Returning with the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 17:14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

10/04/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Returning with the Lord Jesus Christ

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 17:14

            Message of the verse:  “14 ‘These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.’”

            The verse is saying that these ten kings or kingdoms will make war against the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns during this battle that will take place in Armageddon.  This is recorded in Revelations 19 and at the end of this verse there is a reference to what I believe is the Saints who have gone to be with the Lord at the Rapture of the Church, which was described in Revelation 4.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that this verse is a part of the hope that I have as a believer in Jesus Christ, and that is that one day He will take me home to be with Him and I will have a glorified body like His that will never be able to sin or to get sick or to have any of the problems that this body of mine has now.  After this I will be a part of Christ’s army who will return to help defeat the evil that has been present on this world since the moment that sin entered this universe.  This is a great hope of, not only mine, but all believers.

The Word of God has brought encouragement 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 has sent my way, knowing the truth from His Word that He is surely in control of these trials and He has the script for me to follow, and will reveal it to me when His timing is right.

Antichrist's Subordinates (Rev. 17:12-13)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR

10/03/2005

My Worship Time                 Focus:  Antichrist’s subordinates

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Revelation 17:12-13

            Message of the verse:  “12  "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.  13  "These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”

            It seems that Antichrist will have ten kings who will be under him, and these will rule ten parts of Antichrist’s empire.  There has been some thought that these kings will rule different parts of the old Roman Empire, but others have divided up the entire world into ten parts with each of these kings ruling one part.  Verse 13 speaks of these ten kings being completely under the authority of Antichrist.  As far as the “one hour” from verse 12, it seems that this means the 3 ½ years of the tribulation period, or it could mean for the whole 7 years.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These verses say to me that God is in control, and even though these times that are written about will be very difficult for mankind, yet God has His purpose in doing all of this.  In the same way as I go through these difficult days filled with trials that do not seem good to me God surely has a plan in mind for all of this and perhaps some day I will understand it all.

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

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I go through a very down time in my life, that He will lift me up out of the miry mud and set my feet upon the firm Rock of the Lord.

The Beast (Rev. 17:11)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR

09/30/2005

My Worship Time                 Focus:  The Beast

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Revelation 17:11

            Message of the verse:  “11 ‘The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.’”

            The first part of this verse is about the death and resurrection of the Antichrist.  Now it should be noted that Satan is the one who being allowed by God to bring back to life the Antichrist after he had been killed, but he is only brought back to life in the same body similar to what the Lord Jesus did when He brought back to life different people when He walked the earth.  The verse goes on to say that this Antichrist is himself also an eight and is one of the seven.  The seven is referring to the seven kingdoms that was described in SD-09-29-05, and the seventh kingdom was actually a revival of the old Roman Empire that will be headed up by the Antichrist, but it could be that after his resurrection he will now be called the eighth.  In other works the Antichrist himself will be an eighth kingdom, and when it comes to the word kingdom it can also be translated as “king.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The more that I study this book the more that I understand that Satan is nothing more than a counterfeiter, who wants to do things like God, but will never be able to accomplish this in the same way that God has.  Knowing this I must be in tune with the Holy Spirit of God in order not to fall into one of Satan’s plots to seduce me.

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

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord to give me the right (His Words) to say at the Bible Study this afternoon and also that the Lord will keep this group of men together to bring honor and glory to Himself.  

More of the Angel's Answer (Rev. 17:9-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

09/29/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The angel’s answer continued

Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:  Revelation 17:9-10

            Message of the verse:  “9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”

            I have read in different commentaries that the seven mountains are referring to Rome, for Rome is noted for being built on seven hills, and according to the Greek dictionary on my Online Bible program this word for mountain could mean hill. 

            As far as verse 10 I believe that John is referring to seven kingdoms that ruled the known world or in the case of the last one will rule the entire world.  These kingdoms were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome was still in existence when this was written and the one which is to come will be the Antichrist’ empire.  It is interesting that all of these empires were filled with this “religion” that came out of Babel that is described way back in Genesis 10 & 11, and even though the names of the gods were different it was basically the same thing.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I read prophecy in the Bible it has always been amazing to me that all of these things that have been prophesied have come true exactly as they were foretold, and this has always given me confidence in the Lord that all of the rest of the things that He has foretold in His Word will take place just like the ones that have already taken place.

The Word of God had been a joy to my heart as I read it and studied it this morning.

    

The Angel's Answer (Rev. 17:7-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

09/28/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The angel’s answer

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 17:7-8

            Message of the verse:  “7 ¶  And the angel said to me, ‘Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.  8  ‘The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.’”

            In verse seven the angel asks John a question and then he answers the question which I would imagine to some who read this is still a mystery.  The word “mystery” when used in the NT means that something was hidden, but is now revealed, and it can also carry the meaning that “the secret will of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly.”  This is why I said that this could still be a mystery to some who read it, because they are reading someone else’s mail, and therefore do not understand it. 

            Verse eight speaks of the beast who was, and then was killed, and then brought back to life again and will then go to his eternal punishment in hell.  “Those who dwell on the earth will wonder.”  Those earth dweller’s will look at the antichrist with wonder thinking that he is the answer to all of their problems, but the elect, who are alive at that time will realize who he really is.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I look at the world today and read about it’s history and compare it to what I have been reading in this book and also read some of the commentaries that I have read explaining some of the hard to understand things in this book, I can see that there, for instance, have always been antichrists in this world, as John wrote in 1John, but there will only be one true antichrist that is written about in Revelations.  What I am trying to say is that I need to depend upon the Spirit of God so that I will not get caught up in any of these false religions or anything else that is not true when it comes to what God has said in His Word as being truth.  The liberal movement in our country today is surely a movement that has been seen before in world history as it is a movement that wants to take control of all people in this country to, in affect make them slaves, but by the prayers of the saints and God’s grace this will fail.

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

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to make His will plain to me as I live my life in this very confusing world, that I will trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not upon my own understanding, in all of my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my path.