some instances, against the Lord’s anointed king.  The Jews were a covenant people whom God promised to protect as long as they obeyed Him (Lev. 26; Deut. 27-29).  In His covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless those who blessed Israel and to curse those who cursed them (Gen. 12:1-3).  When the Jews asked God to deal justly with enemies, they were only asking Him to fulfill His covenant promises, He must deal with sin.  Ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3, there has been a battle going on in the world between truth and lies, justice and injustice, and right and wrong; and we cannot be neutral in this battle.  ‘If the Jews cursed more bitterly the Pagans,’ wrote C. S. Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms, ‘this was, I think, at least in part because they took right and wrong more seriously.  For if we look at their railings we find they are usually angry and not simply because these things have done to them but because these things are manifestly wrong, are hateful to God as well as to the victim’ (P.30).

            “Those who have difficulty accepting the ‘imprecations’ in The Psalms must also deal with them in Jeremiah (11:18ff; 15:15;17:18; 18:19ff; 20:11ff) and in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt. 3) and Jesus (Matt. 23), as well as in the requests of the martyrs in heaven (Rev. 6:9-11). However, no one will deny that these servants of God were filled with the Spirit and wanted the Lord’s will to be accomplished.  Perhaps our problem today is what C. S. Lewis pointed out:  we don’t hate sin enough to get upset at the wickedness and godlessness around us.  Bombarded as we are by so much media evil and violence, we’ve gotten accustomed to the darkness.”

            We will look some more at this subject before we delve into these verses in an outline form and perhaps finish the introduction in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to agree with the statement in my above quote:  “we don’t hate sin enough to get upset at the wickedness and godlessness around us.  Bombarded as we are by so much media evil and violence, we’ve gotten accustomed to the darkness.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in and better understand the love that Christ has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In Sodom” (Genesis 14:12).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was Jacob’s youngest son?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/23/2015 9:24 PM

  

"The Fourth Seal: Death" (Rev. 6:7-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/22/2015 10:25 PM

My Worship Time                                                                        Focus:  The Fourth Seal:  Death

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  Revelation 6:7-8

            Message of the verses:  “7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." 8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

            Let us begin with some of the things that I wrote on the 5^th of May, 2005 when I also looked at these two verses.  “This is the forth horse and rider that have been identified and it seems interesting that the four living beings have been the ones to tell these riders to come and to do what they are told to do upon the earth.

            “Death and Hades are spoken of in verse 8 and they are two enemies of mankind and it is Jesus Christ who had come to conquer both of these enemies, yet there are many who do not believe this and have rejected it forever and the result of this will be when they die they will not be in the presence of the Lord.  Revelations 1:18 shows that Jesus Christ has the keys to both death and Hades:  “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”  (Rev. 1:17b-18).  In the last part of this book both will be cast into hell.  Rev. 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

            “The last part of verse eight tells how death and Hades will accomplish their task and that is by killing one-fourth of the population upon the earth with the sword and with famine and pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

            As I mentioned it has been the four living beings who have called the riders of the horses, and also the horses, and this is the fourth living being that has done this.  However there are no more living beings to call out the orders so that is the last we will see them do this.  Then next seal that is broken we will see the souls of those who had died for the cause of Christ over the first part of the Tribulation Period.

            Let us talk about the color of the horse as it is an unusual color, and the word “ashen” is only used a few times in the New Testament, in Rev. 8:7; 9:4 and also in Mark 6:39.  John MacArthur writes that the Greek word for this color is “Chloros,” and we get the English word ashen, chlorine and also chlorophyll from this word.  It is a sickly pale green color and it depicts death. 

            What I am about to write comes from a while back, and it comes from a former Pastor of mine and what he said helps to explain what the numbers of those who die are according to the time when he said it.  He use to hold up his hand and said that there are now at this time five billion people in the world and suppose one billion go in the Rapture of the Church, and then he would put one finger down, and that leaves four billion people and on fourth of them die in this judgment that we are looking at so that leaves three billion people and then in another judgment we see that one third of the earth’s population dies, and this leaves two billion people left.  How they die is a part of the ravages of war, but this is still a judgment from God.  What about the wild beasts who kill some of the population?  John MacArthur has said that the possibility of rats could be how this is done, for rats eat food supplies and they also carry diseases that have killed millions of people in the past.  So we see in this judgment that one fourth of the population of the world dies and mankind has the war tools to accomplish this without the aid of God using some kind of supernatural judgment, but He may do that too.  As we move along in our study of Revelation we will see the following verse:  “Re 11:18 Re 11:18  "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."”

            John MacArthur finishes up his commentary on what we have seen in these first four seal judgments with the following words:  “The first four seals clearly describe awe-inspiring, frightening judgments without parallel in human history.  There is nothing that has happened since John had this vision that could be the fulfillment of these judgments.  These doomsday prophecies cannot be applied to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (which was before John hand these visions, since he wrote Revelation about AD 96) or any other event since that one.  Nothing this devastating has happened, yet these first four seal judgments are just the beginning of the horrific, worldwide woes that the sinful, rebellious world will experience.  Far worse is still to come in the remainder of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls.  At that time the world of sinners will realize that ‘it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Heb. 10:31).  There will be no escape for impenitent unbelievers from the terrors of the Tribulation, or from the infinitely worse terrors of hell.  In the words of the writer of Hebrews, ‘How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?’ (Heb. 2:3).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Not just for today, but is important for me to get the message of the Gospel out to those whom the Lord brings into my path, and it is also important for me to tell others what is going to happen in the future as seen in the book of Revelation.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to trust and live in the love of Christ each day.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Leper” (Mark 1:40).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where did Lot live?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/22/2015 11:02 PM