Does God Still Use Angels Today?

 

Most people when taking in the books of the Bible might rate the Book of Revelation as the most confusing followed up by probably the Book of Isaiah. However if you dig a bit deeper you will find that the Book of Isaiah is much like a mini-Bible within itself. The first half deals with the judgment of God's wrath against the nations of Judah and Israel and the later part with God's grace and mercy for His people. There are 66 chapters within the Book of Isaiah, much like there is 66 books within the Bible. Like any good Bible study, you need to understand the context of what is happening, and thus the reason for all of us to own a really good study Bible. They will break up the paragraphs and break up the chapters and they really help you. It is a worthy investment and they are not cheap. Think of it this way, 10 visits to Starbucks, can buy you a world class Bible! It will really help you go through all the books of the Bible in a whole different way!

Today's study will touch on the fact of whether God is still using angels today. We know that is very true as the Book of Matthew and Hebrews tells us that angels are His ministering spirits that He has sent forth, the Bible says, to minister to the heirs of salvation. We might make light of the fact about guardian angels in light of movies like It's A Wonderful Life and Clarence the angel who helps George Baily. Yet the Bible tells us that as believers in Christ, we have a least one angel that has been dispatched to our care. The second point is that Jesus tells us according to the Scripture how we treat children for example, for their faces (the children's) are represented before heaven, by their angels. Peter reminds us how we treat strangers that come into our life, because unknowingly you could be ministering to an angel. That is so sobering. Imagine how many of us have met homeless people who could have been angels testing our benevolence or in a hospital?

According to the Book of Revelation, it is only going to increase and the angelic mission is clearly defined from the Bible. It's a though the veil between the physical realm and spiritual realm is pulled back and they impact one another like never before. So why then do some scholars confuse the mighty angel we see in Revelation 10 with that of Jesus Christ. It might be because the word here for angel is not the same as an angelic being with wings, it means a messenger sent from heaven to make an announcement. It is not necessarily an angel like Michael or Gabriel. Whoever he is, he is one dispatched from heaven, with an announcement to be given to earth. That is all we know about him at this moment.

We also know that the word for angel means a created being from heaven with wings but also from the Old Testament, we have the word theophany or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ before Bethlehem's manger. Christ appeared before Abraham and Joshua for example, and He was announced as the Angel of the Lord. In Revelation, in the opening chapters 2 and 3 it says, "to the angel at the church of Philadelphia..." We know that angel is none other than the pastor of the church of Philadelphia back then in the time of Christ. So the word has a broad application. So who is this? Let's keep studying.

We know that the message is by divine delivery no matter who it is. When we see the word "another mighty angel" is means another angel of a different kind. So he is somewhat of a great order other than your run of the mill angel. Not that any angel if we saw it today would be run of the mill. If we were able to see one, we might just pass out. When Daniel saw an angel he got sick to his stomach and had to lay in bed for many days. Lets just explain it this way, if we have another angel of a different kind providing a message by divine delivery, let's just call this one the L.A. Times. That is a messenger of a different order. But if someone comes to your door wearing a Federal Express uniform, that is still a message coming to you from a different order or from a different dispatch.

This angel is a different from the L.A. Times and the Federal Express as it is from the run of the mill angel. I think you understand this now. Notice his origin. He comes out of heaven. When God desires to provide a message to mankind, His origins are always from heaven. Always. God speaks to Abraham!

Genesis 22:11 ~ "But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham! 'Here I am', he replied."

God speaks to Moses from heaven. 

Exodus 3:2-5 ~ "There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight - why the bush does not burn up." When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

What made that ground holy? The person that was in the burning bush which was the LORD. His title was the angel of the LORD. What is the title of the angel of the LORD in the Old Testament? It is none other than the LORD Almighty, Jesus Christ. A pre-incarnate appearance before Bethlehem. When God spoke to the prophets what did He say?

Hebrews 1:1-2 ~ "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through who he made the universe."

When God spoke to the apostles, what did He say?

Matthew 17:5 ~ "While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

 When God speaks to mankind, He speaks from above.

Luke 3:21-22 ~ "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven opened up and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

God's messengers deliver a message from heaven. When God speaks, it comes from above. When God sends His messengers to mankind, it is also a messenger of divine description. This is what causes scholars to think that this messenger is someone other than just another angel.

Revelation 10:1 ~ "Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

This is truly an awesome description of this divine messenger. "Clothed with a cloud," that connects us immediately with whoever this person is, he is in great association with the Lord, himself. When God spoke to Moses, Mt Sinai was covered with a cloud. Not only that but when God watched over and protected the children of Israel in the wilderness, He manifested Himself as a cloud by day. On the Mount of Transfiguration, when they saw Jesus transfigured, what descended from heaven and covered them all? A cloud of glory. At Jesus' ascension when He went back up into heaven, what received Him into heaven? A cloud. At the Rapture of the church, what is going to happen when Christ comes? We are going to be caught up into the Lord's presence in the cloud. At the Second Coming, how it that going to look? The Bible says that Christ will come with the church and His angels with Him in the Second Coming in a cloud. The Lord is always in association with clouds.

Matthew 26:64 ~ "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ~ "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Daniel 7:13 ~ "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

Matthew 24:30 ~ "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."

Then it says that he has a rainbow around his head. When we get to heaven we will be given eyes to see spiritual things. God is revealing this for John to see right now. God promises to never judge the world again without mercy as we see in Genesis.

Genesis 9:13-14 ~ "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds,"

Revelation 4:2-3 ~ "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald encircled the throne."

The cloud in association with the Lord, and the rainbow in association with the Lord. We see the connection. We can also understand why there would be some confusion between this being a run of the mill angel or the Lord, Himself. "His face was like the sun,"

Revelation 1:13-16 ~ "and among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his moth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance."

We remember the seven lampstands is the manifestation of God's presence among His people from the first being in the tabernacle and then here in Revelation where we find that Jesus walks among them being His church.

Matthew 17:2 ~ "There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light."

We remember before in Revelation 1:15 that "His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace," He sends His messengers to mankind, a message for divine duty.

Revelation 10:2-3 ~ "He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke."

What is with the little book or scroll? This is a bit technical. You shouldn't be so focused on the placement of his feet or even the little scroll or book, is that it is open. Did you catch that? You might want to circle that in your Bible. The word implies that the book in heaven, this angel who has this book is not open. It is a book that is secret, that is held by God, it is a book that when it is opened has things in it that we are not allowed to know. God won't answer these questions we have about the book even though the Bible has all the answers. No matter what footnotes you might have in your Bible, no one knows about the little book. Nobody. Someone once said that only Seventh Day Adventists know what the book says, but they are not allowed to tell anybody what it says. Don't believe it. Read the Bible. It says that no one knows what is in the book.

Now we come to a bit of history. Whenever a general conquered another empire in a battle, they would take the general of the empire they defeated and lay him down and stand on his neck and declare victory. John would have understood this term that he is seeing an angel stand on the sea and on the land, what is he declaring? Absolute victory and John would have known this. He is announcing absolute victory of the rule and reign of the dominion by God. Even Jews who know their history who read this would understand what this means.

God gives us this break because as we have been marching through our study into Revelation, it has been pretty heavy. It might have even scared some people to unlike my Facebook page or unfriend me because they don't like what the Bible has to say about these events of the end times. He gives us a break in the story at this point to infuse hope, grace and mercy into those that are reading this. That is the very reason why some churches don't teach on the Book of Revelation, it isn't exactly a church growth builder but remember it is the only book of the Bible that offers a blessing to those that read and hear its words. This portion of the Bible is all about hope because our God is a God of hope, grace and mercy.

