A Greater Look at the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:15-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  More descriptions of the New Jerusalem

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 21:15-21

 

            Message of the verse:  “15  The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.  16  When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, it was in the form of a cube, for its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.  17  Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (the angel used a standard human measure).  18  The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.  19  The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve gems: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,  20  the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21  The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.”

            I must say that I needed some help with these verses today so I went to one of my study Bibles to get it.  I choose the “Life Application Study Bible” and there were a couple of good notes that I found.  The first one was on verses 15-17 and I will use part of it to help explain these verses.  “The city’s measurements are symbolic of a place that will hold all God’s people.  These measurements are all multiples of 12, the number for God’s people:  There were 12 tribes in Israel, and 12 apostles who started the church.  The walls are 144 (12x12) cubits (200 feet) thick; There are 12 layers in the walls, and 12 gates in the city; and the height, length, and breadth are all the same, 12,00 stadia (1400 miles).  The New Jerusalem is a perfect cube, the same shape as the Most Holy Place in the Temple (1 Kings 6:20).  These measurements illustrate that this new home will be perfect for us.”

            Note on verses 21:18-21:  “The picture of walls made of jewels reveals that the new Jerusalem will be a place of purity and durability—it will last forever.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There is always hidden meaning in God’s Word, and because God is the One who put this hidden meaning into His Word, He, through His Holy Spirit, is the One who will reveal it to those who search for it.

            I am not so sure that I received these words that I am about to write from this passage above, but I do believe that they came to me from God’s Spirit:  God wants me to trust in Him, and not on the things that He has given to me.  I do believe that this is the main thing that God wants me to learn throughout this storm, or trial that I am going through, and it makes perfect sense to me as I was surely trusting in the money that God had entrusted me with and not the God who provided it.

 

The Word of God was refreshing to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to trust the God of the gifts and not the gifts from my God.

           

New Jerusalem's Walls and Gates (Rev. 21:12-14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/28/2005

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Jerusalem’s Walls & Gates

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 21:12-14

 

            Message of the verse:  “12  It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.  13  There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.  14  And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

            Verse twelve speaks of the city having great high walls, and the walls had twelve gates in them.  Verse thirteen says that there were three gates on each side of these walls, and on each one of the gates was a name of the tribe of Israel.  There are different lists of the names of the tribes of Israel in the Bible, and on the first list the name of Levi was omitted because they were the tribe which the priests came from and also they were the tribe that served in the Temple worship.  There was a different list in Revelation seven, but as Dr. Wiersbe points out John may be just showing that all of God’s people will be here in the New Jerusalem.  John goes on to say that there were twelve foundation stones and on them were the names of each of Jesus’ apostles, and here again there were thirteen apostles which include Paul.  I have often thought that Peter may have acted in too much of a hurry when the decision to appoint another apostle came about in Acts and maybe should have waited for God to appoint the apostle replace Judas, which seems to be Paul.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Throughout the entire Bible I can see that God always has a plan, and He always works out this plan just the way that He wants it to work out.  I can see this principle here in these verses as there was surely a lot of planning went into the design of this city which was seen here by John.  God also has a plan for me, and for my life, and I must submit to that plan, even though I am not sure what it is all of the time, and sometimes I do not like it to much.  With this been said I still need to trust the Lord with the plan that He has for my life, because God makes no mistakes, and won’t with my life either.

 

The Word of God has spoken to my heart in the form of a challenge this morning, and has also been refreshing .

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I must draw strength from the Lord to fill me with His love so that I might love others, and especially my wife, in the way Christ loves.  This is a supernatural kind of love that can only come from the strength and power of the Lord. 

I also want to trust the Lord for the plan that He has for my life at this time of it, and do the things that He is leading me to do at GBC to the best of my ability, and in the power of His Holy Spirit.

The New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/27/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The New Jerusalem

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 21:9-11

 

            Message of the verse:  “9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’  10  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11  having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.”

            One of the angels who had the last plagues came to John to show him the New Jerusalem, which is the city that God’s glory will dwell in, as is described in verse eleven.  The angel calls this city the bride the wife of the Lamb, so this could mean that this is where the Church will dwell at in eternity.  John’s description of this city can be a bit difficult to understand, giving that it was done almost 2000 years ago, and terms in that day are surely different than today, but with all of that said one thing is sure, and that this will be the most beautiful city ever made or seen. 

            John is carried away in the Spirit again and is wittiness to seeing this city come down from heaven, a city made by God.  Verse eleven is saying that God glory, or light will be shining through this city.  Dr. Macarthur writes that the word for jasper seen in verse eleven is a transliteration from the Greek, and the word means like a clear diamond, so this would make sense that God’s glory would shine through it.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have written about how God has made His presence with man throughout the ages in different ways in a previous SD, and today God’s dwells in His children today in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  As I look, especially at verse eleven, and see that the glory of God will be in the New Jerusalem in such a way that there will be no need of any sun during that period, it makes me think that I as a believer in Jesus Christ, having the Holy Spirit dwelling in me should live my life in a way so that the glory of God shines through me.  Not in the way that it will be visible like in the New Jerusalem, but in a spiritual way so that when people see me they will be able to see something different, and there will be times when this may get me into trouble because people will not want to see God’s light shining upon them because of what it reveals.  This happened in the early Church when Stephen was actually killed because the evil people of that day, (even though they were religious), could not stand to see the light. 

I must confess that I have a very long way to go in this process, but I am willing and I will, by the grace of God, study His Word each day so that His Holy Spirit will continue to conform me more into His image each day.

 

The Word of God has been a challenge to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to study God’s Word and as the Holy Spirit to teach me how to apply it to my life, so that God’s glory will shine through this vessel.

An Overcomer or Overcomed (Rev. 21:7-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus: An overcomer or overcomed

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 21:7-8

 

            Message of the verse:  “7  ‘He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.  8  ‘But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’”

            This is still the Lord who is speaking here, and in these two verses there is much that is opposite.  He starts out by using the word “overcomer or overcomes” which is used eight times in this letter, and all believers are overcomers as John described in his first epistle:  “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  The Lord goes on to say that all of these overcomers will inherit all things, (KJV) (or this could mean the things described in the previous verses of this chapter).  Then the Lord assures his readers that He will be the God of these overcomers and they will be His children.

            Verse eight speaks of those who were overcomed by sin, and these are not God’s children nor will they have any part of His eternal Kingdom.  In verse eight the Lord gives some of the characteristics of those who have been overcomed by sin, and the description is not a good one.  He then goes on to say that their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

            Dr. Wiersbe tells a story in his commentary on Revelations about D. L. Moody, and the story goes that after the great Chicago fire D. L. Moody’s house was in a heap of rubble and a friend come up to him and made the comment that Mr. Moody had lost everything, and Mr. Moody said that he had not lost everything, but had much more, to which the man replied that he did not realize that Mr. Moody was a rich man, to which Mr. Moody replied with Revelation 21:7:  “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Revelation 21:7 has probably had a great deal of meaning to many people down through the ages, and even though the exact timing of when I will inherit all things that this verse points out, it give me hope that someday when this life on earth is over that I will stand with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and will inherit the things that He has spoken of in these verses.  This verse kind of makes things a bit less important here on this earth, and it also teaches me that I should not get so caught up in the things of this world, but have a proper perspective on them, that is that they are a gift from God, and that I am only but a steward of His things, and that I am to be faithful in my stewardship.  There are probably many times in the past where I have failed to do this is a proper, godly manner.

 

The Word of God has been refreshing, challenging, and convicting to my heart as I thought about it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  That I would have the proper perspective on the investment that I have with Andrew Lech at this time, and also have the proper perspective on it if, and when the Lord returns it to me. 

Satisfying Water Without Cost (Rev. 21:6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/25/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Satisfying Water without cost

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 21:6

 

            Message of the verse:  “6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

            I would think that there is more than one way to look at this verse, as you could look at the water that the Lord Jesus Christ is talking of real water, for there were probably some who were going to read this did not have enough water to drink.  The other way would be looking at this in the Spiritual realm, and then this would be speaking of ones salvation, and also ones sanctification.  Water is sometimes used of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures, but probably not in this case.

            The first part of this verse Jesus said that “it is done,” and probably this refers to all those things that had to do with the “old” earth, and now that there is a new heaven and earth all of the things that had to do with the old one have been completed and is all in the past.  Jesus went on to say that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and this refers to Jesus being all that is ever need.  Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and even in that word “alphabet” one can see the word alpha in it. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are a couple of things that I can take out of this verse, and the first is that it is a wonderful comfort to me to know that Jesus is all that I need as He has said in this verse that He is A to Z.  I think of God’s Word and how it quenches my spiritual thirst whenever I read it, and studied it, and it is something that is very necessary to do each day of my life.

