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"Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so Amen!"  Revelation 1v7.

Here we have the whole essence of the book of Revelation.   Jesus is coming again; Jesus is returning to earth, this time as a king and He will take control of the earth for God.   The word  "behold " invites every one of us to sit up and take notice.   This word is repeated throughout the book; chapter 1v7; 2v10; 2v22 ;3v9;  3v11 ;4v1 ;4v2; 5v5; 6v2; 6v8; 9v12; 11v14; 12v3; 14v14; 15v5; 16v15;19v11;  21v3; 21v5; 22v7; 22v12.   The message is for all of us to open our eyes and see plainly what God is revealing to us now concerning the future. The book begins and ends with the theme "The coming of the Lord"; here in chapter 1v7 and three times repeated in chapter 22.   Ever since the prediction in Genesis 3v16  " that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head", the world was expecting  "the coming One."   John the Baptist said in Matthew 11v3  " Are You the coming One?"   In John 4v25 the woman of Samaria said  "I know that the Messiah comes which is called Christ; when He is come He will tell us all things."   The whole of Old Testament prophecy predicted the coming of Christ the Messiah.   His first coming is now an historical fact, the idea of  "the second coming" is even now on everyone's lips.   He is coming again but this time in a different mode from the first coming.   What John saw, every eye shall see, the return to earth in glorious splendor of the Christ, the Anointed One of God.  

•  He is coming with clouds    Clouds in scripture are always the symbol of the Divine presence.  He returns to earth with the symbols of the Divine presence and therefore Divine approval.  Clouds are also associated with Divine judgment and this second coming is altogether different from the first.
• The universe will be in total darkness  (Matthew 24v29-30)     The sun will be darkened, there will be no light from the moon and the stars will fall from heaven.   We can only believe that such cosmic convulsions will also lead to the obliteration of all artificial light.  In essence the entire world will stop to witness the return of Jesus Christ.
• He is coming with the "armies of heaven"      These would be angels and redeemed saints.   This picture in Revelation 19v11 suggests a Divine invasion of the earth in warrior mode.  (see also Daniel 7v13-14).                                                                                                                                                                                                          Against a pitch black skyline, the incomparable glory of Christ and His entourage will be seen by every eye .   The breathtaking details are stated in Matthew 24v27; 24v30; 26v64; Mark 13v32; 14v62; Luke 21v27; 2nd Thessalonians 2v8.   One quote will suffice to illustrate the point, Matthew 24v29-30   "  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; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

 

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 011

"And hath made us kings and priests unto God His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever Amen."   Revelation 1v6

We now explore the meaning of this phrase  "kings and priests unto God" and what it means for us today.   In Exodus 19v6 the Lord said to Moses "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation."   The purpose of this was to teach the surrounding nations the truth of God.   This has now been applied to the people of God forming the church in a very wonderful way.   The apostle Peter presents this in his first epistle:

• A holy priesthood.    "Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."   1st Peter 2v5
• A royal priesthood.   "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." 1st Peter 2v9

This two-fold priestly service combines both our Godward spiritual exercises, with our manward spiritual ministry, as seen in the two words  "offer up" and "show forth."   As such, we have been made useful to God whereas before God could not use us because of our sins.   Due to the amazing redemptive work of Christ in 1st Peter 1, we are now able to serve God in a truly priestly way, and God can use us to influence others.   It is not commonly understood amongst believers,  what is this role of priesthood.   We can well understand the terms "sons" and "servants" but the business of being priests is not so well understood.   There are many aspects of this throughout the New Testament which would be indicated by the words "sacrifice" or "acceptable" and we will tabulate a few here for illustration:

• Romans 1v9     -     "For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son."   This is priestly work in preaching the gospel.
• Romans 12v1   -      "I beseech you that for brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."    This is our priestly work in the dedication of our bodies.
• Hebrews 13v15        "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name."   This is priestly service in the praise of God.
• Hebrews 13v16        "To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."   This is priestly work in social fellowship.
• Philippians 4v18      "I am full having received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God."   This is priestly service in the giving of material possessions.
• 1st Timothy 2v1-3      Prayers for all...."for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour."   This is priestly work in prayer.

Other aspects like paying back parents (1st Timothy 5v4) ; suffering patiently (1st Peter 5v20); showing patience with your brethren (Romans 14v18; and public worship (Romans 15v16).   All of these are examples of priestly service and the point of it all is not so much what we do, but to whom we are doing it.   If in all these different ministries, I do it as unto the Lord, it is true priestly service and will have God's approval.  

By Jesus Christ alone we have been fitted for priestly service.   The main requirement in this is that we keep ourselves clean, for we are serving a holy God.   A reading of Numbers chapter 8 will reveal that the Levites in the service of the tabernacle had to be cleansed and purified.   All of us therefore in whatever service we do for God must keep ourselves clean.   There is also a future glorious aspect for all of this, we are said to be kings and priests and that kingly aspect is largely future.   In this life we, as believers, are being trained to reign for God on the earth.   The well known phrase  "training for reigning" is indeed true.   This is repeated in Revelation 5v10; 20v6; 22v5.    Some details are also found in the early verse of 1st Corinthians 6 where it says  "know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?"   We are right now in preparation for reigning upon the earth as the true priests of the living God.   What a marvellous calling in Jesus Christ we have and we should rise to it for it is glorious. All who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ are priests, male and female, young and old and we do well to keep before us the daily responsibility of this.

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"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen".  Revelation 1v6.

Here we have the response of the church to such a glorious person.   The phrase "unto Him " is used again in chapter 5v13; chapter 7v10; chapter 7v12; and chapter 19v1.   In summary the whole of heaven and earth and hell will acknowledge Him as Lord. There is here evoked from the saints a cry of praise to their eternal Lover.  To the One who faithfully declared God, to Him who went into death, and to Him who will reign supreme over all.... to Him be glory.   We have read of  "grace from Him" and "peace from Him ", now we have "glory unto Him".  It is the expression of gratitude from the hearts of the redeemed.   Three things are said concerning His work:

• Him that loved us.   The tense is aorist continuous present.  This means He loved us in the past, He loves us now, and He will love us forever.   Sometimes we fail to grasp the meaning of New Testament love; it is unconditional love, it seeks no return.   It does not mean He likes us, or our ways, and certainly not our sins.   It is not that He is blind to our faults, it is that He loves us no matter what because He has dealt with all our faults.  He loved us from eternity, He loved us at Calvary, He loves us now, He will love us forever.   It is not an emotionally, soppy kind of love; it is a settled love, an act of the Divine will to seek and to promote all that is best for us.  
• He has washed us from our sins in His own blood.   The extent of that love was Calvary.  Some put "loosed" instead of "washed," but it makes little difference because both are true.   Washed refers to the filth of sin; loosed refers to the chains of sin.   Jesus has by His own blood both cleansed and freed us from sin, both its filthiness and its power.   We are now free, we are now clean.   References in John 13v10; 1st Corinthians 6v11; Titus 3v5 all point to the fact that believers in Christ have been washed clean.   It is said in Ephesians 5v26 that  "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word."   If we think in terms of loosing from sins we look to John 8v36  " If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."  Again in the following; Romans 6v7; v12; v14; v18; v22; and chapter 8v2, we find that Christ has set us free, liberated us from the chains of sin that bound us.   This involved nothing less than the shedding of His own life blood to take us from a life of filthiness (morally speaking), and a life of enslavement to sin.
• And made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.   We are now collectively a kingdom (for He is King) and individually we are priests to God.   The offices of king and priest were never combined in the Old Testament.  Only in Christ are these offices combined and they are now given to all believers. The idea behind this is that only in a perfect man could be combined matters of state government manward and at the same time matters of priestly activity Godward.  Thus only in Christ could this happen, and only in perfect believers will this happen.  Today we are all priests to God, which will be the subject matter of the next blog, but only when we are perfected will we be able to rule in state for God, as well as being priests towards Him.  

The subject matter is quite extensive and we need to understand more; meanwhile, what in essence this is saying is that God has now made us useful to Himself, when in our former state He could not use us because of our sins.   Since Jesus Christ has dealt with the offending sins we are now able to fulfil a function for God as priests who will ultimately one day also reign as kings.   The whole teaching is amazing and we should elevate our thoughts of ourselves to the high status that God has placed us in Christ.