For those of you reading this today, that might feel hopeless, let me pray for you.

Father,

Whoever this person is that is reading this today, and they feel like they are at the end of their rope. Maybe it's their marriage, their kids, the sacrifice of their jobs, or another issue that only You know that they are dealing with. We pray that you would bring healing to their situation, healing to their relationships, health to their body, and God, peace and comfort to their soul. God, we are trusting right now that You will take this and You will touch the person who is reading this right now, who is crying out to You right now, saying "Dear God please intervene in my life, please help me now." And Lord, I have no doubt that You will speak to them, because that is the kind of God You are! In Jesus Name, AMEN!!!

Did You Know That Angels are Assigned to Nations?

If you have been following this study, we learned that Chapter 7 in the Book of Revelation is a pause in the story to provide us with some relevant information that we need to know to understand the remainder of the book. It's called a parenthetical pause. The one thing we need to understand when we read our Bible is understanding the validity of the nation of Israel, where most people would like to simply wipe them off the face of the earth, or say that because Israel rejected Jesus the remainders of the promises of the Bible no longer relate to Israel or the Jewish people, but the church age believers. That is just not true.

God promises that in the last days He will gather together the nation of Israel, not any other nation! All of the ancient prophecies that are foretold by the prophets said that before God establishes His kingdom, or the Messiah returns back to earth, He will again bring Israel back into her promised land. We are living in a time where this has begun, first with the Zionist movement where Israel as a nation was created in a day for the second time on May 14, 1948, we still see Jews emigrating back to their homeland which they have never been to before, no other nation in the history of the world has had a second birth, and for the first time, the church and Israel exist on the same timeline. What does that mean? That means that Jesus, for us, can come back at any moment. We don't have salvation, unless God keeps His promises to the nation of Israel! He told them His covenant with them was everlasting, if He breaks that promise, than we have no hope of eternal life. The same Jesus that died for our sins, died for us all, the Gentiles and the Jews!

Remember if you are not Jewish, you are a Gentile. I am a Gentile. We know that God has a certain number of Gentiles that need to come to believe before Jesus returns for His church and only He knows when that number will be complete as we learned from Romans 11:25 yesterday. Each time someone gets saved, the number increases and moves us ever closer to the end.

Isaiah 43:1-6 ~ "But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up!" and to the sound, "Do not hold them back." Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth - "

In fact the Bible promises that there will be a great revival of Jews who come to know Jesus as Savior during the Tribulation period.

Ezekiel 37:12-14 ~ "Therefore prophesy and say to them: "This is what the Sovereign LORD says:"O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it declares the LORD."

I believe when that happens, the church will have a bird's eye view from heaven. We already see a great movement happening as millions of people continue to move there from all over the world, in record numbers never before seen in the history of man.

Revelation 7:1-3 ~ "Revelation 7:1-12 ~ "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angels coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

We learned that the words "After this" means directly after the final verse of chapter 6. There shouldn't be a period in our Bibles, but a comma or a pause in the story as we have been reading it by God, to inject some important information we need to know before continuing in the Book of Revelation.


Chapter 7, verses 1-8, let's refer that as Phase 1. Chapter 7, verses 9-17, we will refer that as Phase 2. Phase 1 is a division after these things or "After this." These are the things that John saw on earth before the Second Coming of Christ happens. That is verses 1-8. It is clearly Jewish, this is where Jehovah's Witnesses are deceived. They are not of the 144,000 that this chapter refers to. This also does not refer to the 7th Day Adventists. They are not these people. They think they are. They believe that if the Lord raptures the church on a Saturday and the 7th Day Adventist who is keeping Saturday holy, they are the ones that get to be raptured. Anyone who has slacked off that day or the rest of us, don't get to go. I got news for them, it won't be them. None of the 144,000 get raptured.

They are all Jews from the tribes of Israel. So the next time some one knocks on your door, ask them what tribe they are from. When we get to Chapter 14, we will learn that they are all virgin men, who speak Hebrew and have the gift of Evangelism. Chapter 7, from verses 9-17, are what is called Phase 2, that will be discussing in the future, this is what John saw on earth, after the Second Coming of Christ. Verses 9-17 are clearly Gentile in context and it relates to earthly worship. Verses 1-8 clearly Jewish in context and it relates to the ministry during the Tribulation of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

In Revelation 7:1, we see the angelic ministry relating to the powers of nature. These angels are given  powers to hold back certain elements that have to deal with the natural course of nature. Notice the grand authority given to these angels. It says that these angels are given the power to hold back the wind. God grants them that authority. There are angels of varying degrees of ministry, if you didn't know that. There are certain angels who have assignments to specific nations. Imagine there is an angel assigned to the nation of the United States. We know from the Book of Daniel that there is an angel assigned to the nation of Iran. There is an angel assigned to the region of Babylon. There is a specific angel you should know by name that is assigned to the region of Israel, do you know his name? He is known for getting into a fight every time there is a battle? Michael! Gabriel is assigned to make announcements. He must have a great voice! Every time Michael shows up in the Bible, he has gloves on!

There are angels assigned to judgments, remember the angels assigned to Sodom and Gomorrah? There are specific angels who levy judgments against those who sin against the Lord. Remember Balaam when he was riding his donkey? Balaam is not obeying God, and God dispatches an angel to kill him, but then God calls him off. Then there was 186,000 Assyrian soldiers and in one night an angel sent by God kills them all in a moment. That's power!!! You can't do that with any smart bomb. There are certain angels assigned to announcements as we have mention, certain angels assigned to spiritual warfare, and there are certain angels assigned to God's people, both Jews and Gentiles. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 1:14 ~ "Are not angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"

Angels for us. That is a very powerful thing. So many people have written books about the verse in Revelation 7:1 about the four angels that hold back the winds in the four corners and with that they attempt to prove the Bible is wrong. They use this verse and claim on scientific terms, meaning that people have accused God for more than a 1000 years of being limited in His scientific understanding because according to Revelation 7:1, God, they think, is declaring the world is flat, because it has four corners. Isn't that stupid?

If you have any understanding of maps, topography, astronomy, and if you want to study the heavens, you have to lay it out on a single page. The problem is that the page is flat. You have to unwind it. Don't get lost in that. If you ever go online to some place like NASA, and lets say you want to track the progression of the shuttle, do they present a globe on the website and you have to keep clicking on the globe so it turns around so you can watch it as it goes over Africa? No! What do you do? You click on NASA, and you see what is called a surface map, because it's the only way you can see a circle, or the globe in one moment. You have to unwind it and lay it out on a flat page, so you can see it all in one moment.

The words in Greek "gonia," which means quadrants, angles, sections, or divisions,  and Hebrew "kanaf" which means to the extremity of, or to the very ends of the earth", are used here and its fantastic because God is so smart that it takes a while for us to catch up. God has determined that when you lay it all out flat, there are four corners. That is why the US Marines have boasted that they can respond to any crisis anywhere in the world because they come from the four corners of the earth. They're not stupid. They understand that if you want to monitor the world, you lay it out on a flat page. God is saying, "I'm watching it all!"

You can't even think about having a North, South, East and West unless you apply God's law of Him viewing the earth laid out with four corners. There is no such thing as an East, West, North and South without God.

Isaiah 40:22 ~ "He sits enthroned about the circle of the earth." 

What is amazing and scientifically accurate is the fact that our earth and its weather patterns are totally dependent on complete interaction, meaning that what is happening in China weatherwise will impact California in about 2 weeks, plus or minus 3 days. What happens today in Africa weather wise will impact the entire eastern seaboard in about two weeks, plus or minus 3 days! The creation will be effected by the impending judgment of God to soon come.

Now lets look at the angelic ministry relating to the Jewish remnant.

Revelation 7:2a ~ " Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God." 

John sees this angel and they have a very specific ministry assigned to them, and he has the seal of the living God. No one knows what this seal is, the only thing that is the popular view is that when God saves someone the Bible says in Ephesians 1 and 4, that He seals you with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. It means we are put on lay away now until He comes back! The word in Ephesians 1 and 4 is that that seal can never be broken! For those of you that want to struggle with your eternal security, go ahead. I, for one, am saved! I know it. It has nothing to do with what I have done, in fact it is in spite of what I have done. But I know this, the Holy Spirit is in my life. I've never heard of Him audibly, but I know He is with me.

It says here that He will apply that seal upon those 144,000 preachers, and they will (1) be immune from the judgments that will come upon the earth. They will be divinely protected. (2) They will be protected against the antics of the Antichrist. He will have no power over them until God grants him power. Many scholars believe that when the Holy Spirit raptures the church out of here, He will resume back to His Old Testament type of ministry once the church is gone. Meaning that He came upon people like David, and others, and when the church is taken out of the earth, He will once again come upon people like He did back in the Old Testament economy. There will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we will talk about next week, of such power that will come upon the Jewish remnant, 144,000, and God will make them His great servants during that period of time.

Revelation 7:2-3 ~"  Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 

God is telling them not to harm the land or the sea or the trees during the Tribulation period, until I have sealed the servants of God upon their foreheads.This is a divine sealing that will take place upon them and that is a very important thing. God knows those who serve Him and He places a seal upon them in that period of time. We are NOT living in these days that we are studying today, but that time is coming. But God knows you who are Christians! He knows who is real and who is playing games. He knows those that are His. Paul said in the Book of Romans, "that we are justified by faith in God."

James comes along and accents, doesn't contradict. By the way, the Book of Romans is written to believers and non believers alike to anyone who will listen. The Book of James, is written to believers, exposing nonbelievers. The Bible says, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." James reminds us that if we have faith, we will have Christian service in our life. You're going to be ministers if you are saved. You're going to be servants if you are saved. That's the fact of Christianity. It's a verb. Don't mistake it for a noun. Christianity does.

 

Is God Still Using Angels Today?

Most people when taking in the books of the Bible might rate the Book of Revelation as the most confusing followed up by probably the Book of Isaiah. However if you dig a bit deeper you will find that the Book of Isaiah is much like a mini-Bible within itself. The first half deals with the judgment of God's wrath against the nations of Judah and Israel and the later part with God's grace and mercy for His people. There are 66 chapters within the Book of Isaiah, much like there is 66 books within the Bible. Like any good Bible study, you need to understand the context of what is happening, and thus the reason for all of us to own a really good study Bible. They will break up the paragraphs and break up the chapters and they really help you. It is a worthy investment and they are not cheap. Think of it this way, 10 visits to Starbucks, can buy you a world class Bible! It will really help you go through all the books of the Bible in a whole different way!

Today's study will touch on the fact of whether God is still using angels today. We know that is very true as the Book of Matthew and Hebrews tells us that angels are His ministering spirits that He has sent forth, the Bible says, to minister to the heirs of salvation. We might make light of the fact about guardian angels in light of movies like It's A Wonderful Life and Clarence the angel who helps George Baily. Yet the Bible tells us that as believers in Christ, we have a least one angel that has been dispatched to our care. The second point is that Jesus tells us according to the Scripture how we treat children for example, for their faces (the children's) are represented before heaven, by their angels. Peter reminds us how we treat strangers that come into our life, because unknowingly you could be ministering to an angel. That is so sobering. Imagine how many of us have met homeless people who could have been angels testing our benevolence or in a hospital?

According to the Book of Revelation, it is only going to increase and the angelic mission is clearly defined from the Bible. It's a though the veil between the physical realm and spiritual realm is pulled back and they impact one another like never before. So why then do some scholars confuse the mighty angel we see in Revelation 10 with that of Jesus Christ. It might be because the word here for angel is not the same as an angelic being with wings, it means a messenger sent from heaven to make an announcement. It is not necessarily an angel like Michael or Gabriel. Whoever he is, he is one dispatched from heaven, with an announcement to be given to earth. That is all we know about him at this moment.

We also know that the word for angel means a created being from heaven with wings but also from the Old Testament, we have the word theophany or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ before Bethlehem's manger. Christ appeared before Abraham and Joshua for example, and He was announced as the Angel of the Lord. In Revelation, in the opening chapters 2 and 3 it says, "to the angel at the church of Philadelphia..." We know that angel is none other than the pastor of the church of Philadelphia back then in the time of Christ. So the word has a broad application. So who is this? Let's keep studying.

We know that the message is by divine delivery no matter who it is. When we see the word "another mighty angel" is means another angel of a different kind. So he is somewhat of a great order other than your run of the mill angel. Not that any angel if we saw it today would be run of the mill. If we were able to see one, we might just pass out. When Daniel saw an angel he got sick to his stomach and had to lay in bed for many days. Lets just explain it this way, if we have another angel of a different kind providing a message by divine delivery, let's just call this one the L.A. Times. That is a messenger of a different order. But if someone comes to your door wearing a Federal Express uniform, that is still a message coming to you from a different order or from a different dispatch.

This angel is a different from the L.A. Times and the Federal Express as it is from the run of the mill angel. I think you understand this now. Notice his origin. He comes out of heaven. When God desires to provide a message to mankind, His origins are always from heaven. Always. God speaks to Abraham!

Genesis 22:11 ~ "But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham! 'Here I am', he replied."

God speaks to Moses from heaven. 

Exodus 3:2-5 ~ "There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight - why the bush does not burn up." When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

What made that ground holy? The person that was in the burning bush which was the LORD. His title was the angel of the LORD. What is the title of the angel of the LORD in the Old Testament? It is none other than the LORD Almighty, Jesus Christ. A pre-incarnate appearance before Bethlehem. When God spoke to the prophets what did He say?

Hebrews 1:1-2 ~ "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through who he made the universe."

When God spoke to the apostles, what did He say?

Matthew 17:5 ~ "While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

 When God speaks to mankind, He speaks from above.

Luke 3:21-22 ~ "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven opened up and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

God's messengers deliver a message from heaven. When God speaks, it comes from above. When God sends His messengers to mankind, it is also a messenger of divine description. This is what causes scholars to think that this messenger is someone other than just another angel.

Revelation 10:1 ~ "Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

This is truly an awesome description of this divine messenger. "Clothed with a cloud," that connects us immediately with whoever this person is, he is in great association with the Lord, himself. When God spoke to Moses, Mt Sinai was covered with a cloud. Not only that but when God watched over and protected the children of Israel in the wilderness, He manifested Himself as a cloud by day. On the Mount of Transfiguration, when they saw Jesus transfigured, what descended from heaven and covered them all? A cloud of glory. At Jesus' ascension when He went back up into heaven, what received Him into heaven? A cloud. At the Rapture of the church, what is going to happen when Christ comes? We are going to be caught up into the Lord's presence in the cloud. At the Second Coming, how it that going to look? The Bible says that Christ will come with the church and His angels with Him in the Second Coming in a cloud. The Lord is always in association with clouds.

