"Saints" Tagged Sermons

ARE YOU COMING TO THE REUNION?

It is very clear that when a believer dies he goes immediately into the presence of God, and when an unbeliever dies, he goes immediately into the realm of conscious suffering. That is what Paul means when he speaks of THOSE WHO DIE WITHOUT HOPE. Their end is terrifying hopeless because they are in a place of suffering from which there is no escape.
Not so with those who belong to Jesus Christ. They experience the most blessed hope of all; glorious rewards and an eternity of unending joy in the presence of the Lord.

Preparing for the MARRIAGE SUPPER

The great composer Frederick Handel composed on of the most famous piece based upon this verse. The Hallelujah Chorus: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. And He shall reign forever and ever. While this chorus is a masterpiece, it cannot even be slightly compared with the chorus these heavenly beings are singing.
Why are they singing?
• They witness the final triumph of good over evil
• They witness the final triumph of Christ over Antichrist
• They witness the final triumph of God over Satan
• They witness the final triumph of the Holy Spirit over the spirit of evil.
We must understand that since the fall of Adam, the faithful angelic beings around the throne of God have anticipated that ultimate day when God would finally judge Satan and those who follow him in his rebellion against God Almighty.
In verse 2 of this chapter we read that God’s judgment are true and righteous. The great harlot, religious, political and commercial Babylon has been judged. All that Babylon typifies since the days of Nimrod, when he inaugurated a system that led men away from God. In other words, all the iniquities of past ages will be justified in this ultimate destruction when God will judge Babylon. According to verse 3, God’s judgment upon this religious, political and commercial Babylon will be complete. Satan will never be permitted to rebuild that system ever again. No wonder those in heaven were singing for joy.
For almost 2000 years Christians around the world prayed: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. When the heavenly beings sing the Hallelujah chorus, they do so in great anticipation of the promised return of the King of the universe, Jesus Christ, to set up His glorious Kingdom on this earth.
Paul is using a wedding to picture the Lord’s relationship with His church.
In Biblical times, a marriage was the single greatest celebration. Their wedding preparations were even more elaborate and lasted much longer than in modern times.
Such wedding preparations consisted of 3 different stages:
First was the engagement. It consisted of an arrangement by both sets of parents contracting the marriage of their children. Such an engagement was legally binding and could only be broken by a divorce. This engagement did not just include those two children, but it included the union of two families. There were years of preparation for the time of marriage, as the boy prepared for his bride.
Second step was the so called PRESENTATION. Here both families would celebrate with the entire town for up to a full week. This presentation was always just prior the actual wedding ceremony. When the celebration came to an end, the groom and his best men would go to the bride’s house and take her and her bridesmaids to the ceremony.
Third step was the most anticipated and significant one. During this ceremony the bride and the bridegroom finally exchanged the wedding vows. After this ceremony the families and their friends would have one more final meal before the newly weds would depart.
We as Christians are His workmanship, he made us new, a new creation. What’s the purpose? FOR GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND that we should walk in them. The purpose of every born again believer is to be available to the Lord for “good works”. We can be faithful or we can be unfaithful to walk in the things God prepared beforehand.
The Devil is a master deceiver and the father of lies. He tells those who are not yet in God’s kingdom, “WORK FOR SALVATION”. If they don’t listen to that lie, and eventually someone comes along to share the Good News with them and accept Jesus as their Savior, the Devil will change tactics: He will say: “Now that you are saved freely by grace, you don’t have to do anything.” That’s not Biblical. I think the Apostle Paul’s experience should teach all of us a vital lesson: Acts 9:1-16
We make ourselves ready by faithfully walking in the work God has prepared for us to do here on earth. Such work will be rewarded greatly by God Himself, and those rewards will reflect on our garments we will wear throughout the 1000 years here on earth as we rule and reign with him.
Are you ready?

