Characteristic of Praise (Rev. 14:2-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/9/2015 8:43 AM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  Characteristic of Praise

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Revelation 14:2-3

            Message of the verses:  “2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.”

            As we look at these two verses and then look back at some other verses in the book of Revelation we will see that the praise which goes to the Lamb and to God comes in stages and continues to grow larger and larger.  One may think that the 144,000 would not be ready to praise the Lord after all they went through, but it seems that their desire is to praise the Lord for the protection that He has given them throughout their ministry on the earth.

            Verse two begins with John hearing a voice from heaven, a loud voice, and this is not the first time that he has heard a loud voice from heaven as it also was heard in Rev. 4:1; 10:4, 8; 11:12; 12:10, and will be heard again in 14:13; 18:4; and 19:1.  It is described “like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder.”  In Ezekiel 43:2 we read “and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.”  In Revelation 1:15 the voice of the Lord Jesus is described as “His voice was like the sound of many waters.”  Revelation 19:6 says “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” 

            Now let us go back to where the song begins which is in Rev. 5:9-10 “9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."”  This song begins with the four living beings and the twenty-four elders in these verses.  Now in 5:11-12 we read “11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12  saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."”  7/9/2015 9:02 AM      7/9/2015 6:38 PM

            This was not just a voice, but also the text tells us that it is a song as we read “heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.”  I think that it is fair to say that because of harps being used that we can contend that this is a joyous praise to the Lord as seen in several OT passages which I will quote some of them and list some of them too.  “Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals (2 Samuel 6:5).”  Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings (Pss. 33:2).”  “Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre (Pss. 150:3).”  Others include 1 Chron. 13:8; 15:16, 28; 2 Chron. 5:12-13; Neh. 12:27; Pss. 71:22; 144:9. 

            John MacArthur writes “The new song in heaven before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders is the song of redemption (cf. Pss. 33:1-3; 40:3; 96:1-2; 98:1-2; 144:9-10; 149:1; Isa. 42:10).  The angels will join the Old Testament saints, the raptured church, and the redeemed Tribulation martyrs in praising God for salvation.  While angels do not experience redemption, they do rejoice because of it (Luke 15:10).  All heaven will overflow with praise because God’s redemptive work culminating in the return of Christ is accomplished.” 

            We read that no one but the 144,000 know the song, but it is not stated why so MacArthur again quotes Henry Morris who has a possible explanation:  “Although the words of the song of the 144,000 are not recorded, it surely dwells in part at least on the great truth that they had been ‘redeemed from the earth.’  Although in one sense all saved people have been redeemed from the earth, these could know the meaning of such a theme in a more profound way than others.  They had been saved after the rapture, at the time in history when man’s greatest persecutions and God’s greatest judgments were on earth.  It was at such a time that they, like Noah (Genesis 6:8), had ‘found grace in the eyes of the Lord’ and had been separated from ‘all that dwell upon the earth’ (Revelation 13:8).  Not only had they been redeemed spiritually but, precursively as it were, they had been redeemed from the very curse on the earth (Genesis 3:17), being protected from pain an death by the guarding seal.”

            These 144,000 will join with the heavenly chorus in praising the Lord for the marvelous work of redemption.  Let us look at least part of what they will be singing which is found in Rev. 15:3-4 “3  And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4  "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED."”  Now when we think about what is going on here we have to understand that redemption is the greatest gift that can be given from a holy and also a just God.  God is the One who sent His only Son into the world to  provide the salvation that only He could provide, and so as we think of it in that perspective we can take time to praise the Lord for His gracious and merciful gift of salvation, for as the song tells us “Jesus paid it all and all to Him we owe.”

            As we go over some of these characteristics of the 144,000 starting with power and today looking at praise we can practice from what we learn as we live out our Christian life here on earth.  John MacArthur agrees with this statement as he writes “A mark of triumphant Christian living in any era is constant praise to God.  The 144,000 no doubt praise God throughout their time of trial and persecution.  Because their ordeal is over and they are victorious, they will burst forth in praise to God for their deliverance.  Joy is the proper outflow of a heart that trusts in God’s sovereign power (Phil. 3:1; 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16; James 1:2; 1 Pet. 4:13).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Praising the Lord daily for the gift of salvation is something that needs to be incorporated in my walk with the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Praise the Lord for the marvelous gift of salvation.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing’” (Luke 5:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Take this child away, and nurse her for me, and I will give thee thy wages.”