Matthew 26:64 ~ "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ~ "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Daniel 7:13 ~ "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

Matthew 24:30 ~ "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."

Then it says that he has a rainbow around his head. When we get to heaven we will be given eyes to see spiritual things. God is revealing this for John to see right now. God promises to never judge the world again without mercy as we see in Genesis.

Genesis 9:13-14 ~ "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds,"

Revelation 4:2-3 ~ "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald encircled the throne."

The cloud in association with the Lord, and the rainbow in association with the Lord. We see the connection. We can also understand why there would be some confusion between this being a run of the mill angel or the Lord, Himself. "His face was like the sun,"

Revelation 1:13-16 ~ "and among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his moth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance."

We remember the seven lampstands is the manifestation of God's presence among His people from the first being in the tabernacle and then here in Revelation where we find that Jesus walks among them being His church.

Matthew 17:2 ~ "There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light."

We remember before in Revelation 1:15 that "His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace," He sends His messengers to mankind, a message for divine duty.

Revelation 10:2-3 ~ "He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke."

What is with the little book or scroll? This is a bit technical. You shouldn't be so focused on the placement of his feet or even the little scroll or book, is that it is open. Did you catch that? You might want to circle that in your Bible. The word implies that the book in heaven, this angel who has this book is not open. It is a book that is secret, that is held by God, it is a book that when it is opened has things in it that we are not allowed to know. God won't answer these questions we have about the book even though the Bible has all the answers. No matter what footnotes you might have in your Bible, no one knows about the little book. Nobody. Someone once said that only Seventh Day Adventists know what the book says, but they are not allowed to tell anybody what it says. Don't believe it. Read the Bible. It says that no one knows what is in the book.

Now we come to a bit of history. Whenever a general conquered another empire in a battle, they would take the general of the empire they defeated and lay him down and stand on his neck and declare victory. John would have understood this term that he is seeing an angel stand on the sea and on the land, what is he declaring? Absolute victory and John would have known this. He is announcing absolute victory of the rule and reign of the dominion by God. Even Jews who know their history who read this would understand what this means.

God gives us this break because as we have been marching through our study into Revelation, it has been pretty heavy. It might have even scared some people to unlike my Facebook page or unfriend me because they don't like what the Bible has to say about these events of the end times. He gives us a break in the story at this point to infuse hope, grace and mercy into those that are reading this. That is the very reason why some churches don't teach on the Book of Revelation, it isn't exactly a church growth builder but remember it is the only book of the Bible that offers a blessing to those that read and hear its words. This portion of the Bible is all about hope because our God is a God of hope, grace and mercy.

For those of you reading this today, that might feel hopeless, let me pray for you.

Father,

Whoever this person is that is reading this today, and they feel like they are at the end of their rope. Maybe it's their marriage, their kids, the sacrifice of their jobs, or another issue that only You know that they are dealing with. We pray that you would bring healing to their situation, healing to their relationships, health to their body, and God, peace and comfort to their soul. God, we are trusting right now that You will take this and You will touch the person who is reading this right now, who is crying out to You right now, saying "Dear God please intervene in my life, please help me now." And Lord, I have no doubt that You will speak to them, because that is the kind of God You are! In Jesus Name, AMEN!!!

Why Does God Pause in the Midst of His Judgment?

What we are about to see in today's study is the culmination of God's wrath on earth as He has announced through all the prophets. We are going to slow this chapter down a bit and I hope it will bless you as it has me in taking time to be sure that we are getting out of this chapter all that God has revealed in it. What God has written, He has written for a reason. Never apologize for the Word of God.

As we get into studying Chapters 10 all the way through Chapter 11:14, we have encountered another parenthetical pause in the Book of Revelation. If you remember from when it happened before, a parenthetical pause is simply a break in the flow of events, like pushing pause on your DVR so you can gain some much needed insight before continuing on to help you understand what is going to be happening next as we continue on in our study. God now turns to John to give him some key data before continuing on in the vision He has been showing him of end time events. We have paused in the midst of the trumpet blasts waiting on number seven which will be the culmination of the Great Tribulation Period. This is introducing us to the closing days of the Tribulation Period.

God has taken a break not because He needs it or because He gets tired. God is waiting or taking a break to give others a chance at redemption. Imagine if God came back for His church 5 years ago, would you have been with us or would you have been left behind? What about 10 year ago? 25 years ago? God has a plan in delaying the coming judgment at this point. He is giving others a chance at redemption before Jesus returns. God knows the timing and when He will bring it all to a close.

If people were to interview you about your testimony, what would it be? Would it be grand on a scale like most believe their initial salvation experience should be or was it simply a quiet not so much impactful event, meaning you didn't really feel anything at that moment? Some of you simply grew up in a Christian home your whole life and suddenly one day it just clicked for you. God reaches us all in various ways and through different experiences. The one thing we can all agree on is there are times when we read the Bible that it cuts it right to our heart. Where God begins to extract bad thoughts, sins in our life or places we need to change in our life at that moment. Then there are other times when we read God's Word and it's a cutting that heals us. It brings healing, and joy and excitement.

Chapter 10 is that scene where it brings bitterness and also a sweetness at the same time. You might ask yourself how can that be?

Hebrews 4:12-13 ~ "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to diving soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

Psalm 107:19-20 ~ "Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave."

Revelation 10:1-11 ~ "Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the seal and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down." Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets." Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. IT tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

Tremendous words but what does it all mean? Do you want to understand the Book of Revelation? You could attend seminary for a year and you might not get to this point, so I am going to save you a lot of time right now. What do you need to do to understand the Book of Revelation? Read the Old Testament. The Book of Revelation assumes that by the time the audience gets to this point in the Bible, that this people have already read the Old Testament. You'll never understand the Book of Revelation without reading the Old Testament. You can go from Genesis to Malachi, skip the New Testament and go directly to the Book of Revelation and it will dovetail beautiful into the Old Testament. To the Jewish mind, the Book of Revelation is very very reminiscent of the Old Testament. God intended it that way.

So when we read things about the angel standing on the land and on the sea, the book being opened, John eating the scroll, what does all that mean anyway? It won't until you read the Book of Ezekiel and come across the part where God told Ezekiel to read the book and eat it. Ezekiel said it tasted good but it turned my stomach sour. We need to understand what sweet and sour means and why! It will apply to the coming days.

We as Christians have this to boast about. That our God is merciful, loving and kind. The Bible says He is not willing that any shall perish but that all should come to eternal life. We are going to be studying in future posts all about the love of God, the advent of the Antichrist and his agenda and it will move you. You will be shocked to find out about the bitterness of God's Word and in this respect that is forthcoming the Bible says to those that are dwelling in this world. The Bible says that the world we be deceived by a conglomeration of many religions, a mating together of religions, a decrease or death in Christianity during that period of time. A decrease in God's people in the earth. They will die for their faith. Their will die for their faith by beheading. We might have not understood that meaning years ago when we lived in a civilized world and to think it would not be possible to imagine a time where people would adopt killing their opponent or enemies by beheading.

If you google beheading in your search engine and hit return, you would be surprised by the exponential number of religious persecution in the world and that culminates in one act. Guess what it is? Beheadings! It is the greatest way of religious persecution in the world today. Throughout areas of Africa, the South Pacific, the Middle East, and now the FBI is taking a look at the number of beheadings that are taking place in America and they are looking at the connection between religious belief and beheadings.

