Study Of Revelations

Study Of Revelations

Minister Robert Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Walk before God in righteousness and peace, and

be sure that you are faithful till your work is

done.Trust God and study His Word. With

study comes wisdom, and wisdom can

make changes in circumstances.

Revelation, Unveiling And Revealing!

Revelation 1:1a

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God

gave unto Him, to show unto his servants

things which must shortly come to pass,"

    This book is called  the Revelation and sometimes the Apocalypse. It begins with the words "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," which mean not the Revelation about Jesus Christ, but the Revelation given by Jesus Christ. It is composed of two parts which are "unveiling and revealing." 

It is used for the revealing of God's will to us for our actions. Paul says that he went up to Jerusalem by revelation, because God told him he wanted him to go (Gal. 2:2). It is the revelation of God's truth to men. Paul received his gospel, not from men, but by revelation from Jesus Christ (Gal.1:12). In the Christian assembly the message of the preacher is an revelation (1Cor. 14:6). It is God revealing to men of his own mysteries, especially in the incarnation of Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:3).

It is specially used of the revelation of the power and the holiness of God which is to come at the last days. That will be an unveiling of judgment (Rom. 2:5); but for the Christian it will be an unveiling of praise and glory (1Pet 1:7); of grace (1Pet1:13); of joy (1Pet 4:13).

Let us not forget that this revelation is connected specially with the work of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:17). We are bound to see that here we have a picture of the whole of the Christian life. There is no part of it which is not lit by the revelation of God. God reveals to us what we must do and say; in Jesus Christ he reveals himself to us, for he who has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 14:9); and life moves on to the great and final revelation in which there is judgment for those who have not submitted to God; but grace and glory and joy for those who are in Jesus Christ. Revelation is no technical theological idea; it is what God is offering to all who will listen.

Amen!

Reading: ( The Introduction To The Book of Revelations) 

John To The Seven Churches

Revelation 1:4

"John to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace be unto you, and peace, from him

which is to come; and from the seven"

    The Revelation is a letter, written to the seven Churches which are in Asia. In the New Testament Asia is never the continent but always the Roman province. The seven Churches are named in Rev. 1:11 Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. These were by no means the only Churches in Asia. Why did John single out only these seven? There can be more than one reason for his selection. These Churches might be regarded as the center of seven postal districts, being all on road which circled the interior of the province.

Letters delivered to these seven cities would easily circulate in the surrounding areas; and since every letter had to be hand written, each letter would need to be sent where it would reach the greatest number of people. Any reading of the Revelation will show John's preference for the number seven. It occurs fifty four times. There are seven candle sticks (Rev.1:12), seven stars (Rev. 1:16), seven lamps (Rev. 4:5), seven seals (Rev. 5:1), seven horns and seven eyes (Rev. 5:6), seven thunders (Rev. 10:3), seven angels, plagues and bowls (Rev. 15:6-8). The ancient peoples regarded seven as the perfect number, and it runs all through the Revelation.

Seven is the perfect number because it stands for completeness. It is, therefore, suggested that, when John wrote to seven Churches, he was, in fact, writing to the whole Church. This is all the more likely when we remember how often John says: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" Rev. 2:7, and all through the Book of Revelation.

Now for the seven Spirits with the the seven Churches, in Heb. 2:4; we read of God giving "gifts of the Holy Spirit. God gives a share of his Spirit to every man. So the idea here would be that the seven Spirits stand for the share of the Spirit which God gave to each of the seven Churches. It would mean that no Christian fellowship is left without the presence and the power and the illumination of the Spirit. That my friend means all generation's. It would be who of us to read and spiritually understand "The Book of Revelation."

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 1:4-20)

(Rev. Chap. 2, 3)

The Island Of Banishment

Revelation 1:9

"I John, who also am your brother, and companion in

tribulation, and in the Kingdom and patience of

Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called

Platmos, for the word of God, and for

the testimony of Jesus Christ." 

    John tells us about the visions of the Revelation that came to him, while on the isle called Patmos. Patmos, a barren rocky little island belonging to a group of islands called the Sporades. It is ten miles long by five miles wide, It is crescent shaped, with the horns of the crescent pointing to the east. John was a leader of the Christians, and Christians were criminals, and treated as such. It is a wonder that he was not executed quickly; however banishment for him would involve hard labor in the quarries. John's banishment would be "preceded by scourging, marked by perpetual fetters, scanty clothing, insufficient food, sleeping on the bare ground, a dark prison, and work under the lash of the military overseer." 

Platmos left its mark on John's writing. To this day they show visitors a cave in a cliff overlooking the sea, where, they say, "the Revelation was written". There are magnificent views of the sea from Patmos "Nowhere is the voice of many waters more musical than in Patmos; nowhere does the rising and setting sun make a more splendid, sea of glass mingled with fire. It was to all the hardships and pain and weariness of banishment, and hard labor on Patmos that John went for the sake of God's given Word. And it was John's unshakable loyalty to the word of God, and his insistence on preaching the message of Jesus Christ which brought him to banishment in Patmos.

The way to the kingdom is the way of endurance. That endurance is to be found in Christ. He himself endured to the end, and he is able to enable those who walk with him to achieve the same endurance and to reach the same goal.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 1:9-10)

The Great Voice From Behind 

Revelation 1:10

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,

and heard behind me a great voice,

as of a trumpet."

    John was in the Spirit. That means he was in an ecstasy in which he was lifted beyond the things of space and time into the world of eternity. "The Spirit lifted me up said Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:12), "and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake."  When John heard the voice it was like the sound of a trumpet. The sound of the trumpet is interlaced into the language of the New Testament. (Matt. 24:31; 1Cor. 15:52; 1Thess. 4:16). The voice of God has a commanding, and unmistakable clarity of a trumpet call. 

John was in a place where, all he had was God. So John was in the right place and it was in God's time, and must of all he was in God's Heaven when he was told to write the vision which he saw. It was his duty to share the message which God gave to him. Now it was not a special duty, but a duty all Christians have, "Listen and obey God" 

A man must first hear and then transmit, exactly what he heard and who he heard it from, even if the price of the transmission is costly. When a man has a vision he must withdraw to see his vision, then he must go forth to tell it. The Scriptures read that he turned to see the voice. Question? What would we say! Probably this, "I turned to see who it was speaking to me, because I didn't quiet recognize the Voice. My friends; we must know the sound of our God's Voice! 

Amen!

Reading:  (Ezek. 3:10-15)

          (Matt. 24:29-31)

          (1 Cor. 15:51-58)

          (1 Thess. 4:13-18)

Ephesus, Held Accountable

Revelation 2:4

"Nevertheless I have somewhat

against thee, because thou

hast left thy first love." 

    Let's look at a little history of Ephesus, and learn something of its conditions during it's time. It is easy to see why it comes first in the list of the seven Churches. During the time of John, Ephesus was the greatest harbor in Asia.  All the roads of the Cayster Valley ran to it. The Cayster was the river on which it stood and converged upon it.  It was at Ephesus that the road from Euphrates and Mesopotamia reached the Mediterranean.  It was at Ephesus that the road from Galatia reached the sea, having come by way of Sardis. Ephesus was ''The Market of Asia," and it may well be because in Rev. 8:12-13, John was writing  down a description of the varied riches of the marketplace at Ephesus.  Its position made Ephesus the wealthiest, and the greatest city in all Asia, and it has been rightly called the Vanity Fair of the ancient world.      The Church at Ephesus had faithfully applied its tests and had weeded out all evil and misguided men; but the trouble was that something had gotten lost in the process. "I have this against you," says Christ, "you have lost your first love."  In Ephesus the enthusiasm was gone.  Jeremiah speaks of the devotion of Israel to God in the early days.  God says to the nation that he remembers, "the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride" (Jer. 2:2).  There had been a honeymoon period, but the first flush of enthusiasm had past.  Maybe, what Christ was saying was; that all the enthusiasm has gone out of the religion of the Church of Ephesus.

Some where the Church of  Ephesus had gone wrong.  The earnest toil was there; the gallant endurance was there; the unimpeachable orthodoxy was there; but the love was gone.  So Christ makes his appeal and it is for their return journey to Him.  The early Christians did not identify paradise and heaven; so to the early Christians paradise was the intermediate stage, where the souls of the righteous were fitted to enter the presence of God.  But there is something very lovely here.  Who has not felt that the leap from earth to heaven is too great for one step, and that there is need of a gradual entering into the presence of God.  My friends, we must turn our minds to the words of Jesus, to the dying and penitent thief, that said "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thou Kingdom." (Luke 23:42)  And Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke. 23:43).

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 2:1-7)

References: BSB

Smyrna's Trial 

 Revelation 2:9

"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty,

(but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy

of them which say they are Jews, and are

not, but the synagogue of Satan."

    It was only natural that Smyrna would come second to it's great rival Ephesus. Of all the cities of Asia, Smyrna was the loveliest. Men called it the ornament of Asia, the crown of Asia, and the flower of Asia. The setting of the city was equally beautiful. It began at the harbor, and it traversed the narrow foothills; and then behind the city there rose a hill covered with temples and noble buildings which were spoken of as;  "The Crown of Smyrna."

Here we have an interesting and a significant thing which shows the care and knowledge with which John wrote his letters from Christ. The Risen Christ is called, "He who died and came to life." That was an echo of the experience of myrna itself. There are three things that the letter says about this trial; Affliction, Poverty, and then there is imprisonment.         John forecasts an imprisonment of ten days. That is not to be taken literally. Ten days was an expression for a short time which was soon to come to an end (v-10d). John calls the Jews the synagogue of Satan. He is taking a favorite expression of the Jews and reversing it. When the people of Israel met together they loved to call themselves "the assembly of the Lord" (Num. 16:3; Num. 20:4; Num. 31:16).  It is as if John said: "You call yourselves the assembly of God when, in fact, you are the assembly of the devil. 

Jesus Christ will be in no man's debt and loyalty to him brings its own reward. To the faithful a promise is made: they will not be hurt by the second death. Of such things it is not given to any man to speak with confidence but, when John spoke of the faithful being unharmed by the second death, he meant precisely the same as Paul when he said that nothing in life or in death, in time or in eternity can separate those who love him from Jesus Christ. Such a man is safe from all that life or death can do to him (Rom. 8:38-39).

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 2:8-11)

Pergamos, The Seat Of Satan

Revelation 2:13

"I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and 

hast not denied my faith, even in those days 

wherein  Antipas was my faithful martyr, 

who was slain among you, 

where Satan dwelleth."

    Pergamos had a place all its own in Asia. It was not on any of the great roads, as Ephesus and Smyrna were, but historically it was the greatest city in Asia. The city of Pergamos was fifteen miles from the Aegean Coast and seventy miles north of Smyrna.  An immense alter to Zeus, the chief of the Greek mythological Gods, stood on the higher part of the city, one thousand feet above the plain. This may be what is being referred to as Satan's seat in (v-13). The church in Pergamos represents the age of the state church, which began with Constantine and continued until the first pope was recognized to have authority over the catholic church (A.D. 313-590). And here is the explanation of the beginning of the letter to Pergamos. Christ is called, he who has the sharp two edged sword. Roman governors were divided into two classes those who had the right of the sword, and those who did not. Those who had the right of the sword had the power of life and death; on their word a man could be executed on the spot. Humanly speaking the person, who had his headquarters at Pergamos, had the right of the sword, and at any moment he might use it against any Christian; but the letter bids the Christian not to forget that the last word is still with  Christ, who has the sharp two edged sword. The power of Rome might be satanically powerful; However the power of the Risen Lord is greater yet. Amen!  Here is something very important. The principle of the Christian life is not escape, but conquest. We may feel it would be very much easier to be a Christian in some other place and in some other circumstances but the duty of the Christian is to witness for Christ where life has set him.

In spite of the fidelity of the Church at Pergamos there is error. There are those who hold the teaching of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. We have already discussed these people in connection with Ephesus and we meet them again when we come to study the letter of Thyatira. They sought to persuade Christians that there was nothing wrong with a prudent conformity to the world's standards. It is the word of Christ that he will make war with them. We must note that he did not say: "I will go to war with you;" he said: "I will go to war with them." His wrath was not directed against the whole Church but against those who were seducing her; for those who were led astray, he had nothing but pity. 

For those who would "Repent" He would give them hidden manna and a white stone  with a new name written on it. There may be a wider and more general meaning. Of the manna it is said: "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat" (Ex. 16:15). The manna is called "grain of heaven" (Ps. 78:24); and it is said to be the "bread of the angels," (Ps. 78:25). Here the manna may mean heavenly food. In that case John would be saying: "In this world you cannot share with the heathen in their feasts because you cannot sit down to eat which is part of a sacrifice that has been offered to an idol. You may think that you are being called upon to give up much but the day will come when you will feast in heaven upon heavenly food." If that is so, the Risen Christ is saying that a man must abstain from the seductions of earth if he wishes to enjoy the blessings of heaven.

The final promise of Christ to the faithful in Pergamos is that he will give them the white stone with the new name on it. This is a passage of which there are almost endless interpretations. In the ancient law courts white and black stones were used for registering the verdict of juries, black for condemnation, white for acquittal. This would mean that the Christian is acquitted in the sight of God because of the work of Jesus Christ. It has been suggested that the white stone is the man himself; that the Risen Christ is promising his faithful ones a new self, cleansed of all earthly stains and glistening with the purity of heaven. So Abram becomes Abraham when the great promise is made that he will be the Father of many nations and when he, as it were, acquires a new status in the plan of God for men (Gen. 17:5).

Christ promises a new status to those who are faithful to him. It suggests that the white stone means that Jesus Christ gives to the man who is true to him a new self and that the new name means the new status of glory into which the man who has been true to Christ will enter when this life ends and when the next begins.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 2:12-17)

Ref: (BSB)

Thyatira, The Church Of Compromise

 Revelation 2:20

"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thousufferest that women Jezebel, which calleth 

herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce 

my servants to commit fornication, and 

to eat things sacrificed unto idols." 

    The longest of the seven letters is written to the least important of the seven cities. The problem which faced Thyatira, and the danger which threatened it were those which were universally involved in the position of the Christians in Asia. Thyatira lay on the road which connected Pergamos with Sardis and went on to Philadelphia and to Laodicea, than linking up with Smyrna. That was the road by which the imperial post traveled; and it was crowded with the commerce of Asia, and to the east of Asia. Therefore, first and foremost Thyatira was a great commercial town. Thyatira lies in the long valley connecting the valleys of the Hermus and the Caicus rivers through which the railway runs today; and it was its geographical position which gave it its importance.

Thyatira had no special religious significance. It was not a center of either Caesar or of Greek worship. What, then, was the problem in Thyatira? We know less about Thyatira than about any other of the seven cities and are, therefore, seriously handicapped in trying to reconstruct it's situation. The one thing we do know is that it was a great commercial center, specially of the dyeing industry and of the trade in woolen goods. It was from Thyatira that Lydia, the seller of purple, came (Act. 16:14). Here was the problem at Thyatira; the threat came from inside the Church. There was a strong movement, led by the woman addressed as Jezebel, which plead for compromise with the world's standards in the interests of business and commercial prosperity, maintaining, no doubt, that the Holy Spirit could preserve them from any harm, from such things which the Christian must have nothing to do with. 

The letter opens with a description of The Risen Christ which has a threat in it. His eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet like burnished bronze. The description is taken from that of the angelic messenger in Dan. 10:6 ; "His face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze." The flaming eyes must stand for two things, blazing anger against sin and the awful penetration of that gaze which strips the disguises away and sees into a man's inmost heart. The brazen feet must stand for the immovable power of The Risen Christ. A message which begins like that will certainly be no soothing tranquilizer. The letter goes on to terms of the highest praise. The love and loyalty and service and endurance of the Church at Thyatira are matters for congratulation. We must note how these great qualities go in pairs. Service is the outcome of love and patient endurance the product of loyalty. 

Then comes the condemnation of the woman Jezebel and all her ways and teaching; and one can hardly avoid the conclusion that she had very considerable influence in the Church at Thyatira. This woman is called Jezebel and, therefore, her character must be discovered in the original Jezebel than whom few women have acquired such a reputation for wickedness. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, and the wife of Ahab (1 Kgs. 16:31). When she came from Sidon, she brought her own gods and caused Ahab and his people to worship Baal, and she left behind her a name for "harlot's and sorceress" (2 Kgs .9:22).         

All this must mean that Jezebel of Thyatira was an evil influence on the life and worship of the Christian Church. It must be clearly understood that she had no wish to destroy the Church; but she wished to bring into it new ways which were, in fact, destructive of the faith. The letter to Thyatira finishes with a series of great threats and great promises. Jezebel has been given all the latitude the divine mercy can give her. If she does not repent, she will be cast into a bed of sickness and her lovers, and followers will share her fate. This will prove to all men that indeed The Risen Christ,  "triest the reins and the heart." (Jer. 11:20). In Jeremiah the prerogative of searching the inmost thoughts of men belongs to God; but in the Revelation, as so often, the prerogatives of God have become the prerogatives of the Risen Christ.

The promise from Christ; "I will give him the morning star. Could that be; that the morning star is the glory which will come to those who are righteous and have helped others to walk in the paths of righteousness? That is a soul stirring thought, and there is probably more involved in this promise; but we are quite certain that the correct interpretation is this. The Revelation itself calls Jesus "the bright morning star" (Rev. 22:16). The promise of the morning star is the promise of Christ himself. If the Christian is true, when life comes to an end he will belong to The Risen Christ forevermore.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev: 2:18-29)

Ref: (BSB; HGSB)

Sardis, A Lifeless Church 

Revelation 3:2

"Be watchful, and strengthen the things which

remain that are ready to die: for I have not

found thy works perfect before God." 

    Sardis stood in the midst of the plain of the valley of the River Hermus. To the north of that plain rose the long ridge of Mount Tmolus; from that ridge a series of hills went out like spurs, each forming a narrow plateau.  On one of these spurs, fifteen hundred feet up, stood the original Sardis, prior to the earthquake in A. D. 17. Clearly such a position made it almost impossible to breech, and only where the spur met the ridge of Mount Tmolus was there any possible approach into Sardis and even that was hard and steep. It has been said that Sardis stood like some gigantic watch tower, guarding the Hermus valley.  

The wealth of Sardis was legendary.  Through the lower town flowed the River Pactolus, which was said in the old days to have had gold bearing waters from which much of the wealth of Sardis came.  However; the greatest of the Sardian kings was Croesus, whose name is still commemorated in the proverb, "As rich as Croesus."  It was with him that Sardis reached its splendor, and it was with him that it plunged to disaster. The Sardians thought themselves too safe to need a guard; and so Sardis fell.  A city with a history like that knew what Christ was talking about when he said: Watch!"   

When John wrote his letter to Sardis, it was wealthy but degenerate. Even the once great city was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. There was no life or spirit there. The once great Sardians were soft, and twice they had lost their city because they were too lazy to watch.  In that  atmosphere the Christian Church too had lost its vitality and was a corpse instead of a living Church.

In the introduction Christ says,  He is he who has the seven Spirits of God and who has the seven stars.  There are seven Churches, yet in each of them the Spirit operates with all his presence and power.  The seven spirits signifies the completeness of the gifts of the Spirit and the universality of his presence.  The stars stand for the Churches and their angels.  The Church is the possession of Jesus Christ.  Many a time men act as if the Church belonged to them, but it belongs to Jesus Christ and all in it are his servants.  In any decision regarding the Church, the decisive factor must be not what any man wishes the Church to do but what Jesus Christ wishes to be done. 

The terrible accusation against the Church at Sardis is that; although it has a reputation for life, it is, in fact, spiritually dead.  The New Testament frequently compares sin to death.  In the Pastoral Epistles we read: " But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth" (1Tim. 5:6).  Sin is the death of the will, and the death of the feelings as well as the death of all loveliness.  A Church which is so sluggish as to fail to produce a heresy is mentally dead; and a Church which is so negative as to fail to produce opposition is dead in its witness to Christ.  If anything is to be rescued from the impending ruin of the Church in Sardis the Christians there must wake from their deadly sluggishness and watch.  No commandment appears more frequently in the New Testament than that to watch.  The Christian must be on the watch against the wiles of the devil (1Pet. 5:8). The history of Sardis had its vivid examples of what happens to the those whose watch is slack. The Christian is under continual attack by the powers which seek to seduce him from his loyalty to Christ. Often these attacks are subtle. He must, therefore, be ever on the watch.

Christ says: "Remember how you received and heard the gospel."Christ is telling the lazy minded Sardians to remember the thrill when they first heard the good news. Christ says: "Repent!" In the Christian life there must be a decisive moment, when a man decides to be done with the old way and to begin on the new.  Christ says, keep the commands of the gospel, and watch.  There is an old Latin saying that "the gods walk on feet that are wrapped in wool."  Their approach is silent and unobserved, until a man finds himself without warning facing eternity. But that cannot happen if every day a man lives in the presence of Christ; he who walks hand-in-hand with Christ cannot be taken unaware by his coming.  

It is said of the faithful that they, "have not soiled their garments."  James spoke with respect and admiration of the man who kept himself "unstained from the world" (James 1:27)

The man who is faithful to his pledge will, beyond a doubt, some day hear God say: "Well done!"  To those who have been faithful.  They will be clothed with white raiment.  It is said of the righteous that "they will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43); and it is said of God that he covers himself with light as with a garment (Ps. 104:2). What do the white robes signify? No one knows for sure, but in the ancient world white robes stood for festivity. "Let your garments be always white," said the preacher, "and let not oil be lacking on your head" (Eccl. 9:8). The white robes may stand for the fact that the faithful will be guests at the banquet of God. And also in the ancient world white robes stood for victory, and in any land, and in any time white is the color of purity.

The names that are written in The Book of Life; will not be wiped out of The Book of Life. In the time of judgment those who are written in the book will be delivered (Dan. 12:1).  He who is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15); only they who are written in the Lamb's book of life shall enter into blessedness (Rev. 21:27). To have one's name written in the book of life is to be numbered among the faithful citizens of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus Christ will confess their names before his Father and the angels.  It was Jesus' promise that, if a man confessed Him before men, He would confess him before His Father; and if a man denied Him before men, He would deny him before His Father (Matt. 10:32-33; Luke 12:8-9).  Jesus Christ is for ever true to the man who is true to Him. 

Amen!!

Philadelphia, City Of Praise 

Revelation 3:8

"I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door,

and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and

hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." 

    Philadelphia was the youngest of all the seven cities.  It was founded by colonists from Pergamos under the reign of Attalus the Second, who ruled in Pergamos from 159 to 138 B.C. for there was little danger there.  It was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture and language to Lydia and Phrygia; and it did it's work so well that by A.D. 19, the Lydians had forgotten their own language and were all but Greeks. 

Philadelphia was  "the center for the diffusion of Greek language and Greek letters in a peaceful land and by peaceful means."  That is what Christ means, when He speaks of the open door that is set before Philadelphia. Three centuries before, Philadelphia had been given an open door to spread Greek ideas in the lands beyond; and now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity, to carry to men who never knew it the message of the love of Jesus Christ.

Of all the cities Philadelphia receives the greatest praise and it was to show that it deserved it.  For centuries it was a free Greek Christian city a midst a pagan people.  It was not till midway through the fourteenth century that it fell; and to this day there is a Christian bishop and a thousand Christians in it. With the exception of Smyrna the other Churches are in ruins, but Philadelphia still holds aloft the banner of the Christian faith.

There had been one definite act in Philadelphia's past time; and the implication is that there had been some kind of trial, out of which the Church had emerged triumphantly true. They may have only a little strength; their resources may be small; but, if they are faithful, they will see the dawn of the triumph of Christ. That which must keep a Christian faithful is the vision of a world for Christ, for the coming of such a world depends on the fidelity of the individual Christian.

Christ Say's, For those who have kept, I also will keep.  When we are called upon to show endurance, the endurance of Jesus Christ supplies us with three things. First, it supplies us with an example. Second, it supplies us with an inspiration. We must walk looking to Him, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame (Heb. 12:1-2). Third the endurance of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of his sympathy with us when we are called upon to endure. "Because he himself has suffered and been tempted he is able to help those who are tempted" (Heb. 2:18).

In Rev. 3:12, we come to the promises of  Christ to those who are faithful.  The faithful Christian will be a pillar in the Temple of God.  A pillar of the Church is a great and honored support. Peter and James and John were the pillars of the early church in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:9).

Jesus Christ will write on the faithful Christians head the name of His God.  It is just possible that we have an Old Testament picture. When God told to Moses the blessing which Aaron and the priests must pronounce over the people, he said: "They shall put my name upon the people of Israel" (Num.6:22-27).  It is the same idea again; it is as if the mark of God was upon Israel so that all men may know that they are his people.

On the faithful Christian the name of the new Jerusalem is to be written. That stands for the gift of citizenship in the city of God to the faithful Christian.  According to Ezekiel the name of the re-created city of God was to be The Lord is there (Ezek. 48:35). The faithful ones will be citizens of the city where there is always the presence of God.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 3:7-13)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

Laodicea, The Church Condemned

Revelation 3:15

"I know thy works, that thou art neither

cold nor hot: I would thou wast

cold or hot." 

    The church of Laodicea portrays the apostate church of the last days (A. D. 1900---present).  Laodicea has the grim distinction of being the only Church of which Christ has nothing good to say. The words of Christ comes directly from the prosperity and the skill in which Laodicea took so much pride in.  In their minds the citizens, and even the Church, eliminated the need for God. Of all the seven Churches Laodicea is most unsparingly condemned; because in it there is no redeeming feature. 

The condemnation of Laodicea begins with a picture of almost crude vividness; because the Laodiceans are neither cold nor hot, they have about them a kind of nauseating quality, which will make Christ vomit them out of His mouth. The one attitude which Christ unsparingly condemns is indifference. The problem is that to so many Christianity, and the Church have ceased to have any relevance to social issues, and men regard them with complete indifference. This indifference can be broken down only by the actual demonstration that Christianity is a power to make life strong and a grace to make life beautiful.

