King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Who Shall Stand
Date: Sunday December 25, 2011 Merry Christmas!
Chapters: Revelation 6-8
All Scripture quoted comes from the King James Version, words in red are quoted by Jesus.

Hello My Friend,

“And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows...And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved...And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.” -Mark 13:7,8,13,20.

God's judgment upon all mankind will be marked by religious apostasy, wars and rumors of wars, upheavals among kingdoms, earthquakes, famines, and trouble, disregard of the law, and manifestations of hatred toward the preachers of the Gospel. When Jesus returns to claim His people and bring judgment upon the unbelieving, who will be able to stand, to be saved from God's wrath.

It was around 534BC that Daniel saw visions that are similar to those of John, it was then that God revealed to him the things that would come to pass before the great Tribulation, which is when Jesus will return to earth to claim His throne. In a more vivid and dramatic fashion John watches as Jesus breaks the seven seals one by one and reveals the contents and symbolism of each, the first for are horses.

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” - Revelation 6:1-4-6,8.

One by one, just as Jesus foretold of the beginning of sorrows, the tribulation period will begin and it will not end until Satan and every unbeliever is cast into the lake of fire. When it will begin and how long it will take is unknown, but what is known is that it will be devastating and deadly to everyone except those who are saved. In the midst of His revealing the contents of the book, Jesus reveals to John the ones who will be saved.

“Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel...After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;..They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” - Revelation 7:3,4,10,16,17.

Who will be able to stand? Only the people who will have applied the shed blood of the Lamb upon their souls, 144,000 Jews and a multitude of others from every nation will be saved. There is no respect of persons with God, position, rank, title, and honor mean absolutely nothing to God, it will not bring salvation to anyone. The only way to be saved from all this is by believing in and receiving Christ as your Savior. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” - I John 5:12,13.

Upon the opening of the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for half an hour, then follows a vision of seven angels, who stood before God, and had seven trumpets given to them. “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets...And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up...And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” - Revelation 8:1,2,6,13.

God bless those days of the great Tribulation, when God in all His wrath pours out His final judgment upon the earth. We can all thank God for His longsuffering, not willing to see anyone in hell, and while we who are saved can praise God for not coming before we got saved, those who are not are only facing the beginning of their sorrows. They not only have to face this tribulation alone, they face a second death much worse than the first. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” -John 5:28,29.

Since it is Christmas, one would wonder why we are reading about the end of the world when we should be reading about the birth of Christ. The truth is, it's all about Christ. While we are rejoicing and giving praise to God for the birth of His Son, we should also be reminding ourselves that He was born to die for us, to save sinners. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” -Matthew 1:21.

Without the pure birth of Christ we would not have the perfect sacrifice, without the perfect sacrifice we would not have redemption for our sins, without redemption for our sins, we will not be saved from hell and the second death. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” - Romans 5:8-11. Praise God!

Today's Prayer:
Jesus,
Happy Birthday, the love that You have for us is just astounding, those who truly believe in You with all their heart, mind, and soul will never really understand how You willfully gave Your life to save our wretched souls. However, we do understand that we are redeemed by Your precious blood. You were born to die for us, but You rose up in victory and returned to Your Father to sit at His right hand to rightfully judge us accordingly. When we consider the depth of Your love let us be more determined to be faithful to You until You come to get us. Help us to endure the afflictions that come our way by keeping our eyes, not on that which is seen, but on the unseen future rewards that You promise to those who love You. In your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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