Gospel of Matthew Ch. 17 and Revelation Ch. 6

"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

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Matthew 17

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. 22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Revelation 6

1 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. 2 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. 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 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. 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Heavenly Father, bless our reading of Your Word, help us to understand it, and make it fruitful in us and through us.

We pray for all Your church, all the children, all those suffering for Your name, all the suffering, especially children, the oppressed, the falsely accused and falsely convicted, those who serve and protect others, the poor and the homeless, the children who have no human beings to protect them, the children in the womb and those seeking to protect them, those caught in addictions to drugs or alcohol, those possessed or oppressed by demons, the greedy that they might come to repentance, our leaders in the church, especially those who sincerely love You, our leaders in the world, especially those who sincerely love You or are sincerely seeking You, for the peace of Jerusalem and the Jewish people, and all Your remnant of faithful around the world who love You in sincerity, including those who will turn to You in repentance but haven’t yet.

And thank You for all Your blessings, especially giving Your Son to save all who love You in sincerity from their sins. And the gift of knowing Him and You, and of Your Holy Spirit, and prayer and Your Word, and the Church, and the Supper of Your Son. And the gifts of Your Holy Spirit, and the Fruit of Your Spirit, and all you give us for life in this world.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!

I post two chapters in order, starting from the beginning of the New Testament, and then highlight whatever the Lord brings to me out of the two chapters to be posted.

He is parental, and His will and concern is the well-being of people, especially that they be transformed so they can live forever in happiness with Him and others, and that’s what I want to be as well. To live in a perfect place with Him and others requires preparation, and to be transformed into beings who will be at one with Him and others in Heaven.

We can’t be that yet here, especially as the world will get in the way even as He starts to change us, but we can be readied and on the way, so that, for instance, like a person who has their needs well met here might find a sum of money and feel need to keep it, so they turn it in. I had that happen when I left a purse with almost $1,000 in it in a shopping cart. I went back quickly, and it had been turned in to the supermarket, with the money. Perhaps the person was afraid of being caught, or an employee, but it was a wealthier town. In a poorer town, it’s more likely that regardless of any other factors, the money would have been gone. In Heaven, our free will and temptation will be there, but we’ll be so enlightened in the ways of God, and His wisdom, that we can easily resist any temptations like they don’t even exist.

So we need to have our minds and hearts changed, and be open to God’s view, which isn’t ours. His is spiritual. In a way, this life is only a test. “Lean not on your own understanding.” In that way, we actually experience and learn much more, and with the supernatural richness only He can bring.

In the verses I highlighted on this particular day, this is of the book of Revelation, which is one of much warning about spiritual matters and their conclusion with God’s judgment. All, from the rich and great, down to the ordinary, the free man and the bond servant, will face God’s judgment if they aren’t reconciled to Him.

We can see strong similarities between what’s happening today and the Book of Revelation.

Some of the similarities between Revelation and now, signaling that the End Times and return of Christ might be very soon, are a world government taking shape, very advanced technology that would allow for a mark without which no one can buy or sell, and a general turning away from faith in God towards an exalting of man as a replacement for God. That is represented in the Beast leader and system, which has the number 666. 6 is the number of man, as God created mankind on the 6th day. So advanced technology leads man to want to discard God, trust in our own reason, and feel and act like we’re gods.

Advanced technology, while good in many respects, also has that side of disrupting many ancient patterns, including man’s fear of God. It can mass produce all manner of things, and remove may safeguards that have protected humanity from spiritual self-destruction. Revelation mentions a spirit out of Hell, Abaddon, and technology may be part of it.

One of the chief perils to our souls, which Jesus often preached on, and which is only so much worse today, is worldliness. We can put any number of things before God, and the power of the worldliness is in so many ways much greater today. For instance, there is not only many rich classes today, but rich countries in ways that didn’t exist when life was much closer to subsistence levels.

Jesus said the answer to it all is that, wherever we are in life, we must be born again, and become as little children. Little children want to be parental, like God, taking care of and looking out for others. They don’t know what spiritual means, but they are naturally spiritually-minded.

Jesus also said that we would have tribulation in this world, but it is to refine our faith, our spirituality. Life is to develop us spiritually, under God’s direction. And our progress, again, is towards living in perfect love and unity and enjoyment in Heaven with God and each other. That means that are many differences need to be resolved, and the Lord works on doing that to us, especially through us allowing Him to change our priorities and values. That is for our benefit, for our lasting eternal happiness. Just as we are happier if we can return a lost wallet full of money rather than keep it, we are happier to be good before God and to each other. He wants to give us Heaven, every enjoyment that we can think of, including those that are here, but they will be purified. And that won’t take anything away from them. It will only make them better.

So, wherever we are, the Lord wants to work with us from there, to lead us upward spiritually to Heaven. And He is very patient. He knows our weakness, and knows we are beset with many difficulties. Today, perhaps more than ever, we know and hear a lot more, and even through entertainment and the media “witness” much more and live many vicarious lives, which almost gives us the impression that we’ve had different careers and experiences that we’ve actually never had. But much of it is superficial, as we quickly move through each other’s lives.

Having been homeless myself, for instance, I know how the homeless are often judged on incomplete knowledge, that seems complete. Many of them are lower intelligence, just below average, and have very broken families, as family life has been undermined by modern technology and its culture in many ways, and so lack belonging. And generally being low income, they do have many strikes against them, too. They aren’t as exposed to more intelligent conversations. I know, from growing up in a wealthier town, that the people there have more knowledgeable conversations. And the rich, too, are more subject to some things. Many people are insincere towards them, and fewer people in the middle class want to think about the serious issues of the day responsibly, but to be entertained and have others bear the burden of making decisions. The middle class also has its burdens. So despite technological “progress,” there is just as much, if not more, to trouble all of our relationships, and that ultimately undermines us spiritually. A big house may feel more secure and might be thought to bring happiness, but today it often comes with a lot more spiritual unhappiness, while also threatening our life in the next world, as it distorts our vision and our values.

Again, the Lord wills for us to be born again, to become as little children, and that is truly the way to begin to have Heaven here on earth, as that truly begins to bring satisfaction to our souls that nothing, absolutely nothing else can.

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