Tag: heaven opened

8.k. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty

Revelation 19:11  Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Faithful and true, the Word of God, and King of kings and Lord of lords, all describe Jesus Christ at His return to earth.  Heaven opens and Christ is seen bringing armies of heaven.  The battle that is about to take place will cast judgment on nations, (all of those who rejected God).   They will experience the fury of the wrath of God.  We know and experience God’s grace, mercy, and love.  It is hard for us to understand the fury of His wrath.  We can read stories of some of His judgments on nations and individuals but nothing like this has happened before.  Wars, famine, disease, earthquakes, hail stones, fire, drought, etc….. all lead up to the fury of God’s wrath but are in no way to be considered other than judgments on man and nations with witnesses present and proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ.  Now these witnesses are gone.  All that remains are those who reject and deny and blaspheme God.  They did not repent and will now see His fury.  All the times they have rejected Christ will flash before their eyes and in a moment they will realize He is Lord of lords and King of kings.  They have all said in their heart that they will not acknowledge Him or bow to Him and will suffer eternity in hell because of this.  In the end they will kneel and bow before Him.  The sad thing is that all of these people have intentionally chosen to reject Him.  They have chosen confusion, unrest, fear, hate, and war in hopes it will satisfy their soul some way.  They have rejected peace, love, grace, mercy, joy, happiness, and rest in Jesus Christ in exchange for what the world has to offer.  They chose to believe a lie and will suffer eternity for the choice they have made in this life, this side of eternity.  There is still time to repent and come to Jesus Christ.  There is still time to repent and be forgiven.  There is still time today.  Do not wait until it is too late.

Today at His feet I lay my burdens down

“For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.”

Psalms 98:1   Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

Psalms 77:14     You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.

Exodus 15:6    Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.

Psalms 105:5    Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

Isaiah 43:18-20     “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,

Psalms 139:14     I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Luke 1:49     for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Revelation 15:3-4     And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Revelation 19:11-21     Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

Sometime we lose sight of what God can do in the present.  We read what He has done in the past.  We also see what He has done in our own life in the past.  We read of what He will do in the future and we trust His promises proclaimed in His word.  Knowing and believing this, why is it so hard in the present to seek Him first, to tell Him how your heart aches, and trust in Him.  Issues come and it seems to erase what we know about God, at least our ability to lay it at His feet and walk in comfort of placing it there. He is our rock, hope, joy, and forever steadfast in His love for us.  He does not change and can do more than we ask and much more than we can think.

Seek and to Save

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

John 1:43  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”  Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”  And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

These comments are not mine but I found interesting and share them with you.  All are called but many reject the calling outright.  It is not a slight thing to refuse the summons of God through his messengers. God will hold those who refuse that summons responsible on Judgment Day.  There is a more subtle way to refuse the summons. One may pay lip service to the external call but never truly embrace Jesus internally as offered in that call.  This refusal subjects us to God’s just judgment. The bad news is we have no power in ourselves to change our rebellious hearts. The good news is God is pleased to change rebellious hearts by the invincible power of his Spirit. If we have responded to the external call in repentance and faith, it is only because God has first been at work in us to turn us to himself in Christ. Salvation is truly by grace alone. This truth is unsettling, but Jesus unsettles us for a reason. He wants us to find salvation and life in him alone, by grace alone. And only in Christ may we find an everlasting, unshakeable foundation.