 

The Word of God has been refreshment to my soul as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to lead and guide my steps each day, as it is getting hard not to hear from heaven on the trials that we are going through.  Oh yes I am spiritually fed by reading God’s Word and talking to Him each day, but as far as our investments and a job with HRSG, there has been no Word from heaven on these two things that are becoming more troublesome each day.  God please increase my faith and continue to give me peace throughout these times of trouble.

All Things are New (Rev. 21:3-5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/24/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  All Things New

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 21:3-5

 

            Message of the verse:  “3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’  5 And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’”

            John hears a loud voice from the throne and He told John some very interesting things to write down.  The first thing He told John was that the dwelling place of God is now among men.  In the Garden of Eden, before sin entered into the picture God walked with Adam and Eve, but after sin entered God no longer walked with men that way.  When the Jewish Tabernacle was made God      was present with men in the Ark of the Covenant, but Ezekiel saw God Glory leave the first Jewish Temple.  John’s Gospel records how Jesus tabernacled among us and this is also seen in John’s first letter.  After the resurrection of Christ He promised the Holy Spirit, and He came to dwell in all who believed and were saved, and this is how God is among men in the Church age. In the 1000 year Kingdom Jesus Christ will set upon David’s throne and thus God will dwell with men in that age.  Now John learns that in the eternal state God will live among His people.  John goes on to say that those who are with Him at that time will be His people, those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.  Next John records that God will wipe away every tear from His children’s eyes, and then promises that there will be no more death, nor any mourning or crying or pain, because all of these will have been passed away, never to return.  I have read or heard someone say that they believed when we first get to heaven that there may be some tears shed over lost opportunities, but others have said that there will be no tears in heaven. 

            In verse five the One who sits upon His throne says that He is going to make all things new, and the things that He has said and told John to record are faithful and true.  John’s Gospel records Jesus saying, “My Word is Truth.” 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  John has written these words and then gave them to people who were going through very difficult times, and these word gave comfort to them, knowing that one day all of these difficulties will be over and they will then dwell in that eternal city with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  These words give comfort to me as I go through some difficult times.

 

The Word of God has brought refreshment to my heart as I read and studied them this morning, this Thanksgiving Day.

 

 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I must continue to trust God, that He will work out His perfect plan in my life, and of course my wife’s life too, that He will direct our paths, as He has promised that He would, that He will be faithful and true to me as He has promised that He would be.  These past two plus years have been filled with many distressing moments, but through it all I have always believe that God will work these difficult things out for our good and for His glory.  I want to continue to learn and grow through this storm, and be faithful to my Lord, and not fall to the schemes of the evil one.

New Heaven and New Earth (Rev. 21:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/23/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  New Heaven & Earth

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelations 21:1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.  2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”

            Even though John describes some new things in these last two chapters of the letter, it is sometimes hard to get a grasp on what it all will look like and be like. 

Dr. Wiersbe points out some things in his book on Revelation concerning these final two chapters that are worth recording here.

 

Genesis                                                           Revelation

Heavens and earth created 1:1                        New heavens and earth, 21:1

Sun created 1:16                                             No need of the sun, 21:23

The night established, 1:5                               No night there, 22:5

The seas created, 1:10                                    No more seas, 21:1

The curse announced, 3:14-17            No more curse, 22:23

Death enters history, 3:19                               No more death, 21:4

Man driven from the garden, 3:24                   Man restored to paradise, 22:14

Sorrow and pain begin, 3:17                           No more tears or pain, 21:4

 

            There are disagreements among Bible scholars as to what happens to the old heaven and earth when the new one’s come into existence.  2 Peter 3:10 says that the earth will be destroyed by fire:  “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”  The word used as elements means “basis building block” and could be referring to atoms, and since scientist do not know what holds the atoms together, but we do, for Jesus is said to hold things together, if the power of them were suddenly released, then the entire universe would be destroyed and it would be just as Peter describes it here by fire. 

            John goes on to write that there will no longer be any sea on this new earth.  The present earth is 3/4 water, but this will not be the case of the new earth.

