Tag: locusts

30.a. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 

 

Matthew 3:1  In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

 Matthew 4:17   From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 Matthew 11:20    Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

 Matthew 12:41  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

 Matthew 21:31-32    Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

We can’t come to the kingdom of heaven unless we leave our sin – turn away from it – believe in Jesus Christ and have faith, trust, and reliance in His sacrifice on the cross for our sin.  We are born with a basic understanding of God. Rom 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

We have free will to choose to repent, believe, surrender, serve, follow, and obey Jesus Christ. Every single person is born into sin. We have a sinful nature. Try as hard as we might we will never be able to cleanse ourselves of this sin stain.  We can try to be good and do right, but all of our efforts apart from Jesus Christ fall short and do nothing to make us right before God.  The Judgment for sin is eternal torment in Hell. Without repentance from sin and faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ our destination is eternal hell. 

The light of the Gospel is life to the lost.  It gives them hope and faith in eternal heaven. Those, who’s have seen and securely taken hold of the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (believed in, trusted, rely on, cling to and repent). I am at a loss for words that can explain how the conversion, new birth, takes place upon repenting and believing in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. We are born again and the eyes to our hearts and minds are opened and we see right and wrong, good and bad, love and hate, peace and fear, mercy and anger ……. We see it through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Heaven and Hell await the free will choice that each and every person makes this side of eternity. 

7.d. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it.

Revelation 9:1   And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

Being sealed by God is a promise.  He knows those who are His. During the church age (the time from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ until the rapture) those who believe (rely on, cling too, and trust in Jesus Christ) are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.  God still displays grace during the tribulation period. His wrath and anger unleashed on unbelieving and non-repenting people in ever-increasing measure, and yet in this, we see there are those with a mark (either visible or not) who are spared this torment.  This torment is unbearable but God does not allow it to kill.  The torment is so great that men will seek death but God does not allow it.  We see that even in severe torment there are those who do not and will not repent.  Their heart is hard as stone to the things of God.  They have chosen this path and are living the consequences of that choice.

God gives us promises of His grace, mercy, and love.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  God gives this precious promise of eternal life, redemption, and forgiveness.  This offer (promise) comes with peace, rest, joy, hope, love, and the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead us on paths that glorify and honor Jesus Christ.  The love of God comes first.  It does not come as an ultimatum.  It comes as a promise, an offer, blessed salvation.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me”.  God’s love pursues us. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come into him”.  God’s offer of love, grace, and mercy is an offer and a promise of eternal life.  Rejection of His grace, mercy, and love ends in unfulfilled lives on earth, torment for the soul, eternal torment upon death.  This 5th trumpet is a promise too for all who have rejected His grace, mercy, and love in and through Jesus Christ. The torment during the time of this 5th trumpet sound is unbearable but will be nothing like the eternal torment received at the final judgment where all of those who have rejected His love promise will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity.