Month: April 2013

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: [21] Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21)

Once again our congregational reading in Revelation takes us to the awful time of Tribulation that occurs after the rapture of God’s children from the earth. The scenes of physical destruction are frightening, but in my opinion the spiritual problem we see in Revelation 9:20-21 may very well be the scariest of all. These verses are not frightening to me as a believer in Christ, but they should be a huge wakeup call to those that ignore salvation thinking when they are full of sin they will turn from their wickedness and receive the Saviour.

In the previous verses, we have seen hordes of demons unleashed from the abyss. Evil spirits like scorpions inflict torment on people so vicious they wish they could die. They will seek death but not find it (9:5-6). Later another demonic army two hundred million strong will kill one-third of the world’s population (9:16-18). We would think the entire world would be convinced they must turn to Christ for salvation. Surely the mass destruction and utter devastation would cause them to seek God for deliverance. And yet we read in verse 21 “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

We wonder, “Why would they not repent?” It should not seem mysteriously strange as something never seen before when people today so callously turn their backs on Christ. This morning there are good preachers in pulpits all across America that lay the word of God before people and ask them to choose between life in heaven with Jesus Christ or eternal destruction in hell with Satan and his demons. Many recognize there is a problem, but rather than believe in Christ they say, “We will wait awhile. When we are finished with our fun and have tired of our vices, we will accept your Christ in time before we die.” This is a foolish thought because it is not in anyone’s power to receive Christ at any time he chooses. The human heart is depraved and incapable of turning to Christ unless the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit regenerates and brings the person to repentance and faith. Neither the worst of times nor the best of times are enough incentive to move a person to turn from his sins, give up self, and surrender all to the Saviour.

There are many that believe a preacher’s pleadings will save people. Some think salvation is an intellectual choice made by good sense and by the free will of man. They do not understand every faculty of man is depraved even, and perhaps most of all, his will. The will is enslaved to sin and cannot break free. We would as soon expect that pigs can fly as to believe a person is capable of turning his own heart to God. Revelation 9:20-21 shows that people with the strongest incentive to believe will never do so unless God speaks to their hearts and removes the natural hardness that keeps them from the truth of the gospel.

The most important lesson that you can learn from the end of this chapter is that to be saved you must humble yourself and plead for God’s mercy. God is in charge of your salvation not you! An arrogant attitude that says, “I will come when I am good and ready,” will never be acceptable to God. Trust Him today while the door of salvation is open. Tomorrow, He may choose close it.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. (Revelation 9:1)

Each week as we read through the Revelation, we are faced again and again with fascinating, intriguing scenes. Our reading today is in the ninth chapter as John sees more of the terrible woes that will come to earth during the Tribulation period. This is an era when God Himself will not only afflict the earth, but He will allow Satan to have more latitude to work his evil in the hearts of men. Although Satan is called the prince and the power of the air, and he is called the god of this world, he only has as much power as God allows him. During the Tribulation, God will take away some of the restraints that are placed on him now so that he will have much more freedom to do his worst. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, we are told the Holy Spirit’s restraining power that hinders Satan’s freedom will be removed.

In the ninth chapter, John sees a star fall from heaven to the earth. Many commentators note the tense of the verb should render this as fallen which means the star had already fallen. We are in agreement that the star that fell is Satan. The personal pronoun “him” is used which indicates the word “star” is used in a symbolic way. An account of Satan’s fall from heaven is recorded in Isaiah 14:12-15. Jesus also said in Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

Satan was created as one of the holy angels and most likely was of the highest order and chief among angels. When he fell he was not the only angel that rebelled against God. Revelation 12:4 is an indication that one-third of the angels joined him in his rebellion. Some of those angels, now known as demons, are active in the world today and are Satan’s helpers to bring temptation into our lives. However, not all of the demons remained free to assist Satan. Some were chained in the abyss and remain there today. During the Tribulation, Satan will be given the key to the abyss to allow the chained demons to go free and to torture people on earth. The Tribulation will be a time of both terrible mental and spiritual anguish. Demon possession will once again be prevalent because of the darkness of a world with little godly influence.

There are, however, some that will be saved during the Tribulation. In the seventh chapter, we learned that God will choose 144,000 from Israel that will become His witnesses. These are sealed and are under God’s protection (7:3, 9:4). They cannot be hurt by the demons that come from the abyss. I have often been asked if it is possible for Christians to become demon possessed. I am tempted to say, “YES!” because I know some church members that surely act as if they are. I am being facetious though because every Christian has the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never leaves us, so in order for Satan to possess a Christian he would have to drive the Holy Spirit out. This is impossible. Every Christian is forever protected from the powers of Satan. This is one of the marvelous benefits of our salvation. We belong to God and are safely held in both Jesus’ and the Father’s hand (John 10:28-29).

As you read this article today, are you confident of God’s protection? Do you know Christ as your Saviour? If not, you are wide open and completely vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. You may not understand this very well, but without Christ you are a subject of Satan’s kingdom. You are in rebellion against God even as the evil star that fell from heaven. One day God will end the rebellion of Satan’s kingdom. If you are still part of that kingdom, the devil’s punishment will be your punishment. Thank God He sent the bright and morning star to change your destiny! His name is Jesus (22:16) and He promised to deliver you from the kingdom of Satan if you will only trust Him as Lord and Saviour. Please do not delay—do not spend another day in the kingdom of darkness. Today is the day you can be saved!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. (Revelation 8:1)

This past summer, my wife and I had the privilege of an extended visit with our grandchildren. For more than two months, our house was filled with five grandchildren ranging from fifteen months to five years old. We got up with them, spent most of the day with them, fed them, bathed them, and then slept with them. For sixteen hours of the day, there was nonstop noise as they played, fought, and nearly killed each other. The only time there was a little peace was when they were sleeping, but I am sure they were dreaming how they could make the next day as chaotic as possible. We love our grandchildren and had a great time with them, but there were times we wished we could have just a few moments of peace and quiet.

I thought about this as I read the first verse of Revelation chapter 8. If you are planning to go to heaven for a little peace and quiet, I promise your dreams are only half true. It is not normal for heaven to be a quiet place. In the fourth chapter, we are told of angels and elders that fall before God’s throne and give Him praise. In the fifth chapter, there are ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands that sing praises. In chapter six, there are souls of martyred saints under the altar in heaven that cry out with loud voices for vengeance. In chapter seven there are millions of Gentiles that stand before the throne also crying out and worshipping God. Heaven will not be a quiet place!

This makes the scene in heaven in the opening of chapter 8 very strange. For half an hour, heaven goes stone cold silent. In his Revelation study, my father commented on this verse saying: “John sees the breaking of the last seal of the book and a strange thing happens. Prior to this all heaven resounded with the singing and praising of the Lord. Suddenly there is a deathly silence in heaven for half an hour. Volumes are written trying to explain the meaning of this silence, all kinds of speculations are made, some of them plausible, some of them foolish. Perhaps the best illustration and explanation comes from nature itself. In Kansas I have seen storm clouds gather and soon lightning began to flash and thunder peal, wind gusting and howling then suddenly an eerie calm. The chickens would all run for cover and the farm animals mill restlessly. Then suddenly the storm would break forth in all its fury with all the heavens seeming to explode in blinding flashes, deafening roars of thunder and mighty torrents of water plunging from the clouds as the storm poured out its wrath. This, I believe is the significance of the silence in heaven; God is setting the stage to hurl His wrath and indignation upon the earth, as the world has never seen before.”

What a frightening thought this is! The ominous silence of heaven is the cautious, reserved calm before the storm. Heaven becomes deafeningly silent as it awaits the wrath of God. The justice of the Creator will be poured out on unrepentant sinners that have rejected the mercy, love, and grace of God. Although we love peace and quiet, something tells me this quiet half hour will seem almost like eternity itself. I am thankful that I will be waiting out the half hour in heaven rather than on the earth. Do you know where you will be when this happens? I encourage you to be silent for a few minutes and listen to see if God is calling. Be still and know that He is God!

Pastor V. Mark Smith