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Tag: Revelation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John

  • We Gather Together

    We Gather Together

    Perhaps you know the Thanksgiving hymn, “We Gather Together.”

    Look to the lyrics of the hymn of thanks and give thought to them:

    1.	We gather together 
	to ask the Lord's blessing; 
	he chastens and hastens 
	his will to make known.  
	The wicked oppressing 
	now cease from distressing.  
	Sing praises to his name, 
	he forgets not his own.

2.	Beside us to guide us, 
	our God with us joining, 
	ordaining, maintaining 
	his kingdom divine; 
	so from the beginning 
	the fight we were winning; 
	thou, Lord, wast at our side, 
	all glory be thine!

3.	We all do extol thee, 
	thou leader triumphant, 
	and pray that thou still 
	our defender wilt be.  
	Let thy congregation 
	escape tribulation; 
	thy name be ever praised!  
	O Lord, make us free!
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source: We Gather Together lyric

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. Yes, that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Yet dig deeper into the text of this formerly well-known Thanksgiving hymn (many churches no longer offer a service of Thanksgiving) and find more for which to be thankful.

To begin, here is an interesting looking a probable emergence of the hymn: The Surprising Origins of "We Gather Together"

    “We gather together” is cherished as yearly opportunity for family gatherings; however further examination of the lyrics suggest an occasion of worship “to ask the Lord’s blessing.”

    Do you gather together with other Christians (not just family) regularly to ask the Lord’s blessing? And if you do not bless God, would it not be appropriate for God to curse you? Therefore, let us always give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    And if we receive blessings from the Lord day by day (and we do, if you will take note of these), should we not thank the Lord each and every day even as was ask the Lord’s blessing on the food and full provision for our lives?

    “He chastens…”

    Chaste: there’s a word you don’t see in the Christmas ads on T.V. or anywhere else.

    Chasten:

    1. to be instructed or taught or learn, correct,
    2. of those who are moulding the character of others by reproof and admonition
    3. of God to chasten by the affliction of evils and calamities

     Revelation 3:19

    As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

    What does it mean that the Lord rebukes and chastens his beloved (you an me, dear brothers and sisters in Christ)?

    Perhaps you think that Thanksgiving is not a time for ‘rebuke’ from the Lord. Yet if we are unrepentant in our relationship to the Lord and in our relationships to each other, I can think of no better time for a loving Father to rebuke and correct His children, even adopted children through the Cross of our Lord, His only Son, Jesus Christ.

    He chastens AND…

    “… and hastens His will to make known.”

    “Thy will be done,” is the prayer we all pray.

    What is God’s will for you? Do you want to God’s will when you finally get around to it? Or if we listen to the lyric, it would seem that God would make haste in our measured days to make His will know to us.

    “The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.”

    A definition (as if we need a reminder): oppression – prolonged cruel or unjust treatment, mental pressure or distress

    The world surrounds us with wicked oppressing; but thank be to God for redeeming us from oppression of our our sin. Is anything more oppressing than sin? Yet by grace we may cease from distressing over the punishment of the Father we truly deserve.

    And what should be our response to the lifting of our oppression from us by the grace of the Cross?

    “Sing praises to his name…”

    Indeed, Thanksgiving is all about worship of God our Father and Christ Jesus.

    Thank God; for:

    “… he forgets not his own.”

    Colossians 1

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

    Verse 2.

    Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining…

    Encouraged?  You know this from the Christmas message:

    Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

    “… ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;”

    Jesus began the Kingdom. Jesus maintains His Kingdom. Jesus will return for His subjects… His family.  He will reign.

    We thought that we were losing out on life, but by accepting Jesus as our King we cannot be defeated.

    Hebrews 12: 1b-2 NKJV

    … let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    “so from the beginning the fight we were winning; thou lord wast at our side,”

    Isn’t it comforting to know in our daily struggles that Jesus stands right there with us? It’s just one more reason to praise him.

    “all glory be thine!”

    Verse 3

    “We all to extol thee, thou leader triumphant,”

    ‘Extol.’ It’s an old word that has fallen from our vocabulary. It means to praise enthusiastically. Furthermore, it is appropriate to make mention of another old English usage that has fallen by the wayside. The King James Version of the Bible remains popular with many because of its use of ‘thee and thou.’ It is a proper reverence for God and Christ, lost in familiarity of worshipers bordering on disrespect. Our attitude of worship (as a church and in our family and personal life) should at the very least show God the respect due a father. Often, it does not.

    Jesus has triumphed over death… and He did it for us. IF Jesus is our Lord, He IS our leader triumphant.

    “and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.”

    We will be raised up with Him at the Judgment.

    1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

    “Let thy congregation escape tribulation;”

    Do you know what tribulation is really? According to the Oxford Dictionary, its a cause of great trouble or suffering.

    First century Christians suffered much tribulation from evil men opposed to Christ. Last century Christians will suffer a worse tribulation under the oppression of the Antichrist and the persecution by all those opposed to Jesus Christ as Lord. Yet we are victorious in Christ Jesus, who has overcome death, will defeat Satan, and rule a new heaven and a new earth. We will reign with Jesus our Lord!

