21
December
2008
11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
11:16 Then the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and worshiped God 11:17 with these words:
“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
11:18 The nations were enraged, but your wrath has come, and the time has come for the dead to be judged, and the time has come to give to your servants, the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints and to those who revere your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
11:19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
Key Point: At the end of earthly time, there will be cosmic conflicts that will result in the eventual total triumph of the One True God; therefore be strengthened to hold on to Jesus Christ in truth, despite suffering.
Bells serve 3 purposes:
- Tell passing of time
- Commemorate past events
- Announce impending actions
Trumpets serve the same purposes: chapters 8-11 describe signs of the times we can expect as evil worsens
Imagery reminds of Egyptian plagues
Parallel unfolding sequence of events
Crucial question: Whose side are we on?
Funeral vs. Wedding
Judgment = telling the truth
Response: World will hate truth tellers
Reward: God-given love
Outcome: pure joy!
Sharing Jesus’ suffering leads to strength
Celebrate Jesus’ victory (in advance)!
rochcov 
Pastor Gary Downing, 1st Service, New Testament, Sermons, Revelation 
Comments (0) » |
21
December
2008
Translation from Bible.org
To hear it read, click here.
Revelation 13
The Two Beasts
13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name.
13:2 Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule.
13:3 One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement;
13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?”
13:5 The beast was given a mouth speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty-two months.
13:6 So the beast opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
13:7 The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation,
13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed.
13:9 If anyone has an ear, he had better listen!
13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword,
then by the sword he must be killed.
This requires steadfast endurance and faith from the saints.
13:11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon.
13:12 He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed.
13:13 He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people
13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived.
13:15 The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
13:16 He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.
13:17 Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number.
13:18 This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, and his number is 666.
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