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: Saturday, December 30. 2023
Chapters: REVELATION 15-18
Message: The Vials of God’s Wrath
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Here is a scenario, two people pray about the same thing, but seeking a different outcome. This brings up a few questions, 1. Who is in God’s will? 2. What determines the outcome? 3. How will the outcome affect you and those around you? We have apps for everything these days, but nothing can tell us what we ought to be praying for. Oh wait, those who have the Holy Spirit in them do have an app built right inside them, and He is the Holy Spirit, [Romans 8:24-27 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.]
There is the key right there, [according to the will of God.]. We make all these plans, but it is whatever is in God’s will that will lead us to the right decisions without spending countless hours praying for something that He does not want us to have. Oh, we can pray about it, but He will tell us if we need to let it go, He did this with Moses when he asked if he could cross over into the promised land, [Deuteronomy 3:26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.] He also told Paul when he asked three times for God to take away the pain he had, [2 Corinthians 12:8-9 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.]
Sometimes God’s will means that we need to let go of dreams, careers, hobbies, possessions, or even people if they interfere with His plan. Now, sometimes we may think that we are in God’s will because things seem to line up as they should, but what we end up doing is hindering God’s plan, which causes an alternate plan until we realize that we are not in His will. Did you know that God actually wants every soul that comes on this earth to come to know His Son as their Saviour? [Romans 8:29-30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.]
So why is it that not everyone comes to know Christ as their Saviour? Two words, Free Will. I tell you what, I may not always be in God’s will because I do always know what that is, but I do know that I belong to Jesus and the most important thing to remember is that I will be out of here when Jesus sends judgment upon the earth. As we continue in the reading of Revelation, Jesus, reveals to John what will take place when the seven angels with the seven plagues destroy everyone and everything left on the earth.
[Revelation 15:1-3,7-8 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.]
[the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.] It was God’s will to create this earth for man to live on and worship Him freely, but He did not create it for man to worship the earth and everything on it. When Eve grabbed the forbidden fruit and ate of it she unconscionably did so because she wanted to be like God, but when Adam took it and ate of it, he unconscionably consented to his wife, and that opened their eyes to what they had done.
[Genesis 3:6-7,22 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:]
God, could have ended everything right there, but since man is His most precious creation and He did not want to destroy them all. He gave them a choice and should they choose Him, then He expected them to worship only Him so He chose a different plan to deal with man, the blood sacrifice, [Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:] Of course, we know that things got out of hand once again and He sent the flood that could have destroyed it all, but He chose to save eight people and the animals that were on an ark, [Genesis 6:5-8 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.]
And in case you have not noticed, man has messed that up again and we are near people becoming barbarians once again. This is why God is angry and He will destroy everything, except for those who chose Him. And now, one by one the angels pour out these vials of the wrath of God.
[Revelation 16:1-6 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.]
[Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be,] When things are getting out of hand and we see these catastrophic storms, viruses, and famines that never seem to end the only thing that we can do is praise God who is righteous and just, [Revelation 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.]
It takes a lot for me to get angry, but when I do it is not pretty as it all comes from everything that I had pent up. Now, can you just imagine God’s anger being like that? I sure could. Forget about the sin nature that we have, that really is not what God is angry about. It is about the lack of respect, the rejection, the attempts to change ones gender, the abortions, the homosexuality, the fornication, the alcohol and drug use. Not to mention the false religions, the attempts at rewriting His Word, the blasphemy, the idol worship, what they did to His Son, and all who believe in Him. We are sinners by nature, but it ought to never be intentional, we are saints by our faith in Jesus Christ, but God’s wrath is upon the ones who are destroying the earth through their disrespect for Him and everyone who loves Him. Jesus, goes on to tell of this judgment with the vials of three more angels.
[Revelation 16:8-12 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.]
[and they repented not to give him glory.] Now, that is a true reprobate right there, and to be in so much pain that you rather chew off your tongue than give honor and glory to God. You know that they have a strong will, stubborn, and very hardhearted too. I always wonder how people can be so stubborn, but then again, I am stubborn too, at least, my stubbornness walks with Christ and I am on the winning side of this battle. And talk about a battle, after the sixth angel poured out his vial that dried up the river, three frogs came out of it.
[Revelation 16:13-17 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.]
[a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.] The word Armageddon is only written in God’s Word this one time, and it means, “Mount of Megiddo” [Megiddo; to cut off; to slaughter.] In other words, this would be a day of slaughter. We cannot blame God for all the evil that is taking place here, man is responsible for all of this. It would be easy to get angry at God and say that He is unjust for all the evil taking place, but think about it, He is our Creator, the one who formed us and fashioned us into who we are as a person. We cannot blame the devil either for the evils in regards to man intentional sin, he may have influenced man to sin, but they have a choice. No one ends up in hell because God wanted them there, they end up their because it simply did not agree with their sin, [Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.]
[from the throne, saying, It is done.] Just like Jesus said, “It is finished!”, [John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.] Jesus, fulfilled the will of God by dying on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and therefore, God said, “It is done!”, meaning the mystery of God has been fulfilled. The great tribulation and judgment that follows can begin at any moment, we do not know the hour in which God raptures His children out of here so they will not be in the midst of all this, even Jesus does not know, which is why we need to be prepared, [Mark 13:30-32 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.]
Christ, in all His glory as God, was still in His human form subject to the Father in regards to some things, just like some things are too wonderful for us to understand as saved, born again Christians. Therefore, it is in God’s will to watch and pray in expectation of His return. Now, if all that was not enough, there was more, John receives another vision, a woman clothed in purple and scarlet with a name on her forehead, Accompanied by a scarlet colored beast.
[Revelation 17:1-2,4-6 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. 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 I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast,] The scarlet colored beast represents the close alliance that exists between the world government and Babylon (Rome), who pretends to be the true Church. Rome, is one of the most religious countries in the world, proclaiming Roman Catholics as representatives of Christianity. The Roman Catholic church is one of the most deceitful religions there is, full of false doctrine and idol worship, including of the virgin Mary.
[BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS] This illustrates the God-defying forces in politics and religion that will soon control the world and is forming as we speak. This apostate federation of churches and world religions will give full support to the one-world political and economic system which will be ruled by the Antichrist. Well, this false super church will fiercely oppose the true Christ, making himself as Christ, and once this happens, that is when Christ will, in fact, return. All John could do is awe in wonder at what he saw, then the angel an angel explained it to him.
[Revelation 17:8-10,14,17 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. 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. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.]
[and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder,] Each and every soul that received Christ as their Saviour, including those whose righteous were counted as their faith before His passion, is written in the book of life. This book has been started since God created the earth, there are many names still waiting to be written in it, [Philippians 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.]
[the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.] The beasts whole duration is here divided into three periods. He, 1. Was a seat of idolatry and persecution; 2 And is not; not in the ancient form, which was pagan 3. Yet is; truly the seat of idolatry and tyranny, he will ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition, along with Satan and the false prophet, [Revelation 20:10 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.]
We first heard of Babylon in the Old Testament, and it was the most magnificent capital city of the ancient world, and its king, Nebuchadnezzar, controlled the world from it. During his reign he destroyed the kingdom of Judah, the Temple, and city of Jerusalem. Babylon, still exists and it is the world we know today and is referred to as an adulterous woman, giving into every lust known to man, and she will be destroyed completely. Now, Jesus, reveals to John the fall of Babylon, and warns all to get out before that happens.
[Revelation 18:1-2,4-5,7-8 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. 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. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.]
[I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.] Those who are content to live in their sin without any care to what it does to them and those around them will not know what hit them when judgment comes. The angel goes on describe how these people whom had followed this wicked woman would cry over her because they lost everything.
[Revelation 18:15-18,20-21 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 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.]
[And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone,] This reminds me of something that Jesus said, [Mark 9:41-42 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. 42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.]. And this is God’s will for all His who mankind, to have their names written in the book of life, [Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for giving Your life to save me, You truly are the truth, life, and only way to be saved from death, hell, and the tribulation. The love You have for us is astounding, You rather see every soul saved then end up facing the ultimate judgment of the lake of fire, but sadly, not all believe in You, and many even go as far as deceiving lost souls into believe their lies so they do not find You. Lord, I know that my end will be so much better than my beginning, as I endure the ups and downs of this life, keep me faithful and strong in Your Word, lead me and guide me in Your truths, and let me not fall into the deception of those working for the devil. Give me Your power, mercy, and grace to become more like You, be ready for the tribulation, and look forward to the day You take me away from it all. I ask this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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