{"id":9801,"date":"2020-06-14T20:00:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T03:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=9801"},"modified":"2020-06-14T11:43:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T18:43:11","slug":"revelation14_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/revelation14_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Message for Everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Revelation 14:1-13 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Revelation+14%3A1-13&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here for Bible Verses<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9802 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/200615.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/200615.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/200615-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/200615-450x225.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s passage is Revelation 14:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Revelation 14:1-5 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father&#8217;s name written on their foreheads.<br \/>\n<sup>2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.<br \/>\n<sup>3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.<br \/>\n<sup>4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.<br \/>\n<sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On verses 1-5:\u00a0 After his vision in chapter 13 of earth being controlled by Satan the red dragon, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth, John\u2019s vision switches to heaven where John once again sees the 144,000 whom he saw earlier in Revelation 7.\u00a0 These 144,000 are quite possibly Jewish Christians who came from the 12 tribes of Israel.\u00a0 Here in these verses we learn more about these 144,000 and the role that they play in heaven:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First, the seal that was placed on their foreheads was the name of Jesus and the Father (v1).\u00a0 No wonder Satan, ever the copycat, wanted to place his 666 mark on the foreheads of people in Revelation 13:16-18.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Second, these 144,000 are standing with Jesus on Mount Zion (v1).\u00a0 Whether Mount Zion is a reference to heaven generally or an actual Mount Zion that is a part of heaven is not totally clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Third, these 144,000 sing a new song before God\u2019s throne, a song that no one could learn except them (v3).\u00a0 Meanwhile in the background, heaven plays music that is powerful like rushing waters, loud like thunder and yet gentle and soothing like harpists playing (v2).<\/li>\n<li>Fourth, these 144,000 apparently had decided to remain single all their lives and kept their commitment to remain celibate (v4a).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Fifth, these 144,000 were followers of Jesus, \u201cpurchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb\u201d (v4).\u00a0 The fact that these 144,000 are called \u201cfirstfruits\u201d suggests that other people will put their faith in Jesus after them and will also be in heaven, including the great multitude that no one could count in Revelation 7:9.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Sixth, \u201cno lie was found in their mouths; they were blameless\u201d (v5).\u00a0 Washed by the blood of Jesus and marked with God\u2019s name, these 144,000 are found righteous in God\u2019s sight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>Revelation 14:6-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth&#8211;to every nation, tribe, language and people.<br \/>\n<sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said in a loud voice, &#8220;Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nOn verses 6-7:\u00a0 John sees another angel flying and equipped to proclaim the \u201ceternal gospel\u201d to all who live on earth \u2013 to every nation, tribe, language and people.\u00a0 In verse 7 this angel loudly calls people to worship God their Creator now that the hour of His judgment has come.<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0<strong>If there is one message that God wants to get out to all the world, it is the gospel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>It is the message that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that through Jesus we can be forgiven and have an eternal relationship with God as His children.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This gospel is eternal (v6); that is, this gospel is relevant for every period and every era in history.\u00a0 This gospel is for everyone, for \u201cevery nation, tribe, language and people\u201d (v6).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Finally,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>this gospel isn\u2019t just for our information, but for our transformation.\u00a0 It is meant to stir us to action, that in response to this gospel we would worship the One who created it all.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Revelation 14:8 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A second angel followed and said, &#8220;Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nOn verse 8: What is Babylon the Great?\u00a0 Some scholars interpret Babylon the Great to mean the entire system of the world that is bent on rebelling against God.\u00a0 Others interpret Babylon the Great to refer to Rome, which was the most powerful city in the world and which also led the nations in godlessness and immorality.\u00a0 Still others interpret Babylon the Great to refer to a future city that will be the capital city of the anti-Christ\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 We will look in more detail at \u201cBabylon the Great\u201d later on in Revelation.\u00a0 In any event, when the second angel proclaims that \u201cFallen is Babylon the Great\u201d, the lesson for us is that\u00a0<strong>God\u2019s kingdom will ultimately prevail over any kingdom that opposes Him, no matter how great<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Revelation 14:9-13 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: &#8220;If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,<br \/>\n<sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he, too, will drink of the wine of God&#8217;s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.<br \/>\n<sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.&#8221;<br \/>\n<sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God&#8217;s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.<br \/>\n<sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I heard a voice from heaven say, &#8220;Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.&#8221; &#8220;Yes,&#8221; says the Spirit, &#8220;they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On verses 9-13:\u00a0 In verses 9-11 a third angel appears and says that there is no rest (v11b) but torment (v10b) for those who worship Satan\u2019s beast and who bear his name (v9-11).\u00a0 On the other hand, there is rest for those who place their trust in Jesus until the end (v13).\u00a0 After the third angel says this, John hears two more important voices speak.\u00a0 The first voice is \u201ca voice from heaven\u201d, which may be God the Father, Jesus the Son or another figure in heaven, saying, \u201cBlessed are the dead who die in the Lord now on\u201d (v13).\u00a0 The second voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit who affirms what was just said, saying, \u201cYes, they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.\u201d\u00a0 Thus John encourages Christians to hang onto their faith in Jesus to the end, emphasizing the importance of \u201cpatient endurance\u201d (v12).<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Following Satan\u2019s agenda for your life \u2013 one that puts God to the side \u2013 never leads to rest and peace.\u00a0 True rest and peace come from making Jesus the centre and worshiping Jesus till the end.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Heavenly Father, You want to get the word out about Jesus to the entire world, to every person, every language, and every nation.\u00a0 Strengthen me and use me to proclaim Your message to the people around me who don\u2019t know You yet.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s passage is Revelation 14:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n<p>Revelation 14:1-5 (NIV)\u00a0<br \/>\n1\u00a0\u00a0Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father&#8217;s name written on their foreheads.\u00a0<br \/>\n2\u00a0\u00a0And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.\u00a0<br \/>\n3\u00a0\u00a0And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.\u00a0<br \/>\n4\u00a0\u00a0These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.\u00a0<br \/>\n5\u00a0\u00a0No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nOn verses 1-5:\u00a0 After his vision in chapter 13 of earth being controlled by Satan the red dragon, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth, John\u2019s vision switches to heaven where John once again sees the 144,000 whom he saw earlier in Revelation 7.\u00a0 These 144,000 are quite possibly Jewish Christians who came from the 12 tribes of Israel.\u00a0 Here in these verses we learn more about these 144,000 and the role that they play in heaven:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9801"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9804,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9801\/revisions\/9804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}