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 009

" ..And from Jesus Christ.... the Prince of the kings of the earth."         Revelation 1v5

The word  "prince " suggests that He is a king in waiting.   Revelation 19v16 brings before us the visible universal reign of Christ "He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."   Revelation chapter 20 makes it clear that the reign of Christ over the earth will last 1,000 years.  "They lived and reigned with Christ 1,000 years."   The Prince who is a King in waiting will reign without an equal and without a rival for a millennium.   During that blissful reign there will be kings of nations on the earth, but no longer rebels because it says they shall bring their glory and honour to the city of God (Revelation 21v23-24).

There is a sense in which His reign has already begun.  1st Corinthians 15v25-26 records this "he must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.   The last enemy which shall be destroyed is death."   He reigns today over all, although invisibly, so far as this world is concerned.   His business is to subdue and conquer all the enemies of God in this world.   Later on in this book we shall read of His investiture for this precise purpose, being the only one who is morally fit to bring into judgment a world in rebellion against God.  During the post-church age Jesus will dismantle all corrupt governments (of which there are 232 today - and every one of them corrupt).   In the words of Daniel chapter 7v12-14  "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like unto the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days and they brought Him near before Him.   And there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."    This prophecy by Daniel is given in more detail in Revelation chapter 5. The period of Jesus visible reign on the earth is variously described in the New Testament as follows:  

•   The unification of all things.... Ephesians 1v9-10
•   The restitution of all things.......Acts 3v21
•   The reconciliation of all things...... Colossians 1v20
•   The subjugation of all things...... 1st Corinthians 15v24-27 with Philippians 3v21

The scope of all this is breathtaking.   A new world order will be established under the rule of Christ.   It is all written in the prophetic scriptures; His resurrection from the dead has confirmed it.   All the predictions of Psalm 72 will be fulfilled (the whole of which should be read in conjunction with this subject).   A few quotes will suffice here;  verse 8  "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth."   verse 10  "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts."   verse 11  "Yea all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him."   verse 15  " Prayer also shall be made for Him continually; and daily shall He be praised."   verse 19   "And blessed is His glorious name forever and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen and Amen." 

It is time for the inhabitants of the earth to consider this glorious One now; it is time for all rebellion to cease, but sadly it will continue.   The Psalmist puts it like this  "Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?" The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed saying "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us".  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.  Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.   I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.   Ask of Me and I shall give thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession".   Psalm 2v1- 8.

Heaven has decreed that Jesus Christ will reign, and no one on earth can prevent it.  

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".....and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth"   Revelation 1v5.

We are brought face to face with three aspects of the Person of Jesus Christ; this is followed by three aspects of the work of Jesus Christ.    For now we focus on the three aspects of His glorious Person.   As to the past, He is the faithful witness; as to the present He is the first begotten from the dead; and as to the future He is the Prince of the kings of the earth.  

