Thursday, August 27,
2015, 12:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Revelation 22 (NASB).
Our Future (vv.
1-7)
Then
he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the
throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of
the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the
Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His
face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any
night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the
sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and
ever.
And
he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of
the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the
things which must soon take place.
“And
behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy
of this book.”
From what I understand of these last days’ events, God is
presently calling out to his wayward church (See: Rev. 2-3), is warning them of
impending judgment, is confronting them with their idolatry and spiritual
adultery, and he is calling them to repent of their sins and to return to their
“first love.”
Although I certainly don’t know the timing of all these
things, I do know that much of what has been prophesied in this book has
already begun to take place. For instance, Satan is enraged at the saints of
God and is making war against those who obey God’s commandments and who hold to
the testimony of Jesus (See: Rev. 12:17), but he has been doing that ever since
Jesus died, was resurrected, ascended into heaven, and sent his Holy Spirit to
indwell his followers and to empower them from on high to be his witnesses
throughout the world; to share the message of the eternal gospel. Yet, we have
seen a recent upsurge in this kind of persecution worldwide, including within
the U.S.A.
And, then we have the “beast.” Although I don’t know if this
beast is in its final form, it has been forming for hundreds of years. America,
I believe, was founded on the premise of bringing the world ultimately under
the rule of a one-world government (the All-Seeing Eye). The symbolism is all throughout
our Great Seal. The United Nations was formed for this purpose, as was NATO,
the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations, etc. This
beast has been rising for a long while. And, the U.S. government has been
instrumental in leading the way for the rise of this beast (New World Order).
Our government, in concert with this “beast,” creates chaos
in various nations, including within our own, so that it (they) can go into
these nations and take them over, and that is what they have been doing. If you
have followed world news for the past 10 years, especially, with any amount of
discernment, you could not help but notice the modus operandi of this beast
within these various nations: A problem is created which thus requires a
solution, but the nations themselves are incapable of solving their own
problems (created by the US/N.W.O.), so the “international community” is called
in to “save the day,” but not really. They are there to take over, consume,
destroy and kill. They are also hotly pursuing followers of Jesus Christ and
are responsible for many deaths and persecutions of Christians throughout the
world. The US Gov./New World Order are the world’s terrorists.
So, much of what was prophesied in Revelation 13 has already
begun to take place. God is judging his wayward people already, I believe, via
this New World Order. Much of the people of this earth are already under its control.
It is making war against the saints of God and is conquering (overpowering) them,
some through deceit and trickery, and some through persecution and death, i.e.
through oppression and military strength and power. It won’t be long before
this beast will truly be ruling all peoples of the earth, though I suspect much
of the world is presently already under its control, although it may be ruling
from behind the scenes, at present, i.e. as a shadow government.
We are being called to come out from the world’s system, and
to not take its mark (impression) on our lives, and we are called to follow
Jesus Christ in surrender to his will for our lives. God is allowing all these
things to take place, not just to judge, but to bring his adulterous church to
repentance and revival and to bring many people to faith in Jesus Christ before
our Lord returns. When this time of judgment is complete, which includes the
wrath of God being poured out on the earth, and on the people of the earth, and
on this beast, the false prophet and the dragon, the beast and false prophet
will be thrown into the lake of fire and the dragon will be bound for 1,000
years, during which time Jesus and his saints will reign over the earth. At the
end of that time, the dragon will be released for a short time, but then he
will be thrown into the lake of fire, as will all who worship the beast.
Then, we will have the new heaven and the new earth, for the
old order of things, where we lived on an earth cursed by sin, will be done
away with, and now there will be no more sin, sickness, death, sadness, pain or
tears. Although Jesus Christ is our great physician, and he heals us now
spiritually and emotionally and physically, and he comforts us with his love
and mercy, a day is coming when we will be whole, completely healed, with no
more suffering or sadness. Then we will be with Jesus face-to-face. We will
never be tempted by sin again, or know the sorrow of rejection, abandonment and
persecution. This is what the saints of God have to look forward to. This is
our future, our hope, our salvation. Amen!
Washed Robes (vv.
8-16)
I,
John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I
fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But
he *said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your
brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship
God.”
And
he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the
time is near. Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is
filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice
righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”
“Behold,
I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according
to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end.”
Blessed
are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of
life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the
sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and
everyone who loves and practices lying.
“I,
Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am
the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
The majority of today’s church, at least here in America,
has fallen prey to Satan’s deceptions, and has gone the way of the world, and
is following humans rather than, or over and above God. Rather than the majority
of the saints of God going out into the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the church has invited the world into the meetings of the church, and has thus
patterned its meetings in such a way as to attract the world to the “church,”
but not to lead the people of this sinful world to genuine faith in Jesus
Christ. Rather than confronting the world with its sin and calling the world to
repentance, the church is entertaining the world, and thus has diluted and
twisted the gospel to make it more appealing and acceptable to the people of
the world. There is not much distinction between the church and the world anymore.
The church has largely rejected Bible studies in favor of book studies, of
books written by mere humans, in which scripture is neatly placed in order to
give an impression that what is contained within is Biblical, but much of it is
not. So, God is calling out to his church to forsake her idols and to worship
God only.
The “gospel” being taught in much of today’s church is not
the gospel according to Jesus and his NT apostles. It is a gospel of human
origin. It teaches that God requires nothing of us other than to “believe,”
although that belief is not really explained. It comes across more like an
intellectual acknowledgment of Jesus and of what he did in dying for our sins,
or an emotional decision to make him Savior of our lives, although many do not
comprehend what that really means, either. Remember that James said that even
the demons believe, and they shudder. The church has lost the fear (awe,
respect and reverence) of God. They teach that we don’t have to repent of (turn
from) sin, and that we don’t have to obey Jesus, and that once we pray that
prayer that heaven is guaranteed to us no matter how badly we sin from that point
on, and that God is pleased with us no matter what we do. But, is that what
scripture teaches? No!
We read in Romans 6 that salvation means death to sin and
living to righteousness; being delivered from slavery to sin so that we can
become slaves (servants) of righteousness. We read in Romans 8 that Jesus died
that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who walk
not according to the flesh, but who conduct our lives in agreement with the
Spirit, for if we walk according to the flesh, we will die, but if by the
Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live. We read in 1 Peter
2:24 that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. We
read in 2 Co. 5:15 that Jesus died that we might no longer live for ourselves,
but for him who gave himself up for us. And, we read in 1 John 1:6 that if we
claim to have fellowship with God, but we continue (persist in) walking
(conducting our lives) in darkness (according to the flesh), that we are liars.
In other words, faith in Jesus Christ is not just words we say, but it means
death to sin and living to God.
Come (vv. 17-21)
The
Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And
let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life
without cost.
I
testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone
adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;
and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will
take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are
written in this book.
He
who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come,
Lord Jesus.
The
grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Jesus is calling out to his adulterous and idolatrous
church, and he is saying “Return to me.” He is calling out to the people of
this sinful world, and he is saying, “Come to me, and take the free gift of the
water of life.” It is free because Jesus died to purchase our salvation for us.
Not one of us can keep the whole law perfectly, so not one of us can secure our
own salvation. God has provided it for us as a free gift, yet “free” does not
mean free to continue in sin. When he purchased our salvation, he purchased us,
for us to die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. We are called
to be holy. We are commanded to obey and to repent, and to walk in Christ’s
righteousness and holiness. God’s grace is not a free license to continue in
sin without guilt and without remorse. His grace, which brings salvation,
teaches us to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and desires, and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return
(Tit. 2:11-14). So, if you are claiming heaven as your future, but you are
living for yourself today, I pray you will turn from your sin, and you will
follow Jesus Christ in surrender to his will for the rest of your days.
For Our Nation /
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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