Faithful and True

Revelation 19     Kathy Carlson

Revelation 19:11-12: I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.

Since I was a small child I dreamed of a dramatic rescue.  I dreamed of being taken out of frightening circumstances by a hero who was up for the job. Throughout my childhood and early adult years, God allowed painful circumstances and very few people upon whom I could truly rely to shape in me an increasing desperation and recognition of my need for a rescuer. 

My heart often wondered, what is it to be loved thoroughly, to lean back into that love and trust it will never fail, never let you down, never leave you or forsake you?  Is there a love (and one who is capable at all times of loving perfectly) that is always faithful and always true? It was such a painful question that I hardened my heart over time to even the hope that such a rescue was possible and simply decided the answer was no.

God allowed me to have my way and live life on my terms. Stubborn and alone, I hid from the deepest desire of my very fragile heart and pretended as if I was strong and capable and didn’t need anyone or anything.  At 34 I came to the end of my ability to run from the truth any longer.  Exhausted and wrecked in almost every way possible, I bent my knee and bowed my will to the Truth. My Rescuer pursued me and knocked on the door of my heart.  I was finally ready to abandon all pretense of self-sufficiency, so aware of my need for rescue, that I flung the door open wide and allowed God to storm in and break my heart wide open.  The relief I felt when I received Christ as my Lord and Savior was so deep, I felt it physically in my chest. It was the sensation of a deep, long-awaited exhale as I could finally loosen my grip and relax into everything I had ever hoped for.

My salvation was the beginning step of the undoing of the protective shell I had around my heart that has been accomplished over time as I have walked with Christ.  I now see that my deepest struggle in my faith walk (I am celebrating 15 years) has been the development of trust that He is who He says He is and loves in the way the Word details over and over again. 

• Matthew 28:20: Jesus said, "I will be with you always, to the end of the age."
• Hebrews 13:5: Be content with the things you have, for He has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."
• Romans 8:38-39: Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any spiritual powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Further, I have come to believe in the deepest parts of my heart that His love applies to me.  To me personally, to Kathy Carlson, just as she is (sometimes, oftentimes desperately unlovable). My walk of faith has been a deepening series of victories, blessings and trials that have quite literally wrought in me the truth of the Truth.  Jesus is faithful and true.  And HE LOVES ME.  My little girl dreams have come true in the person of Christ.  He rode into the wreckage of my life and rescued me from the sins of others, my own sin and my own hardness of heart.  And He continually proves that He is everything He claims to be.  He has taught me to trust in His love and how to love Him back with all my heart has to offer.

The revelation of Christ who will one day ride into the whole world’s wreckage and lay claim to those He calls His own, in the victory of all victories, is the ultimate completion of the cry of every heart.  Call on Him today while there is time - He is your Faithful and True.  He is the completion of every longing of your heart.

Marriage Supper Culmination

Revelation 19     George Badeaux

Rev 19:7-9   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; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.  And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

I rejoice at the thought of the marriage supper of the Lamb.  It will be the joyous outcome of the plan of God, conceived even before time began.  But for us, in the here and now, it is so easy to get consumed by the stuff of life.  Even in the following of God, we get focused on the vast array of ways to serve and honor our Lord, and the thousands of different ways we could improve our Christian walk.  We can so easily get focused on the minutia and miss the big picture.

The big picture includes at least these things.  God exists.  He created the heavens and the earth.  He is the source of, and the ultimate expression of: love, power, knowledge, goodness, righteousness, compassion, and grace.  He is worthy of our worship.  He created us with the freedom to choose to follow Him or do evil.  We did evil.  This evil separates us from God.  He made the way and paid the price to remove the barrier between us and Him through Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross.

Why?  The answer is something that I think has been overlooked by millions (including me…for over 30 years as a believer).  And the answer is more important than the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  It is more important because it is the reason for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  The answer is His desire.

His desire, His longing, His heart’s yearning is for relationship with us. 

The culmination of all of history on Earth is the marriage supper of the Lamb.  This ultimate marriage supper is a joyous celebration of a change.  I am currently engaged to be married.  I long for, I yearn for, I can’t wait for the change: the marriage.  And it is not the ceremony I long for.  It is the change in the relationship: the change from loving but separate to loving and together.  Together in the closest human relationship possible.  The marriage supper of the Lamb will celebrate an even closer relationship, closer than we can imagine.

The big picture is: Immanuel, God with us.  But so often we think of this as only a baby in a manger.  Don’t get me wrong.  God in a manger as a baby may be the most important event in all the universe.  But “Immanuel, God with us” is so much bigger than the manger.  It is the central core theme of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.  And, as in so many other things, the most important aspect is the heart.  God’s heart’s desire is to be with us in intimate relationship forever.  He desires us.  He desires you.   Yes…He desires close relationship with you!  His arms are open, and He desires for you to lean into His embrace every day.  Know that in your heart.  Rejoice!  Cry tears of joy!  There is no greater joy!

Immanuel, God with us.  The big picture.  The main point.  The heart of God!

WBTHTGP

Revelation 17 & 18     Eric Boberg

In 1978 Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People. WBTHTGP.  As the title implies, it  dealt with the question of why God allows evil in the universe. Or to put it more personally : Why me? The book quickly became a New York Times best seller and stayed on the list for many months. Here in the last part of Revelation we are presented with the judgement of God and a scene that might be titled WBTHTBP: When Bad Things Happen To Bad People. God makes His case against people caught up in a system that is Evil at it's core. The woman or Lady, is called the great prostitute and she is the head of this whole system. She is drunk with the blood of the saints and in Rev 18:3 we learn:

"For all the nations have drunk
    the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
    and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

As we read the description it becomes apparent that this lady is not a single person but a whole economic and political system that is tied to all the people of the earth. The people might correctly say, with apologies to Rodney Dangerfield, "That's no lady, that's my life." Just as the body of Christ has many members, so too this body of evil has many members who have dedicated their lives to her service.

If from our vantage point in scripture it becomes easy to see the folly of these sinful acts in Revelation, it is because of the grace of God. And also because we operate from a fixed and steady point. That point is the goodness and righteousness of God. It is obvious that the people in Revelation who have taken the mark of the Beast and are under the thrall of the Lady have no such clarity. They are so totally invested in the system that they are hardened to the specifics of their sins. You can almost hear the rationalization song.

I'm just doing my job, and the money is good.
If I didn't do it, someone else would.
I've got a family to feed, I had to take the mark.
It's not just me, we all play a part.

There are bits of truth in every lie to make it believable. But one of the reasons these lies are more easily swallowed is that they began with the false assumption: the really big lie of Harold Kushner's book. Yes, Yes, Yes we are all good people. It sounds so nice, so reasonable, so kind. Except that that is in direct conflict with scripture. You know the verses: for all have sinned…. There is none righteous, no not one.… Your own righteousness is like filthy rags…. More importantly and more clearly,  Jesus - the defining character of all of history - had to die exactly because we were not good people.

Yes, it is true we are made in the image of God, and because of that each of us carries a certain nobility. We have some good attributes that we inherited from our Father, even if we did not acknowledge the gift. But we, at our very core, are deeply flawed and fallen, sinful, in need of a Savior. God doesn't require us to suffer for our sins instantly. So we are allowed to go on thinking that the everyday blessings we experience are a reward for good behavior and not simply the patience and mercy of  a good God. A better title for a book might be WGTHTBP: When Good Things Happen To Bad People. The book would be about Patience and Grace. This is a far more realistic assessment of what goes on in the universe and our day-to-day existence. It's the Grace of God that keeps us alive, in the hope we might eventually stumble into the Truth.

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

It is only this patience that has delayed judgement for so long. So are the people at the end of Revelation more wicked than all those who have gone before? I'm not sure. The system they are part of is clearly very, very, wicked and requires the judgement of God. But do you remember that story about a tower in Siloam that fell and killed 18 people in the time of Jesus? Jesus says, "Don't think those that died were more wicked, but unless you repent, you too will also perish." Luke  13:4

It's a very simple message: repent. That's it; repent! Forget about WBTHTGP: When Bad Things Happen to Good People. You know in your heart of hearts you are not good; so repent. Repent and receive the love of God.

I didn't intend for my last line to rhyme but it did, so consider it a poem.

For all it's popularity,
Kushner's book was  deeply flawed
because it began with the goodness of man
and not the goodness of God.

Come Out of Her, My People

Revelation 17 & 18     Karen Downing 

Pre-trib, mid-trib, post trib. I have heard compelling teaching on all three of these concepts dealing with the rapture and when the church will be "caught up" with Jesus. Honestly, I tend to think we will be expected to endure to the end, becoming a sweet sacrifice to the Lord as we give our lives to share salvation with those last ones on the earth. I know, there are many of you who beg to differ; this is just what is in my heart when I ponder it.

What I personally believe is important in these "tribulation chapters" is the great wrath brought on the earth by The Almighty and the call of the voice in 18:4 to, "Come out of her, My people..." before the fall of Babylon. They are being called out before judgement comes and that's how it ties to what I believe about the tribulation. I can see myself compelling others to "come out!" of Babylon. What becomes obvious then, at least to me, is that this is what I need to be doing today. 

