Entry One Hundred Eighty: LAST ENTRY!

 

ENTRY ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY – FEBRUARY 26, 2009

 

180) LAST ENTRY! Revelation

 THIS IS THE LAST ENTRY OF THE CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE.  It covers five days of reading, and topics such as GOD’S PROMISES, the AWESOMENESS OF GOD, DIFFERENT PICTURES OF JESUS AND HEAVEN, LOVING GOD FIRST, KEEPING OUR FIRST LOVE FOR GOD, PERSEVERING DURING PERSECUTION & TRIALS, HATING SIN, JESUS AS THE SLAIN LAMB, WORSHIP IN HEAVEN, REJECTING WORLDLINESS, SPIRITUAL SONGS, BEING MARRIED TO GOD, and THE GLORY OF HEAVEN.

 

• This has been a difficult entry to write. You see, I have been procrastinating something fierce before typing this article – I can’t bear to end what has turned out to be a labour of love for me. Well, I did promise to finish by the end of February, so here goes…

 

• As for the Apostle John’s last “entry” into God’s word – well, let’s just say that mine doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as his! Tradition has it that he was the last of the “Twelve” to be left alive, and we know that he wrote his Revelation from the island of Patmos. If you were to go there now, you might be thinking, “Wow, not a bad place to live in exile…seaside resorts, island living, etc.” However, one should know that Patmos doesn’t have its own water supply, and something tells me that when John was staying there, his cave had no room service!
• (For some modern day shots of Patmos, I will try to upload a short slide show video of pix that John and I took when we were there back in 2002. I have included websites for your reference as well.)

 

• John walked closely with Jesus for three years, and he certainly walked closely with him in Spirit for many years after that. Whether he wrote Revelation during the reign of Nero in the AD 60s, or, as most scholars believe, during the reign of Domitian, during the AD 90s, the Apostle surely had experienced many encounters with his Saviour that one could describe as “up-close and personal”. However, none were so dramatic as what was thrust upon him when Jesus came to “dictate”, as it were, the Revelation of the Apocalypse.

 

• This book is far too long for me to give a detailed overview in one entry. I will try to include my favourite and most meaningful insights, and the rest is up to you!

 

• Chapter One
• If you feel intimidated by reading the book of Revelation, just remember the promise that Jesus gave to John:
• Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it…

 

• Another wonderful promise is contained in the blessing found a few verses later:
• To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

 

• I learned this passage when I first heard the Redemption Study, which teaches how to get forgiveness – which comes from reaching the blood of Christ!

 

• And of course, there is the ultra famous passage: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
• Just imagine if the ALPHA & OMEGA brought you a personal message! Wow!

 

• Jesus’ words were full of quotes from the OT and he wanted everyone to know that the same Jesus who died on the cross for them also lay the foundations of the earth and watched over them during the time of Moses and the Kings. He wanted their attention. And when Jesus’ voice boomed out like a loud trumpet on that Sunday afternoon, you can bet he got John’s attention! When John got a glimpse of his Lord, what he saw literally “blew him away”, as we might say. Close your eyes, and use your imagination to picture what this vision of Jesus seems like to you. There are all sorts of allusions here, but we will focus on one – the fact that what came out of Jesus’ mouth was a “sharp double-edged sword”. We can remember from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that the word of God is the sword of the spirit, and from Hebrews we remember that it is “sharper than any double edged sword”.  What weapon do you wield when fighting the world every day? Is it your own wisdom? Do you have a limited arsenal? Are you even fighting? Jesus, THE WORD, literally spoke, and a sword came out! Wow!

 

• Is it a surprise that when John saw the Jesus as described here that he fell down as though dead? But he didn’t die – instead, he received one last commission – to write down this vision for the seven churches of Asia (modern day Turkey), and all of posterity. Amen! Meditate on God’s majesty before going on.

• Chapter Two/Chapter Three
• Ephesus was the hub of all of the cities, and presumably the largest church. John had been an elder there before his exile, in all likelihood, so it was natural to start with that congregation. We can all be inspired by that church, for their positive qualities and the good they had done. However, we usually remember this passage for the challenge: 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
• In the Old Law, we learned that God is a jealous God. He wants his followers to understand him, and to do that, we have to give him the proper place in our lives. We can all remember our days as a young Christian, when everything was fresh. That is the secret of holding on to our first love – keeping things fresh with God! (Just like in a marriage!) It takes work, but it is worth it!

 

• The next church to receive a personal letter was Smyrna. When I read this letter, my eyes became watery because I could really feel for these ancient brothers and sisters – they were going through very real persecution, and some of them would definitely be killed, but the crown of life would be their reward. Wow! So inspiring!  We can remember Jesus’ words to them when we are going through hard times - Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Amen!

 

• The third congregation to receive a telegram from heaven was Pergamum. Jesus was proud of these disciples who had been so faithful in the face of persecution, but he still needed to rebuke them before it was too late. Maybe God would say the same to us today – I appreciate your perseverance, but you need to repent of self-indulgence!

 

• Thyatira received the next missive, and, like the others, were praised by their Lord. However, Jesus’ challenge was that they tolerated a sinful woman, who seemed to be acting in leadership. If we are to make it to heaven, we must not only avoid sin ourselves, but we must also keep sin from influencing the church. There is a healthy tolerance, which is borne of grace, mercy, patience, and humility, and there is an unhealthy tolerance, which is borne of laziness, worldliness, and lack of hatred for sin. We, in the 21^st Century, need this lesson more than ever. (Still trying to find that balance between grace and truth!)

 

• Jesus spoke next to Sardis. With this church, he was blunt from the start:
• You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. The Alpha and the Omega sees everything – he doesn’t care about our “reputation” – he sees the real deal. Let’s be grateful for Christian friends who wake us from our spiritual slumber from time to time and help us get to heaven!

 

• The sixth letter was to the church in Philadelphia. Besides Smyrna, this is the only congregation that didn’t get a rebuke. Again, they were praised for their perseverance in the face of persecution. As the rest of Revelation would testify, it was going to get worse before it got better, so Jesus’ charge – “Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” What an inspiring message from the Messiah!

 

• Last but not least, we have Laodicea. From a repentance point of view, these guys were in hot soup. Or, more accurately, lukewarm soup! (By the way, would you believe that the word for “lukewarm” in the Indonesian language is pronounced “swam swam kuku”??!! I kid you not! Imagine trying to keep a straight face when you’re preaching THAT in a sermon!)

 

• What was their sin? They had become complacent, materialistic, and spiritually indifferent. Jesus was no “poor in spirit” (Matt 5:3).  They felt rich because of what they had, but Jesus told them that they were actually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Remember, this is the same Jesus who rebuked the money-loving Pharisees in Luke 16 with, “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.” If ever there were a generation who are tempted to put our hope in riches, it is ours. I truly believe that lukewarmness, complacency and materialism and the biggest dangers to our churches today! Let’s pay attention to this rebuke so that we don’t end up like them!

 

• Of course, doctrinally this is also an interesting passage (although it was not written for that purpose) since many religious folks tend to quote these verses out of context. I won’t beat a dead horse, but the short version is, you can’t use this passage to teach a non-believer how to “pray Jesus into his heart!” It just wasn’t written for that at all! It is a great passage for teaching people to hate being lukewarm, the need to be a “hot” Christian, and the plea to repentance. Our God is an awesome God! Go back over the challenges seen in these seven letters, see if any of them apply to you, and make a “repentance plan”. Using language like that here (lamp stands, etc) write a letter from God to you and share it with your small group. Or get your small group to write a joint letter to your group during your next time together, and see where that leads you!

 

• Chapter Four
• Now if you think the first three chapters were good, wait til you read the next four! Wow! The word, “majesty” comes to mind! Since I like music, I tend to different songs with different passages. You might also notice that the words for many popular Christian songs come from these pages – “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Majesty” are two songs that pop out at once. Again, you must use your imagination when you read this – visualize this scene! Are you getting excited about spending eternity here?

 

• Chapter Five
• This has got to be one of my favourite chapters in the whole bible – right up there with Luke 15:20 about the father running to the Prodigal son. Here is the king of the whole universe, and what does he appear as? An authoritarian task-master? The ruler of all nations? No, rather a slain lamb! Now THAT is humility. I love reading this out loud in my prayer time and picturing this scene. And I also love putting these inspiring words to song.

