Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Revelation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John

  • 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?

     

  • a 21st c. Tempest

    a 21st c. Tempest

    And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. – Mat. 8:24 KJV

    violent wind stormsIt seems the winds of change come upon us suddenly and violently.

    We resist the inevitable, either turning toward the strong winds of change or looking aimlessly askance at the onslaught of destruction.

    Where is the rudder of your soul in the tossing times of these last days?

    For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. – Jeremiah 4 excerpt KJV

    The LORD created the heavens and the earth! The LORD destroyed and created once more in the time of Noah.

    mosque and temple2The LORD gave a people Israel the Law and Kings, then destroyed country and Temples, even rebuilt Temples in a place yet disputed.

    Will the LORD not act for his own Name’s sake?

    A thousand years before Jesus was given to us for the salvation of not only the Jews, but also for mankind; the Son of Man sat in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee sleeping: unconcerned for the tempest of the sea or winds of change coming to Jerusalem and the preordained cross of calvary.

    Prophets had foretold the coming of a Messiah. And here Jesus lay in a boat sleeping, with only One rudder for His righteous soul: the Holy Spirit of Almighty God: the LORD Most High and Father of Christ Jesus, creator of mankind and ruler of the land, seas and heavens.

    21 centuries later:

    We are rich… especially here in the U.S., but also ruling leaders and land owners of every continent.

    Take some advice from Job:

    11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

    12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

    13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty…

    19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

    20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

    Do you fear Almighty God?

    Jesus asleep in boat Mat 8The peaceful Savior, asleep in the boat, unafraid of the tempest; Christ Jesus will become your rudder in the storm of these last days, if only you will follow Him.

    “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! – Matthew 8:27b KJV

    The Lord will return when the harvest of the righteous in Him is complete!

    Yet how long, O Lord?

    From the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John:

    Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. 6:11

    12 I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13 Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind.

    14 The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.

    Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” – 6:15-17

    Rev 22-20Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

    16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

  • Israel’s First King – 2

    Israel’s First King – 2

    1 Samuel 8:

    When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel… 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

    7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

    Heed the words of the Lord God: “… for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

    Is it possible that we are a rebellious people who refuse to be governed, ruled even by the Lord God?

    Many centuries later after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, the Lord instructs through the Prophet Ezekiel:

    Ezekiel 2:  “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’

    “As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

    Saul will be anointed by the Prophet Samuel as Israel’s first king; however the Lord God makes clear that Israel has rejected the LORD as their King, even before this first appointment of a man over a rebellious people.

    1 Samuel 9:

    There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

    (How the people love to elect a handsome and wealthy man to lead them.)

    15 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

    17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.”

    Samuel proceeds to anoint Saul as a ‘nagiyd’ [a leader, ruler, captain or prince] of the people. Note the attitude of the LORD. GOD remains King of Israel; yet the anointed King of Israel is called a prince.

    If the people will not be accountable to God Almighty, why would they bow down to an earthly king?

    Saul, King of Israel, is now responsible to God’s chosen people, Israel. Saul is first and foremost accountable to the Lord God, who speaks through His Prophet Samuel.

    Israel of the Judges1 Samuel 12

    11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.

    13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.

    15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

    You are probably familiar with the appearance of King Saul as a crazy man needing to be soothed by the harp of David. Most everyone knows Saul’s jealousy, after David kills Goliath and the people praise David. You probably realize that Saul later pursues David hoping to kill him. You likely know that Saul’s own son Jonathan, biological heir to the throne, befriends and protects David (God’s anointed heir).

    A New Testament context and contemporary caution:

    Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works… 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God… 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown… 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth…

    Revelation 3:19 KJV As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

    20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

    21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

    22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

    Saul will NOT listen to the LORD and the Hebrew people who had desired a King are a rebellious people like you and me.

    Let the church hear what the Lord shows us of our own rebellion in Saul, the first King of Israel.

    First Samuel Thirteen may be one of the best illustrations of poor leadership and a powerless people who failed to listen to God.

    The Hebrew people had been led to victories in the promised land by GOD. Joshua and the Judges had followed the Lord’s leading in defeating Canaan and the other nations who dwelt in the promised land.

    Saul abandoned the Lord and sought to defeat their enemies without hearing GOD.

    Don’t we tend to do the same in times of desperation that demand a decision? Neither do you or I wait to hear from the Lord in certain situations when our enemies seem to be upon us.

    Yet is the Lord not for us, rather than against us? And is the Lord not merciful and just? Have we not known the Almighty King of Kings?

    In our prayerless times when we have not heard from the Lord, we are no better than Saul.

    To be continued…