life-study 26 - Christ Coming to Take Possession of the Earth

Scripture reading: Rev. 10:1-11 (Between the 6-7 trumpets, three visions here). [2nd insertion]. 

Rev. 10:1 And I saw another strong Angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon His head, and His face was like the sun, and His feet like pillars of fire;
Rev. 10:2 And He had in His hand a little opened scroll. And He placed His right foot on the sea and the left on the land;
Rev. 10:3 And He cried out with a loud voice just as a lion roars. And when He cried out, the seven thunders uttered their own voices.
Rev. 10:4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, and I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Seal the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.
Rev. 10:5 And the Angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up His right hand to heaven
Rev. 10:6 And swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer,

If we were to understand the above passage, you'll have to understand all the facts in the book of revelation. 

The following is the seventh trumpet. This trumpet will close the age and end all the mysteries of God, Christ, and the church. 

Rev. 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is about to trumpet, then the mystery of God is finished, as He has announced the good news to His own slaves the prophets.
Rev. 10:8 And the voice which I heard out of heaven, [I heard] again speaking with me and saying, Go, take the opened scroll in the hand of the Angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.
Rev. 10:9 And I went to the Angel and told Him to give me the little scroll. And He said to me, Take [it] and devour it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.
Rev. 10:10 And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the Angel and devoured it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth; and when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
Rev. 10:11 And they said to me, You must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.

life-study msg 25 - Further Judgment Upon Men—The Sixth Trumpet

Rev. 9:13-20 The 6th trumpet 

Rev. 9:13 And the sixth angel trumpeted, and I heard a voice out of the four horns of the golden altar which is before God
Rev. 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.
Rev. 9:15 And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year that they might kill the third part of men.
Rev. 9:16 And the number of the armies of horsemen was two hundred million; I heard their number.
Rev. 9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those sitting on them, having breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev. 9:18 By these three plagues the third part of the men were killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone proceeding out of their mouths.
Rev. 9:19 For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they harm [men].
Rev. 9:20 And the rest of the men, who were not killed by these plagues, still did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship the demons and the idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

FOCUS: The future component - principles and aspects of Christ as well as the prophecy of the end of the age. 

1. John shows us the scenes in heaven. 

2. The fifth trumpet will be the beginning of the tribulation. 

3. Not just have a holy fearing when we read this portion, but should also be in awe when we read it- the Lord might be silent now but will COME FORTH. 

4. 1941 December Pearl Harbour - Witness Lee's personal testimony in the war: the suffering in the wars were counted by the sufferers by hours, days, months, and years. 

Life study msg 22- The Seven Eyes of the Lamb For the Building of God

Scripture reading: Revelation chapter 5. 

The burden of this massage: Grow in life and function as Christians for the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Rv 5:3 And no one in heaven nor on the earth nor under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it.
Rv 5:4 And I wept much because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.
Rv 5:5 And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals.

1. Worthy is the Lamb for He has redeemed us. He has completed the full salvation for us. 

2. He is worthy because He has defeated the enemy. This qualifies Him to open God's economy. 

3. Who is worthy to open the secret of God's economy? -God is the only One who's found to be worthy. 

- The Lion of the tribe of Judah - His victory over the enemy. God's a fighter who knows how to defeat the enemy. 

- The Root of David - Christ is the source of David. 

Rv 5:6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

The development of this verse: 

- Seven Lambs (Exo.) -> seven eyes (Zech.) --> seven Spirits of God (Rev.) 

Eyes: Infusing into (purifying and burning away < judgment> and infusing into us the nature of God)

The overcoming today is to overcome the dark night and the degraded situation. This requires His infusion into us. This infusion will be the New Jerusalem that we see- all built by Jasper stone. 

Some fellowship from the saints:

We do experience the essential spirit but for the Lord's move and the fulfillment of His economy, the economical spirit is needed. Since the building of the Body of Christ is the Lord's heart's desire, at the later stage before the day of the Lord, we have to experience the Lord's intensified economical spirit in His move as well. 

