Rev. Charles Claydon read from Matthew 5. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

And Romans 9. 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Blair Hutchison gave a testimony about what God had done in his life. Nahum 1. 7 The Lord is good,
a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,

The speaker was Rev. Bob Allen continuing the theme ‘The Light of the World’ with part 3.

Bob read from the Bible - John 1.24 - 42

²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John Testifies About Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

And then

John 1. 29-36 John Testifies About Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

We all know that sacrifice was practiced, probably from the dawn of age. The Lamb made it possible. When Adam and Eve sinned, God covered them in sheep skin.

Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. Cain had a bad attitude, I will offer what I choose to as I am a farmer. Cain offered the fruit of the ground. Abel made an offering of a lamb. Without the shedding of blood there is no acceptable sacrifice for sin.

Genesis 22. 7 – 8 ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Sarah and Abraham were very old when they had Isaac. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, who spotted that there was no lamb to sacrifice. ’God Himself will provide the Lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ There is a theme in the Bible – The Lamb has to be slain for forgiveness of sin.

Passover – Exodus 12. 21 – 28 ²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. ²⁴ “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸ The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. There is a symbolic way. The tragedy is that we forget – we are slowly writing Him out of our lives. Even on forms where you select Mr. Mrs. Ms. Rev. is now excluded.

Numbers 9. 11 – 12 ¹¹ but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations. (why not break the bones?)

The Coming Messiah Isaiah 53. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. This is the paradox, He will become helpless like a lamb laying on its back. Bob was looking for a picture of Aslam tied up (the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe series) but couldn’t find one.

We don’t realise what price has been paid for us. That is Mega Mercy.

Matthew 26.2  “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

1 Corinthians 5. 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Peter 1. 18 – 20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ^{19 20} but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

The Importance of the Blood

·         Who takes away the sin of the world

·         Leviticus 17. 10 – 12 “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. ^{11 12} For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.^[a] Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.” Bob added that he hoped that we don’t like black pudding!

·         Numbers 35. 33-34 “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ^{34 Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’”}Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the What have we done to the land with babies being slaughtered. Godis reaching out to us even though we have done some terrible things.

·         Hebrews 9. 20 – 22 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”^{[a] 22} In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

·         1 John 5 Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ^{3 4} In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood —Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify:7 ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ^{11 12} And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Please Pray for: Alan & Dorothy & family

Revelation 15.3

3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant (slave) of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Your works are great and wonderful, O Lord God Almighty; Your ways are righteous and true, King of the nations.

It is interesting for us to note that the martyrs sing the song of Moses, which is in Exodus 15.

Those who have been delivered by Jesus, the Lamb of God, now sing of the great deliverance that God brought about for Israel through Moses, His servant.

The Mighty deliverance that Jesus brings to us is foreshadowed by the exodus of God’s people from Egypt.

Our God is a God of deliverance, and there have been many mighty works of deliverance that He has brought about for His people throughout history. Two of these are outstanding in being full of the awesome power of God.

The first was the way that God brought Israel out of Egypt, delivering them through the Red Sea, and guiding them for forty years through the wilderness.

The second momentous deliverance, and the greatest in all history, is the exodus from sin that Jesus brings to all those who put their faith and trust in Him.

Moses prophesied about Jesus in Deuteronomy 18.18-19: [18] I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will tell that prophet what to say, and He will tell the people everything I command Him. [19] I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on My behalf (NLT).

It is always good for us to sing those songs that proclaim the greatness of what God has done for His people, both in former generations and also in our own.

Worships songs will always have their focus on the Mighty acts of God, and as we can see from this verse this will also include those Mighty deeds of His that we read of in the Old Testament.

The song of Moses tells us that every way of God is great and wonderful.

Chris Tomlin has written these words that we sing:

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God.

[16:1] The next evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene and Salome and Mary the mother of James went out and purchased burial spices to put on Jesus’ body. [2] Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they came to the tomb. [3] On the way they were discussing who would roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb. [4] But when they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone—a very large one—had already been rolled aside. [5] So they entered the tomb, and there on the right sat a young man clothed in a white robe. The women were startled, [6] but the angel said, “Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He has been raised from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. [7] Now go and give this message to his disciples, including Peter: Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died!” [8] The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, saying nothing to anyone because they were too frightened to talk.

Have you ever started to do a job and suddenly realized that there is something you had not thought about that will be a real obstacle to your success?

