As we have stated numerous times in the course of this Study, the book of Revelation is first and foremost a spiritual book. It is a book of spiritual realities communicated by means of signs and symbols. You will not read the fulfillment of its prophecies on the pages of Newsweek magazine, but you will see them manifest in the lives of men and women who walk with God and in the great accomplishments of the kingdom of God on earth. The word of the Lord in its spiritual meaning does not describe for us the carnal warfare between nations. For what have wars between nations to do with the kingdom of God? God does not conquer by carnal weapons, therefore the warfare between nations has nothing whatever to do with the kingdom purposes of God! This is where people go astray in their thinking. They suppose that God acts politically or militarily. Oh, no! The battles beheld in spirit by the eagle-eyed seer of Patmos signify spiritual combats, combats between light and darkness, between spirit and flesh, between Adam and Christ, between the carnal mind and the precious mind of Christ, between truth and error, between righteousness and evil, between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Babylon, between life and death. A man must experience this combat within himself to become a spiritual conqueror and possess the promised land. Our Lord, when in the world, carried on such spiritual warfare in an infinitely greater way than others, overcoming the compounded powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil, opening up the way to victory and triumph for all who are willing to follow Him into the lifestyle of the kingdom of God.
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"God is preparing such an army! We now want to present this army. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain…and the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great…” The trumpet blows in Zion — mount Zion. The army of the Lord is in Zion! So much of the book of Revelation is rooted in the prophecies of the Old Testament. The people who hear this trumpet and are called to battle by it are seen by John, “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). This company of 144,000 stands upon mount Zion in all the nature, glory, and majesty of their Redeemer. Mount Zion, the highest hill in Jerusalem, represents the very highest position attainable in God’s kingdom. Such are the ruling class in the capital city of the kingdom of our Lord, the New Jerusalem, prefigured by king David of old who dwelt on the natural mount Zion in the earthly Jerusalem. It was upon mount Zion that David built His citadel and royal residence. From there he reigned. This company, standing on the heavenly and spiritual mount Zion, followers of the Lamb, can represent nothing other than those who have followed Jesus all the way from mount Calvary to mount Zion, who suffered with Him even unto death (to self), and shall now reign with Him upon His throne forevermore! They are overcomers. Before coming to the throne, like king David, they have engaged in warfare, fought many battles, gained the victory, and possessed the kingdom. They are “the armies which are in heaven” which follow Him who sits upon the white horse, and they too ride “upon white horses, clothed in fine linen clean and white.” A horse in prophecy is a symbol of speed and strength in war. White stands for righteousness. So Christ and His armies of overcoming sons riding white horses denotes that they come in swift, strong, and righteous judgment!"
He has His own tools and does not require the works of Man!
Amen brother, God is sovereign, but God works through men made righteous, Jesus Christ is working righteousness into His people, in the Kingdom of God in this very moment.
He loves them very much!
Right on!
God’s tools might be an interesting line of thought.
Made them with His own hands. ;)
Ah, the hand of God in our life.......we are also called His garden.
Though the trees do grow we are not to eat from two. One makes us "like" God in Mind and one makes us "like" God in Life. Much later we are invited to eat of one. This also forbids the other.
I don't know.
I feel like he is trying to tell me something.
It is interesting, we're told to add our faith.
1 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those all sound like spiritual tools. I was thinking of "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" too.
I think that the only spiritual tool we should concern ourselves with is Faith. Guard it diligently for it is the door through which all passes.
Knowledge of Good and Evil to the left Life to the right.
The Bible is pretty adamant that there is only one Judge. While the Duty was passed from the Father to the Son the Son returned it to the Father who will return it to the Son again. Oh what a Judge Christ was!
Why were the books called the Apocrypha removed after the 1611 King James was printed ? Why do people say they were never included when I have a 1611 King James with those books in it ? Someone has screwed with our Bible.
They can't screw with the Spirit of truth. It's quite awesome to see(understand) with the Spiritual eye.
The only hope a believer has is the return of Christ.
It's a given he is coming, our job is to live God's Word the best we can whole waiting for Christ to return.
Vengeance is mine sayeth the lord
An interesting term used in Revelation is the "wrath of the Lamb". I often have trouble wrapping my mind around it, the lamb was slain and arose up a conquerer. We too are to slay the old, Adamic man, and arise up as conquerors, until the whole creation is set at liberty.
