The thousand years

 

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4

 

The thousand year reign of Christ and with Christ does not get much of a mention here in Revelation. Obviously, not being God, I can’t know why, but I think it is because it is mentioned all throughout the prophets.

 

This 1000 years is going to be a whole different world.

 

Jesus will reign

The whole earth will be filled with His glory

There will be pilgrimages to sees Him

There will be no war

We will reign with Him

Animals will live in peace

Crops will be fruitful

Lifespans will be greatly extended

Illnesses will be willed

And so much more

 

And all of this is just setting the stage for the new heavens and earth. What a time to look forward to.

It's over

 

And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh. - Revelation 19:19-21

 

Finally, Satan and his armies are defeated. In a silly and vain last attempt to overthrow God, Satan musters all of his forces against God and His armies, or so Satan thinks. Every army on the face of the faith is finally united against one common enemy. Their guns and tanks and nuclear weapons and whatever weapons will be developed are pointed toward heaven and they really think they have a shot.

 

But BOOM, its all over. God speaks His word and everyone dies. Done and dusted. Sinn sinn.

 

After this we get a kind of reboot, but this current world system is at an end. The beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire.

 

All the rest are killed by the word that comes out Jesus’ mouth. Once again He could say ‘it is finished.’

 

The world seems pretty confident that victory is theirs, but it is all in vain.

 

When things get tough today we can rest in the confidence that the battle is not ours, but the Lord’s. One day our day will come. To borrow a phrase from Irish - Tiocfaidh ár lá

The Bride's garments

 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. - Revelation 19:7-8

 

I have never noticed this passage of scripture until we were studying it in our Revelation Bible  study. I love the imagery of the Brides clothing being the righteous acts of the Saints. That means that everything we do today for God makes up them wedding clothes of the Bride of Christ. And that's us! That’s our works.

 

This is a lovely little note in the midst of all the stuff in Revelation. The church is the Bride of Christ.

 

Think about weddings for a minute. The bride will do all she can, in most cases, to look her very best for her wedding. In many cases thousands of euro will be spent on the perfect dress and the perfect hair and the perfect make-up and the perfect nails and so on and so on.

 

Its lovely and I’ll never forget that day that Mary came down the aisle. We had very little money. The setting and the surroundings were simple. We didn’t even have indoor toilets.

 

But Mary and that dress. The image still takes my breath away.

 

Okay, back to the great wedding of Christ and His church. The church is arrayed in clothing of the finest linens. Though made pure by the blood of Christ, the works of the saints, add to the glory of this image.

 

Think of how a bride prepares for wedding. That is the kind of preparation we should be doing now for our future wedding to Him. 

Our God reigns

 

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! - Revelation 19:6

 

The Lord God omnipotent reign. The thing that God’s people have been looking for for thousands of years has come to pass. The Almighty God has come to rule on the earth.

 

For all of history Satan has had some authority in the broken sin cursed world we live in. He is called the Prince of the Power of the world and the form of this world. Demonic forces roam the word seeking to destroy God’s people. Wicked leaders this world. Revelation is going to be Satan’s last hurrah. Then it is all going to change.

 

God Himself will come to earth, first to establish a literal kingdom and then a new heaven and a new earth. He will one day reign in all 0f His power and majesty and every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord. All enemies will be destroyed and we will live under His almighty power in security an holiness. All fear will be gone and we can finally enter His perfect peace and rest.

They did not repent

 

And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. - Revelation 16:9

 

Judgements continue. The full wrath of God is being poured out, and still men refuse to turn to Him. They see an escape from judgement, but they won’t repent. They love their sin too much.

 

You would think this incredible, but we already see it happening today. Men love their sin more that they love eternity. The turn from God and not only that they turn away from God. Men love darkness more than they love life.

 

At this point, even though they clearly see the consequences of their choices, they still persist rather than submit. Satan has huge sway over the world and by this time he has persuaded the world that all of this is God’s fault. He has convinced them that He know better.

 

The end is coming, and they are still not persuaded.

Great and Marvellous

 

And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

“Great and marvellous are Your works,

Lord God Almighty!

Just and true are Your ways,

O King of the saints!

Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are holy.

For all nations shall come and worship before You,

For Your judgments have been manifested.” Revelation 15:2-4

 

At the end of all this we are going to see the wonder and glory and marvel of the Lord as He cleans things up and re-establishes His creation.

 

 

His works are great and marvellous

Just and true are His ways

How can we not fear and glorify him?

