Judgment Lamented (Rev. 18:9-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/8/2015 10:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  Judgment Lamented

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  Revelation 18:9-19

            Message of the verses:  “  9 "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10  standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ’Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ 11  "And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes anymore- 12  cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, 13  and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. 14 “The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. 15 “The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16 saying, ’Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; 17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, 18  and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ’What city is like the great city?’ 19  "And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ’Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’”

            I wrote the following on October 19, 2015 “These two verses and all the way to verse nineteen describe the morning over this “great system” of Babylon.  Rulers and merchants will morn alike as they see the city destroyed in one single moment’s judgment from God.  This was their whole life, all they had to live for, and now it is all gone, gone from them forever.  They once live for and lived in luxury and now that that is gone they morn over its loss like a person morns over a loved one who meant a lot to them who is now passed away.  One day as Jesus and His disciples were going through a grain field on the Sabbath day they began to rub the grain together in order to get something to eat and the Pharisees accused them of break a law because they were “working” on the Sabbath day.  Jesus told them that the Sabbath day was made for man not man for the Sabbath day.  I can see a similar thing here in this section of Revelation 18 because in both cases men had their lives out of balance.  The Pharisees were in fact worshiping the Law and therefore missed the most meaningful Person who would come their way and the merchants and rulers described in this section of chapter 18 were worshiping their lifestyle of money and luxury and missed out on worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ who was trying to draw men of this time to Him through these judgments, but they would not listen.”

            I remember the first time that I was taught from this section of Revelation as I was listening to a tape by Hal Lindsey who was teaching different sections of the book of Revelation and when he got to verse 13 which speaks of horses and chariots he inserted the word “Volkswagen” for the word chariot making sure that everyone who was listening to him was awake.  He also said that at the end of verse thirteen that it was talking about the souls of men as there seems to be slavery in the Tribulation period which men will make money over.

            John MacArthur begins his commentary on this section by writing “Nothing so clearly reveals the hardness of sinners’ hearts as their lack of sorrow over their sin.  Through the years of devastating judgments, the Tribulation sinners will relentlessly refuse to mourn over their sin.  But through they will not lament over their sin, they will cry over the destruction of Babylon.  When the glorious centerpiece, the head of Antichrist’s empire, is judge and destroyed, there will be worldwide dismay and mourning.”  As we have been looking at the different judgments that God will bring upon the people of planet earth, and remember that these judgments will be used by God to bring people to repentance, we have not seen much repentance for after some of the judgments we read that people actually cursed the Lord for bringing these judgments on them.  There is one place where we read that people turned to the Lord after a judgment where there was a great earthquake in Jerusalem as a part of a judgment and 7,000 people were killed in that earthquake, and then we read that people in Jerusalem actually turned in repentance to the Lord.

            As we look over this rather long series of verses, probably the longest we have ever attempted to look at in one section, we see that the first to lament were the “kings of the earth.”  This group will include the ten kings that we have looked at earlier those who were true to Antichrist to the very end.  There will be leaders under them as well and they will mourn over the destruction of Babylon too.  This is the very seat of Antichrist’s political, economical, and religious empire that God will destroy.  The destruction will be different than when we first meet Babylon or Babel at the tower of Babel where God confused the languages, but here He will completely destroy the city as the OT prophets also spoke of will happen.

            Verse three tells of the sins that these leaders committed against the Lord, “acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her” (Babylon).  Now I believe that this destruction of Babylon will be a part of the last bowl judgment and perhaps as the rulers of the world are coming to Jerusalem to fight against the Lord they will see this destruction take place as they see if off from a distance.  John MacArthur writes “Obviously, the entire world is not destroyed at this point, since those watching Babylon burn are safe for the moment.  Babylon’s destruction is, however, a precursor to the doom that will soon fall on the entire world.”

