****Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's Word****

The horrors of God's judgment are only surpassed by the glories of His grace. We have, in these two passages, two distinct actions of God with two distinctly different consequences for man. Many refuse to respond to the good news therefore making the direct recipients of the bad news. Will you respond while still able to enjoy the opportunity of God's grace?

As we see in verse 1 there will be a half an hour of silence in heaven. If you remember up until now 6 of the 7 seals have been opened, and now the 7th seal is opened. This silence is almost like the silence before the storm. There is nobody asking for mercy, no glorifying God, no repentance, no judgments, nor commandments being given, it is pure silence.

There is a great sense of fear when the first angel sounds his trumpet. Fire, hail, and blood are cast upon the earth and burns up 1/3 of the trees and all green grass. As the second angel sounds there seems to be a possible asteroid that will be cast into the sea and 1/3 of the sea creatures died and 1/3 of the ships were destroyed. The waves from possible tsunami's would cap size the ships. Loosing 1/3 of trees, all grass and sea life would cause a great famine. This would be a great time of fear.

The third angel sounds and the earth is hit with a great asteroid called "Wormwood" which means bitter. The waters will be hit with this asteroid which may contain possible chemicals and gases that will turn the water bitter. This will be a great time of bitterness and suffering as well. With the tree's burnt up and water turned bitter, and sea life killed, there will be starvation.

There will be a time of separation and disillusionment. Unfortunately many will die due to the famines and earthly terror. Some will die in bitterness and enter eternity separated from God forever. People won't be able to explain these occurrences, and will be forced to look to God for answers. We all remember the terror from the great tsunami in India, and Mt. St. Helens erupting, or maybe hurricane Katrina, I think these will be considered a walk in the park when compared with the wrath and judgment mankind will face upon the earth in the near future.

Many view the book of Revelation as the "scary book of the Bible" that nobody wants to talk about. This may be true, because there is a lot of negative news in this book. To those who are unsaved this is a scary but to those who are saved, this book is would be considered somewhat exciting and motivational to live a life of servitude to our Lord and Savior who will save us from this wrath.

If we turn to the book of Luke Chapter 2 Verse 10 - 14 we will see a positive spin of this chapter from Revelation. We see that the angel says "Fear not" as the angel brought good tidings or good news to "All People" (meaning you and me). The good news is that our Savior was born Jesus. Why do we call him savior? Lets read John 3:16 - 17. God came to earth as man (Jesus), not to condemn the world, but save the world, by walking this earth a sinless man and being the ultimate sacrifice, dying on the cross for all or mankind's sin. He died to save us from our sin. Lets look at Romans Chapter 10 verse 9 - 10, we see that all we have to do is believe on Him and confess our sins, and we will be saved. We can't save ourselves, we can't redeem ourselves, we are completely helpless, Titus Chapter 3 verse 5 tells us it is grace that saves us not our works. We are in the age of grace right now, not the age of judgment, we have a chance right now to accept Jesus in our lives and call upon him so that when we die we will spend eternity with God. Notice in verse 14 in Luke Chapter 2 we see where it says "and on earth peace". This phrase shows up in songs, and people quote this phrase as a means to ending war on the face of this planet. Complete peace from war on earth will never happen. The idea of peace here is a sense of a relationship restoration with God. It is possible to restore your relationship with God and spend eternity with him, all you have to do is call upon his name, and confess your sins, place all your dependence upon Him and you can be saved!

posted by Ben at 3:56 PM
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****Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's Word****

The dream of philosophers and idealists throughout the centuries has been to create the perfect society. Plato called it Utopia. Whether through a "War to end all wars" or a "Great Society", or even a "Third Reich", all efforts have failed miserably. The perfect society will only be found in the presence and favor of the perfect Creator. It is the only place of blessing.

Up to this chapter we have seen the first 6 seals opened up. Chapter 7 is a chapter that leads up to the opening of the 7th seal in Chapter 8.

In verse 1 - 3 we see the blessedness of God's mercy. The idea of the angel's holding back the winds from "hurting the Earth" is God holding back his judgment. There will be great destruction upon the earth, however, we are blessed to have a longsuffering and merciful God. Foolish men want immediate judgment and wise men beg for forgiveness and mercy. We should be so thankful for the mercy He has bestowed upon us and learn to be patient as well. We can learn a lot by example from God.