The Bible says that when the Antichrist comes on the scene, his implementation of global persecution against the Christian or Tribulation believer will be beheading. Don't believe me, check it out yourself. We live in a very strange age my friend. Just know this. The Bible is never wrong and it will never be wrong. What it says, it will happen. Know this. Our God is a God of peace. Our God is a God of love. Our God is a God of grace. In this chapter, He pauses to bring us hope. He pauses to speak a message.

1 John 3:16 ~ "This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 

John 3:15-17 ~ "That everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved that world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

This is important. The God of the Bible wants you to have eternal life. When God takes a break, He sends His messengers to mankind. God is so faithful, whenever He takes a break from judgment He sends His messengers to mankind. He will always make an announcement. A message by divine delivery.

Revelation 10:1 ~ ""Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

You can pick up all kinds of commentaries and books, and the audience, the classroom and the teacher are divided on who this "another mighty angel" is. We don't know who he is. The speculation is that some say he is a mighty angel and that is all that he is. We know that throughout scripture that there are descriptions of mighty angels, powerful angels, ranking of angels in power, ranking of orders of angels which we have studied before. Other scholars have said, that this "mighty angel" could in fact be Jesus Christ, Himself. Most of those scholars who have stated this are quite liberal ones and in fact some cults have said this is Jesus as well.

It is not Jesus not it is a type or rank of angel that we have seen in our more recent studies. Even though the description sounds like it could apply to Jesus, it is not Him. It's a different angel but one of a different ranking. We do know from Scripture that God's angels do have various rankings. There are various levels from arch angels, angels, seraphim, cherubim, and others. Michael, Gabriel and even Lucifer are of the highest orders of angels. This is just another mighty angel, an angel that is different from what we have seen so far, higher in ranking, and as we look further into our study, he has a very serious mission to carry out.

Angels Assigned to Nations!

If you have been following this study, we learned that Chapter 7 in the Book of Revelation is a pause in the story to provide us with some relevant information that we need to know to understand the remainder of the book. It's called a parenthetical pause. The one thing we need to understand when we read our Bible is understanding the validity of the nation of Israel, where most people would like to simply wipe them off the face of the earth, or say that because Israel rejected Jesus the remainders of the promises of the Bible no longer relate to Israel or the Jewish people, but the church age believers. That is just not true.

God promises that in the last days He will gather together the nation of Israel, not any other nation! All of the ancient prophecies that are foretold by the prophets said that before God establishes His kingdom, or the Messiah returns back to earth, He will again bring Israel back into her promised land. We are living in a time where this has begun, first with the Zionist movement where Israel as a nation was created in a day for the second time on May 14, 1948, we still see Jews emigrating back to their homeland which they have never been to before, no other nation in the history of the world has had a second birth, and for the first time, the church and Israel exist on the same timeline. What does that mean? That means that Jesus, for us, can come back at any moment. We don't have salvation, unless God keeps His promises to the nation of Israel! He told them His covenant with them was everlasting, if He breaks that promise, than we have no hope of eternal life. The same Jesus that died for our sins, died for us all, the Gentiles and the Jews!

Remember if you are not Jewish, you are a Gentile. I am a Gentile. We know that God has a certain number of Gentiles that need to come to believe before Jesus returns for His church and only He knows when that number will be complete as we learned from Romans 11:25 yesterday. Each time someone gets saved, the number increases and moves us ever closer to the end.

Isaiah 43:1-6 ~ "But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up!" and to the sound, "Do not hold them back." Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth - "

In fact the Bible promises that there will be a great revival of Jews who come to know Jesus as Savior during the Tribulation period.

Ezekiel 37:12-14 ~ "Therefore prophesy and say to them: "This is what the Sovereign LORD says:"O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it declares the LORD."

I believe when that happens, the church will have a bird's eye view from heaven. We already see a great movement happening as millions of people continue to move there from all over the world, in record numbers never before seen in the history of man.

Revelation 7:1-3 ~ "Revelation 7:1-12 ~ "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angels coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

We learned that the words "After this" means directly after the final verse of chapter 6. There shouldn't be a period in our Bibles, but a comma or a pause in the story as we have been reading it by God, to inject some important information we need to know before continuing in the Book of Revelation.


Chapter 7, verses 1-8, let's refer that as Phase 1. Chapter 7, verses 9-17, we will refer that as Phase 2. Phase 1 is a division after these things or "After this." These are the things that John saw on earth before the Second Coming of Christ happens. That is verses 1-8. It is clearly Jewish, this is where Jehovah's Witnesses are deceived. They are not of the 144,000 that this chapter refers to. This also does not refer to the 7th Day Adventists. They are not these people. They think they are. They believe that if the Lord raptures the church on a Saturday and the 7th Day Adventist who is keeping Saturday holy, they are the ones that get to be raptured. Anyone who has slacked off that day or the rest of us, don't get to go. I got news for them, it won't be them. None of the 144,000 get raptured.

They are all Jews from the tribes of Israel. So the next time some one knocks on your door, ask them what tribe they are from. When we get to Chapter 14, we will learn that they are all virgin men, who speak Hebrew and have the gift of Evangelism. Chapter 7, from verses 9-17, are what is called Phase 2, that will be discussing in the future, this is what John saw on earth, after the Second Coming of Christ. Verses 9-17 are clearly Gentile in context and it relates to earthly worship. Verses 1-8 clearly Jewish in context and it relates to the ministry during the Tribulation of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

In Revelation 7:1, we see the angelic ministry relating to the powers of nature. These angels are given  powers to hold back certain elements that have to deal with the natural course of nature. Notice the grand authority given to these angels. It says that these angels are given the power to hold back the wind. God grants them that authority. There are angels of varying degrees of ministry, if you didn't know that. There are certain angels who have assignments to specific nations. Imagine there is an angel assigned to the nation of the United States. We know from the Book of Daniel that there is an angel assigned to the nation of Iran. There is an angel assigned to the region of Babylon. There is a specific angel you should know by name that is assigned to the region of Israel, do you know his name? He is known for getting into a fight every time there is a battle? Michael! Gabriel is assigned to make announcements. He must have a great voice! Every time Michael shows up in the Bible, he has gloves on!

There are angels assigned to judgments, remember the angels assigned to Sodom and Gomorrah? There are specific angels who levy judgments against those who sin against the Lord. Remember Balaam when he was riding his donkey? Balaam is not obeying God, and God dispatches an angel to kill him, but then God calls him off. Then there was 186,000 Assyrian soldiers and in one night an angel sent by God kills them all in a moment. That's power!!! You can't do that with any smart bomb. There are certain angels assigned to announcements as we have mention, certain angels assigned to spiritual warfare, and there are certain angels assigned to God's people, both Jews and Gentiles. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 1:14 ~ "Are not angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"

Angels for us. That is a very powerful thing. So many people have written books about the verse in Revelation 7:1 about the four angels that hold back the winds in the four corners and with that they attempt to prove the Bible is wrong. They use this verse and claim on scientific terms, meaning that people have accused God for more than a 1000 years of being limited in His scientific understanding because according to Revelation 7:1, God, they think, is declaring the world is flat, because it has four corners. Isn't that stupid?

If you have any understanding of maps, topography, astronomy, and if you want to study the heavens, you have to lay it out on a single page. The problem is that the page is flat. You have to unwind it. Don't get lost in that. If you ever go online to some place like NASA, and lets say you want to track the progression of the shuttle, do they present a globe on the website and you have to keep clicking on the globe so it turns around so you can watch it as it goes over Africa? No! What do you do? You click on NASA, and you see what is called a surface map, because it's the only way you can see a circle, or the globe in one moment. You have to unwind it and lay it out on a flat page, so you can see it all in one moment.