It’s like climbing a tree when you suddenly realize that maybe you’ve gone too far without thinking about how to get down again.

What I want us to notice is the conversation that the woman had on their way to the tomb.

They discussed the major challenge of how they were going to move the stone from the entrance to the tomb.

It may seem strange that they had not made arrangements for someone to accompany them to the tomb to perform this task, since it was beyond them.

There were four women who went to the tomb: Mary Magdalene, Salome (wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John), Mary the mother of James &Joses, and Joana (wife of Herod’s steward, Chusa).

We do not know the ages of these women, but, since Salome and Mary were mothers of three of the disciples, they were possible not in the prime of their strength. It was a task that four woman could not do themselves.

The stone could be rolled down a gully easily enough to cover the entrance to the tomb.

However, rolling it away from the tomb meant pushing it uphill.

This was not a task that the women could achieve on their own and they knew it.

What impossible tasks have we faced?

There may be many times when we start to do something and we find that that is a ‘stone’, as it were, blocking our way.

We all know the saying: ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’, or as someone has said: ‘where there’s a will, there’s a relative’.

However, we all know that even if we have the will to do something, there is not always the way.

What I mean by this is that there are some things that we may like too, but we do not have the means to do it.

I may want to fly to the moon, but I do not have the means to do it.

There were many times in the Bible where the way ahead seemed impossible.

When God said to Abraham that in twelve months he and Sarah would have baby, it seemed impossible.

Sarah was beyond childbearing age.

Paul writes this:

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead

[20] Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,[21] being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised –Romans 4.19-21.

They could both see the impossibility, but they both believed that Gods the God of making the impossible possible.

The deadness of their bodies did not stand in the way of their faith that God would do what He said He would do.

Did these women have such faith?

Did they believe that somehow the stone would be removed?

As they hurried to Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus how did they imagine the stone would be moved?

At that point they had no thought about Jesus being raised from the dead.

As far as they were concerned they were on their way to anoint a dead body.

They had no thought of an empty tomb and a risen Lord and Saviour.

However, they did not let the impossibility of the immovable stone prevent them from carrying on with their journey and their task.

They were about to see that with God all things are possible.

In Matthew 19.26we read: Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

There are other situations in the Scriptures that testify to God doing the seemingly impossible is:

The parting of the Red Sea.

Gideon having only an army of 300 to defeat the Midianites

The conception of Jesus.

Here are just three of the things that appear impossible to us.

Then there are all the miracles, plus Jesus being raised from the dead, which includes the moving of the stone from the tomb.

What impossible situations do we face?

Do we still believe that God is the God of the impossible?

What circumstances do you need the stone to be rolled away from?

Do we believe that God can still roll the stone away.

Paul wrote to the Philippians and said:

I can do everything through him who gives me strength – Philippians 4.13

You may be wondering how the stone is going to be rolled away.

It’s a stone that is blocking your way.

The women did not let the considerable matter of the stone prevent them from going to the tomb.

They still went in spite of their reservations, and look at their reward.

God may give us an objective and it is possible that we may not be able to see how we are going to achieve His purpose.

Believe that He will roll away the stone.

Please Pray for: Sheila & Stan & family

Revelation 15.1

1 And I saw another great and wonderful sign in Heaven; seven angels having last seven plagues, because in them is completed the wrath of God.

Once again John is privilege to see into Heaven, and it seems as though he struggled to find the words to adequately describe what he saw.

He says that the vision was great and wonderful. Describing something as wonderful in itself is a description that is beyond normal language. It contains the thoughts of something being awesome and miraculous.

Certainly what John saw was miraculous since it was filled with the workings of God.

The signs and wonders of God are not restricted to Heaven, indeed in Mark 16.17-18 Jesus promised [17] “But for those who believe these sign will follow (characterise) them: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, [18] they will pick up snakes and if they drink anything deadly (poisonous) it will not hurt them, they will place their hands on sick people and they will have (receive) health”.

The beginning of the Church of Jesus is one where signs and wonders confirmed the word that was preached: [43] A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders – Acts 2.43.

We proclaim that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever; therefore, we also need to see His same power at work in our lives in signs and wonders.

What John saw in Heaven was seven angels having the seven plagues of God. Therefore, what is to follow is the judgement of God.

True judgement comes from God, and it is also just and deserved.

