SFJ Bible Reading Plan

Revelation 19

Rejoicing in Heaven

19:1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

  “Hallelujah!
  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2     for his judgments are true and just;
  for he has judged the great prostitute
    who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
  and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

3 Once more they cried out,

  “Hallelujah!
  The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

  “Praise our God,
    all you his servants,
  you who fear him,
    small and great.”

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

  “Hallelujah!
  For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
7   Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
  for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
8   it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said¹ to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in² blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule³ them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁴ both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence⁵ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Footnotes

[1] 19:9 Greek he said

[2] 19:13 Some manuscripts sprinkled with

[3] 19:15 Greek shepherd

[4] 19:18 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

[5] 19:20 Or on its behalf

(ESV)

Going Deeper

The Song of the Lamb (8-1-15)

Grab your Bible and let’s go deeper into Revelation 15:

Read Revelation 15:1-8,

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. 2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and amazing are your deeds,

O Lord God the Almighty!

Just and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!

4 Who will not fear, O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

This is such a great text in the middle of Revelation as it focuses on our Worship of the Lamb who was slain.

King Jesus is worthy of our praise forever and ever.  We will sing the song of the Lamb and worship God for his great grace forever.   I wanted to focus on this phrase, “the Lamb who was slain” today as a way of stirring our worship for all that God is and has done for us.

Jesus Christ. God the son.  One of the three members of the Holy Godhead.  Equal with the Father and Spirit as God.  Worthy of all honor and praise forever.  He is pure and Holy. Spotless in every way.

We must see the innocence, the purity, the perfection, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

He is the spotless lamb!

1 Peter 2:22-25 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Now, not only did Jesus avoid bad things, he committed no sin, deceived nobody, reviled nobody, threatened nobody.   The things that Jesus did he did unto the glory of the Father.   “He entrusted his life to God.”

This is important because doing the right things for the wrong reasons is also sin.

This is huge  because many people think that they don’t need Jesus because they are generally good people.

Even many Christians think they are doing fine in life and in the faith when they simply avoid bad movies, don’t cuss or chew or run around with girls who do. But sin is more than avoiding bad things.

What is sin?

Sin is a matter of our actions and of the heart.

1. Sin is doing the wrong thing. (Disobedience of God’s perfect law.)
2. Sin is also doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. (Self Salvation or self exultation)

Some of you need to confess your sin today before the Lord not because you are guilty of doing a bunch of horrible bad stuff but because you have been doing a bunch of great and helpful things for self-exalting motives.

Your aim has not been righteousness for the name’s sake of God.

It has been right living for the moving up the ladder in others’ eyes or in life, or just for YOU!

Now here is the thing we have to see with full eyes.

Jesus never sinned!  He was PERFECT!

Not only did he never commit sin, deceive anybody, revile anybody, or threaten anybody, but

He did all that he did “entrusting himself to him who judges justly”.  He did it all for the Glory of God the Father!

Jesus was sinless!

In 1 Peter 1:19, Peter refers to Christ as a Lamb without blemish or spot.

No imperfections.  Jesus is the Spotless Lamb.

Now, why was it so essential that Jesus was spotless?

Sin= Death

If a sacrifice is going to take on the sin of another, (atone for the sin of another)

 then that sacrifice cannot be carrying a bunch of its own sin. 

The cost of a valuable animal sacrifice was part of the cost of paying for your sin.  

So, Jesus’ sinless nature and sinless practice are the perfect gateway to life.

This is why…

– in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  1 Corinthians 15:22

Those who are in Adam are condemned to death because their representative sinned.

Those are who are in Christ are saved to life because their representative never sinned.

See the spotless lamb!

See the fact that he is worthy of total pardon from any chastisement because of HIS PERFECTION!

But not us.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  -Romans 3:23

Everyone one of us is worthy of eternal punishment for our betrayal of a Holy God.

You have to have a right view of your sin not compared to others but compared to our holy God.

Jesus is the only one who was sinless.   Jesus was worthy of Praise and exultation.  

Yet, he came near.  He took on flesh so that he could be our representative.

And even though he was tempted in every way as we were, he did not sin!

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So, Jesus was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.   This is why what happened to Jesus is so huge!  

Isaiah says Jesus was…

“like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent”   -Isaiah 53:7b

The spotless lamb took on the sin of the sheep that had gone astray.

We were the ones that went astray.

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

but the Lord has laid on him  the iniquity of us all.

