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

 

           

 

Judgment Pronounced (Rev. 18:1-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/1/2015 9:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  Judgment Pronounced

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Revelation 18:1-3

            Message of the verses:  “1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."”

            I want to first of all look at some of the commentary that I wrote in October of 2005 on these verses.  “The book of Revelation has the mention of angels in it many times and at the beginning of this chapter John writes about another angel who when he came to earth to deliver his message he would be illuminated by his splendor.  John Macarthur said in his commentary on this verse that because of the darkness of the fifth vial judgment this angel would be seen by many people on the earth because of his brightness.  When the women came to the grave of Jesus on resurrection morning they say an angel who was bright in appearance so this is not the first time this has been mentioned in the Scriptures.

            “This verse also mentions that this angel has great authority, and I believe that the Scriptures mention that there are certain ranks within the realm of angels, and this one must have a high ranking.

            “It is also good to remember that in the scope of all of these prophecies that are in this book that Babylon would have been destroyed already as seen in Revelation 14:8.  Again from John Macarthur’s commentary he states that “The Greek text views the results of this as if it had already taken place.”

            “The Bible has a great deal to say about Babylon in both the Old Testament and also much is written about it in this book of the Revelation.  Just as Jerusalem is the city of God so Babylon is the city of the devil, for it was first written about in the 10^th and 11^th chapter of Genesis where it is described as man rebelling against God and the beginning of this false religion that has opposed God and still does.  This 18^th chapter will describe the commercial aspect of Babylon and this speaks of the world system that all true believers are supposed to avoid.  John wrote about this briefly in 1 John 2:15-7.  Both the religious and the commercial systems have been around for a very long time and both of them have opposed God and both are sinful and both of them will reach their zenith in this tribulation period with Satan and his Antichrist along with the false prophet and then God will destroy all of it forever.”  (Oct. 10, 2005)

            “This angel that was introduced in the first verse cries out in a mighty voice two times that mighty Babylon has fallen.  Perhaps the angel says fallen two times because there are two Babylon’s that are falling, the religious one and the commercial on.  The angel goes on to say that Babylon has become a dwelling place of demons and also unclean spirits, and a prison for unclean and hateful birds.  It can be said that when righteousness prevails in a land that it will be more difficult for the unseen forces of darkness to do their awful biddings, and this will certainly not be the case in Babylon in this day.  The unclean birds are written about a lot in the book of Leviticus, when God was telling Moses the things that Israel could eat and should not eat, and the things that they should not eat were unclean, and must have represented sin in some kind of way.”  (Oct. 12, 2005)

            “Every person who is born is born with a vacuum, which can only truly be filled by the God of heaven through His Son Jesus Christ, but if this does not happen then people will go to a substitute “religion” in order to have a sense of having this vacuum filled and this is where this false religious Babylon will be used by them.  Not only will these people go to the false “religious” Babylon to be satisfied with their religious cravings, but they will then tern to the commercial Babylon to have the lust of their eyes fulfilled.  Commercial Babylon will become an idol to millions of people here on this earth.”  (Oct. 14, 2005)

            As we begin to look at these verses, (1-3), we see that verse one begins with “After these things,” and we have mentioned before that when we see this phrase in Revelation that John is seeing a new vision, and even though as mentioned earlier that this happened earlier John is now receiving the details of the destruction of commercial Babylon.  We can be sure that God wants us to know that both religious and commercial Babylon will be completely destroyed by Him, as both systems have been around since the book of Genesis and because we have also learned that the Lord Jesus Christ, as seen in the book of Revelation is taking back control of planet earth from the usurper Satan that these two systems have to be destroyed. 

            According to my Online Bible program the use of the word “angel” is used fifty times in the book of Revelation and as we begin looking at verse one of chapter eighteen we see once again an angel being involved in this vision that John sees and this angel is distinct from the one which we saw in chapter 17:1.  He is a glorious angel and his glory is seen from planet earth. 

            So we see an angel which has great authority, and I mentioned the different ranks that angels have in my SD from October of 2005.  This angel leaves the presence of God who delegated authority in order to act on God’s behalf.

