Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: apocalypse

  • The Fire of His Wrath, The Gospel of His Salvation

    The Fire of His Wrath, The Gospel of His Salvation

    The fire of the Lord consumes the complacent,

    The wicked and the righteous fleeing their homes.

    They flee His great wrath and abandon their plans,

    The Gospel of His Salvation will comfort or condemn. 

    Revelation 14 King James Version (KJV)

    NOTE: For ease of reading our contemporary language the ESV is recommended; I have chosen the KJV for its powerful poetic presentation and direct translation from the original Greek. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John is presented here by excerpt only, a brief glimpse into awe unspeakable. Read the Book of Revelation in its entirety. You will be blessed.

    And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion…

    Make no mistake: the apocalypse here revealed is from the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to the Apostle John. The Book of Revelation is a trumpet warning of the wrath of God to this generation and generations to come.

    The-Sacrificial-Lamb-Josefa-de-Ayala-ca-1670Christ is Atonement for man

    He IS the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Messiah, Christ, who suffered and died for your sins and for mine.

    Leviticus 4:35
    And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement כָּפַר  for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

    Revelation 14:

    2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:

    The LORD GOD speaks! The LORD speaks with a voice of absolute power and majesty and might. The LORD proclaims the victory of the Lamb of God over the sin of the world.

    And angels worship the LORD!

    3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne…

    Do you take ANY time to worship Almighty God? Do you worship the One who has created you? He has dominion over all creation; for the LORD IS and was and will always be! The LORD is worthy of worship. He IS a father unto those who seek him. He is a consuming fire to those who flee from him.

    6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

    7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

    What do you think of the Judgment?

    Who would not fall down in fear in this awesome moment? Who would fail to worship the LORD of all creation?

    How presumptuous of man to exhaust our brief days of mortal consumption with no regard of the Image reflected in our soul.

    Pompeii2Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? – Genesis 18:25b

    His purifying judgment shall consume more than Sodom. Neither shall pillar of salt stand nor ash-baked corpse remain in that awful day. His fire will make way for a new heavens and a new earth!

    Returning to Revelation 14

    …Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

    14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

    15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

    And in the end…

    Yes, there is more to the Apocalypse. Can your soul bear it? Will your soul not awaken from the sleep of death to the sounds of deafening waters and unspeakable thundering of His Voice? Are you not in awe of the LORD GOD?

    Remember your days, that we are dust. The LORD has created us for himself, for worship, for our own sacrifice of love to others, as the Lord God Almighty gave His only Son Christ Jesus on the Cross as Perfect Sacrifice for our sins.

    The Lamb of God will come on the clouds! He will stand on Mount Zion once more and rule as the loving King of all creation. The Lord will judge the sins of mankind and He will cover the sins of the saints.

    Did you know that in Christ Jesus you are a saint of God?

    For God IS as a Father to you, as well as a Father to Jesus the Messiah, the Sacrifice of the LORD’s great love and mercy. The Lord God IS in the Holy Spirit reaching into your soul to embrace the worship of your soul with a purpose of love to follow faithfully.

    Will you respond? Will you call on the LORD, while it is yet today?

     

  • The Time Is Near For Our Church – Laodicea

    The Time Is Near For Our Church – Laodicea

    Yet more sand flows through the neck of the hourglass.

    Six churches called to faithfulness – that their lampstand may not be removed.

    Nearly two thousand years – grain by grain – the sand draws through the hourglass into the abyss of eternal time.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ

    Greeting to the Seven Churches

    1:4 John to the seven churches that 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, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, andthe ruler of kings on earth.

    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail[c] on account of him. Even so. Amen.

    8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

     

    Vision of the Son of Man

    9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet11 saying,

    “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

    12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

    17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying,

    “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades…

    church-stpeters church-canterbury church-safrica church-us church-braziljesuschurch-asia

    Before any more time trickles away from us, let us be clear that our twenty-first century IMAGE of the CHURCH is not Biblical.

    The Church: though identifiable by location, by continent, by symbolism and by many other pictures; is NOT the “church” to whom the risen Christ Jesus speaks.

    Jesus is not a statue or building or grande idea; He IS God our Creator and Savior. His CHURCH is ALL of His saints and followers of the Way (as Christians were called in the First Century).