    For this we ought to have much thanks giving.

    “thy name be ever praised!”

    And one final plea of the hymn (only it is not for freedom from tyrants):

    “O, Lord, make us free.”

     Are you part of the family of God? Or do you remain a slave to your sin?

    John 8: ““Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

    You may gather with ‘family’ and give brief thanks for too much food; but Thanksgiving is much more than this.

    Psalm 102:18-22

    Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:

    that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

    to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,

    that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,

    when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

     Happy Thanksgiving.

    Praise the Lord.

    Jesus IS Lord.

  • As in the days of Noah

    As in the days of Noah

    Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Luke 17:26-27

    While our lives and attentions become entangled in worldly affairs: politics, news, entertainment, sports, gossip, shopping, empty relationships with thankless individuals, online social contact, cell phone texting and numerous other distractions awayfrom God Almighty, our Creator and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: God IS.

    Yet do we bow down for even a moment in our hurried days of this futile flesh?

    2013, in the year of our Lord, may be a time for Christians to look forward to a time that will not be and years no longer numbered…

    This could be a time like any other when our time will end as do the mortal lives of all men.  You MAY have seventy (or perhaps a hundred years) OR perhaps the Lord will call for your death tomorrow.

    Are you ready to be awakened NEXT to the trumpet of the calling up for Judgment?

    Twenty centuries ago Christians were ready. Twenty centuries ago persecution of the church and the imminent fall of Rome would have seemed like a world near to Judgment. (And throw in some disasters of God like the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and a case for preparedness could well be made.)

    NOW, in the year of our Lord 2013, would it not be more prudent to hear the voice of Christ Jesus in our attitude toward preparedness for the Judgment and the end of the old earth?

    It doesn’t look like the end of the world is near.  It doesn’t seem like God is doing anything about the pervasive evil of this world and the lack of worship (even respect) of God Almighty and the Sacrifice of his only Son, Christ Jesus, for our sins.

    So it is and as in the days of Noah the world did not listen to God. Will you worship the Lord? (Don’t miss the boat.) 🙂

    2 Peter 2

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    False Prophets and Teachers

    2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

    4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

    Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

     Thus says the Lord: Beware.

    Beware of the days of much false teaching that would lead the elect astray.

    In these last days you will need no other ark than the Spirit of the Living God and the Cross of Christ Jesus our Savior.

    Mark 13

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Signs of the Close of the Age

    3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

    19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.

    The Coming of the Son of Man

    24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

    The trumpets of Heaven will then sound; but first, much tribulation, many false signs and false prophets, as were Muhammad and others.

    JESUS CHRIST IS. JESUS CHRIST is Lord. Worship Him. He IS God. Receive the Holy Spirit through Him. Receive life eternal and grace – the mercy, forgiveness and peace of God our Father in Heaven.

    For as in the days of Noah, so it shall be. Are you bowed down to the Lord our God and the Cross of our Savior?

  • The Trumpet of the King

    The Trumpet of the King

    Isaiah 18:3

    All you inhabitants of the world,
    you who dwell on the earth,
    when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
    When a trumpet is blown, hear!

    From the futility of our earthly existence the inhabitants of the world look to our own devices and forget the God of Heaven above.

    We forget that we are of dust and to dust we will return. We forget to give thanks and worship to the Lord God for the very breath of life He as breathed into our lifeless flesh. We fail to bow down to the King of the Highest Heaven above, our God Who came down to His own and laid down His Holy Life on a lowly Cross for your sins and for mine.

    He IS the King of Creation, the God of all creatures, the first born ‘adam of sinlessness.

    Jesus Christ IS risen into the place of His former glory.

    He has promised His faithful the eternal salvation of His Heavenly Home.

    Further, He will awaken all souls from the dust of our demise. He will call up the souls of all the inhabitants of the world to justice and judgment for every past sin, every unaccounted transgression. He will burn away the iniquity of the dead in the pit of eternal torment, as the forgotten faithful receive our full reward forever more.

    He IS the Lamb of God, His Blood the Sacrifice of the Cross for the victory over sin and death!

    Revelation 6

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Seven Seals

    6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

    You, O earth, have not given the Lord His glory.

    You have not bowed down in worship to the Lord your God.

    You have not acknowledged the Sacrifice of His only Son for your sake.

    You do not look to the Highest Heaven and bow down to the Throne of His glory.

    The people and the church do not hearken to the signs of the trumpet soon to sound.

    Repent!

    O you peoples, you who claim His Holy Name!

    Matthew 24:

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Coming of the Son of Man

    29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

    Raise ear to the sound of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords!

    From on High a trumpet will sound.

    Where, O sinner, will you put your trust?

    Where, O sinner, will you hide from His wrath?

    Shofar

    Revelation 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

    Revelation 8:8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

    Revelation 8:10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

    Revelation 8:12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

    Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

    Revelation 9:13-14 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

    Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

    Let those with ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.