The Final Judgment

“I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 20:11-15

The rider on the White Horse is now seated on the Great White Throne. This is the Saviour of the world, who is now the judge of every soul. As He sits on the throne, the appearing of His face causes the heavens and the earth to flee away. They are no more.

The sweet Saviour is now the unyielding judge. The loving Lord now holds the eternal destiny of each individual person in His almighty hands and He will decide what happens to every soul. The judgment is clear, it is already set out for us in holy Scripture. Those who have sought refuge in the Saviour’s love are safe under the refuge of His wings of salvation. Those who reject him and choose their own will and way will be forever sent away from His loving presence. There is nowhere else to go. There is no place to hide…

“The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

Revelation 6:15-17

The time to find a hiding place has long gone by. Choices have been made and now the reckoning is to be faced. John sees those who have died and been raised to face the judgment standing before the Great White Throne. As they stand waiting for the judgment to fall on them and the sentence they know must be faced, the books are opened. These books record all the events and circumstances of the lives of these people and they are judged on what they have done.

Another book is opened, it is the Book of Life. If your name is not in that book, you are a lost person and have never sought or received forgiveness and your destiny is the lake of fire. This is a very solemn thought. We must not pass over this great and eternal truth. God will judge the ungodly and will pass that sentence on them, as He has promised to do. There is no escape, no reprieve and no re-trial. No one will ask for one, because all will know that the judge is just and they have received what they deserve.

The sea gave up the dead as well as death and those waiting in hell for this final Judgment Day. When the sentence is passed on the condemned people, God puts death and hell in the lake of fire too, for they will no longer persecute His people and all death and punishment for them has gone. The redeemed people have not deserved this blessing. This outcome has been bought for them at a great price, the price of redemption from the slavery of sin, and sacrifice of a Saviour’s love.

The lake of fire is the second death, and death itself is put there. There is no way out from this scenario for the people waiting in the judgment hall, and the verdict has already been written in the book, the Bible. We can read it anytime, for God has not hidden it from us but has given many warnings about the perilous state of our souls before the Living God.

Even our sense of natural justice tells us that there will be a reckoning. We must seek the forgiveness of the Son for He is yet the Saviour of repentant souls.

You dare not settle yourself until you know that you are in the kingdom and will escape this dreadful day. You must ensure your name is in the Book of Life and you will not have to face this Final Judgment.

“See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven…”

Hebrews 12:25

The Saviour Jesus stands ready to save you. All, you have to do is come to Him in simple faith and true sorrow for your sin, and he will change you and rescue you from this end state. He has paid the debt of sin already, there is nothing more for you to do but to put your faith, your trust in Him.

“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Galatians 1:3-5

There is no other way to God and no other way to have peace with God. It is a true peace because it depends on His promises to you and not on what you think or feel.

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness..”

1 Peter 2:24

The Lord JESUS has paid it all already, the work of your salvation is already accomplished and you can go free with a simple bow of the head and a true confession. He had paid that terrible price you deserve in the Lake of Fire, and has made it possible to escape this ending. Why would you ignore such an offer?

“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation–which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;”

Hebrews 2:3

Beloved, do not take this things lightly, but give them careful and earnest thought, for the Lord is coming soon and will bring all this into full fruition.

For the Christian it will be so very different. All condemnation is already gone, even in this life. We will enter heaven with real joy, for we will see our Belovèd and know our troubles are completely over. There will be singing and rejoicing on a grand scale and the celebrations of the wedding super of the Lamb will bring real peace into the heart of every believer forever. We will echo the words of the Apostle Paul…

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who love His appearing.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8

The Hosannas and the eternal “Hallelujah!” will forever ring through the delightful courts of Heaven and we will be free of every cloying sinful or earthly power over us. We shall reign with Christ the redeemer and now King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All that is impure and hurtful will be forgotten…

“Even so come Lord Jesus.”

