A Divine Declaration

Rev.1:8: I am Alpha and Omega,the beginning and the ending,saith the Lord,which is, and which was,and which is to come,the Almighty. The announcement of these divine titles-"I am Alpha......Omega......Lord God.....the Almighty!"-is certainly a fitting conclusion to the introduction of The Revelation of Jesus Christ,Which God Gave Unto Him.God Himself is the speaker here....the great"I Am."He announces His own titles.The words "Alpha"and "Omega" refer to the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet.God is the source of all things...He is the beginning of all things.He is the beginning of all truth,all life,all creation.....He is the Alpha.But He is also the Omega-the end.God's glory is the ultimate goal of his program.Everything finds its answer in Jehovah God. God is eternal.He has always been(John4:23,24).Jesus is God in the flesh (2Cor.5:19;John1:1,14).God is one God,manifest in three persons-Father,Son,and Holy Ghost.The Trinity had always been.Jehovah God is an eternal Spirit. He was,He is,He is to come......He is the Almighty! In Him all things consist.Without Him nothing could continue,either in secular life or in heavenly life.Without Him the solar systems would cease to operate and the earth would fly from its orbit to dash through space into oblivion.God is the Alpha and the Omega.He is the Lord.....Which Is,which Was,which Is To Come!He is the Almighty!God Bless.

A Prophetic Declaration part two

The prophets throughout the era of the Old Testament had two great prophetic themes:Judgement -and Glory.The Old Testament prophet did not see the church age..... it was a mystery until it was revealed to the Apostle Paul,who makes known that revelation in the book of Ephesians.As the end of the church age draws near,Jews and Gentiles will become wicked as never before on the face of the earth (Isaiah60:2).The nations will be gathered in open rebellion against the Lamb of God (Rev.19:19)and they will fight against Jerusalem (Zech.14:2).Therefore,the earth must be cleared of evil and ungodly men before the Lord Jesus comes back to reign in glory,with His Church.Before leaving this section,let me point out that Christ is nowhere said to come with the clouds to gather the Church out of the earth.On the contrary,the saints go up in the clouds(1Thess.4:17).God provides a royal carriage to convey the saints from the earth to meet the Lord in the air.Pardon me for a minute while I have a Praise Break,you missed your chance to shout right there (smile) Let's get back on track,Clouds in the Old Testament were the well-known symbol of the presence of Jehovah with His people (Ex.13:21-40;Ex.40:34-38;Luke 9:35).Christ is not only said to come "in the clouds"(Mark13:26) but He will come with the clouds (Rev.1:7) and in the clouds (Matt.24:30).The clouds which attend His coming are symbols of His majesty and glory.Read Psalm 18:9-12.The Lord sits on the clouds,as on His Throne.We believers will be caught up in the clouds (1Thess.4:17).The Lord Jesus ascended in the clouds (Acts1:9)and He will come in a cloud (Luke21:27).These facts are very interesting to spiritually minded believers.The statement "every eye shall see Him"is to be taken literally.Every eye will not see Him at the same identical split second-but every eye will see Jesus.One class is singled out from the mass of mankind and mentioned as "they which pierced Him".The entire earth will be open conflict against the Lord God and His Anointed (read Psalm2),but this one group is pointed out specifically.John is the only one who records the incident of the Gentile spear which pierced the Saviour's side (John19:33-37).Pilate admitted three times that there was no fault in Jesus(John18:38-19:6);but in spite of the fact that Rome knew Jesus to be innocent,they allowed Him to be scourged and crucified .The Jews screamed aloud for His death.They invited His blood to be not only upon them,but upon their children;and their children have inherited that guilt for generations.They will see Him "whom they pierced"(read Zech.12:10).The people's referred to as "those who pierced Him"are the people whom we know today as Jews."All the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him."This coming in the clouds in great glory and power will take place over the the entire universe at the same identical time.All the people's of all the earth will see the Son of God coming in the clouds of Glory.In chapter six we will learn that a world-wide prayer meeting will immediately be in progress.....but the prayers will be unanswered.Verse 7 closes with the words"......Even so,Amen".That is a double "amen",and certainly carries much weight spiritually.Amen means "so be it."The Spirit is saying here,"This is true.It will happen exactly as stated."Folks Jesus is coming soon I want to be ready how about you? God Bless

A Prophetic Declaration

Rev.1:7:Behold,he cometh with clouds;and every eye shall see him,and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.Even so,Amen. The second coming of our Lord is a vital part of Christian doctrine,and there has never been a time of greater need for the preaching of this truth than today.It is essential to distinguish the two parts of His second coming.There is definitely a period of time between the Rapture(the time when Jesus comes For His saints).and the Revelation (when He comes With His saints). The Rapture is mentioned in John 14:3; Philippians 3:20; 1Thessalonians 4:15-18; and 1 Corinthians 15:23. All these Scriptures refer to the next great event for Christians-the Rapture of the Church-the time when Jesus comes for His saints,and every living,born again blood washed child of God will be caught up to meet Him; the bodies of all the saints who have died will be raised incorruptible, and we will all be caught up together to meet the Lord in the clouds in the air. But there is another group of Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments which distinctly teach another coming,and verse 7 in our present chapter refers to this time when Jesus will come With His saints.(In connection with this read Jude 14; Zechariah 14:5; Colossians 3:4 and Revelation 19:11-14).The statement ,"Behold,He cometh with clouds" agrees with Daniel's statement "I saw in the night visions,and,behold,one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven"(Dan.7:13).This also corresponds with the prophetic utterance of the Lord on the Mount of Olives: "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory"(Matt.24:30b).All these Scriptures refer to the Revelation-the time when Jesus will come in the air and Every Eye shall see Him.When the Rapture takes place,no person will see the Lord Jesus.He will not come to the earth;He will descend in the air, the trumpet will sound,the voice of the archangel will call the saints up to meet Jesus in the air,He will not stand on the earth when He comes in the Rapture,but He will not stand on the earth when He comes in the Rapture,but He Will stand on the earth when He comes in the second phase of His return.Zechariah 14:4 definitely describes the Lord Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives.more next time God bless