He alone is holy

And one day, just as foretold in Philippians, every knee will bow in worship

 

Our promised victory over Satan has come. Our deliverance is finally assured. God is going to reveal Himself in all of His glory. We are going to see His left justice and see the wonderful truths of all that He has said. We may fear Him in part but we see Him all of His awesome power. We will see all the peefection of His holiness.

 

And every knee will now and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. We will do it with joy, but the world will do it knowing that everything they have feared is here.

 

Oh want a wonderful day that will be!

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord

 

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” Revelation 14:13

 

None of us likes to think about death. It is the one thing that is certain though. It will happen. We are told here that the dead who die in the Lord are blessed.

 

I think of the great passages that have been of comfort when loved ones have died. Death has no victory. The grave has no sting. Death has been crushed to death. Blessed are those who die in the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord are the death of His saints.

 

I don’t really want to die. I know it is coming, but I don’t relish the notion.

 

But at least I know that on the other side is the blessed rest we have been longing for. Even though I don’t like it – I need not fear it. Instead I can look forward to His blessings.

 

Patience of the saints 2

 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12

 

So here we have more about the patience of the saints as it was seen in their patience and faith. Here we see it seen in keeping commandments and faith. While we are waiting and while these Revelation saints are waiting we can’t just sit back at ease, God’s patience means that in the meantime we need to be obeying Him and following His commandments.

 

I like what Paul said when he wrote to Thessalonica about waiting for Jesus. He’s not worried about the time, but he does say that while we are waiting we need to busy about living for the Lord, serving others, and serving Him.

 

To these Tribulation saints the time was short. They knew it.

 

We have no idea when Jesus is coming back. So while we patiently wait for Him we need to walk in faith and obedience. 

144,000 preachera

 

They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God. Revelation 14:3-5

 

God’s patient grace talked about in Isaiah is really seen here in the Book of Revelation. Over and over we see God at work giving people a chance to be saved. First He sent two supernatural witnesses to preach to the world for 3 ½ years. Now we see Him sending out 144,000 preachers into the world.

 

These 144,000 Jewish gospel preachers will spread out over the whole world preaching the blessed gospel of Christ and more will be saved. Those who get saved now do so at great peril. Chances are excellent that they will die for their faith. When they make this choice, they know what they are getting themselves into. Still they see eternity of more importance than their temporal lives.

 

God still is not done showing His patient grace. If not for that He would have wiped things out a long time ago. These preachers are going out into a world what hates them and is going to try to stop them with all their power.

 

God wants to turn the world to Him. His patient grace continues.

The Mark of the Beast

 

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. - Revelation 13:16-18

 

Perhaps nothing catches attention about the book of Revelation like the Mark of the Beast. People, including well meaning Christians, are intrigued, mesmerized, and terrified of the Mark. Everyone tries to guess what it is so they can avoid it.

 

In my lifetime I have seen so many things described as the Mark. Magnetic strips on credit cards, chips on credit cards, barcodes, implanted chips, injections, etc, etc declared to be the Mark and Christians warned about using them. People still live in fear of getting tricked into taking the Mark.

 

The word of God is clear that Christians have nothing to fear about this insidious mark. It is not going to be snuck in in a vaccine. They are not going to slip it in to your credit card. An information chip is not going to be the Mark of the Beast. Those things may have their own issues, but they are NOT going to be the Mark.

 

The Mark of the Beast will be a voluntary act of worship and devotion. It’s not going to sneak up on us.

Patience of the Saints 1

 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. - Revelation 13:10 

 

It seems like a big part of our lives is given over to patience and waiting and longsuffering and endurance. It something that we just must learn to deal with. A lot of our life is waiting.  

 

But we have to  wait because of what Isaiah refers as God’s patient grace. Isaiah writes that God patient is that He can be gracious to His people. That’s why His return is taking so long. He desires all men to come to salvation.  

 

His patient grace continues into the Tribulation. It is going to seem like an eternity to those waiting for His return. As their persecution continues, they all their reserves of patience and faith are going to be called on. They, and we, need to remember God’s ultimate plan, which is to gather in as many sheep as will come.  

 

This is the supreme rest of patience and faith. With what they will be called on to do surely we can exercise patience and faith in our day.  

Everyone except

 

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. - Revelation 13:7-8

 

Satan is taking full and total control over all the earth. He will rule over every tribe and tongue and nation and all who dwell on the earth will worship the devil.

 

Except...

 

Except for those whose names are written in the book of life.

 

Right now it can be hard to differentiate between us and the world. We pretty much can act like the world and they can act like us. It’s getting harder and harder though and is already impossible in some parts of the world. The differences are becoming more and more clear as evil grows.

