Revelation 9
Fifth angel with trumpet soundedverses 1-12
And the fifth angel sounded
and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth
and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit
And he opened the bottomless pit
and there arose a smoke out of the pit
as the smoke of a great furnace
and the sun and the air were darkened
by reason of the smoke of the pit
And there came out of the smoke LOCUSTS on the earth
and to them was given power
as the scorpion of the earth have power
And it was commanded them that they should
not hurt the grass of the earth
neither any green thing – neither any tree
BUT only those men which have not the SEAL of God
in their foreheads and to them it was given that
they should not kill them
BUT that they should be tormented five months
and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion
when he strikes a man
And in those days shall men seek death – and shall not find it
and shall desire to die – and death shall flee from them
And the shapes of the LOCUSTS were like
to horses prepared unto battle
and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold
and their faces were as the faces of men
And they had hair as the hair of women
and their teeth were as the teeth of lions
and they had breastplates
as it were breastplates of iron
and the sound of their wings was as the sound of
chariots of many horses running to battle
and they had tails like unto scorpions
and there were stings in their tails
and their power was to hurt men five months
And they had a KING over them – which is
the angel of the bottomless pit
whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon
but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon
ONE woe is past
and BEHOLD – there come two woes more hereafter
Sixth angel with trumpet soundedverses 13-19
And the sixth angel sounded
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar
which is before God
saying
to the sixth angel which had the trumpet
Loose the four angels which are bound in
the great river Euphrates
AND the four angels were loosed
which were prepared for an hour – a day – a month – a year
for to slay the third part of men
And the number of the army of the horsemen were
two hundred thousand thousand
and I heard the number of them
And thus I saw the horses in the vision – and them that sat on them
having breastplates of fire – jacinth – brimstone
and the heads of them of lions
and out of their mouths issued
fire – smoke – brimstone
By these three was the third part of men killed
by the fire – smoke – brimstone
which issued out of their mouth
FOR their power is in their mouth – and in their tails
for their tails were like unto serpents – and had heads
and with them they do hurt
Those who didn’t die didn’t repentverses 20-21
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 – silver – brass – stone – wood
which neither can see – nor hear – nor walk
NEITHER repented they of their murders
nor of their sorceries – nor of their fornication – nor of their thefts
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. (12 “bottomless” [abussos] means abyss, deep, the immeasurable depth, very deep place, boundless, unfathomable, enormous, netherworld, depthless, or underworld)
DEVOTION: There is an abyss that God created before the foundation of the world. This abyss contains beings that look like locust because there are so many of them. An angel from heaven has the key to open the pit. In the King James version of the Bible he is called a star. He was a messenger assigned by God to open the pit to allow the beings to come out to hurt all those who didn’t have the mark of the LORD on their forehead.
The smoke alone from the abyss was so great that it darkened the sun and the air. It would have been hard to breath at this point near this opening. It had to be a frightening sight.
This group of locust had a leader with a name. The Bible gives both the Hebrew and the Greek name for this leader or king. He was going to lead them on a mission to hurt all those who rejected the message of Jesus Christ. They are not allowed to hurt the grass or any green thing or any tree. They were limited by God as to their responsibility during this time period. Remember that God has limits set for our human enemies and our enemy the devil.
They were not allowed to kill the men who were stung by these beings. They were only allowed to torment those they stung for five months. I have never been sick for five months but I have known individuals who have been dealing with health issues for longer than five months. They didn’t like it and sometimes they even wished or thought it was better to be dead than to go through their health issue.
Now these individuals were just getting a foretaste of what it was going to be like in the lake of fire for eternity. They thought it was bad during the Tribulation but they still didn’t want to change their attitude toward Jesus Christ.
You would think that once the LORD contacted them with a message of hope they would want to change but that was not the case then or now. Many people have seen the LORD work miracles in someone in their family or a friend but they still reject the message of God.
Our responsibility is to show them the hope we have in Christ while they look at their circumstances and think they are good but don’t realize it is only for a short time.
It can never be said that God doesn’t give everyone more than one chance to become a believer. HE gives many chances for people to follow HIM. They still chose to reject HIM.
God showed these people during this time that there was a difference between those who follow HIM and those who reject HIM. The ones who followed HIM were not touched by these beings.
CHALLENGE: God always gives warnings to those outside of Christ as to what is going to happen in the future. They can either listen to the warning or ignore it.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; bout only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (4973 “seal” [sphragis] means a signet, a stamp, or a mark of privacy. This word indicates ownership, authentication, security and destination)
DEVOTION: Who has the seal of God on their forehead? We know that the 144,00 witnesses received the seal before the Tribulation began. However, we realize that many became followers of the Messiah during the first half of the Tribulation. These individuals were also sealed with the Holy Spirit. So only those who are not followers of the Messiah could be touched by these locust.
The people with the mark of God on their forehead were the “elect” of the tribulation time period. There are “elect” people in the Old Testament, New Testament, Tribulation and Millennium. We are the “elect” of the church age if each one of us has become a follower of Christ as our Savior. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
All those without the stamp of the Holy Spirit were fair game for the locust that came out of the bottomless pit. These individuals would be in pain for five mouths. They would not repent of their sins. They would not turn to God. They would only continue to go away from God.
When tribulation comes our way, do we turn to God or blame God. Those who are followers of Christ should get closer to God and find out what HE is trying to teach them. That should be the normal reaction of those who are followers of God.
We find in our churches many people who are bitter toward God. They somehow thought that once they were followers of God all things would be rosy. The Bible NEVER teaches that thought. That thought comes from the devil.
The Bible teaches that all those who are followers of God are going to be pruning to make them better followers of God. Sometimes there are followers of Christ who sin and the LORD has to chasten them to get them back in fellowship with HIM. This chastening doesn’t mean a loss of salvation but loss of closeness to HIM.
The time period from the point of salvation until death or the Rapture is to be used to mature us in the faith. Are we being matured? Are we accepting the chastening or pruning of the LORD? Remember whom the LORD loves HE chastens!!! This is not the Tribulation time period but a time of tribulation for growth.
CHALLENGE: Train those in our households that the LORD loves them in good times and bad times. Teach them that the LORD NEVER loses control of the world. Teach them about the pruning of the LORD and the chastening of the LORD. Teach them the difference.
: 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. (2090 “prepared” [hetoimazo] means make ready, provide, to make the necessary preparations, get everything ready, to make oneself ready, or to be made or become ready, suitable, or equipped in advance for a particular purpose or for some use or event)
DEVOTION: When the LORD plans something it is very precise. HE knows the day and the hour of the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus limited HIS knowledge when HE came to this earth. We don’t understand it completely but that is the plan that was established before the world began.
God knew the time when you were going to hear the gospel and respond. HE knows every trial you are going to face. HE knows how long HE will have to correct you before you respond.
HE knew when you were going to be born and when you are going to die. HE is omniscient. HE knows everything about every part of your life. HE knows what is going to happen every moment of every day.
The LORD wants us to plan every moment of our day with HIM in mind. HE is concerned about every decision we are going to make.
It seems to people that the LORD likes people to be killed. That is not true. HIS offer of salvation is genuine to all those who are ever born in our world. They make a choice to reject HIM and because HE is a holy God HE must judge them for their actions.
All of us are accountable for every action we do every moment of every day. Isn’t it great to know that HE is also a forgiving God to those who repent and confess their sins? HE manifested HIS love through the death of HIS Son on the cross.
CHALLENGE: Our God is omniscient which we need to remember on a regular basis when we think HE doesn’t know what is happening in our lives.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 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. (4352 “worship” [proskuneo] means kneel, bow low, to do reverence, to do obeisance, to prostrate oneself before, to salute, to kiss towards, or fall at another’s feet)
DEVOTION: Now how would you react if you saw a large group of people suffer and die and you knew there was a way for you to escape such a fate? Now suppose you saw one third of the people around you die because of one fact in their life. That fact was that they had not done something that they could have done.
Here we have this happening in our world. One third of the people were killed by plagues. The response was to continue to reject the message of Jesus Christ. These individuals would not repent even after they saw all that was happening during the Tribulation period. Instead of turning to the LORD they continued to worship their possessions and false gods.
We don’t have gods made of wood and stone but we do have a tendency to worship our possession and our bank account. Both of these could disappear with one signature of a pen by those in control of our government. It has happened in other countries and could happen here.
There are many movies at our theaters that promote worshiping false gods such as werewolves and vampires. They seem to be promoting aliens from outer space. Many people even think that we might have been started by aliens who visited this planet sometime in the past. The t-shirts that are worn seem to have more of these characters rather than Jesus Christ.
Our world seems to be moving further and further away from the worship of the God of the Bible to the point where they think nothing is absolute and therefore nothing is worth worshiping but self.
CHALLENGE: We are to continually showing those around us the hope that is found in Jesus Christ. Who have you shown HIM to this last week? How about this week.
: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (4202 “fornication” [porneia] means 1 illicit sexual intercourse. 1a adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc. 1b sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18. 1c sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,12. 2 metaph. the worship of idols. 2a of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: Why do people call themselves atheists? Is it on the basis any good scientific evidence? Or is it just another moral choice? I have found in life that there are basically two reasons why people declare themselves to be atheists. The first is what I would call “disappointment with God.” They may have been raised in a Christian family or know someone who is a Christian, but reject God because He has failed them in some way. It may be loss of a loved one, failure of one’s own health and lack of healing (despite their prayers), or God not being perceived as being “fair” on some other area.
The second reason that people call themselves atheists is that of moral license. They do not want to acknowledge moral absolutes, so in order to disregard any moral absolutes they refuse to believe in a God who is behind them. This is especially prevalent today when postmodernism teaches that there are no absolutes, just opinions and cultural norms within a given culture or people. One way to get rid of the guilt of committing a sin such as sexual immorality is to say that there are no absolutes, and that I am doing is right for me (or was right for me at the time).
The sin of porneia encompasses all sexual sin. It is the commonest tool Satan uses today in order to keep people from fully following God. It is the same root word from which we get pornography. Many today wrestle with the sin of pornography even if they have not actually committed an act of sexual immorality. However, it is tantamount to committing the act of lust, which Jesus Himself pointed out was as bad as the sin of adultery. We need to take a bolder stand against this in our culture today.
CHALLENGE: If you have been guilty of porneia, stop right now and confess this to God. He will forgive this sin as well as any other sins. Then find an accountability partner you can share this with, and ask him or her to hold you accountable for your actions in the future. (MW)
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Godverses 4, 11
Seal of Godverse 4
Voice from the four horns of the Golden altar which is before Godverse 11
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Angelsverses 1, 11, 14, 15
Star fall from heaven (Satan)verse 1
Angel of the bottomless pit: Abaddon or Apollyonverse 11
Four angels verse 15
Devils or demonsverse 20
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Killverses 5, 20
Repented notverses 20, 21
Worship devilsverse 20
Worship idols of
Gold, silver, brass, stone, woodverse 20
Murdersverse 21
Sorceriesverse 21
Fornicationverse 21
Theftsverse 21
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Seal of Godverse 4
Repentverses 20-21
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Seal of God on foreheadsverse 4
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Fifth angel soundedverses 1-13
Bottomless pit
Locusts
given power of scorpions
hurt those without seal of God
not kill them
torment five months
men shall seek death
shapes of locusts
horse prepared for battle
heads – crown of gold
faces – faces of men
hair – hair of women
teeth of lion
breastplates of iron
wings – sound of chariots
tails like scorpions
king over locust
angel of the bottomless pit
Abaddon – Hebrew
Apollyon – Greek
Sixth angel soundedverses 14-19
Loose the four angels
great river Euphrates
prepared – hour – day – month – year
slay a third part of men
200,000,000 army
breastplates of fire
jacinth
brimstone
heads of horse = heads of lions
mouth issued fire
smoke – brimstone
tails like serpents
Third part of man killed
And the rest of men not killed repented not
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QUOTES regarding passage
Fallen (πεπτωκοτα [peptōkota]). Perfect active participle of πιπτω [piptō], already down. In Luke 10:18 note πεσοντα [pesonta] (constative aorist active, like a flash of lightning) after ἐθεωρουν [etheōroun] and in Rev. 7:2 note ἀναβαινοντα [anabainonta] (present active and linear, coming up, picturing the process) after εἰδον [eidon]. Of the pit of the abyss (του φρεατος της ἀβυσσου [tou phreatos tēs abussou]). Ἀβυσσος [Abussos] is an old adjective (alpha privative and βυθος [buthos], depth, without depth), but ἡ ἀβυσσος [hē abussos] (supply χωρα [chōra] place), the bottomless place. It occurs in Rom. 10:7 for the common receptacle of the dead for Hades (Sheol), but in Luke 8:31 a lower depth is sounded (Swete), for the abode of demons, and in this sense it occurs in Rev. 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3. Φρεαρ [Phrear] is an old word for well or cistern (Luke 14:5; John 4:11f.) and it occurs in Rev. 9:1f. for the mouth of the abyss which is pictured as a cistern with a narrow orifice at the entrance and this fifth angel holds the key to it. (Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Re 9:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.)
9:1–6. The events after the sounding of the fifth … trumpet are given considerable explanation, implying that this is a most important step in God’s progressive and increasing judgments on the earth. Because of the he in verse 2 and “king” in verse 11, the star that fell to the earth was a person rather than a fragment of a star (cf. Isa. 14:12–17; Luke 10:18). Even in modern terminology it is customary to speak of an unusual athlete or performer as a star. This star, probably representing Satan cast out of heaven at the beginning of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 12:9), was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss (“bottomless pit,” kjv). The “Abyss” (abyssos) is the home of demons (cf. Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3; in Rom. 10:7 it is translated “deep”). Satan will be confined for a thousand years in the Abyss during the reign of Christ on earth (Rev. 20:1–3).
Here the star (Satan) used his key to allow demons in the Abyss to come out and afflict the earth. Visually this event was represented as a great smoke, darkening the sky and the sun. Out of the smoke came creatures called locusts with the deadly sting of scorpions. While they were harmless to natural vegetation and trees, they stung people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (Walvoord, J. F. (1985). Revelation. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 952). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
The army from the pit (vv. 1–12). The “bottomless pit” is literally “the pit of the abyss.” Luke makes it clear that this “pit” is the abode of the demons (Luke 8:31), and John states that Satan will be temporarily “jailed” there during our Lord’s reign on the earth (Rev. 20:1–3). The Antichrist (i.e., “the beast”) will ascend out of this pit (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). It is not the lake of fire, for that is the final “prison” for Satan and all who follow him (Rev. 20:10), but part of that hidden underworld under the Lord’s authority. Today, the fearsome army described here is already incarcerated, waiting for the hour of liberation.
This fallen star is a person, the king over the beings in the pit (Rev. 9:11). He does not have complete authority, for the key to the pit had to be given to him before he could loose his army. This “star” is probably Satan and the army, his demons (Eph. 6:10ff). One of the names for Satan is Lucifer, which means “brightness”; he also is compared to the “morning star” (Isa. 14:12–14). Jesus said to His disciples, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18).
When the pit was opened, smoke emerged as though the door of a furnace had been loosened. Jesus compared hell to a furnace of fire (Matt. 13:42, 50), an image that ought to make people stop and think before they jest about it. The smoke polluted the air and darkened the sun, which had already been darkened when the fourth trumpet sounded.
But it is what came out of the smoke that truly terrorized mankind: an army of demons, compared to locusts. The eighth plague in Egypt was a devastating swarm of locusts (Ex. 10:1–20). People who have never encountered these insects have little idea of the damage they can do. When God wanted to judge His people, He would sometimes send locusts to devour the harvests (Deut. 28:38, 42; Joel 2). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 594–595). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
9:1 a star from heaven which had fallen. Unlike the other stars that will have fallen (6:13; 8:8), this one will be an angelic being (cf. v. 2)—probably Satan himself (v. 4; 12:7; see notes on Is 14:12–14; Lk 10:18). bottomless pit. Lit. “pit of the abyss.” Mentioned 7 times in Revelation, it always refers to the prison where some of the demonic hordes are incarcerated, the place of severest torment and isolation (vv. 1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3; see notes on 2Pe 2:4; Jude 6, 7). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Re 9:1). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Ver. 1. And the fifth angel sounded, &c.] His trumpet: and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; some take this star to be Jesus Christ, the bright and morning star; and understand by falling, no other than his descending from heaven to earth, in which sense the word is used in Gen. 14:10 and that because he is not only said to have the keys of hell and death, ch. 1:18 but particularly the key of the bottomless pit, ch. 20:1 but then there is a wide difference in the use of the key by the star here, and the angel there, or between the opening of the pit, and letting out smoke and locusts, and the shutting it up, and Satan in it; the one well suits with Christ, the other not: nor is Satan here designed, as others think, who once was a bright star, and shone among the morning stars, but by sin fell from heaven, his first estate; and the fall of this Lucifer, son of the morning, was as lightning from heaven, Luke 10:18. But then this was a matter over and past, and what was well known to John; nor did he need a vision to represent this unto him: nor is Arius intended, who lived before any of the trumpets were blown; nor the Emperor Valens, who fell from the heavenly doctrine of Christ’s divinity into the Arian heresy, which he encouraged and defended; whereby Christ, the sun of righteousness, was obscured, and the air, the church, enlightened by Christ, was darkened; in whose time the locusts, the Goths and Vandals, infected with Arianism, greatly distressed the eastern Christians; but his reign was long before the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, which was after the year 600: wherefore by this star is meant antichrist; but whether the western or eastern antichrist, the pope of Rome, or Mahomet, is a question: some interpreters go one way, and some another: Brightman thinks both are intended, seeing they both are antichrist, and rose to the height of their power much about the same time; and the characters and circumstances in this vision very well agree with them both: what is objected to Mahomet is, that he never was a doctor or teacher in the church, or had any dignity in it, which a star in this book most commonly signifies, and therefore could not be said to fall from it; but this may be observed, that the Arabians, among whom he lived, had received the Christian religion before his time; that he himself was conversant with the Scriptures, as appears by his wretched perversion of them in his Alcoran; and certain it is, that his accomplices were such as had professed Christianity, as Sergius, a Nestorian of Constantinople, and John of Antioch, an Arian, and he himself set up for a prophet: others think the pope of Rome is meant by the star, seeing the bishops of that city had shone out in great light and purity of doctrine and practice formerly, but now about this time most sadly apostatized; they had been indeed gradually declining for some time, but now they may be said openly to fall from heaven, when Phocas, who murdered his master, the Emperor Mauritius, and took the imperial crown to himself, gave to Pope Boniface the Third the title and power of universal bishop, about the year 606, which he and his successors exercised in a most haughty and tyrannical manner: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit; which shews that this could not be a star in a literal sense, but must design some man, or body of men, and agrees well with the popes of Rome: by the bottomless pit is meant hell, out of which the beast arose, and into which Satan will be cast, ch. 11:7 and 17:8 and 20:3 and by the key is designed the power of it, of opening and shutting it, of saving persons from it, or of casting them into it; and which the popes of Rome take to themselves, even all power in heaven, earth, and hell, signified by their triple crown; and which they arrogate to such a degree as to say, that if the pope should send many thousands into hell, no one ought to say, what dost thou? This is a different key from what were given to Peter; he had the keys of the kingdom of heaven, his pretended successors have the key of the bottomless pit; his were keys of knowledge, theirs of ignorance, and of the depths of Satan, let out of this bottomless pit, of which the antichristian religion, both Popish and Mahometan, consist; his were given by Christ, theirs by Phocas a murderer; or they had their power from the dragon, ch. 13:2, 4 from Satan himself, according to whose working and influence they come forth, though by divine permission. (Gill, J. (1809). An Exposition of the New Testament (Vol. 3, pp. 751–752). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
In the NT it is a prison for antichrist (Rev. 11:7), demons (Lk. 8:31), scorpions (Rev. 9:3ff.), and spirits (Rev. 9:1; 20:1, 3). It is a well-like abyss from which smoke ascends (Rev. 9:1). Satan will be shut up there for a thousand-year period (Rev. 20:1, 3). In Rom. 10:7 it simply denotes the realm of the dead. Descending into the abyss is contrasted with ascending into heaven, but we can do neither to bring Christ to us. (Kittel Theological Dictionary of the New Testament)
THE PLACE OF THE MIND
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:29
I am not suggesting that the gospel is irrational, nor am I simply proclaiming that because it is miraculous and supernatural it is therefore unreasonable. Not at all! What I am saying is that we are here entering a realm that we cannot enter by reason alone. It is not unreasonable, but it transcends reason. It is not unreasonable for me to believe that when God acts, I cannot understand Him; and that is precisely what we are confronted with when we come to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let no one imagine, therefore, that the teaching is that we just leave our intellects outside when we come into the house of God and abandon ourselves in a passive state to any feeling that may come or to any kind of emotion. Far from it! But we do say that when God does something, we must accept it as being supernatural and miraculous, and we must not, therefore, be surprised when we find that it is so.
