Hell fire and damnation, truth or a lie?

(Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

Revelation  VERSE 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  5.   But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.  6.   Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The Exaltation of the Saints. - From the devil in his gloomy confinement, John now directs our attention to the saints in victory and glory, - the saints reigning with Christ - their employment being to assign to the wicked dead the punishment due their evil deeds. From that general assembly John then selects two classes as worthy of especial attention:   first, the martyrs, those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus; and secondly, those who had not worshiped the beast and his image. This class, the ones who refuse the mark of the beast and his image, are of course the ones who hear and obey the third message of Revelation 14; but these are not the ones who are beheaded for the witness of Jesus, as some who

p 738 -- claim that the last generation of saints are all to be slain, would have us believe. The word rendered which, in the expression, "and which had not worshiped the beast," etc., shows that there is another class introduced. The word is the compound relative, ostiV (hostis), not merely the simple relative oV, and is defined by Liddell and Scott, "Whosoever; whichsoever; any one who; anything which;" and by Robinson, "One who; some one who; whosoever; whatsoever." As one class, John saw the martyrs, and as another, he saw those who had not worshiped the beast and his image. 

It is true that ostiV is sometimes used as a simple relative, as in 2 Cor. 3:14; Eph. 1:23, but never in such constructions as this, preceded by the conjunction kai.

Lest any one should say that if we render the passage "and whosoever had not worshiped the beast," we thereby include millions of heathen and sinners who have not worshiped the beast, and promise them a reign with Christ of a thousand years, we would call attention to the fact that the preceding chapter states that the wicked had all been slain, and the seal of death had been set upon them for a thousand years; and John is viewing only the righteous company who have part in the first resurrection.

To avoid the doctrine of two resurrections, some claim that the passage, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished," is an interpolation, not found in the original, and hence not genuine. Even if this were so, it would not disprove the main proposition that the righteous dead are raised by themselves, in a "first resurrection," and that there is a second resurrection a thousand years later, in which all the wicked are brought from their graves. But the criticism is not true. All scholarship is against it. The Revised Version retains the passage.

Two Resurrections. - "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Whatever may be said to the contrary, no language could more plainly prove two resurrections; the first, a resurrection of the righteous at the commencement of the thousand years; and the second, that of the wicked at the end of that period. On such as have part in

p 739 -- the first resurrection, the second death will have no power. They can pass unharmed through the elements which destroy the wicked like chaff. They will be able to dwell with devouring fire and everlasting burnings (Isa. 33:14, 15); they will be able to go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against the Lord, as the quenchless fire and undying worm are preying upon them. Isa. 66:24. The difference between the righteous and the wicked in this respect is seen again in the fact that while God is to the latter a consuming fire, he is to his people both a sun and a shield.

The Wicked Raised to Life.. - The wicked who are raised at the end of the thousand years as really live again as they have once lived on the earth. To deny this is to do violence to this scripture. In what physical condition they will be raised, we are not informed. It is usual to say on this point that what we have lost unconditionally in Adam, is restored unconditionally in Christ. With respect to physical condition, this should not perhaps be taken in an unlimited sense; for we have lost greatly in stature and vital force, which need not be restored to the wicked. If they are brought back to the average mental and physical condition which they enjoyed during life, or the period of their probation, that would certainly be sufficient to enable them to receive at last understandingly the reward due them for all their deeds.

*******

Truth!

We cannot deny this is truth!

I amend that, we can deny it and to deny it is death.

Hellfire and brimstone, this is what I'm preaching - so to speak, and it's truth! Hellfire and brimstone isn't preached enough anymore.

Death awaits the unrepentant wicked.  Eternal death. 

The world would have us believe that when we die we automatically enter a new way of living. The world soothes us with this lie so we don't worry about repenting of our sins and surrendering our lives to Christ, the only One who can give us life after death upon His return to earth.

You say you have given your life to Christ, that He will save you even if you believe the lies told? You say your heart is in the right place and Jesus knows this?  I tell you that Jesus abhors lying and those who believe lies after they've been told the truth and given an opportunity to know truth.

Joh_8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Psa_32:2  Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

The Lamb and the 144,000

…4These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.

Cross References

Psalm 32:2

Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Zephaniah 3:13

They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid."

Malachi 2:6

True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

John 1:47

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."

Hebrews 9:14

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

1 Peter 1:19

but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

1 Peter 2:22

"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."

Jude 1:24

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--

Treasury of Scripture

From <http://biblehub.com/revelation/14-5.htm>

NO LYING! NO DECEIT! We cannot tell our Savior that we are innocent because we loved the lies we cherish. We cannot tell our Savior that we are His followers when we choose to follow lies that come from the father of lies. 

The end is coming, and either we will be with the saints in heaven with Christ for a 1000 years, or we will be dead upon the earth left to rot, not off in some spirit form living. We will be dead only to be raised at the end of the 1000 years to face our punishment that will lead to our eternal, everlasting destruction.  One place or the other, these are our only two options!

Yes, hellfire and damnation awaits, but most assuredly, heaven awaits as well! We must believe the truth and NOTHING but the truth!

Please, Father….please.

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord, now and forever, amen!

Killed by the brightness of Christ's return

REVELATION CHAPTER -- 20 --

VERSE 1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  2.   And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,  3.   And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

(Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

2.   The Key and Chain. - It cannot be supposed that the key and chain are literal; they are rather used merely as symbols of the power and authority with which this angel is clothed upon this occasion.

3. The Bottomless Pit. - The original word signifies an abyss, bottomless, deep, profound. Its use seems to be such as to show that the word denotes any place of darkness, desolation, and death.

Thus in Rev. 9:1, 2, it is applied to the barren wastes of the Arabian desert, and in Rom. 10:7, to the grave; but the passage which specially throws light upon the meaning of the word here is Gen. 1:2, where we read that "darkness was upon the face of the deep."

The word there rendered deep is the same word that is here rendered bottomless pit; so that passage might have been translated, "Darkness was upon the face of the abyss, or bottomless pit."

But we all know what is meant by the word deep as there used; it is applied to this earth in its chaotic state. Precisely this it must mean in this third verse of Revelation 20. At this time, let it be borne in mind, the earth is a vast charnel-house of desolation and death.

The voice of God has shaken it to its foundations; the islands and mountains have been moved out of their places; the great earthquake has leveled to the earth the mightiest 

p 736 -- works of man; the seven last plagues have left their all-desolating footprints over the earth; the burning glory attending the coming of the Son of man has borne its part in accomplishing the general desolation; the wicked have been given to the slaughter, and their putrefying flesh and bleaching bones lie unburied, ungathered, and unlamented from one end of the earth to the other end thereof.

Thus is the earth made empty and waste, and turned upside down. Isa. 24:1. Thus is it brought back again, partially at least, to its original state of confusion and chaos. (See Jer. 4:19-26, especially verse 23.)

Jer 4:19  My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Jer 4:20  Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

Jer 4:21  How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Jer 4:22  For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Jer 4:23  I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

Jer 4:24  I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

Jer 4:25  I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

Jer 4:26  I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

And what better term could be used to describe the earth thus rolling on in its course of darkness and desolation for a thousand years than that of the abyss, or bottomless pit? Here Satan will be confined during this time, amid the ruins which indirectly his own hands have wrought, unable to flee from his habitation of woe, or to repair in the least degree its hideous ruin. 

4. The Binding of Satan. -

We well know that Satan, in order to work, must have subjects upon whom to work. Without these, he can do nothing. But during the thousand years of his confinement to this earth, all the saints are in heaven, beyond the power of his temptations; and all the wicked are in their graves, beyond his power to deceive.

His sphere of action is circumscribed, he being at this time confined to this earth; and thus is he bound, being condemned throughout this period to a state of hopeless inactivity. This, to a mind that has been so busy as his has been for the past six thousand years in deceiving the world, must be a punishment of the most intense severity.

According to this exposition, the "binding" of Satan means simply the placing beyond his reach of the subjects upon whom he works, and his being "loosed" means their being brought again, by a resurrection, to a position where he can again exercise his power upon them. Over this exposition some assume to grow merry, telling us that we have mistaken the parties, and have the wicked bound, not the devil. Yet how often do we hear, in the daily transactions of life, such expressions as these:   My way was completely hedged up; my hands were

p 737 -- completely tied, etc. But do we understand, when persons use such expressions, that some insurmountable obstacle was literally thrown across the path they were traveling, or that their hands were literally confined with ropes or cords? - No; but simply that a combination of circumstances rendered it impossible for them to act.

Just so here; and why will not people grant to the Bible the same liberty of speech that they give, without question and without ridicule, to their fellow men in the common intercourse of life?

But more than this, there is here a great limitation of Satan's power, which may well be called a "binding." He no longer has the power of traversing space, and visiting other worlds; but like man he is confined to this earth, which he nevermore leaves. The place of the ruin he has wrought now becomes his gloomy prison-house, till he is led out to execution, at the end of the thousand years.

*******

Truth.

Satan will be bound to a desolate earth for a thousand years.  There will be NO one to deceive, no one at all. Truly we will be in heaven for a thousand years with our Savior, by HIS grace! And all the wicked will be dead. Remember this--

2Th 2:8  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:

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

We which are ALIVE and REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the LORD.

This is truth!

We are given a choice.

We are ALL given an opportunity.

If we do NOT receive the love of the TRUTH so we can be saved, we will believe LIES and we will be damned!

People laugh, people scoff and you know what…

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts

Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

People are going to ignore the truth because they only want lies soothing to their ears.  And everyone who wants the lies will be caught by surprise when the plagues start falling, when the world as they know it starts to disappear, and when our Savor returns- they like those in the days of Noah, will be perish.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!

We must live for our SAVIOR who lives for US! He died for us! He wants us to belong to Him, to know Him and He know us!

Please, Savior, please know us!

Father in heaven, holy You are! We want Your kingdom to come! We want YOUR will to be done right now on earth just as it is in heaven! Please! Give us today all the sustenance we need- spiritually, physically, in all ways. Forgive us our many, many sins! Help us to forgive those sinning against us! Please Father, please don't lead us to despair because that is where temptation leads us, but DELIEVER US, SAVE US from ALL EVIL! Father, Yours IS the KINGDOM, Father, Yours IS the GLORY, Yours IS the POWER, Yours IS the HONOR forever and ever and ever!!!!!!!

Amen! 

Whose end shall be according to their works.

REVELATION CHAPTER -- 20 --

p 732 -- VERSE 1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  2.   And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,  3.   And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

(Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

The event with which this chapter opens seems to follow, in chronological order, the events of the preceding chapter. The inquiries that here arise are, Who is the angel that comes down from heaven? what are the key and chain which he has in his hand? what is the bottomless pit? and what is meant by binding Satan a thousand years?

  1. The Angel. - Is this angel Christ, as some suppose? Evidently not. A bright ray of light is thrown from the old typical service directly upon this passage. Thus, Christ is the great High Priest of this dispensation. On the day of atonement, anciently, two goats were taken by the priest, upon which lots were cast, one for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat. The one upon which the Lord's lot fell, was then slain, and his blood carried into the sanctuary to make an

p 733 -- atonement for the children of Israel, after which the sins of the people were confessed upon the head of the other, or scapegoat, and he was sent away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, or a place not inhabited. Now, as Christ is the priest of this dispensation, so by arguments, a few of which we here introduce, Satan is shown to be the antitypical scapegoat.

   (1)   The Hebrew word for scapegoat, as given in the margin of Lev. 16:8, is Azazel. On this verse, Jenks, in his Comprehensive Commentary, remarks:       "Scapegoat. (See diff. opin. in Bochart.) Spencer, after the oldest opinion of the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the devil; and so Rosenmuller, whom see. The Syriac has Azzail, the angel (strong one) who revolted."       The devil is here evidently pointed out. Thus we have the definition of the Scripture term in two ancient langnages, with the oldest opinion of the Christians, in favor of the view that the scapegoat is a type of Satan.

Charles Beecher, in Redeemer and Redeemed, pp. 67, 68, says:      "What goes to confirm this is that the most ancient paraphrases and translations treat Azazel as a proper name. The Chaldee paraphrase and the targums of Onkelos and Jonathan would certainly have translated it if it was not a proper name, but they do not.

 The Septuagint, or oldest Greek version, renders it by apopompaioV (apopompaios), a word applied by the Greeks to a malign deity sometimes appeased by sacrifices.

 Another confirmation is found in the book of Enoch, where the name Azalzel, evidently a corruption of Azazel, is given to one of the fallen angels, thus plainly showing what was the prevalent understanding of the Jews at that day.

"Still another evidence is found in the Arabic, where Azazel is employed as the name of the evil spirit.

 In addition to these, we have the evidence of the Jewish work Zohar, and of the Cabalistic and Rabbinical writers. They tell us that the following proverb was current among the Jews:   'On the day of atonement, a gift to Sammael.' Hence Moses Gerundinensis feels called to say that it is not a sacrifice, but only done because commanded by God. 

p 734 -- "Another step in the evidence is when we find this same opinion passing from the Jewish to the early Christian church. Origen was the most learned of the Fathers, and on such a point as this, the meaning of a Hebrew word, his testimony is reliable. Origen says, 'He who is called in the Septuagint apopompaioV, and in the Hebrew Azazel, is no other than the devil.'

"In view, then, of the difficulties attending any other meaning, and the accumulated evidence in favor of this, Hengstenberg affirms with great confidence that Azazel cannot be anything else than another name for Satan."

  (2)   In the common acceptation of the word, the term scapegoat is applied to anyone who has become obnoxious to the claims of justice; and while it is revolting to all our conceptions of the character and glory of Christ to apply this term to him, it must strike every one as a very appropriate designation of the devil, who is styled in Scripture the accuser, adversary, angel of the bottomless pit, Beelzebub, Belial, dragon, enemy, evil spirit, father of lies, murderer, prince of devils, serpent, tempter, etc., etc.

  (3)   The third reason for this position is the very striking manner in which it harmonizes with the events to transpire in connection with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, as far as revealed to us in the Scriptures of truth.

We behold in the type,

(a) the sin of the transgressor transferred to the victim;

(b) we see that sin borne by the ministration of the priest and the blood of the offering into the sanctuary;

(c) on the tenth day of the seventh month we see the priest, with the blood of the sin-offering for the people, remove all their sins from the sanctuary, and lay them upon the head of the scapegoat; and (d) the goat bears them away into a land not inhabited. Lev. 1:1-4; 4:3-6; 16:5-10, 15, 16, 20-22.

Answering to these events in the type, we behold in the antitype,

(a) the great offering for the world made on Calvary;

(b) the sins of all those who avail themselves of the merits of Christ's shed blood by faith in him, borne, by the ministration of Christ while pleading his own blood, into the new-covenant

p 735 -- sanctuary;

(c) after Christ, the minister of the true tabernacle (Heb. 8:2), has finished his ministration, he will remove the sins of his people from the sanctuary, and lay them upon the head of their author, the antitypical scapegoat, the devil; and

(d) the devil will be sent away with them into a land not inhabited.

This we believe to be the very event described in the verses under notice. The sanctuary service is, at the time here specified, closed.

Christ lays upon the head of the devil the sins which have been transferred to the sanctuary, and which are imputed to the saints no more, and the devil is sent away, not by the hand of the High Priest, but by the hand of another person, according to the type, into a place here called the bottomless pit. Hence this angel is not Christ. For a full exposition of this subject, see the work Looking Unto Jesus; or Christ In Type and Antitype.

*******

Satan will be defeated.

All those who revel in serving Satan will be defeated as well.

Satan is NOT in control.  Satan does NOT have all the power. Contrary to so many movies and such that depict Satan as a powerful force able to defeat our God, that is all fiction perpetuated by Satan himself.

Yes, there are tv shows with people portraying themselves as the devil, as angels, and all sorts of creatures.  Fictionalizing satan in very deceptive ways,  as well as angels, in turn fictionalizes God and our Savior.  Revealing satan as one in need of sympathy is twisted. Calling upon compassion for the unrepentant author of evil is just another ploy of his to steer people down the wrong path. Appearing as a harmless creature, and even as a helpful being, in turn deceives even more. Remember this--

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Whose end shall be according to their works!  Their very deceptive works.

There is NO changing Satan or his evil angels, NONE.  They chose their path, knowing the path was one they could never turn back from. So for Satan to try and illicit sympathy, for Satan to portray himself as helpful- these are LIES meant to DECEIVE! And they WILL deceive, they will.  The multitudes will be deceived, choosing evil disguised as good when all they needed to do was seek the truth and yes, nothing but the truth. Confronted by truth -evil laughs it off, denies it, shuns it, and uses it to its advantage any way it can. Evil will take one of your cherished lies and make you love it all the more. Truth will take one of your cherished lies and confront you with its unreality, with its falsehood and you can either accept that something you cherish is a lie, or deny the truth so you don't have to painfully give up something you love.  Do you want the truth? Can you handle the truth? Most will not.  Most will believe the many, many lies satan has given them throughout the years.

The truth, Lord, we would know only Your truth! Help us, Lord, Save us from ourselves, from the deceptions we are prone to fall for, from the cherished lies we are loathed to give up. Please, Lord, please, all through our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Advocate, by the Holy Spirit, please… please.

In Your love!

Amen.

May we keep from darkness, may we keep from evil.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

*******

We've been studying from the book Daniel and Revelation for quite some time now. The information in it is astounding, but it's so incredibly much to absorb. I'd be lying if I said I knew it all by heart. I won't lie, I have to study and study and study over and over again, endlessly. There is just so much there to comprehend. We are almost to the end of the book of Revelation and the revealings prophesized are many. We know a lot of things have come to pass and a lot of things have yet to come to pass. 

We have to realize that men love darkness, they LOVE darkness!  They LOVE darkness because their deeds are evil- this is TRUTH!  Whenever any of us do deliberate evil, whenever any of us do anything against our God, against love, we choose evil over good.  We don't want our evil known, so we hide it in darkness. Or…

…. We try to convince ourselves that our evil is light, but it is NOT and never will be!

Men don't want this truth! People don't want to study this truth, they don't want to know the prophecies and the reality of the future and the fact that there will be an end to evil.

Isa_5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 

We must pray that our God reveals any evil in our lives to us so we can forsake that evil! We must seek light, truth!  So much evil is hidden under society's acceptable standards. May God bless us, and keep us in Him, in His truth! Help us, Lord! Please, help us.  Be all that we can't be for ourselves. Be our salvation, be our righteousness!

Help us forsake darkness, forsake evil.

By Your GRACE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, YOUR EVERLASTING LIFE!

In the name of our Savior, now and forever, in His most holy name, Jesus Christ our Savior, the only begotten of the Father!

Amen. 

Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword

Revelation - verse 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.  12.   His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself.  13.   And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.  14.   And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  15.   And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  16.   And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.  17.   And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;  18.   That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.  19.   And l saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  20.   And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.  21.   And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

(Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

Christ's Second Coming. -

With verse 11 a new scene is introduced.

We are here carried back to the second coming of Christ, this time under the symbol of a warrior riding forth to battle. Why is he represented thus? - Because he is going forth to war, - to meet "the kings of the earth and their armies," and this would be the only proper character in which to represent him on such a mission. His vesture is dipped in blood. (See a description of the same scene in Isa. 63 1-4.) The armies of heaven, the angels of God, follow him. Verse 15 shows how he rules the nations with a rod of iron when they are given him for an inheritance, as recorded in the second psalm, which popular theology interprets to mean the conversion of the world. But would not such expressions as "treadeth

p 730 -- the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God," be a very singular description of a work of grace upon the hearts of the heathen for their conversion? The great and final display of the "winepress of God's wrath," and also of "the lake of fire," occurs at the end of the thousand years, as described in chapter 20; and to that it would seem that the full and formal description of Rev. 14:18-20 must apply.

But the destruction of the living wicked at the second coming of Christ, at the beginning of the thousand years, furnishes a scene on a smaller scale, similar, in both these respects, to what takes place at the close of that period. Hence in the verses before us we have this mention of both the winepress of wrath and the lake of fire.

Christ has at this time closed his mediatorial work, and laid off his priestly robes for kingly attire; for he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. This is in harmony with the character in which he here appears; for it was the custom of warriors anciently to have some kind of title inscribed upon their vesture. Verse 17. What is to be understood by the angel standing in the sun?

In chapter 16:17 we read of the seventh vial being poured out into the air, from which it was inferred that as the air envelops the whole earth, that plague would be universal. May not the same principle of interpretation apply here, and show that the angel standing in the sun, and issuing his call from thence to the fowls of heaven to come to the supper of the great God, denotes that this proclamation will go wherever the sun's rays fall upon this earth? And the fowls will be obedient to the call, and fill themselves with the flesh of horses, kings, captains, and mighty men. Thus, while the saints are partaking of the marriage supper of the Lamb, the wicked in their own persons furnish a great supper for the fowls of the heavens.

The beast and false prophet are taken.

The false prophet is the one that works miracles before the beast. This proves him to be identical with the two-horned beast of chapter 13, to whom the same work, for the very same purpose, is there attributed. The fact that these are cast alive into the lake of fire, shows that these powers will not pass away and be succeeded

p 731 -- by others, but be living powers at the second advent of Christ.

The papacy has long been in the field, and has come to the closing scenes in its career. And its overthrow is emphatically predicted in other prophecies than the one now before us, notably in Dan. 7:11, in which the prophet says that he beheld till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. And this followed close upon the utterance of great words which the horn spake, which words were doubtless heard in the decree of papal infallibility in the great ecumenical council of 1870. This power must therefore be very near the close of its existence. But it does not perish till Christ appears, for it then goes alive into the lake of fire.

The other power associated with it, the two-horned beast, we see fast approaching the very climax of the work it has to do before it also goes alive into the lake of fire. And how thrilling is the thought that we see before us two great prophetic agencies which are, by all the evidences, near the close of their history, which yet are not to cease till the Lord shall appear in all his glory.

It appears from verse 21 that there is a remnant not numbered with the beast or false prophet. These are slain by the sword of Him that sits upon the horse, which sword proceeds out of his mouth. This sword is doubtless what is spoken of elsewhere as "the spirit of his mouth" and "the breath of his lips," with which the Lord shall slay the wicked at his appearing and kingdom. Isa. 11:4; 2 Thess. 2:8.

*******

The Word of God is powerful, it truly is sharper than any two-edge sword.  A sword that can slay, words that can only speak truth and that truth when spoken will shed the pure light of righteousness on the evil and that evil will be destroyed by that light. 

We need to be covered in the light of God's righteousness, we need to be washed clean in His blood. When He returns for us may we be ready to go with Him, to be fully HIS always!

With this having been written so long ago, the power of its truthfulness is not diminished. We can't know when our Savior will return, but there is NO DOUBT that he will return, no doubt at all whatsoever.

Please LORD we would be YOURS!

Please. Unworthy as we are, we would be Yours!

The Marriage Supper

Revelation 19 -  VERSE 9. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.  10.   And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

(Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

The Marriage Supper. - Many are the allusions to this marriage supper in the New Testament. It is referred to in the parable of the marriage of the king's son (Matt. 22 :1-14),

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

Mat 22:5  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

Mat 22:6  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

Mat 22:7  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Mat 22:8  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

Mat 22:9  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

..again in Luke 14:16-24. It is the time when we shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, when we are recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Luke 14:12-15.

Luk 14:12  Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

Luk 14:13  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

Luk 14:14  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Luk 14:15  And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

It is the time when we shall drink of the fruit of the vine new with our Redeemer in his heavenly kingdom.

 Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18-

Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

It is the time when we shall sit at his table in the kingdom (Luke 22:30),

Luk 22:30  That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

…and he will gird himself, and come forth and serve us. Luke 12:37

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

… Blessed indeed are they who have the privilege of partaking of this glorious feast.

John's Fellow Servant. -     A word on verse 10, in reference to those who think they find here an argument for consciousness in death. The mistake which such persons make on this scripture is in supposing that the angel declares to John that he is one of the old prophets come back to communicate with him. The person employed in giving the Revelation to John is called an angel, and angels are not the departed spirits of the dead. Whoever takes the position that they are, is to all intents a Spiritualist; for this is the very foundation-stone of their theory. But the angel says no such thing. He simply says that he is the fellow servant of John, as he had been the fellow servant of his brethren the prophets. The term fellow

p 729 -- servant implies that thy were all on a common footing as servants of the great God; hence he was not a proper object for John to worship.

*******

Just imagine- the marriage supper.

How special is a marriage supper?  People spend thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on marriage suppers.  Marriage suppers are very important.  Jesus' first recorded miracle was at a marriage supper.  When the union is made it is joy, it is completion, it is a REUNION for God and His people, us! Reunited, one with God fully and never more to be separated, never!

All by His grace we will be there! All through HIS righteousness, we will be there!

In His name!

The name of Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR!

Amen.

The few make up the bride.

Revelation- 19  VERSE 4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.  5.   And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.  6.   And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.  7.   Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  8.   And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

A Song of Triumph. - The Lord God omnipotent, the Father, reigneth, is the language of this song. He reigns at the present time, and has ever reigned, in reality, though sentence

p 727 -- against an evil work has not been executed speedily; but now he reigns by the open manifestation of his power in the subjugation of all his foes. 

"Rejoice, ... for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." Who is the "bride, the Lamb's wife," and what is the marriage?

 A vast field for thought is here opened, and material furnished for a more lengthy exposition than falls within the design of this work. The Lamb's wife is the New Jerusalem which is above.

This will be noticed more fully on chapter 21. The marriage of the Lamb is his reception of this city. When he receives this city, he receives it as the glory and metropolis of his kingdom; hence with it he receives his kingdom, and the throne of his father David.

This may well be the event designated by the marriage of the Lamb. That the marriage relation is often taken to illustrate the union between Christ and his people, is granted; but the marriage of the Lamb here spoken of is a definite event to take place at a definite time; and if the declaration that Christ is the head of the church as the husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23), proves that the church is now the Lamb's wife, then the marriage of the Lamb took place long ago; but that cannot be, according to this scripture, which locates it in the future.

Paul told his Corinthian converts that he had espoused them to one husband, even Christ. This is true of all converts. But while this figure is used to denote the relation that they then assumed to Christ, was it a fact that the marriage of the Lamb took place in Corinth in Paul's day, and that it has been going on for the past eighteen hundred years? Further remarks on this point are deferred to a consideration of chapter 21.

But if the city is the bride, it may be asked how it can be said that she made herself ready.

Answer:   By the figure of personification, which attributes life and action to inanimate objects. (See a notable example in Psalm 114.)

Psa 114:1  When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

Psa 114:2  Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

Psa 114:3  The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

Psa 114:4  The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

Psa 114:5  What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

Psa 114:6  Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?

Psa 114:7  Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

Psa 114:8  Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

Again, the query may arise on verse 8 how a city can be arrayed in the righteousness of the saints; but if we consider that a city without inhabitants would be but a dreary and cheerless place, we

p 728 -- see at once how this is. Reference is had to the countless number of its glorified inhabitants in their shining apparel. The raiment was granted to her. What is granted to her?

Isa 54:1  Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Isa 54:2  Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

Isa 54:3  For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Isa 54:4  Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

Isa 54:5  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Isa 54:6  For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

Isa 54:9  For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

Isa 54:10  For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

Isa 54:11  O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

Isa 54:12  And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

Isa 54:13  And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Isa 54:14  In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

Isa 54:15  Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 54 and Gal. 4:21-31 will explain.

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free

To the new-covenant city are granted many more children than to the old; these are her glory and rejoicing. The goodly apparel of this city, so to speak, consists of the hosts of the redeemed and immortal ones who walk its golden streets.

*******

Many and few.   Where will we be?

More and more Satan has dulled our senses to the point we mostly refuse to believe in any real choice having to be made.  We live our lives, we don't mess with things that are too confusing to comprehend and if we truly are leaving well enough alone, then that's just it, we should be left to just live our lives to the best of our abilities and that is that. We don't want to be concerned with an unknown future, or a predicted future that calls for faith to believe. Faith isn't fact, and until it becomes fact, well why bother with it?  So, if people want to  believe things that aren't proven let them, as long as we aren't forced to believe. And it is THAT sort of thinking, of living, that will engulf the many. We MUST live by faith. We MUST believe in what we are told by our God. What is told will come to pass. The Bride is being made ready for the Groom.  -

Rev 19:7-  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  8.   And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The marriage of the Lamb is come.

His wife hath made herself ready.

To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white-

The fine linen is the RIGHTEOUSNESS of saints

And that righteousness is Christ's given. We are given HIS righteousness.  All our righteousness is as filthy rags, but His righteousness is clean and white.

Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

Zec 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Zec 3:5  And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

Christ will take away our filthy garments, our unrighteousness and He will clothe us with a change of raiment. His righteousness alone saves us, not ours.  By His grace we are saved!

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.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

By HIS grace!

In HIS love!

In HIS name, the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!

Amen!