 

But one day it will have to be a clear choice. One day it will be God or Satan. The world will be rushing headlong to serve him, and they all will. There will be no middle ground.

 

Those of us whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will not worship. Humanly speaking the result will be horrendous. They will be slaughtered for their faith and the world will rejoice.

 

But then it’s all going to change. While we enjoy all the glories of heaven they are going it face eternal suffering.

 

What a tragic day. That’s why we must be about sharing what we have in Christ so they can change the result today.

The War of the Dragon

 

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17

 

Full scale war is coming. The dragon, knowing his time is short. Launches into a full scale attack on the Jews, on those who are keep the Law, and on the Christians who have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

 

The War of the Dragon will be the greatest conflict the world has ever seen. Satan hates God and His creation and His people. He is going to do all he can to finish the job he started eons ago.

 

All of the trouble he has caused on earth is about to be wrapped up. But he has to try one more time. The great War of the Dragon will see the greatest assembly of armies and armaments and supplies ever put together.

 

And they will all going to array themselves against one common enemy. They really they can win. Pride and arrogance drive them to think they can accomplish the impossible.

 

Scary thought. But keep in mind that greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world.

His time is short

 

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Revelation 12:12

 

This old world is in trouble. Under the dominion of Satan it has truly fallen apart and it is only going to get worse. Sin is destructive and only brings destruction and now the time has come.

 

The time is short and he is angry. Great trouble is coming to the world. There is going to be a short time of full-scale fury and millions are going to die.

 

The only good thing is that his time is short. Those who have put their faith in Christ and going to see great persecution.

 

But then it is going to be over. In a short time Satan will be defeated and sent to his eternal fate in the lake of fun. Those saints who are still alive will know that it really is about done.

 

Just hold out a little longer. The time is short.

Overcomers by the blood

 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. - Revelation 12:10-11

 

Only one group of people are going to be able to overcome the tribulations of the Tribulation.

 

Three things describe the saints

They have overcome by the blood of the Lamb

They have overcome by their testimony

They did not love their lives to the point of death

 

The word of God is very clear. All are sinners. The penalty for sin is death. God provides a way of salvation. We overcome the penalty of death on through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God loved the world so much that He sent His own Son to shed His blood to make us overcomers.

 

This is all going to become clear during the Great Tribulation. The final battles will be fought. Most of the world is going to ignore God’s pleas and face destruction. Tragic as it is, overcoming it is possible.

 

The brethren, the saints, have become overcomers by the blood of Christ. Without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin. These saints overcame by the blood. Their testimonies evidenced that. The trusted Jesus so they did not love their lives more than Him and overcame in the end.

 

What a blessed promise! 

Rewards

 

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,

And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,

And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,

And those who fear Your name, small and great,

And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” - Revelation 11:18

 

There is a lot of death and destruction and doom and gloom going on at the moment in the Tribulation. God’s wrath is being poured out on the world.

 

But there is a break here – there is a break in the judgements. God’s faithful are being encouraged to carry on.

 

God will reward the prophets and the saints and all those who fear His name.

 

There is only one hope and one escape from the final judgement that is coming. Fortunately, Revelation makes it clear over and over again and God gave us this book long before it comes so that we can be ready. The book of Revelation itself is an act of grace.

 

God protects and protects and rewards His own. He offers it to all. What a tragedy for those who refuse His grace.

Thy kingdom come

 

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” - Revelation 11:15

 

The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord.

 

These are the words all God’s people long to hear. They are words that kingdom dwellers in this current world look forward to. We look forward to the day when we will see the kingdom of God fulfilled here on earth. We have prayed ‘thy will be done’ and ‘thy kingdom come’ and now the time is here.

 

As Christians we have had to live in two kingdoms, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdoms of this world. Though our citizenship is in heaven, we still are subject to the rules of our earthly kingdom. The earthly kingdoms are broken, but the heavenly kingdom is pure and perfect.

 

And here His kingdom has come and everything is going to change. The kingdoms of the world are about to end and God’s Kingdom take their place and King Jesus is going to rule.

 

What a day that will be.

Two witnesses

 

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” - Revelation 11:1-3

 

We see glimpses of grace all through the book of Revelation. Over and over God steps in and offers salvation through Christ.

 

Here, at the very midpoint, God sends two witnesses to preach the gospel in Jerusalem.

 

They stand in Jerusalem, somehow seen be the whole world, and preach the gospel for 3 ½ years.  Nothing can stop them and anybody tries to stop them is destroyed. Three and a half years of solid gospel preaching – and it makes a lot of folks angry. People are saved though their preaching. Every day the world hears the same message.

 

Finally, toward the very end, God a!lows them to be killed and their bodies lie in the street for three and a half days.

 

And the world throws the greatest party ever seen. It is a world wide celebration. They really think they have won.

 

But 3 days later they wise from the dead and are carried into heaven. The world had to know that there were in deep, deep trouble unless they heeded the words of the witnesses.

 

God does all He can to draw men to Him, but they have to decide, and still, even after this, few are going to accept His gift.

Prayer of the saints

 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. - Revelation 8:3

 

This particular angel had a golden censer. From that censer a lovely aroma of incense arose. With that lovely smoke were the prayers of the saints.

 

So how does that fit in with what we know about prayer? What does this image mean?

 

Our prayers go up to God like the fragrance offerings under the Law. They are a sweet smelling savour. They are precious to Him.

 

What makes this so precious is that God enjoys hearing from us. He please Him when we talk to Him. I kind of understand that. I am always thrilled to hear from our kids, no matter what the reason. It hurts when we don’t hear from our children. When the phone rings and it is one of them it is exciting.

 

God treasures contact with us. Even when we do with heavy hearts at lease we are going to Him. All through the ages our prayers have pleased Him

 

Why then is it so hard for us to pray? Why do we see it as a burden? Why do we find ourselves trying to squeeze in time to pray? Shouldn’t we want to honour Him? Our prayers are not a burden to Him. He delights in hearing them and answering in His will. 

No more tears

 

They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:16-17

 

No more hunger. No more thirst. No more searing heat.

 

And, at the end, no more tears.

 

No more tears. Can you imagine?

 

By this time of life we have all had plenty to shed years over. We have suffered broken hearts. People have let us down. Family and friends have died and others have suffered illnesses. We have cried buckets God has stored these tears in a bottle.

 

But the day is coming when all that crying will be over. One day God is going to wipe away all those tears once and for all. There will be no need for them because we will all be perfect peace in the presence of God.

And thanksgiving

 

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honour and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.” – Revelation 7.9-12

 

…and honour and power and might! What a wonderful list of things that God is worthy of and that we are blessed to have part in.

 

Right in the middle of the list is the reminder that God is due our thanksgiving. We we’ll know that thanksgiving is a theme of scripture from beginning to end. We are told to offer up a sacrifice of thanksgiving. We are told to give thanks for all things. We are told to give thanks in every situation? 

 

True thanksgiving g requires that we trust God completely. We can only give thanks when we believe that God is doing what is best. We can always be grateful no matter what when we recognise that He is good and He loves us and that he causes all things work together for good, even when we can’t see it.

 

God is always worthy of our thanks. We must remember who He is and give thanks for His work in our lives.

Salvation is of the Lord

 

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honour and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.” – Revelation 7.9-12

 

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb

 

It couldn’t be much clearer than that! Since the Fall man has been trying to placate and to find their way to some form of deity. All kinds of false gods have cropped up and people have tried everything to gain access to their own ideas of god.

 

But they all find themselves falling short.

This is one of the major themes of Revelation. In all the mess being revealed and all the sin and all the judgement there is still a hope of salvation, but it is an exclusive salvation – it is only through Jesus Christ. There is no other hope.

 

And guess what? There is only one way for the world to see it. We have to share it. We must tell others about the only hope of salvation. God allows that hope until the end, but we have the chance to do it now. Let’s be about the task.

Worthy is the Lamb

 

saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain

To receive power and riches and wisdom,

And strength and honour and glory and blessing!”

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

“Blessing and honour and glory and power

Be to Him who sits on the throne,

And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” -Revelation 5:12-13

 

Who is worthy of all the things that we have been reading about? 

 

A lamb? The meekest and most humble of creatures?

 

Under the Law lambs were used for as sacrifices. Each sacrifice had to be unblemished. These sacrifices could only provide a covering for sin until God’s Lamb could fully pay the price.

 

The Lamb that was slain for our sins was the only One who could take our place on altar. He was the perfect offering because He is the only who really pay the price. All the rest of us fall short because we all sin.

 

Not only that, no-one could take His life. He had to willingly go and pay our sin debt.

 

What is He worthy of? Lets see:

 

Power

and riches

and wisdom

and strength

and honour

and glory

and blessing

 

The Lamb is worthy of all these things, and yet too often we honour something else far less worthy.

 

We find sports teams and our nations and our clubs and all other things worthy, but how often do we take the time to give our God what He is due? All we have is because of Him and all we have is His and for Him.

 

This is what ‘I surrender all’ is all about.

 

What receives our strength and riches and power and might and honour and glory and blessing? Those things belong to the Lamb – He is the One who is worth it.