The Most Cataclysmic Chapter of the Bible.

Rev 16

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

The 7 vials poured out upon the earth by the 7 angels produce mayhem on the grandest scale the planet has ever seen. A quick rundown:
Vial #1: a noisome and grievous sore on all who have the mark of the beast and who worship his image.
Vial #2: seas are turned to blood and all sea life dies.
Vial #3: all rivers and fountains of water are turned to blood.
Vial #4: the sun is enhanced until it scorches men with fire.
Vial #5: the kingdom of the beast is filled with such intense darkness that it is painful to the point where men gnaw their tongues.
Vial #6: the Euphrates is dried up. Demons are belched out of the mouth of Satan, sent forth to round up the armies of the world and draw them to Armageddon.
Vial #7: God declares, "I have had enough!" Lightening, thunders and the worst earthquake in history decimates the landscape. Islands disappear, the mountains crumble, 100 pound hailstones fall from the sky.

Friend, this old sinful world is winding down. So is the patience of heaven. The ages of godlessness have worn thin on the longsuffering of the Lord. He is not willing that any should perish, however, He warned that His Spirit would not always strive with man. Now, the ages are drawing to a close. About 6 1/2 years following the rapture, these events will unfold. It is high time to choose sides. Make sure you are on the right team so you will be an observer during this horrific time rather than a participant.

Who Doesn't Fear the Lord?

Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

What intelligent person, who has witnessed the evidentiary hand of God in creation, blessing and justice, will not bow before Him with contrite heart and humble spirit? Only the Lord God Almighty is holy, only His name is worthy of praise and glory.

Here is a scene in heaven, tribulation saints standing upon a glassy, fiery sea, each one playing a harp and all singing Moses's song of deliverance.

In one harmonious accord, they proclaim, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art
holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

This is a must see occasion. Will you be present? Trust Jesus today as your Lord and Savior. Open your heart and invite Him to wash away your sins. Call upon Jesus for salvation.

The Penalty for Worshiping Antichrist

Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

We all worship something!

Previous verses in this chapter describe the worship of the 144,000 men of God, sealed for His service. Their demarcation is the Father's name written in their foreheads. Probably "YHWH" with the original vowels inserted. Not a one of them will have ever known a woman intimately. They will be among the first of many saved in the tribulation and will become fiery evangelists of the gospel. Then, in heaven, they sing a new song before God's throne accompanied many waters, thunders and harps.

But then, there are those who will worship the beast or his image, in my imagination, probably an animated holographic image, and will have accepted the mark of the beast. The mark is either the number 666, or the name of the antichrist or his logo. It will be placed either on their foreheads or in or on their right hand, possibly even on the arm. It could be an rfid chip, or maybe a tattoo. It could resemble a barcode. No one is allowed to buy or sell without this mark.

But the penalty for succumbing to antichrist is steep. The angel gives the sentence: He will drink the undiluted cup of the wrath of God. He will be tormented with hellfire. His smoke will ascend up forever. He will have no convalescence from that pain for all of eternity.

I reiterate what was thundered on Sinai so long ago;
Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Worship God and live forever or worship the devil and burn for eternity.

It's the Lord's Day!

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

John, our brother, companion in tribulation, in the kingdom and in the patience of the Lord, found himself:

*Isolated
*Dedicated to the Word of God
*Standing on his testimony
*In the Spirit
*Faithful to the Lord's day
*Hearing the voice of the Lord

Today is the Lord's day. I pray that each of us will isolate ourselves from the world in our island of fellowship, the church. I would hope that we would all be dedicated to the Word, stand true to the stuff, be filled with the Spirit and pay heed to the voice of the Lord.

May God bless your worship today!

The Dragon and the Beasts

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

It is amazing what people worship! I observe people worshiping their kids, their cars, their precious time, their bank accounts. Then there are those who bow down to academia or their own intellect. Millions do obeisance to the god of pleasure. Some ignorantly venerate statues, others, the dead. Dumb, blind people worshiping dumb, blind idols.

One day in the near future, the world will go gaga over hell's trinity; Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet. Silly, ignorant masses of people honoring the most despicable characters of history! These three make the likes of Jezebel, Hitler, Mao, Tito, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc. look like a well behaved Sunday school class. Yet, the world will wonder after them, hanging on their every word, obeying their every edict.

It was Blaise Pascal who said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”

When all is said and done, every knee is going to bow before the throne of Jesus and proclaim that He is LORD!

Don't be duped by false gods, worship the one, true God, Jehovah, Who loves you and gave Himself for you.

Praise the Lord on this Thanksgiving Day

Ps 9:1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

Many are the marvelous things He has done for me. As I rose to the new day, I began to note the many things for which I am thankful. Here are a few:

*Coffee, and the ability to make it in an automatic coffee maker.
*Paper and Plastics.
*Porcelain.
*Hot and cold running water.
*Toothbrush and Paste.
*Soap.
*The combustion engine.
*The opportunity to serve my community as a chaplain.
*My family. The very best wife in the world, no hyperbole!
*My kids.
*Refrigeration.
*A wonderful church family.
*Technology, for example, cell phone, texting, blogging, etc.
*Those who have texted me today wishing me a blessed Thanksgiving.
*A positive bank account.
*The opportunity to make a killer coconut cream pie to take to our
neighborhood fire-fighters for their Thanksgiving meal away from their
homes.
*The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tradition that has followed me all
through life.
*Turkey, football, naps, family, laughs, prayers and the giving of Thanks! –
the things I look forward to today.

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart on this, the purest of all
American holidays.

Worship Wars

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. 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. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Telling verses here! If you are saved, the coming rapture of the saints will separate the sheep from the goats, so to speak. Then, in that awful tribulation period, literally millions upon millions will trust Christ. The vast majority of Jews will lose the scales from off their eyes and will turn en masse to their true Messiah. Others, presently ignorant of what the Savior did for them on Calvary will have an opportunity to believe.

That leaves two future classes of people on the earth. Worshippers of Jesus the Christ and worshippers of the Antichrist. There will be no riding the fence.

That leads me to think that, if the coming of the Lord is soon, as it appears so, then most everyone I personally know right now is already lined up for whom they will worship. Already they either worship Jehovah or they are pleasure worshippers who will bow before the Beast soon.

Mind you, those who have heard a clear cut presentation of the Gospel prior to the trumpet will have no second chance after the rapture. The following Scripture makes it clear; 2Thess 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Did you notice that? Those who refused to believe hear and now will not believe after the rapture. They made their choice to live a life of unrighteous pleasure rather than trust Jesus.

Choose you this day whom you will serve!