Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

What I Tell You in the Darkness, Speak Ye in the Light - Matthew 10:27
Jul 5th, 2020
Morning MeditationF.B. Meyer
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational;Book Study

These striking words are applicable to us all. Our Lord is constantly taking us into the dark, that He may tell us things. Into the dark of the shadowed home, where bereavement has drawn down the blinds; into the dark of the lonely, desolate life, where some infirmity closes us in from the light and stir of life; into the dark of some crushing sorrow and disappointment. Then He tells us His secrets, great and wonderful, eternal and infinite. The eye, which has become dazzled by the glare of earth, becomes able to behold the heavenly constellations; and the ear to detect the undertones of His voice, which is often drowned amid the tumult of earth's strident cries.

But such revelations always imply a corresponding responsibility - that speak ye in the light - that proclaim upon the house-tops. We are not meant to linger always in the dark, or stay in the closet; presently we shall be summoned to take our place in the rush and storm of life; and when that moment comes, we are to speak and proclaim what we have learned.

This gives a new meaning to suffering, the saddest element in which is often its apparent aimlessness. "How useless I am." "What am I doing for the betterment of men?" "Wherefore this waste of the precious spikenard of my soul." Such are the desperate laments of the sufferer. But God has a purpose in it all. He has withdrawn His child to the higher altitudes of fellowship, that he may hear God speaking face to face, and bear the message to his fellows at the mountain foot. Were the forty days wasted that Moses spent on the Mount, or the period spent at Horeb by Elijah, or the years spent in Arabia by Paul?

Revelation 6:12-17 pt.. 1 Exploring Revelation
Jul 5th, 2020
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

The question we face as we come to the sixth seal is when is this seal opened? Some believe that it is opened at the mid-trib. point. Others think it is at the time of the battle of armeggedon. It is my opinion, that this seal is opened very early in the tribulation period.

As the sixth seal is opened, six catastrophic events occur. There is no reason to interpret these events as other than literal happenings.

FIRST - A great earthquake takes place (vs.12). This is a great world-wide earthquake. I believe this the same earthquake that we read about in Ezekiel 38:19-20, this is God's response to the invasion of Israel by Russia and her allies very early in the tribulation period. We read also about what will accompany this great quake, (See Ezek. 38:22).

SECOND - John goes on to tell us, "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, verse 12. Notice the word "as", a word of comparison, it appeared as if the sun became sackcloth of hair.

THIRD - "The moon became as blood", again it does not say the moon became blood, but that it appears as blood. We are not told the cause, It could be air pollution from nuclear explosions, or it could be caused by the fire sent down from heaven.

FOURTH - "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs" (vs.13). A shower of stars or asteroids and meteorites will cause great destruction on the earth. I visited the site of crator in Arizona which was caused by a falling meteor, the crator was a mile wide and as deep as a 75 story building. What utter destruction when God begins to shake the heavens! Fear yes, more than fear utter terror will be universal.

FIFTH - "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;" (vs.14). This is the atmospheric heavens. This is a description what happens to the atmosphere during an atomic explosion, however I suspect this a direct act of God. We cannot begin to imagine the terror when God shakes the heavens. Defiant sinners will have cause to be terrified.

SIXTH - "and every mountain and every island were moved out of their places" (vs.14) All of these events strike absolute terror into the hearts of unrepent sinners.

Notice in verses 15,16 the awful terror of the Lord that falls on all men everywhere "hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb". The most striking thing in all of this is that though men fear God, yet they do not repent, instead of repenting, they look for a place to hide, and this, like Pharaoh of old, results in the hardening of their hearts. See Rev. 9:20,21 and 16:9,11. In fact these men in our text would rather die than repent, and that is why hell is forever.

Next week, we will attempt to draw a parallel between the sixth seal and Ezekiel 38 & 39.