Revelation 22:20

The Lake of Fire

“The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Revelation 20:10

This passage tells us about a terrible place and difficult to talk about. It is a place reserved in God’s holy wrath for all who reject Him and live as rampant rebels against Him. People talk about it lightly and even joke about it, showing they have thought little about the reality of that place, or else they don’t care.

We start with the company in this hell. It is for the torment of the unrepentant and those not covered by the shed blood of Christ, who is still, the Saviour of the world. He still offers freedom from this place. The Bridegroom still waits for the final number of His people, His Bride, to be brought into the family and kingdom. But the Beast and the false prophet are thrown into this place and also Satan himself, along with his hoards of demons and all evil and fallen angels. It will be bad company and will bring much distress to humans who find themselves in that place. It will not just be the physical suffering, though that is terrible, but the condemning consequences of sin that will haunt the unbeliever. The conscience will be wide awake and the memory active to remember all evil deeds, words and motives, and the reverberations of those deeds with regards to other people. There will be no escape from guilt and shame.

We must seek the LORD, while there is still time.

Beloved, do not be caught out when the LORD returns and you are not ready and your sins are still pulling you down in destruction. It is the most pressing of items on any agenda, indeed supersedes everything. Where we as people spend eternity is of most important thought and attention. The gospel message still goes out and the Word of God, the Bible, is still open. Do not neglect your soul, which never dies and needs the Lord so badly. He ever waits to bring your into His warm embrace and forgive you and lift you up to His glory.

Only a fool ignores this issue and many will find themselves in that dreadful place because of neglect of their soul and no care for God or themselves. Do not be found with them.

“Seek The LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

Isaiah 55:6-7

At the end of the gospel age Satan will be released from the Abyss for a short season. He will be permitted to deceive the nations of the world that do not know God and gather them together for the final battle of Armageddon, which will not register physical fighting against the people of God, for CHRIST will overcome them with a Word from His mouth.

The mighty army against the Lord is described as like the sand of the sea. They go over the whole earth and surround the people of God. There seems to be no escape for the saints, or deliverance for the city of God, Jerusalem, the city of peace. The fighting never gets started, for the fire falls from heaven and consumes them all. This is the fire of the holiness of God, who when they see it, they quake with fear and loathing of the one who sent it.

Satan, the Beast and the false prophet are finally thrown into the lake of fire forever, to be tormented day and night, such are the consequences of sin and being found obeying the voice of evil and not the holy God.

“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 24:45-46

The stakes could not be higher.

Blaze Pascal the 17th Century French philosopher reasoned that it was folly to not believe in God, even from a philosophical point of view. If God is not real and you live a good life, you lose nothing and if we die like animals, then that’s it. But, if God is real and you have not believed, you will lose everything. You lose your soul and find yourself forever experiencing the second death.

This is a sobering thought. Indeed the topic today is very serious and solemn. We will all face the LORD in one of the two camps. Either we will hate Him and be deluded to follow the evil, and lose our eternal souls in the lake of fire forever, or we will be with Him in the fight against evil and overcome with Him. We are only safe as we trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross, and seek the forgiveness we so desperately need for our sin.

There is no fence to sit on. Either we believe or we don’t. Either we love the LORD or we hate Him.

We do have the capacity to choose, for God tells us to be wise and chose rightly.

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD. If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:14-15

Satan bound for a thousand years

“I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.”

Revelation 20:1-3

The angel binds Satan for a thousand years with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with a chain, signifying that authority. He seizes Him and he is defeated and cast into the abyss to stop his deception of the nations of the earth for the thousand years and seals him in it until God frees him for a short time at the end of all things.

We must remember that this is a vision and not a literal picture or film of events that will happen. The thousand years refers to the day of gospel grace that we have had for a long number of centuries and where God is calling to Himself a large number of people, who will be saved. Satan was comprehensively defeated at the cross at Calvary, indeed has never had full sway over the earth! He is always under the authority of the sovereignty of God and is never has authority to do as he pleases.

Christ has defeated him and sin and death on the cross and has bought the ransom for the innumerable throng that will be in heaven forever with Him – His precious people. We must never forget that. When Jesus died he put, as it were, the Devil in a chain, so that he could no longer hold the people of earth in strong deception. The message of the gospel has set free so many peoples of every kindred and race and language group, and has opened the way to heaven for so many.

Satan is bound, though human sinfulness is increasing and getting worse. Still the gospel goes forth and that message of love and forgiveness for sinful souls is still changing lives and fitting people for the heavenly kingdom. We must still preach it and share to in such a way that the Saviour is lifted up and people are left in no doubt of their danger in ignoring the message. The gift of love must still be offered to sin-sick souls who seek the Lord and want to be rid of their sin and guilt. Too many have given up this message and the day of reckoning will not be good for them. If we have become lazy in our sharing of the good news of the gospel, we should read the book of Malachi to help us regain our strength and composure.

God is not willing that any should perish, and neither should we. We are too concerned with how we look and sound and are not loving towards the people around us. Satan is still the roaring lion and is oppressing people every day, so we must be always ready to give account for what we believe in a way that will help the unbeliever to come to Christ for themselves. The lion might roar at the Christian, but he cannot devour. He can hurt and blame, but not destroy.

Satan will be released from the Abyss at the very end in the last great push of evil against the Lord and His anointed. It will be a terrible time when evil will run through the hearts of many and hurt so many, and Satan will delude and deceive people greatly once again. But it will be a short time, as these last events will happen quite quickly. The reign of the Beast is not long and the Antichrist has a but one hour, in the vision, therefore a very short influence at the end.

Our world is not getting morally better, or in many ways better! We have technology which can blind us to out true state as we think we are clever to have it, but it throws up a whole set of new problems for us as human beings. People are not getting better and hearts are not getting softer, and even the people of God are being affected by this. We can see things happening in our human societies that are worrying and we can envisage how they could be used for great evil in the future. We watch for the spirit of Antichrist and for the sign of evil which will mark the unbeliever as a worshipper of the Beast, and we must be vigilant. We must stay away from world orientated pursuits and things that take us away from the LORD.

There are still sacrifices to be made for the sake of our Saviour and Lord and therefore we watch ourselves and keep ourselves in the love of God. It is too easy to be drawn into the easy life of things and social pursuits and we can easily be deluded about ourselves and our motives for doing things.

As Christian people we need the Lord more than ever, and we need the comfort of this great book of Revelation to help us to stand in evil days. We cannot lose our salvation but we are easily rendered ineffective and complacent. We must be careful who we associate with and know that God will supply all our need according to His riches and He knows what we need even before we ask Him.

We do not know when Satan will gain his freedom to deceive once more, but we will be ready for it, because we have the word of this book to help us. One day we will not be able to participate in society at all and Christians will suffer once more, but we look upward to the great supper of the Lamb and know that we will be there.

Satan is the strong man bound. Jesus spoke about this and referred to Satan as the strong man.

“how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”

Matthew 12:29

Jesus has bound the strong man at the cross of Calvary and is even now still plundering his kingdom and bringing people to repentance and faith. There has never been a door more open and the way more clear for the daughters and sons of women and men to be saved and enter the eternal kingdom. The way is plain and the message is clear. Satan cannot stop the salvation of souls and the sovereign choice of the Lord cannot be thwarted. Satan has lost any dominion that he thought he had and the kingdom of God grows daily as people are brought to the LORD.

“I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Revelation 20:4

The people of God are the judges with Christ. All who were faithful witnesses and did not receive the mark of the Beast, which is the worldly mindset, live in heaven with Christ for the thousand years of the gospel age. We remember that this is a vision with symbols and the thousand years is a symbol like the other symbols! Those who die without Christ are kept in punishment for the general resurrection to await their fate of the second death.

If we are part of the first resurrection of the saints of God, we are blessed forever and will reign with him in heaven.

At the end time there will be an outpouring of evil as Satan is released for a short time to muster the enemies of God and face his final judgment. There will be a world wide Antichrist who will reign and influence as we have seen in past chapters, but not for long. God will always have the preeminence and Satan knows his time is short. He will come back on the world stage with great pomp and vehemence for his last onslaught on the people of God, Armageddon, and then the end will come.

Armageddon

“ I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army.”

Revelation 19:19

The kings of the earth gather in utter folly against the Lamb, the rider on the white horse. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but yet the folly of the human heart still rises against him. The saints of God are with him to face the battle, with no armour or weapons but the holiness that they possess from God and white robes made glorious in the shed blood of Christ. They witness the spectacle of their Saviour and Lord overcoming the powers of darkness and bringing in the full kingdom of God.

“The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The LORD of Armies is mustering the army for the battle. They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail; for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt.”

Isaiah 13:4-7

The forces of evil muster at the voice of the angel who stands in the sun. The sun is darkened and the light fades on the horrific scene and on the history of the earth. The angel cries out to the birds of the air, to come for the great supper of God provided for them by the carnage that will happen in this great last battle, Armageddon. They will feed on the flesh of kings and nobles and slaves, horses and those who ride on them. It is a euphemism for the massive loss of life that is going to happen as the rider on the White Horse conquers His enemies for good. This is the end of the rebellion of humankind and those who live to see it will be full of sorrow and utter panic. Their hearts will melt within their chests and their feet will not be able to hold them up. They will be sent a great terror by the angel and their hearts will fail them with fear.

There is no excuse for these who did what their leaders told them. They are wholly culpable in their hatred of God and all His ways. They are not excused because they are merely doing what they were told and this plea will not stand before the holy God. They followed the crowd and were duped by the Beast and His false prophet into thinking they could beat God and ultimately get their own way. This is never so. They will all fail and reach their final destination…

The Beast is taken and thrown into the lake of fire forever. The false prophet who did the fake miracles and signs before the Beast and deluded the people of earth into getting the mark of the Beast on them, will also be captured and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

The troops and foot soldiers, the soldiers on horseback will be killed by the rider on the White horse with the sword of His mouth. He will speak the Word and His enemies will be scattered. The damnation of the Word of God will conquer the hearts for the enemy and bring them down. They will join the Beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire. This is the ignoble end of all who reject God.

It is a fearful sight in our minds eye and portrayed in films in particular ways, but the reality is almost unthinkable. It will be a terrible sight and full of loathing and disappointment and regret. Many will loose their souls on that terrible day, but many loose their souls today. What do we do about it? Do we warn people about what is ahead, or do we just be polite? We must think about these things and the people who we know, because everyone will be affected. The delusion is in our world already, that we will just go on forever and we keep our eyes on the here and now and do not consider God at all. This is sheer folly and we must consider what the Word of His mouth says to us. We must listen to the warnings and seek the Lord while there is still time.

Beloved, the darkness gathers around us. They enemy is everywhere and we often stand alone in the midst of the great evil that has infiltrated everything in our world. The stage is set for the last great push of evil against the Lord and against His Anointed. All politics, economics, education and religion is shot through with the arrows of paganism, idolatry and moral corruption. The lights are going out and the land and seas are corrupted. Who will deliver us? There is no human hope, though there are those who peddle a false hope, and purport to have answers to the world’s problems. They are the false prophets who speaks false hope and deadly human folly into the minds and hearts of people, especially the succeeding generations. All spirals down into the hopelessness spoken about in Ecclesiastes.

“For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.”

Ecclesiastes 2:23

There is no soundness left and the forces of evil gather to destroy humankind and to destroy the Lord. This can never be, so we wait and we watch for the coming of the Lord. He has promised to come and deliver His people who wait for Him and who’s eyes are on the skies.

“Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.”

Matthew 24:42

The outcomes in certain. The rider on the White Horse will conquer all and will be victorious in this last great battle. He will reign in power and glory with His people and they will rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. This is the destiny of all who bow their knee to him and repent and believe.

The rider on the White Horse

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“I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself. He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.” The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen. Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Revelation 19:11-16

At this point in the vision, the skies open and the Bridegroom arrives. He rides on the White Horse and is there for everyone, including us, to “Behold.” He is the rider in chapter 6 of the Revelation, but has not come with the gospel message, but in power and great glory.

“I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, “Come and see!” And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.”

Revelation 6:1-2

The one on the White Horse is the Lord Jesus Christ, called “Faithful and True.” He has been faithful to His people and has come into the world and shed His precious blood to redeem them. He is faithful to the Father in heaven and is the obedient servant who carries out the desire of the father to redeem the souls of fallen people. He is True because of who He is. He is the Eternal Son of God, always existing and self-existing, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Revelation 22:13

He has come in righteousness to make war on sin and death and all those who chose these enemies and not the Lord. He judges all evil-doers and those who refuse the call of the gospel and prefer their own way. They will have their own way and will be without Him forever. Christ makes war on all who reject Him and embrace wrong. He makes war on the Beast and the false prophet and their temporary kingdom is finished.

“But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8

The eyes of the Saviour see every sin and every rebellion. They are flames of fire, denoting the holiness of God, which is perfect and cannot look upon sin. He sees into the minds and souls of all people, sifting their motivations and attitudes and intentions. He is the perfect judge and has all discerning powers.

Because of who He is, there are many crowns on His head for He is the King of Kings. All majesty and dominion belong to Him alone and He will have His rightful place on the throne of heaven. His kingdom is now come in all its pomp and glory to rule the nations forever.

All His names are written on Him, to show exactly who he is so that no one is misled. The names of CHRIST are many and have been recorded in the scripture, such as, Immanuel, God, Saviour, Lord, Master, Rabbi, Logos, Son of man, Son of God, lamb of God, and more…

“To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6

There is one name written that no one knows except He Himself. It is His mystery, for we will never know everything about God, because of who He is. He is a being who has always been and always will be, whereas we are finite and have limited capacity to understand.

His robes are sprinkled with blood, His own blood shed for sinful people who He has now redeemed. It is a throwback to the Old Testament offerings, where the blood of the animal of sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat. We obtain mercy and forgiveness through the shed blood of Christ who had died for us and we have obtained mercy through His love. The Old Testament pictures are made redundant because Christ has come and has died for us. Now, the salvation is complete for the Bridegroom has come to the wedding feast to claim His bride. We are always reminded of who He is and what He has done. It is the theme of the song of heaven.

“…. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Revelation 1:5-6

“His name is called “The Word of God.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning.”

John 1:1-2

Jesus is the Eternal Word, forever with the Father. He spoke the world into being and spoke truth to us. His Word stands forever sure and we can trust what He says because of who He is.

The armies of heaven follow Him on white horses, clothed in white also and fine linen. Righteous people who have remained undefiled and have reached heaven without life on earth. They are covered with the blood of Christ and wear their white linen robes of righteousness given by Him. They are also the eternal armies of that eternal place, who follow Christ in to the last battle against their enemies.

The sharp sword of the Word of God proceeds from His mouth signifying that He is the Eternal Word. He rules the nations with the sword of His mouth for all will bow in obedience and allegiance to him.

“His voice was like the voice of many waters. He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.”

Revelation 1:15-18

Christ alone can tread the winepress of the wrath of God. It is fierce and terrible and full of the woe of the God-haters and devils. Only He is able to do this because of who He is, the Word of God and He, as the judge of all the earth, has pronounced the doom of the lost souls who hate Him.

“I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.”

Isaiah 63:3

On the brightness of His robe and on the skin of His thigh is the name written who he is…

“KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

We read the signs and understand the Word of God revealed and we see the Saviour of the world, now the conquering King and Lord of all.

Hallelujah in heaven

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“After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God: for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”

Revelation 19:1-2

The praise of heaven reaches a crescendo as the saints of God sing the Hallelujah. They are the 144,000, the host of people on the sea of glass, the innumerable host of God’s chosen people, given to the Lamb before the foundation of the world.

John hears the great multitude that no one can number, raise their voices in the song of praise to God that justice has been done and that evil has been destroyed. They sing that salvation and power and glory belong to God and to no one else. The authority and dominion that the Beast and Babylon took upon themselves is now destroyed and God is seen and known to be the sovereign Lord of all things.

“Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 104:35

They praise God for the truth and righteousness of all His judgments that have now been seen to be done, and everyone can know that the Word of God is true. The will of God has been vindicated and every soul has received its just reward, except for the mercy show to the great multitude, who enjoy the favour and grace of God in the forgiveness of sins and the inputed righteousness that they now display fully.

There has been two-fold justice. The Great Whore has been judged for her complete immorality and her adultery with the kings of the earth who have placated her. Also the blood of the saints of God that she has denied life to, and has killed so cruelly, have now been avenged.

A second hallelujah celebrates the fact that her smoke goes up to God forever and ever and her suffering will never end, for she will never again torment the people of God. She will forever pay for her own sins and the price of her heinous infidelity.

The twenty four elders, who represent the true church of Christ, and the four living creatures fall down and worship the Lord who sits on the throne saying “Amen, let it be, LORD. Hallelujah!!”

“Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who serve by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD!”

Psalm 134:1-2

Every creature in heaven worships the LORD and gives praise to Him for what He has done for the saints of God and the rescue of the multitude of humanity that have been shown mercy and been rescued from the death of Babylon. Our gratefulness to be among that throng will be complete and we will fully appreciate the righteousness of the LORD and what it means to be holy. We will rejoice with joy at the conquest of all evil and those who practice it. We will be glorified and made worthy and righteous even as our Saviour, JESUS is righteous. Our perspective on the holiness of God will be completely different than it is now and we will see this from a pure spiritual perspective and worship the LORD in sanctified spirit and truth.

A voice comes for the great throne. It is the voice of CHRIST who sits on the throne ascribing all greatness to the Mighty GOD and leading the devotion of the servants of the LORD, the people of God, the redeemed throng, all who fear the LORD, all who have known Him in this present life, will join the Lord Jesus in praise to the one who is above all and who is supremely holy.

“In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of HOSTS! The whole earth is full of his glory!” The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke…”

Isaiah 6:1-4

The Scripture is full of visions of the LORD and we should look at them regularly to remind ourselves of who we are dealing with. We will never comprehend Him fully, but have an increasing recognition and appreciation for who He is and what He has done. The LORD of heaven and earth, the only true God and the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Eternal Son and the gracious Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth.

“But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”

Hebrews 1:8-9

God is above all and CHRIST on the throne is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the Eternal Son. We glorify the LORD in that great place and we will rejoice with joy at the victory of the Lamb over the forces of evil and sin and death. Sin will be no more and we will judge correctly and be wholly righteous.

“… the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.”

Isaiah 43:21

Living in GOD

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The saints rejoice

“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”

Revelation 18:20

God listens to the prayers and longings of His people. As He is a just God, so we also love justice and equity. He tells us to rejoice when justice is done and sin is paid for, and with the destruction of Babylon, justice is carried out and the blood of the martyrs and the persecution of God’s people is paid for. Sin is being punished and restitution is being made for the sufferings of the people of God. All the heavens join together in praises to God, the saints, which is all God’s holy people, the Apostles, the twelve instigated by God and the prophets of God.

A mighty angel appears in the vision carrying a millstone what he plunges into the sea. This analogy reminds us of the dire warning of Jesus to anyone who would hurt His children.

“Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

Luke 17:1-2

There are consequences to harming the people of God and causing them to suffer or even offending them. Jesus said it would be better to be deliberately drowned than for one of His little ones to be offended or to stumble in what they believe or how they live. Anyone who abuses a child of God is in line for this judgment.

The angel here is displaying the same idea about the judgment of Babylon. Babylon will be thrown down in great violence and bloodshed and no-one will be able to save her, because she is under the judgment of God and not just earthly enemies. She will be utterly destroyed and taken out of the way so that she does not trouble anyone any more.

All her vaunted wealth and show will be gone. No more music or the taste of her delicacies will be felt or known. No one will make any beautiful things in that city any more, for they will all be destroyed with her. Craftspeople and Artists will no longer work there, and nothing of value of beauty will be made.

There will be no more commerce or trading or the outworking of people’s livelihoods, but all the wheels of industry will be stopped. No one will have a means of supporting themselves or of living any kind of life, for she is now destitute.

The light of lamps will no longer be shining, and all good has long gone from her streets. The message of the gospel will have been put out for good. The preaching of the pure and clear gospel of the grace of God is no more. There is no hope of salvation and forgiveness for they have long been given up. No more joyous times or wedding feasts to exalt in, but only rottenness and the fiery flame of penury.

The voice of the bridegroom is the sweet voice of CHRIST who calls people to himself and offers forgiveness and peace with God. There is no peace with God in this city, and the inhabitants of that great and powerful city have passed over the mercy of God for the filthy lucre of this life. They are rewarded according to their sin and they have lost it all. Once they were once princes as merchants, and successful business people but now it is swept away in a moment.

Whatever they achieved was all for nothing and just served the will of Satan to deceive the people of earth and cause them to be lost from God forever.

Her streets ran with the blood of the prophets and the people of God for the inhabitants hated God and lived only for themselves. The light of God was not valued so now it has gone out. The sound of the gospel was not venerated or obeyed and the call of mercy was ignored, so now it is forever silent. The day of mercy has passed and the door of salvation has closed for these people. This is the reality for all who forget God and refuse Him when they hear the truth.

“It shall be, if you shall forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you wouldn’t listen to the voice of the LORD your God.”

Deuteronomy 8:19-20

God holds every individual person to account for their sinful rebellion and unbelief. Why do we run and reject the one who saves us and makes us right with Him forever? It is such folly and the enemy keeps our minds in a turmoil of unbelief, lest we should turn and be saved, for his hatred of us as the humans that God has created in his image, is sure and deep. Satan is described as a roaring lion who seeks to devour, and so he is.

Beloved, we must not be found weeping at the demise of the evil around us and the falling down of the strongholds of Satan. This world is heading to punishment and judgment and we cannot stop the judgment of God, indeed we should glory in the fact that justice will be served and the mercy of God will save His people. May we be counted among them, and our rejoicing in the LORD will be complete.

“Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness. Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to the LORD, his name! Rejoice before him!”

Psalm 68:1-4

Lament over loss

“The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.’”

Revelation 18:9-10

The interest is in who is mourning the desolation of Babylon. It is the ten kings who have given their authority and creditability to the great church and are now therefore undermined and left with no transparency or honourable character. The kings have committed adultery with the Great Babylon, and are now paying for their infidelity to the Living God. They find themselves in the position of weeping and mourning over the demise of evil. This is not a good place to be.

All the good things in life that they have lusted for are now lost to them, for the whole political and economic and social structure has fallen with Babylon. They have lost the ability to access their favoured delicacies and luxury goods, so they are in devastation because of that situation that they now find themselves in. Reliance on these luxuries have weakened their characters and they have fallen prey to the enemy of their souls and succumbed to the advances of evil in the form of flattery and false promises. Their lives of decadent living have suddenly come to a halt.

“The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.”

Revelation 16:19-20

Again we have the repetition of the “woe.” This is a monumental falling away and the fabric of society has gone down with the woman, who has now been made desolate. The people who have depended on her are now left destitute and have no means of support. They mourn and wail and yet stand far away from the sight of the destitution. They are disloyal and cowardly and show their true colours of treachery and the mindset of treason. They have associated with her for their own gain and now she is gone, they are finished. They keep away, lest they should be included with her demise, insensitive to their spiritual sate before the Holy God.

Those who trade on the sea are suffering similarly and watch in horror and terror as they see their head and leader made a fool of and being dealt with by the judgment of the mighty God. They typically put dust on their heads, the sign of deep mourning and loss. They also weep, “woe, woe, is the great city…”. Their livelihoods have disappeared in a short space of time and they lament.

This will be the end of all who put their trust in the things of this world and the blessings of this life. All who place their hope in the Beast and the false promises of Babylon will be destroyed and will have their hopes permanently dashed.