            Next we see that he arrives on planet earth and as mentioned the earth was illumined with his glory, and we also mentioned that the earth was very darkened because of the fifth bowl judgment which makes the illumination every seem brighter. 

            Next we see that this angel cries out with a might voice.  Now we have seen the word “loud” in the book of Revelation on many different occasions and I have to believe that even though this word is not used here that mighty means that his voice was loud.  His message in this mighty voice is “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!”  We saw the judgment predicted in Revelation 14:8 which says “And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.’”  John MacArthur writes “This will be a greater and more far-reaching judgment than the one pronounced in identical words on ancient Babylon (Isa. 21:9).  A comparison of this passage with 16:17-19 suggests that this judgment takes place when the seventh bowl is poured out:  ‘17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done." 18  And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

            Next we look at the first cause of Babylon’s destruction and this comes from verse two “! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit,” and this is speaking of demons, as we have seen that it was in the vicinity of Babylon that 200 million demons who were formerly bound were release as the sixth trumpet judgment which would be the second woe. 

            Next we look at the fact that Babylon will be “a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.”  MacArthur writes “That phrase symbolizes the city’s total destruction (cf. Isa 34:11).  Like grotesque carrion birds, the demons will hover over the doomed city, waiting for its fall.  The depiction of the demons as ‘unclean and hateful’ reflects heaven’s view of them.”

            John gives another reason for Babylon’s destruction ““For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality’ (vs. 3).”  Now in our introduction we learned that the 18^th chapter of Revelation speaks of the city of Babylon, the headquarters of Antichrist, and his terrible empire, but is also speaks of the system of Babylon which is seen in this verse as it influence penetrated all around the world.

            John MacArthur concludes his commentary with “Having thrown off any semblance of self-control or self-restraint, sinners will indulge in a wild materialistic orgy.  Like those in ancient Babylon, they will be parting when their city is destroyed (cf. Dan. 5:1-30).  James’s condemnation of the ruthless wealthy could be also apply to them:  ‘1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4  Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”  Perhaps this could apply to many who live in our country today.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I read this section I have to realize that I need to remember that my home is in heaven, and that I should not have roots that go down deeply into the world that I now live in.  One of the things that I have added to my prayer list is my own rendition of putting on the Spiritual Armor, as I have learned from different commentators and took some parts from them, but actually made it myself, and I believe with the help of the Lord.  Here is a small portion of this:  “I put on the helmet of the hope of Salvation, knowing Jesus Christ will come again and that I am not to have my roots in this world, but be living as if the Lord will come back today.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to help me not to put my roots down deeply in the world that I now live in, remembering that this world is not my home for I am a stranger and an alien living in a place where I am to serve the Lord and not get caught up in the evilness of what goes on here.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “2 Chronicles” (2 Chronicles 11:21).  “Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many years of plenty were there in Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/1/2015 10:39 AM

  

 

 

 

PT-3 Intro. To Rev. 18 (Rev. 18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/31/2015 10:01 AM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-3 Intro. To Rev. 18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Rev. 18

            Message of the verses:  Today I want to finish the introduction to the 18^th chapter of the book of Revelation.

            What we have been writing about is whether the contents of Revelation 18 are speaking of a city or a system, and we said that what Revelation 18 is talking about is that Babylon is a city, but it also represents a system.  I know that this is a bit confusing but if I understand things correctly Revelation chapter 18 speaks of the city of Babylon, but what is going on in that city during the Tribulation Period also represents a system that has gone on since we first see it in the book of Genesis where Nimrod began a religion and a system too.

            Now I want to give some evidence from the OT that shows that some of the prophecies that are about Babylon have not been fulfilled.  John MacArthur writes “Though some commentators view it as a symbol for Antichrist’s whole godless system, the Babylon described in chapter 18 is most likely an actual city.  It is called a city five times in the chapter (v. 10, 16, 18, 19, and 21), and other features in the text imply that a literal city is in view.  Since the text plainly describes Babylon as a city, and there is nothing in the context to indicate otherwise, it is safest to view it as a real city.  The specific Old Testament prophecies of Babylon’s destruction and perpetual desolation (Isa. 13:19-22; 14:22-23; Jer. 50:13, 39; 51:37), as yet unfulfilled, also argue that chapter 18 describes an actual city.  But while Babylon will be an actual city, its influence will be worldwide.  As Antichrist’s capital city, it will be the hub of and represent his commercial empire.  Thus, the judgment and destruction of Babylon will kill the head, and the rest of the body of Antichrist’s whole world empire will follow in death.”

            Now let’s take a look at these different prophecies that are mentioned:  Isa. 13:19-22 “19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. 21 But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. 22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged.”  Isa. 14:22-23 “22  "I will rise up against them," declares the LORD of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity," declares the LORD. 23 “I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD of hosts.”  Jer. 50:13 and 39 “13  "Because of the indignation of the LORD she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified And will hiss because of all her wounds.  39 “Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals; The ostriches also will live in it, And it will never again be inhabited Or dwelt in from generation to generation.”  Jer. 51:37 “37 "Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.”  As mentioned none of these prophecies have been completely fulfilled, but will be fulfilled when Babylon is destroyed during the Tribulation Period.

            Now we know from our study in Revelation that Babylon will have many opportunities to repent of her sins as there will be during the Tribulation period the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, the two witnesses, and the angel flying in mid heaven with the presentation of the Gospel.  There will also be those who have been converted but it seems that none of these witnesses will effect what is going on in Babylon for we have already read “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality (Rev. 14:8).”

Answer to our last Bible question:  “Joseph” (Genesis 40:12).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book records a father having eighty-eight children?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/31/2015 10:23 AM

 

PT-2 Introduction to Rev. 18 (Rev. 18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/29/2015 8:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 Introduction to Rev. 18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation chapter 18

            Message of the verses:   In Today’s Spiritual Diary we continue to look at the introduction to the 18^th chapter of the book of Revelation which tells us about the economical Babylon, the Babylon from which the Antichrist will be ruling the world as it is the head of his empire.

            John MacArthur writes “From the beginning to the end, the Bible warns of coming judgment on sinners who reject God and blaspheme His holy name.  Job declared that ‘the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; they will be led forth at the day of fury’ (Job 21:30).  David noted that ‘the Lord…has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness’ (Ps. 9:7-8).  Psalm 96:13 warns that God ‘is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.’  Isaiah wrote ‘According to their deeds, so He will repay, wroth to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the coastlands He will make recompense’ (Isa. 59:18).”

            This time to judge this system is spoken of by our Lord in Matthew 13:40-50 in the form of a parable.  You see that in the 12^th chapter of Matthew the Pharisees accused of Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan (Beelzebub), and so at that time Jesus began to speak in parables so that His own would understand them, but those who opposed Him would not and the following is one of those parables:  “40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41  "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42  and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

    “44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46  and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48  and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

            John MacArthur writes “The apostle Paul declared to the Greek philosophers gathered on Mars Hill in Athens that God ‘has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man who He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead’ (Acts 17:31).  To the Thessalonians he wrote:  ‘the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8  dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10  when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-for our testimony to you was believed (2 Thess. 1:7b-10).”

            As we have learned in our study of Revelation that this book speaks of this judgment more than any other book in the whole of the Word of God, especially chapters 6-18.  As we have learned these chapters have taken us through the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments given by the Lord.  We have learned that these judgments were on a worldwide scope, but they were mostly focused in on the kingdom of Antichrist, his world empire centered in Babylon.  MacArthur writes “That empire will involve both a religious and a commercial aspect.  At the midpoint of the Tribulation, Antichrist will destroy the false Babylon religious system, which will be absorbed into commercial Babylon.  Religion will not cease to exist, but will be restricted to the worship of Antichrist.  The Babylon in view in chapter 18 is Antichrist’s worldwide commercial empire, which will rule the world during the last three and a half years of the Tribulation.  That Antichrist will be able to build the greatest commercial empire the world has ever known in the midst of the devastating judgment of the Tribulation reveals his incredible power.” 

            The theme of chapter 18 is the destruction of this commercial Babylon, and as we study this chapter we can look back at the little book that John ate making his mouth sweet, but his stomach bitter and telling of this judgment is a portion of the bitter part of prophecy, and yet we have to be glad that God is a God who judges evil and evil is what this section is about.