    Each warning to the seven churches has been a personal letter written to a practicing group of saints in a specific city and circumstance.

    Our own church and personal circumstance is of no less importance to our Lord.

     

    To the Church in Laodicea

    14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

    15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!

    A scathing indictment of christians who show up at a building for just an hour a week (most weeks), give a little money and go out into the world claiming the Name ‘christian.’

    16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

    17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor,blind, and naked.

    • Our church buildings testify against us: We are rich. We preach prosperity. We need nothing.
    • Jesus says: We are wretched. We are pitiable. We are poor. We are blind. And before the Lord, our God — we stand naked in our sin.

    Most Christians are not HOT for Christ, burning with the desire to witness the Gospel and BE the CHURCH.  In fact, even if the worship and the music and the fellowship seem HOT for Jesus; in fact, once the hour in the hourglass of their Sunday morning obligation has past, most grow COLD for Christ before they cross the threshold of their very nice home.

    We may sing of Amazing Grace. We may think of others as ‘the wretch,’ when in fact our hearts are hardened stone-cold against the repentance of our continuing sin. We pitiably rejoice and celebrate the ‘cheap grace’ of this hour. We are poor. We are blind. We are warm for a moment. We are less than warm as the sands drain into the abyss of the hourglass.

    18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

    Are you ashamed of the nakedness of your continued sin, dear brother? Dear sister, do you stand before Jesus unable to hide your seduction to sin?

    Repent, dear believer, that the Lord might not remove the golden lampstand from the lukewarm wick of your witness.

    19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

    20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

    Our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus – Who Was and IS and IS to come once more on the clouds for His faithful Bride, HIS CHURCH – exhorts and encourages the seven churches.

    Jesus spoke though the Apostle John to seven churches — to your church.

    Christ Jesus speaks His words of Revelation to YOU! (Also to me.)

    If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

    21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

    22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

    Even so, come Lord Jesus.

    Revelation 22: 

    10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

    12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

    rotate earthgoogleplus Earth & earth's moon from Mars

    the time is near17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price…

    20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

    21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

    Let the Church hear the Revelation of the Lord.

    Amen.

     

     

  • The Time Is Near for our Church – Prologue

    The Time Is Near for our Church – Prologue

    1 The revelation [apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

    He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

    TIME’S UP!

    Has anyone ever announced that to you?

    Were you ready?  Was it a test? Did you know that the end of your time was coming?

    What would happen IF you got up one morning and God sent an Angel to you with an announcement:

    TIME’S UP! I’m taking you up from this earth today.

    What would you think? How would you react?

    You might think: HOW? Will it be an accident? A heart attack? Will someone murder me unexpectedly?

    You might wonder: How soon?  Do I have time to finally write a will? Can I call a loved one, first?

    You might remember that sin: the person you could NOT forgive, that action you never confessed. You might recall how little you had given to your church and how often you had found better things to do than worship God and thank Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the Cross for you.

    You might even think to ask: Am I going to HEAVEN or HELL?

    You might even be in AWE that an angel would show up to bring a message to you.

    Admit it: you’re finally fearful of the end of your TIME. All of a sudden, DEATH and Eternal Life have a personal relevance.

    The Apostle John, or course, was a better witness of Christ than you or me. He had  actual first-hand witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Yet even John may not have expected the revelation Christ gave to him, which John wrote for us as the final book of the Bible.

    (You should read ALL of Revelation on your own.)

    8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

    I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

    Of course we know that the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ IS GOOD NEWS. Although Revelation sounds more and more like NOT so good news.

    IF the CHURCH will heed the warnings of Christ through the angel to John to the seven churches to OUR 21st c. church: there is still TIME remaining in the hourglass of these last days.

    The King James Version states: Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

    John saw what was, what was then, what was to come soon for the first century church, AND John saw what would happen well beyond the day of the death of his earthly flesh in the first century. John saw the hereafter: an AWESOME vision of Eternity.

    Are YOU ready? Is your church ready?

    Haven’t we had just about enough of this Kingdom of the evil one?

    The TIME of the hereafter is NEAR.

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    READ the cautions for our Church. NEXT: Ephesus

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