            We see the anguish from these leaders as they watch Babylon burning and being destroyed “Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.”  I am not totally sure that Babylon will be destroyed in exactly one hour, but I am sure that it could be if God chose to do so, but to say the least it will be swift as verse eight predicted, “"For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”

            We will look at the next mourners in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I was listening to the fourth chapter of Amos in preparation of my Spiritual Diary from the book of Amos I kept hearing “Yet you have not returned to Me.’” God said this statement after the different judgments that He brought on Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and this reminds me of some of the things that will not only happen during the tribulation period, but things that are happening on our country today.  As stated earlier God brings judgment on people and nations to get their attention, so that they will repent.  I remember after 911 that the leaders of Washington came out to as the Lord to keep us safe, and they even had a service to seek the Lord, but it seems to me that most of it was as phony as the people who took a part in it, (not all of them, but a great many of them). 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I never want to conceal my sins from the Lord, but to confess them to Him and seek His continuous forgiveness. 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “All powerful.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Did Joseph recognize his brothers when they first came to Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/8/2015 11:25 AM

 

PT-3 Judgment Defined (Rev. 18:6-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/7/2015 8:21 AM

My Worship Time                                                                        Focus:   PT-3 Judgment Defined

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Revelation 18:6-8

            Message of the verses:  “6 “Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. 7  "To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ’I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’ 8  "For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”

            At the end of our last SD we looked at the three sins that were charged against Babylon by the angel who is the one speaking to John in this section of Revelation chapter 18.  We now begin to look at verse eight where the angel begins with “For this reason” which speaks of the sins catalogued above. And for those reasons “in one day her plagues will come.”  What we see here is that Babylon will be instantly destroyed; it will not be a gradual destruction that happens to it.  In the fifth chapter of Daniel we read of a time when Babylon was destroyed or taken over in one night.  When we look at how the ancient city of Babylon was built and what it contained inside the city one would never believe that it would be taken over by an enemy in one day, but that is exactly what Daniel said would happen and that is exactly what did happen so there is no reason to believe that Babylon cannot be destroyed in one day as this verse speaks of.  John MacArthur writes about the word plagues “the plagues that will destroy Babylon are specific judgments on that city, possibly in connection with the seventh bowl.  Three plagues will result in Babylon’s complete devastation:  pestilence and mourning and famine---heaven’s fitting answer to her proud boast in verse 7.  After these three plagues have run their course, Babylon will be burned up with fire.”

            We see in the remaining phrase “for the Lord God who judges her is strong,” and this speaks of the certainty of the destruction of Babylon.  As we looked at the reasons for the destruction of Babylon we can better understand what it is that the Lord does not like, of better yet what the Lord hates.  One of the sins that we have mentioned is the trust of people in the economic system and I believe that the Lord hates this sin because many people with great wealth first of all take advantage of the poor and secondly trust in their riches instead of trusting in the Lord.  I wrote the following on October 17, 2005 in conjunction with these verses:  “God hates pride, for pride was probably the first sin that was ever committed in that Lucifer, who is now called Satan said five “I wills” which were all prideful statements against God.  Babylon has also seduced the nations that were around her to be just like her.  A third sin is her love for luxury and pleasure, for she worshiped these pleasurable things and all the while there were very poor people around her that she would not help.  In verse eight God promises to judge Babylon in a single day.

            “One of God’s attributes is that of judgment, for God will always judge in righteousness, and He never does things to get even, but has great patience in His judgment, waiting for the people to repent of their sins, but in this case they would not even though they had seen all of the judgments that God has sent upon the whole world.”

            We can be assured that what is written in these verses will come to pass.  “"I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2).”  “Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand (Proverbs 19:21).”  “"For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?’ (Isa. 14:27).”  Nebuchadnezzar affirmed that God “does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ’What have You done?’ (Dan. 4:35b).”  John MacArthur concludes “All power of wicked men and demons will not be enough to deliver Babylon from God’s judgment.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I look around at all the things, the bad things that are going on in our country and have been going on since our last President was elected I can see that Satan has been working hard in our country to destroy it, to destroy its relationship with Israel and other terrible things, but none of this could have happened without it being in the plan of God as He is in control and will work all of this out for our good and for His glory.  I just have to be patience to find out how this will happen.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Barnabas” (Acts 9, 26-27).

Today’s Bible question “What do we mean when we say that God is omnipotent?”