            In verse two John goes on to describe the New Jerusalem, as it comes down out of heaven from God and it is made for the bride adorned for her husband.  John is describing the beauty of the New Jerusalem.  In John 14:1 Jesus tells His disciples that He is going away to make a place for them, and some believe that the New Jerusalem is what He was referring to. 

            One more thing about the new heaven and earth, and that is that they were written about in the OT, and I will give two quotes from Isaiah:  Isa. 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”  Isa. 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, ‘So your offspring and your name will endure.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I begin these two final two chapters of a quest that began a long time ago for me I come to a point in the Scriptures that there is a lot of controversy over with different Biblical scholars, as some think that the things that are contained in this whole letter are “spiritual” and not literal.  I disagree with them as I believe that the things written in the wonderful letter will happen just as John wrote them, although I must admit that I surely do not understand all of the things written in this letter.  The best way to study the letter of Revelation is to compare it with the rest of the Scriptures, for by doing that one can get a better grasp on the literalness of its content.

            These last two chapters are chapters of hope for me as a believer in Jesus Christ living in the 21^st century on planet earth, for in them I can see that there will come a time

In the not to distance future when all of these things will come to past, and as I go through some tests and trials in my life at this time, I can look to the future with hopefulness, (a noun not a verb), and realize that all of these things that I am going through will be worth it all when I see Jesus.

 

The Word of God was very refreshing to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord in the trials of life, and to believe that someday when this life is over that I will be with my Lord forever.

More About The Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:13-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/22/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Great White Throne Judgments Continued

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 20:13-15

 

            Message of the verse:  “13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up the dead which were in them. And men were judged, each according to what he had done.  14  Then death and the grave were themselves hurled into the lake of fire, which is the second death.  15  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

            The following is how the Message reads on verse 13:  “Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived.”  The last part of verse 13 speaks of how man will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment and that seems to be by what they had done.  There may be some who come to this judgment and tell the Lord how good of life they had lived while they were on planet earth, they may try to justify themselves, but God will show them what exactly their true motives were to live the kind of life that they lived and prove to them that it was not good enough.

            I was very confused about verse 14 and began to look at what others had written about it, but did not find anything.  While I was searching in a commentary it seemed that the Lord revealed what this verse means.  When God created man on a perfect earth, living in a perfect environment there was no need for a grave because there was no death.  Death and the graves were a result of sin and that seems to be the reason that they were both thrown into the lake of fire.

            The most sobering of all of these verses, for it tells of the fate of those who do not have their names written in the book of life, and that is they were thrown into hell.  It must be remembered that God did not make hell for man, but for Satan and those evil angels who followed him, and now it will be used for those of the human race who followed Satan and his evil angels.

            Jesus spoke of this resurrection of the dead in John 5:28-29, “28  "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

29  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In light of the sure coming of this judgment I would like to quote a verse that Paul wrote while he was in prison for serving the Lord, praying that it will be true of my life:  “and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,”

 

The Word of God was very sobering to me as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  That God will put a burden on my heart for those who are lost and that God will bring seekers into my life and then, as Paul writes, give me the utterance in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. 

The Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2005

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Great White Throne Judgment

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 20:11-12

 

            Message of the verse:  “11 ¶  And then I saw a great white throne, and One seated upon it from whose presence both earth and sky fled and vanished.  12  Then; I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books concerning what they had done.”

            This section, from verse 11 through verse 15, is probably the most sobering verses in all of the Scriptures.  This theme is given other places in the Bible, but in these verses are seen the culmination of what these other verses were written about.  Daniel saw this happening in a vision just like John is has seen it and written about it here.  Daniel 7:10 & 11 has this to say about this scene:  “10  ‘A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.

11  ‘Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.’”  In this section John is seeing the judgment of Antichrist, and it seems to be this same judgment that John is writing about.

            John is writing here about the Great White Throne Judgment, which is the place where every unbeliever will be judged and then will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is also named hell.  In verse eleven John writes that there is One sitting on a great white throne, and that One is Jesus Christ and John goes on to write that the earth and the sky had vanished.  It is good to remember how all of this has come into existence in the first place, and that is through the spoken Word of God, as something was made from nothing, and now the process will be reversed.  Peter writes about this in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

            In verse twelve John describes those who will be at this judgment and also the things that will condemn them, that is the books, and one of them will probably be God’s Word, the Bible.  The Book of Life is also there, and in this book are the names of all who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and none of these who are at this judgment has their name recorded in that book.  There are other books there that will have recorded in them the things that all of these people will have done, and that is the reason that they find themselves there.  None of these people will have ever accepted the forgiveness that God has provided, and so they must stand on their own righteousness, and that will never be good enough to satisfy a Holy God.

