Tag revelation

Revelation 6&7 Judgement and Salvation

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Revelation 6:17  For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”

The end times or the tribulations will be coming to pass before long.  Just before the tribulations, there will be the rapture of the church. (See the post on the Rapture of the Church.)  While millions of Christians have been raptured, the judgment of those who rejected Christ is beginning.  

Before you read this post, read Revelation 6 and 7.

Can people who miss the Rapture still be saved? Yes, but…

While Revelation describes God’s judgment, there are also significant efforts of God to continue reaching out to people to confess and accept Christ.  There will be strong resistance from the ruling leadership to stop people from accepting Christ.  All Christian Churches are gone, so the effort to accept Christ will require great strength, patience, and suffering.

Chapter Six records the vision John saw of the Lamb of God (Jesus) opening the seven seals of the scroll Jesus received. Each seal represents some judgment from God on the world. 

Four Horsemen and Riders

The vision of the four colored horses and their riders is the first four seals opened. These are not specific men but rather worldly judgments assigned to each horse and rider.

  1st Seal: The White Horse – the rider has a bow, a crown, and the ability to conquer.  This event is probably with the antichrist leader, who will be a man of war like the world has never seen. 

2nd Seal: The Red Horse – the rider is given the ability to take peace from the earth.  People will begin to kill one another all over the world with rage.

3rd Seal The Black Horse – the rider had a pair of scales in his hands —very high prices for needs.  A loaf of bread will cost a day’s wages.

4th Seal The Pale Horse – the rider is called Death and Hades.  Power was given to him (and probably from the effects of the previous horses mentioned) to kill a fourth of the earth with the sword, hunger, and the beasts of the world.

Martyrs and Evangilists

5th Seal: Cry of the Martyrs – From verses 9 to 11, John sees all the souls who had been slain during the tribulation because of their faith in Christ.  They did not believe before the rapture, but after witnessing all that was happening, these people stayed strong but were killed for their faith. 

6th Seal Cosmic Disturbances –  In a great earthquake,  the sun becomes black, and the moon is like blood.  The stars fell to earth, and the sky rolled up like a scroll.  (John was shown what would happen in the future.  It almost seems like a nuclear war.  John is doing his best to describe what he is seeing.)

During the 6th seal, God has 144 sealed Israelites to go throughout the world, calling people to accept Christ before it is too late.  The Day of the Lord is coming, and everyone will stand before God to give an account of their life.

NOTE: some of the seal’s effects will continue for several or all years of tribulation.

Now is the easiest time to be a believer.

Please be ready for the rapture of the church.  Do you follow Christ? Now is the easiest time to be a believer. Find a church that preaches truth and repentance. It would be better to be with Christ in heaven than to suffer on earth. God’s judgment is coming.

Keep your Light-N-Side looking for the trumpet sound calling all Christians to heaven.

Revelation 4-5 Throne room of heaven

Pastor Dave Rose Leave a comment

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne, the living creatures, and the elders.  In a loud voice, they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

NOTE:  Revelation is not written like Genesis, with the events in order.  Revelation is the visions shown to John, along with some of the structure of the Tribulation. In this blog, we will move between the Tribulation events (Chapters 4-22) and the letters to the churches (Chapters 2-3).

The Heavenly Scene (Three Visions) 

The Great Throne of God

John was taken to heaven in his spirit and saw visions of what would come to pass as the Tribulation begins. A grand celebration is taking place in heaven.  John is trying to describe this heavenly event as something wonderful that is unlike anything on earth.  The scene was beyond anything John had ever witnessed.  He uses the word “like” to help describe the marvelous scene.

Verse 3-5 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.

Also, heavenly creatures around the throne shouted day and night, “Worthy is the Lord to receive glory, honor, and power. You created all things. And by Your will they exist and were created.  There was also great worship of God.

The Scroll 

The earth and all people are born in bondage because of sin in the Garden of Eden.  Sin separated man from God.  Jesus’ work on the cross paid the price to cancel the bondage of sin.  A scene appears in heaven of a search for someone worthy to open this scroll, but no one is found.  Would the world and man be forever bound by sin and death?  Then Jesus appeared “as a lamb who had been slain”.  Jesus took the scroll because He paid the price for sin and death. 

Largest celebration ever

A grand celebration begins as Jesus takes the scroll.  Soon, the earth will be reclaimed, Tribulation will be poured out on the world,  sin will be destroyed, and all will be made Holy again.  This scene could be as big as Jupiter, as the Bible says:

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,  saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

One of my favorite passages is verses 13-14: And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Imagine every creature worshiping God. All the dogs barking, horses whinnying, elephants shouting, whales singing, birds chirping, and underground sounds, along with the angels and heavenly creatures, all worship God on the throne and Christ, the Lamb.

This scene is the inspiration for Handel’s Messiah.  

A Study of Revelations

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Revelation 1:3  God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

Revelation is the only book that promises a blessing if one reads, listens with one’s heart, and obeys the scripture. God had placed on my heart to share some of the truths of the book of Revelation in this blog. Many people have not heard the powerful messages of hope and judgment we will all experience. Revelation is a difficult book to read.  It has many dark chapters of God’s wrath poured out on those who reject God.  Revelations are also full of revivals of people turning to God.   Put on your spiritual seatbelt and dig into Revelation.

Revelation has five important parts.  1. The glorified Christ is described in chapter one. 2. The Letter to the churches (and to us all.) 3. The beginning of the tribulations. 4. The second coming of Christ and the millennial reign. 5 Final Judgement and a New Heaven and Earth.

The whole world will acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

Revelation 1:4-7

This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.  Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.  And everyone will see him—  even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!

Philippians 2:10-11

…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Revelation is all about Jesus—His NEW look!

Rev 1:12-16

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

This is not the same image of Jesus when He was on the cross or after His resurrection and ascension. This description of Jesus is of a powerful Christ with great glory—a booming voice with power and eyes that see everything. He is the Christ of Revelation and the final Judge of mankind.

Jesus appeared to John to tell him to write a letter to the seven churches of Asia (and to us). Jesus also revealed to John the many scenes in heaven and earth during the years of the tribulation. Join me in this study of Revelation as we examine the letters to the churches and read key passages. According to Rev 1:3, you will be blessed if you read, believe, and heed what is written in Revelation.

Next blog: The Rapture of the Church. (This critical event will begin the prophecies of Revelation.)

Lord, bless our LightNSide as we study Revelation.

Why the hatred for Israel?

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Genesis 17:6-8 

 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

God Chose Israel to be His Nation

God chose Israel to be His people. From that very promise, Satan put Israel in the bull’s eye of his rage. Satan has always tried to destroy Israel, even from Adam and Eve. From that very first attempt to destroy God’s greatest creation to the very last battle in Revelation, the focus from the devil is to kill Israel as a nation and the Jews as a people.

The illustrated explanation of Revelation 12

Verse 1-2: A woman with a crown of twelve stars on her head – (Israel and the twelve tribes. She was about to give birth—the birth of Jesus by a virgin descendant of the tribe of Judah, the Son of God.) Verse 3-5 The dragon (Satan) stood in front of the woman to kill her son (Jesus) – (Matthew 2:13-18 – King Herod tried to kill Jesus when he demanded all baby boys two and under be killed. ) Her child was snatched up to God and to his throne – (Jesus’ death and resurrection, the defeat of Satan’s plan to kill Jesus. ) Verses 7-17 Satan has been defeated, and He is outraged. His vengeance is toward Israel, Jews, and anyone who follows Jesus.

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work 2 Thess 2:7

The secret power of lawlessness is the hatred given to people who rage against peace, justice, and authority. We see the news where lawlessness is the rule of our country. The courts have no teeth, and prisoners are released to continue lawlessness. Our college campuses and larger cities are destroyed by anger, crime, and a lack of authority.

The same rage that came from satan toward Jesus is at work in our nation against righteousness, authority, holiness, and God’s chosen nation, Israel.

Don’t get caught up in anger. Choose peace, choose faith, and pray for our nation.

God is in control

God’s plan is perfect. He wins in the end, and all who follow Him win an eternity of great peace, love, and freedom from anger, violence, and death. 

Revelation 21:3-5  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

Be wise in these last days. Read your Bible. Pray for Israel. Have faith in God. “Lord, I pray you will send a revival to this nation and our  hearts.” 

 Be strong in the Lord and keep your LightNside holy and pure.