"13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."
The word "Revelation" is the Greek word, "apokalupsis," which means an "unveiling" or "lifting of the curtain," exposing what is really going on in time and history. For centuries, mankind has often scoffed at the predicted spread of tribulation and disorder on a global scale. I would however, suggest that everything is happening right on time. On October 4, the cyber collapse of Facebook and its family of social media platforms, shut instant global communications, driving the online world into panic, and forcing them to pause. People everywhere, had to resort to more old-fashioned methods of communicating. Proving that world systems are especially vulnerable. Scripture reveals that the fundamental crisis in the fallen world is between cosmos and chaos. The Facebook crisis clearly demonstrated systemic failure.
In the Bible, ancient Babylon is the symbol of the world's system attempting to organize itself in defiance of God and without God. It is a system built around the essence of all sin: "the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life." The Bible reveals that there is a time coming when the rulers of the Babylonian world
system "will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her
burning."
Revelation 18 says "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come."
Because of the world's dependence upon the internet, the Facebook systemic collapse reveals that
the unraveling of the worldwide systems of finance and commerce within one hour is not only entirely possible, it's inevitable. Demonstrating that the Bible’s prophecy of the sudden judgment that will someday fall upon the world and its systems.
The Word of God calls us toward a higher systemic interconnectedness that generates
peace, order and healthy relationships, based on love, not as a
commodity. The global pandemic and the worlds evil systematic chaos, disruption and fragmentation should cause us to consider the deeper reality of things revealed in the Bible’s apocalyptic books. Scripture prophesies the great carnage that will come upon the Earth in this very end time. The worlds focus on social structures at the expense of humanities sinful nature, as well as the criticism of Biblical standards or morality should create a growing concern. Therefore, we should prepare ourselves for the judgments which are to come on the worlds system we inhabit and its "systemic" vulnerability.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank you for the precious Word. I pray that it would permeate our souls, our hearts, and our minds, that You might use us today as a chosen vessel to reach the lost, and the gospel will reach the farthest corners of the world. Thank You for this wonderful glimpse into a triumphant future, when Christ will be vindicated. Lord, we pray that You would open the hearts and eyes of the deceived, that those who find the truth will become many.
In Christ's name we ask and pray.
Amen
Today's Message: The Lamb Becomes A Shepherd
In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul wrote, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Every man, woman and child in this world is a sinner. We are all born sinners. From the moment you came into this world, you were lost without God. Yet, when Christ gave His life on the cross of Calvary and paid our sin debt, we were not only no longer on our way to hell, so that we might have life and have it more abundantly and life everlasting. I’m glad that I am serving a God, Who had mercy on a wretched, unworthy sinner like me. I thank God for a resurrected Savior, that Hell couldn’t keep down. And, He has promised that He would never leave us! That really amazes me.
And, with the seventh seal, it is about to be unleashed in even greater measure. In other words, we have the same group but rather than in a position of petition, they are in a position rather of celebration. So, one of the elders representing the church asks John, who are these newcomers who are now around the throne added to the rest of the host? Obviously, he’s not asking for his own information, because he knows them. He knows who they are. He’s a glorified believer, and he has experienced the resurrection, he’s asking to make sure that John knows. This tells us that the purpose of visions, these spectacular displays, is to convey the details of which were not to be missed. He's making sure that John, and the rest of us, don't miss the point. It's important, because it illustrates that salvation is going to occur in the tribulation. This is a very important statement and gives a picture about who is the object of God’s wrath.
It's important because when we read verse like verses 20-21, in chapter 9, "The rest of mankind who weren’t killed by these plagues did not repent,they did not repent," we might assume salvation isn't going to occur during the tribulation. We could conclude that Christianity in the end will fail and God is just going to damn the whole world. This is intended to encourage us that they are going to be people who repent.
In verse 14, John responds. "I said to him, "My lord, you know." We see that John recognizes that he knows and he’s kind of wondering why are you asking me. He is, with great respect confessing I don’t know, but you do. "And he said to me,
“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The point of their origination is that they lived in the tribulation, they were redeemed during it and they’ve now come out of it. The only way out is death by martyrdom. The Greek verb "erchomai," is present tense, a continuous, durative participle. It's a a prolonged process, as people keep dying, the number of the group keeps accumulating. I believe, this clearly separates these believers from any other group of saved people. These believers are coming out of this time of tribulation. We know there will be believers who survive.
Jesus said "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left."
During the great massacre which occurred in the great tribulation, billions die, including believers and this group has continued to come out of all of that. When they church was raptured, they weren't saved, so they didn’t go with the raptured church. When the church is raptured and you’re here still alive, you still have time. To be clear, you only have as long as your lifetime. Even if that happens to be during the tribulation.
I have heard a number of people say "As soon as I see the rapture actually occurs, I'll drop to my knees, confess Christ. Others have said "When I hear the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, I'll ask God for forgiveness, but I'm going to have fun up until that happens!" Let me tell you this, do not presume that you can make plans and control our life.
In James 4, he warns us that we know nothing of the future when he said "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."
In Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples, "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name."
Now, in verse 15, we find out the reason that they are there, "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them." They’re there to serve Him. The word serve is the verb "latreúō," meaning to render acceptable service because specifically qualified. They are specifically qualified because they’ve seen the disasters of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and the following sixth seal when the universe collapsed and they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb for the purpose of rendering spiritual worship. They have suffered much. These are believers who have suffered and died for their faithfulness to Christ.
Verse 16, "They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat." Because they have refused to take the mark of the beast, they experienced hunger. They thirst because they refused to worship the beast. They know what it is to hunger, they know what it is to thirst, and they know what it is to have the sun pounding down on them. We read about that earlier in God’s judgment, as the sky begins to disintegrate, and the universe begins to collapse, normal temperatures will be skewed. So, they experienced all of this, but no more!
In John 4, Jesus told the woman of Samaria, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." This the life of eternal fellowship with God and Christ, that is offered to those who maintain their faith in Christ, even though experiencing physical suffering and death. Christ is the water of life , His springs are in His presence in glory.
As a footnote, these images refer to a prophecy in Isaiah chapter 49.
In Verse 17, it lends to the idea that they came to Heaven weeping, "For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes." Again, we see that the Lamb is the center of the throne. He becomes their shepherd. The Lord comforts His people as He wipes away the tears from their eyes. He gives them all they need.
In Closing..
Though Revelation is speaking to those early century Christians, who were going to suffer persecution for the cause of Christ, the eternal promise of this reward is given to all Christians. What a truly wonderful blessing to know what lies ahead for us if we will remain faithful and steadfast to the Lord! Protection, feeding, leading, all thirst is quenched and never another tear to be shed.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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