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Psalms 89:1-7 A
Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite.
I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known
Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, "Mercy shall be
built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very
heavens." "I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My
servant David: 'Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to
all generations." And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your
faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints. For who in the heavens can be
compared to the LORD? Who among
the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD? God is greatly to be feared
in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him. Father God, we give you thanks and
praise for all you do for us. I ask that you bless those that read these
messages and guide them home. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Revelation 1:1-6 NKJV
This
is the last book of the Bible and what is contained in this book is what’s to
come in the future. It is a description of events that John the Apostle
recorded while he was on the island of Patmos. He was exiled there because he
was a follower of Jesus Christ and preached the Gospel of the New Covenant. All
the other Apostles were killed due to this Gospel, because the Jewish and
Gentile people were blinded as to who Jesus was and what He did for all on the
Cross. They were blinded because of their human carnality (sin nature) and
wouldn’t accept anything other than their old customs, rituals, doctrine,
religion, etc. What do you believe in for your eternal life after passing from
this earth? Faith in Religion, or faith in Jesus?
They tried to kill John also by placing him
in a vat of boiling oil, but he was protected by Jesus. Seeing they couldn’t
kill him they exiled him to the island of Patmos. I feel Jesus did this so that
John could record this book of the Bible for all to know of the events of the
future. This is yet to come and the way things are lining up in this world, I truly
believe we are starting to see end time events happening around the world.
Jesus speaks of these things in Matthew Chapters 24 & 25. If you remember I
did a study on these chapters starting 7-20-2011. If you want to refresh what
these two chapters are all about that Jesus revealed to the Apostles, you can
go to the Blog where I post all of these. http://jesus-christ-spiritual-food.blogspot.com/ So without any further a due, let’s
get started!
1 The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things
which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
The
Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him; This is a title of the whole book, and
the substance within this book is a declaration of a revelation from Jesus
Christ. Many think this revelation was of John, which it isn’t, it is of Jesus,
and being revealed to John so that he can record what is to come for all to
know, and be ready for. The word “Revelation” is from the word Apokalupsis, and
we have derived our word “Apocalypse” - meaning to uncover, disclose, enlighten, manifestation,
be revealed. It would apply to anything being covered up or hidden from view by
a veil or darkness, or in an ark or chest, and then made visible by removing
the covering. Revelation then, is the act of disclosing or revealing what is
hidden, by removing the veil of darkness or ignorance. Many people haven’t and
don’t want to read this book of the Bible and try to understand it because it
scares them. This is because of their relationship with Jesus. A person of this
nature does not have a heart relationship with Jesus and fears the events of what’s
to come. Why, because their faith is in themselves for survival and not in
Jesus. A Born Again Saint looks forward to the Second Coming of Jesus to rid
this world of Satan, his servants, demons, and all the corruptness we are
living in. They long for the restoration of the Garden of Eden where Jesus will
rule and reign in all of his righteousness and splendor. The sad part of
leaving this earth is the loved ones left behind that don’t have the heart
relationship with our Saviour.
To
show His servants—things which must shortly take place; This revelation of coming events was
given to Jesus to enlighten His servants. You see God is the one that conducts
all things. Even though the Trinity is one, there are three persons. God being
the head of the Trinity He directs all things. He gave this revelation to Jesus,
His son to share. When Jesus walked this earth in human form He knew there would
be an end, but at that time, He didn’t know when. He states this in Matthew and
Mark. Matthew 24:36 "But of that day
and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. It is the same with end time events,
they were revealed to Jesus to share with us through the Apostle John. Jesus
gets His direction from God the Father and He even states this in John 5:19-20 Then
Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father
do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves
the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him
greater works than these, that you may marvel.
Some people struggle with
the Trinity and trying to understand it. I view it like a corporate structure,
CEO, President, and Vice-President. They are all different people, each having
a specific function, all think alike and have a common goal, but the CEO is the
one directing all things within the corporation.
What about “servant” in
this verse, do you know who this is referring to? It is referring to all Born
Again Saints, past, present, and future. Why do we need to know about these
events if we are to be Raptured away? So that we can witness to the unbelievers
in hopes of them giving their heart to Jesus, also so that we will know what is
starting to happen and know the end is getting near and not to fear what is
happening, because it is God’s will and being a believer we can rest in Jesus
Christ.
These events spoken of
started with the Church Age which began on the day of Pentecost and will
conclude with the Perfect Age. The Church Age pertains to Chapters 2 & 3
which has now lasted around 2,000 years and how much longer, we do not know. What
we do know is this, a thousand years is like one day to God. 2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that
with the Lord one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. From creation to Jesus death it was a
+4,000 years, and since Jesus death it has been a +2,000 years. That adds up to
6,000 some years, and where we are in that 6,000 figure we do not know, but we
are living in day 6. The beginning of 7,000 is day seven, the Sabbath, a day of
rest in our Lord Jesus Christ presence. The Kingdom age is 1,000 years.
Therefore I feel the Rapture is close. Having an understanding of Bible Prophecy
you can see the pieces of the puzzle come together.
Chapters 4 & 5 pertain
to the Rapture. Commencing right after the Rapture of the Church the Great
Tribulation begins and will last 7 years. Chapters 6 through 18 describe these
events and takes up the majority of the book. Chapter 19 portrays the Second
Coming, with Chapter 20 portraying the beginning of the Kingdom Age, 1,000
years. The last 2 Chapters, 20 & 22 speaks of the Perfect Age where Jesus
will rule and reign here on earth without end.
And
He sent and signified it by His
angel to His servant John;
The events contained in this book, was sent to John by an angel through signs
and symbols. “An angel was employed to cause these scenic representations to
pass before the mind of the apostle. The communication was not made directly to
him, but was through the means of a heavenly messenger employed for this
purpose. There is frequent allusion in the Scriptures to the fact that angels
have been employed as agents in making known the divine will, or in the
revelations which have been made to people.” (Barnes) Revelation 22:6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the
Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things
which must shortly take place. Acts 7:53 who
have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." Acts
7:38 "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with
the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to
give to us, As we
travel through this book you will see that an Angel is very involved with this
revelation being revealed to John.
2 who bore
witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things
that he saw.
John is merely stating
that he witnessed what he recorded in this final book of the Bible. He
witnessed it by the visions and symbols revealed to him by the angel and by Jesus
Christ.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for
the time is near.
This verse is better
stated as; “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.” (NLT) In other words John encourages all to read and listen to
what is in this book and take it to heart. When John says that "the time
is near," he is urging his readers to be ready at all times for the last
judgment and the establishment of God's Kingdom. We do not know when these
events will occur, but we must always be prepared. They will happen quickly,
and there will be no second chance to change sides.
4 John, to
the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is
and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His
throne,
John,
to the seven churches which are in Asia; John is addressing the churches of Asia Minor with a
message to them, from Jesus. These messages are contained in Chapters 2 &
3. These seven churches are; Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These messages portray what Jesus thinks of these
churches. These churches are of the past, present, and future.
Grace
to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come; “Grace to you, and peace from Him,”
is a common form of greeting when addressing a Church. Grace and peace is
referring to the sanctifying grace and peace from Jesus which is only possible
through Him.
Who is, was, and to come
clearly states Jesus always was, He is alive today, and will be alive forever.
and
from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; What is the “seven Spirits”? It is
often times referred to as the "sevenfold Spirit" which is another
name for the Holy Spirit. The number seven is used throughout Revelation to
symbolize completeness and perfection. The seven spirits are found in Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit
of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit
of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit
of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. The sevenfold characteristic of the
Holy Spirit speaks of totality, completion, and perfection.
The Holy Spirit is before
the throne and not on it. This signifies that the works of the Holy Spirit is
primarily on earth. All that God does for mankind is done though the Person of
the Holy Spirit.
5 and from
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler
over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in
His own blood,
And
from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the
ruler over the kings of the earth;
John is pointing out that this message he has for the churches is from Jesus.
Jesus is the faithful witness, or example of perfect obedience of earthly life
that we are to model our life after. He is the firstborn or firstfruit of being
raised to life from death. It is because of this resurrection we have the
opportunity of accepting Him as our Saviour and securing everlasting life in
His company. Jesus is the King over all kings, leaders, presidents, queens,
rulers, etc. There is no other King but King Jesus! The whole theme of
Revelation is that Jesus is the ruler of the world.
To
Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood; There is no greater expression of love
than what Jesus did for us on Calvary. A love so great for his creation, he
died on the Cross for us. He died in our place and endured the pain of crucifixion
that we should have endured because of our sin nature, but no He didn’t want to
see us have to go through that type of pain. Through this death His life giving
blood flows through the veins of every Born Again Believer, because the life is
in the blood. Leviticus
17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
6 and has
made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
And
has made us kings and priests to His God and Father; It is through the finished work of the
Cross that Jesus proclaims true believer, to be kings and priests. The word “kings,”
as it applies to Born Again believers, refers to the exalted rank and dignity
that we have in common with our Saviour. Having gained a victory over sin, death,
and Hell, we will reign together with Jesus over all enemies in triumphant.
By placing our faith in
Jesus we become a royal priesthood. 1
Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are to engage in the Holy Service
of God and offer to Him acceptable worship. We are to act in a Christ like
manner in all we do or say.
To
Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen;
Jesus deserves all the glory and dominion, fore He paid the price for us. He is
the redeemer, the source of light, the living water, the I AM!
Romans 1:16 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Psalms
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit
within me.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I
say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Adriel?
Answer: Adriel is the man who married Merab,
Saul’s oldest daughter, who had been promised as David’s bride for killing
Goliath. Adriel fathered five sons who were hung by the Gibeonites to even the
account for Saul’s atrocities.1 Samuel 18:19;
2 Samuel 21:8.
This week’s Trivia: Who was Aeneas?
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