            I just want to say that there are commentators who say that what is being written about here is a system, and not a city, however the chapters reveals that it is a city and this city will be destroyed.  I will go more into this aspect in our final introduction to this chapter.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “By the river Ulai” (Daniel 8:23).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who interpreted a dream about a vine with three branches?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/29/2015 9:32 AM

             

Introduction to Rev. 18 (Rev. 18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/28/2015 8:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  Introduction to Rev. 18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 18

            Message of the verses:  In our last series of Spiritual Diaries we have been focused in on “Religious Babylon,” which is what Revelation chapter seventeen is all about, but now in the next series of Spiritual Diaries we will focus in on ecumenical Babylon, a side of Babylon that has also been around for many thousands of years and will come to its climax in this chapter of Revelation.  Just as the religious Babylon began in Babel so the ecumenical Babylon began there also as man wanted to conquer the world in a God-rejecting society that has been seen throughout the ages by men and nations, some of whom we have seen in our own life time or just before our life time.  Some have been crying for “world peace” when all they wanted to do was to conquer the world. 

            One of my favorite things in this world to dislike is the theory of evolution and in the pages of my Spiritual Diaries I have stated why I have such a dislike for it, the main reason is that people who fall into this religious trap, and yes it is a religion can say in their hearts that there is no God, for all we see around us is a great big accident which had no creator.  People can build buildings, watches, computers, and any other thing they want to build and they all have to have a design, and designs have to have a designer.  So it is true with the world and the universe, and the Bible shows us that God is that designer, but because of sin people don’t see things the way that they should, and this is what happened in Babel which was later named Babylon as the false religion that started there is still around today, so that false idea of doing things without God is still around today.  John MacArthur writes “Having taken control (se they think) of their own destiny through science, sinners have no use for God and haughtily replace Him as self-styled gods devoted to their own sovereignty.

            “But God cannot be so easily replaced, nor His plans thwarted by the whims of sinful men (Isa. 43:13; 46:10).  In fact, in a profound, if brief, statement in Acts 14:16, Scripture says that God ‘permitted all the nations to go their own ways.’  In Psalm 2:2-4 the psalmist recorded God’s reaction to man’s impotent fury against Him:  ‘The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’  He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.’  Compared to the glorious, indescribable majesty of the omnipotent God, all of man’s vaunted empires are a mere ‘drop from a bucket’ (Isa. 40:15), so insignificant that they ‘are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless’ (Isa. 40:17).  The inescapable reality is that God, not man, will have the last word in human history, and that word will be a word of judgment.”  Now as we begin to unfold what we see in this 18^th chapter of Revelation we will see that just as God judged the great harlot, as we learned that He actually used Antichrist to do this, that He will also judge this last empire which is headed up by Antichrist and as we will learn in chapter 19 of Revelation that when the Lord comes back to planet earth He will very quickly judge those who have come out to fight against Him, and it was even in His plan, as we have learned to have these nations come to Armageddon for that exact reason, to fight against the Lord so that He can quickly destroy them with the Sword of His mouth.  But before that happens we will look at the contents of chapter 18 to see how Babylon the great city will be destroyed as alluded to in chapter sixteen. 

            From the beginning of God’s Word to the end of His Word God has warned that judgment was coming on sinful man and as we begin to get closer to the third part of the outline that the Lord Jesus gave us in 1:19 we will see how this outcome of judgment will take place.  I still go back to the little book that John had to eat which was sweet in his mouth, but made his stomach bitter, and it also pains my heart to tell all about these judgments that are soon to take place on planet earth and realize that there are so many people who fall into the category of rejecting God, of believing that the world was just some kind of cosmic accident so that they can live their lives the way that they want to without the fear of God and His coming judgment, and I want to cry out to them and tell them the truth, the truth that is found in the pages of God’s Word of how a person can be made right with God.  The truth of God becoming a man in the Person of Jesus Christ, who came to earth over 2000 years ago in order to pay the price of sin, a price that pleased the Father so much that when it was done He raised Him from the dead and brought Him back to heaven to seat Him at His right hand in glorious victory.  Telling this story brings sweetness to my mouth, telling the story of judgment that will soon take place on planet earth brings bitterness to my stomach.  We will continue to look at more of the introduction to Revelation 18 in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Paul” Romans 1:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “In Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat, where was Daniel?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/28/2015 8:51 AM

"The Extermination of the Harlot" (Rev. 17:16-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2015 9:14 AM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  The Extermination of the Harlot

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 17:16-17

            Message of the verses:  “16 “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17  "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.”