Lord, may our daily living also be part of your move so we can experience you as our essential spirit but also the economical spirit. Bless your church, Lord! 

Life-study 21 -God's Preservation of His People

Scripture reading: 

Rev. 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree.

Rev. 7:2 And I saw another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom [authority] was given to harm the earth and the sea,

Rev. 7:3 Saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads.

Rev. 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Rev. 7:5 Out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed; out of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand;

Rev. 7:6 Out of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand;

Rev. 7:7 Out of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand;

Rev. 7:8 Out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed.

Rev. 7:9 After these things I saw, and behold, [there was] a great multitude which no one could number, out of every nation and [all] tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palm branches in their hands.

Rev. 7:10 And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.

Rev. 7:11 And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,

Rev. 7:12 Saying, Amen. The blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanks and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

The seven seals are a response to the martyred saints' prayers, and the seals will be before the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord in the Bible meaning the great tribulation. The man child will be taken away before the sixth seal (the 1st camp of rapture, the man child, the first fruit). 

1. Rapture: the believers on earth taken alive to the presence of the Lord. It takes place before the great tribulation (principle: the reaping the mature of the crop).

2. Two things God will do to preserve His people 

a. To seal the children of Israel on their forehead (144,000 people) -God's marking out the children of Israel and preserving them in the tribulation (if those do not worship the beast). God's faithful covenant. 

b. The great multitude in white robes  with palm branches are the believers who have suffered many things - grow in life in maturity. If the believers are not mature, they will be left on the earth until they become mature. 

(The reference - revelation of chapter 14, there mentioned three reapings) 

Concerning vows

Num. 30:2 When a man vows a vow to Jehovah or swears an oath to bind himself by pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Num. 30:7 And her husband hears of it and is silent with respect to her on the day he hears it, then her vows will stand and her pledges by which she has bound herself will stand.

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Lord, although we do not have the right over our vows as You are the One who made the final decisions, I still ask You to bless my heart over the vows.

Through our fellowship, You will eventually find favour of my vows and establish them.
Through the process, may I be infused with You, and You will be moved by my desires to serve You and find favour of my vows. 

Our interceding for others is according to who we are not what we have

Genesis 20:17 And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed  Abimelech and his wife and his female servants, so that they bore children. 

This is an interesting chapter that reveals Abraham's hidden sins and weaknesses. However, I'm encouraged that although Abraham fails in protecting his wife before the king of Gerar, God still exercised His sovereign hands to take care of Sarah and Abraham. Regardless of Abraham's lack of full trust in God and lost the enjoyment of Grace (typified by Sarah), God restored His testimony of Faith (typified by Abraham) and Grace with His sovereignty. 

Another thing that inspired me is verse 17. Since I'm still sort of suffering in my own situations, I don't know whether I'm qualified to pray for others who are in the same situations like me. For example, I'm still searching for funding to meet my need, but many times I'm put in a situation that I have to pray for other people's need. Times like this make me wonder: I'm not yet walking out from my own situation, am I qualified or have such a faith in me to pray for others with my faith? 

To mediate and to muse on

Psalms 77:12 And I will mediate on all that You have done And muse on Your doings.

(In Hebrew)
12 וְהָגִיתִי בְכָל־פָּעֳלֶךָ וְּבַעֲלִילֹותֶיךָ 1אָשִׂיחָה
שיח, verb, talk, meditate, speak, complain, pray, commune, muse, declare (12-9).

Having been a Christian for a long while, this verse to me always means I will "think" what God is and has done to me. However, looking back the Hebrew bible, the meaning becomes clear. "Mediate" and "muse" are sharing the same word in this verse. It means much more than simply to think or to consider, but more of something "audible"- our talking, speaking, complaining, praying, communing, and declaring Him. 

Praise the Lord! The way to contact God isn't just some thoughts in quietness or wondering in my mind, but to actually have conversations with the Lord. How amazing! This is the way we touch Him and enjoy Him.