REV 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

At this time in the tribulation you are either saved and worshiping God or you are worshiping Satan.  Everyone will be worshiping one or the other.  This is another place that shows that people will get saved during the tribulation.  The logic for that is simple.  Since all of the saved people leave and meet Jesus in the clouds before the tribulation starts, then to have saved people on the earth during the tribulation there must be newly saved people. 

Many people do listen to the two witnesses that God sends and they get saved.  Satan and his beast will of course not like this. 

REV 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Getting saved during the tribulation will bring you trouble.  Satan and his beast will make war with those who get saved, and they are given the power to overcome the saints.  Many will be killed for their new found faith in Jesus.

The tribulation will be a terrible time.  It is much better to get saved today and not have to go thru the tribulation. 

REV 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

We know from 9 that the dragon referred here in verse 4 is the Devil.  The stars of heaven is a reference to angels.  This is the verse in the Bible were we learn that 1/3 of the angels followed Satan.

REV 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Here we see that the fallen angels that followed Satan fight with the angels that followed God.  We also see here that Michael is in charge of the good angels.  There is order in heaven, we see a chain of command in the angels.  God is a God of order.   

REV 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Of course Satan and his angels will loose.  They are on the loosing side. 

REV 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

At this time in the tribulation Satan and his fallen angels will be cast out of heaven to the earth.  Satan's activity will be restricted to the earth for the rest of the tribulation.

What was Satan doing in heaven you ask?

REV 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

He accuses us of all kinds of things before God.  The term night and day is a figure of speech.  You have most likely used it yourself.  For example, "That boss has me slaving away night and day."  This does not mean that I am working every single minute of every day.  It just means most of the time. 

This tells us that most of Satan's time today is spent at the throne of God accusing us.  However, he is not there every single minute.  The book of Job is a good example of this.  Satan also walks to and fro in on the earth.  The new testament tells us that the Devil walks around seeking people to devour. 

Satan may accuse us all he wants but we have an advocate also at the throne.  1Jo 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

REV 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

During the Tribulation God will send two witnesses to the earth.

REV 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

REV 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

They will be given great power.  This power from God will validate what they say.  Many people will believe them and get saved.  One place that we read of them is in Rev. 6:9-10.

REV 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Only after they have finished their testimony does God allow them to be killed.  God has always been on the throne.  God is still on the throne today, and God will be on the throne forever.  It does not matter how hard the powers of wickedness try to thwart God, they cannot.  God's plans will be fulfilled. 

Where many run into trouble is that they look at something and say, How can God allow that?  How can that be in God's plan?  The fact is that we are unable to understand.  God's ways are not our ways.  God's plan is above our feeble ability to understand.  We can only see today and not the beginning to the end.  Our place is not to armchair quarterback God.  Our place is simply to understand that God knows what He is doing.  Our place is to exercise faith in Him. 

REV 10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

REV 10:5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,

John heard what the seven thunders said and was about to write them down, when he was told not to.  This shows that John was writing what he was seeing and hearing while the revelation was going on.  John did not wait to write it all down after the revelation stopped. 

We are not told what the seven thunders said.  God has a reason.  Every word that is written in God's Word has a reason for being there.  And every thing that God left out, He did so for a reason.  There is nothing in the book that is not sup post to be there and we are not missing anything that we are sup post to have. 

This is another place in the Bible where we see that not only does God care what words are in His Bible, but we also see that God is active in what went into His Word. 

I believe that since God cared enough what went into His Word in the first place that He also cared enough about it to preserve it.  We need His Word just as bad as those who got the originals.  God knows that of course and I believe that God loves us just as much as He did the people back then.  God promised that He would preserve His Word and I believe that He did. 

REV 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

REV 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Many judgments have already fallen in the previous chapters.  And in this chapter creatures from the bottomless pit are released to torment men.  Creatures of wickedness like the world has never seen. 

Witnesses of God's truth are also on the earth with His seal in their foreheads (verse 4).  People can see that they are protected from the creatures.  People are seeing with their own eyes the judgment of God being poured out upon the earth and at the same time God's protecting power for His own.

And yet in verses 20 and 21 it says that they will still not repent.   They still refuse to repent of  the works of their hands.  They continue to worship devils, and idols of gold,  silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can't see,  hear, or walk.  Even after all that has happened so far and all that they have seen, they refuse to repent of their murders, sorceries, and fornications.  They even refuse to repent of stealing. 

What we see here brings Jeremiah 17:9 to mind.  "The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

A man's heart can be so set on wickedness that nothing will get him to repent and turn to God.  Not even the terrible judgments of the tribulation.  Do not let it get to you when you run into people that refuse to trust Christ. 

Just keep on witnessing and praise God that not everyone will refuse to repent and trust Christ.  The people who do get saved are worth all the trouble and all the rejection. 

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REV 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

REV 8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

A great mountain burning with fire being cast into the sea sounds a lot like an asteroid doesn't it.  A huge asteroid could easily cause tidal waves big enough to destroy 1/3 of all ships in the world. 

