For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
�Matthew 24:27
By Greg Laury:
I find it interesting that not one apostle ever took the time to write a couple of lines about the appearance of Jesus when He walked this earth. Could someone have told us what He looked like? Scripture doesn't record this for us. But in Revelation 19, we find a description of Him at the Second Coming.
Three things stand out about his description: His eyes, His head, and His robe.
Verse 12 tells us that "His eyes were like a flame of fire:hearts:." It has been said that the eyes are the window of the soul. When you look a person in the eye, you get a sense of them. Christ has eyes like a flame of fire as He returns again. Hebrews 4:13 tells us, "There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
Then there is His head, on which He wears "many crowns" (verse 12). He wears many crowns because He rules over many kingdoms. He is Lord of all. He is sovereign, all-powerful, and all-knowing.
Last, verse 13 tells us, "He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood. . . ." This phrase also could be translated "spattered in blood." Upon his first arrival on earth, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, or rags. At His second coming, He will be clothed royally in a robe dipped in blood. The first time Jesus came to earth, He came to die and shed His blood. The second time, He will come to judge. In His first coming, He was the Lamb of God to die for the sins of the world. At His second coming, He will be the ferocious Lion of the Tribe of Judah, bringing judgment.
God warns the Churches in Revelation1-3 that he will judge the Churches i.e. Christians:angeldevil:. What is the problem of these Christians? Let's listen to our God Jesus:
Revelation 1
Introduction and Benediction
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants�things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Greeting the Seven Churches
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed[a] us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings[b] and priests:angel: to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8 �I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,�[c] says the Lord,[d] �who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.�
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, both[e] your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord�s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, �I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,�[f] and, �What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia:[g] to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.�
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me,[h] �Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. 19 Write[i] the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw[j] are the seven churches.
Revelation 2
The Loveless Church
1 �To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
�These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 �I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name�s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place�unless you repent:bow:. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds:devil: of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.��
The Persecuted Church
8 �And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
�These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: 9 �I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan:devil:. 10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.��
The Compromising Church
12 �And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,
�These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 �I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan�s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam:angeldevil:, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality:devil:. 15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.[a] 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
17 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.��
The Corrupt Church
18 �And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
�These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 �I know your works, love, service, faith,[b] and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow[c] that woman[d] Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce[e] My servants to commit sexual immorality :devil:and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent :bow:of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent:devil:.[f] 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their[g] deeds:bow:. 23 I will kill her children with death:devil:, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts:hearts:. And I will give to each one of you according to your works:hearts:.
24 �Now to you I say, and[h] to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will[i] put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end:bow:, to him I will give power over the nations�
27 � He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter�s vessels�[j]�
as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.
29 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.��
Revelation 3
The Dead Church:devil:
1 �And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
�These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: �I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead:devil:. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.[a] 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent:bow:. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You[b] have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments:angel:; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments:angel:, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
6 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.��
The Faithful Church
7 �And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
�These things says He who is holy, He who is true, �He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens�:[c] 8 �I know your works:bow:. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;[d] for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan:devil:, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie�indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold,[e] I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown:angel:. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
13 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.��
The Lukewarm Church
14 �And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans[f] write,
�These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 �I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot:excited:. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,[g] I will vomit you out:excited: of My mouth. 17 Because you say, �I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing��and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked� 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love:hearts:, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent:bow:. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 �He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.���
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers :devil:will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.
�2 Peter 3:3
Probably more than at any other time before, there are people who claim to be spiritual. If you ask someone, "Do you believe in God?" they might say, "Well, I am a very spiritual person. Now I am not into organized religion, but I am very spiritual."
By that, they mean they take a little of this and a little of that and throw in some of their own ideas, and then they have their own belief system they have effectively created.
I have found that the most intolerant people are those who talk the most about tolerance. Christians are often accused of being intolerant, but I find that is not the case at all. I find that a true Bible-believing Christian, though he or she wants others to believe in Jesus and will try to persuade them of their need for Christ, is tolerant. By tolerant, I mean they are willing to accept that other people can have their beliefs.
We don't force our beliefs on anyone. We don't threaten to take their lives if they don't believe. We try to persuade them. We do it lovingly. We reach out to people in need and show compassion toward them through our actions. Sure, we want people to come to faith, but we truly are tolerant.
On the other hand, the people who are intolerant are those who talk all the time about tolerance. They are the ones who say, "I believe we should all just get along, and everyone should be able to live as they please and express their opinion."