In verse 4 - 8 we see the blessedness of God's call and blessedness of God's preserving power. We see that 144,000 or 12,000 of each of the 12 tribes of Israel will be protected. God selects these individuals and seals or protects them from the great tribulation. We also see in verse 9 that many others of all different ethniticities are also saved during the great tribulation. In verse 13 - 15 an elder that asks John who these people are, and John responds basically saying " you tell me". The elder says they were people which came out of the great tribulation and are here in Heaven and will worship the King forever and ever.

In Verse 10 - 12 we see the blessedness of God's Kingdom. We see the angels bowing down before the throne of God giving thanks and praise. When we go to be with our Father in Heaven we will be praising and glorifying God. Some may think, that sounds "boring", but it will be anything but boring. We see through God's creation the Universe, the planets, the stars, the moons, the galaxies, the earth, the wildlife, the trees, the flowers, the insects, the clouds, the land, the people, in which God created which is absolutely not boring. God is the only one who can paint a perfect sunset, or a perfect sunrise, God created music and weather. We are talking about God who is anything but boring. We will spend eternity learning about God and his creation, giving Him thanks and praise. I can't wait for that day!

We see the blessedness of His grace and mercy in verse 13 - 14. Those that were brought out of the great tribulation were granted mercy. We are given a lot of time, more than we deserve, to give our lives to our God. Time on earth won't last forever, so we ought to take advantage of the time and mercy God has granted us.

We see the blessedness of His presence and promises in verse 15 - 17. We see in verse 15 that God will dwell among us. Imagine that, God will dwell among us in fellowship, that concept is awesome! In His presence we see a place of purpose, we will spend eternity with our Master in Heaven praising, and glorifying him forever. There will be no fatigue, we will serve him day and night. It is a place of provision, we see there will be no hunger nor thirst. The idea of the sun light and heat not being upon us is the idea of God's protection from harm. We will have guidance in his presence, He is our shepherd and will guide us to living fountains of waters. There will be joy, and happiness. We won't have any more tears nor fears. These are all promises that God will keep.

Are you aware of the mercies God has granted you. God knocks at our door, but we are too busy, or have the music to loud, or the TV is on, or we are on the phone with our family or friends and we don't hear the knock. When our lives are filled with worldly "junk" we don't hear when the Holy Spirit tries to talk to us. We need to tone down our selfish lives and let the grace of God into our lives. John 9:30 says "He must increase, but I must decrease". The great tribulation is not something you nor your children, or grand children to endure. We must step up and remove the junk from our lives and kids lives and give our lives to our Lord and Savior Jesus. With Jesus we will never fear death, because we have eternal life after death with God, in which we will have the opportunity to dwell with Him in the kingdom of heaven.

posted by Ben at 3:55 PM
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****Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's Word****

We enjoy a very fragile life on this little planet of ours. Some of us who have had a family member pass away know that we can be here one moment and gone the next. The bible tells us that life is a mere vapor.

An interesting fact, scientifically and statistically, is that our very existence is "impossible". Some scientists have come to the conclusion that the existence of mankind and this universe are no accident and that there must be an intelligent creator. Those who believe in the creation of all by God the Father, have always known this.

Even then, it is amazing we have not destroyed ourselves completely by now. This proves that God in his sovereignty holds the Earth in the palm of His hand as we are speeding through space at thousands of miles per second, riding the thin crust of a liquid ball of molten rock. All this said, the Bible tells us we won't exist forever. The Lamb of God will one day change everything. You must be secure from the Great Day of the Wrath of the Lamb!

As we continue in Revelation with John's vision of heaven, and God on the throne holding the scroll that only the slain Lamb (Jesus) is worthy to open, we see the breaking of seals. We have seen the process of the first 4 seals opened revealing the following events to come: the rise of the anti-Christ, war, famine and death.

The 5th seal we see the persecution of God's people. There will be martyrs who have kept their faith upon Jesus and are killed for keeping faith, and are given white robes. Those who were killed for keeping faith, ask Jesus "why He has not avenged their death". We see that they are told to hold for a season until all the brethren that will be killed are killed. According to Romans 12:19, we must trust Jesus with "vengeance". He will repay for vengeance is His. This is also indicative that there will be rejection of the testimony of God within mankind.

Then we see the 6th seal opened and there was a worldly catastrophe. Some think that the events described are metaphorical, some think they are literal. However, we do know there will be a world wide catastrophe that will consume a quarter of the Earth's population. We see an earthquake mentioned, and some type of astronomical type of objects will strike the Earth. We see the moon turn to blood, the idea is that the debris in the atmosphere will cause the sun to blacken and the moon to appear in a "redish" blood color. Many will die, as mankind is helpless to this act of God. The bible tells us that every mountain and island will be moved. This will be a world changing catastrophe.

