Things of the Spirit, Part 8

Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit

This is probably the final message on being carried away in the Spirit, and probably the last message on the things of the Spirit.  Lord willing we’ll move on down the line in our study of Romans.

I want to stress to you that there a lot of things that we can concern ourselves with.  God told Daniel, “…even to the time of the end: may shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”  (Dan12:4)  There’s a lot of things out there that we can gain knowledge about.  They call this the age of information.  And I know sometimes, there’s things we need to concern ourselves with.  But somehow, someway, we must give the things of God preeminence.  We must set our minds, our hearts, our souls on the things above.  In many places in the bible, we are admonished, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they might.” (Deut 6:5). With all our strength, with all our being, we must attend unto the things of God, the things of the Spirit.  O that God would fill us with his Holy Spirit.  That he would pour out his Spirit upon us.  God does not give such blessings to those that don’t want it.  “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”  (Isaiah 55:6)

We set our hearts upon things of no consequence: fortune, opportunity, ease, toys, and even health… things; things of the flesh.  Yet out hearts must be set and our minds set on the things of the Spirit; the same Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters in the beginning of time; the same Spirit that filled the temple with the glory of God; the same eternal Spirit that raised Christ from the dead; the same Spirit that came down on Pentecost in a rushing mighty wind and filled the upper room, filled the disciples and turned the whole world upside down.  They that are after the Spirit, do mind the things of the Spirit.

John, the beloved apostle, minded the things of the Spirit.  John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.  It says twice in Revelation that he was carried away in the Spirit.  Have you ever heard that expression, carried away?  You reckon where that came from?  Many expression we use in our language come from the bible.  “He’s getting a little carried away.  He’s going a little to far than what we’re comfortable seeing.”  I want to say, that’s where we need to get.  That’s what we need to do.  We need to get carried away with this thing.  We’ve gone about as far as we want to go.  We’ve gone about as far as we can go. It’s time to let the Spirit carry us as far as God wants us to go.  The people around us are too comfortable.  Our religion doesn’t take us much further than those with false religion. They don’t have the truth.  They don’t know if they’re saved.  They don’t believe in heaven, hell, the diety of Christ. Yet, they go as far as we go.  They got church.  They got faith.  They got good times.  They got it all.  But we need to get carried away with this thing.

When God turned Moses staff to a serpent, what happened?  The magicians said, “Oh.  No big deal.  We can do that.”  And they turned their staffs to serpent. (Ex 7:12) What happened when God had Moses smote the waters in the sight of Pharoah and turned the river into blood?  The magicians said, “Oh.  No big deal.  We can do that.”  And the bible says that “the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments.” (Ex 7:22)  What happened when God had frogs come up out of the river and cover the land of Egypt?  The magicians said, “Oh.  No big deal.  We can do that.”  The bible says “And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.”  Oh, but what happened when God had Moses and Aaron smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice throughout all the land of Egypt?  And the lice was in man and in beast?  The bible says that “the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not.”  They said “Wait a second.  Moses and Aaron are going further than we can go.”  Those magicians turned to Pharoah and said, “We can’t do that.  This is the finger of God”  (Ex 8:19).  That’s what we need.  We need the touch of God on our religion.  We need to get carried away with this thing.

Ezekiel was carried away in the Spirit.  The Spirit driveth Jesus into the wilderness.  John was carried away in the Spirit.  Talk about the things of the Spirit;  John got to see alot of things.  Over fifty times in Revelation, the Bible says that John either saw or beheld some things.  God let John see some things.  But God did not just let John see these things for his viewing pleasure.  No, Jesus said to John, “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” (Rev 1:19)  And all these things are meant to be a blessing to us, for he said, “Blessed is he that readeth, they that hear the words of this prophecy…” (Rev 1:3) So you see, right off the bat, the fullness of the Spirit comes with responsibility and it comes with rewards.  John was charged with the responsibility of writing these things, and also rewarded in the fact that others would be blessed.

Introduction

John saw alot of things.  I don’t want to get into a whole series of the things he saw, all 50 things. So I’m gonna narrow this down a bit.  There’s some things that happen in the first three chapters of Revelation.

• First, the bible says that John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day while he was on the isle of Patmos.  He heard a great voice behind him, as of a trumpet.  That voice said to John, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”  The bible said John turned around to see who was talking to him and he came face to face with Jesus Christ himself.  He said it was one like the Son of man.  He had a garment down to his feet and a golden girdle around his waist.  His hair was white as snow.  His eyes were as a flame of fire.  His feet were like shining brass.  And his voice like the sound of many waters.  He had in one hand seven stars.  And out of his mouth came a two-edged sword.  And John said he shone like the sun.  And John didn’t shake his hand.  John didn’t salute him.  John didn’t stare at him in amazement.  One look at Jesus and John fell down as dead.  Jesus put his right hand on him and said, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen!”
• Jesus gave John a message for the seven churches in Asia, or Asia minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodecia.  Each church, Jesus told John to write a letter.  And each letter started with the words these things.  And each letter ended with the words He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.  I want to say today that everything between the beginning of Revelation chapter 2 and the end of Revelation chapter 3 is filled with the things of the Spirit.  The Spirit of God is concerned with your works, your patience, your tribulation, your poverty.  The Spirit of God is concerned about where thou dwellest.  He’s concerned about your charity, your faith, your service.  Go through all those letters, the good and the bad, and see that these things the Holy Ghost is concerned about and interested about.  Jesus may speak it in heaven, and John wrote it, but down here on earth, where the rubber meets the road, it’s the Spirit of God that saith it.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
• After John is given the seven messages to the seven churches, a curious thing happens.  “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”  (Rev 4:1)  I want to spend just a little time on this.  Revelation 1:19 is used by many as an outline for the entire book of Revelation. John is told to “(#1) Write the things which thou hast seen, (#2) and the things which are, (#3) and the things which shall be hereafter.”  You’ve got three sections:  the things which thou has seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be here after.  The things which though has seen is chapter 1, the vision of the throne and the Lord Jesus Christ.  The things which are is chapter 2 and 3, the seven letters to the churches.  And alot of preacher believe that these are prophetic as the rest of the book.  In other words, those seven churches represent seven distinct time periods in the age of the church, rather than seven distinct cities.  One of the main reasons is because there’s no historical evidence supposedly of even some of the cities mentioned.  And John does signify in the beginning that what he was writing was specifically prophecy.  Regardless, chapter 2 and 3 are written to the specifically written to the church.  Then when we get to chapter 4, a transition is made. (Repeat Rev 4:1) Jesus tell John he is going to shew him the things which must be hereafter. At this point, the church is no longer mentioned.  Most all of the popular commentaries don’t mention this, but chapter 4, verse 1 many believe signifies, in a mysterious fashion, the rapture of the church.  (1 Thes 4:16-17)  “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  This is why we believe in a pre-tribulation rapture.  Before all these things which must be hereafter, we believe that we are going to Come up hither, or go up thither.

It’s after these verses, that the bulk of John’s visions are found.  Chapter 2 & 3 are debatable whether or not they’re actual fortelling, end-time prophecy.  However, from here on out, there’s no doubt that these words are pointing to (what was then) a distant future.  But we know “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)  “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  So, God reserves the right.  He may tell us one year, but it may actually be a thousand years.  Paul thought that in his days the Lord would return.  He said, “we which are alive and remain” shall be caught up.  He thought, “I’m not going to see death.  I’m going up like Elijah!”  But in fact, two thousand years have passed by.  But if you’d ask God, he’d say, “It’s only been two days?”  So as far as we’re concerned it’s not a distant future, but it’s just around the corner.

It’s after these verses that John sees or beholds many (I want to say wonderful, as in wonder, amazement, awe-striking, terrible, glorious, not necessarily pleasant) things.  It’s after these verses the bible declares that John saw or that John beheld something specific over 50 times.  I want us to remember that these are visions that John was given while caught up in the Spirit of Almighty God.  I believe that if we would draw nigh unto God, be filled with the Holy Ghost, listen to voice of God, he will make these same things relevant to us in this day.  John said that he “bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”  And the bible declares that blessed is he that readeth, and blessed are they that hear the words of this prophecy, and blessed are they that keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.  Blessed is he that reads it, hears it, and keeps it.  Brethren, we will never do that but by the power of the Holy Ghost.  So I want us to look at this (again like we did Ezekiel) as an experience with the Holy Ghost.  We’re not going to figure out all the prophesy.  But we are going to try understand, shed-light on the experience that John had with the Holy Ghost.

It’s after these verses that John sees alot of things.  I want to group them into two different topics:  The good and the bad. You want the good news first or the bad news.  Most say the bad news.  So we’re going to look at what John looked at that was bad.   .

Bad Things (The Day of the Lord)

Jesus said that the Spirit of God will guide you in all truth.  I believe that the Holy Ghost will guide us in the truth concerning the The Day of the Lord.  The Day of the Lord is the single most anticipated day in the entire bible.  The bible has little to say about the rapture.  It has little to say about the judgement seat of Christ.  It has little to say about the white throne judgement.  It has little to say about the judgement of the nations.  But the single most prophesied event in the bible is The Day of the Lord.  You say, “What is the day of the Lord?”  it’s the Day of Wrath.  It’s the End of the World.  It’s Judgement Day. It’s the Day of Reckoning.  Call it what you want, but it will come to pass.

• Isaiah said, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh!”
• Ezekiel said, “The day is near, even the day of the LORD!”
• Joel said, “Alas! For the day of the LORD is at hand.  Blow ye the trumpet and sound an alarm, for it is nigh at hand.”
• Obadiah said, “The day of the LORD is near.”
• Zephaniah said, “The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.”
• Paul warned, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

The Holy Ghost will make this relevant to you.  No doubt John had learned what the prophets had prophesied.  He knew it no doubt.  But this Sunday, on the isle of Patmos, the Holy Ghost gave him a direct vision of The Day of the Lord.  I believe as the reality and eminence of this terrible day becomes clear to us by the power of the Holy Ghost, there will be an urgency to see people saved, there will be an urgency to serve God.  What you want to do, you’re want to do it quickly.  The Spirit of God is trying to warn people about this day.  The Spirit of God is trying save people from this day.  Paul said, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2 Cor 5:11)  The Spirit of God is trying to persuade men, and if we’re on board, if we’re walking after him, if we’re filled with that same Spirit, I would think that we’re going want to do some of that persuading.  We’re gonna persuade men that the The Day of the LORD is coming.  And it’s not a good day.  No, it’s a bad day.

• Amos said, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.”
• Isaiah said the day of the LORD is “cruel both with wrath and fierce anger.”  He said “For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance.”
• Jeremiah calls it “the day of the LORD’S anger”
• Ezekiel says that it will be a “cloudy day”
• Joel said, “For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible!”
• Zephaniah declares, “That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness”

And what Jesus reveals to John while in the Spirit about The Day of the Lord is just that.  It’s dark.  It’s cruel.  It’s angry.  It’s terrible.  It’s wrath.  It’s trouble.  It’s distress.  John saw alot ot things.  One thing he saw (Rev 5:1) “in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.”  He saw a book.  In Greek, it’s a biblion.  That sounds alot like bible, Amen?  It was a closed book.  And it was closed up with seven seals.  It was sealed shut by seven seals.  I personally believe that this book is the book of Isaiah.  I don’t see how it can’t be.  The bible says “Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)  And Jesus is just finishing reading where he left off.

In the book of Luke, when Jesus came up out of the wilderness to Nazareth, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and he stood up for to read.  The bible says that they “delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.”  The bible says that Jesus opened the book and he found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”  That is Isaiah, chapter 61:1:2:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD…

Then Jesus closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.  There will come a day soon that Jesus will take that book up again, and proclaim the next seven words of Isaiah 61:2, “the day of vengeance of our God.”  John got to see Jesus take up that book.  The bible says “behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the seven seals.”  John said he looked, and lo and behold, “in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain…”  I wonder if he thought about John the Baptist.  “Behold, the lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world!”  The bible says, “And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when Jesus took up that book, all heaven went nuts!  The four beasts and the twenty four elders fell down and worshipped the Lamb.  Then, they started singing a new song. “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals…”  Then, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels began to shout, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to recieve power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing!”  Then, every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, in the sea, all together said, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”  Then the four beasts said, “Amen!”  And they just worshipped God.  Why?  Because Jesus picked up the book of Isaiah.  How would you like to be in a service like that?  God can do that in our services today.  Jesus can walk in our midst, and take up the word of God and read it to us. Those two on the road to Emmaus said to each other, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”  O yes!  But John was carried away in the spirit.  We need to get carried away.  John got to see Jesus take that book and bust those seals open one by one.

• When the first seal was opened, he saw a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown and he went forth and conquered.
• When the second seal was opened, he saw a red horse, he had a great sword and he took peace from the earth, and men began to kill each other.
• When the third seal was opened, he saw a black horse, he had a pair of balances in his hand, he made food scarce and expensive.  That means there was starvation, famine and things of that sort.
• When the fourth seal was opened, he saw a pale horse, and his rider was named Death, and bible says Hell followed with him.  And he was set loose to kill a fourth part of mankind with the sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth.
• When the fifth seal was opened, John heard a cry come from under the altar in heaven from the (bible says) souls of them that were slain for the word of God. They said, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell o the earth?”  It’s not going to be long now.  Two more seals to go, and that book will be wide open.
• When the sixth seal was opened, John beheld, and lo, there was a great earthquake.  The sun became black.  The moon became as blood.  The stars of heaven fell unto the earth.  The heaven departed as a scroll.  Every mountain and island were moved out of place.  It was a great earthquake.  The bible says all the people (particularly the kings, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, and the mighty men) hid themselves in the rocks of the mountains and they begged that the mountains and rocks would fall on them and hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.  These were the kings, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, and the mighty men.  No amount of strength, affluence, power, money, nobility will save you from the wrath of God.
• Jesus has taken up the book of Isaiah.  He has opened all but one of the seals.  All heaven has engaged and is watching.  When that last seal breaks, the book will be open.  Chapter 6 of Revelations records the openeing of the first six seals.  And the last verse of chapter 6, the bible says “the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Chapter 7 is a parenthetical, regarding the 144,00 Jews. We’re not going to get into that.  But in Chapter 8, the opening of the seventh seal occurs and the reading of the bible commences.  (Rev 8:1) “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”  When Jesus opened the book, it was not a big boom.  Not yet at least.  It was silence.

I did some work this weekend at our little ranch.  I took the tractor out there and everything I did was while the tractor was on.  It’s very noisy. (engine)  I took the tractor down off the trailer. (engine)  I moved stuff (engine)  I mowed. (engine)  I got down and opened and closed the gate. (engine)  I put up the tractor. (engine)  When I was finally done, everything locked down ready to go.  I turned off the tractor, and I noticed it was silent. And I just listened for a little while to the silence.  And it was nice.  It was peaceful. It’s not going to be this type of silence.

It’s a deathly silence.  It’s a silence of great anticipation.  It’s a silence mingled with dread.  And in this silence, John saw seven angels with seven trumpets prepare themselves. They were preparing themselves to sound.  Joel the prophet said, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand.”

I want to take the opportunity to say something.  Even though John is going to see these bad things (the wrath of God, the judgment of God, death, starvations…) we have to keep this in perspective.  It’s angels with trumpets that are preparing themselves.  The trumpet is the instrument of warning.  These seven trumpets, though they come with judgment, they are still warning.  To blow a trumpet is to give the call of warning.  You might think that God’s not being very merciful.  I want to remind you he’s blowing a trumpet.  He could have skipped over to Revelation 20 and just wiped away the heaven and the earth; but instead he blows the trumpets one last time.  One last call to repentance.  One last chance to receive mercy.   God is good, make no mistake about that.  John hears the trumpets.

• With the first trumpet came hail, fire, and blood come down upon the earth.  And ALL vegetation was burned up.
• With the second trumpet came a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.  One third of the sea became blood, and one third of all sea life died, and one third of all water vessels were destroyed
• With the third trumpet came a great burning star from heaven upon the rivers and fountains of water.  One third of all waters became bitter, and many men died from the water.
• With the fourth trumpet, one third of the sun and one third of the moon was smitten. One third of the day was darkness, and one third of the night was utter darkness.
• With the fifth trumpet, came locusts out of the bottomless pit.  These locusts had the sting of a scorpion.  These locusts were commanded not to hurt the grass, not to hurt any green thing.  They were commanded to torment men.  The bible says, “in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”
• With the sixth trumpet, came a voice from heaven.  It said, “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”  With these four angels came a two million man army on horseback.  Out of the horse’s mouth came fire, smoke, and brimstone.  One third of mankind was slayed by these four angels.  Now at this point I want you to see something that John saw.  There were seven trumpets.  All but seven had sounded.  They were not just judgement, but warning.  In this, we see the hand of mercy still extended out.  Yet after all this, the bible says, “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands.” They went on worshipping devils, and idols of gold, silver, and brass.  The bible says “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
• Chapter 11:15  “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

What’s next is chapter 12, and some of you might be familiar with this.  It’s about the woman clothed with the sun, the child that is birthed, the great red dragon.  If you’ve never read it.  I suggest you read it.  It’s another vision that John sees.  I’m not going to get into it as to what it all represents, but I do want to bring your attention to one thing.  when the seventh trumpet sounds I want you to see an important things that happens.  Verse 9:  “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”  See the devil still has access to heaven.  He still goes up there and accuses us. That’s why we need an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous.   In the book of  Job, it says, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.”  Satan still has access to the throne of God.  But thank God, when that seventh trumpet sounds, things are gonna change.  When that seventh trumpet sounds, God is going to kick that devil out of heaven.  He will lose his admitting privileges in heaven.  He will lose his license to practice law in the bar of heaven.  So heaven will rejoice.  But earth won’t.

Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

The devil persecuted the remaining Jews on the earth.  John saw a beast rise up out of the sea.  He saw a beast rise up out of the earth.  These beasts blasphemed God and caused all that dwell on the earth to worship them, and deceived them.  They worshipped the dragon and the beast.

After that seventh trumpet sounded, John “saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angles having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.  The seven angels came out of the temple, clothed in pure and white linen, girded with golden girdles.  The bible says that one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God.  (16:1)  “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

• The first vial was poured out.  They that had the mark of beast and worshipped his image sores that were noiseome and grievous.
• The second vial was poured out in the sea.  It became as the blood of a dead man.  Every living thing died in the sea.
• The third vial was poured out on the rivers and fountains of water and they all became blood.
• The fourth vial was poured out on the sun.  Men were scorched with great heat.
• The fifth vial was poured out on the seat (or throne) of the beast, and all his kingdom was full of darkness, and in darkness they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed God because of their pains.
• The sixth vial was poured out on the great river Euphrates to make way for the kings of the east that will gather to do battle with the Jews and the Lord
• The seventh vial was poured into the air.  There “was a great earthquake, such was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”  Every island was gone and every mountain was gone.  Great hail out of heaven came down upon men.  There was a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, and Seven Vials.  John saw all these things.  John saw the wrath of God.  Let me say this though.  Paul said (Rom 5:8,9) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”  John, while in the spirit, was showed alot of things.  He was showed what we were saved from: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials.  He saw just about every living soul on earth die.  He saw alot of bad things.  But he did see some good things too.

Good things

John saw just about every living soul on earth die.  He saw them thirsty and starving. He saw them die of famine.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw them burned.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw them suffer with sores.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw them stung by horse-sized locusts with a tail of scorpion.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw them killed by fire.  Killed by smoke.  Killed by brimstone.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw them killed by hail.  Killed by stones.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw them kill each other.  Yet they didn’t repent.  He saw the devil cast down.  Instead of repenting and seeking God, they worshipped the beast.  They received his mark.  They made war with the saints.  They blasphemed God.  John saw the wickedness of man, the utter depravity and contempt of man.  But in the midst of all that, the bible says (14:1)  “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.”  Even though all hell broke loose.  Even though the world is crumbling apart, there’s the Lamb on mount Sion.  And there is his people with him.  The eternal question that Isaac asked his daddy Abraham, as they headed up the mount to do a sacrifice.  “Where is the lamb?”  O The Lamb is still on mount Sion. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.

The day of the Lord is coming.  John saw all these bad things.  One bad thing after another.  But praise God, after that last vial, after THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS and the armies of the earth gathered to make war with the Lamb, even though things are about as bad as they could be, the bible says that John heard a voice of much people in heaven, saying “Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God.”  The bible says John “heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”  And then…

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.  (Rev 19:11-16)

John saw Jesus coming out of heaven.  He wasn’t on a donkey, he was on a white horse. He didn’t have a crown of thorns, he had the royal diadem.  He didn’t come meek and lowly.  He came with authority and power.  The beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies made war with the Lord Jesus Christ. But John got to see the end.  John saw the beast taken and the false prophet taken.  And John saw Jesus cast them alive into a lake of fire buring with brimstone.  And then he saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  That angel laid hold on the dragon that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit.

Amen.  I want to say that John saw some good things.  There were a few more bad things:  He saw Satan will be loosed for a season. He saw the white throne judgment and he saw all those sould cast into the lake of fire.  But I want to take you to Revelation 21. The bible says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and first earth were passed away…  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven..”

John saw probably the greatest sight, the holy city.  The day of the Lord is probably the most anticipated events in the entire bible.  But I want to say that one of most anticipated promises of God is the holy city.  The celestial city.  The great city, the holy Jerusalem. The bible says that one of the seven angels with the vials came over to John and said, “Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

The bible says that he carried John away in the spirit.  He carried him away to a great and high mountain, and shewed him that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.  John saw it all, the celestial city that many have longed to see.

• Abraham looked for it.
  1. Hebrews 11:9,10  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
• David desired it.
  1. Psalm 23:6  …I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
  2. Psalm 27:4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
  3. Psalm 84:10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.  I rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
  4. Psalm 127:1  Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it….

• Solomon tried to built it.

  1. 1 Kings 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth?  behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
  2. Isaiah 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where is the house that ye build unto me?  and where is the place of my rest?

• Jesus is preparing it.

  1. John 14:1-3  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

John saw it all!  That angel gave John a personal tour of the Holy City.  He saw the twelve gates that are made of pearl.  He saw on each gate the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.  He saw the twelve foundations of the city.  He saw the names of the apostles of Lamb on each foundation.  I wonder what he though when he looked real close and saw his name on one of those foundations?  “Hey that’s my name on there!”

He saw it all!  He saw the throne of God.  And on that throne, he saw the Lord God Almighty.  He saw the Lamb in that city.  He saw the light and the glory coming from the Lord and the Lamb.  He saw the pure crystal river proceeding out of the throne.  he saw the tree of life straddling that river.  He saw the fruit growing and coming forth from the tree of life.  He saw the street of gold.  He saw it all.  He saw the Holy City coming from above.

And the best thing he saw when he looked in that city, the bible says he saw the nations of them which are saved.  Hey!  That’s me.  He saw me walking around in the light and in the glory.  He saw me walking up and down the street of gold.  He saw me eating that fruit off the tree of life.  He saw me drinking from the the crystal river.  I know he saw me because I’m saved, saved, saved!

Oh would the Holy Ghost grant us a vision of the glory which would soon be revealed.  Every time we drive the streets, and we hit the pot holes, and we go over the railroad track, and through the mud, let the Holy Ghost remind us we wont have to travel these old roads for long and one glorious day we tread the street gold.  Every time you fret when the clock don’t stop, you can never catch up with all the work that has to get done, it seems like there’s just not enough hours in the day, let the Holy Ghost remind us that God is making us a place where there will be no more night, the Son will always shine,  the glorious day will never end, and time shall be no more.  When your house is falling apart, the kids are stacked like sardines in their room, you don’t have a dining room, you don’t have a living room, you move from one home repair to the next home repair, the water line is always busting, the yard floods, and rats can get in, let the Holy Ghost remind us “This world is not my home.  I’m just a passing through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue!”

The other day something came to me.  I was thinking about when Patty and I first got married.  We lived in an apartment, but when Franky was born we moved into a house that was on street called Southland.  It used to be my grandma’s house.  This house was an old house, built in the 1940’s or 50’s.  It was built on pillars, the beams were rotten, you could see the ground through little cracks in the floor.  But the floor was never straight.  The doors wouldn’t close, the windows wouldn’t open.  I remember if you dropped anything on the floor, it would always roll to one side of the house.  Then we moved out of there and moved into a house in Sandia.  And if you’re familiar with Sandia, you’ll know that the soil our there is sandy loam.  And that house was literally on bricks. You talk about building your house on sinking sand.  The floor in the middle of the house was about a foot higher than the floor on the edges of the house.  And then we moved out to Sinton, to a trailer that is set once again on bricks.  And we got the same problems. And I’ve complained to my wife, “Why can’t we just have a house that has a concrete foundation?  Why do we have to always live on pillars and bricks?  And have the floor floating around all over the place?”  Then it came to me the other day.  I’m going to place that has TWELVE FOUNDATIONS!  Praise God.  I won’t have to worry about that anymore.

John saw it all.  He saw the Holy City.  He saw some good things.  Even though he saw some bad things… He saw alot of bad things.  But even though he saw all that bad, he saw some good, and I believe that’s why he was able to say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Come!”  O, if we would let the Spirit carry us away and give us a vision of the things to come, maybe we’d say along with the Spirit, “Come, Lord Jesus.  Come.”

I know that in Revelation 21:17 it says “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.” Together, the Spirit and the bride say “Come.”  This is a joint operation.  They that walk after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit.  I want to go where the Spirit goes.  I want to walk where the Spirit walks.  O, that God would give us a holy hunger and heart for the things of God, and the things of the Spirit.