But if you dare to express your opinion as a Christian and say the Bible is the Word of God, they will accuse you of being narrow-minded and bigoted. In actuality, they are not tolerant at all.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
�Matthew 5:8
In the Beatitudes, Jesus unlocked a major secret to living a happy life: A happy person will be a holy person. In the modern use of the word heart, we tend to associate it with our emotions. We will say, "My mind says one thing, but my heart says another." We describe an emotional person as "wearing their heart on their sleeve." In other words, we tend to think of our mind as logical, while our heart is more emotional. But in the Bible, the heart is not only the center of our emotions, but also of our mind. This includes our thinking process. In Proverbs, we are told, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).
The heart is important in Scripture because it is the center of our personality and the center of our will and emotions. God wants us to have pure hearts. It is attainable; otherwise Jesus never would have promised it. What exactly is this purity, as in being "pure of heart"? It is a word that means "without hypocrisy," or "single." Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil [or "double-visioned"], thy whole body shall be full of darkness" (Matthew 6:22�23 KJV). To be "single" or pure means to have a single-minded devotion to Jesus. As the Psalmist wrote, "Unite my heart to fear your name" (Psalm 86:11).
To be pure in heart is to seek to live a holy life, and that is the secret to happiness. If you want to be happy, seek to be holy. As Martyn Lloyd Jones said, "Seek for happiness and you will never find it. Seek righteousness and you will discover you are happy. It will be there without your knowing it, without your seeking it."
"For from the heart come evil thoughts:devil:, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander:devil:."
�Matthew 15:19
How often do we hear the word "heart"? It's a word that we seem to use constantly. If we are sad, we say that we are heartbroken. If someone is insensitive, we say they are heartless. If someone is very emotional and quick to express the way they feel, we might say they wear their heart on their sleeve.
When we speak of the heart, we are often referring to our emotional center. And we usually frame it along the lines of, "Well, my mind is telling me one thing, but my heart is telling me another."
Princes Diana once said, "Only do what your heart tells you."
Let me just say that you should not let your heart tell you what to do, because your heart can mislead you. A lot of crazy things have been done in the name of doing them from the heart. The heart wants what it wants, and many times, the heart wants the wrong things.
Here is what the Bible says about the heart: "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jeremiah 17:9). And Jesus said, "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander" (Matthew 15:19).
So instead of talking about our heart being broken or doing what our heart is telling us to do or wearing it on our sleeves, Jesus tells us to use our heart�as well as our mind and our soul�for what they were created for: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).
So we should not focus on our hearts as much as we should focus our hearts on God
Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another�s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord�s.
For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:
� As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me:bow:,
And every tongue shall confess to God.�
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God:bow:.
Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother�s way.
The Law of Love:hearts:
I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love:devil:. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness :angel:and peace and joy:yay: in the Holy Spirit.
For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace:angel: and the things by which one may edify another:angel:. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.
It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God:bow:. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves:yay:.
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith;
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 �Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: �You shall be holy:angel:, for I the LORD your God am holy:angel:.
3 �Every one of you shall revere :bow:his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
4 �Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.
5 �And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of your own free will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people.
9 �When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger:dancingp:: I am the LORD your God.
11 �You shall not steal, nor deal falsely:devil:, nor lie:devil: to one another. 12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
13 �You shall not cheat:devil: your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
15 �You shall do no injustice:devil: in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness :angel:you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17 �You shall not hate your :devil:brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke :boxing:your neighbor, and not bear sin :devil:because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love:hearts: your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
19 �You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
20 �Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
23 �When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the LORD. 25 And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the LORD your God.
26 �You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. 27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD.
29 �Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.
30 �You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.
31 �Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them:devil:: I am the LORD your God.
32 �You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear:bow:your God: I am the LORD.
33 �And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love:hearts: him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
35 �You shall do no injustice:devil: in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. 36 You shall have honest :angel:scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 �Therefore you shall observe:bow: all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the LORD.��
The heart is important in Scripture because it is the center of our personality and the center of our will and emotions. God wants us to have pure hearts. It is attainable; otherwise Jesus never would have promised it. What exactly is this purity, as in being "pure of heart"? It is a word that means "without hypocrisy," or "single." Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil [or "double-visioned"], thy whole body shall be full of darkness" (Matthew 6:22�23 KJV). To be "single" or pure means to have a single-minded devotion to Jesus. As the Psalmist wrote, "Unite my heart to fear your name" (Psalm 86:11).
To be pure in heart is to seek to live a holy life, and that is the secret to happiness. If you want to be happy, seek to be holy. As Martyn Lloyd Jones said, "Seek for happiness and you will never find it. Seek righteousness and you will discover you are happy. It will be there without your knowing it, without your seeking it."
Bahira these staements are not even clost to being right, or scriptural