 

• When it comes to music inspired by this chapter of Revelation, we can choose from the modern worship tune of “Worthy is the Lamb”, to the English classic, “Crown Him with Many Crowns”, and, my personal favourite, the beautiful finale of Handel’s Messiah, “Worthy is the Lamb”. If you google these songs, you can hear them on YouTube. I recommend the Hillsong version of the first one, the “gtasoul” posting for the second one, and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for Handel’s masterpiece. Warning – after hearing these three pieces in this order, you may accidentally think that you have already died and gone to heaven.

 

• Chapter Six/Chapter Seven
• The worthy Lamb opened the scrolls, which revealed future judgment and wrath. Besides all the cool allusions here, I love the idea that the disciples who are martyred will be avenged! After the number 144,000, which scholars believe represents the perfect number. It was surely not meant to be taken literally, because afterwards we hear that heaven’s multitude is uncountable. I love picturing this scene as well, with the angels, the robes, the elders, the creatures, and the words of praise. I especially get inspired thinking about the way God takes care of those who have sacrificed everything for him, and I am especially comforted by the last line: “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
• Beautiful!

 

• Chapter Eight-Chapter Eleven
• From the next chapter, we can be inspired to stand in awe of God, in silence and in prayer. I heard a wonderful sermon on prayer years ago, called “Golden Bowls of Incense”. I think it was delivered by my friend, Mark Templer. What a picture – that our prayers make a difference in heaven, and can be seen. Wow! By the way, for those of you who are CS Lewis fans, you may recognize the name “Wormwood”, the name he used for the junior demon in his book, The Screwtape Letters.  Jesus truly painted a dark vision of horses and riders that would really put the fear of God into people! The message for us now is that sin is bad, and we want to make sure we have been playing for the right team when the final whistle is blown! The persecutors may have the upper hand now, but judgment will be scary, and we need to persevere.

 

• Chapter Twelve
• This section of scripture was surely written to encourage the saints that even though bad things are happening, God is in control of the spiritual battle. After all, look what happens when war breaks out in heaven – God’s side wins immediately! No contest! That is comforting! Satan WILL LOSE! And who is Satan, after all? He is the accuser. Have you ever felt lousy about yourself? Have you ever felt that you are not good enough for God? Guess what – that isn’t God talking, that is Satan. He accuses, but God forgives and comforts. The accuser has been hurled down. Remember that the next time you hear those negative voices! How do we overcome Satan?

 
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.

• When we live fearless lives as disciples, Satan is defeated all over again! Amen! And he hates it, because he knows that his time is short.
• So do not be surprised when you suffer, or are persecuted, or when you get attacked or tempted over and over again – Satan has an attitude. But we will be victorious in the end if we don’t give up! Haven’t the New Testament writers told us over and over that we are in a spiritual battle? Who does Satan hate? Those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus…

 

• Chapter Thirteen/Chapter Fourteen
• This section of the book of Revelation has seen more bizarre interpretation than probably any part of the bible. People for centuries have tried to figure out who is the dragon, who is the beast, etc. A few years ago, during the Cold War, it was popular to say that one of the heads was China, and one was Russia (i.e., communism), and one was Hitler, la dee dah dee dah! Somehow, I doubt if reading about China in the year 2000 would have comforted the Christians undergoing persecution in AD 90. But who knows? I have a feeling we’ll just have to ask God this one on the judgment day!
• Certainly what we can understand from these verses is that Satan doesn’t fight fairly, that he is a liar, that he is powerful, that men for some reason are attracted to his kind of power, and that he is boastful, arrogant, and blasphemous. (Sounds like a lot of people today, doesn’t it?!) Satan makes was against God’s chosen ones, and in the end, people will either choose God or Satan.

 

• I guess a question we should ask ourselves is, to whom do we belong? To the beast, the false God, the 666, who does false miracles and marks his followers? Or to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world, which means our names are written in the book of Life and we are part of that infinite number, the “144,000”, who have kept themselves pure!

 

• Jesus never paints a rosy picture – he warned back then that there would be terrible times ahead. 14:12-13 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 13Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."  "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

 

• We are blessed when we follow God and do what is right. The end of this chapter brings to mind the picture of the “Grim Reaper”, swinging his sickle, harvesting death. The blood rose up for miles, as high as “a horse’s bridle”. That’s a lot of death. So to whom do I want to belong? Doesn’t sound like much of a choice, does it??

 

• Chapter Fifteen/Chapter Sixteen
• “They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb.” As a young Christian, one of the congregations I was in used to sing a beautiful song about this scene. This was sung in four-part harmony, and the last part of the chorus was, “I want to hear that mighty chorus sweetly sing, to hear it swell and ring.” Singing that in a large auditorium of Christians made you feel like heaven was not too far away! After the new song of Moses and the Lamb, came the seven bowls of God’s wrath – not so pleasant! Perhaps God wanted his saints to know that all of mankind would suffer, not just them. It is from this passage that we hear the Hebrew term, “Armageddon”.

 

• Chapter Seventeen/Chapter Eighteen
• The punishment of the Prostitute/Babylon/Rome/Hollywood – however you want to take it – is certainly a commentary on the eventuality of judgment and how worldliness and love of sin lead to destruction. For an era obsessed with sophistication and worldly pleasures (sound familiar?), this was important for the disciples to remember. As with our times, even then, God was fighting against the popular culture. The sins mentioned in these chapters could just as easily be leveled against our “great cities” today – beware!

 

• For some additional reading, here is an article (in blue) I took from the internet on August 15, 2008. Skip it if you’re not interested. It is fun for deeper study:

 

http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-tyre.htm

 

• by Ross Taylor

 

• Tyre in Revelation by R A Taylor
• The destruction of Tyre is alluded to several times in the destruction of Babylon in Rev 18. There is a striking resemblance with Ezek 26 - 28. If Babylon represents the World system, then Tyre is an example of her eventual destruction.
• A comparison of Ezek 26 - 28 with Rev 18.
• Compare:
• Ezek 27:31 They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning.
• with
• (Rev 18:19) They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
• Compare:
• (Ezek 26:13) I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.
• with
• (Rev 18:22) The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
• Compare:
• (Ezek 26:16-18) Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. {17} Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you: "'How you are destroyed, O city of renown, peopled by men of the sea! You were a power on the seas, you and your citizens; you put your terror on all who lived there. {18} Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; the islands in the sea are terrified at your collapse.'
• with
• (Rev 18:9-10) "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. {10} Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'
• 4 Compare:
• (Ezek 26:12) They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.
• with
• (Rev 18:21) Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
• 5 Compare
• The list of goods in (Ezek 27:12-24)
• (Ezek 27:12-24 NIV) "'Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise. {13} "'Greece, Tubal and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged slaves and articles of bronze for your wares. {14} "'Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged work horses, war horses and mules for your merchandise. {15} "'The men of Rhodes traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony. {16} "'Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise. {17} "'Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, oil and balm for your wares. {18} "'Damascus, because of your many products and great wealth of goods, did business with you in wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar. {19} "'Danites and Greeks from Uzal bought your merchandise; they exchanged wrought iron, cassia and calamus for your wares. {20} "'Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you. {21} "'Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats. {22} "'The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold. {23} "'Haran, Canneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad traded with you. {24} In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.
• with
• The list of goods in (Rev 18:11-13)
• (Rev 18:12-13 NIV) cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; {13} cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
• 6. Compare:
• (Ezek 27:3) Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'You say, O Tyre, "I am perfect in beauty."
• (Ezek 28:2) "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.
• with
• Rev 18:7 Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.'
• Chapter Nineteen/Chapter Twenty
• Oh the glory and majesty and power that we will witness on that day, when good finally triumphs over evil and God is honoured by all. Can you shut your eyes and try to imagine what this will look, feel and sound like? Jesus painted a pretty good picture for us – try it! I love the majestic feel of the “Hallelujah!” When you understand God like this, there would be no way to NOT fear him! And yet it is not time for fear – it is time for rejoicing – there’s going to be a wedding in heaven! Wow!

 

• I don’t know about you, but I love the song, “Encourage My Soul”. Hot News has a video archive of the Jon Augustine version, which is beautiful. I love it in any version. However, before I ever knew of that tune, I heard a song in a coffee house by a folk singer with a haunting chorus: “Hallelujah, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly.”  I wrote my own version when I was in Singapore as a young church leader in my late twenties, using parts of Revelation for the verses. It went something like,

Chorus: Hallelujah, the great storm is over, lift up your wings and fly (repeat).
Verse One
Salvation is now in God’s kingdom
Let us rejoice and give glory to him.
The wedding of the bride and the Lamb has come
Linen pure and bright to her will be given.
Repeat Chorus

 

• Well, hopefully the rhymes were a bit better than that, but you get the idea. It had four verses and was such fun to sing as I studied this book. Feel free to do your own version!

 

• Several years ago, my husband taught a series to the church about all the ways that God is our husband. It was very inspiring. Just imagine, as believers, we, the church, will be married to God! (Check out Entry 88 for insights from Hosea about being married to God.)

 

• How nice to see the angel refusing worship, but instead pointing worshipers to God. This happens again in the last two chapters. As servants of God, we are to always point people to God, and not to ourselves. Lord, help me to not do things for my glory but only for your glory. (Kinda like David’s prayer in Psalm 115:1 – Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.)

 

• Can you even imagine seeing heaven open and a white horse with a rider called Faithful and True? What a picture! George Lucas (Star Wars movies) and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) have nothing on John’s Revelation!

 

• This picture of Jesus, with all of its symbolism, is AWE-some! I like to read it standing up! It is not surprising that this Jesus has no trouble defeating Satan with one blow! You can bet the Lion of Judah took great delight in throwing his enemy into the lake of burning sulfur! Paul’s prophecy will come true - The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Rom 16:20)  Imagine how awesome heaven will be when those who have “not worshiped the beast” nor “received his mark on their foreheads” and those who were slain “because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God” are standing hand in hand, singing God’s praises. This group is free from the power of death – “the second death has no power over them!” Makes you want to take a peak into that book of life, doesn’t it? But assuming we are in it, we can be confident that He will reign forever, and we will be with him. Wow! If you sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus at this juncture, and crank the volume at the triumphant ending with the trumpets and the whole orchestra majestically blaring,
• ”KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” really loud, you might just get a glimpse of what it will be like on that day. It brings chills!

 

• Chapter Twenty-One/Chapter Twenty-Two
• Now we are getting near to the end of John’s vision, and what do we see but the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. That’s us – the church! All dressed up and ready for our beloved. The Alpha and the Omega will make everything new. There will be no more death or crying or pain. We will drink from the spring of the water of life. It sounds too good to believe. Jesus does remind us here, however, that “the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” Again, learning the balance between grace and truth. Jesus offered grace without measure but he also spoke the truth and expected obedience.

 

• Any woman who loves jewelry will have fun picturing the stones mentioned here (I have always liked sapphires and amethysts, myself. And of course, the “pearly gates!”

 

• Our relationship with God will be even more up-close and personal. There will be no temple, because God IS the temple! (Ever stop to think that if we don’t enjoy worship and spending time with God now, heaven will be pretty boring?) The Lamb of God will be the only “lamp” we need in heaven. The gates will never be shut, and the only ones there will be those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life!

 

• I don’t know about you, but I am getting excited!

• Then we get the vision of the river of life, which I always picture when we sing the old hymn, “Shall We Gather At the River?”  There will be no more curses, no more night, only day. We will all worship the Lamb together.

 

• Someday, we will be there. And that reminds me of the “spiritual” called “Someday”. I first heard this in London. The audience sings the words over and over, “Someday, someday, someday, someday.” The song leader sings with them, and then begins singing over them with “Gotta be ready when He calls my name, gotta be ready when He calls my name, gotta be ready when He calls my name, oh oh oh oh….”

 
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen

 

• Well, that’s all on the book of Revelation. And that brings our trek through Dr. F. LaGard Smith’s Chronological Bible to a close. If you haven’t got it already, remember to order his bible from Harvest House publishers, called The Narrated Bible in hard back and leather, or The Daily Bible for a more portable version. I doubt if you enjoyed reading my “blog” as much as I enjoyed writing it, but thanks for joining me in this journey. May our Loving Father and Saviour Jesus Christ bring us all closer to Him through his Word and our love for Him and one another.

 

karenlouis@seachurches.org