9/7/2015 8:55 AM

SS Have a great B-day.

 

             

           

PT-2 of Judgment Defined (Rev. 18:6-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/6/2015 9:00 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 of Judgment Defined

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 18:6-8

            Message of the verses:  “6 “Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. 7  "To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ’I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’ 8 "For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”

            We are wadding through these three verses in Revelation 18 that define the judgment of Babylon, the world system of the Tribulation Period, and also the time when all the world will be worshiping the Antichrist with the exception of those who have not taken the mark of the beast.  We will begin with the phrase of the angel “in the cup which she mixed,” God would “mix twice as much for her.”  Now in our last SD we looked at the meaning of the concept of double as mentioned here and other places in the Scripture.    The angel speaks of the cup that Babylon has mixed to deceive the nations and now the angel wants God to give her a double portion.  We have seen the imagery of the cup of God’s wrath in Revelation 14:10 and also in 16:19.

            Now the next phrase, the third time the angel speaks to the Lord he wants to exact complete vengeance on Babylon:  “To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’”  When we look at the words “to the degree” it is saying that the punishment should match the crime, something we also looked at in our last SD.  In this section we can see that there are three sins that call for Babylon’s judgment.  The first is that she was proud, “she glorified herself,” and we know what God thinks about pride.  Isaiah 42:8 says “"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.’”  Proverbs 6:16-17 says “16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood.”  James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’”  The next sin is that she pursued self-gratification; “she lived sensuously.”  Paul writes to Timothy about this sin in 1Timothy 5:6 “But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.”  Thirdly she was guilty of being self-sufficient for she said in her heart “I will sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.”  John MacArthur writes “That proud boast echoes that of ancient Babylon, who said ‘I will be a queen forever…I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of children’ (Isa. 47:7, 8; Ezek. 27:2; 28:2; Zeph. 2:15).  Yet God’s devastating reply was that ‘these two things shall come on you suddenly in one day; Loss of children and widowhood.  They shall come on you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your spells’ (Isa. 47:9).

            “For those three sins Babylon will receive ‘torment and mourning.’  Basanismos (torment) literally means torture (cf. vv. 10, 15; 9:5; 14:11).  Mourning refers to the grief that the torture produces.  Hell will be a place of both unimaginable torment (20:10; Luke 16:23-24, 28) and crushing grief (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30).”

            It is hard to get your arms wrapped around what the angel is asking God to do to Babylon, but as I stated before this is a part of the attributes of God as He is a just God, and He is a God of wrath, but thanks to Him that He is also a God of great grace and mercy, holding back what we do deserve and giving us what we do not deserve because of what Christ has done on the cross as He experienced the great wrath of God so that God can be just in offering salvation to those whom He calls.  Who is listening?

            We will give an all out effort to finish this section in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at what these verses are telling me I can get a little bit of better understand of what Christ endured on the cross for me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be thankful for what Christ accomplished for me on the cross.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jerusalem” (Luke 2:25-26).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who persuaded the disciples in Jerusalem that Paul had been converted?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/6/2015 9:33 AM  

PT-1 Judgment Defined (Rev. 18:6-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/5/2015 10:42 AM

My Worship Time                                                                        Focus:  PT-1 Judgment Defined

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  Rev. 18:6-8

            Message of the verses:  “6 “Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. 7  "To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ’I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’ 8  "For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”

            I have to begin by saying that this section of Revelation chapter 18 has some very, very strong language in it and when one studies the attributes of God and finds that wrath, and justice are a part of His attributes one will be able to see those attributes in this passage.

            This is an angel speaking what John writes down in this section of Revelation chapter 18, and the angel asks God to “pay her back even as she has paid.”  We have seen this kind of language in the book of Revelation before:  “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?’ (Rev. 6:9-10).”  John MacArthur writes “The angel’s prayer for justice is based on the Old Testament principle of lex talionis, the law of retaliation, the principle of ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’ (Matt. 5:38; cf. Ex. 21:23-24; Lev. 24:19-20; Deut. 19:21).  Babylon has been extended enough grace and heard enough warnings, It is time for vengeance.  It is time for her destruction.”  I want to also remind you of what is written in the 15^th chapter of Genesis where God tells Abraham that in 400 years His grace will run out for those nations in the Promised Land and God will then use His people Israel to judge them for Him. 

            We will now look at several OT passages which is reminiscent of the OT saints pleas for vengeance on ancient Babylon:

·       Psalm 137:8 “O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

·       Jeremiah 50:14-15 “14 “Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side, All you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows, For she has sinned against the LORD. 15 “Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen, Her walls have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD: Take vengeance on her; As she has done to others, so do to her.”

·       Jeremiah 50:29 “29 “Summon many against Babylon, All those who bend the bow: Encamp against her on every side, Let there be no escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all that she has done, so do to her; For she has become arrogant against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.

·       Jeremiah 51:24 “24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes," declares the LORD.

·       56  For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men will be captured, Their bows are shattered; For the LORD is a God of recompense, He will fully repay.”

Now we as believers are not the ones to bring retaliation on others for that belongs to God alone.  As believers we are not to take vengeance out on our enemies, even though at times we may feel that way.  Believers must ‘not say, ‘I will repay evil’”; instead they are to ‘wait for the Lord, and He will save [them] (Prov. 20:22).  They are to ‘bless those who persecute [them]’ as seen in Romans 12:14, and they are ‘never paying back evil for evil to anyone,’ as seen in Romans 12:17.  As believers we are to leave room for the wrath of God as it is written “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”  What then are we to do “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. 20 “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:19-21).”  Both Paul and Peter have something more to add “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people (1 Thes. 5:15).”  1 Peter 3:9 says “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”

I want to conclude this SD by commenting on what the angel says when he says “give back to [Babylon] double according to her deeds.”  John MacArthur writes (“literally in the Greek ‘double the double things’) is a request that Babylon’s punishment fit her crimes.  Double has been her iniquity; double must be her punishment.  Babylon’s sins have overflowed, piling up as high as the heavens, and the angel calls for God’s judgment to overflow on her in equal measure.”  This has been enlightening to me as I listened to MacArthur’s sermon and read his commentary on this subject.  He goes on to write “Double has the sense of fullness or completeness.  In the Mosaic Law, wrongdoers were often required to pay double restitution for their crimes:  ‘"4 If what he stole is actually found alive in his possession, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.’ 7 "If a man gives his neighbor money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double.’  ‘9  "For every breach of trust, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any lost thing about which one says, ’This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before the judges; he whom the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.’  The prophets note that Israel received double for her sins (Isa. 40:1-2; Jer. 16:18).  Jeremiah prayed that God would ‘crush [his persecutors] with twofold destruction!’ (Jer. 17:18).”

Just one more comment and that is on what we have seen in the OT about “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”  What this is talking about is that the punishment must fit the crime and not go over it.  For instance if a fight breaks out and a man has a tooth knocked out then it would not be right for him to cut off his opponents arm for the loss of the tooth.  Maybe not the best example but I hope it makes this clear.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Sometimes it is difficult for me to leave the Lord care for the wrongs that are going on in our country at this time, but I know that when He decides to act the action will be perfect.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to judge those who are destroying our country.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Job” (Job 42:6).

Today’s Bible question:  “In what city did Simeon see the baby Jesus?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/5/2015 11:34 AM

PT-2 of Judgment Avoided (Rev. 18:4-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/4/2015 9:22 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 of Judgment Avoided

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 18:4-5

            Message of the verses:  “4  I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5  for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’”

            I want to begin with looking at some OT parallels in this statement to flee from Babylon.  Isaiah 48:20 “Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth; Say, "The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob.’”  Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6 “"Wander away from the midst of Babylon And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans; Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.”  “6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, For this is the LORD’S time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her.” 

            One of the verses that I mentioned in our last SD is one that goes along with believer’s lives today and has a similar meaning to flee from the world’s system which is, as I mentioned what this economic Babylon represents “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).  Another set of verses comes from 2 Cor. 6:14-17 which I mentioned two days ago, but bears repeating:  “14  Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.”  James also writes in James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  Also in James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  And we dare not forget what John wrote in 1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

            There is a parallel in the OT book of Genesis that another angel gives to Lot and his family to flee from Sodom “12 Then the two men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.’”