            It seems that there will be different degrees of punishment in hell, not only can it be seen from these verses, but also from other places in the Scriptures such as Matt. 11:20-24.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Because of the seriousness of these verses, and also because of the great commission that Jesus Christ gave just before He went back to heaven, I must continue to pray that God will give me opportunity to tell others about the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I must also continue to pray for the souls of those that God has laid upon my heart, pray that God will save them.

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart, and it has also brought conviction to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to lead and to guide my life, to continue to pray and to read the Scriptures so that I can understand better what it is that I am to be doing, and to be praying about.  To continue to trust the Lord as He leads me and directs my path through these trials that he has seen fit to send me into. 

One Last Battle (Rev. 20:7-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/17/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  One Last Battle

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 20:7-10

 

            Message of the verse:  “7  When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8  and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.  9  And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.  10  And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

            These four verses describe the last battle on the earth, and it will not last long at all.  These verses describe what takes place at the end of Christ’s 1000 year reign on earth.  As for some of the other details that will take place during this 1000 year reign, they are described in the OT, mostly in the writings of the prophets, but it can be described as a perfect environment of peace, for there will be no violence at all for any sin will be dealt with swiftly as it will not be tolerated during the reign of Jesus Christ on this earth.  This time will be the fulfillment of the promises to Israel of having a kingdom on earth with their Messiah ruling from His throne in Jerusalem.  Many people who were alive at the time when Jesus came to earth the first time asked Him when He would restore the kingdom to Israel, and many people did not follow Him because they could see that He was not going to be the One who would reign and rule in power like many of the OT writings described.  There were some scholars of that time who said that there must be two Messiahs coming because they saw in the Scriptures the two roles that the Messiah would take up, one as the suffering servant, and the other as the conquering King of Israel.

            As stated in an earlier SD, Satan was not put into hell when Christ came down from heaven and won the war of Armageddon, he was put in the abyss, and  at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ he is let out to head up one last battle.  The question is why is there anyone who would want to fight against the Lord Jesus Christ after living in a perfect environment for all of those years?  The answer has always been the same and that is man’s heart, the nature that man is born with is sinful and the only thing that can be done about that is to receive a new one from God.  It was said of Abraham that he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness and all of these people who will be born during this time will have to have this righteousness given to them in order to receive eternal life.  In the book of Ezekiel starting at chapter 40 and going through the end of his writings, chapter 48 there is described a new Temple and this is what will be in Jerusalem during the 1000 year kingdom, and people will give sacrifices in that Temple, and I believe that this will remind them of what Christ did on the cross, and they will be able to see their need for salvation, but not all of them will see that need and these will be some of the ones who will follow Satan during that time.

            Ezekiel also describes a battle of Gog and Magog in his writings, and there are some things that are similar between these two battles in that they will both be against Israel and both of them will have a miraculous ending, in that God will intervene and end the battle very swiftly. 

            When this battle is over, by having fire come down from heaven to end it, the Devil will then be put into hell where the antichrist and false prophet have already been for those 1000 years and will be tormented for eternity.

            As stated earlier in another SD, some people think all of this is spiritualized and is not literal, and they do not believe in a literal 1000 year reign of Messiah on this earth, but there are too many things written in the OT concerning Israel having a King from the line of David to rule from Jerusalem over all of the earth.  The Church is not mentioned in the OT, and Christ established the Church, but that does not mean that the promises to Israel were taken away from them and given to the Church, for all one has to do is look at Paul’s writings in Romans 9-11 in order to see that Israel still has a future, and that future includes Jesus Christ, their Messiah to set upon David’s throne and rule, and these verses in Revelation 20 are speaking of His rule.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What do all of these things mean to me today as I live my life here in the 21^st century?  For one thing I know that Satan will meet his demise and will end up in hell, which is the place that was made for him and also for his angels.  I also know that if man can live in a perfect environment it will make little difference, because it is a heart problem that all men are born with.  I guess the thing that I can take out of this today is that God’s promises will all come about for God cannot lie, for it is not in His character to do so.  I can hold onto all of God’s promises, and even though I do not know the time table for all of His promises to be fulfilled, I know that some day all of them will be. 

 

The Word of God was both refreshing and challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I continue to trust the Lord through all of these trials that He is sending me through, that He will make me better and not bitter, and that He will bring glory to Himself, and good for me, and that I will have a closer walk with the Lord because of all of the trials that He is sending me through.     

Priests of God and Jesus Christ (Rev. 20:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/16/2005

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Priests of God and Jesus Christ

 

Bible Reading & Medittion                                       Reference:  Revelation 20:5-6

 

            Message of the verse:  “5  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.  6  Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

            I have been taught that at this point all of the righteous will have been raised from the dead and the one’s being written about in verse six are those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that verse six contains the sixth of seven beatitudes that are in the letter of Revelations. 

            Another thing has just come into my mind as I was again reading the sixth verse and that I have read some commentators who have said that those who come out of the tribulation, who are saved may die during the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth, but if I understand these verses correctly the only other resurrection will be those who are lost and then go into the Great White Throne Judgment.  With this been said I think that not only all of those who have come out of the tribulation period alive and were believers, along with all of their offspring that they have will stay alive until the 1000 years is complete.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Verse six also talks about being priests or God and of Christ for those 1000 years, and this is speaking of the Kingdom age with Christ.  In Peter’s writing he writes about the believers of the Church age as being priests and so I am a priest.  A priest, among other things, intercedes with God on behalf of others, both the saved and the lost, and so I would like to be affective as one of the Lord Jesus Christ’s priests each day.

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to put my trust in the Lord to see me through the trials that He has sent me into.

Reining With Christ (Rev. 20:4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/15/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Reining With Christ

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Revelation 20:4

 

            Message of the verse:  “4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

            The first part of this verse speaks of thrones and the ones sitting on these thrones judging, as judgment was given to them.  Those who are sitting on these thrones are not identified and I cannot find any notes to give a clue as to who they are so I guess that I will have to keep looking to find out who they are. 

            The rest of the verse speaks of those who had died for not taking the mark of the beast, and they were now resurrected from the dead.  They came to life and the verse says that they reigned with Christ for 1000 years.  Most people that I have read on this section write about the resurrection of the dead and believe that at this time all of the “saints,” both OT and NT, along with the tribulation saints will be raised and will rule in Christ’s 1000 year kingdom on earth.  As stated previously some do not believe in an actual 1000 year kingdom of Christ here upon the earth, but I do believe that the Bible teaches this and will discuss some of the reasons as to why on my commentary of verses 5 & 6, hopefully tomorrow.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This verse is a verse of the “hope,” and the hope of all true believers in Jesus Christ is to one day have a resurrected body.  As for the Church, there resurrected body will come at the rapture of the Church as described in 1Thes. 4:13-18 and 1 Cor. 15:50-52, and also is eluted to in other places of Scripture.  This is surely my hope and in the morning when I put on the spiritual armor and get to the place where I put on the helmet of salvation I usually think about this great hope of the believer, when my salvation will be complete with a new resurrected body.

 

The Word of God was comforting to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to see me through these trials that he is sending me through, and when I get down over them to think about the “hope” of the believer, the rapture of the church.

The Demise of Satan For 1000 Years (Rev. 20:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/14/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The demise of Satan for 1000 years

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 20:1-3

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.  2  And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3  and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”

            In verse one John writes about a powerful angel that comes down from heaven and is holding a special key and a very strong chain in his hand.  The abyss is not hell and John has mentioned this before in 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; and 17:8.  This the place that Satan will be bound for 1000 years as John writes in verse two.  In verse three it can be seen that this strong angel with the strong chain throws Satan into the abyss and puts a seal over it so that Satan cannot get out until he is let out in 1000 years.  The verse goes on to say why Satan is put into this abyss, and that is so that he will not be able to deceive the nations any longer, but he will be able to do so after the 1000 years is up for a short time and after that he will go to hell for eternity, along with all of his evil angels for that is why hell was created in the first place.

            Just a bit of commentary on the 1000 years that is mentioned in this section, as there are some who have different ideas of what this actually means.  I have heard a saying about Scripture which goes like this:  when the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense, and in this case there is no reason to read anything into it for God’s word speaks of a 1000 year kingdom in which the Messiah will rule over, and the one thing that has been added in the NT, (the book of Revelation) is the amount of years it would last, for the Jews in the OT had been promised this kingdom and this will be the fulfillment of it.  There are some who have said that this is just figurative language and it will not happen, but I believe they are very wrong about their thinking.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Scriptures are full of wonderful promises for the future of the believer, and they will all come to pass because God cannot lie.  Though these promises have not come to fruition yet does not mean that I should doubt God’s Word of God Himself, but on the contrary I am to live my life in a way that will be pleasing to the Lord because of the fact that this earth is not my home, it is not all that God has in store for me, and I am not to live my life like the rich man in one of Jesus’ parables where he said he would tare down his barns and build bigger ones and then because he has is life all in order he would eat drink and be merry.  He said this because his only perspective of life was what it was on this earth, and not what God said it would be like for those who trusted in Him for their salvation.

 

The Word of God was convicting to my heart as I read it this morning, but at the same time it has reminded me of the hope that I have in Christ Jesus my Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to give me direction for my life each and every day as the proverb describes that I am to trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not upon my own understanding, but in all of my ways acknowledge Him and He has then promised to direct my paths.

Judgments for Two Beasts (Rev. 19:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/11/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Judgment for two Beasts

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 19:20

 

            Message of the verse:  “20  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.”

            As I have written earlier about these two men concerning that there have always been antichrists and false prophets alive upon this earth, as was written about in John’s first letter, and when these two men are thrown alive into the lake of fire this will be the end of antichrists and false prophets forever, for Jesus Christ will set up His Throne in Jerusalem and rule there for 1000 years and He will rule with a rod of iron, and sin will be dealt with swiftly.  The verse goes on to say that it was these two men who have deceived all those who received the mark of the beast and who worshiped the image of the beast, and for all of these sins they were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.  (Brimstone has something to do with sulphur and when used in this way in the Scriptures denote judgment).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This verse speaks of God’s pay day for all of these people who were antichrists and false prophets, for our times are not God’s times.  God has a plan and no one will be able to prevent His plan to get off track.

 

The Word of God was refreshing to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord throughout all of the trials that He is taking me through.

The Lord with His Sword (Rev. 19:17-19, 21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/10/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The Lord with His Sword

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 19:17-19, 21

 

            Message of the verse:  “17  Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18  so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.’  19  And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.  21  And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

            The scene changes a bit as John records the words of an angel who is standing in the sun shouting to the birds who are flying in the midheaven, (close to the earth), saying to them that they should get ready to eat the flesh of men and horses who will soon be killed as they fight against He who sits upon a white horse and has a sword in His mouth. 

            This is the end of the battle of Armageddon and what seems strange about it is that these men came out to fight against one another, but when they see the Lord Jesus Christ coming back to earth with His army they begin to fight against Him instead of fighting against each other.  Jesus fights against this army by using the sword that He has in His mouth, and this sword could represent His Word.  This will be the end of war, for afterwards the Lord will set up His Kingdom on earth as He will sit upon His throne in Jerusalem. 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that the word flesh is used six times in this section of this letter.  The word “flesh” is used in different ways in God’s Word, and one of the meanings is that of the outside covering of a person or an animal, and this is how the word is used here, however there is another way that the word “flesh” is used in the Bible, and that represents the old nature of man that he was born with, the nature that he received from Adam and the Bible never has anything good to say about that nature.  All of these people who will be killed by the sword that is in the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ only have this old nature as opposed to those who have been born of God who receive a new nature, and the Bible never has anything bad to say about this new nature given to believers by the Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are two suppers described in Revelations chapter 19, and by the grace of God I will be seen in the first supper, which the supper of the Lamb that takes place in heaven.  I can only praise the Lord for this because it was all His doing because of His love, grace, and mercy. 

 

The Word of God has caused me to rejoice because of God’s love from me and it has also caused me to look at the seriousness of the justice of God. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  “In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.” These are the words from Psalm 18:6 that God used to speak to my heart last night at prayer meeting concerning the trial that I am going through.  I am in distress over the situation with our investments, and it will take a miracle from the Lord for us to receive our funds back.  I am crying with my voice to the Lord out of His temple, because the Bible teaches me that, as a believer I am the Temple of His Holy Spirit.  This verse says that God is listening to my cry for His help, and I am thankful for this wonderful truth.