            On October 7, 2005 I wrote the following on Revelation 17:16-18, and although we have already covered verse 18 in an earlier SD I will include what I wrote on that verse from this SD in October of 2005.   “I believe that verse 16 is saying that the Antichrist and those ten rulers under him have ridden this religious beast into power and now that they are in power they no longer need this religious system and so it is time to get rid of it, and this will be the beginning of the worship of the Antichrist, which will take place in the last half of the tribulation period.  In verse 17 I can see something that is woven throughout the entire Word of God and that is that God is over all and in control of all, and His plan for this world and the people in it will take place.  It is God’s plan that this Antichrist will be in control of all the earth for this short time in order to work out His plan.  God’s ways are at many times very hard to understand, but He never makes any mistakes, ever.  Verse 18 identifies this woman or harlot and John says that this woman is the city which reigns over the kings of the earth.  At the time John wrote this it was Rome, but it is possible that John is writing about Babylon, because it was there that all of this false religious stuff began, and although it is still centered in Rome he could well have been writing about Babylon.”

            As we look at verse sixteen and the phrase “will make her desolate and naked” we can see that this religious system was very wealthy, for people were giving money to this “harlot” for probably three and a half years and this would make her very rich, but now Antichrist will cause her to become “naked” shows that he will steal from her the wealth that she has to make her desolate and naked.  You only have to look at some of the false religious systems that are in place today and see that they have a great deal of wealth, for example just travel to Utah and see how much control the Mormons have there and how rich their false system of worship has to get an example of what we will see during this time of the Tribulation period.  John MacArthur writes on this section:  “That graphic language of extreme violence is used to make clear that Antichrist and his henchmen will utterly and completely obliterate all vestiges of the false religious system.”

            He goes on to write:  “Antichrist’s self-serving, satanically inspired actions are, however, precisely in the scope of God’s sovereign plan.  In fact, it is God who will ‘put it in’ the ‘hearts’ of Antichrist’s followers ‘to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast.’  God’s power is behind the destruction and consolidation of the evil empire; as always, Satan is the instrument of God’s purposes.  The one-world unification government so long sought by the humanists will have finally arrived, only to be destroyed in one great act of divine judgment.  All ‘the words of God’—every prophecy of Christ’s return and the setting up of His kingdom—‘will be fulfilled’ completely.”

            As I was writing this I could not help but think of an OT prophet Habakkuk and how he was complaining to the Lord about the sinfulness of God’s people Israel and God told him that he was going to use the Babylonians to discipline His people to which Habakkuk had a great deal of problems with.  However in the end of his writing Habakkuk understood what and why the Lord was going to do what He says that He would do and writes “17  Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18  Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19  The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” 

            Now as we look at what we have seen in Revelation 17 we have to believe that all of what happened was in the plan of God.  When you go back to the book of Genesis and chapter three shows how sin entered mankind through Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God, and then after the flood we see the first false religious system at what would be known as Babylon and now in chapter 17 we see that it is in the purpose of God to completely destroy this system we can say with Habakkuk that no matter what happens we know that God is in charge, for He is God and He cannot do wrong.

            John MacArthur concludes:  “God hates every form of false religion and wil not tolerate those who seek to rob Him of His glory (Isa. 42:8).  Antichrist’s religious empire will be judged and destroyed.  So also, as chapter 18 of Revelation reveals, will be the political and economic aspects of that evil world empire.”   We look forward to begin looking at that chapter in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have once again been reminded that God has a plan and that nothing will stop His plan from going forth, not even Satan and his henchman the Antichrist, in fact they will be used by God to complete His plan.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love and to trust the Lord.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “I you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?’”

Answer in our next SD.

8/27/2015 9:53 AM