SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/15/2015
1:01 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction
to Rev. 11:6-11
Message of the Verses Reference: Revelation
11:6-11
Message of the
verses: “6 And I saw another angel flying in
midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth,
and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud
voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has
come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of
waters." 8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of
her immorality." 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."”
We perhaps need to relax and take a breath before we
continue on in this 14th chapter of Revelation by looking back to
see where we have come from and then where we are going from here. First of all let us think about what most
people on earth desire to have and that is peace on earth, but the problem is
that there is no peace other than when it comes through the Prince of Peace,
the Lord Jesus Christ. As we look back
on history it has been said that of all our recorded history there have been
less than 300 years of real peace in the world.
I heard that when there is peace in the world that it is actually just a
time for men to reload their weapons for the next war to come, and what we have
been studying in the book of Revelation is that there will be the greatest war
of all since the history of man during the end of these seven years of
tribulation. Politicians cannot stop it,
for they have never been able to stop a war yet since time began.
Let us look at another quote from John MacArthur to help
us understand this review a bit better: “Revelation
has much to say about the coming judgments; as already noted, they are the
primary focus of chapters 6-11 and 15-19, with chapters 12-14 forming a brief
interlude in the unfolding revelation of God’s judgmental wrath. Chapters 12-13 have been seen to recount the
events of the Tribulation from Satan’s perspective; chapter 14 returns to what
God is going to do. In three visions,
this text previews the remaining judgments of the Tribulation and the return of
Christ. The first vision (vv. 1-5) was
of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who will appear with the Lord Jesus Christ on
Mount Zion at His second coming. Before
us in verses 6 through 11 is the record of the second vision, in which judgment
is proclaimed by three angelic messengers.”
A while ago Billy Graham wrote a book on angels as they
are a very important subject in the Word of God. The Greek word for angels is “angelos” and it actually means
messenger, for angels are God’s messengers and are seen throughout the Bible
doing things that God has for them to do.
We remember from earlier chapters in Revelation and other OT passages
that Satan was the highest of these angels and he fell soon after he was
created and he took one third of the created angels with him to do evil and to
do harm on the earth. The remaining
2/3rds of the angels are loyal to the Lord and do His bidding here on earth and
even in the heavens that surround the earth.
Angels were instrumental in the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai as seen
in Acts 7:38, 52 and also Gal. 3:19 and then in Hebrews 2:2 also. We see from the book of Daniel that angels
gave messages to Daniel and from the NT we see them giving a message to
Zacharias and also to Mary announcing the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. While Jesus was on planet earth the angels
ministered to His needs as seen in the fourth chapter of Matthew after Jesus
had been tempted by Satan. Angels will
deliver the “nonelect” for judgment as seen in Matthew 13:41-42, 49-50. They will accompany the Lord Jesus Christ
when He returns to planet earth as seen in Matthew 25:31; and also 2
Thessalonians 1:7. John MacArthur writes
“In Revelation, angels are involved in the outpouring of God’s wrath (8:6ff;
11:15ff; 16:1ff.) Unlike those angels,
however, the three angels described in verses 6-11 do not bring judgment. Instead, they bring astounding proclamations
from God concerning the consummation of the age.
The three angels do not appear in sequential or
chronological order. Instead, the
address issues and events that stretch across the Tribulation period. Their messages anticipate the judgment of the
seventh trumpet (11:15; chaps 15, 16), which includes the final, climactic,
rapid-fire bowl judgments at the end of the Tribulation. The messages they bring are designed to
produce a remedial fear (cf. Luke 12:5; Heb. 10:31) leading to saving
faith. God will graciously offer sinners
another opportunity to repent before unleashing the terrifying bowl judgments
(16:1ff.). The first angel preaches the
gospel, the second pronounces judgment, and the third promises damnation.”
This is what we have to look forward as we continue our
study from the 14th chapter of the book of Revelation. It is
difficult to totally understand the chronological order of the events that we
study in the book of Revelation, but with the help of the Holy Spirit and also
the different commentaries that I look at hopefully we will be able to get a
grasps on this subject.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As I look at the
unfolding world around me, especially what is happening in our country and also
in the country of Israel and the other countries in the Middle East, and as I
continue to study the book of Revelation it helps put things into perspective,
the perspective that God is totally in control, and God has a plan, and nothing
will prevent His plan from being executed in the time frame He wants it to
happen. We know what the end will be,
and for believers it may be difficult times ahead, but we need to look forward to
the end when we will be with our Lord forever.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To continue to trust the Lord and His plan
for my life, knowing that He is completely in control.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Holiness” (Romans 6:22).
Today’s Bible
question: “To whom did Jesus say, ‘I am
the resurrection and the life…believest thou this’?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/15/2015 1:48 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment