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Kept By His Word
Kept By His Word
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The book of Revelation comes at you hard and fast. It assumes you paid attention, in the previous sixty-five books. We are scarcely at midpoint…the sixth trumpet…the second woe…and already, the accumulated damage and upheaval are breath-taking. But to connect the dots with congruence; we ought to learn when to consider the spiritual world, and when it is, that the spiritual world spills over into our physical world.
We piece together that spiritual world; by hearing in his word, what our natural world is telling us. Stars as angels…seas as people…trees as rulers…beasts as nations…Israel as a fig tree…his star in the east…all revealed to us in his holy word. Revealed to his servants.
As Abraham’s children, then, we should always consider both sides of things. Both the:
Stars of the heaven
And the:
Sand which is upon the sea shore.
And though we dare consider both worlds; Abraham’s signature promise was among the stars:
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Back here on the sandy, scientific sea shores; the chemistry of blood, and the gravitational spin of every single thing, are enough. But it is the spiritual side of things that is paramount, to understanding this Revelation. After all; we are beholding what John saw, when the angel bade him:
Come up hither
What John saw, is heaven and earth, at the very same instant. Spirit and flesh, both at the same time. This is, the:
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.
John is here standing, in close proximity to the very throne of God. And he recites both the magnificent things in heaven, and detailed events on the earth. But he never elaborates on that curious crossing-over point. The point when a spiritual burning mountain…cast from heaven to the earth…crosses-over to a physical burning mountain, landing in the sea. That point when the sting of a spiritual locust, crosses-over to grievous pain in men for five months.
Any recap of the seven seals and the first five trumpets, must be a summary from John’s vantage point…beholding the whole arena of heaven and earth. A summary which requires us to use, what the Holy Ghost has taught us in his word.
John has seen the opening of the seven seals; and their transition from the throne room, to the earth. He has seen the blowing of the first five trumpets, and followed their voices from heaven to the earth. So should we, keep our bi-dimensional glasses on, in considering this short summary.
Remember that the seven seals are broken by Jesus Christ, in the throne room of heaven. John testifies that these are spiritual events. The four horsemen of the first four seals are distinct spirits. They appear to John one by one, as their seal is opened in heaven. And they all four are sent forth…but none returns.
The white horse is a spirit of compromise for the greater good. Of tolerating sin for personal right and belief. It is the good neighbors, church, community love, kid’s sports, and work and fun. His assault began in John’s day, and has reached full-blown maturity today. From the YMCA to the pope…from islam to scientology…from homeless shelter to political angel…this spirit can be found thriving within. Any and all churches, religions, charitable organizations, and civil agencies today, are the fruit of that spirit. They neither believe nor obey the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The white horse spirit has paved the broad way.
The red horse is a spirit of war, released in John’s day. One need only read our history books, to gauge this spirit’s success. Over the past 1900 years, he has globally matured, and is armed to the teeth with technology and money.
The black horse is a spirit of money, food, greed, and class distinction. The penny collectors, and the hungry. Add industrialization and technology, and we have our global economy. This; in the hands of a spirit released in John’s day. A spirit who has meticulously tweaked his balances, for 1900 years.
The pale horse needs no introduction. Released before John’s eyes, he has now matured to snaring 107 souls per minute.
The fifth seal is also a spiritual event. No events on the earth are recorded…though the crowd of martyr’s beneath heaven’s altar, do acknowledge those who live there.
The sixth seal is just too intense to review again here. It was fully addressed in Fuel of the Fire, chapter six. But it too, is spiritual in nature.
And finally; the book from the right hand of God is loosed, with the breaking of the seventh seal. And while these events also take place in heaven, the prayers of the saints in this world, have crossed-over into that world, and are offered with incense at this seventh seal.
The first five trumpets are the subject of Fuel of the Fire, and of this book. And though hard to understand, the trumpets are spiritual in origin and nature…and their judgments begin in a spiritual world. Yes, now and again there are hints, that the consequence of these trumpets, spills over into the physical world. But they should first be viewed from John’s perspective.
In short; the landscape before you has been carefully cultivated for some 1900 years, by very powerful spirits which you cannot see. Judgment to this point has been largely upon them…and only by extension, upon us.
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