The words in Greek "gonia," which means quadrants, angles, sections, or divisions,  and Hebrew "kanaf" which means to the extremity of, or to the very ends of the earth", are used here and its fantastic because God is so smart that it takes a while for us to catch up. God has determined that when you lay it all out flat, there are four corners. That is why the US Marines have boasted that they can respond to any crisis anywhere in the world because they come from the four corners of the earth. They're not stupid. They understand that if you want to monitor the world, you lay it out on a flat page. God is saying, "I'm watching it all!"

You can't even think about having a North, South, East and West unless you apply God's law of Him viewing the earth laid out with four corners. There is no such thing as an East, West, North and South without God.

Isaiah 40:22 ~ "He sits enthroned about the circle of the earth." 

What is amazing and scientifically accurate is the fact that our earth and its weather patterns are totally dependent on complete interaction, meaning that what is happening in China weatherwise will impact California in about 2 weeks, plus or minus 3 days. What happens today in Africa weather wise will impact the entire eastern seaboard in about two weeks, plus or minus 3 days! The creation will be effected by the impending judgment of God to soon come.

Now lets look at the angelic ministry relating to the Jewish remnant.

Revelation 7:2a ~ " Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God." 

John sees this angel and they have a very specific ministry assigned to them, and he has the seal of the living God. No one knows what this seal is, the only thing that is the popular view is that when God saves someone the Bible says in Ephesians 1 and 4, that He seals you with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. It means we are put on lay away now until He comes back! The word in Ephesians 1 and 4 is that that seal can never be broken! For those of you that want to struggle with your eternal security, go ahead. I, for one, am saved! I know it. It has nothing to do with what I have done, in fact it is in spite of what I have done. But I know this, the Holy Spirit is in my life. I've never heard of Him audibly, but I know He is with me.

It says here that He will apply that seal upon those 144,000 preachers, and they will (1) be immune from the judgments that will come upon the earth. They will be divinely protected. (2) They will be protected against the antics of the Antichrist. He will have no power over them until God grants him power. Many scholars believe that when the Holy Spirit raptures the church out of here, He will resume back to His Old Testament type of ministry once the church is gone. Meaning that He came upon people like David, and others, and when the church is taken out of the earth, He will once again come upon people like He did back in the Old Testament economy. There will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we will talk about next week, of such power that will come upon the Jewish remnant, 144,000, and God will make them His great servants during that period of time.

Revelation 7:2-3 ~"  Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 

God is telling them not to harm the land or the sea or the trees during the Tribulation period, until I have sealed the servants of God upon their foreheads.This is a divine sealing that will take place upon them and that is a very important thing. God knows those who serve Him and He places a seal upon them in that period of time. We are NOT living in these days that we are studying today, but that time is coming. But God knows you who are Christians! He knows who is real and who is playing games. He knows those that are His. Paul said in the Book of Romans, "that we are justified by faith in God."

James comes along and accents, doesn't contradict. By the way, the Book of Romans is written to believers and non believers alike to anyone who will listen. The Book of James, is written to believers, exposing nonbelievers. The Bible says, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." James reminds us that if we have faith, we will have Christian service in our life. You're going to be ministers if you are saved. You're going to be servants if you are saved. That's the fact of Christianity. It's a verb. Don't mistake it for a noun. Christianity does.

 

Things Angels Can't Do!

Do you want to live life successfully and I don't mean in regards to money or health? Though those would be nice, I'm talking about succeeding in the Spirit, always have Jesus in the forefront of your life! Put Jesus as the object of your affection.  Then everything in this life will come to pass according not to your will, not my will but a better will, God's will!

Acts 2:24-25 ~ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him: "I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

We should all want to be more like David, whose relationship with God was that He was always before his face. That should be our goal in everything from voting to eating, driving, talking, ministering, having fun, going to the beach, working, paying bills, going to school, to see the Lord always before our face, should be our goal in life. Yet all of us desire to become more like Jesus, but one step at a time. We can find people in the Bible who are just like us and see how they rise above, people like David, Abraham, Esther, and others. David and Abraham had born again relationships with Jesus in the Old Testament, for example, Abraham was declared righteous by faith and so are you. We need to keep Jesus every before our face and keep moving forward in our race to finish this life well and give all the glory and honor, praise and worship to Him in the process.

Matthew 6:33 ~ "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

This should be the motto of every church and Christian. "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these (other) things will be given to you as well." You want wealth, you want health, you want power, you want position? Personally if that is what your "want" is I don't think you will get them, or if you do get them, it could be to your own destruction. Are those things evil? No! But we live in a fallen and broken world. But will God grant those things? Sure! All of them? Some of them? It's up to Him! What are we to do first? Seek first the kingdom of God. Is that our passion? As a Christian? As a church?

In John 14:2" In my Father's house are many rooms; if were not so, I would have told you so. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

That should be our passion. Are you moving? Do you have your house up for sale? Are you moving somewhere? Do you understand it is only temporary? Think about that when you go to buy all the new furnishings for the new house. It's only temporary! It's all going to burn. It's just temporary what we live in. These bodies are just temporary and I am so glad of that. Is Jesus the object of your affection? 

Matthew 6:20-23 ~ "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, you whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then, the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness."

If Jesus is the object of our affection, we have an "eye" spiritually speaking focused on Him and He is our reason or we have an "eye" that is bound up in the world. It is not wrong to possess things of the world. As long as those possessions don't possess you! It's not a sin to be affluent. It's a sin to hoard it to yourself. Some of the most successful people I have read of or known, have been people who so give it away, that God winds up having to give it back to them, because they keep giving it away! It's tremendous to have that kind of passion for Jesus.

"For where your treasure.." treasure meaning "thesauros" in the Greek: a place of deposit, the set of wealth, a reserve or treasure of affections.

Wherever your affection is, that is where your heart is going to be. Where your deposit is, that is an interesting word, God is saying, "Where are you placing your deposits, in the things of the kingdom or things that would rob and steal? We live in a hostile world that is out to rob and steal. 

We need to be keeping the mark before our eyes at all times. A person in a race, has a mark. A Christian in this life, has a mark, and that mark is Jesus. Always Jesus. If you are in a worship situation, and Jesus is not the mark, God gave us the instruction on what to do about that. We are to take the dust from our feet and dust it off, get into a church that holds truly and without compromise or apology to the Bible.

2 Timothy 2:3-4 ~ "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer."

Isn't that something? You see all these soldiers heading over to Iraq, or wherever else the battle of terrorism is being fought, can you imagine, they have all their gear and behind them they have a little rope, and they have their surfboard behind them, their golf clubs dragging behind them. Your commanding officer says advance, and you see this guy moving forward and wondering what is that sound? Pots and pans behind him clanging. Nobody entangles himself with the things of this life, when it comes to spiritual warfare! And yet we all battle that! We all have our thing that we fight against. But is Jesus Christ the object of our affection?

 Philippians 3:13-14 ~ "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

There will be no debris in heaven. Nothing that is worthless. Note what is important in heaven.

Revelation 5:8b ~ "Revelation 5:8-14 ~ " Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

John sees these harps and these bowls which are gold and full of incense which means, the incense is rising, but we don't have to guess what they are. They are the prayers of the saints. Two of the three things that affect eternity are right here. We are just little people, mere humans, and God loves us so but you and I have the power, granted by God to do something like this, whenever we pray, we leave this time zone, and in an instant, literally in real time, praying before the throne of God? Second thing, when you worship, you transcend this orb, this terrestrial world, when you worship, you immediately affect God who is in heaven. That should excite you! There are at least two things we send on ahead, two long term investments that will forever produce dividends in heaven. Worship and prayer. There is also a third, conversion. When a sinner repents and comes to know Jesus as Savior, they change their mind about Jesus, to know Him personally, what does the Bible say about that? Even if just one person in the whole world does that one thing today, what happens in heaven? Angels party in heaven it says. Martenellis' certainly, but they party!!!! They rejoice over one sinner who repents. Immediately when one person comes to Christ, it affects eternity in that moment.