The language is couched in the sexual perversions of sinful ways. This is to shock us into realising that when we wander from the Lord we are unfaithful to Him and are committing spiritual adultery with falsehood. The Beast, the false prophet and the Great prostitute will lead many astray but it is our responsibility to remain faithful and to see through the falsehoods around us. We must hide our mind and heart in Christ and in the refuge of the Holy Word of God. We must not be accepting of what we see or hear from others without the searching truth of the Scripture to guide us. We must know the Scriptures and be secure in using them as our standard and judgement for what we encounter in the world and even in church.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare…”

“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him…”

“Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

2 Peter 3:10+14+17-18

It is very hard to find teachers to help us and give us strong food that will strengthen our inner core so that our souls will be fortified with the strong meat of the Word. We are too happy with the platitudes of so many and not the deep truths of God. If we have no one to teach us, we must ask the Father to teach us through the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Scripture that we have in our hands.

There is so much error and bad attitudes to so many issues and all the failures of the seven churches at the beginning of this book in the second chapter, are blatantly obvious today in our churches. We must be discerning and ensure we are following the Master, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and not just fitting in with a social set.

“… until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ,”

Ephesians 4:13-15

Beloved, we must not be caught out with the wrong set of allegiances and with the wrong mark on us! We must not find ourselves mourning for the loss of the ungodly things in our lives that God takes away. We let the things of this life sit very lightly on us. We need provision but the Lord has promised to provide and we believe Him.

We need to find ourselves lamenting over the right things, so that our hearts are always in tune with the Spirit of God and not satisfied with the provision of this life only.

A mighty Voice

“After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory. He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird!”

Revelation 18:1-2

Another authoritative angel comes down out of the sky bringing strong power and authority from God to call out the end of Babylon, the Great Whore. The whole of the earth is given light from the angel who cries out with a mighty voice. It is not the gospel light that is preached but great woes proclaimed against the great city of Babylon which has now fallen. The word “fallen” is repeated because her end was great and had caused much suffering and increasing blindness to the people of the earth. Babylon has been overtaken by all that is evil and every hateful and unclean bird is bound up in her. Carrion birds and those who inhabit the night signify the darkness and destruction that she has wrought on the peoples of the earth. She is the breeding ground for demons and a prison for every unclean spirit.

Babylon is the false church that has grown up and deluded and enthralled many by her wealth and ways of the world. She brings men in thrall to her devices and spreads the ways of idolatry and false religion. People are held in subjection to her demands and she exercises control and power of all who bow the knee to her, even the powerful kings of the earth.

Babylon is in a state of complacency over her position towards God and is deep in slumber when the cry from heaven is heard. She wakes to face her own destruction and the everlasting punishment of the Lord.

“Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

Revelation 14:8

This is not mourning for Babylon but a statement of fact that the Great Whore, who has led so many astray, is now dealt with and is silenced and put to destruction.

“For you have trusted in your wickedness. You have said, ‘No one sees me.” Your wisdom and your knowledge has perverted you. You have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’ Therefore disaster will come on you. You won’t know when it dawns. Mischief will fall on you. You won’t be able to put it away. Desolation will come on you suddenly, which you don’t understand.”

Isaiah 47:10-11

Another voice from heaven, the voice of CHRIST, calls to His people to come out of the false church and not be troubled with her plagues and judgments. The sins of the great false church, Babylon, have reached so high that they have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities and will repay her double for her sins, since she melted out double punishment on God’s people without mercy.

He pride has become her necklace and she has glorified herself and made herself wise in her own eyes.

“Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.”

Psalm 73:6

“I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”

Jeremiah 16:18

Punishment is the lot of all who reject God and build their own empires, leading many astray and causing other to follow them and the falsehoods they propagate. The Lord has judged Babylon with fire, because she has not turned and has got worse and worse, richer and richer and more and more proud, elevating herself above the LORD and thinking that He does not see. We are warned to come out for falsehood and seek the pathway of the LORD. The end of falsehood is destruction and the price of folly is unbelief.

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