The Conquering King (Rev. 19:14-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/9/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Conquering King

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 19:14-16

 

            Message of the verse:  “14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.  15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

            The armies that are mentioned are the Church and probably the tribulation saints, but this army is without weapons because it will be Jesus Christ and His angels who will do battle with His enemies. 

            The battle of Armageddon from the Lord Jesus Christ’s perspective is described in verse fifteen, for this verse tells of the power and might that the Lord Jesus Christ has absolute rule over the nations and will conquer them and then will present them to His Father. 

            The name written on the Lord Jesus Christ’s thigh “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,” shows that He indeed is the supreme ruler over all of the nations of the world, and it is interesting to me that this name can be seen as opposed to in verse twelve where the name on His head no one knew except Himself.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that there are two perspectives that I can take out of these verses, and one of them is that I will be with the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to the earth to defeat His enemies, I will be with Him ridding on a white horse as these verses show.  The second perspective is that these verses along with the verses at the beginning of this letter which describe the Lord Jesus Christ show Him in His absolute power and glory, which is something that I do not think about as much as how He is portrayed in the Gospels and He is not like He was then at this time, for He returned to His glory, but still has the scars from redeeming His own from sin. 

 

The Word of God has been convicting and refreshing to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord even though there is much frustration in my life at this time due to the fact that there are people that owe me a lot of money.  I realize that there were mistakes made by me in my investment practice, but that does not negate the fact that Andrew still owes me a lot of money.  

Description of Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:11-13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/07/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Christ’s Description

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 19:11-13

 

            Message of the verse:  “11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.  12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”

            In the first part of verse eleven John saw heaven opened and then he saw a white horse, and the one who sat on this white horse is described as Faithful and True.  In chapter six John introduced his readers to another person on a white horse, and it was discovered that he was the Antichrist, and he proved to be unfaithful, and also not truthful.  Jesus Christ is Faithful and True and John goes on to say that He judges in righteousness, and also He will wage war.  Christ is coming back to earth to wage war against His enemies who consist of Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all of their followers.  He is also coming to wage war against Satan and will conquer Satan and put him into the lake of fire as will be seen latter on in this letter. 

John goes on with his description of Jesus Christ in verse twelve, where he writes that His eyes are a flame of fire, and His head has many crowns upon it.  The eyes that look like flames of fire have to do with judgment, and the crowns upon His head show Christ is the Ruler.  John goes on to say that He also has a name on His head that no one knows except Himself.  John could see this name, but could not understand what it was or what it meant. 

Verse thirteen describes Christ robe that had been dipped in blood, and also John gives another name for Jesus the Word of God.  This is a name that only John has used for Christ.  Jesus Christ is the One who, as the second person of the godhead, explains the Father to His followers, just as words in a letter describe what the letter is about so Jesus Christ describes who and what God is all about.  As far as the robe and the blood on it, this describes some of the battles that Christ has gone through in judgment, and it also could be referring to the battle of Armageddon which He will shortly go through.  At any rate this is not His blood, but the blood of His enemies. 

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These verses are a wonderful reminder as to the fact that Jesus Christ is on the throne, and it is He who is ruler of all, and in charge of everything.  This is Jesus Christ in His resurrected body doing the things that were prophesied He would do.  As I think about the resurrection and how very thankful for it, for without it life would be worthless and have no meaning.  I am thankful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for because of it my life does have purpose and meaning, and it also, as seen in this letter, guarantees for me that I will be with Him someday forever and ever.

 

The Word of God has been a wonderful encouragement to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to put my faith, hope, and trust in my Lord Jesus Christ to see me through to the other side of the lake, just as He did for His disciples.    

Keeping Things in Ballance (Rev. 19:9-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/05/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Keeping things in balance

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 19:9-10

 

            Message of the verse:  “9 Then he said to me, ‘Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’  10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”    

            Dr. Wiersbe gives an interesting statement about verse nine when he writes that the ones who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb would be the OT saints, they would be the guests at this event along with the tribulation saints, but it is the Church, the Bride of Christ who will be there as part of the ceremony.  He went on to say that some commentators have said that it is possible for this marriage supper of the Lamb to take place for the entire millennial kingdom.

            It is interesting that the words “he said to me” are found three times in these two verses, as this angel was telling John different things that he would eventually record in this letter to the seven churches.  In verse ten tells John that he should not worship him because he was only a fellow servant like John was, and then the angel went on to say something very interesting when he said, “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  I am not sure exactly what all of this means, but I do believe that prophecy has all to do with Jesus.  In Hal Lindsey’s book “There Is A New World Coming,” he makes this statement about this section of verse ten, “The angel also reminded John that every aspect of prophecy is ultimately a testimony about Jesus.  His Spirit permeates it.” Then he goes on to say, “Woe to the Christian who minimizes or rejects prophecy in the light of this statement by the angel!  It’s the same as rejecting Christ Himself.”  I know some people today who would certainly not agree with that statement, and will have nothing to do with the prophetic word, and I think that is a huge mistake on their part.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   There are a couple of things that speak to me from these verses.  First of all I have to make sure that all of my worship is directed to the Triune God.  Second I have learned that the Bible is a book of balance and whenever I first trusted the Lord as my Savior the only thing that I would read were the Bible and books on prophecy, which meant that I was out of balance and needed to grow in the full knowledge of the Word of God to which I am trying to do now. 

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to direct my paths concerning our investments with Andrew Lech, and also with the possibility of getting a job with HRSG again and going to a different part of the world.

Heaven Will Rejoice Because the Bride is Ready (Rev. 19:7-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/04/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Heaven will rejoice because the bride is ready.

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 19:7-8

 

            Message of the verse:  “7  ‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’  8  It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

            The question that could be asked of verse seven is how has the bride made herself ready?  I think part of the answer is found in verse eight where John states what it is that the bride will be wearing and that is fine linen, for fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 

            After a person is born again they still continue to sin and do things wrong by not keeping the commandments of the Lord.  They also do things wrong by not doing the works that God has prepared for them to do for one reason or another.  When the rapture of the Church takes place all believers from the Church age will go before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged.  At this judgment believers will not be judged for sins committed because Christ was judged for all of their sins at the cross, however believers will be judged on what they did for the cause of Christ while they were in the body and some will receive a reward of gold, silver, or precious stones, while others will receive wood, hay or stubble.  All of those who are present have been saved, but some will be without rewards.  The rewards will be thrown at the feet of Christ, for He truly is the reason for anyone to receive a reward.  Ephesians 5:27 states, “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”  Dr. Wiersbe states that after the judgment seat of Christ the bride will not have any spots or wrinkles, and will then be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the bridegroom. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  How is it that I as a believer in Jesus Christ keep myself clean, and obey the commands of Christ, and also do the works that He has prepared for me in eternity past to do?  I think that there are a number of things I can do.  I must keep myself from sin, by walking with the Lord in His light, allowing the light to examine me so that when I do sin I may confess and turn from those sins.  I must stay in God’s Word each day, for this is one way that God will speak to my heart to guide me and direct me in the ways He wants me to go.  I must pray, for this is the way that I speak to God, and listen when I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide me.  Jesus spoke of abiding in Him in John 15, and this is one of the keys to walking in the light, and as I abide in Him and He abides in me I will receive His power to accomplish the things that He has chosen for me to do while I am here on this earth.  Another thing that comes to mind here is that I must remember that this earth is not my home, for I am only hear to do the works of God that He has called me to do, and when I am doing these works it will give me great joy knowing that I am obeying the Lord.  To be protected while doing these works I must remember to put on the full armor of God each day.

 

The Word of God has caused my heart to rejoice as I read it and studied it this morning, because of all of the wonderful promises that I read about this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to do the things that I wrote about in the section, “Spiritual meaning for my life today.”  Continue to remember that I am here on this earth to do the works that God has sent me here to do, and do them with great joy.    

The Lord Reigns (Rev. 19:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 11/02/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Lord Reigns

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 19:5-6

 

            Message of the verse:  “5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.’

6 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.’”

            The word that is translated Hallelujah from the Hebrew means praise the Lord, but the word is alleluia in the Greek, and that is why the NASB uses the Hebrew translation.  These two verses are in a sub-section; this is a part of a section where heaven is still reacting to the fall of Babylon, and these two verses focus in on the praise from heaven over the fact that God Reigns, for He always has and He always will.  There have been times when it did not seem like God was reigning here on earth because of all of the evil that has taken place, but that is not the case.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that “In His sovereignty, He has permitted evil men and evil angels to do their worst; but now the time has come for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  God will soon destroy the kingdom of Satan and his antichrist forever.  Verse 6 is probably a quote from Psalm 97:1 “The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for today:  I will have to admit that there are times when it is hard for me to realize that the Lord is on His throne and is reigning here on earth, but that is it with things of faith, you don’t always see things happening all of the time, but just trust the Lord, and trust the things that are written in His Word.  God’s Word says that I am supposed to walk by faith and not by sight.  I will also have to admit that there are times when, like Gideon, I feel the need to put out a fleas from time to time, but the bottom line is just like it says in verse six and in Psalm 97:1, “The LORD reigns,” and I am so very thankful for that. 

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to live my life today and every day henceforth knowing that the Lord reigns.

The Celebration Continues (Rev. 19:3-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/31/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The Celebration Continues

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 19:3-4

 

            Message of the verse:  “3 Again and again their voices rang, ‘Hallelujah! The smoke from that city ascends forever and forever!’4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting on the throne. They cried out, ‘Amen! Hallelujah!’”

            The celebration continues in heaven over the destruction of Babylon, and as I mentioned in yesterday’s SD I do believe that this celebration is about both types of Babylon’s that are mentioned in the Scripture, and not just the political type.  I do not disagree with Dr. Wiersbe on many occasions, but this time I do as he stated in his book that he felt that this celebration was just over the political type of Babylon.

            Also as I mentioned in a number of previous SD’s that both of these types of Babylon’s have been around since the early writings of Genesis, so with that being said I believe that the reason as to why this celebration is so large in heaven after Babylon has been destroyed is because that was the end of it and it will never come back again.  This is so real that some of the Bible commentators have already written years ago that the old Roman Empire was the fulfillment of this, but in fact it was only a type of what will come in the future, and the way things are looking, the not to distance future.

 

              Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to live my life in the control of God’s Holy Spirit so that I can see things the way that God sees things.  I want to feel about sin the same way that God feels about sin, and celebrate when God judges sin as seen in this passage.  There are some sins I would celebrate being judged, but there are some sins at this time in my life when I would not celebrate over them being judged, and that is not right.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  As God continues to lead me through the trials and tests He is sending me through, I would continually ask Him for grace and mercy and also ask Him to open my mind and my eyes so that I can understand what it is that He wants me to learn as I go through these trials.

Avenging for God's Bond-Servants (Rev. 19:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/30/2005

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Avenging for God’s bond-servants

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 19:1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;  2  Because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He Has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her."

            As stated in a previous SD there are two types of Babylon’s, one is the religious Babylon, which Antichrist destroyed when he set up the worship of him, and the other Babylon is the satanic economic-political system which God destroyed as recorded in chapter 18.  The words in verse 1 “after these things” refers to the destruction of this political Babylon.  Even though religious Babylon has been referred to as a harlot it seems that this time it is referring to the political Babylon or it may be referring to both.  At any rate there is a celebration in heaven over this event, and it is important to note that these beings are celebrating because of the attributes of God, and one of them is that His judgments are righteous, as Psalm 19:9b describes them, “The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.”

            Verse 2 speaks of God avenging the blood of His Bond-servants on this great harlot.  The word translated avenged has this meaning:  “to protect, defend, one person from another.”  God does take care of His own and even though He most always does not pay His bills at the end of the week, He will pay them at the correct time set up by Him.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the judgments of God, for without them this world would be an even worse place to live.  I do not always understand His judgments, but I do know that they are righteous altogether as the Psalmist has written.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord through the trials that He is sending me through, knowing that He will work things out for my good and for His glory.