Psalm 141:2 ~ "May my prayer be set before you like incense: (may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.)"

Matthew 6:21 ~ "For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Where? There! In heaven. "Mark"  - the things of heaven in your sights. On your mark - "Worship" is our spiritual exercise. We need to get stretched out, we need to get ready. we need to get in tone for worship.

Revelation 5:9 ~ "And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

Jesus redeems the earth back from its lost condition. He met all the standards and requirements, how? He redeemed us by His death and His blood. A new song, never able to be sung prior to... "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

Only black people? Only white people? Only yellow people? What people? Out of every tribe, and language and people and nation. We are the most guilty of all people on the planet earth when it comes to  reducing God and salvation into some sort of geographical benefit. There are people who name the name of Christian, that can't even tell you what it means and they might attend church on Sunday, but they have no connection to Christ any rest of the days of the week. None whatsoever. Just because you were born in America means nothing. Just because it's a Christian nation at one time. You can't call it a Christian nation any longer. When Christ gets thrown out of schools, it's not a Christian nation anymore. When the ten Commandments get thrown out of a courthouse, it's not a Christian nation anymore. This nation has erred! This nation is wayward and has turned its back on God, and according to the Bible, God will turn His back on this nation. Unless one thing happens, its repent and seek his face. Then He will hear from heaven, and He will answer their prayer and heal their land. But God will not be impressed when you pop up before His throne and say, "Look, I've got my passport! I'm an American!" No way.

One day, there will be Russians in heaven! There will be Pakistani's in heaven! Afghan's in heaven! There will be Iraqi's in heaven! There will be people in Detroit in heaven! There will be people from all over the world in heaven! Some of them round eyes and slanted eyes, and some of them of various skin colors, have you thought about that? Will it be true for you? Only if Christ is the object of our affection!

This new song could have only been sung after the resurrection of Christ! It could have only been sung after He ascended back into heaven. It is only sung when the church is in heaven! Notice who is not singing here and who is not.

Revelation 5:8 ~ "And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayer of the saints. And they sang a new song:"

The question you should be asking yourself is who are "they"? You might think the obvious, that it is everybody mentioned in verse 8, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders. That is not the answer, because in this chapter, it goes on to tell you who the "they" are. No where in Scripture do we find the angels singing, except in a very small chapter of Job 38. No where do we see angels singing to God.

You might argue that the angels do sing. From Christmas remember, "Angels we have heard on high," or you might argue that the angels on the night of Jesus birth all sang. Read it again. In Luke 2, the angels gathered around, and they praised God saying. We are praising God when we talk about Him. Praise does not necessarily mean singing did you know that? No where does it say that angels sing since the fall of mankind!

In Job 38:7 ~ "while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy" 

But they have not sang since. They are always found since the fall of man, "saying." They say, "He is worthy." The church sings, "You are worthy." We sing, angels speak. They say. We sing. We worship, but angels look in and they want, I believe, to sing like we can sing. 

The cheribum are not singing, the angels are not singing, the seraphim are not singing. The "they" who are singing are all those who lived on this broken down earth who had been lost sinners and who could not save themselves from their lost condition. Angels do not and can not sing this new song. There is no redemption for fallen angels. They are lost and bound to hell forever. An angel has no knowledge what it is like to be forgiven of sin. The Lord has never asked an angel to call Him, Father, Abba, and Jesus never called angels "Friend."

Isn't that interesting as well that the Bible says that the Lord has created us a little lower than the angels. We can't fly around, we can't do what angels do now, but there is a day coming where the Bible says we are going to sit in judgment of the angels in eternity. What does that mean? It means we are going to be a lot smarter in heaven than we are right now! Jesus didn't die for angels. It appears they are unredeemable since there is no reference in Scripture that says they can be redeemed. They can't sing the songs and hymns we can sing. They can only look on. Angels desire to look in on the things that we can do. They are snooping and eavesdropping on those things. They lean in to listen and learn what we hear in church. They are His ministering Spirits.

All other faiths and religions will always come up short on what Jesus offers to those that believe in Him!

Peace Found in Revelation

You would hardly believe that peace could be found in the final book of the Bible as it deals with the culmination of Jesus and the wrath of God poured out on the earth as sin comes to an end, but that is just what you will find. Because peace can be offered and found by those who trust and believe in Jesus Christ before we get to this point.

Picking back up on our study in Revelation 1:4 with "John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne.

Peace here is referred to as Shalom. We have the peace of God to those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior. God never gives us grief, but we can cause Him grief or that we get from others. Let us be cautious not to blame God for that grief either. He will return one day to right all the wrongs and woe to them who continue to shake their fist at God. He will not be mocked. The things that happen in this life are natural to a fallen world, but one day God, our Redeemer will return to fix all that is broken. God is eternal as is referred to in verse 4, "from him who is, and who was, and who is to come." This verse speaks of an eternal God.

Isaiah 57:15, ~"For this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives forever, whose name is holy; "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (NIV). He inhabits eternity!

He is the Alpha and Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty, from verse 8, it tells us about his eternity. He will never have a birthday or a death because He doesn't live in a time line. He is beyond all that. He isn't subject to time. So when you find yourself dealing with a fiery trial you would love nothing more to have removed, remember these things, God dwells in eternity and we live in a time line. Time passes for us, as days progress, but not for God, time doesn't relate to God. It's a 7 day week, 24 hours in a day. God doesn't see things this way but we do. What is happening to us, is new to us, but it isn't new to God. He dwells in eternity. God has always known about this problem that is impacting us, He has always presided over it. It didn't catch Him unaware. He knew it was coming. As the trial arrives to us, He has already known about it. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He never changes.

The situation you are dealing with today, as well as the answer has always been in front of God, you just stumbled on this problem today, so give me the problem. Sometimes it's too simple for us to wrap our heads around that because we want to spend too much time arguing with God about it. So what is your problem today? Remember, we just happened upon it today, because we travel along a timeline, but God has known about it since the beginning of the creation of the world, and trust me, He isn't panicking. He's not wringing His hands in heaven, crying out, "Oh no! what are we going to do?"

It's always been before Him, the situation you are going through, but then again so has the remedy.

1 Peter 5:7 ~ "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." Cast means to push, heave, He has big shoulders. People will fear that God isn't there for them during their situations, that he must not care, and they'll tell you that God is no where. Yet often times within 24 hours, God will rearrange that word "no where" and move the space to between the "w" and "h" to now read "now here" instead and He will reveal Himself to them. The truth was that God never left that person in their fiery trial. He was simply waiting for them to call out to Him and turn that problem over to Him. The problem was that the person was swallowed up in self defeat and doubt instead of realizing that God has always been here with them.

But when God intervenes, it makes that person shut their mouth when God intervenes because they can't argue and they realize what they were saying about God. Thankfully He is so gracious and doesn't hold that against us.

Matthew 6:8 ~ "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (NIV). This is referencing those who worry and panic about things that are going on in our lives. God doesn't want us to worry because He already knows about it. It's not new knowledge to Him. He knows about this situation in advance so ask God in boldness. We approach Him like we don't believe like He will answer you. Ask boldly. Tell God what you need.

Revelation 4:8 " Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (NIV). 

Unlike Revelation 1:8, where it reads "who is, and who was, and who is to come." the terms are interchangeable. Just like in Revelation 11:17, ~"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign." (NIV).

It is based on the application how the order of God's eternal persona is described. Revelation 16:5, ~ "Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say; You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the one who is to be, the Holy One, because you have so judged: (NIV). 

God's position, is addressed in verse, 4 continuing from Revelation 1, "from the seven spirits before his throne." (NIV). 

So what are the seven spirits referred to here? We have some options, it could be, in reference to Isaiah 11:1-2 ~ "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear the fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him ` the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD." (NIV). 

We remember from earlier in our studies that the number 7, is a reference to completion. Some will say this is a reference to the Holy Spirit from Isaiah 11:1-2, and counting all the references to the Spirit, from the Spirit of the Lord (1), the Spirit of wisdom (2), of understanding (3), the Spirit of counsel, (4), of power (5), the Spirit of knowledge (6) and of the fear of the LORD (7). Could this reference from Revelation 1:4 referencing Isaiah 11:1-2 is the seven Spirits in the totality of the ministry of the Holy Spirit? It could mean that but, the problem is in the original Hebrew, what is put forward is only six of them. in the way it is put together is the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. And it then reads, "the Spirit of the wisdom, (1), of understanding (2), the Spirit of counsel (3), of power (4), the Spirit of knowledge, (5) and of the fear of the LORD (6).

So which one is it? Is it a reference to the Holy Spirit? It could be the Holy Spirit.

In Zechariah 4:1-7 ~ Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the LORD Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of "God bless it! God bless it!" (NIV). 

It could be a reference to the Holy Spirit.

The other view is this, because according to scripture that the Holy Spirit is singular, that would go against what we see in verse 4, the Holy Spirit, by the way does not dwell in front of the throne room of God. He's not localized. What we know from the Bible is that the Holy Spirit dwells everywhere, all at once. So one of the arguments is that this is not the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit can not be localized.

So then what is or what can be the seven spirits?

Revelation 5:6 ~ " Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns (speaks of His absolute kingship)  and seven eyes (speaks of His complete knowledge), which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." (NIV). 

Revelation 3:1 ~ "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God"

Revelation 4:5 ~ "From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God." (NIV). 

Let's look again at Revelation 5:6 ~ " Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns (speaks of His absolute kingship)  and seven eyes (speaks of His complete knowledge), which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." (NIV). 

Notice that the spirits are sent out into all the earth. These could be special assigned or ordained angels found in Revelation 8:6 ~"Then the seven angels who have seven trumpets prepared to sound them." (NIV). 

Remember that the seven spirits are sent out into all the earth, so the seven angels, with the first being found Revelation 8:7 "The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and it was hurled down upon the earth..." and it goes on and on until Revelation 10:7 ~ "But in the days when the seventh angel is to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."(NIV). 

Revelation 8:2 ~ "And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." (NIV). 

The seven spirits before the throne of God. We find the references to the seven angels because they are before the throne of God. Where are they sent, to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit presides over all. Everywhere. Isn't that consistent with scripture?

Hebrews 1:14 ~ "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation?" (NIV).

This is the same scripture reference to those looking for biblical scripture for guardian angels. Remember that God has foreknowledge of those He knows will come to salvation at some point in their lives and when we do, he has angels dispensed to help us get there and to guide and protect us as He calls them to do in our lives as heirs of salvation found in Jesus.

The Bible reminds us that we will be greater than angels in eternity, so while it's nice to dream that when we die, we become angels, that is not biblical. Angels are God's creation designed to serve His purpose only. In the Book of Corinthians we will be judging angels for all eternity. We will be given so much knowledge when we get to heaven, that God is going to give us that job.

I know that today's study didn't accomplish much in the way of getting through the first chapter of Revelation, and God willing He will give me more time to go through this study with you before He returns for His church or this will remain for someone else to pick up after we are gone. I only hope it has blessed you in some way to grow in your spiritual walk that much more.

SEE Them!

I've been questioned by non Christians how we hear from God. Is it an audible voice booming down from the heavenly clouds or is it something subtle like a breeze that comes out of nowhere, gently caressing your face and then it's gone. I would have to say it's both and probably more.

I believe when you are actively spending time with God, through morning devotions, reading your Bible, praying, and following in the path that He has laid out for you, it becomes easier to hear his voice. Sometimes it sounds like your own voice in your head and the way I can tell the difference is how it measures up to God's Word and my will.

Sometimes music can even lead us to something God wants us to address. For me, it has been extending my own world beyond the population of one. The song by Matthew West addresses the point perfectly. If you haven't heard the song before I would encourage you to listen to it. But more than that, let it move you to do something beyond listening and push you to the doing part. Here are the lyrics:

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I've never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world: population -- me

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give 'til it hurts
And I turn off the news when I don't like what I see
It's easy to do when its population -- me

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world

Stopped till the red light, looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign said, "Help this homeless widow"
And just above that sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, "God, what have I been doing?"
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
Oh, how many times have I just passed her by?
I gave her some money then I drove on through
And my own little world reached population two

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world, ooh, my own little world, ooh

Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
That I could be living right now

I don't wanna miss what matters
I wanna be reaching out
Show me the greater purpose
So I can start living right now
Outside my own little world, my own little world, my own little world!

So the point, opportunities for us to increase our own little world population exist every single day. But I warn you, you have to also question your motives. Are you doing it because you feel lead or simply to try and fill your heavenly warehouse with more rewards? God's going to test all the things we do to see if they past the fire test. Only those that fall in line with His perfect will, pass without being burned up.

God creates these divine appointments every day. They could be the fact you have a little extra cash laying around and it could really bless someone. Perhaps getting the man sitting outside the local Starbucks a cup of coffee and a muffin. Perhaps it is giving someone money who asks, or even offering to help someone out without expecting anything in return just because you can.

The thing that God brought to my attention yesterday was two simple words. My A-ha moment.
"SEE THEM." Which meant not simply noticing they are there but to look them in the eyes as the song suggests. How many times do we avoid eye contact, because they might just ask us for something and we simply don't want to give them anything. But we are missing something greater.

The ability to thaw and break our hardened hearts. To feel again, something more than what is in it for us.

One of my intuitive senses is to be able to look at someone and get an idea of what they are going through despite what they tell me. Sometimes I see pain, shame, anger, hurt, and a desperate need to matter. Yet we miss it because we don't see them. We don't want to see them, because then we would be accountable to God someday for why we didn't do anything.

These people are crying out not to be ignored any more. To matter. To know that not everyone will simply pass them by. Lord, let the ones reading this be impacted in the most amazing way to act as Your hands and feet today in some way. Like the words from Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life , Strange isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives, and when he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

Oh how I pray that each time, you come across ANYONE, you look them in the eyes. That you offer a simple smile, a kind word, a compliment. I hope God pushes you so far out of your comfort zone, to go out of your way to do something, that when you do, the emotion you feel afterward will be enough to leave you smiling for a long, long time and the memory never fades.

I hope that when you see someone, that you simply pray and ask God how He wants you to handle it. I guarantee it won't be nothing. So my goal for you today, is for you to increase your own little population to include a whole lot more people. This is the time to make a difference, but remember, check your motives. But I promise you, it will be worth more to you, than what you do for them.

Remember what the Bible says in Hebrews 13:2, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."