            MacArthur writes “Believers are to flee Babylon so that they ‘will not participate in her sins.’  The materialistic, pleasure-mad, demon-infested city of Babylon will exert an almost irresistible influence on believers to ‘participate in her sins.’  Like Joseph (Gen. 39:7-12; cf. 1 Cor. 10:14; 1 Tim 6:11; 2Tim. 2:22) they must flee to avoid succumbing to ‘the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life’ (1 John 2:16).”

            We can see that this urgent request to flee Babylon in Revelation 18 has a great meaning for all of us today as we also live in a similar type of environment.

            MacArthur concludes “Finally, believers must flee Babylon ‘because her sins have piled up as high as heaven’ (Cf. Jer. 51:9). ‘Piled’ is from kollao, which literally means ‘to glue together,’ or ‘to join.’  Babylon’s sins will pile up like a new Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:3-4), but unlike the ancient tower, her sins will reach ‘as high as heaven.’  Then the angel adds that ‘God has remembered her iniquities (cf. 16:19).  He will take note of them as He did that earlier monument to man’s sinful, arrogant, prideful rebellion at Babel.  The blessed truth is that God says of believers, ‘I will not remember your sins…I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more’ (Isa. 43:25; Jer. 31:34).  But for defiant, unrepentant Babylon there will be no forgiveness, only punishment.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  1 John 2:15-16.

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

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “At Jesus’ Baptism” (Luke 2:22).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.’”

Answer in our next SD.

9/4/2015 9:52 AM

 

           

SD for 9/03/2015

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/3/2015 8:48 AM

            This Spiritual Diary is going to be a bit different than the others as I have been thinking about chapter eighteen of Revelation and have also been listening to some sermons that John MacArthur has on this chapter and he asked a question that I have been thinking about in one of those sermons which kind of prompted me to want to put this special SD together.  I want to first quote from this sermon at the point where at the end of the sermon he asked why do we study this book and why did God put these things into the book of Revelation.

            “So the whole world allies with Antichrist in this final system. That is the beginning of this chapter and that's really all it is. I just want to wrap this point up by making a couple of comments and I'm going to let you go.

“Why all of this? Why is it necessary? Why does the Bible tell us this? Are we going to be there?

“Well, obviously the saints of all the ages who lived and died aren't going to be there. Was it relevant to them?

“It's my conviction that the saints of this age aren't going to be there because before this stuff ever starts, we're going to be raptured, taken out as the Lord gathers His church.

 

“What's the point?     

 

The point is multiple. One, to give you confidence that no matter what is happening in the world, in the end Jesus Christ will triumph. This is, after all, the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, not the book of the Revelation of prophetic curiosities. It is to give you the confidence and the assurance that in the end Christ will reign. And the corollary to that is to let you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that in the end no matter what goes on with Satan and his demons, they cannot defeat Christ. It can't be done. And you see them amassing all that they can as an arsenal against Him, only to be defeated in a moment as if they were nothing at all.

 

Furthermore, it is to give hope to the godly that the wretchedness and the wickedness of this fallen world will someday reach an end. And the cry of our hearts for justice and equity and purity and righteousness and goodness will someday be fulfilled. And it will. Furthermore, it is written as a warning to the ungodly of what is to come. You say, "Well now wait a minute, not all of the ungodly who have lived through the centuries are going to be there." That's right, but anybody who reads this is going to understand God's attitude toward sin. And all of this that goes on, on the earth is not as bad as hell. There are many reasons why the Lord gives us this truth, to give us confidence in the coming of Christ in His glory...to give us assurance that sin will have its day and finally be destroyed...to give us hope for a just and equitable and righteous kingdom and to warn those that do not know Christ that God hates sin and He punishes it with severe judgment. We can only who know this truth respond to it like John did. It's both bitter and sweet. Bitter because sinners will perish, sweet because the righteous will prevail. Bitter because Satan and his demons will succeed in their deception, sweet because Christ will in the end be victorious.