REV 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

REV 8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

This also sounds like it could be another asteroid.  This one hits land.  I personally do not think that this is just a normal asteroid.  It is called Wormwood and it poisons 1/3 of the waters on the land and the poisoned water kills many people. 

You might be thinking that is interesting but how does that affect me?  What difference is that going to make to me?  I will not be here when that happens. 

Thinking about just how awful this period is going to be should burden your heart to try to keep as many people as possible from having to go thru the tribulation.  Proper reflection upon the judgments in Revelation should have the result in your life of doing more witnessing, of leaving more tracks on doors or where people can find them.  It should have the result of you trying to win more souls.   

If you study the Bible just so you can have more neat Bible facts in your head, then you have totally missed the point.  The Bible was given to change our lives.  The main purpose of Bible study is so that we can know the truth, but then we are to let that truth affect us.  Bible study is to change our attitudes and our actions. 

REV 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

A lot is said about the 144,000.  Some people will try to claim that they are going to be the 144,000.  Their claim is NOT biblical.  Verse 4 tells us that they are going to be of the children of Israel.  Verse 4 is not figurative language.  The 144,000 will be all Jewish.  Verses 5 thru 8 gives us more information on who the 144,000 are.

REV 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

REV 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

REV 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

REV 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

There will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, which gives a total of 144,000.  Some will argue that this cannot be because we don't know who the 12 tribes are.  But, just because we don't know which Jews are in the tribe of Gad or Asher, does not mean that God does not know.  It is clear that God knows who is of the tribe of Gad and who is of the tribe of Simeon.  We don't need to know who they are for it to come true.  It is enough that God knows.  And rest assured that it will happen just exactly as God says.  The 144,000 will not be gentiles.  They will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. 

REV 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

REV 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

REV 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

I know it is hard to believe, but there are groups that teach that we are in the tribulation right now.  The first time I heard about that I thought to myself do these people even read the Bible?  Look at some of the things going on in Chapter 6.  This is still early on in the tribulation period.  The sun becomes black as sackcloth.  The moon becomes as blood.  Stars of heaven fall to earth.  Every mountain and island are going to be moved out of their places.  A beast in verse 8 called death is given the power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with beasts.  You do not have to read very long to see that what happens in the tribulation is worse than anything that the world has ever seen.  The wrath that God has stored up will be poured out upon the earth.  It should be clear to anyone who reads the Bible and has even an ounce of common sense that we are not yet in the Tribulation. 

REV 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

After the tribulation we will return with Christ to the earth.  Jesus will set up His 1,000 year reign.  And we will reign with Him on the earth.  Some might ask reign over what.  There will be people who live thru the tribulation period.  They will still have their natural bodies.  They will continue to have children and the population will grow over the 1,000 years.  There will be someone put in charge of each city.  Jesus made mention of this. 

Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.

Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.

The children that are born during the 1,000 years will still have to be saved just like everyone else.  They will have to accept or reject Christ out of a free will just like you and me.  Out of this group is where Satan gets people to rise up against Jesus at the end of the 1,000 years. 

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea.

Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

And for the 1,000 years before Satan deceives the nations we will be reigning over them with Jesus.  There will be many different positions in Christ's kingdom.  We do not know exactly what this reigning entails, but Jesus does indicate that the job you get is based upon your faithfulness in your life today.  How you live your life is going to make a big difference to you then.  And not just for a day or two, or a month, or a year, but your faithfulness today is going to make a difference in what you do for 1,000 years. 

REV 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Our Lord is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power.  Jesus is the almighty creator.  He created all things.  Jesus created the complexity of the cell, the diversity of animal and plant life.  Jesus created all the planets and all the physical laws of the universe.  Jesus created DNA and the 3 billion base pair human genome.  And on and on the list could go.  A study of the complexity of life will leave you in awe of our great creator. 

We can look at all the wonderful things that God created and easily fall into a mind set of look what God created for us to enjoy.  Do not get me wrong we are to enjoy His creation.  However, the primary reason He created was for His pleasure.  When was the last time that instead of praying a wish list to God, that you prayed and asked Him what you could do to please Him?

REV 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

This verse is often used when trying to win people to Christ.  And while it is true that Christ knocks at the sinners door so to speak and that He wants the sinner to let Him in, that is not what this verse is talking about.  The context of the surrounding verses clearly shows that this verse is addressed to one of God's churches. 

It is a sad thing, but this verse is talking about Christ having to knock on the door of His own church trying to get in.  There are many churches today in this condition.  Instead of preaching Jesus' gospel they preach a works gospel or a health and wealth gospel.  Christ is not only left out of the preaching in some churches, He is also left out of the music.  They play the devil's rock-n-roll beat with some nice words put on top.  They are what you call seeker sensitive churches.  They are all about entertainment and making people feel good.  Christ is knocking on the door of a church like that.   The church that Christ is in is a saviour sensitive church.  A church needs to be worried about pleasing the saviour and not about pleasing the crowd. 

There are also many churches that preach the right gospel and have the right music that is God honoring, and yet Jesus is still knocking on the door wanting in.  The people are just going thru the motions.  They will not let God burden their heart.  They will not shed tears in prayer for the lost.  They will not go out putting tracks on doors.  They will spend more time watching TV commercials than reading their Bible.  In short they are not hot nor cold.  Jesus is not pleased with the state of being lukewarm.