• He is the faithful witness.   A witness is someone who has seen and heard something.   These facts would be required by a court of law from a witness testifying before them.   Jesus Christ is the only true witness of God, only Jesus Christ has directly seen God; only Jesus Christ has directly heard the words of God.   He came from heaven, from the presence of God; He gave witness to all that He had seen and heard.   In that witness His loyalty to God was supreme and thus He is described as the faithful witness.    This fact is imprinted all over the gospel of John  "I speak to the world those things which I have heard from the Father."   John 8v26.   Again in John 8v28  " I do nothing of Myself but as My Father has taught Me , I speak these things."   In John 3v34 we read  " For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him."   All through the gospel of John the use of the double assertion of truth  "Verily, verily"  occurs more than twenty times.   Readers can benefit greatly by studying each of these references.    In chapter 14v6 He said  "I am.... the truth....."  He is the one person on whom we can rely who has revealed to us the Divine mind.   He is the truth about creation, sin, God, man, heaven, hell, the devil, life, death, salvation etc. etc.    In all matters of doctrine and practice He uttered faithfully the mind of God.   When He spoke, God was speaking.    When He acted God was acting.   The word for witness is  "martur," from which we get our English word "martyr."   The reality is that not only Christ but many who have since followed Him have been martyred because of their witness for God in a God- #hating world.  
• He is the first begotten from the dead.   Not first in time but first in rank.   The idea of first in scripture always means first in rank.   Psalm 89v27  "  I will make Him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth."    Colossians 1v15  "The firstborn of all creation."   Colossians 1v18  "He is the beginning the first born from the dead."   Hebrews 1v6  "When He again brings the first begotten into the world He saith let all the angels of God worship Him."    The apostle John uses another expression in connection with Christ as "The only begotten."   The word is "monogenes" which means only one of his kind (none to be compared with him).      Here he uses the expression  "first begotten,"  which is prototokos which means the first of many.   In the expression "only begotten" the idea is of the incomparable Son of God.   He is unique in all the universe.   In the expression  "first begotten" the idea is always that many will follow, but of which group He is the head and the thought is of His pre-eminence of rank in the redeemed universe.  
• He is the prince of the kings of the earth.   The expression "kings of the earth" occurs elsewhere, usually in the context of rebellion against God.   Psalm 2v1-2:  Revelation 1v5 : 6v15 : 16v14 : 17v2 : 18v3 : 18v9 : 19v19 : 21v24.   The history of this world is that the kings of the earth have been rebels.   A sovereign restraint has been placed over them, but in essence they have been anti-God.   This trend reaches its climax in the end times and Jesus will put down every corrupt government and establish divine rule on the earth.   The last reference to this expression "kings of the earth " is in chapter 21v24  where all the kings of the earth are in subjection to the rule of Christ.

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 007

"John to the seven churches which are at Asia: grace be unto you and peace from Him which is and which was and which is to come: and from the seven spirits which are before His throne: and from Jesus Christ" ..... Revelation 1v4

A letter from the throne of heaven,  signed by the Triune God to the seven churches in Asia.   We are introduced to the number seven; seven churches, seven spirits of God.   The number seven speaks of completion, as per Genesis chapter 2v1&2 the first mention of seven was in connection with a finished work.   The Revelation is the book of completion of all things as we know them.   The entire book is built around the number seven, and this depicts the end, the completion, the perfection of all God's work.   We have throughout the book seven spirits, seven churches, seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven thunders, the seven heads of the beast, seven horns, seven last things, seven dooms.   This is all by design and reflects the fulfillment of all things so far as this present world is concerned.    This is in contrast to the number six which corresponds to man's imperfection (the number of the beast is 666).    God, unlike man, will fully perfect all that He has planned.  

There were more than seven churches in Asia, but it is likely that these seven represented the variety of conditions that could exist either then or now.   These churches were very carefully selected, since the salient features of the exalted Christ, as portrayed in the latter half of chapter one are directly applied to each individual church according to their needs.

From the contents of the letters in chapters 2 & 3, it is clear that most of these churches were in a poor state.   One (Smyrna) was under severe persecution; one (Philadelphia) had a little strength; five were told to repent by the Lord Jesus.   The decline in churches does not take long; already in late apostolic times, Paul had occasion to say "all in Asia have forsaken me."     In the post apostolic times (by now most of the apostles had been martyred), yet the message from heaven to these seven churches is  "grace and peace."   This is a wonderful truth; declining conditions do not alter divine love and concern for the churches.   Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful!

This letter comes from the Triune God; Jehovah  (Him which is and which was and which is to come) signifying God the Father: the seven spirits of God, signifying the Holy Spirit in the fullness of His resources: Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world and the Redeemer of Israel.   From Jehovah, grace and peace; from the Spirit of God grace and peace; from Jesus Christ who loved the church and gave Himself for her, grace and peace.   This is truly the delight of this verse and in all our weakness and failure we should imprint that within our hearts, because that is the message from the throne to all of us.  

From the One who has always existed, who is now, and who will always be, the One who never changes, who cannot act other than His eternal character demands, comes the message to the seven churches struggling with the rigours of life in this world..... grace and peace.   From the seven spirits of God, that is the Spirit of God in the fullness of His manifestation, as is portrayed in Isaiah 11v2   (The Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord).   From that One who holds all the powers and gifts of the Triune God, from Him the message is.....grace and peace.  From Jesus Christ who took human flesh, in order that He would deal with our sins and who for us went through death and is now raised in glorious exultation to become the only one who can bring together sinful man and Holy God, from Him..... the message is grace and peace!