Answer in our next SD.

7/9/2015 7:06 PM   

 

Characteristic of Power PT-2 (Rev. 14:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/8/2015 8:46 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus: Characteristic of Power PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 14:1

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

            We continue looking at the characteristic of power for these 144,000 Jewish Evangelists from Revelation 14:1 and we note that each of them had the Lamb’s name and also the name of His Father on their foreheads.  Now remember that when we finished looking at chapter thirteen we saw that those who were unbelievers had the number “of their father” on their foreheads, or on their arm.  Why would I say that?  Here is what Jesus said to the unbelieving Pharisees in John 8:44 “"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  This statement is true of all those who are not believers in Jesus Christ as John the Baptist stated in John 3:36 “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."”  He is stating that there are only two types of people that have ever lived on planet earth or ever will live on planet earth, those that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and those who don’t and those who don’t are children of the devil.  The mark that God gives to these 144,000 are for their protection, and even though Satan will try his best to have them killed God will provide protection for them as they tell others about what is truly going on during the Tribulation Period and telling them that the Lord Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life, and that He will be coming back to planet earth soon.  These men will enter into the Millennial Kingdom after the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth and after children are born to those others who come into the kingdom they will continue to tell them about the salvation that is only in Jesus Christ.  The OT prophets tell of things that will happen during the Millennial Kingdom, although they did not realize how long it would last, they knew that it was coming as God promised Israel to have a kingdom.  Isaiah tells of children being born in the kingdom “"They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them (Isa. 65:23).”  The Scriptures also speak of salvation during the Millennial Kingdom:  “"Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising (Isa. 60:3).  “"Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’ (Zec. 8:23).” 

            John MacArthur writes “The story of these victorious survivors illustrates the divine side of triumphant Christian living:  God will preserve His won.  The 144,000 will be living proof of the promises found in Psalm 91:5-16:

‘ 5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; 6  Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.

    ‘9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. 11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. 12 They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. 14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation."”

            As we look at the protection that God has promised to give these 144,000 we can rest assured that He gives all His children protection and will not allow anything to happen to them that will cause their death before their word in the Lord is finished on this earth.  One of the most godly people I have ever known past into glory soon after her retirement for a missions agency, and she stated that she did not think that the Lord was done with her on earth, but He was and I believe that when she saw the Lord He told her “well done thou good and faithful servant.”  Believers are eternally secure in Christ Jesus as He stated in John 10:28-29 “no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”  Paul knew of this eternal security as he wrote in Phil. 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Jude praised the Lord in verse 24 of his letter where he wrote “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.”  Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:5 “who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 

            As believers we can live confidently and minister boldly for God will care for us as we have seen his promises.  Let us conclude with what Paul wrote in Romans 8:31-39:

            31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that there are times in my walk with the Lord when I don’t believe the promises that I listed in this SD, and I suppose that this is the evil one telling me the same lie that he told Eve when he told her that God was holding out on her, not telling her everything He should tell her, and she believed that lie as I also do at times.  God has given us wonderful promises that show us how much that He loves us.  I desire to believe all of them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Believe those wonderful promises of God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The Pharisee” (Luke 18:11).

Today’s Bible question:  “How did Peter reply to Jesus’ instruction to launch out into the deep?

Answer in our next SD.

7/8/2015 9:24 AM

Characteristic of Power PT-1 (Rev. 14:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/7/2015 9:13 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  Characteristic of Power PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 14:1

            Message of the verse:  “1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

            A reminder to what we are looking at in these first five verses of Revelation 14 is seen from this quote from John MacArthur “In addition to the prophetic significances, this passage yields important practical principles for triumphant Christian living.  Seven such features will characterize the 144,000: power, purity, partisanship, purpose, precision, and perfection.”  We look at the power in our SD for today.