REV 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

For Jesus to really be in the church and not knocking at the door, He needs to be first in the hearts of the people.

REV 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Jezebel was one of the wickedest women in the Old Testament.  She was a baal worshiper.  It was a common thing for a worshiper of baal to have bel incorporated somewhere in their name.  Jezebel led many into worshiping her false god.  The woman referred to in verse 20 is not the same woman but she has much in common with the Jezebel of the Old Testament.  This Jezebel was also a false teacher and someone who seduced God's people to worship false gods.  These two Jezebels had more in common than just a name.  They were both enemies of God working evil against His people.  God is rebuking the church at Thyatira because they allowed this woman to teach her heresy.  What this church should have done is kick the false teacher out.  It is bad enough for a person to be involved in wickedness, but it is even worse to be actively dragging others into it. 

REV 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

Here we see an example of God's longsuffering and that He is truly not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  Even with all of Jezebel's wicked teaching, God did not bring judgment right away.  He gave even Jezebel time to repent.  Some people wonder why judgment is not brought down immediately on some false teacher who is teaching some wickedness and doing great damage to God's people.  The answer is that God wants them to repent so that He does not have to bring judgment upon them.  His waiting is a sign of His love and patience.  God will send people into the false teachers life to rebuke them and try to warn them that they need to repent.  Jezebel refused to repent.  God is longsuffering and does give space to repent.  But there is an end to His patience.  The wheels of God's justice are sometimes slow, but they never slip. 

REV 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

REV 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

This is not talking about her physical children.  This is talking about her followers.  Her spiritual children so to speak.  You see John use the same kind of language in the book of 1st John.  John called believers that he ministered to and wrote the letter to his children. 

God says that not only will Jezebel receive judgment but her followers as well.  The judgment will really be their choice because they were given space to repent and warnings to repent but they refused.  They chose to receive judgment rather than forgiveness. 

We have a merciful, loving, longsuffering, God.  But never forget He is also a Holy, righteous, and just God. 

REV 1:5 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. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

The shed blood is very important.  Without it we could not be saved.  He washed us from our sins in his own blood.  The Bible tells us that life is in the blood.  We also know that the wages of sin is death, and that God declared that without the shedding of blood is no remission.  To have remission of sins Christ had to shed His blood.  Dieing in His sleep would not have sufficed.  Death by hanging would not have worked.  Jesus had to shed His blood.  And on the cross Jesus poured His blood out.  The solder thrust a spear thru His side and water and blood came out.  The heart is encased in a sack of water.  This cushions the heart.  I believe that this is where the water came from.  The spear punctured the water sack and the heart, and then water and blood ran out.

And this was precious blood. 

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers;

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

It was the precious blood of the very Son of God that was shed to wash us from our sins. 

Too many people are ashamed of the shed blood of Christ.  They take the songs about the blood out of their hymnals.  Too many preachers have quit preaching about the blood.  That is just plain wrong.  We don't need some watered down,  modernized, sorry, no good, rotten religion without the blood.  No Sir. 

Give me a hymnal with the blood still in it.  Give me a Bible with the blood still in it.  Give me that old time religion.  Amen.

JUD 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

"preserved in Jesus Christ".  The Bible teaches over and over again that you cannot loose your salvation.  When we believe in the Lord Jesus we are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus.  God does it all.  We do not sanctify ourselves at salvation.  God does it.  We do not preserve ourselves, God does it. 

Our salvation does not rest in our power, it rests in His power.  We do not have to hold out, we are preserved.  We did not work to get saved and we do not work to stay saved.  Salvation is a gift that God gives us if we believe.  It would not be a gift if it had conditions attached to it.  If we had to do things to keep it, then it ceases to be a gift.  If we could loose our salvation, then works would be involved.  But salvation IS NOT of works.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Our works are not involved in our salvation.  And we have Jesus' promise that if we come to Him that we will not get kicked out. 

Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

When you get saved; you are saved forever!

The gift of eternal life  should make us grateful.  We should want to do more for our saviour in response to His great love.

Have you thanked God lately for preserving you?  

What have you done lately to help more people come to know this great salvation?

3JN 1:3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

3JN 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

John had seen many people saved under his ministry.  He thinks of them as his children.  He loved them, taught them, prayed for them, and labored for them.  He loved them and was concerned for their well being (vs. 1-2).  As he observed their lives and followed what they did, I think that there were many things that would have given him joy.  But he says that he had no greater joy than to hear that they walked in truth. 

There is truth and there is error.  There are things that you are to do in your walk with Christ and things that you are not to do.  There are things that you are to stand for and there are things that are just preferences.  There are proper times for joining together and other times separation is called for.  To walk in truth sometimes you must give a rebuke and other times you need to keep quiet.  We are to walk in truth.  Walking speaks of continually.  Walking is different than just taking a step or two. 

And where do we find out how to walk?  The Bible.  It gave John joy to see his spiritual children studying the Word of God enough to know how to walk and then to see them actually do it. 

Are you studying enough and obeying what you study enough to give your pastor joy?

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