SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/19/2015
9:32 PM
My Worship Time Focus: 3rd Angel: Promising Damnation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation 14:9-11
Message of the
verses: “9 Then another angel, a third one, followed
them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his
image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath
of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb. 11 "And the
smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and
night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark
of his name."”
I have already quoted from John MacArthur on his belief
that these angels as far as how they come in order in this chapter are not in
chronological sequences. He writes more
on this in this section: “The rejection
of the gospel preached by the first angel results in the pronouncement of
judgment by the second angel, which will be carried out in the damnation
described by the third angel. The third
angel will deliver his warning with a loud voice, so that all will hear and
understand his message. God, being perfectly
holy and righteous, judges people because they reject what they know to be true. That is why everyone sentenced to hell will
be without excuse (Rom. 1:20-21).” These
angels appear in a logical order, but not chronological sequence.
We can see who the message of the third angel is for in
verse nine, which are those who have received the mark of the beast, and those
who worship the beast. Once a person has
decided to take the mark and worship the beast there is no turning back for
they have stepped over the deadline, which is illustrated in a song that I
included in an earlier SD. People do
this same thing today as they have been doing it since the beginning of time,
that is they reject the truth of God and believe the lie of Satan, and there
comes a point in their lives when like God did to Pharaoh, He hardens their
hearts. Satan causes his people to bring
up something that is usually made into a law that true believers cannot do, and
in this case it is the worship of the beast and receiving his mark. In our country today something has just
happened along these lines that I believe is just the beginning of what will
amount to persecution for believers, and that is what the Supreme court did a
few weeks back in making same sex marriage the law of the land. In our sermon today our Pastor spoke on three
verses in the book of Matthew: “10 “Blessed
are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute
you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12).” He had already given a sermon on the Supreme
Court decision on same sex marriage last Sunday night, and since he has been
going through the Sermon on the Mount these are the verses that were next in
line. He also mentioned a website, www.Americanthinker.com where he had
read an article from that sight dated May, 10, and in that article the author
gives a kind of a roadmap on the steps of persecution and how they begin.
As we look at what will happen to those who take the mark
of the beast and those who worship him it causes our hearts to break over their
blindness. I want to quote a verse from
the book of Acts that was used in our church service this evening and it speaks
of what the Apostle Paul did, something all believers should do so that when we
read of the judgment that is spoken of by this third angel we can say that we
have done the right thing to help people like this who are alive in our world
today. “16 Now while Paul was waiting
for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was
observing the city full of idols.” This
is what is going to happen during the
tribulation period, as when people receive the mark and worship the beast they
will be worshiping an idol. Now what did
Paul do about the uneasiness in his heart for these people? “17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with
the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with
those who happened to be present.” Now
we can’t witness to those who will receive the mark of the beast at this time,
but we can witness to those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their
Savior and Lord today.
John MacArthur finishes his commentary on these verses by
writing: “The third angel concludes his
message with a final sobering thought about the punishment of those who worship
the beast, declaring that ‘the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever;
they have no rest day and night.’ This
angel would strongly disagree with those who deny the eternality of hell. His description of hell as the place those
where the smoke of the torment of the wicked goes up forever and ever (cf.
20:10) is consistent with the rest of Scripture. Isaiah (Isa. 66:24), Daniel (Dan. 12:2), John
the Baptist (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17), and the apostle Paul (2 Thess. 1:9) also
affirm that hell is eternal. But no one
taught that sobering truth more clearly than did the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke of hell as the place of ‘eternal
fire’ (Matt. 18:8; 25:41), of ‘unquenchable fire’ (Mark 9:43), where ‘the fire
is not quenched’ (Mark 9:48). And in
Matthew 25:46, Jesus clearly taught that the torment of the lost in hell will
last as long as the blessedness of the redeemed in heaven. Though human sensitivities may balk at the
doctrine of eternal punishment, it is both the explicit teaching of the Bible
and demanded by God’s justice and holiness.
“So these three angels deliver God’s last call to
repentance before the final judgments fall and the Lord Jesus Christ
returns. But God’s gracious warnings
will go unheeded by most of the sinful world.
There is perhaps no clear illustration in Scripture of the sad truth that
‘men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil’ (John
3:19).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I desire to be
ready to tell others of the hope that is in me, to tell others of the love that
God has for them, and that Jesus paid it all.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to live in the love of the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Pharaoh’s baker and butler”
(Genesis 40:5).
Today’s Bible
question: “Which two books in the Old
Testament do not contain the name of God?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/19/2015 10:19 PM
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