JUDGMENT & REWARD The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”  And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.  The nations were angry, and your wrath has come.  The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your…

OBEDIENCE TO HIS COMMANDS Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.— Jonah 1:4 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.— Jonah 1:17 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.—Jonah 2:19 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided…

JUDGMENT WILL COME… Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. —Revelation 8:5 What are to follow the above verse are judgments from God upon the earth. These judgments come after the “great tribulation” mentioned in chapter 7 that took place in chapter 6. Of this “great tribulation” Jesus said that “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (Matthew 24:21). That great tribulation includes war, famine, destruction of one-fourth of…

ANGELS After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number…

HATE EVIL, LOVE GOOD Hate evil, and love good… —Amos 5:15 You love righteousness and hate wickedness… Psalm 45:7 Let those who love the LORD hate evil…— Psalm 97:10 I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.— Psalm 101:3 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. —Proverbs 8:13 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.— Romans 12:9 If we truly love the Lord we will hate evil and seek to cling to what is good. But in…

CREATOR “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” —Revelation 4:11 And God said, “Let there be…” and there was… —Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24 For this is what the LORD says– he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited– he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. —Isaiah 45:18 Through him all things were made; without him nothing…

HE OPENS & CLOSES! These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. —Revelation 3:7-8 When God opens a door no man can close it and when God shuts a door no man can open it. He had set before the church of Philadelphia an open door and no one…

RETURN TO YOUR FIRST LOVE! Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. —Revelation 2:4-5 Have you forsaken the love you had for Jesus when you first came to Him? Remember how you loved to spend time with Jesus— listening to Him, talking with Him and then out of your love for Him you served Him. Do you remember? What has happened? Have you taken your relationship with Him for granted?…

FREE IN JESUS! To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. —Revelation 1:5-6 Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). What great love He has for us that He would free “us from our sins by his blood.” We are free in Christ and not in bondage anymore to…

THE TESTIMONY OF GODLY LOVE And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. –II John vs. 5-6 The two Great Commands of Matthew 22:37-40 sum up all the Old Testament and also is the motivating characteristic of the New Testament— Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the…