We ought to be thankful that God hasn't pronounced judgment on us yet, and that we have a period of grace so that we may turn to God and seek his face in our fragile lives. We ought to be thankful that he has provided us the bible as a road map of how we are to live and have fellowship with Him. These events might be frightful or even uneasy, but we ought to use this time wisely, for if we have accepted Jesus into our lives as savior for the forgiveness of sins, we need not fear these events. Even though these events are brought upon by God, He is still merciful and gives opportunity for those who will be left to turn to Him. God is full

posted by Ben at 3:49 PM
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****Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's Word****

In Revelation chapter 5 we see that God, the One who is on the throne, is holding a scroll. We also see that there is nobody that is worthy to open the scroll. There is great sorrow, but then it is reveled to us that the One who was slain is worthy. That is Jesus Christ. He was the perfect sinless lamb that was slain for our sin. He is the one worthy to open the scroll with 7 seals on it.

In Chapter 6 we get a glimpse at what the scroll says. It reveals to us what is to happen here on earth in the future. This is also known as the times of the great tribulation which is to last 7 years. This is also known as the time of judgment. Some seem to think that this is the time where God sits back and just watches, and observes us. That is not correct. God was on the throne yesterday, he is on the throne today, and He will be on the throne tomorrow, in control of the entire universe. God is in control, He is accomplishing his purpose even through the evil that is on the earth.

God's standard is perfection, and we see that we are unable to achieve that standard, and the only means that we are able to defeat our imperfections is through Jesus Christ's blood on the cross (Romans 3:23). That is why it is so vital for you to trust on Jesus for your forgiveness of sins and not of yourselves and of your works. We CANNOT save ourselves. Jesus already paid the price, it is the free gift of God, we just need to accept His precious gift (Romans 6:23 & Ephesians 2:8 - 9 & 1 Peter 1:23 & Titus 3:5 & Acts 16:31). It is never to late to repent, ask God for forgiveness, and trust on Jesus as savior for the forgiveness of all past, present, and future sin.

God will judge according to his perfect timing, we don't know when that will be. Some of us tend to see the world and all its evil, even to the point where we would like to see the judgment come now, so that all that is unjust will be justified. We have all committed sin against God and there are some of us that have had sin committed against us, but we must be patient, and trust God with those sins for he will repay. We need to TRUST that God will repay and take vengeance on those who have sinned against you (Romans 12:19), therefore don't carry grudges and thoughts of revenge. Most important, remember to repent for your sin. God is perfectly just and knows every sin committed against him and against you. He will judge everyone perfectly according to his law and commandments.

We should be thankful that God is longsuffering and that he is merciful because if he had already cast judgment upon us, a lot of people would not be saved, including myself. We should use this time of grace wisely, and not foolishly. God has allowed us this period of grace so that we have time to repent, and so that the gospel of Jesus can reach the ends of the earth. Are you using your time wisely, or are you indulged in sin, or serving other gods?

I used to be indulged in my sin. If God had decided to judge mankind earlier this year, I wouldn't be saved. I was serving other gods and indulged in my sin (not a wise use of my time). I had many gods, I had the god of technology, the god of entertainment, the god of materialism, the god of alcohol, the god of music. For example, I used to be indulged in secular worldly music that teaches us how to indulge in sin and justifies our sin. The worst part of that is that I was forcing it upon my own children. The purpose of the worldly secular music is to justify peoples sin, such as lust, greed, pride, selfishness, and things of that sort (take some time to actually read the lyrics of the music as you will see there is no Godly biblical message that is presented, it is all sinful nature). I now choose not to listen to that music nor sever the purpose of that music. I am tempted at times to listen, but I pray to God to remove the temptation from my life and He has, this is just another example how we can't do things by our works, the only way to defeat the temptation is by way of faith upon Jesus. We need to use our time left here on earth wisely and server God only.

Let's put this chapter into perspective to see what we will expect during the time of judgment and tribulation. Keep in mind, John is in Heaven viewing these things that are to come.

We see in verse two when Jesus opens the first seal, John sees a white horse and he that sat on the horse had a bow and a crown. The white horse is symbolic for a conqueror. The one that is riding is equipped with a bow for battle (a weapon of warfare). The crown symbolizes the earthly authority for this individual. This individual described here is viewed as the anti-Christ. (Understand, God will allow this to happen to serve his own purpose.)

When the second seal is opened John sees a red horse. Notice in verse four we see three powerful phrases. We see "Peace taken from earth (no peace)", "kill", and "sword". The red horse is symbolic for blood shed. When you add up these three ingredients what do we get? War. There will be war during the tribulation.

John saw a black horse when Jesus opened the third seal. The one who sat on the horse was holding a pair of balances with a measure of wheat and a penny in one and three measures of barley and a penny on the other. This is figurative speech for famine. You seen a measure of wheat for a penny is basically one meal for one for one days pay, which is just enough to cause starvation. What comes with starvation? The body gets weak, the immune system is weak, and disease enters. There will be famine.

The forth seal opened by Jesus shows us a pale horse. The name of the one who sat on the horse was Death. Hell followed with him. Notice where it says that "power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword, hunger, death, and with the beasts of the earth", this shows that ¼ of the earths population will be killed by one of these tactics.

When Jesus opened the fifth seal we see that there will be people who will have been killed for having faith on God. If you continue to read, you will see that they will be rewarded with white robes and best of all, spend eternity with our Father in heaven.

Have you ever stopped for a moment to really digest the fact that these things will happen. This isn't some figurative speech or some symbolic thing, these events will happen. There is a heaven and a hell, and when we die we will spend eternity in heaven for believers or in hell FOREVER. This is the time for us to put down our pride, and forgive others, as well as ask God to forgive us of our sin, put away our false gods and idols, wake up and realize that the choice we make will affect the destination of our eternal lives forever. We need to tell others about the gift from God. This is REAL, and these things will happen! Are you ready for this?

posted by Ben at 10:24 AM
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****Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's Word****

Let me ask you a couple of important questions that I would like you to ponder after you have read from scripture. It will answer these questions.

1. Does God exist?


2. Why do we exist?

If there was no God, the following statements would be true.

• Life would have come by some un-intelligent form.


• Life would have come by an un-purposeful reason.


• Life as we know it would have been a mere accident, you would have been an accident as well as your parents and their parents and so forth.


• Life would be completely pointless.


• There wouldn't be good nor evil, no right nor wrong


• We would basically exist like wild animals in the wilderness, only existing to not endure death.

Since there is a God, then the following statements are true.

• From God is ALL created.


• God created you and, His reason for creating you is the ONLY reason for your existence.


• We as humans have accomplished some of the most difficult break throughs in technology, we consider ourselves to be wise, however there is not one human in this world capable of creating life, nor creating a universe, or stars and planets, nor animals, insects, sea creatures, or even capable of governing the weather or seasons or time, or capable of making a beautiful sunset or flower.


• Therefore there must be a God that created all!


• God is the head of all, He makes the rules, and He will judge those who break His rules.
  It is interesting to hear individuals that don't believe in God. They simply choose to deny Him, however, if they acknowledge right and wrong, or good and evil, they are acknowledging God. Since they are acknowledging God's laws of good and evil they are in a sense acknowledging God. God has a plan for all of us, He also has a "big picture" plan that we all fit into including non-believers, and in His sovereignty He can still use those that deny Him, in his plan for all of man kind until the end of the ages. Whether or not you believe, God will use you in his plan for the purposes of glorifying Himself

This leads me to the age old question. Why do we exist? We just answered that. God created us to glorify Him (Isaiah 43:7). Whether or not you choose to follow and trust in Jesus, God will use us to bring glory to His name, and judge those who don't. Those who honor and glorify Him will be rewarded with a crown in heaven (2 Timothy 4:8).

Do you look forward to the end of the age? You should. In fact, even the troubles and trials for the events that will come are a sign of hope to a true believer. Are you a true believer?

We need to understand that there is more to this age than what we can see. The plan for the completion of the age is in place. Are you ready?

As we see in this chapter of scripture (Revelation 5), John is envisioning heaven, with our creator God in the throne. In God's right hand He holds the scroll with the plan that will determine what will come. An angel asks to all "who is worthy to break the seal". From the indication it is a scroll with wax seals on it as in times of old. No man in heaven, nor in earth, nor under the earth was worthy or able to open the book that would initiate God's final plan. Not having God's plan enacted is cause for sorrow. That is why it saddened John. This was an acknowledgement that there is no one capable of accomplishing what we truly desire in heaven or in earth. This shows that we are not worthy, there are none righteous among us (Romans 3:10). We are all sinners and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

An elder then told John not to weep because "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, the Slain Lamb, Jesus" was worthy to break the seal. When Jesus took the scroll, all believers that are in heaven gave praise, honor and glory, and sang "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

