Thursday August 24th, 2023
« The great day of the LORD is near–very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair! »
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
The first four seals involved human beings destroying each other.
All that the inhabitants of the world at that time would have seen will look man-made- people destroying each other.
From the fifth seal on, the punishment will be coming directly from heaven.
When the fifth seal was opened, John saw under the altar in heaven, the souls of Martyrs – saints who were killed for the sake of the gospel.
They were crying for vengeance.
This tells us straight away that vengeance is coming for all those who have died and does who are currently suffering for the gospel.
If you are one of such saints, take heart; the persecution may be great now, but please don’t try to avenge yourself so that you do not miss your place in heaven in the process.
Just keep standing for Christ; the time is coming when your persecutors will be dealt with if they refuse to repent.
Take heart, beloved of the Lord and be strong.
Now, John records that the martyrs were given white robes and told to hold on for other Christians on earth who will be martyred too, and then God will avenge them.
In that time, many people who will realize their error after missing rapture will be determined to make heaven.
It will be very difficult then to be a Christian because the Christians will not worship the Anti-Christ nor take his mark.
Now, there are some areas in the world where it is difficult to be a Christian, but those areas are few; after the rapture however, it will be difficult to be a Christian everywhere around the world.
The whole world will be against Christians.
They will gladly kill any Christian that refuses to take the mark and the government will back them up.
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
15 He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.
16 He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.
17And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.
Do all you can to avoid missing the rapture.
Application: Surrender your life totally to Jesus now and commit to a life of holiness so you do not miss the rapture.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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