Revelation 19, part 2

This week we will be covering a portion of scripture which is fairly well-known. John records in the second half of chapter 19 the return of Christ! What a magnificent description this is of our Lord, and what a great hope that He will come to put things right! God has revealed these things to come that we can have comfort and hope.

Before Jesus went to the cross, He clearly told His disciples that He could be going to the Father and then come again to judge the world and set up His kingdom. Later John saw what Jesus had said, when He gave him this vision, our book of Revelation. We can have assurance in the return of our Lord, and praise Him for all His goodness and righteousness!

Revelation 19, part 1

This week we are covering the preparation in heaven for the marriage of the Lamb. There is so much in these 10 verses that we will only be covering this section and finish the chapter next Sunday. There is praise going up to God. And who is the Bride, who is invited to this marriage? What does it mean that Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy? All these issues will be discussed as we shift gears from the judgment of God to the times pertaining to the consummation of all things.

Revelation 18

The topic of this chapter is the fall of Babylon, and the righteous judgment of God upon Babylon, that is, the commercial or world system. In Scripture we see two different New Testament ideas of "world". The first is that of the people in the world, whom God loves with His redeeming love, and for whom He sent His Son. The second is the idea of the spirit of the age, or the goings-on on the planet that are influenced heavily by human ambition and prompted by the devil. It is this system that God is judging, and the people caught up in it. Though Christ died for all, they have clearly rejected Him in lieu of the things of this life.

Revelation 17

This Sunday we are covering a chapter fraught with symbolic language, and a myriad of interpretations down through the centuries. Generally speaking, it is about the religious and geopolitical system, "the world", as the New Testament refers to it. We live in the world now but are called to be separate from its ways.

This chapter reveals what is at work behind this world system, and none of it is pleasing to God in the least. We cannot be friends of the world and friends of God at the same time. This judgment of God is coming to the whole world system, and it is severe. He is going to judge it completely. It is His place to pour out that wrath; it is our place now to maintain lives of light and purity as we live in this world.

Revelation 16

The focus of this chapter is the justice of God to judge and the refusal of those remaining on the earth to acknowledge God's authority, to glorify Him, and to repent of their rebellion and sin. Though judgment is not something that God takes delight in, as Creator, He has the right to mete out justice to those who break His law. And man, though made in God's image and made by God to worship and glorify Him, has the freedom to choose to do so or not. Another fascinating chapter in our journey through the book of Revelation.

Revelation 14-15

This week we will be covering the second half of chapter 14 and all of Revelation 15.  The end of chapter 14 is an introduction to the justice of God that culminates at Armageddon. Chapter 15 starts with the victory song of the tribulation saints and ends with the preparation for the final judgment of God.
Ultimately, we see that God's mercy and grace rule. He has been waiting for the time that is right to judge the world, when it is abundantly clear that everyone has made their decision, either for or against Him. There can be no denial of His perfect justice, and no excuse for those who have chosen to oppose Him.

Revelation 14

"Behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion" is how the 14th chapter of Revelation begins. And like John the Baptist's cry, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world", pointed Israel to the Savior who had come the first time, in this chapter John the apostle also writes of the nation of Israel, and their Savior who is coming the second time. He is coming to judge the earth, to judge the nations, and to separate those who are His and those who are not. Some are sealed, some are warned, some are harvested for life and others for wrath. Praise the Lord for the mercy and grace found in Jesus, the Lamb of God!