What would you do if you received a letter from God?   Well we all have  and it is here with us today, the book of the Revelation.   Let us read it, and study it, and enjoy it together and by God's help live in the light of it because for the believer the future is glorious. 

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 006

"Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand."                           Revelation 1v3

What is to be our response to such a revelation, as has just been described?   A threefold response is indicated as follows:

• "He that readeth"
• "They that hear"
• "They that keep the sayings of this prophecy."

Before we develop the three responses on our part, there is predicted a divine blessing upon our proper response to this awesome divine communication.     This is the first utterance of seven blessings in the entire book.   They are as follows:  chapter 1v3:  chapter 14v13:  chapter 16v15:  chapter 19v9:  chapter 20v6:  chapter 22v7:  chapter 22v13.    In each case the context determines the nature of the blessing.   The word  "blessing " requires some unravelling, because we tend to glibly use these words without understanding the meaning.   It is the Greek word  "makarios;"  this word means  "ultimate prosperity "   an extreme state of wellbeing which will never end.   The world at large speaks of the "feel good factor" often times without any logic behind it.   Blessing from God as described throughout the Bible is a state of absolute peace and security and contentment; it cannot be improved upon and it will never end.    Its use in the Bible is the opposite from the idea of cursing, which means ultimate ruin.   We do well to ponder the glorious meaning of these bible words.

•   "He that readeth....."    Public reading is here in view, since it is followed by the plural "they that hear."   Public reading has largely become a lost practice in modern day evangelical churches.   There is no doubt this was a practice in Jewish synagogues and in the early New Testament churches.   Today, it is more practiced by what are known as the "mainstream churches" but has been somewhat neglected elsewhere.   I think this is what Paul had in mind writing to Timothy in 1st Timothy 4v13   "Till I come give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine."    There is a singular blessing pronounced on such public reading of this book.
• "They that hear...."     This could be better rendered  "They that heed.....": not only hearing with the physical ear, but with the inner spiritual ear.   This idea is repeated in the Bible.  Isaiah 6v9   " Hear ye indeed, but understand not."      Isaiah 6v10   "  Make their ears heavy."   and "hearing with the ears."    In Revelation chapter 2 & 3 the message to each of the seven churches is this; " He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."       There is an extraordinary tendency in human beings for selective hearing.   The Spirit of God knows this and so emphasizes it by this repeated command.     These words could never be spoken by mortal man,  only by One who spoke with Divine authority and who knows at the same time as speaking whether or not the hearer has truly heard.   The grammatical construction here is an example of the figure "polyptoton" which is the repetition of the same verb in a different inflection by which great emphasis is placed on the injunction given.   The Spirit of God is speaking and we need to hear.  It is interesting that the Lord Jesus who used this injunction in His ascension glory to the churches, used the same method to His disciples when He was here on this earth.     Seven times over to His chosen disciples He repeated this same phrase:  Luke 8v8:  Matthew 11v15:  Matthew 13v9:  Matthew 13v43:  Mark 4v32:  Mark 7v16:  Luke 14v35.   In all of these cases the Lord is calling for special attention on the part of the hearers.   We are called to hear, in the biblical sense, the words of this prophecy.
• "They that keep those things that are written therein."    Listening, hearing, is not enough.   This book is not written for curiosity or idle speculation.   This book is intensely practical, and the information that we receive in our heads must work its way down to our hands and our feet in practical living. This is fundamental to Christianity.   It is never seen in terms of profession only, but in terms of reality.   In Revelation 22v9   those who are saved are described as  "they which keep the sayings of this book."   We must respond to the gospel of grace by real fruits of the Holy Spirit.   This is not to outdo the gospel of free grace, just that acceptance of it must issue in good works.  The emphasis on this book is toward godly living and we shall see more evidence of this as we proceed.  

Why must we respond like this?  The answer is given  " for the time is at hand."   The end of time as we know it is near.  We are on the cusp of eternity.  There is no greater incentive to godly living, than that the present order of things is about to end.  The whole message of the book is that Jesus is coming soon.   We are going to live with God in a new universal order completely.  The day of sin and unrighteousness and failure is coming to an end.