The one impossible attitude to Christianity is being neutral.  Jesus Christ works through men; and the man who remains completely detached in his attitude to Him has by that very fact refused to undertake the work which is the divine purpose for him. The man who will not submit to Christ has necessarily resisted Him. Amen!!

The tragedy of Laodicea was that it was convinced of its own wealth and blind to its own poverty.  Humanly speaking, anyone would say that there was not a more prosperous town in Asia Minor.  Spiritually speaking; Christ declares that there was not a more poverty-stricken community.  The Church of Laodicea was not burden with debt, but it was burdened with Wealth.  

The trouble with the Church of Laodicea was that it's "Gold" was not the right kind, so they were told to buy of the Lord "gold tried in the fire" (v-18. What kind of gold is that?  My friend, it is a gold that has no taint upon it, and was not secured by fraud. They were not only poor , but blind and naked as well.  They were "near sighted," they could see their worldly prosperity, but that were "short sighted" as to heavenly things, so Christ told them "and anoint their eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see" (v-18).  However; they possessed no salve that would restore impaired Spiritual Vision, only the Unction of the Holy One can to that.    

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore, despise not the chastening of the Almighty" (Job. 5:17).  "We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world" (1Cor. 11:32).  "For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.  It is for discipline that you have to endure.  God is testing you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Heb. 11:6; Heb_11:8).  It is, in fact, God's final punishment to leave a man alone.  "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone" (Hos. 4:17).

In Rev. 3:20, we have one of the most famous pictures of Jesus in the whole New Testament.   "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:  We see the pleading of Christ. He stands at the door of the human heart and knocks. The unique new fact that Christianity brought into this world is that God is the seeker of men. No other religion has the vision of a seeking God. The promise of Christ is that the victor will sit with Him in His own victorious throne. We will get the picture right if we remember that the eastern throne was more like a couch than a single seat. The victor in life will share the throne of the Victorious Christ.

Every letter finishes with the words: "Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches."This saying does two things. It individualizes the message of the letters. It says to every man: "This means you." It generalizes the message of the letters. It means that their message was not confined to the people in the seven Churches nineteen hundred years ago, but that through them the Spirit is speaking to every man in every generation. We have set these letters carefully against the local situations to which they were addressed; but their message is not local and temporary. It is eternal and in them the Spirit still speaks to us.  My friends, this is the most startling thing recorded in the New Testament; that it is possible for a church to be outwardly prosperous, and not have Christ in it's mist, and be unconscious of the fact. This is a description of some of our churches today;  "A Christ-less Church." 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 3:14-22)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

        (C. Larkin) 

The Throne Of God

Revelation 4:1a, 2

"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: 

and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet 

talking to me; And immediately I was in the spirit: and, 

behold, a throne was set in heaven,

and one sat on the throne."

    In Rev. 2:1-29; Rev. 3:1-22;  Christ was walking in the midst of his churches upon earth. And now the scene changes to the court of heaven. When John entered the door into heaven, he fell into an ecstasy.  John saw One seated upon the throne, we know that to be God! There is something very interesting here.  John makes no attempt to describe God in any human shape.  He describes God in "the flashing of gem like colors," but he never mentions any kind of form.  It is the Bible's way to see God in terms of light. The Pastorals describe God as "dwelling in the light that no man can approach unto" (1Tim. 6:16). And long before that the Psalmist had spoken of God who covers himself with light as a garment (Ps. 104:2).

John sees his vision in terms of the lights which flash from precious stones. We do not know what exactly these stones were. But the three names we have are the jasper, the sardine and the emerald. One thing is certain; these were typical of the most precious stones. It is possible that the jasper stands for the unbearable brightness of the purity of God; and the blood-red sardine stands for his avenging wrath; and that the gentle green of the emerald stands for his mercy by which alone we can meet his purity, and his justice.

The presence of God which John saw, was like the blinding flash of a diamond in the sun, with the dazzling blood-red of the sardine; and there flashed through both the more restful green of the emerald, and due to the brightness of the light through the stones, a human eye could not bear to look upon the rainbow that surrounds God's Throne.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 4:1-3)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

The 24 Elders, And The 4 Beast Of John's Vision

Revelation 4:4,6)

"And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: 

and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, 

clothed in white raiment; and they hadon their heads 

crowns of gold. And before the throne there was a 

sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of 

the throne, and round about the throne, were 

four beasts full of eyes before and behind" 

    We now approach one of the difficult passages for which the Revelation is notorious. In it we meet twenty-four elders and then four living creatures; and we have to try to identify them. The likeliest explanation is that the twenty-four elders are the symbolic representatives of the faithful people of God. Their white robes are the robes promised to the faithful (Rev. 3:4), and their crowns  are those promised to those who are faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10). The seats around the throne are those which Jesus promised to those who forsook all and followed him (Mat. 19:27-29). The description of the twenty-four elders fits well with the promises made to the faithful. We must remember that this is a vision, not of what yet is, but of what shall be; and the twenty-four elders stand as representatives of the whole Church which one day in glory will worship in the presence of God himself.

The voices are the voices of the thunder; and thunder and lightning are often connected with the manifestation of God. In the vision of Ezekiel lightning comes out of the fiery haze around the throne (Ezek. 1:13). The Psalmist tells how the voice of the thunder of God was heard in the heavens, and the lightnings lightened the world (Ps. 77:18). The seven torches are the seven Spirits of God. We have already met the seven Spirits before the throne (Rev. 1:4; Rev. 3:1). The "glassy sea" has exercised a strange fascination over the minds of many people. There was something which was beyond all description, but which could be only like a great sea of glass.

It appeared like a sea - stretching afar. It resembled, in its general appearance, glass; and this idea is strengthened by the addition of another image of the same character; that it was like a crystal, perfectly clear and pellucid. This would seem to be designed to represent the floor or structure on which the throne stood. So Maybe what we see in John's vision is that the empire of God is vast, as if it were spread out like the sea; or, it may be symbolic of the calmness, the satisfied complacent of the divine administration; like an undisturbed and unruffled ocean of glass. Perhaps, however, we should not press such circumstances too far to find a symbolical meaning.

Here we come to another of the symbolic problems of the Revelation. The four living creatures appear frequently in the heavenly scene: So let us begin by collecting what the Revelation itself says about them. They are always found near the throne and the Lamb (Rev. 4:6; Rev. 5:6; Rev. 14:4).   From all this one thing emerges clearly; the cherubim are angelic beings who are close to God and the guardians of his throne.  They have six wings and they are full of eyes (Rev. 4:6; Rev. 4:8). They are constantly engaged in praising and in worshiping God (Rev. 4:8; Rev. 5:9; Rev. 5:14; Rev. 7:11; Rev. 19:4).

They have certain functions to perform. They invite the dreadful manifestations of the wrath of God to appear upon the scene (Rev. 6:1; Rev. 6:7). One of them hands over the vials of the wrath of God (Rev. 15:7). There can be little doubt that we find the ancestors of these living creatures in the visions of Ezekiel. They are clearly part of the imagery of heaven; and they are not figures whom the writer of the Revelation did not create.

The lion symbolizes the powerful and effective working of the Son of God, his leadership and his royal power. The ox signifies the priestly side of his work, for it is the animal of sacrifice. The man symbolizes his incarnation. The eagle represents the gift of the Holy Spirit, hovering with his wings over the Church.

Here is the sleepless praise of nature; "Man rests on the Sabbath, and in sleep, and in the end in death, but the course of nature is unbroken and unbroken in praise." There is never any time when the world God made is not praising him.

It praises his omnipotence:  God is the Almighty. The people to whom the Revelation was written are under the threat of the Roman Empire, a power which no person or nation had ever successfully withstood. Think what it must have meant to be sure that behind them stood the Almighty. The very giving of that name to God affirms the certainty of the safety of the Christian; not a safety which meant release from trouble but which made a man secure in life and in death.

It praises his everlastings:  Empires might come and empires might go; God lasts for ever. Here is the triumphant affirmation that God endures unchanging a midst the enmity and the rebellion of men. We have seen that the living creatures stand for nature in all its greatness and the twenty-four elders for the great united Church in Jesus Christ. So when the living creatures and the elders unite in praise, it symbolizes nature and the Church both praising God.  

The elders cast their crowns before the throne of God. In the ancient world that was the sign of complete submission. The picture looks on God as the conqueror of the souls of men; and on the Church as the body of people who have surrendered to him. There can be no Christianity without submission. God is The Creator!  It is through his will and purpose that all things existed even before creation and were in the end brought into actual being. Man has acquired many powers, but he does not possess the power to create.  He can alter and rearrange; he can make things out of already existing materials; but only God can create something out of nothing.  Everything in the world belongs to God, and there is nothing a man can handle which God has not given to him. God Is The Almighty. 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 4:4-12)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

        (C. Larkin)

The Seven Sealed Book (Part1)

Revelation 5:1

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne

a book written within and on the backside,

sealed with seven seals." 

    Try to visualize the picture which John is using to explain what he saw.  It is taken from the vision of Ezekiel: And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe (Ezek. 2:9-10).  

We must note that it was a roll and not a book which was in the hand of God.  In the ancient world, down to the second century A.D., the form of literary work was the roll, not the book. The roll was made of papyrus, manufactured in single sheets about ten inches by eight. The roll commonly had a wooden roller at each end. The Revelation itself would occupy a roll 15 feet long.  It was that kind a roll that was in the hand of God.

When a roll was finished, it was fastened with threads and the threads were sealed at the knots. The one ordinary document sealed with seven seals was a will. The roll may be what we might describe as God's will, his final settlement of the affairs of the universe.  It is more likely that the seven seals stand simply for profound concealment. The contents of the roll are so secret that it is sealed with seven seals. The tomb of Jesus was sealed to keep it safe (Matt. 27:66). The apocryphal Gospel of Peter says that it was sealed with seven seals. It was so sealed to make quite certain that no unauthorized person could possibly open it.  However this gospel of Peter was proposed as an addition to the New testament, but rejected by major canons.

As John looked at God with the roll in his hand, there came a challenge from a strong angel.  A strong angel appears again in Rev. 10:1 and Rev. 18:21.  In this case the angel had to be strong so that the challenge of his voice might reach throughout the universe.  His summons was that anyone worthy of the task should come forward and open the book.  There is no doubt that the book is the record of that which is to happen in the last times.

In response to the challenge of the angel no one came forward; none was good enough to open the roll.  And at this John in his vision fell weeping.  It seemed to him that there was no one in the whole universe to whom God could reveal his mysteries.  And, indeed, this was a terrible thing; because  here was a world so far from God that there was none able to receive his message.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 5:1-4)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

The Seven Sealed Book (Part 2)

Revelation 5:5

"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold,

the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David,

hath prevailed to open the book, and

to loose the seven seals thereof."

    We are now approaching one of the most dramatic moments in the Revelation, The Lamb appears in the center of the scene. The elder tells John that Jesus Christ has won such a victory that he is able to open the book and to loosen the seals. That means three things. It means that because of his victory over death and all the powers of evil, and because of his complete obedience to God he is able to know God's secrets; he is able to reveal God's secrets; and it is his privilege and duty to control the things which shall be. Because of what Jesus did, he is the Lord of truth and of history. He is called by two great titles.

His the Lion of Judah. This title goes back to Jacob's final blessing of his sons before his death. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? (Gen. 49:9). He is the Root of David. This title goes back to Isaiah's prophecy;  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (Is. 11:1)

Here is the supreme moment of this vision of the Lamb in the scene of heaven, and the Lamb is the center of the whole scene. This same Lamb, with the marks of sacrifice still on it, is the Lamb with the seven horns and the seven eyes. The seven horns stand for omnipotence, and in the Old Testament the horn stands for two things, "sheer power, and for honor."  The Lamb bears the sacrificial wounds upon it; but at the same time it is clothed with the very might of God which can now shatter its enemies. The Lamb has seven horns, and the number seven stands for perfection; so the power of the Lamb is perfect, beyond withstanding.

The Lamb has seven eyes, and the eyes are the Spirits which are dispatched into all the earth. The picture comes from Zechariah. There the prophet sees the seven lamps which are "the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth" (Zech. 4:10). It clearly stands for the omniscience of God, and says that there is no place on earth which is not under the eye of God.  After John had seen all this, he saw the Lamb, which is "Christ" take the Book From God's right hand.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 5:5-7) 

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

    The Seven Sealed Book (Part 3)

  

Revelation 5: 10

"And hast made us unto our God Kings and

priests: and we shall reign on the earth." 

    Here is the truth that heaven and earth, and all that is within them is designed for the praise of Jesus Christ; and it is our privilege to lend our voices and our lives to this vast chorus of praise, for that chorus is necessarily incomplete so long as there is one voice missing from it. Here is the greatest chorus of praise the universe can ever hear. It comes in three waves. First, there is the praise of the four living creatures and of the twenty-four elders. Here we see all nature and all the Church combining to praise the Lamb. Second, there is the praise of many angels. Here is the picture of all the inhabitants of heaven lifting up their voices in praise. Third, John sees every created creature, in every part of the universe, to its deepest depth and its farthest corner, singing praise. The first section in the chorus of praise is the song of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders; and, as we have seen, they represent all that is in nature and in the universal Church.

The picture of the elders is interesting. They have harps. The harp was the traditional instrument to which the Psalms were sung. "Praise the Lord with harp," says the Psalmist (Ps. 33:2). The elders also have golden bowls full of incense; and the incense is the prayers of God's dedicated people. The likening of prayers to incense comes also from the Psalms. "Let my prayer be before thee counted as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice" (Ps. 141:2).

"Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints." (Ps. 149:1). The nearest parallel in the Old Testament comes from Isaiah. There God declares new things and the prophet calls upon men to sing to the Lord a new song "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.  Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof" (Is. 42:9-10).

The new song is always a song for new mercies of God; and it will be noblest of all when it is a song for the mercies of God in Jesus Christ. The significance of this is that Jesus Christ brings into life a quality which has never existed before, new joy, new thrill, new strength, new peace. That is why the supreme quality of the Christian life is a kind of sheen. It has been said that "the opposite of a Christian world is a world grown old and sad."

The praise rendered to the Lamb by the four living creatures and the elders is rendered because He died. In this song there is summed up the results of the death of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ opened the way for all men to God. Every man becomes a priest in the sense that he has the right of access to God. When we think of what the death and life of Jesus Christ have done for men, it is no wonder that the living creatures and the elders burst into praise of Him.

The chorus of praise is taken up by the unnumbered hosts of the angels of heaven. They stand in a great outer circle round the throne and the living creatures and the elders and they begin their song. We have repeatedly seen how John takes his language from the Old Testament; and here in his memory are phrases from David's great thanksgiving to God: To Him belongs the power. To Him belongs the riches. To Him belongs the wisdom. To Him belongs the strength. To Him belongs the honor. To Him belongs the glory. To Him belongs the blessing.

Here is the climax of it all.  All these things Jesus Christ possesses, and every one of them He uses in the service of the men for whom He lived and died; He does not clutch them to Himself. Therefore, there rises to Him from all the redeemed thanksgiving for all that He has done. And that thanksgiving is the one gift that we who have nothing can give to Him who possesses all.

The creatures which are in the heaven add their praise. Who are they?  It has been suggested that the phrase gathers up every possible being in heaven--the living creatures, the elders, the myriads of angels and every other heavenly being. The creatures which are beneath the earth add their praise. That can only mean the dead who are in Hades, "For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks"? (Ps. 5:6).  "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" (Ps. 30:9). "Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee?  "Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?  "Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? ( Ps. 88:10-12).

I am sure some would say, How can souls in hell, Praise the Risen Christ?  Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations" (Is. 14:9).  Now that is a vision that displays Christ Power, Honor, and His Glory.  Not even the land of the dead is beyond the reign of the Risen Christ. Even from beyond death the chorus of praise rises to Him.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 5:8-14)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

    The Opening Of The Seven Seals (Part1)

Revelation 6:1

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,

and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one

of the four beasts saying, Come and see."

    For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord 1Thess 4:16-17).  This all happens between (Revelation, chap.4, 5).  Now we come to Daniel's "Seventieth Week."  Remember nothing was revealed to Daniel about what was to happen, during Daniel's Seventieth Week. He received a communication which he did not understand, and was told to "Seal the Book until the Time of the End." (Dan. 12:4,8,9).

What that "Sealed Book" contained is no longer a mystery.  John saw the seals broken and was told to record what it contained. The "Seven Sealed Book" that Daniel was told to seal up is the Book of Revelation. There are three time periods we will cover from Rev. 6:1 through Rev. 19:21.  We start with the "First Half" of the week, or 3 and half years of Daniel's Seventieth week.

The breaking of the first seal (Rev. 6:1-2).  As the first seal was opened there was a great noise of thunder heard. My friends, I believe that was the power of God being displayed upon the opening of the seals.  After the thunder, A White Horse appears, with a rider on him and he had a bow; but the rider had no crown at first: "And a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (Rev. 6:2c).  Is the rider Christ?  NO!    

Christ the Lamb is holding and breaking the "seals" of the book. Christ does not appear on a white horse until (chapter 19).  So that makes the rider of this white horse "The Antichrist" and it pictures him before he is crowned and becomes the Chief Ruler of the "Ten Federated Kingdoms" of the revived Roman Empire.  He is the "Prince who is to come," and who shall "Confirm the covenant" with the Jews for "one week" (Dan. 9:26 -27). This proves the Antichrist appears at the "beginning" of the "Week" and not in the "Middle" as some have claimed.     

Then the Second Seal is Opened, and a "Red Horse " appears, the Rider has power to take peace from the earth. The symbolism is clear. Red, the color of the horse, is the symbol of  "blood" and the sword is the symbol of "War." This is the time that was prophesied by Christ "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.   (Matt 24:6,7). The out come of these wars could probably be the "Ten Kingdom Federation" over which the Antichrist shall be come head of.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 6:1-4)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

     The Opening Of The Seven Seals (Part 2)

 Revelation 6:5 

"And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third

beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black

horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of

balances in his hand."  

    When the "Third Seal" was opened, the "third beast" says to John; come and see.  This time John sees a Black Horse" appear.  The Rider holds a pair of scales in his hand and a voice cries; "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou not hurt the oil and wine."  The meaning is clear. When all the able bodied men are at war, the fields remain untilled and "famine" follows, just as Christ prophesied. "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matt. 24:7). The olive and the grape do not need cultivation, so their ruthless destruction is forbidden.

 It will help us to understand the idea behind this passage if we remember that John is giving an account not of the end of things, but of the signs and events which precede the end. So here the black horse and its rider represent famine, a famine which is very severe and causes great hardship, but which is not desperate enough to kill. There is wheat, at a prohibitive price; and the wine and the oil are not affected.

As we continue in this study we must once again remember that it is telling not of the final end but of the signs which precede it. That is why it is a fourth part of the earth which is involved in death and disaster. This is a terrible time but it is not the time of total destruction.

When the "Fourth Seal" was opened, the fourth beast says come and see.  And when John looked he saw a "Pale Horse" appear, and the Rider on it was "Death." It is noteworthy that the Riders of the first three horses are not named. However they will be recognized when they appear.  After "Death "Hell" Follows, ready to swallow up his victims caused by war and famine.

Here John is using a traditional picture of what is to happen when God dispatches his wrath upon his disobedient people. At the back of it all is the permanent truth that no man or nation can escape the consequences of their sin.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 6:5-8)

Ref:(HGSB;BSB; C. Larkin)

  

    The Opening Of The Seven Seals (Part 3)

  

Revelation: 6:9 

"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the

altar the souls of them that were slain for the word

of God, and for the testimony which they held:" 

    At the breaking of the "Fifth Seal" comes the vision of the souls of those who had died for their faith. Jesus left his followers, in no doubt as to the suffering and the martyrdom they would be called upon to endure. "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. (Matt. 24:9; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12; Luke 21:18). The day would come when those who killed Christians would think they were doing a service for God. "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  (John. 16:2).  

So we know that when the "Fifth Seal" was broken John saw the "souls of martyrs" under the Alter.  These martyred souls that John saw are not the Martyrs of  "past ages," because they were taken up with the Church. So these "martyred Souls under the alter, are those who will be killed for "The Word of their Testimony,until Death.  "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Rev. 12:11). This takes place during the "Tribulation."  Remember; even after the Church is caught out the preaching of the "Gospel of the kingdom" will resume. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14).

It is as a proclamation that Christ is about to set up an "Earthly Kingdom," it will be very distasteful to Antichrist and his followers, and a "Great Persecution" will follow". "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matt. 24:9-13).

As we have discussed already, "these are the "martyred souls"  that John saw under the Alter. They ask that their death should be avenged, but were told to rest for a "little season" until they were joined by their fellow servants and brethren who should die as they did. And this promise is fulfilled in Rev. 20:4; "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Which is called The "Millennial Kingdom."

Now let's stay focused; so the promise in (V-11) is fulfilled in Rev. 20:4). We know that the "Millennial Kingdom" is not set up yet, because a lot more is going to happen before it is. So let's focus back to "The Seven Seals" and look into the Sixth Seal tomorrow. 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev: 6:9-11)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB; C. Larkin)

   

    The Opening Of The Seven Seals (Part 4)

Revelation 6:12

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo,

there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black

as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;" 

    As the Sixth seal is broken there will be an earthquake that will cause great "physical Changes" to occur on earth. "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come." (Joel 2:30-31). "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:" (Matt. 24:29.  

 It will be so terrible that men will call for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." (Is. 13:9-11).

There is a break between the "Sixth" and "Seventh" Seals where there is a pause or interval, during which 144,000 of the Children of Israel, that being 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes will be "sealed."  Remember there were 7000 in Ahab's time that would not bow their knee to Baal. "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." (I Kgs. 19:18). 

So in the Tribulation there will be 144,000 of Israel who will not bow their knee to Antichrist.  They are "sealed" by an angel, and the "seal" is the imprint of the "Father's Name" on their foreheads. "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1; 22:4). 

Then John saw  "A Great Multitude."  This is another class of the saved of  the "End Time." These are not the Church. "These saved souls come out of the "Great tribulation."  Which most likely are Gentiles who accepted Christ as their Saviour after the Church was called out.  They are saved and will serve God in His Heavenly Temple, and never hunger or thirst any more.  Since they were not part of the Church when it was called up, they will not participate in any Millennial blessings on the earth.    

Now the breaking of the 'Seventh Seal."  After the seal is open there will be a silence in Heaven for about 30 minutes.  Notice that this is for a limited amount of time.  This is a period of preparation for the greater conflict to come.  Following the silence "Seven Angels" stood before God and they were given Seven Trumpets. "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." (Rev. 8:6).

Amen!!

Reading:  (Rev. 6:12-17)

          (Rev. 7:1-17)

          (Rev. 8:1-6)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

     (C.Larkin)

    The Sounded Of The Seven Trumpets (Part 1)

  

Revelation 8:7 

"The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire

mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth:

and the third part of trees was burnt up, and 

all green grass was burnt up." 

    These seven angels, known as the angels of the presence; "The Presence of God" were the same as the archangels.  The earliest reference to a system of "seven archangels" as a group appears to be in Enoch 1 (The Book of Enoch (chap 10; 11). Their names were Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel , this was not translated into The King James Bible. While the "Book of Enoch" today is non-canonical in most Christian Churches, it was explicitly quoted in the New Testament, (Jude 1:14-15) and by many of the early Churches.     

When the "trumpets sounding"starts; forces of nature are hurled in judgment against the world. At each blast on the trumpet a different part of the world is attacked; the destruction that follows is not total for this is only the prelude to the end. First, the blast of destruction falls on the earth (Rev. 8:7); then it falls upon the sea (Rev. 8:8-9); then it falls upon the fresh water rivers and springs (Rev. 8:10-11); then it falls on the heavenly bodies (Rev. 8:12). The tide of destruction is unleashed on every part of the created universe. 

As the "First Trumpet" sounds "hail" and "fire mingled with blood" will be cast upon the earth and a "third part of all the trees" and "all green grass" will be "burnt up." This  will be the fulfillment of Joel; "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come (Joel 2:30-31. 

Notice that this is the a repetition of the "Seventh Egyptian Plague,"  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.  And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.  So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.  And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.  Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail (Ex. 9:22-26).  Let me ask, Is this not fitting for the Tribulation? 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 8:7)

Ref: (Book of Enoch)

     (HGSB; BSB)

     (C.Larkin) 

    The Sounding Of The Seven Trumpets (Part 2)

   

Revelation 8:8

"And the second angel sounded, and as it were

a great mountain burning with fire was cast

into the sea: and the third part of

the sea became blood;"

    As the "Second Trumpet" sounds a "burning mountain," which is probably a Meteor, will fall into the sea, probably the Mediterranean, and will destroy a "third part of the creatures of the sea" and a "third part of the ships," most likely some Navel Fleets assembled for battle, and the "blood" of the destroyed will discolor a third part of the sea.

When the "Third Trumpet" sounds a great burning star," called "Wormwood," will fall from the heavens and poison the streams of fresh water.  This will probably be another Meteor that in exploding will fill the atmosphere with "toxicus gases," that will be absorbed by the rivers and fountains of water, and poison them, so as to cause the death of all who drink of them. 

Woodworm is used in the manufacture of "Absinthe" an intoxicating beverage much used in France, and is poisonous. The Prophet Jeremiah refers to this time. "And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;  But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink (Jer 9:13-15). 

Than the "Fourth Trumpet" sounds and the "third Part" of the sun, moon and stars will be smitten and their light diminished a "third."  This is one of the "signs" spoken of by Christ. "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken (Luke 21:25-26).

An Angel will then fly through the midst of heaven announcing "Three Woes" that are to follow the sounding of the three Trumpets yet to sound. "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Rev. 8:13). Here we have one of the pauses in the story which the Revelation uses so effectively. Three fearful woes are to come upon the earth when the three angels sound the last blasts on the trumpets; but for the moment there is a pause. 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 8:8-13)

Ref: (HGSB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    

     The Sounded Of The Seven Trumpets (Part 3) 

Revelation 9:1

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall

from heaven unto the earth: and to him was

given the key of the bottomless pit." 

    This is not a real star, it's an Angel who will look like a Star; because "to him was given the Key."  He will not be a "Fallen Angel," nor Satan as some people think. Why? Because God would not entrust the Key to the "Bottomless Pit" to Satan, but he will be the "same Angel" that will bind Satan and cast him into the "Bottomless Pit" for 1000 years. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season" (Rev. 20:1-3).

When the "Bottomless Pit" is opened a cloud, like smoke of, "locusts" will come out and cover the earth. They will be a combination of horse, man, women, lion, and scorpion. The "sound of their wings" will be like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.  The size is not given, but they will no doubt be much larger than ordinary locusts, and these locusts will not feed on vegetation. These locusts will be forbidden to hurt the grass or trees, or any green thing, and will only be permitted to afflict "men," and only the man who does not have the "Seal of God" in their foreheads, and these they shall not be permitted to kill only torment. 

The meaning of this scourge of Scorpion Locusts seems to be that a vast army of "Demons" will be liberated from the "Bottomless Pit," that will enter into and take possession of the bodies of men, and torment them til they want to die, but cannot; because the demons will prevent them from doing so. Their attack is to last for five months. The explanation of the five months is almost probably that the life-span of a locust from birth, through the larva stage, to death is five months. It is as if we might say that one generation of locusts is being launched upon the earth. 

These "Scorpion Locusts" have a King, which ordinary locusts have not. "The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; (Prov. 30:27).  The King of the Scorpion Locusts in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek it is "Apollyon."  The word means destroyer.  Now this King is not Satan.   Satan is at liberty, while the king which is the Angel of the Bottomless Pit is confined with his subjects.

One Woe is past as terror mounts in its awful intensity. Now the terrors coming upon the earth are beyond nature; they are demonic; the abyss is being opened and superhuman terrors are being dispatched upon the world. My friend, if you do not know Jesus Christ Today; I pray you will seek Him and Open your Heart to Him Today. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 9:1-12)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Sounding Of The Seven Trumpets (Part 4)

Revelation 9:13-14

"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the

four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 

Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet,

Loose the four angels which are bound

in the great river Euphrates."

    When the "Sixth Trumpet" shall sound a voice from the "Golden Altar" will command the Trumpeter to loose "four angels" which are bound in the great river Euphrates. To know that they are "Bad Angels" is seen from the fact that they are "bound" and that they are the leaders of the army of 2000,000,000 "Infernal Calvary."  This begins the "Second Woe" The Plague of Horsemen.

No one really knows who were the four angels bound at the river Euphrates. We can only set down what we know and what we can guess. The Euphrates was the ideal boundary of the territory of Israel. It was God's promise to Abraham: "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Gen. 15:18). The angels, therefore, came from the distant lands, from the alien and hostile places from which the Assyrians and the Babylonians had in time past descended with destruction upon Israel.  Further, in the Book of Enoch we frequently meet angels who are described as the Angels of Punishment. Their task was at the right time to unleash the avenging wrath of God upon the people. Undoubtedly these four angels were included among the Angels of Punishment. 

Now let's talk about the Infernal Calvary; "The Plague of Horsemen."  This cavalry will not be composed of ordinary men and horses. The horse of course will have the body of a horse, the head of lion, a tail like a serpent, with the head of a serpent at the end of its tail. Out of their mouths will come fire, smoke and brimstone, and by these three, the third part of men will be killed. However before death the sting of their serpent tails will cause great pain. The riders on these horses will have breastplates of fire and brimstone, to match the breath of the horses.

Supernatural armies are not unknown to the Scriptures. "Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2Kgs. 6:14-16).

When Jesus returns  He will be Accompanied by armies of Heaven, and it stands to reason that Satan has his armies. As awful this demon invasion will be, it will not cause men to repent. Here is something to think about. The Four angels that were bound and let loose were prepared for the exact Year, Month, Day and Hour predetermined by God for the Demon Invasion. This invasion is not like the Scorpion Locust. or the Infernal Calvary, Satan and his Demon Forces will be increasingly active and do all they can do to torment and destroy mankind. 

   "Seek Ye Christ"

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 9:13-21)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

     (Book of Enoch)

    The Sounding Of The Seven Trumpets (Part 5)

   

Revelation 10:1 

"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven,

clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head,

and his face was as it were the sun,

and his feet as pillars of fire:" 

    There is an interlude between the sounding of the sixth and the seventh trumpets. The sixth trumpet has already sounded, but the seventh does not sound until Rev. 11:15, and in between the two there are terrible things.  First a "Mighty Angel" will come down from Heaven having a "Little Book" (roll)  open in His Hand. The mighty angel in this passage is described in terms which show that he came straight from the presence of God and can be no other than The Risen Christ.

The description of Him corresponds with Rev. 1:12-15 "And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters." And His is "voice" is like that of a Lion. This identifies Him as the "Lion of the Tribe of Juda," from Rev. 5:5 "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."

In Rev. 11:3, He speaks of the "Two Witnesses" as "My Witnesses." When The "Mighty Angel"  (Christ Himself) shall set His "Right Foot" on the "sea," and His "Left Foot" on the "earth," and lift up His hand to Heaven, and swear that there shall be 'Time no longer" He shall take formal possession of the earth. Note: "The expression "Time no longer" should read, in the Revised Version

"No longer delay," for Time does not end until the close of the "Perfect Age." While Christ at this time will take formal possession of the earth, actual possession will not be secured until He comes again to the Mt. of Olives, at the close of the Tribulation.

Now lets look at Rev. 11:1-14. Here we are given a description of "Two Witnesses" who are to prophesy during the greater part of the last half of the week. Who they will be is very clear. One has "power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy." This can be no other than Elijah who was translated that he might come again before the "Great and Terrible Day of the Lord".  "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Mal. 4:5-6). And who will also shut up the heavens for 42 months, or "Three and a half Years," which is exactly the length of time he did in the days of Ahab. The other witness will have power over waters to turn them to blood, and smite the earth with all plagues as often as he will. This can be no other than Moses, for he is the only person mentioned in the Scriptures who had such power, and it was for this purpose he was raised from the dead. "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee" (Jude 1:9).  

As Moses and Elijah appeared together on the Mount of Transfiguration with Christ, and most likely were the "two men" in "white apparel" (angel like) that testified at the Ascension to Christ's coming again.  "And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:10-11). What more probable than that; they are the "Two Witnesses"  which will return to the earth to announce Christ Return? 

During their witnessing  they will have power to destroy their enemies with fire that shall issue from their mouths, but at the end of 1260 days they will be slain and their bodies will lay exposed in the streets of Jerusalem for three and half days. Then they shall arise and ascend to Heaven, to the amazement of those who watch them go. Their ascent will be followed by a destructive earthquake. The "Second Woe" has past and the "Third Woe" cometh Quickly.   

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 10; 11:1-14)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Sounding Of The Seven Trumpets (Part 6)

Revelation 11:15

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were 

great voices in heaven,saying, The kingdoms 

of this world are become the kingdoms of 

our Lord, and of his Christ; and he 

shall reign for ever and ever." 

    The "Seventh Trumpet" includes all that follows down to the end of Revelation 19. We must not forget during our study of the Revelation that the "Seventh Seal" includes the "Seven Trumpets" and the "Seven Vials," for the "Seventh Seal", and the "Seventh Trumpet, and the "Seventh Vial" all end alike with "voices, thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake." (Rev. 8:5, 11:19; 16:18).

Now we start the Middle of Daniel's Seventieth the Week Rev. 12:1-17. In the middle of the week "Two Wonders" shall appear in Heaven. In the Revised Version they are call "signs."  No matter what we call it there will be symbols of something. The first is "the Sun Clothed Women." This "Women" is neither the Virgin Mary or the Church, she is Israel. We have only be reminded of Joseph's Dream of the Sun, and moon, and the eleven stars, " And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me" (Gen,37:9). To see that this "Sun Clothed Women" with the moon under her feet and and upon her head a crown of "Twelve Stars," is Jewish in Character. Joseph was the twelfth star.   

Israel is again and again compared to a "married" women in the Old Testament, but the Church is a "Virgin," and only an "espoused virgin" at that. "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2). This women is described as being "with Child" and "travailing to be delivered." Question? When was the Church in such a condition? Paul say's of Israel, "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Rom. 9:4-5). Then Israel Look forward to the time she could say, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (Is. 9:6-7). But before that could happen Israel had to pass through many sore afflictions and judgements. This being her "Travail Time."

The women brought forth a "Man Child" who was to rule the nations with a "Rod of Iron." There can be no question as to who this "Man Child" is, for Ps. 2:1-12 settles that. After  her child is delivered the women flees in to the wilderness where she she has a place prepared of God, and where she will be fed for 1260 day. For better understanding, between the 5th and 6th verses of this chapter; "this is where the present "Church Period" comes in. Here is the gap between the "Sixty-ninth" and "Seventieth" Weeks of Daniel's "Seventy Weeks." However we see in verse 7 that John jumps over this gap, from the Ascension of Christ to the casting out of Satan, because he is not dealing in these Tribulation chapters with the Church; but with Israel, and therefore continues her history without a break. The "First Wonder" has appeared. The "Second Wonder that will appear in Heaven will be a "Great Red Dragon." 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 11:15-19)

         (Rev. 12:1-6)

         (HG SB; BSB)

                

     The Second Wonder; The Great Red Dragon!

Revelation 12:7-8

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels

fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought 

and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was 

their place found any more in heaven."

    The "First Wonder, The Clothed Women" has passed; and the "Second Wonder, The Great Red Dragon" appears. There is no doubt to who this is, because in V-9 he is called that "Old Serpent," "The Devil," and "Satan." His Color is "Red," the color of "Blood "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44).

The "Stars of Heaven" that are attached to his "tail" reveal the fact that Satan will lead astray a "third of the Angels," for the Angels, are spoken of as "Stars" in the Old Testament. "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job. 38:7). So the Angels that followed Satan will be cast to earth as well. The question mark at the end of Job.38:7; confirms to us that "Satan's angels" were the "Stars spoken of in Scripture."

The Casting out of the Devil is from V-7 through V-12. It starts with a war in Heaven. The fact that the Dragon has not yet been cast out of Heaven is clear. He had access to God in the days of Job, 2000 years before Christ. Read Job 1:1-2:8 to see Satan's access. He tried to destroy the "Man Child" (Christ) at hand of Herod when He was born. Read Matt.2:16-18. He was at liberty to tempt Christ in the Wilderness, and Sift Peter (when Peter denied Christ). Today he is the "Prince of the Powers of the Air,"  "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" (Eph. 2:2) and the God of this World" (age); "Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you" (2 Cor 4:14). 

When the Dragon is cast out of Heaven there will be rejoicing in Heaven because the "Accuser" of  Christ's "Brethren" (he Jews) is cast down; but there will be "Woe" for the "inhabitants of the earth."  Because the Dragon will be filled with "great wrath" for he knows that he will have but a short time three and a half years to spread his wrath on the inhabitants of the earth before he is chained and cast into the Bottomless Pit.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 12:7-12)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Wings of A Great Eagle

     

Revelation 12:14 

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, 

that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place,

where she is nourished for a time, and times, and

half a time, from the face of the serpent." 

    Today we pick up from where the "Dragon" is cast out. When the "Dragon is cast out, knowing that his defeat has been brought by the elevation of the"Man Child," (Christ) to the place of power. Now the "Dragon," (Satan) will concentrate his hatred and malice on the "Clothed Women" (Israel) who gave Him (Christ) birth. The "Women" will be given the "wings of a great eagle," so she can fly into the "Wilderness," into "her place" where she will be nourished for a "Time, Times, and Half a Time," Which is three and a half years.

This takes us back to the flight of Israel from Egypt, of which God said; "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself" (Ex. 19:4). The "Women" and the "Dragon are symbols, so are the "Eagle Wings." They speak of the rapid and safe flight of the "Women" (Israel) into the "Wilderness," where she shall be keep safe and nourished for three and a half years until the return of  "The High Priest" (Jesus), from Heaven, who as "King Priest" of the Armies of Heaven will deliver her and allow her to leave her place of refuge.

Filled with wrath at the escape of the "Sun Clothed Women," The Dragon will turn his attention to the "remnant of her seed," and to better carry out his plans he will give to the "Beast" (Antichrist) his "Power" and his "Seat and "Great Authority."  " And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority" (Rev. 13:2). While Antichrist, as Antichrist, exists from the "beginning" of the "week" for at that time he makes a "covenant for one week." And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate (Dan. 9:27) and in the "Middle of the Week" he will break "the covenant," and for the "Last half of the Week" his reign will be terrible, and change in his character and the character of his reign, can only be accounted for on the basis that the dragon has incarnated himself in him. It is this phase of the reign of  "Antichrist" that is brought out in the Book of Revelation. 

Amen!!

Reading:  (Rev. 12:14-17; 13:1-2)

          (Dan. 7:7, 8; 9:24-27)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C.Larkin)

    The Beast (Part 1)

  

Revelation 13:1 

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast

rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten 

horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and 

upon his heads the name of blasphemy." 

    First, Let's look at one feature of  Both Daniel and John's "Beast. They both have ten horns, but they differ because John's "Beast" had seven heads, while Daniel's "Beast" only had one. Among the ten horns of Daniel's "Beast" there came up a little horn, which is not seen within the ten horns of John's "Beast." These as we will see, are features that refer to the last stage of the "Beast," and it shows that we cannot understand the last stage of the "Beast" without carefully comparing Daniel's and John's "Beast."

For the Little Horn of Daniel's plucks up Three of the Ten Horns and destroys them, or takes their Kingdom away. The Anti christian character of Daniel's "Beast" is seen in it's Little Horn whose conduct corresponds with John's "Beast" and for the same length of time "Times" and "Times" and "Dividing of Time" which equals "Forty And Two Months." 

Now we will examine the "Beast" that John saw come up from out of the sea, and try to discover the meaning of it's various features. We have two descriptions of this "Beast."  Daniel's "Fourth Wild Beast" as we have seen, represents the Roman Empire as it exited from B. C. 30, until as a nation it shalll cease to exist. The Nation was divided in A. D. 364, as the result of an ecclesiastical schism, into it's Eastern and Western  Divisions, and lost it's natural life as a world power, yet it has never lost it's religious existence or influence as seen by the continuance of the Greek and Roman Churches, and the Roman Law is still a controlling power in our laws. In this sense the Roman Empire in its influence has never ceased to exist. We are now to consider it in its last stage as outlined in John's "Beast." 

It is important to see that John's "Beast has a dual meaning. It represents both the revived Roman Empire, and its Imperial Head "The Antichrist." As the revived Roman Empire it is seen coming up out of the sea of nations. As the Antichrist it is seen coming out of the Abyss. For instance it cannot be said that the Roman Empire of John's day, that it was not,  for it was at the height of its power in John's day. Neither can it be said that it shall ascend out of the pit and go into perdition, because that can only be a person.

We must distinguish between the body of the "Beast and it's "Heads and Horns." The body being that of a Leopard, with the feet of a Bear, and the mouth of a Lion is to show that the revived Roman Empire in its last stage will include the characteristics of the first "Three Wild Beast" of Daniel, that is of the "Lion" (Babylon), the "Bear" (Medo-Persia), and the "Leopard" (Greece), and as the largest part of the "Beast," the body, it represented by the "Leopard", the prevailing characteristic of the revived Roman Empire will be Grecian.  John's Beast From the sea will be continued:  

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 13:1-18)

         (Dan. 7:1-28; 8:1-27) 

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Beast (Part 2)

     

Revelation 13:2

"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and 

his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as 

the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his 

power, and his seat, and great authority."

    The "Beast" that comes up out of the sea (chap 13, John's Beast) has Seven Heads and Ten Horns, and the Horns are Crowned. This represents the "Beast" or Empire, at the height of its power, when it will have all its heads, and when the kings, the heads of the Ten Kingdoms which will be divided, will have been crowned. The "Beast" that comes up out of the Abyss also has Seven Heads and Ten Horns. But they are not crowned, because these Ten Kings that's represented by these Ten Horns have not as yet received their Kingdom. (Rev. 17:12). This implies(Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Roma Catholic Church that the Pope by reason of Vicar of Christ and as Pastor of the entire Christian Church, has Full supreme and universal power over the whole Church. A power that can always be exercise unhindered).

The Papal Church comes into power after the "True Church" has been caught out. During the wars preceding the rise of the Antichrist, the nations that will then be found in the geographical limits of the Old Roman Empire, will form an "Alliance" for mutual protection. These will be the ten Nations, represented by the "Ten Horns" of The Beast. There is no doubt that the "Papal Church" will play a  prominent part in those proceedings. She will be rewarded by restoration to political power, and this union of  "Church and State," in which the Church will have control, is shown by the Woman riding the Beast,and dominating it. But when the "Ten Kings" shall receive their Kingdoms and be Crowned, they "shall hate the "Whore," and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." (Rev. 17:16)

We are told in Rev. 17:9 that the "Seven Heads" of the "Beast" represent "Seven Mountains" (this is to identify it with the Roman Empire). We are told in the next verse (R. V.) that (the "Seven Heads" also represent "Seven Kings" of whom "Five are Fallen and one is. and the other is not yet come;and when he cometh he must continue a short space." That is in John's day "Five Kings had Fallen, one was the then ruling Emperor, and the "Seventh" was yet to come. Who are the first "Five Kings" that had fallen; well that is not known. The King that was on the throne in John's day was Domitian, who had banished John to the Isle of Patmos. The Last or the "Seventh King" who is yet to come is with out a doubt the "ANTICHRIST." Tomorrow we will continue with one of the "Heads" receiving a Deadly wound. (Rev. 13:3)  

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev.13:1-2; Chap 17)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Beast (Part 3)

Revelation 13:3

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;

and his deadly wound was healed: and all the

world wondered after the beast."

    In Rev. 13:3, the Scriptures reads that one of the "Seven Heads," or "Kings," received a deadly wound.  However; which one it was is not stated. But The logical conclusion is that it is the last, for the "Beast" has all of his "Heads" before one of them is wounded. And in Rev. 17:11, he is called the Beast that Was, and  is Not, even he is the eighth,and is of the "Seventh," and goeth into perdition. The only clear explanation to this passage is that the "Seventh Head" being "The Antichrist," is the one who receives the "deadly wound," at the hand of an assassin. And as the body is laying in state prepared for burial, he rises from the dead (Rev. 13:14). Therefore; becoming the 'Eighth," though he is of the seventh."

By this Resurrection of  the Antichrist, Satan imitates the Resurrection of Christ and makes the world "wounder after the Beast" (Rev.13:3), and this adds to his prestige and power. If this happens in the "Middle of the Week" at the time the Dragon is cast out to of Heaven, it will account for the great change that takes place in the Antichrist, for before receiving his "deadly wound"  he will be sweet and lovable, and well liked. However; after his resurrection or recovery he becomes, lets say "Devilish", which will be the result of  the Dragon incarnating himself in him.

It is at this time that he breaks the Covenant with the Jews and desecrates the Temple by setting up the "Abomination of Desolation" which is an 'Idol Image"of himself "Desolator."  As the "Little Horn" of Daniel's "Fourth Wild Beast," he will destroy three of the "Ten Kings" and firmly establish himself in the place of power, and as he, as the "Little Horn," does not appear until after the 'Ten Horn," or "Ten Federated Kingdoms," come into existence. It is clear that the Antichrist does not form the federation, but is the outgrowth of it.

He will be a Composite man. One who embraces  in his character the abilities and powers of Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus. He will have the marvelous gift of attracting unregenerate men, and the irresistible fascination of his personality. His versatile attainments, superhuman wisdom, great administrative and executive ability, along with his powers as a consummate flatterer, a brilliant diplomatist, a superb strategist, will make him the most prominent of men. All these gifts will be given to him by Satan, whose tool he will be, and who will then make him the most powerful man on Earth. "UNTIL, His Doom."

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. Chap 13)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C.Larkin)

    Three Angel Messengers

Revelation 14:6,7

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the 

everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 

and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, (and ) give glory 

to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and 

worship him that made heaven, and earth, and 

the sea, and the fountains of waters."

    Now that we have described the "Beast," we can say that for the balance of the "Week," no man can buy or sell unless he has the brand of Hell, "The Mark of the Beast," on his Right Hand or in his Forehead. At this time three "Angel Messengers" will be sent forth. The first will be a preacher of the Gospel. This is the first time an angel is commissioned to preach the Gospel. But it will not be the Gospel of the "Grace of God," (Acts 20:24), nor the Gospel of  "The Kingdom" (Matt.24:14). It will be a new Gospel, called the "Everlasting Gospel." Its burden is "Judgment" not "Salvation," and it will be "Good News" to all those passing through the "fiery trials" of those days. For the announcement that the "Hour of Judgment" is come for all that do wickedly.

The second  "Angel Messenger" will announce the "Fall of Babylon." This is by way of anticipation, for the city of Babylon is not destroyed until after the pouring out of the "Vials."

The third "Angel Messenger" will utter an awful warning to those who are tempted to worship the Beast. Declaring that if they do, they shall drink of the wine of the "Wrath of God," and shall be tormented with "fire" and "brimstone" Forever and Ever. And now at this time preparation will be made in Heaven for the Harvest and Vintage of the earth. This is not the harvest of the Church, that took place before the beginning of the "Week." This is the Harvest of the Gentile nations. It begins with the pouring out of the "Vials." and ends with the "Battle of Armageddon."  Tomorrow we will start with the pouring out of the Vials. 

Amen!! 

"Happy Thanksgiving" 

Reading: (Rev: 14:1-20)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

     

    The Seven Vials of God's Wrath (Part 1) 

Revelation 16:1 

"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying

to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out

the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."  

    Let us go back and recapture where we are at this point. The first expression of God's wrath is seen in the "Seven Seals" (Rev. 6:1-17). The Seventh Seal contains the "Seven Trumpet Judgments" (Rev. 8:1-13; 9:1-21: 11:15-19). Then out of the "Seventh Trumpet Judgment" comes the "Seven Vials of God's Wrath" (Rev. 15:1; 16:1-21). 

Now we will start with the final expression of the wrath of God during the Tribulation. The pouring out of the "Seven Vials" filled with wrath. When the "First Vial" is poured out a "noisome and grievous sore" will fall upon men who have the "Mark of the Beast," and who "worship his image." This is a repetition of the "Sixth Egyptian Plague."  Ex. 9:8-12. What the Lord told Moses in Exodus to do in those few verses were verbatim and with an obvious meaning! And We believe that to be, so why can this not be? The "Literalness of these "Vial Judgment" is the key to the meaning of the whole Book of Revelation. 

When the "Second Vial" is poured out, the sea (Mediterranean) will become as the "blood of a dead man," and every ing soul" (creature, for creatures have souls) in the sea will die. Something similar, though not so great in extent, happened when the "Second Trumpet" sounded. Rev. 8:8,9.

When the "Third Vial" is poured out the "rivers" and "fountains of water" will become "blood." This is a repetition of the "First Egyptian Plague." Ex. 7:19-24. Those will be awful and dreadful times when there is nothing to quench the thirst but "blood." Tomorrow we will continue with the pouring out of the "Seven Vials". Thank God I'm saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.  

Amen!!!!

Reading: (Rev. 15:1; 16:1-21)

Ref: (HG SB; BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Seven Vials Of God's Wrath (Part 2)

Revelation 16:9 

"And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed

the name of God, which hath power over these plagues:

and they repented not to give him glory."

    When the "Fourth Vial" is poured out men will be "scorched with great heat." This is the only plague for which there is no parallel Egyptian plague.  However; The Prophet Malachi refers to it in Mal 4:1,  "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." The effect of this plague will be to make men repent, but to cause them to Blaspheme the Name of God.  

When the "Fifth Vial" is poured out there will be "darkness" over the whole Kingdom of the "Beast" and men will "gnaw their tongues for pain." This will be a repetition of the "Ninth Egyptian Plague." Ex. 10:21-23. Notice that this Plague follows the Plague of "Scorching Heat," as if God will hide the sun whose heat was so hard to bear. The effect of  "Darkness" will be to make men "gnaw their tongues" for pain, and for their sores, showing that these "Vial Plagues," overlap or follow each other rapidly. 

When the "Sixth Vial" is poured out the river Euphrates will be dried up so the Kings of the East (India, China, Japan) and their armies may cross over and gather for the great Battle of Armageddon. This will be a repetition of the opening of the Red Sea and the river Jordan. The Prophet Isaiah foretells this:  "And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.  And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt" (Is. 11:15-16).

These nations will be gathered by "Three Unclean Spirits," like frogs, that shall come out of the mouth of the "Dragon," and the "Beast" and the "False Prophet." Rev. 16:13-16. They will be the "Spirit of Demons," the "Seducing Spirits" of those days. 1Tim. 4:1. It was such a "Lying Spirit" that deceived King Ahab and led him to his death. 1Kings 22: 20-38.   Tomorrow we will conclude with the pouring out of the "Seventh Vial" (Rev. 16:17-21).

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. Chap 16)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C.Larkin)

    The Seven Vials Of God's Wrath (Part 3)

Revelation 16:16 

"And he gathered them together into a place called 

in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

    When the "Seventh Vial" is poured out a "great voice, probably the voice of the One who cried on the Cross; "It Is Finished." He (Christ) will cry; "It is Done," and there will be a "Great Earthquake" that will divide into three parts. The "Great City" and the cities of the Nations (the ten Federated Nations), London, Rome, Paris, etc, and "Great Babylon" that will be rebuilt by that time, and whose destruction by an earthquake is foretold in (Rev. chap 18) will fall. This earthquake is foretold by the Prophet Zechariah; "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.  And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee (Zech. 14:4-5).

In the "Great Hail," every stone of which shall weigh 100lbs, will fall on men. Here we have a repetition of the "Seventh Egyptian Plague."  ( Ex. 9:13-35). Hail has been one of God's weapons of war. God used it to destroy the enemies of Israel at Bethhoron in the days of Joshua  (Joshua 10:11). The Law required that the "blasphemer" Should be "stoned,"  "And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death" (Lev. 24:16).  And the "Blasphemers of the "End Time" will be stoned from Heaven.

In the Book of Revelation, between the pouring out of the Vials and the "Battle of Armageddon," which ends the Tribulation Period," in chapter seventeen and eighteen, there is a destruction of a "System" called "Mystery, Babylon the Great," and a city called Babylon. They are mentioned in that place in Revelation, not because they did not exit until that time, but because they are both destroyed at that time. We will study the "Mystery, Babylon the Great," and a city called Babylon Starting tomorrow. After this study, will follow the "Battle of Armageddon."  

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 16:17-21)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    "Mystery," Babylon The Great

Revelation 17:5 

"And upon her forehead was a name written,

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,

THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND 

ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

    The ancient city of Babylon restored, plays an important part in the events of the last days. his is very clear by what is said in the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Book of Revelation. When first read the two chapters seen to contain some things in common, but difficult to resolve. However; when we get the "Key" the understand will be easy.

It all starts with the seventeenth chapter when it speaks of a "Woman," and this "Woman is called, "MYSTERY," Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots And Abominations of the Earth.  The eighteenth chapter speaks of a "City," a literal city, called "Babylon The Great. It is clear that the "Women" and the "City" do not symbolize the same thing; because what is said of the "Woman" does not apply to a city, and what is said of the "City" does not apply to a woman. The "Woman" is destroyed  by the "Ten Kings," while the "Kings of the Earth" in the next chapter, "bewail and lament" (cry and grieve) over the destruction of the "City," which is not destroyed by them, but by a mighty earthquake and fire. So that makes the "Woman" to be destroyed "Three and a Half Years Before The City: and the fact that the first verse of chapter eighteen says; "after these things," that is after the destruction of the "Woman." What happens to the "City" shows that the "Woman" and the "City" are not one in the same. 

So we know the "Woman's" name is; "MYSTERY, Babylon the Great."  We have heard the word "Mystery" before! Paul calls the Church a "Mystery" because it was not known to the Old Testament Patriarchs and Prophets (see  Eph: 3:1-21). Christ to have a "Bride" was first revealed to Paul (Eph 5:23-32, and the "Mystery" that Antichrist is to have a "bride" was first revealed to John on the Isle of Patmos. The name of Antichrist's "bride" is "Babylon the Great. Some may ask why give a "bride" the name of a "City"? We will find the answer to that question in tomorrows "Devotional Study" 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. Chap.17)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    Mystery, Babylon The Great (Part 2)

Revelation 17:4 

"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and

decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having

a golden cup in her hand full of abominations

and filthiness of her fornication:"

    We left with a question from  our last Devotion Study. Why give a "bride" the name of a "City"? The answer is that it is not unusual in the Scriptures. The same angel that showed John in this chapter "Mystery, Babylon the Great" also came to John in chapter 21:9-10 and said; "come hither, I will shew thee the Bride' "The Lamb's wife," he did not show John a woman, but the great city, the "Holy Jerusalem" descending out of Heaven from God

Here we see that a ""city" is called a "bride because its inhabitants, and not the city itself is the bride. "Mystery, Babylon the Great," the "bride of Antichrist, then is not a literal city, but a "System" a religious and apostate "System." As the Church, the Bride of Christ, is composed of regenerated followers of Christ, so "Mystery, Babylon the Great," the bride of Antichrist, will be composed of followers of all False Religions.  The river Euphrates, on which the city of Babylon was built, was one of the four branches that flowed into the Garden of Eden. And Satan doubtless chose the site of Babylon as his headquarters.

As to the word "Mystery," The Papal Church has always surrounded herself in mystery. The mystery of "Baptismal Regeneration;" the mystery of  "Miracle and Magic" whereby the simple memorials of the Lord's Supper are changed by the mysterious word  "Transubstantiation,"  from simple bread and wine into the literal Body and Blood of Christ; the mystery of  the  "Holy Water," the mystery of  "Lights on the Altar,"  and other superstitious rites and ceremonies mumbled in a language that tends to mystify, and causes confusion; "which is the meaning of the word Babylon." 

All this was a "Mystery in John's day, because the "Papal Church" had not yet developed, though the "Mystery of Iniquity" was already at work (2 Thess. 2:7). It is now no longer a Mystery, for it is easy to identify the "Woman;"  "Mystery, Babylon the Great, because John described her as the "Papal Church." In Rev. 17:4 we read that the "Woman" was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls having a 'Golden Cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornications. Now who does not know that scarlet and purple are the colors of the Papacy? (The office and jurisdiction of a pope). Tomorrow we will finish Chapter 17 of "The Great Mystery" and move forward to Chapter 18 "The Fall of  Babylon."

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 17:1-5) 

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin) 

    Mystery, Babylon The Great (Part 3)

Revelation 17:6

"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,

and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when 

I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."

    We left off last time that the colors, scarlet and purple are the colors of the Papacy. We are also told that the woman was "drunken with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus."  While this refers more to the martyrs of the time of Antichrist, yet who knows, who has studied the history of the Christian church for the past nineteen centuries, to say this is true of the Papal Church during those centuries? We only need to read the history of the persecutions of the early Christians and more particularly the story of the "Inquisition" in Papal lands, to see that the Papal Church has been "drunk" with the blood of the Saints.

The fact that the Woman sits on a 'Scarlet Colored Beast" reveals the fact that at that time the "Beast" (Antichrist) will support the woman in her pretensions, or others words, the Woman as a  "State Church," will control and rule the State. Her long dream of world-wide Supremacy will at last be realized, for John tells us that "the waters which thou sawest, where the 'Whore' sitteth, are Peoples, and Multitudes, and  Nations, and Tongues."

That means  that after the "True Church" (the Bride of Christ) is taken out of this world; then the "False or "Papal Church" (The bride of Antichrist) will remain, and the professing body of Christians (having the "form of Godliness without the power") that is left behind will become the Universal Church.. But this will continue for only a short time, because the "Ten Kings"  "of the Federated Kingdom," finding their power, will "Hate the "Whore," and strip her of her gorgeous apparel, take her wealth (eat her flesh) and burn her churches and cathedrals with fire. Rev:17:16.

This will take place at the time the worship of the Beast is set up, because Antichrist in his jealous hate will not permit any worship that does not center on him.  Now the Beast which the Woman sits on is to show from whom the Woman (The Papal Church) gets her power and support after the true church has been "caught out," and also to show that the Beast (Antichrist) and the Woman (The Church) are not the same , but separate. Therefore The Papacy is not Antichrist. 

So from the foreview of the Papacy we see that the Papal Church is not a dying "System."  She is to be revived and become a "Universal Church," and in doing so is to commit fornication with the Kings of the Earth, and that she will again be "drunk with the blood" of the martyrs of the Tribulation Period. So now the meaning of Chapter seventeen of the Book of Revelation is no longer a Mystery. The prophetic portrait of the Woman, corresponds too closely with the history of the Papal Church to be a mere coincidence. Tomorrow we begin Chapter eighteen; "The Fall of Babylon," "The Great City."

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 17:6-18)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C.Larkin)

     (Inquisition - Wikipedia Online)

    "Fall Of Babylon," The Great City

Revelation 18:1

"And after these things I saw another angel come

down from heaven, having great power; and

the earth was lightened with his glory."

    This chapter begins with the words "after these things." What Things you ask? The things recorded in the previous chapter, the destruction of "Mystical Babylon." Since  "Mystical Babylon" was destroyed in Chapter seventeen then she cannot appear in Chapter eighteen. So the "City" that is described here must be the "City" called Babylon, and since there is no city of that name on earth today, and has never been since the ancient city of Babylon was destroyed. This alone tells us that this must be a reference to a future city of Babylon. 

The fact that both, Chapters seventeen, and eighteen refer to different things is verified by the fact that they are announced by different angels. The events in chapter seventeen are announced by one of the "Vial" Angels, while those of the eighteenth are announced by "another" angel; probably the "second Angel Messenger," who by the way of anticipation, announced in chapter 14:8, the "Fall of Babylon," "That Great City." 

But Isaiah is still more specific for he locates the time when his prophecy will be fulfilled. He calls it the "Day of the Lord." Isa. 13:9. That is the Millennium. And he locates it at the beginning of the Millennium, or during the events that usher in the Millennium, for he says; "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine  (Is. 13:10).  "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (Luke 21:25-27. Surely nothing like this happened when Babylon was taken by Cyrus.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. Chap 17, 18)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    "Fall Of Babylon," The Great City (Part 2)

Revelation 18:10

"Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas,

alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! 

for in one hour is thy judgment come."

    In the description of the destruction of the city of Babylon given in Rev. 18, we read that her judgment will come in one hour (vs. 10), and that in one hour she shall be made desolate (vs. 19), and as an illustration of the suddenness and completeness of her destruction, "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all (Rev. 18:21).

She is to be destroyed by Fire as well (Rev. 18:8, 9, 18, and this is in exact harmony with the words of Isaiah; "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah (Is. 13:19). The prophet Jeremiah makes the same statement; "As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein (Jer. 50:40). The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah cannot be fulfilled unless there is to be a Future Babylon that shall be destroyed. 

In Rev. 16:17-19, we are told that Babylon will be destroyed by an Earthquake, with lighting and great thunder. So it appears since, Sodom and Gomorrah were first set on fire and then swallowed up by an earthquake, that the rebuilt city of Babylon will be set on fire, and then an earthquake will cause the burning city to fall into a "Lake of Fire" and the city like a "Millstone" (Rev. 18:21 will sink below the surface of the earth as into the sea, and be swallowed up so that it will be impossible to ever use her stones for building purposes, and the land shall become a Wilderness where no man shall ever dwell. And the Kings of the earth, and the merchants, and the ship-masters, and sailors, and all who have profited by her merchandise, will stand afar off and cry, and wail because of her destruction, but the heavens will rejoice for God will have rewarded her Double according to her work, and BABYLON WILL BE NO MORE

As to the probability of the ancient city of Babylon being rebuilt, just look at the events in the past years in that part of the world; It looks to be happening. 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. Chapter18) 

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The Righteous Judge

Revelation 19:20

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that

wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived

them that had received the mark of the beast, and 

them that worshipped his image. These both 

were cast alive into a lake of fire 

burning with brimstone."

    At the end of seven years the allied armies of the ten Federated Nations will gather together in the Valle of Megiddo, north of Jerusalem, to besiege the city. "For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city" Zech. 14:2). " And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (Zech 12:10). 

Then the Lord at the head of  the "armies of Heaven," will come to their rescue. "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Rev. 19: 11-16).

And the Jews will see Christ descend upon the Mt. of Olives. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mt. of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south" (Zech. 14:4).

The Beast (Antichrist) and the Kings of the earth, and their armies will gather together to make war against the Lord and the Beast and the false Prophet will be taken and cast alive into the "lake of Fire." Whats left of the armies will be slain with the sword of Him who sits upon the "White Horse," and the fouls of the air will be summoned unto the "Supper of the Great God" and shall feed on the flesh of the Kings, Captains and the mighty men. Rev. 19: 17-21.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev Chapter 19)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C Larkin)

    Renovation Of The Earth

Revelation 20:11

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, 

from whose face the earth and the heaven  fled away;

and there was found no place for them." 

    Immediately after the destruction of Satan and his armies, John Says,  "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them (Rev 20:11). Then John describes the Judgment of the "Great White Throne;"  However we shall go a little further. 

The Subjects  are the Wicked Dead. The time is during the Renovation of the Earth by Fire. The place; Before "The Great White Throne." Basis of Judgment will be their Works. The result will be Cast Into the "Lake of Fire." The account is given in Rev: 20:11-15. It will take place at the close of the Millennium a 1000 years after the Judgment of the Nations, and before the "Great White Throne."

The "Great White Throne" will not be on earth, because the "Great White Throne Judgment" will take place during the renovation of the earth by fire, because the "renovation" of this Earth is reserved or kept until the time of that Judgment, that Peter calls "The Day of  Judgment and Perdition of Ungodly Men" (2Pet. 3:7), because the Judgement of the "Great White Throne" is the Judgment of the Wicked dead.

All the Righteous dead will arise at the First Resurrection. If any Righteous die between the First Resurrection and the Resurrection of the "Wicked" or Second Resurrection they will rise with the wicked at that Resurrection. The words; Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life (vs. 15), implies that there will be "some," probably very few, Righteous at the Second Resurrection. At the close 0f the Millennium and just before the renovation of the earth by fire, the living Righteous will probably be transformed, and the living Wicked, and  Ungodly will be destroyed in the flames that will consume the earths atmosphere and exterior surface.

The Wicked and Ungodly will not be judged to see whether they are entitled to Eternal Life, but to Discover For Certainty the "degree" of their punishment. The sad feature of this Judgment will be that there will be many kind of lovable people "There" who were not "Saved," and who will be classed among the "Ungodly" because they rejected Christ as a their Saviour.  The"Books" will be opened in which the "Recording Angel" has kept a record of every person's life, and they will be judged every man according to his "Works." Some will be sentenced to a more severe punishment than others, but none will escape. The worst of all is, that those who were not so bad must spend Eternity with the ungodly, in the “Lake of Fire.” Their punishment includes the “Second Death,” which means, as we have seen, that they shall lose their resurrection body, in which they were Judged and become “disembodied spirits” again, and so exist in the “Lake of Fire” FOREVER.

What a Judgment Scene that will be. There will be Cain and the wicked, before The Flood that took place after Noah built the Ark; the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah; Pharaoh, Ahab, Jezebel, Judas and all those Scribes' and Pharisees and Chief Priests who caused the Crucifixion of our Lord, and did not repent, and Ananias and Sapphira, and the great host of the wicked and all those who by choice rejected Christ in all nations and through all ages.

The “Fallen Angels” (not the Devil's angels) who are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness,” will be Judged at this time, which Jude calls the “Judgment of the GREAT DAY.” (Jude 1:6.) When this Judgment is over the Devil and his angels, and all the ungodly, will have been condemned to the “Lake of Fire,” and the Universe purged of all evil, and righteousness shall reign supreme on the New Earth.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev: 20:11-15)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The New Heaven And The New Earth

Revelation 21:1

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the

first heaven and the first earth were passed

away; and there was no more sea." 

    As for the "Departing as a Scroll" of heavens, and the "Flying Away" of  the earth and heavens, that John spoke of in, (Rev. 6:14; 20:11) is not a total disappearance of the material worlds, because he tells us afterwards he saw; The New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, and nations living and walking in the Light of it on the earth, and the Kings of the Earth bringing their Glory and Honor Into It." (Rev. 21:2, 24).

The Holy Spirit through Solomon said, “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the Earth Abideth Forever.” (Eccl. 1:4).  It is specifically promised that; "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."  (Matt. 5:5), and that the Children of Israel shall dwell in it forever, (Is. 60:21; Is. 66:22), and if God's people are to inhabit it forever, it must EXIST FOREVER.  Amen!!  It is clear then that this earth as a planet is not to be annihilated, but that it is to be Cleansed and Purified by Fire and made fit for the home of those peoples and nations that are to occupy it after its renovation.  

This earth has been consecrated by the Presence of the Son of God, where the costliest sacrifice that the Universe could furnish was offered up on Calvary to redeem all people who Believed in Jesus Christ, and inherit Eternal Life. It is too sacred a place to ever be blotted out or cease to exist, for it is the most cherished in the mind of God of all His great creation.    

With the “Renovation of the Earth by Fire,” Time does not end; Eternity begin. We read in the New Testament of a “Perfect Kingdom” that Christ shall surrender to the Father, so that God may be “All in All.” (1Cor. 15:24-28). A Kingdom in which; “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, and things Under the Earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ "IS LORD.” (Phil. 2:9-11.) This describes a Kingdom in which all things Celestial, Terrestrial and Infernal are to be subject to the SON OF MAN.

Now this “Perfect Kingdom” cannot be the “Millennial Kingdom,” for that, as we have seen, ends in Apostasy and Rebellion. It must therefore mean another Kingdom on the Other Side of the “Millennial Kingdom,” and as there is to be no other Kingdom between the “Millennial Kingdom” and the “Renovation of the Earth by Fire,” it must mean a Kingdom that is to follow the “Renovation of the Earth by Fire,” and that Kingdom is the Kingdom of the “New Heaven and the New Earth,” which we call the “Perfect Kingdom.” 

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev: Chap. 18)

Ref: (Scriptures As Noted In Devotional)

       (HGSB, BSB, C. Larkin)

    The New Heaven And The New Earth (Part 2)

Revelation 21:4

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 

and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 

nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: 

for the former things are passed away." 

    If, it is as some believe, that the "Seventh Day" of the "Creative Week" corresponds to the Millennium, then we have a prophecy of the Dispensation that follows the "Renovation of the Earth" in the "Morrow After the Sabbath."(Lev. 23:36). The Seventh day of Genesis had to do with the "Old Creation," which was imperfect, but the "Eighth Day" has to do with the "New Creation," which is perfect, for it was on the "Eighth Day," or the "First Day of the week," that our Lord arose from the dead, and 50 days later, on the "Eighth Day," that the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. The "Eighth Day" cannot point to the Millennium, for that is represented by the "Seventh Day," neither can it point to Eternity, for a day is a Period of Time, while Eternity is Timeless. The “Eighth Day” must then point to a "period of time" between the "Renovation of the Earth" and Eternity, or what we are pleased to call the "Perfect Age."

It is also called a Dispensation of Fullness of Times in (Eph. 1:10). That is, a "Full-Time Dispensation." The indication is, that all the previous Dispensations were not "Full-Time" Dispensations," because God had to cut them short on account of sin. As to the duration of this Dispensation of the "Fullness of Times" we are not in the dark. Israel is to have a large place in that Dispensation. "For as the New Heavens and the New Earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." (Is. 66:22). And as the duration of God's Covenant with Israel was extended in (Deut. 7:9) to a "Thousand Generations" or 33,000 years, we have an indication that the "Dispensation of the Fullness of Times" will last for at least that length of time. Now Let's look at some of the characteristics of that Age or Dispensation.

There Will Be No Sin. All the powers of Evil will have been expelled from the earth and imprisoned in the"Lake of Fire" forever. The atmosphere of the New Earth will afford no lurking place for disease germs, and there shall be no more sickness or death, and health will be preserved by the use of the leaves of the "Tree of Life." The heavens shall not robe themselves in angry tempests and gloomily blackness, or flash with the thunderbolts of Divine wrath, or cast plagues of hail on the earth, or cause devouring floods of water with destructive wind storms. It may be that in that day a "Mist shall go up from the earth and water the whole face of the ground as in Eden."  

We read that there shall be "No More Sea," not that there shall not be large bodies of water, because the river that flows through the street of the New City must have an outlet, but that there shall be no great oceans. The Earth shall also put on its "Eden" Beauty and Glory. There shall no longer be thorns and thistles, no parasites or destructive insects, and labor shall be a delight. No serpents shall hiss among its flowers, nor savage beasts lie in ambush to destroy and devour. Its sod shall not be heaped over newly made graves, nor its soil moistened with tears of sorrow and shame, or saturated with human blood from random killings. The meek shall inherit the earth, and from north to south, and from east to west, it shall blossom like the rose and be clothed with the verdure of Paradise Restored. 

Amen!!  

Reading: (Rev. 21:4-8)

Ref: (HGSB,BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    The New City (Holy Jerusalem) 

Revelation 21:9 

"And there came unto me one of the seven angels which

had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues,

and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will 

shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." 

    The Angel said to John; "Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."  Some claim that because the word "WIFE" is used here, that Israel instead of the Church, is to be the Bride of Christ. But we must not forget that this offer to show John the Bride, was made after the Wedding of Christ to the Church, and at this time she was no longer the Bride but had become the WIFE of Christ, and should be thus spoken of. But instead of John being shown a Woman, he was shown a CITY, the Holy Jerusalem, and as what makes up a City is not its buildings and parks and business, but its inhabitants, it is clear that the Bride and the City are identical.

From this we see that there is not only to be a New Heaven and a New Earth, but also a New City. This City is the place Jesus said He was going back to Heaven to prepare for His Bride the Church.  "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." (John 14:2-4)

It is just such a place as we would expect the Divine Architect to design and build. The description of it is grand. It is of Celestial origin. "It is not Heaven itself, for it comes down out of Heaven."  No mortal hands are employed in its construction. It will take up its abode on the New Earth, and we see in this why this present Earth will have to be renovated by fire, and why there shall be "no more sea," because the New City is 12,000 furlongs, or 1500 miles square, and would reach from Maine to Florida, and from the Atlantic Seaboard 600 miles to the west of the Mississippi River. In other words would occupy more than one-half of the United States.

We are told that the length and breadth and the height of it are equal. This does not necessarily imply that it is a Cube, for there is another geometrical figure that has equal dimensions, and that is a Pyramid. This is its probable form, for a wall 144 cubits, or 216 feet thick, could not support a wall 1500 miles high, and a wall that high would hide the pyramidal part of the City from view.

The 144 cubits in Rev. 21:17, then must refer to the "height" of the wall. In this wall are 12 gates, 3 on each side, each gate of one Pearl, and these gates are never closed. The wall itself is of Jasper, and the foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones. The foundations contain the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, and over the gates are the names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. What a magnificent spectacle such' a city must present from a distance with its pyramidal top surmounted by the light of the  "Glory of God." And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev. 21:23). "And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there" (Rev. 21:25). This must refer to the City only, and not to the outlying parts of the New Earth, because there will be day and night wherever the light of the City does not reach.

The Pyramidal part of the City will no doubt be in the center of the City, and probably not occupy over one-half of the surface area, leaving the remainder to be divided up into boulevards and broad avenues, with numerous parks and residential sections. We are told that the City itself is of Pure Gold, Like Unto Clear Glass. (Rev. 21:18). If this refers to the houses and homes of the inhabitants, then the redeemed are to live in palaces of Transparent Gold, and the streets are to be of the same material. (Rev. 21:18; Rev. 21:21). We cannot imagine a city with such dwellings and streets to be unclean or lack beauty.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 21:9-21)

Ref: (HGSB,BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

The New City (Holy Jerusalem) Conclusion 

Revelation 22:1 

"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life,

clear as crystal, proceeding out of the

throne of God and of the Lamb."

    The waters of earthly rivers are not crystal clear. Many of them are muddy and contaminated with sewage. This wonderful river is called the River of the "Water of Life," because of its "life giving" properties. Earthly streams have their source in some mountain spring, but the "River of Life" has its source in the Throne of God. Rev. 22:1. Somewhere on that “Pyramidal Mountain” in the center of the City, probably on its summit, will rest "The Throne of God," from under the seat of which shall flow down in cascades, from terrace to terrace, the crystal stream that shall feed that wonderful "River of Life."  The streets are to be lined with trees, as are also the banks of a wonderful river. These trees are not mere shade trees, but beautiful Fruit Trees, called the "TREE OF LIFE," that bear Twelve Kinds of Fruit, a different kind each month. The fruit of these trees is for Overcomers Only. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Rev. 2:7b). The leaves of the trees are for the Healing of the Nations that shall occupy the New Earth. Not that there will be any sickness, but to preserve them in health, as Adam would have been preserved in health if he had eaten of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden.

Whoever heard of an earthly city without some place of worship, be it heathen or Christian, but the wonderful thing about the New Jerusalem is, that it has no Temple. Why need a Temple when the object of worship is present, for "He Lord God Almighty and the Lamb Are the Temple of It." In fact the whole City itself will be a Temple.  " And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away"  (Rev 21:3-4). This means that Heaven shall have come down to Earth, and that this earth will become the RESIDENCE OF GOD.  

My Friends, Christ Is Coming Quickly!  The rest of this Devotional Study consist of Scripture only. This is for the benefit of Our Readers in Foreign Nations that have no access to God's Holy Word. (Bibles are needed, if you would like to help contact us rlail1974@gmail.com). 

    Christ Final Testimony and Warnings. (KJV)

Rev. 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Rev 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Rev 22:20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Rev 22:21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Amen!!

Reading: (Rev. 22:1-21)

Ref: (HGSB, BSB)

     (C. Larkin)

    Jesus Christ The True Vine

John 15:1, 2 

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh

away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth

it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

    There are three ways in which we can be useless branches. We can refuse to listen to Jesus Christ at all. We can listen to him, and then render him a lip service unsupported by any deeds. We can accept him as Master, and then, in face of the difficulties of the way or the desire to do as we like, we abandon him. One thing we must remember. It is a first principle of the New Testament that uselessness invites disaster. The fruitless branch is on the way to destruction. That My Friend Would Be "Our Loss!"

Let us take a human analogy. All analogies are imperfect but we must work with the ideas which we possess. Suppose a person is weak. He has fallen to temptation; he has made a mess of things; he is on the way down to degeneracy of mind and heart and mental fiber. Now suppose that he has a friend of a strong and lovely and loving nature, who rescues him from his degraded situation. There is only one way in which he can retain his reformation and keep himself on the right way. He must keep contact with his friend If he loses that contact; all the chances are that his weakness will overcome him; the old temptations will rear their heads again; and he will fall. His salvation lies in continual contact with the strength of his friend.  

Abiding in Christ means something like that. The secret of the life of Jesus was his contact with God; again and again he withdrew into a solitary place to meet him. We must keep contact with Jesus. We cannot do that unless we deliberately take steps to do it. For one example; "to pray" in the morning, if it be for only a few moments, is to have an antiseptic for the whole day; for we cannot come out of the presence of Christ to touch the evil things. For some few of us, abiding in Christ will be a mystical experience which is beyond words to express. For most of us, it will mean a constant contact with him. It will mean arranging life, arranging prayer, arranging silence in such a way that there is never a day when we give ourselves a chance to forget him.

Finally, we must note that here there are two things laid down about the good disciple. First, he enriches his own life; his contact makes him a fruitful branch. Second, he brings glory to God; the sight of his life turns men's thoughts to the God who made him like that. God is glorified, when we bear much fruit and show ourselves to be disciples of Jesus. The greatest glory of the Christian life is that by our life and conduct we can bring glory to God. That My Friend Is "Our Gain!"

    I Pray You Enjoyed This Study In The Book Of Revelation.

May God Bless You

And You Family

Minister Robert Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry