dwell on earth – Praying Pint

20.c. “The Lord knows those who are his”

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Psalms 1:6   for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Jeremiah 1:5   “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;

2 Timothy 2:19   But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Revelation 13:8    and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Ephesians 1:5   he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Ephesians 1:11   In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Predestination can be easy or hard to understand. I think it is easier when you become saved, born again, and made new. It is hard as concrete to understand apart from believing in God, Jesus Christ, and the work that was done on the cross for our redemption, salvation, and forgiveness. It is hard to fully understand God’s omnipresence, omnipotent, and omniscience. All-knowing, all-powerful, all presence, Creator, alpha and omega, beginning and end, all truth, righteous, Holy, is our God. If possible to say, eternal past and eternal future. Before the foundation of creation, He predestines to call us and for us to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Satan will put doubts into our hearts and minds. He will lead us to believe God can’t or won’t or just plain doesn’t have any idea what He is doing, or that if He does, He certainly won’t do it for the likes of us. But, He did and certainly does. He already knows who will, or won’t, surrender to His calling of repentance and belief, trust, and hope in Jesus Christ. He knows who will harden their hearts and those who will humbly surrender to His plan and purpose of redemption. He has prepared a place for both. To those who harden their hearts, He has prepared eternal Hell and forever separated from Him. To those who humbly surrendered He has prepared eternal heaven and forever present with Him.

If you find predestination hard to understand, yield to Him first, then allow His word to begin to give you a glimpse of His will, purposes, and plans. Certainly, we will only see glimpses of this but what we see will over-shadow all doubts and fill our hearts, minds, and souls with peace and assurance.

7.s. “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come

Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Matthew 24:14 says that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The goodness during the Tribulation that Christ is soon going to return to earth to establish His kingdom and that all should be prepared to enter this kingdom by receiving Him as Savior. We see two aspects of the good news. Those living during the Church Age (now before the rapture) it is emphasized that they need to receive Christ as Savior so that they can become a part of the Body of Christ and be prepared for heaven. But to those living during the Tribulation, it is emphasized that the King is coming and they need to be prepared to enter the kingdom. One thing is always stressed throughout the various proclamations of the gospel – the finished work of Jesus Christ when He paid for sin on the cross. John says that this angel preaches the everlasting gospel to “those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and language. That which has not been finished in the age which we are living will definitely be finished during the Tribulation. “Fear God and give Him glory” – reverential fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom. It is a reverential trust in God and giving glory to Him. It is acknowledging and believing Him as creator, live-giver, and sustainer of this world. He alone is able to do all things and He alone is worthy to be praised. It seems as though we live in a time in the world when people think there is no God or there is no need for God. The proclamation of this angel is urgent, the hour of His judgment is come!! The final call before the final judgment – Believe in Jesus Christ and be eternally saved

7.q. It deceives those who dwell on earth,

Revelation 13:11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

We get to some very interesting passages now. Satan was cast down from heaven, he gave certain powers to the antichrist, and now we have the false prophet introduced. He also has the same powers that were given to the antichrist but goes one step further in that he is able to get people to actually worship the antichrist. He sets up a one-world economy and everyone must either take the mark of the beast or be persecuted and likely put to death. The shadow of this prophecy certainly will be seen in part by those alive just prior to the rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation period. It will be very hard to imagine what the world will be like and what chaos will arise when the rapture occurs. Certainly, there will be much confusion, anger, fear, uncertainty, and turmoil for all who remain. Imagine in the 7 years of the tribulation period, Satan is cast out of heaven down to earth, the antichrist comes into power, the antichrist sustains a mortal wound, the false prophet comes into power, the antichrist is given life, an image is erected of the antichrist is erected, this image is able to speak, people are swayed into following and worshipping the image, and a one-world economy is set up with the requirement of taking a mark on either your forehead or right hand. Wow, this is quite a bit to happen in a short time but make no mistake it will happen and those who come to Christ during this period of time will face trials and death for their belief in Christ. This false prophet will do things that many will think him a god. He will lead them astray and on a path directly into hell. He who has an ear let him hear. All of this will happen and as the day approaches more and more people are rejecting any need for Christ. They seem to be willing to take the chance they are good enough or that they will have more time. We don’t have to read many obituaries to know that death comes without warning many times. We do not get to pick the day or time, it just happens. Now is the day of repentance, redemption, and salvation. Open your heart to Jesus Christ and humbly honor, follow, worship, trust, and obey Him.

7.j. The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

Revelation 11:7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-9 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,

The testimony of the two witnesses will seem to stop as the lawless one from the bottomless pit will overpower them and kill them. It would seem they have lost and were defeated. But we read this is not the case but only part of God’s plan. After three and one-half days, they are given life, seen by those who saw them dead, called to heaven, and this being witnessed by their enemies. And if this wasn’t enough to gain the attention of these lawless people a great earthquake seals the event with 7,000 people dying. This “Woe” is now past and a third is on its way. Testimony to God’s anger, wrath, judgment, and a calling to repent and come to surrender to salvation/redemption through Jesus Christ has taken a twist. With the removal of these two witnesses, they will experience more of God’s wrath and anger which will be ever increasing in severity. We can look at this and say why are these people being convinced by all that they have seen and heard. Jesus spoke of this when the rich man who died and was in torment asked if the beggar who died and was in paradise would be allowed to go speak to the rich man’s brothers so that they would not end up in Hell. They were told ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” How sad is it that people deny the need for forgiveness, redemption, salvation and live as though all the truth being told to them is rubbish. Now is the time for repentance, now is the time for salvation, now is the time to turn away from self-centered, self-seeking, self-satisfying lives and humbly turn to Jesus Christ, growing in knowledge and understanding of what it means to honor, glorify, follow, trust, rely on, and obey Him. He alone is worthy and worthy to be praised. Look deep into your heart and see what is there. Invite Jesus Christ to come in and forevermore live for Him.

6.w. Surely there is a God who judges on earth.

Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Deuteronomy 32:43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

Psalms 58:11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

When the 5th seal is opened John sees these martyrs and hears their cry “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” These have been martyred for witnessing and living for Jesus Christ. These are those who believed in and proclaimed the gospel after the removal (rapture) of believers prior to the opening of the seals. Standing firm to the end is not a way to be saved but the evidence that a person is really committed to Jesus. Persistence is not a means to earn salvation; it is the by-product of a truly devoted life. Times and trials serve to sift true Christians from false or fair-weather Christians. When you are pressured to give up and turn your back on Christ, don’t do it. Remember the benefits of standing firm, and continue to live for Christ.

Remember these martyrs have been told to wait until the full number of those who will be killed for their belief in Jesus Christ is complete. When I give just a small amount of thought to this I am ashamed for what I think is a trial in my life. I am ashamed of the times I think the trials I face are “BIG” for the trials I have faced surely have not ended in death for believing in Jesus Christ – the ultimate test of faith.

6.i. I have set before you an open door

Revelation 3:8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Colossians 4:3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ,

1 Corinthians 16:9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

“I have set before you an open door”. How many times do we miss the opened door? Why is it the door to serving Christ seems wide open to others and not you? The open door must be seen and trusted in through faith. It is with faith eyes that we see doors/opportunities of serving and honoring Jesus Christ in our daily walk. “Faith is the substance hoped for and evidence of things not seen”. Only by faith can we attest to the open door before us. We can miss opportunities if our faiths complacent and we neglect God’s Word. We can miss open door opportunities if our eyes have been blinded by the bright shiny things of this world. We can miss open door opportunities if our hears are deaf to the whispers of the Holy Spirit to our soul. We can miss open door opportunities if we are not expecting and looking for them. Sometimes we need to wait and not try to force open a door that is closed before us. Other times we need to walk through that door full steam ahead. How can we know which is right, wait or walkthrough? Faith is in-line with God’s word. Seeking and desiring to honor and serve Jesus Christ more than self. Praying and asking God to confirm within us to wait or walkthrough. We must set aside our self-reliance and self-centered ways. People would like to think that an open door from Christ will mean prosperity, ease, and life without trials and troubles. This is not true. Sometimes our open door is walking into a lion’s den, or facing the Red Sea, or carrying our own cross. The thing that matters is that the door we walk through is that we are not walking through on our own. Christ is there in all of His power and will never leave us. He is all-knowing so there are no surprises that He is not in control of. He is ever-present and will accomplish His plans and purposes. Spend time thinking about how many open door opportunities Jesus Christ has given to you today to serve, honor, and glorify Him.