"The cry of the hour is that we become that for which we have been apprehended. We are giving notice to heaven and earth that this is not just another teaching or beautiful revelation given to thrill our hearts, but this message is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as a witness to God’s elect that we are a “chosen generation,” a “royal priesthood,” “kings to reign,” and we are also called to form the “army of the Lord” in the earth. We are not just passing through this world, but are sent by God at a specific time, at the very hour of the very day of the very month of the very year when the army of God is destined to arise in the earth to fight the final battles for the possession of our inheritance in the kingdom of God! We shall bring to this world the unveiled glory of the Son, in an open display of a manifestation in the sons of God. For this we cry, that we would be the forthshining of the Son, His express image, the demonstration and power of His sonship glory and dominion, upon which the nations will gaze and be changed by the glory of His countenance. Oh, yes, the army of the Lord shall “shine forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners!”
"John saw the horses and they that sat on them. This meant victory! The old Roman conquerors, when celebrating a brilliant conquest, rode down the avenues of the Imperial City upon a snow-white steed, and received the plaudits of the people. The Lord is described in the Revelation as the Word of God emblematically riding on a white horse; it is the image of aggressive action, of a prosperous conquest over His foes. And those who follow Him are the armies of heaven, all of them riding upon white horses! The horse in scripture represents strength, and fearlessness to accomplish its task. Long millenniums ago the war-horse was described thus by the patriarch Job: “He paweth the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrightened; neither turneth he back from the sword. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage…he saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting” (Job 39:21-25)."
"By this army shall creation be set free from the prison of corruption, to see a new heaven and a new earth, to see sin and unrighteousness banished from the hearts of men, to see death destroyed from off God’s creation, to see the end of all sickness, sorrow, and pain, to see safety, peace, and happiness come to every man, woman, and child, to see Jerusalem established as a praise in all the earth, to see kings reigning gloriously from mount Zion, to see every man and every nation walking in the Light of the Lord. The army of God marches to see every prisoner set free, to see every man awaken in His likeness, to see the good news published throughout Zion, to see the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed from the mountain of God, to see the valley of dry bones erupt with life, to see the lion’s mouth shut so that none shall hurt nor destroy in all God’s holy kingdom!"
"In the book of Numbers, the children of Israel were numbered twice. The purpose of the first numbering was to choose those who would be formed into an army to fight the battle. They were numbered the second time, not only as an army for warfare, but also according to their tribes to divide and inherit the good land. In these types and shadows, therefore, we may realize the great and glorious truth that God is forming a portion of His people into a spiritual army which, on behalf of all the people of God, is designated to conquer, divide, and inherit the good spiritual land of the fullness of Christ! We have heard much of becoming kings and priests to reign with Christ, and we have heard of becoming judges to bring righteous judgment to the earth; but today the Spirit of the Lord is drawing our attention to another matter, that God’s elect is in this hour of preparation being formed into an army. We as a company of the Lord’s people must be formed into an army to fight the battle for Him on this earth. Oh, this is tremendous! If this strikes fear in you, you may turn back. Only by the army of the manifest sons of God can the spirits and systems and powers of this present world order be conquered and destroyed!"
"The fire, smoke, and brimstone that issue out of their mouths correspond in type to the sword that goes out of His mouth with which He smites the nations. In both cases the Lord and His armies are riding upon horses with something issuing out of their mouths! That which goes forth from the mouths of God’s army is the sharp two-edged sword of the Word of God! His name is called THE WORD OF GOD! He is the LOGOS. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made” (Ps. 33:6). This is He who was in the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word” (Jn. 1:1). This is the Word that was God. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. This is He of whom it is written, “He sent His word and healed them.” Christ does not come with, in, and through His armies to avenge blood or slay in battle as other conquerors have done. His all-powerful words smite all who hear them! As someone has said, It will smite them with conviction and bless them with conversion. The spirit which animates God’s many-membered Christ is the warrior spirit! His object is the conquest of the world, by conquering the hearts of men! He has formed the resolution, which burns in the hearts of all God’s sons today, never to cease from His campaign until the whole world, a conquered realm, bows devotedly before Him as its rightful Lord and Master, and only true King."