December 2020 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Thursday, December 31, 2020
Chapters: Revelation 18-22
Message: Faithful And True

Hello My Friend,

Happy New Years Eve! 2020 will definitely be a year that will go down in history as the most bizarre. All in one year we have seen oppression, suppression, poverty, hatred, division, and it was all started by a virus, and I am not talking about Covid. I just read an article about a public school system that is rewriting the history books, they are removing anything that has to do with our actual history as a nation, including the Civil War that led to the abolishment of slavery. They are replacing it with an indoctrination of lies that that will lead to more of the same, and slavery all over again. Our forefathers fought for, and many gave their lives for our country so that we could all be a free nation with limited government, and yet they are just destroying it with their progressive ideology. The saddest thing of all, neither God or Satan is lifting a finger to bring destruction to our nation, they are destroying it themselves. And if that is what they want to do, who is God to deny them the freewill to do that, [Revelation 22:11-12 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.]

[and my reward is with me,] It does not matter if we saved thousands of lives, found cures for diseases, or how many homeless people we gave money too, if we are not saved, if we have never accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour, then our reward will be hell. And I know that is a hard pill to swallow, but that is how God decided who will live and who will die when the destruction takes place. God is not to blame for the evil, and yes, He created Satan just like He created all of us. Evil comes from self will, it is the desire to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Satan wanted to be God, he knows that God’s most precious creation is man, and that is why he despises them so much. And right now, it is Satan who rules the earth, and those who are falling into the abyss of lust. Since I did not cover Chapter 17 yesterday I decided to begin the study on it as it actually goes with the following chapter.

[Revelation 17:1-6 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.]

[and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus:] This happened after Jesus ascended up to heaven, His faithful died defending their faith in the Gospel, it faded for a while, but it is happening again, and will get worse as we get closer to the tribulation, which is why the angel says this is the beast that was, is not, and is yet to come.

[Revelation 17:8-11,14 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.]

[whose names were not written in the book of life] Remember, no saved, born again Christian will have to be a part of any of this. This will be whoever is left in the world at the time of the tribulation. [called, and chosen, and faithful.] The true and faithful believers of Christ shall overcome all of this because we are called, and chosen, and faithful, meaning we have never wavered in our faith while we had our breath in us, [Matthew 24:12-14 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.]

We first heard of Babylon in the Old Testament, it was the most magnificent capital city of the ancient world, its king, Nebuchadnezzar, controlled the world from it. During his reign he destroyed the kingdom of Judah, the Temple of God, and city of Jerusalem. Well, Babylon still exists, and it is the world we know today, in the Book of Revelation it is referred to as an adulterous woman, giving into every lust known to man, and she will be destroyed completely. Jesus reveals to John the fall of Babylon, and how the heavens will rejoice over it.

[Revelation 18:1-4,21 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.]

[Come out of her, my people,] Do you think that God wants any of this to happen? Do you think He wants to see everything He created destroyed? It grieves Him very much to see so much evil, and let me tell you, if things were anywhere near what was going on before He sent the flood the first time, just imagine how terrible it will be that He would burn up the entire planet. There is only one creation of His so precious that He gave His own life to save from all this and that is the very people who believe in Him, which by the way, He created in His very own image, [Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.]

We cannot argue with God over allowing all this because anyone who has a heart and conscious actually sees what is happening to their nation and it grieves them too. America is not the only nation that is going to destroy itself, there is so much evil going on all over the world. And to those who say that God brought all this on and has the power to remove it all, shame on you. God did not do any of this, and while Satan is the source behind all the wicked evil, he did not do any of this either, sin, particularly lust did all this, he is just in his glory right now because God’s most precious creation are destroying themselves. And God is not destroying everything, He will save those precious souls who believe in Him and have accepted His Son as their Saviour. Dead or alive, we will all stand before Jesus, and if you have not received Him as our Saviour, then the destruction of the planet is the least of your problems, you have hell and the lake of fire to look froward to. Now to those who are saved, we have something incredible awaiting us, a marriage supper, in fact, to our own wedding with our KING.

[Revelation 19:1-2,7-9 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour 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. 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.]

[Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.] When you think of a bride and groom, although today it could be anyone and anything, you think of a woman and a man in holy matrimony, but the bride of Christ is no woman, she is the body of Christ. And they are the saved born again saints who came to Him and were made righteous through their faith in Him alone. Amen! You know, God’s wrath upon the world is more than His anger toward sin, it is also for vengeance on His faithful too. In this world, we are always going to face challenges just for our faith, some with great force, but the pain we suffer in this life will all be over when Jesus reigns as KING. Jesus reveals His return, and what will take place as He reigns as KING.

[Revelation 19:11-16 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.]

[and his name is called The Word of God.] Jesus is the Word made into flesh, and there is only one weapon that He will use to judge the dead and that is to speak His Word, [John 1:1-4,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.]

[and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:] Does this sound familiar? This is what we read about yesterday of the man child that the woman was expecting who Satan wanted to devour the second she gave birth to Him, and he prevailed not. Jesus Himself, the Word of God made flesh, at this time Jesus will cast the devil in prison for a thousand years, and remove every bit of evil from the earth. The pit was opened revealing the lake of fire, the Antichrist, and the false prophet who were cast into it. Jesus would reign on this earth for a thousand years.

[Revelation 20:1-6 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. 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 worshipped 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.]

[but they shall be priests of God and of Christ] The saved souls, the ones who received Jesus Christ as their Saviour, will not only reign with Him, they will be His priests as well. After the thousand years are over, that is when all those who never received Christ will be resurrected to stand before Him in judgment.

[Revelation 20:10-15 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.]

[And I saw the dead, small and great,] This is why I say that those who received Christ as their Saviour, even if that is all they do, will not face the same judgment as the unbelievers. Since we all receive the same gift of eternal life and no one will be above one another, our judgment comes before we get to heaven. In fact, I believe it is the suffering that we face right now that will be our judgment. Every man, meaning every single person born from the day God created man will be judged according to their works meaning, did they believe on the Lord as their Saviour, and receive His righteousness. If they did not, then their names will not be in the Book of life, and will be cast into hell and the lake of fire. It does not matter if we know Jesus as the Angel of the LORD (Exodus 3:20), the Son of God (Daniel 3:25), or Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), we must know Him as LORD and Saviour or our names will not be written in the book of life. Now, Jesus shows John one more vision, a new heaven and earth, with Him on His throne, and where we would live forever with Him.

[Revelation 21:1-5 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.]

[for the former things are passed away.] This new earth will literally come down from the heavens, ready and prepared for His bride to dwell there forever. There will be no more pain, no more death, no more sin, and no more suffering. Amen!

[Revelation 22:1-5 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.]

[and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.] This is not for the curing of diseases, or repairing of health; which in the present state of things is done by the application of the blood of Christ for the pardon of sin. These leaves will be for the preserving and continuing health of the people of God in this state, as the tree of life in Eden’s garden was for the preservation of the health and life of Adam. We do not have to be afraid of what the future brings because Jesus is already there, and He will reward us for being true to our faith, [Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving those who have truly accepted and received Your Son eternal life and victory not only over death, but the devil’s attempts to destroy our faith in You. To the world, the thought of being the bride of Your Son makes no sense, and even we can have a hard time comprehending that, but His bride is not a man or woman, they are the very souls who put their faith and trust in their Saviour alone. Lord, as we head into a new year, Lead us and guide us, give us Your power and strength to endure every struggle as we await the day Your bring us home, let us never give up on You, no matter what we face, strengthen our faith keep us true and faithful with the reminder that we will endure, we will resurrect, and we will live with You forever on the new earth. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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