The Final Judgments

The judgments of God on this entire earth are wrapped up in 7 seals, followed by 7 trumpets and finally followed by 7 bowls. If you carefully read those passages you can find out that the 7th seal contains the 7 trumpets and the 7th trumpet contains the 7 bowls. This simply means that there is a very specific sequence to these judgments. First the seals; then the trumpets and finally the bowls. The seals are being broken by THE LAMB. The seven seals are opened by the Lord Himself, the 7 trumpets are blown by angelic beings, and the seven bowls are being poured upon the earth by seven angelic beings as well. In other words, the Lord uses His angelic beings to execute judgments upon this earth. We will find out later why this is so important.
Four very important purposes that will be fulfilled during the final judgments upon this earth.
1. The Kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 11:15; John 16:7-11)
2. The nations and its rulers will find out who truly OWNS THE NATIONS AND TO WHOM THIS EARTH REALLY BELONGS. (Revelation 11:18a; Psalm 2)
3. All the dead people will be judged. That is all the spiritually dead people, those who have rejected the offer of salvation. (Revelation 11:18b; Daniel 7:9-10)
4. All the Servants, Prophets and Saints and those who fear God’s name will receive their promised rewards. (Revelation 11:18c; Revelation 22:12)
God’s judgments will always reveal the human heart; FULL OF REBELLION AGAINST THE CREATOR HIMSELF. This all started in the Garden of Eden long ago when our parents believed the lie that they could through knowledge of good and evil become God themselves. That was Satan’s promise to them. The human being has been in rebellion against God ever since. God’s very own and special creation claimed Godhood. When God Himself eventually brings that rebellion to judgment, every human being will find out that rebellion has its price.
These bowl judgments will crush man’s rebellion and remove the rebellious from this earth. The final completion of this purpose will be accomplished when Jesus Christ returns with His armies to this earth.
Who is the recipient of this first bowl judgment? All those who had received the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. We can find out from another text found in this book that a very small fraction of the world population will actually resist the beast and will refuse to take his mark.
Good news, the only ones who do not have to worry about this judgment are the ones who found refuge in the lord Jesus Christ. They have refused to take the mark of the beast and have refused to worship him.
Jesus has taken the judgments for their rebellion against God upon himself, came to this earth, lived on this earth a perfect, sinless life, was falsely accused, rejected, condemned and eventually crucified in our place. And the proof of his work on our behalf came 3 days after his crucifixion. 3 days after his burial, he rose again, because death could not hold him, there was no legal claim against him and those who trust in him. Hallelujah.

The Seven Divine Proclamations

This chapter is a the chain-link that connects the events of the middle of the tribulation, the details we found in Revelation 10-13, and the events of the second half of the tribulation period, the details we will find in chapter 15-16.
The main theme was the COUNTERFEIT TRINITY that is coming unto the world stage with the purpose to usurp God’s authority and to persecute and kill those who refuse to bow down to this NEW WORLD RELIGION. It will be the born-again believers, the true followers of Jesus Christ that will refuse to worship the image of the beast and the antichrist.
Revelation 14:9-12 deals with the people who take the mark of the beast. None of those who do so have a second chance to receive salvation from the Lord. God already gave them the chances they needed. They had the 144,000 Jewish evangelist preaching the gospel during the first half of the Tribulation period and then the angel proclaimed it the everlasting Gospel one more time. This was the last chance.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE OPPORTUNITY OF SALVATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ALL AS LONG AS THEY ARE WITHOUT THE MARK OF THE BEAST. Once the mark is taken, signifying the acceptance of the Antichrist AS THE ONE TRUE GOD, they reached the point of no return.

We Have A Higher Calling

Jacob’s sons had a past that needed to be addressed by the Lord because their conscience constantly condemned them for what they had done. And as God’s chosen people, they have to confront this issue head on. Because GODLY CHARACTER IS A PREREQUISITE TO RULERSHIP. God will spare no pain in bringing us back to where we belong. Jacob’s sons are about to enter into God’s recovery program. There is no recovery from guilt and sin without facing them. The fruit of a grapevine is always on the new growth. This is the reason for pruning the vine. Without new growth there is little or no fruit.
God is always reminding his children that they have a higher calling than just making a living down here on earth. He is training them for ruler ship and insecurity is something that needs to be dealt with. Receiving God’s grace always brings us to a position of conviction of our sins. The gift of grace should always bring us to the place of repentance, a place that reminds us of our higher calling. Living for God and bringing Him glory.