 

“Well so much for the pronouncement of judgment. Next time we'll look at the escape or the avoidance of judgment.

“Father, we thank You again for Your Word. We've covered so much and yet we've seem to have gone so few steps into this great chapter. Lord, help us to know confidently, assuredly, that we belong to You and we're on the triumph side. Help us to rejoice that no matter how bad it is in this world, Jesus is coming and He will establish His glory. Help us to know that sin will be destroyed and righteousness will reign. At the same time, help us to know that sinners will perish. And while on the one hand we are rejoicing in our triumph, give us a heart to call the lost to salvation, to call them away from demon deception. Let the light of gospel truth shine through us and draw many to yourself. As the world gets worse and worse and darker and darker, we long more and more for the light of the coming King. It's in that hope that we pray in His great name. Amen.”

 

I have to say something here which is actually between something else that goes along with what we have just read and that is we learned in chapter 17 about the fall of what was the religious system that the Antichrist would ride into power and then disposes of it in order to bring about what we are learning about in chapter eighteen and that is the worship of the Antichrist.  What we are learning about is that people during this time will be worshiping the Antichrist as he will claim to be god, and there will also be another thing that we will begin to look at in chapter eighteen that I think is prevalent in our country and for that matter around the world today and that is the worship of things.  We will look more into detail of this as we go through chapter eighteen.

 

Now I want to do kind of a book report, actually a very small book report on a book that I have read, well actually I do have a few more pages to read in it, but I still want to report on what I have learned from it.  The book is by Dr. David Jeremiah that he wrote in 2011 entitled “I Never Thought I’d See The Day.”  In this book Dr. Jeremiah goes through nine different things that he says that he never though he would see them happen in our country.  In the tenth chapter he then writes what we as believers are to do if great trouble breaks out in our country because of these nine things he writes about.  The Last chapter is entitled “When Changing Your Mind Could Save Your Life,” and as I said this tenth chapter is the climax of the book after given nine things that have happened in our country that are not good at all.  I became a believer in January of 1974 and as mentioned before that God used end time events to draw me to Himself and so off ten and on I have been studying what the Bible teaches will happen in the end times.  It has been my belief for a long time that the United States is not a prominent player in the end times and since we now and have held the position we do as the military leader and the economic leader in the world that I felt we would have to fall from this position before the end times are ushered in.  As I studied the Bible I found out that there are a number of steps that nations and for that matter even individual people take that will cause them to be judged by the Lord.  Paul writes a list of these downfalls in Romans 1:18-31 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

    19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23  and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31  without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32  and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

 

Another thing I learned which Dr. Jeremiah goes over in his book comes from Genesis 12:1-3 “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.’”  When people or nations begin to treat Jews in ways that they should not be treated just because they are Jews then God will begin to judge them.

 

Now I will quote a bit from this book from the last chapter as he lists the things he has gone over in the first nine chapters:  “This transformation is vital, for it determines your response to everything we’ve addressed in this book.  It enables you to live through whatever comes without fear or anxiety—more than that, it enables you to live joyfully.  Fail to make this transformation, and you will find yourself vulnerable in the nine arenas of life I have discussed in the book.  You will be weakened and unable to stand against the conforming powers of this world.  Slowly but surely you will find yourself…

·         Questing the very existence of God;

·         Victimized by Satan in spiritual warfare;

·         Fearful of identifying publicly with Jesus Christ;

·         Questing the necessity for entering into, or remaining in, marriage;

·         Lowering your moral standards;

·          spending less and less time reading and studying the Bible;

·         Becoming disinterested in and uncommitted to your local church;

·         Growing fearful and confused about the rise of rogue nations like Iran;

·         Putting America at risk by growing complacent about the future of the Jews.

 

I cannot go over all that he writes in the last chapter as it seems that all of the chapters are 30 pages in length but what he goes over is a commentary on Romans 12:1-2 “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  As believers we are to give ourselves to the Lord because of the mercies of God.  We are not to be conformed to the world system, a system that will find its final fulfillment as seen in chapter 18 of Revelation, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  That word transformed in the Greek is “metamorphoo” and the meaning of it is “1) to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure

1a) Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration.”  (From my Greek/English dictionary on my Online Bible Program.)

 

If you couple the things from what John MacArthur said in the last part of his sermon which I have quoted in this SD with what Dr. Jeremiah has written in his book you will find out that things are not getting better, but God is in control and He will care for His own.  We need to give ourselves to Him as Paul speaks of in Romans 12:2 and trust Him for what happens in our lives.

Last night at prayer meeting a video was played and when I got home I watched the rest of is in Youtube.  I will give you the web address as the last part of it has to do with what happens when we are going through troubles, what we are to do.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orLsHlmy2hw

 

We will continue on in our journey through the book of Revelation in our next SD as we pick up where we left of in yesterday’s SD in our next SD.  I thought that what I have written in this SD is worth writing at this time seeing all the difficulties that are now going on in our country.

 

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “On things above” (Colossians 3:2).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “At what event did the heavens open, and the Holy Spirit descend in a bodily shape like a dove?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/3/2015 11:24 AM

 

 

                                                           

Judgment Avoided PT-1 (Rev. 18:4-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2015 10:37 AM

My Worship Time                                                                        Focus:  Judgment Avoided PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Revelation 18:4-5

            Message of the verses:  “4  I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5  for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”

            In my Spiritual Diary from October 15, 2005 which is entitled “Coming Out from Among Them: I wrote the following:  “John now heard another voice and this is the voice of separation that comes from heaven.  God has always wanted his people separated from those who are of the world and in this case those who are of this “Babylonian Religion.”  There are examples of this in Scripture of God separating His people from those of the world, examples like when He called Abram out of the land where he was living because the people there were worshipers of idols and God did not want his people being influenced by idol worshipers.  God also separated Lot from the influence of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the prayers of Abraham.  The believer is warned in 1 John to not love the world or the things in the world, and loving the world is like loving commercial Babylon.”

            We want to look at the word “another” which John MacArthur says is the word “allos” (another of the same kind.)  He writes that this “suggests that the speaker is an angle like the one in verse 1.  The message he proclaims, ‘come out of her, my people,’ is a call for God’s people to disentangle themselves from the world system.  It may also be an evangelistic call to God’s elect to come to faith in Christ and come out of Satan’s kingdom (cf. Col. 1:13).  In both cases, the message is to abandon the system.” 

            As we look back at some of the things we have already learned from our study in Revelation we have seen that this will no doubt be the largest harvest of souls for the glory of Christ that has ever happened, as we first saw the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and then the two wittiness and then we saw an angel flying in mid-heaven proclaiming the glorious Gospel.  This does not take into account how many souls were saved from the outcome of all those who had been saved through the ministries mentioned above.  Many people will die for their faith in Christ during this seven years of tribulation, and I believe that there will be many family members telling other family members to take the mark so that they can survive the fact that they cannot buy or sell or be a part of the economy if they refuse to take it.  I have to, at this time tell a story of a young mother who lived next to me a while ago and God saved her in a wonderful way, and thus her life was changed.  She was going to a certain church where the gospel was not preached in the true way and wanted to reach others for Christ.  Since I had been a believer for many years I knew what she was going through and was happy that she wanted to reach others for Christ; however I believed that this would be disappointing to her and thought that she needed to get out of that church, but still witnesses to people in the church.  She struggled with this and I left her alone to see what the Lord would do.  One day she told me that she had read the following verses from 2 Corinthians:  “14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:14-18).”  The decision had been made and it is a decision that we all need to make, not just deciding to break away from a church that is not preaching and teaching the Word of God, but being separated from the world system of which we can see what it is as we study this 18^th chapter of Revelation.  Our roots cannot go down deeply or we will be misguided and fall prey to Satan’s tricks.  I have a sign on my refrigerator that says “We are not human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience, We are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience.” 

            We will continue on this theme in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Same as above.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Seven” (Genesis 41:53).

Today’s Bible question:  “On what should one set his affections’?”   (Good question)

Answer in our next SD.

9/2/2015 11:04 AM