Rise up, End Time People! Set a standard! Lead the others out of Babylon!

And prayerfully, with great reverence, I ask You Lord, to show me what this means.

My Life is an Arrow

Revelation 17 & 18     Chris Kray

[Good Morning All!  Today, we have a guest contributor: Chris Kray.  Chris is part of Communitas, and you might know him from his tasty lead guitar he adds to our Worship Teams from time to time.  Chris approached Bob with this piece of writing; he wrote it while listening to Bob's last message on the Book of Revelation.  Chris is a deep thinker, and I always appreciate conversations with him.  Enjoy!  JK]

My life is an arrow. My life is a weapon. My design is that of warfare. Who I am is your undoing. World, king of T'yre, lucifer, satan, you had better come at me. I am coming for your head. I am poised, aimed for your heart. Through repentance, compassion, love, and persecution is the shaft that holds up the head, the blade that is Christ's work. When you hurt my family, my friends, you sharpen my resolve. The arrow is drawn back even farther. When you come to claim what God has redeemed, you launch the arrow sending it deeper into your chest, cutting your flesh, slicing your corrupted tendons, puncturing your lung. My life will be your destruction at the hand of my Creator. His victory is your demise. Keep coming. Keep sharpening me, as I mourn, wail in agony because of my transgressions, my shortcomings. As The Lord fashions me as He sees fit, know that even though I am afraid, He will comfort me. He will meet my needs. You are undone. You have no hope. You are defeated.

Visions

Revelation 17 & 18     Peter Nordell

Once again John is in the spirit and led to a place, the desert, where he is given the visions.  This time it is of the woman, the harlot, maybe represented by a city, Babylon.  All of the evils of the city are described, the kings who have been adulterous with the woman, along with the beast.  Yet, Rev 17:14 states that the Lamb will overcome them because, He is the Lord of lords and King of Kings and with him will be the called, chosen and faithful followers.  That is the promise we must hang onto as we read of the pain and punishment taking place on this earth.

  

The readers of these texts thought of Rome, with its 7 hills and the sins of the city. They and we, however, must remember the beast has power only until God's words are fulfilled.

One more thought: the text talks about the great Babylon.  It was great and ceretainly filled with sin of every sort including the murder of God's people until the blood flowed in the streets.  However, today we can not find Babylon; it has been utterly destroyed and God's city Jerusalem, stands strong and well, after many centuries.  God will take care of His own - and wins in the end.  

Good Wrath

Revelation 17 & 18     George Badeaux

There are differences of opinion about the woman sitting on the beast in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.  Verse 8 of chapter 17 tells us, “The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."  Some believe the city is Rome and that this section of Revelation has already been fulfilled.  Whether this is true or not, there is a great foretelling here of justice, judgment, and the outpouring of God’s wrath.  This blog entry looks a little deeper at God’s wrath.

Before we do that, I think it is important to answer a very fundamental, yet deep question.  Why does God allow evil to exist?  A short answer is that He has decided that it is more important for us to have freedom of choice than it is for there to be a complete absence of evil.  In the mysterious mix of God’s sovereignty and our free will, He has given us the freedom to love Him or not, to choose to follow Him or not, to open our hearts to His love or to do evil.

But He must respond to evil.  And we too have a universal response when we see something evil perpetrated on another.  We desire justice.  So does God.  What if God never responded to evil?  That is unthinkable.

Because He is so good and all-knowing, He perceives things as horribly evil that we don’t even notice.  This is part of why we sometimes think His judgment is too harsh.  We are tempted to think that God is not completely good.  This is a lie, one that was first told on earth in the Garden of Eden.  Let us use the truth of God’s Word to utterly destroy this lie in our hearts and minds.  God’s wrath is completely good and completely righteous.  It is an expression of His perfect love.

Scripture tells us that the outpouring of God’s wrath has occurred in the past, that it is an ongoing part of His interaction with mankind, and that it will result in the absolute removal of all evil from our presence in the future. 

Thanks be to God that we are safe from His wrath.  Romans 5 tells us, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! … Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Those who trust in Jesus should trust that they are safe from God’s wrath.  But for those who do not trust Him, Hebrews 10 tells us there is “only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”  And … "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

God’s wrath is …

            To be feared

            Coming

            Sure

Good

Let us know this.  Let us be moved in our hearts for those who don’t.  And let us speak.  Let us speak the very words of God in love, shining the light of truth on what is otherwise a very dark and fearful expectation of judgment.