Kings and Priests

Verse 6:"And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father;to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.Amen." Through the writer,John,the Spirit is here glorifying the Lamb who left the Father's bosom,came into the world and shed His blood on the cross that we might have remission of sins.Praise the living God without the blood there's no chance for eternal life thank God He shed his Blood for me!!!! Those of us who are born again are kings and priests:"But ye are a chosen generation,a royal priesthood,an holy nation,a peculiar people;that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light"(1 Peter 2:9). This verse definitely refers to Gentile believers.....those of us who in times past were without God and without hope,but who through the death of Jesus are made sons of God.Those of us who are members of the New Testament Church,born again believers ,have been washed white in the precious blood of Jesus.The moment we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we became sons of God and have access to God through the blood.We are kings,we are priests.....and we approach God through our Mediator, the Lord Jesus(1 Tim.2:5).Therefore,in this day and age there is no such thing as priesthood separate from laity....we are All priests when we are born of God's Holy Spirit and washed in the blood of the Lamb.We approach the throne of God only through a new and living way,purchased by Jesus on the cross(Heb.10:19,20).

Faithful Witness

Verse 5:"And from Jesus Christ,who is the faithful witness,and the first begotten of the dead,and the prince of the kings of the earth.Unto Him that loved us,and washed us from our sins in His own blood." Certainly it was Jesus Christ who came into the world,and He was "the Faithful Witness"... He was the Word in the flesh (John 1:1,John1:14.He was also the first begotten of the dead (1Cor.15:1-30,),and He will be the Prince of all kings in the sweet by and-by (Isaiah9:6,Luke 1:28-35).It is the blood of Jesus Christ that"cleanseth us from all sin"(1John1:7)."Without the shedding of blood is no remission "(Heb.9:22).We are redeemed by the precious blood(1 Peter1:18-23).Certainly in this day of liberalism and modernism,we should cry out as never before that it IS the blood of the Lamb that washes away our sins.

Grace and Peace

"John to the seven churches which are in Asia:Grace be unto you,and peace,from Him which is,and which was,and which is to come;and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne"(verse 4).The common need among all the redeemed is Grace And Peace.Without the grace of God we would all burn in hell.Without the peace of God in our hearts,We would all be miserable.Grace is the source of all blessing.Peace is the rightful and happy possession of every born again,blood-washed child of God(John 14:27).Grace and peace come by and through"Him which is,and which was,and which is to come."This clearly sets forth the eternal existence of Jehovah God.God is an eternal Spirit.God has always been,God always will be.Perhaps someone is saying,Rick,explain that.I thank God that I cannot explain it.If I could I would be as great as God is,and I am so happy that my God is greater in wisdom and in power than I am.I would not serve a God whom I could explain.I want a God who is greater than human explanation .I want a God who is too great to be defined in the language of man.God Is,God has always been,God always will be.God lives in the eternal present.The grace of God brought salvation down to man(Heb.2:9)and it is only through the grace of God that we have peace with God(Rom.5:1). In this verse,John mentions"the seven Spirits which are before His throne". Please read Isaiah 11:1-5 in connection with this,and we will discuss it more completely a little later in the study.God bless!!!

The journey

In the first six chapters in our study, you will note an overcoming company of true believers,truly born again saints.However,in the seventh (the Laodicean church)there is no saved group;all are spued out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus.In the message to the churches,true believers are repeatedly assured of safety and blessing from God.Before the terrible hurricanes and tornadoes of God's great judgement begin to sweep across this earth,the church will be raptured out of the earth and caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds in the air.Praise the Living God!!!!! The church will have a grandstand seat in the sky when the last great judgments fall fall upon the wicked on this earth.God did not judge Sodom until Lot was safe outside the city walls(Gen.19).Nor did God utterly destroy Jericho until Rahab was saved (Joshua 6). This will be just as true in the future; God will not judge this earth,nor the wicked in the final judgement,until the Church is taken out of the earth.That promise is clear: "Because thou hast kept thy word of my patience,I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,which shall come upon all the world,to try them that dwell upon the earth"(Rev.3:10).This verse definitely refers to the great Tribulation period.The Rapture takes place at the beginning of chapter four.A door is open in Heaven and a Voice cries out,"Come up hither!" And the Church is raptured out of the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Read 1Thessalonians 4:13-18. Dear saints this is going to happen there is no stoping it our Lord will come for the church and it will be soon.Come quickly Lord Jesus!!!!!!