We need to look to Jesus as the only solution to our hearts' desire. Don't look to things of this world that have no Godly foundation. Some people watch Dr. Phil, or Oprah, or turn to their co-workers for advise, maybe even take faith in things like superstition, chain letters, or chain emails, turn to drugs or alcohol for solutions. People say it's okay to have a small sip of beer to drown your sorrows as long as you don't get drunk, or it's okay to hear a nice easy listening country song that will help you feel better. Can I tell you something? This is all false belief, false comfort and it is direct disobedience to God our Father. Not to mention that if we are to represent our Lord and Savior to non-believers, this isn't the way to do that. If you don't have Jesus in your life, you will live a life of emptiness and sorrow. When you learn to fear God and submit yourself to Him, you will live a life of humbleness, and be fulfilled more than you can imagine. Have you accepted the will of God in your life? Have you submitted to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin? Are you ready for God's plan of the future to come?

In conclusion yes there is a God, and our purpose for existence is to glorify Him. Everything we do whether it be eat, or sleep, or work or play, we need to do to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). God is on the throne today, and He will be on the throne tomorrow and forever and God will carry out His plan for this age whether or not you are ready.

posted by Ben at 10:19 AM
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****Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's Word****

There are 3 suggested times for the rapture to take place.

1. The trouble times described in Revelation Chapter 4 - 19 have either happened or are happening in this current age.



2. The Troubled Times described Revelation Chapter 4 - 19 will yet happen in the future and Christians (the Church) will endure some or all of it.



3. The Troubled Times described Revelation Chapter 4 - 19 will yet happen in the future and Christians (the Church) will be preserved from it by the Rapture. These are a few reasons why we believe that this view is the correct view.


• There is no mention of the Church in chapter 4 - 19 of Revelation. The first 3 chapters were distinctively all about the Church. This transition may be indicative that we will not endure what is described in these chapters.


• The description of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 indicates a meeting in the air which isn't mentioned in Revelations, however Christ's return is mentioned in these chapters which would indicate that he will be coming down from Heaven to rule the Earth, but the Bible doesn't mention that we will meet in the air upon his return, which would ultimately indicate that the rapture will occur prior to the tribulation period.


• The prophecies of Daniel have all happened according to scripture, the seventieth week has not occurred. At least there is no historical event that we can match up with the literal prophecy that Daniel has provided. This indicates that the seventieth week has not occurred. However if we look at the promise that he gave to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation Chapter 3:10, which explains to the Church that has kept His word, that they will be kept from the hour of temptation. This could possibly mean that the rapture will happen prior to the seventieth week which is the final seven year tribulation.

There is a day coming when your view of everything will radically change. Your perspective will change from an earthbound one to a heavenly one. God has given us enough of a view of the future, so that our perspective can change now, in anticipation of that day.

In Chapter 4 of Revelation we see that John is taken up to heaven. John's perspective is changed from an earthly perspective to a heavenly one. John see's a new view of God. John described a throne which indicates God is our true King, Lord, and Master. He is our creator. If you just take a short moment to notice a sun set, or the clouds in the morning during a sunrise, a rosebush, or even our beautiful stars, you would have to agree that there is a God, we aren't him, and that he is ruler and creator of all. The funny part that is hard to understand is why He chooses to love us. After all, God doesn't need us, He is self sufficient. I don't know the why to that question, but that tells us that He is a merciful, patient, and loving God. After all He did give us his only son to die for our sins. How many of you would give up your child for a stranger, or strangers. If you or someone you know doesn't believe there is a God, one day you will know, everyone will bow down to our King. John describes God as jasper and a sardine stone, which indicates God is beautiful.

John has a new view of the Church. John describes four and twenty seats, and four and twenty elders sitting down with crowns. This can be interpreted in a couple different ways, however if we look at Revelation 5:9 we see that this will probably be all believers. The crowns on their heads can be indicative as a token or reward for having faith and believing on God. The white raiment or robs is a sign of washed or cleansed.

John also has a new view of Angels. They are described as 4 beasts full of eyes. These beasts or creatures are Angelic creatures giving glory and praise to God.

The elders cast their crowns at before God as he sits on the throne and worship Him. The elders as mentioned earlier are, us!

The most important question is, are you ready? Are you for sure that your sins are forgiven and you are on your way to heaven? The Bible, or God's breathed word teaches us that we must believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, for our salvation. We must depend on Jesus and Jesus only, not "mans rules". There are two eternal locations where we could potentially spend eternity. Heaven or Hell, there is no gray area. Are you ready?

posted by Ben at 10:03 AM
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