Luther calls this “the great exchange.”    <>My death for his life,    <>My sin for his righteousness,

<>My condemnation for his salvation. <>My failure for his success. <>My defeat for his victory.

2 Corinthians 5:21, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  _(NASB)

He suffered. He died physically. He did so as a substitute in our place. He died the death we deserve.

He absorbed the wrath of God for us.  He took our due penalty resulting in our receiving his righteousness.

Galatians 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”

Brothers, at that moment, Jesus Christ, who was sinless, perfect God who became a man,  took upon himself our sin.

In that moment Jesus was making atonement for the sin of his people.

2 Corinthians 5:21, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,

He became sin on our behalf!

He became the scapegoat.    He paid our price.   He atoned our sin.

Now, we must also understand: At that moment, the wrath of God was satisfied.  

The justice of God was met.   The holiness of God was respected.     AMEN?

But notice what else Paul says,

2 Corinthians 5:21, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  _(NASB)

Because the lamb was slain and bled out, not just so we can have heaven but, so we could live in righteousness for God’s glory and others good!  AMEN?

Romans 6:11-14 & 17-18. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Oh how blessed we are to no longer be slaves to sin but now be slaves to righteousness.

We were in the, “The snare of the devil,”   We were in his grasp, and Christ our God came and He set us free.

He paid the price with His life, with His death on the cross so that you could be set free from sin and become a son, a daughter of God.      That’s THE good news!

For the saved… Oh we have so much to praise him for. 

WE should have been slaughtered. WE should have been bled out

But he showed us his amazing Grace.  He took our penalty.  He substituted himself in our place!    He made atonement for us so we could be reconciled to God.

Brothers, he did this so we could DIE TO SIN and LIVE to RIGHTEOUSNESS!

This is why we will sing “the Song of the Lamb” forever and ever.

Revelation 15:3-4

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and amazing are your deeds,

O Lord God the Almighty!

Just and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!

4 Who will not fear, O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

May we worship him today and every day as worthy of all of our lives.

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

National Chaplain

Revelation 18

The Fall of Babylon

18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,

  “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become a dwelling place for demons,
  a haunt for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3   For all nations have drunk¹
    the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
  and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

  “Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
  lest you share in her plagues;
5   for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and God has remembered her iniquities.
6   Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
    and repay her double for her deeds;
    mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
7   As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
  since in her heart she says,
    ‘I sit as a queen,
  I am no widow,
    and mourning I shall never see.’
8   For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,
    death and mourning and famine,
  and she will be burned up with fire;
    for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

  “Alas! Alas! You great city,
    you mighty city, Babylon!
  For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.²

14   “The fruit for which your soul longed
    has gone from you,
  and all your delicacies and your splendors
    are lost to you,
    never to be found again!”

15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16   “Alas, alas, for the great city
    that was clothed in fine linen,
      in purple and scarlet,
    adorned with gold,
      with jewels, and with pearls!
17   For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”

And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

  “What city was like the great city?”

19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

  “Alas, alas, for the great city
    where all who had ships at sea
    grew rich by her wealth!
  For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
20   Rejoice over her, O heaven,
    and you saints and apostles and prophets,
  for God has given judgment for you against her!”

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

  “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
    and will be found no more;
22   and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
    will be heard in you no more,
  and a craftsman of any craft
    will be found in you no more,
  and the sound of the mill
    will be heard in you no more,
23   and the light of a lamp
    will shine in you no more,
  and the voice of bridegroom and bride
    will be heard in you no more,
  for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
    and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
24   And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
    and of all who have been slain on earth.”

Footnotes

[1] 18:3 Some manuscripts fallen by

[2] 18:13 Or and slaves, and human lives

(ESV)

Revelation 17

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.¹

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit² and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

15 And the angel³ said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

Footnotes

[1] 17:6 Greek the witnesses to Jesus

[2] 17:8 Greek the abyss

[3] 17:15 Greek he

(ESV)

Revelation 16

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters¹ say,

  “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
    for you brought these judgments.
6   For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
    and you have given them blood to drink.
  It is what they deserve!”

7 And I heard the altar saying,

  “Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
    true and just are your judgments!”

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed² the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds⁴ each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Footnotes

[1] 16:5 Greek angel of the waters

[2] 16:9 Greek blasphemed; also verses 11, 21

[3] 16:18 Or voices, or sounds

[4] 16:21 Greek a talent in weight

(ESV)