            John writes the phrase “I looked, and behold,” or something similar many times in the book of Revelation and this speaks of the surprise that John has when he sees something in the vision that God is showing him, and in this case it is the 144,000 who were standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.  As we study the book of Revelation we will see that the Lamb is depicted as being slain in 5:6; and 13:8, He is seen as glorified in 5:8, 12-13; exalted in 7:9-10, as the Redeemer in 7:14, and also as a Shepherd in 7:17, the Shepherd of His people, and also the Lord of Lords and King of Kings in 17:14. 

            John MacArthur writes “The appearance of the Lamb on Mount Zion is a monumental moment in redemptive history.  The psalmist wrote of this moment in Psalm 2:6-9 ‘6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." 7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ’You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 9 ’You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’"’”

            Another Psalm, Psalm 48:2 also describes Mount Zion as “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King.”  Isaiah states in 24:23b “For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.”  Now as we look at verse one of Rev. 14 we can see that these prediction are now fulfilled.

            I mentioned in an earlier SD on chapter fourteen that some equate Mt. Zion in this passage with the one written about in Hebrews 12:22-24 which states “22  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23  to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24  and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”    The reason that it is believed that this passage from Rev. 14:1 speaks of the earthly Mt. Zion is that if it were the heavenly one then the whole point would be lost as to how the Lord kept these 144,000 men alive throughout the Tribulation Period, for if they had died then the scene would be in heaven, but since they were alive the scene must be on earth in order to fulfill the prophecies we wrote about from Psalms and Isaiah. 

            Another mistake that some commentators make is who these 144,000 are.  We have read in chapter seven that they came from the twelve tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each tribe, and now people have trouble in believing that this is where they came from.  The Jehovah Witnesses use to believe that there would only be 144,000 of them but since there are now more they changed their tune and state that only the best of them will be included in this number.  I go back to the statement that I have made many times in my Spiritual Diaries, and that is “When the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense.”

            John MacArthur quotes again John Phillips who writes about the uniqueness of this group:  “No other age has produced a company like this, a veritable army of militant believers marching unscathed through every form of danger.  It has been theirs to defy the dragon, to bait the Beast, and to give the lie to the false prophet.  Their calling has been to preach the gospel from the housetops when even to name the name of Christ called for the most dreadful penalties.  They have been surrounded, these later-day Jobs, with impenetrable hedges, also to laugh to scorn all the grand inquisitors of hell.  They have walked the streets in broad daylight, careless of the teeth-gnashing rage of their would-be tortures and assassins, true witnesses of Jehovah in the most terrible era of the history of mankind.  The devil knows about this coming band of conquerors, and writhes already in an agony of anticipation.”

            We will continue this section in our next SD.   7/7/2015 9:54 AM  7/7/2015 11:28 AM

            Spiritual Meaning for my life Today:  The more that I think about the 144,000 Jewish Evangelists of the upcoming Tribulation Period the more respect and awe I have for them and desire to be like then in my world each day.  I pray that God will give me the power to do what He has planned for me to do each day that will bring glory to His Name.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To trust the Lord to provide to me the power to do the things that He has planned for me to do in eternity past as seen in the following verse:  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10).”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “By making his father Isaac think he was Esau” (Gen. 27:29).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who in a prayer thanked God that he was not like the other men?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/7/2015 11:40 AM

 

Introduction to Rev. chapter 14 PT-2 (Rev. 14:1-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/6/2015 8:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  Introduction to Rev. chapter 14 PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  Revelation 14:1-5

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.”

            I want to mention a couple of things before we go back into the introduction to chapter fourteen, and that is when we come to verse one we see the phrase that the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion and with Him were the 144,000, and we mentioned that they are the same ones that are found in chapter seven, however there is a debate as to which Mt. Zion is spoken of here, the one in heaven or the one in Israel.  In my SD from August of 2005 I stated that it was in heaven, but after further study I believe it is in Israel and will explain more in a later SD.  The other things I want to state is that this chapter is divided up into three different segments and our introduction in this SD is mainly for verses 1-5 as we will probably have two more different introductions to the other two segments found in chapter fourteen.

            We were talking about heroes in our last SD and gave some examples of different heroes both from secular and Biblical segments of our population.  Today we want to focus in on these 144,000 men that we will be looking at as we study these first five verses.  John MacArthur stated that there are probably no more than 50,000 missionaries in the world, and he made that statement in the early 1990’s and so even though the population has grown I doubt that there are any more than that today.  During the Tribulation Period we see that God will call these 144,000 Jewish Missionaries to help tell the world about Jesus Christ.  These men are godly men who are constantly in danger, and yet God will preserve them to the end to do their calling.  I believe that soon after the Rapture of the Church that the Antichrist will be revealed and then he will make the pact with Israel for seven years that begins the Tribulation Period and very soon after that these men will be called and they will be sealed by God to do His work in the most dangerous time that the earth will ever see.  We have already studied most of what will go on during this time period with the exception of the last seven judgments, the bowl judgments which we will look at when we get to chapters 15-16. 

            These men will survive both the wrath of God which is going on during this period and also Satan’s wrath and persecution of many during these times.  They will be wanted and will probably be the most wanted during this time other than the two witnesses we looked at in chapter eleven, but God will protect them as He protected others from both the Old and New Testament times.  Malachi’s writes in 3:16-17 about the remnant of his day and this can surely be spoken of for these men:  “16  Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."”  Think about Lot who God preserved along with Noah and then also we think of Rahab as He kept her safe in Jericho, even when it was destroyed.  When Israel was in Egypt God kept them safe until it was time to bring them out and then He kept them safe until they reached the Promised Land with the exception of those who had sinned against Him.  Psalm 37:39-40 says “39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.”

            John MacArthur writes “A brief overview sets the stage for the vision of the 144,000.  The reader should recall that chapters 12-14 of Revelation form an interlude in the saga of God’s final judgments on the sinful world.  The unfolding of those judgments is described in chapters 6-11, as God will begin to take back the earth from the usurper, Satan.  Chapter 22, and verse 15, records the sounding of the seventh trumpet, though the judgments associated with it will not begin to unfold until chapter 15.  Chapters 12 and 13 recapitulate the events of the Tribulation, this time giving them from Satan’s perspective.  They expose Satan’s efforts to destroy Israel (chapter 12) and detail the careers of Antichrist and the final false prophet (chapter 13).  Chapter 14 returns to what God is doing.  It contains three visions that give a general preview of the judgments yet to come that culminate in Christ’s return.

            “Chapter 14 is a bright contrast to the darkness of chapter 13, which describes Satan (the dragon), Antichrist, the final false prophet, deception, the unredeemed, idolatry, and the mark of the beast.  Chapter 14 describes the Lamb, angels, redeemed saints, genuine worship, and those sealed by God.  In chapter 13 there is falsehood, wickedness, corruption, and blasphemy; in chapter 14 there is truth, righteousness, purity, and praise.

            “In addition to its prophetic significance, this passage yields important practical principles for triumphant Christian living.  Seven such features will characterize the 144,000; power, praise, purity, partisanship, purpose, precision, and perfection.”  As we look at these qualities we see that why we can call each and every one of these men heroes. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The things that describe these men are important for me to emulate and follow in my walk with the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring about some of the characteristics in these men into my life as I love the Lord and live in His love.

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

Today’s Bible question:  “How did Jacob obtain the blessing of the firstborn son instead of Esau?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/6/2015 9:37 AM

Introduction to Rev. 14 PT-1 (Rev. 14:1-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/5/2015 9:22 PM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  Introduction to Rev. 14 PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Rev 14:1-5

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3  And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.”

            My wife and I have been enjoying watching the World Cup Soccer tournament over the last few weeks and we just finished watching the United States team defeat Japan for their third overall title and also their first since 1999.  There will be a great celebration for their efforts and rightfully so, and they will become heroes in the eyes of many Americans too.  In the sermon on these verses John MacArthur spoke also of some American heroes from our past.  He first spoke of General Paton who was one of the great generals from world war two.  He next spoke about an author Ernest Hemmingway who also was a hero in many eyes of Americans after the war ended.  Lastly he spoke of Pet Rose, a baseball player who had more hits than any other baseball player in the history of the game.  He then went on to talk about how Paton lost face when during the war he yelled at a soldier who were afraid of going to battle and was in the hospital, he even kicked him and sent him back to his unit.  The papers around the world made a big issue of this and Paton was relieved of his duty for a while.  Hemmingway, although a great writer had four wives, drank a lot and during the end of his life when he did not want to face what would happen to him in old age killed himself.  Pete Rose eventually was banned from baseball because of a gambling habit he could not control as he even bet on games he played in and also managed.  I don’t know what will happen to our latest heroes who are the soccer team, but with social media someone will begin to find things about them that will bring about a disappointment to people.

            As we begin to look at Revelation chapter 14 we will see some real heroes, heroes we meet back in chapter seven of Revelation.  We meet the 144,000 Jewish evangelists back in chapter seven, as these men, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel began to spread the gospel during the toughest time in the history of man, the Tribulation Period.

            Now at this time I want to quote some Scripture which shows what the Bible has to say about being successful in life, being heroes in the eyes of the Lord.  First let us look at Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”  Next 1 John 5:4-5 “4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  We have looked a lot at the word “overcome” when we looked at chapters 2-3 of Revelation, and we learned it met believers, all true believers are overcomers.  Next we look at 1 Corinthians 15:57 where we read “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Believers have victory because of what Jesus Christ has done for them.  Near the end of Paul’s life he wrote a letter to his son in the faith, Timothy and I suppose that when a person knows that he is near the end he writes some things he wants to say.  Paul wrote the following from 2 Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  These are truly words of a real hero.

            Paul was a man just like all men as he had the old sinful nature living in him and as we read about what he had to say just before he died we also have to read what some of the lower points of his life were for we all have them:  “14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20  But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22  For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”  All true believers have been at the points that Paul speaks of in their lives, and probably on many occasions for we all have that same kind of evil in us that Paul writes about here.

            In this first part of my introduction to chapter fourteen I am bringing about the bad news, and have a little more to talk about before we talk about the good news that we will find in this chapter from men who can be classified as true heroes.

            Let’s think of Abraham who God called His friend.  Two times he lied about his wife Sarah, claiming she was his sister and not his wife, for actually she was a half sister, but once they were married she was always his wife.  We read of David a man after God’s own heart, but we know some of the sins that he committed for they are right in the Word of God for all to read, sins like adultery and murder.  When we get to the New Testament we find that Peter, who loved the Lord actually denied he knew Him three times.  John MacArthur writes “Believer’s greatest triumphs are flawed because ‘there is no man who does not sin…there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins’ (1 Kings 8:46; Eccl. 7:20), and thus no one can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin’ (Prov. 20:9).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  I want to remember that “The successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Keep a short list with the Lord and remember that there are going to be many times in my life when I need to have a new beginning.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Rebekah” (Genesis 28:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “What book gives the account of the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/5/2015 10:02 PM

Program of the False Prophet PT-2 (Rev. 13:15-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/4/2015 7:20 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  Program of the False Prophet PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 13:15-18

            Message of the verses:  “15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

            Today’s SD picks up at the highlighted portion of verse seventeen where we see that the mark has to do with the name of the beast or the number of his name.  There seems to be with Antichrist some kind of numbering system, although the exact identification of that phrase is not clear.  MacArthur writes “What is clear is that everyone will be required to have the identifying mark or suffer the consequences.”

            John begins verse eighteen with the phrase “Here is wisdom” and this could well mean that people have to weigh the benefits and or the consequences of having this mark on them.  On one hand you will be able to eat and work and buy and sell if you have it, but on the other hand we will see that those who accept this mark will never be saved, so indeed this does take wisdom on the parts of those alive during this time period of the Tribulation. 

            As we look at the remaining portion of the eighteenth verse we read “Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six,” we know that is a difficult portion of Scripture to understand.  John MacArthur writes “Perhaps no detail in Revelation has intrigued people more than this number.  There has been no end to the speculation as to its significance and how to calculate it.  In Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, letters had numerical equivalents, and a myriad of schemes to associate the names of historical individuals with the number 666 have been put forth.  Nero, Caligula, Domitian, Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and a host of others have been proposed, based on some sort of convoluted mathematical rendering of the letters in their name.  All such speculation is futile; since the Antichrist is still to come, the number 666 cannot be associated with any historical individual.  The church father Irenaeus cautioned against speculating about the identity of the person associated with the number 666 until that person arrives on the scene.  Robert L. Thomas gives a very reasonable perspective:  ‘The better part of wisdom is to be content that the identification is not yet available, but will be when the future false Christ ascends to his throne.  The person to whom 666 applies must have been future to John’s time, because John clearly meant the number to be recognizable to someone.  If it was not discernible to his generation and those immediately following him—and it was not—the generation to whom it will be discernible must have lain (and still lies) in the future.  Past generations have provided many illustrations of this future personage, but all past candidates have proven inadequate as fulfillments.  Christians from generation to generation may manifest the same curiosity as the prophets of old regarding their own prophecies, but their curiosity will remain unsatisfied until the time of fulfillment arrives.” 

            Now at this time I want to give a quote from my Spiritual Diary from August 23, 2005, and the portion I want to quote is from the “Spiritual meaning for my life today:  First I am not sure that anyone will understand who this antichrist is or second, what this number 666 means before the rapture of the Church. This being said it seems to me that it could be a waste of time trying to figure this out, and as Pastor Burns once said that we as believers should be looking for the return of Christ and not the antichrist.  I think that one of the things that I can take away from these verses is that if I do not keep in the Word of God each day reading it, and studying it that it is possible that I can get into some wrong situations, not as bad as the ones described in these verses, but things that can take me off of the focus to become more like my Savior and Lord.”  Pastor Ralph Burns, who is now with the Lord, was my first Pastor that I had after receiving Christ as my Savior and Lord and I thank the Lord for this godly man.

            We need to understand that this verse says that this number, 666, is a number of a man.  The number seven is the number of perfection, thus it is God’s number, so since man fell short of perfection his number is six.  When we look at creation from the book of Genesis we see that man was created on the sixth day, and in Exodus we see that slaves were freed after six years of service, fields were to be sown for only six consecutive years as found in Lev. 25:3.  MacArthur writes “Repeating the number three times emphasizes that this is man’s number, just as the thrice-repeated statement ‘holy, holy, holy’ stresses God’s absolute holiness (4:8; Isa. 6:3).”

            Revelation 14:9-11 shows us what will happen to those who worship the beast and receive his number:  “9  Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11  "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."”

            In my Bible reading yesterday morning I read of the fate of the False Prophet, and it is the same as that of Antichrist:  “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone (Rev. 19:20).”

            John MacArthur finishes his commentary on this section of Scripture and this will end our study of chapter thirteen:  “This sobering passage is not intended to be the source of fruitless speculation about its details.  Rather, it stands as a warning to the unbelieving world.  It also challenges believers to lead careful, watchful, godly lives (cf. 1 Pet. 4:7; 2 Pet. 3:11), and to evangelize a hopelessly lost world, headed for destruction.  Believers are to faithfully proclaim the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thereby rescue the souls of men and women from the disaster that looms just over the horizon.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to be able to tell others of the hope that is within me which is found in “1Pe 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring people onto my path who are ready to hear of the hope that lies within me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was Laban’s sister?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/4/2015 8:04 AM

 

 

 

 

 

The Program of the False Prophet PT-1 (Rev. 13:15-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/3/2015 8:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  The Program of the False Prophet PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 13:15-18

            Message of the verses:  “15  And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

            One of Satan’s strategies is to cause the governments of the world to have a law in which believers cannot follow.  When we look back at the third chapter of Daniel we see something similar in that a statute was made of King Nebuchadnezzar and everyone had to worship that statute or else they would die.  We read of a similar situation that will happen in the Tribulation Period from the verses that are in our text for today.  Now as we look at current events in our country we see something similar that just happened a week ago for now true believer who is walking with the Lord can believe that the Supreme Court in our country did the right thing in ruling that homosexual marriage is the right thing as the Bible speaks out against it from the very first chapters of the Bible when God created a man and a woman and then married them.  He completely destroyed a society because of this very act as we read latter on in Genesis. 

            Ok back to our verses in Revelation and I suppose that verse eighteen of chapter thirteen of the book of Revelation is a verse that even causal readers of the Bible know about for in it we have the famous number: 666.  I don’t think we will get that far today, but we will look at it soon to see exactly what we believe this verse means, but first we need to begin with verse fifteen.

            We have seen in our study of the OT prophets and also from our study in the book of Psalms that when they spoke of idols they would say that they have mouths but they do not speak, well this idol we are looking at in verse fifteen is different than all the other idols for the false prophet will somehow make it speak for we read that he “will give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak.”  John MacArthur writes “Breath translates pneuma, not zoe or bios, the Greek words normally translated life.  The false prophet will animate the image of Antichrist so that it gives the appearance of being alive.  With today’s amazing special effects technology and robotics, that is not out of the realm of possibility.  Add to that the world’s desperate need, amid the carnage of the Tribulation, to believe in a death conqueror, and the ruse become very believable.” 

            Now as I spoke of in the beginning of this SD the false prophet will then make it law that those “who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”  When we go back to the sixth chapter of Revelation we saw that there were souls under the altar who had been slain for the cause of Christ, and probably many of those who have been slain were done so because of their refusing of worshiping the statute of the beast.  Remember in chapters 12-14 we go back and look at the Tribulation Period from the perspective of the Antichrist.  However we know that not all believers would be killed from this as there will be many who go into the Millennial Kingdom alive.  However it is the goal of Satan to kill all believers and all Jews so that the promised Kingdom for Israel will not take place thus making God out to be a liar or One who cannot keep His promises.  This will not happen as God will always keep His promises.  When I began to read the “Left Behind” series they made a point that after the rapture happened that all those who were alive on planet earth only one out of four would live until the end of the Tribulation Period.  Many who do live through this time will not be believers and will then die through the judgment of Christ when He returns as described in Revelation chapter nineteen and also prophesied in Matthew chapter 25 from Christ Olivet Discourse where we read from “32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.’”

              We look at verse sixteen, a verse that speaks of the mark of the beast, and it tells us that if you don’t receive this mark that you will not be able to buy or sell anything, and this mark effects all classes of people as far as the rich and the poor, the free man and the slaves, all will be required to receive this mark and this is another way that Satan is causing a division between those who are believers, who will not receive this mark with unbelievers who will as Satan tires his best to kill all believers.  John MacArthur writes “Mark (charagma; from charasso, ‘I engrave’) was the term for images or names of the emperor on Roman coins.  In the ancient world, such marks (tattoos or brands) were commonly given to slaves, soldiers, and devotees of religious cults (cf. Gal. 6:17).  God sealed, with a mark on the forehead of the 144,000 to preserve them from His wrath against the unbelieving world (7:2-3); the false prophet marks the unsaved to preserve them from Antichrist’s wrath against God’s people.  The mark will signify that the person bearing it is a worshiper and loyal follower of the Antichrist.  In much the same way, the Roman emperors required their subjects to prove their loyalty by offering sacrifices to Caesar.  Those who refused, like those who refuse to take the Antichrist’s mark, were subject to execution.”

            I will conclude this SD with a quote that John MacArthur makes from a man who lived under Bulgaria’s communist regime, which is actually quoted in the commentary of W. A. Criswell on the book of Revelation:  the  man states “You cannot understand and you cannot know that the most terrible instrument of persecution ever devised is an innocent ration card.  You cannot buy and you cannot sell except according to that little, innocent card.  If they please, you can be starved to death, and if they please, you can be disposed of everything you have; for you cannot trade, and you cannot buy and you cannot sell, without permission.”  MacArthur continues “The pressure to give in to the worship of Antichrist will be far worse than anything ever experienced in human history.  Life will be virtually unlivable, so the people are forced to bow to the demonized king, not prompted merely by religious deception, but also by economic necessity.”  Just a note that those of us living in today’s society realize that there is now a chip that can be implanted under the skin that can be scanned to see all information about a person, and many believe that this is a forerunner of this mark spoken of in verse sixteen.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It takes a lot of faith in the Lord to do the things that are right in life, to realize that this is not my home for I am just passing through to realize that we are not human beings going through a spiritual existence, but spiritual beings going through a human existence.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To trust the Lord to see me through the trying times that we live in and that I will be a bright light in the ever darkening place that I live in.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Peter” (Matthew 18:21).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where did Jesus go to be tempted by the devil?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/3/2015 9:48 AM