We must believe and accept what God has done and then proceed to understand. To me the argument comes in this way: As a human being in this world I have been conscious of the need of rest. I have used my mind and my reason, I have listened to the world and its teaching and all its philosophies, but I find that they cannot give me rest and I am at the end of my tether. Then I am here confronted with a new offer that says, “Listen to this.” I say it is reasonable to listen, and the moment I do so, I begin to find that what Christ has to say is indeed essentially different.
A Thought to Ponder: We are here entering a realm that we cannot enter by reason alone. It is not unreasonable, but it transcends reason.
(From The Heart of the Gospel, p. 183, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Veil over the Nations
“And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.” (Isaiah 25:7)
Many people feel that every nation should be encouraged simply to practice its own religion. God’s Word, however, makes it plain that all nations are blinded, cut off from the truth by a deadly covering. This is true of the Jews, for “even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart” (2 Corinthians 3:15). It is also true of the Gentiles, who have “the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18).
The veil that keeps them in such darkness is a Satanic blindfold. “The god of this world [i.e., Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:4). And how did the devil ever gain such control over human minds? “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened….Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:21, 25).
So today men and women almost everywhere—atheists, Communists, humanists, Buddhists, Confucianists, animists, Hindus, Taoists, Shintoists, occultists, “New Agers,” and even the “liberals” in the monotheistic religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity)—really all believe and practice the same religion, rejecting God as Creator and worshipping instead some man or man-exalting evolutionary philosophy.
Someday, God will destroy this pervasive veil over the nations. In the meantime, we must reach everyone we can with the true and everlasting gospel of Christ, for that “vail is done away in Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:14).
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
God instructs Samuel to anoint Saul as the first king over Israel.
INSIGHT
The sovereignty of God is a difficult concept to keep in balance. Often we find ourselves making too much or too little of it.
It is true, however, that many of the events in our lives, which seem to come at random with no significance, are actually events that the Lord is using to orchestrate His purpose in our lives.
For example, Saul goes looking for donkeys and ends up discovering that he will be king of Israel. We should always bathe our daily activities in prayer, for we never know what the Lord might be preparing for us.
The idea of keeping watch is that of being alert, providing care, guarding, and protecting. In other words, our task as church leaders is to care for the church, to oversee the spiritual condition and growth of the congregation. Providing this care involves overseeing the spiritual growth of the people and assisting and ministering to the people in times of crisis.
Our responsibility as leaders and as a church is to foster and contribute to the spiritual growth of people, encouraging them in spiritual transformation. (p.128)
Our example before others becomes the basis by which we shepherd others. (p. 129)
(Developing Leaders for the Small Church by Glenn C. Daman)
Kimberly B. writes One of the biggest tools the enemy has used against me is dividing my focus. So many things to do and be a part of. As he distracts us we become much less effective and less loving. A second is instilling fear. No not a trembling fear of some physical enemy to hurt me, but a fear of failure, or being misunderstood, or fear regarding things I can’t control. The enemy loves for us to distance ourselves from one another. To think we have all the answers ourselves. He loves for us to cover our mouths and not speak forth things to spur one another on to love and good works. He is also a liar.
I do not believe the truth has been fully revealed about all that is going on…we should all be praying for that daily. We should all be praying for wisdom and discernment. Too many believers are extremely weak in this area. God knows that we have learned the church is certainly not a building, but in the midst of all the technology are we distracted by the thousands of messages, though they may be good? Do we multitask while ‘listening’ and really not glean what the Lord has for us?
Hebrews 10:24-25 and let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day draw near. This is the kind of concern a Mother has for her children or a friend has for us. When we are present with them we can see their eyes, their body language and we need that to encourage one another. In Matthew 8 Jesus healed a leper…he reached out to touch the leper. That disease was extremely contagious and there was no cure. Jesus knew the man not only needed that physical healing but a physical touch. We were made for physical touch, we need it!
Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, Raise the dead and cast out demons- from Matthew 10:8. How are we to do this without being together? How are we to lays hands on people and pray for them? How are we to Baptize ?
Maybe there is an enemy hard at work…trying to prevent us from doing what is commanded.
Sure technology can bring ‘teaching from the Word’ to us and even some great praise songs but I would contend that we were already over saturated with that. The enemy wants to stop our GO – and it sure looks like he has been doing the job….
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