It is interesting for us to realize that it is the judgement of God that John describes as a great and wonderful sign. It is a sign that God cannot be cheated; it is a sign that God will bring justice that will be amazing and miraculous.

It is also a great and wonderful thing that in His love and justice He has provided salvation for all who look to Jesus.

In 1855 Thomas Southgate wrote these words:

It is a thing most wonderful,
Almost too wonderful to be,
That God’s own Son should come from Heav’n,
And die to save a child like me.

Please Pray for: John, Kath & Joseph & family

Revelation 14.17-20 cont.

17 and another angel went out from the temple in Heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18 and another angel went out from the altar, the one having authority over the fire, and he shouted with a loud voice: “Use your sharp sickle to gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, since its grapes are ripe.”

19 And the angel used his sickle in the earth, and he harvested the earth’s vine, he threw it into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

20 And they were trampled in the winepress outside of the city, and blood came out of the winepress for sixteen hundred furlongs (about 200 miles). It reached up to the bridles of horses.

John is given a picture of a winepress into which are thrown the cluster of grapes.

We have already seen that this is to illustrate the harvest that the angel with the sharp sickle is to reap.

Also we have seen that the harvest is of those people and nations who have rejected God, and they are harvested for His judgement.

The picture of the winepress is used in Isaiah 63.3 where God says: “I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help Me. In My anger I have trampled My enemies as if they were grapes. In My fury I have trampled My foes. Their blood has stained My clothes.”

Also The Lord God says through the prophet Joel: [13] Now let the sickle do its work, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the winepress because it is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people.”

W Barclay informs us that a wine press consisted of two troughs, one higher than the other, being connected by a channel.

The grapes were placed in the upper trough and pressed (trodden on) to squeeze out the juice, which ran down the channel and was collected in the lower trough.

The illustration of the winepress is to show the complete and absolute destruction of the enemies of God. The final judgement will see the squeezing out the life of those who have turned their backs on the revelations that God has given of Himself.

John is told that the judgement is to take place outside the city. In Zechariah 14.3-4 God says: Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He has fought in times past. [4] On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east.

It is interesting for us to note that it was outside Jerusalem where Satan tried to defeat Jesus on the cross. However, it is to be outside Jerusalem where the final judgement will take place, and the triumph of Jesus will be seen.

It is suggested that the reference to the 200 miles of blood is symbolic of the total destruction of the enemies of God.

Please Pray for: Tom

Revelation 14.17-20

17 and another angel went out from the temple in Heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18 and another angel went out from the altar, the one having authority over the fire, and he shouted with a loud voice: “Use your sharp sickle to gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, since its grapes are ripe.”

19 And the angel used his sickle in the earth, and he harvested the earth’s vine, he threw it into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

20 And they were trampled in the winepress outside of the city, and blood came out of the winepress for sixteen hundred furlongs (about 200 miles). It reached up to the bridles of horses.

The next scene of the vision brings us to another harvest, which is to be different from the first harvest.

As we have seen the first harvest is to be reaped by the Son of Man, Jesus. It is the harvesting of all who have confessed Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. It is the harvest that brings many sons (and daughters) to glory.

However the second harvest is completely different and the harvesting is done by an angel who has a sharp sickle. It is the harvesting of all those who have not confessed Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, it is the harvesting of all who refuse to give their lives to Him, it is harvest of all who are still dead in their sins (the place where we used to be before Jesus saved us).

The cluster of grapes refers to the nations of the Gentiles who have persecuted the people of God, the Church of Jesus.

Initially the readers of the Revelation might have understood the Roman Empire to be the cluster of grapes that was ready for the harvest of the judgement of God.

Since then there have been various suggestions as to whom the enemies of God (the cluster of grapes) might refer to. Among these suggestions are Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury in the time of Henry 8^th), the Roman Catholic Church, and unspiritual Protestants.

However, it might be wiser to understand this angel as referring to the Last Days, when the final judgement of God will take place.

Jesus said: “And the Father leaves all judgment to His Son” –John 5.22 (NLT).

Therefore, we should expect that the final judgement will take place with Jesus harvesting the saints, and the angel harvesting those who persist in their sin.

We make the choice about who will harvest us: Jesus or the angel with the sharp sickle.

Please Pray for: Blair & Michelle

Revelation 14.14-16 cont.

14 And I saw (and see) a white cloud, and someone was sitting on it like the Son of Man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.

15 And another angel went out of the Temple (shrine), crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud; Thrust your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.

16 And the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth and the earth was harvested.

Perhaps most of us have a mobile phone (some have more than one), and they can perform tasks that were unthinkable only a few years ago.

Along with computers they enable us to communicate with one another in a number of different ways. We can talk, we can text, we can skype, we can video call, and we can make conference calls. We can use facebook and other different forms of social media.

We can make instant contact with people on the other side of the world.

Yet it is questionable if our skills of communicating have improved on a deep and meaningful level.

There is a communication in Heaven which is good for us to take note of. In verse 15 we read that another angel went out of the temple. That is he went from the very presence of God and he carried a message that he gave to Jesus.

It was a message of encouragement, carrying the word of the Father to Jesus that the time of harvest has come.

The angel brings to Jesus the words that release Him to begin the task of reaping.

This is the communication of Heaven: The Father entrusts the angel with the message; the angel then takes this word to Jesus, who is already prepared to swing His sickle for harvesting.

We know that there were those times in the gospels when angels brought God’s word to Jesus, carrying the message of Heaven to earth. We know that an angel of the Lord appeared to Jesus to strengthen Him whilst He was going through agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We also need the encouragement and strengthening that our Father gives to us through angels.

The song: Blessed assurance has these words:

Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Sending His angels is one of the ways in which our Heavenly Father chooses to communicate with us – to release what is done in Heaven to be done on earth.

Please Pray for: Lydia

Revelation 14.14-16

14 And I saw (and see) a white cloud, and someone was sitting on it like the Son of Man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.

15 And another angel went out of the Temple (shrine), crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud; Thrust your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.

16 And the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth and the earth was harvested.

The next part of the vision that John receives once again reveals Jesus to Him.

Jesus often referred to Himself as ‘the Son of Man’.

Jesus told Nathaniel: “The truth is, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man” – John 1.51 (NLT).

Jesus also said: “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give My life as a ransom for many” –Mark 10.45 (NLT).

Matthew records Jesus using the term 28 times.

The term particularly refers to a vision that Daniel was given in Daniel 7.13-14 where we read: [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. [14] He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Jesus used this title to describe Himself throughout the gospels.

Those who heard Jesus use this title would have been aware of the title as referring to the One whom God would send – the Messiah.

It is a title that John would have been familiar with as the description of Jesus, and he would have been conscious of its’ use in Daniel.

Therefore, it is Jesus whom John sees coming on a white cloud; coming majestically; coming as the One to reap His harvest.

What a glorious Saviour we have; One who comes to us in power and majesty. He is the One who daily brings us salvation, who turns our life around.

Give praise to God that we are a part of His harvest.

Please Pray for: Kevin, Jane & Nathan & family

Revelation 14.13

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying: “Write, Happy are the dead, the ones dying in the Lord from now on.” “Yes”, says the Spirit, “They will rest from their labours, for their works will follow them.”

Unless Jesus returns in our lifetime all of us will die. Our bodies wear out and succumb to death, or disease may also remove us from this world, or an accident may bring a sudden and unexpected death.

None of us knows the day or hour when death will come to us.

For those of us who follow Jesus death is here described as a happy (blessed) state. The moment Jesus calls us to leave our mortal bodies to be with Him is a moment of joy, because we will enter into a new part of the Kingdom of God.

The passing from the life of this world into the immediate presence of God is to enter into a state of happiness unparalleled in this world.

Yet, if the truth be told, for most of our life we do not view death as something to embrace with unbounded joy. For most of our life our desire is to enjoy life here on earth, and enter into the fullness of the life of Jesus that He promises us here and now.

Perhaps it is that as we get older and much nearer the time we expect to face death that we begin to anticipate the joy of Heaven.

We may be familiar with these words of Jesus: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. [26] They are given eternal life for believing in Me and will never perish” – John 11.25 (NLT).

The happiness of dying is to leave this body in order to be present with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5.8). This means that we share in His resurrection.

The promise is that dying in Jesus means resting from toils. This can also mean resting from troubles.

Taking this meaning we can see that this could refer to those who have endured the troubles of persecution, which cause the exhaustion of body, mind and spirit.

Death brings the happy release of Heaven from trouble, and the faithful endurance of those troubles is not forgotten in the courts of God.

Please Pray for: Derek & Sue & family

Revelation 14.9-11 cont.

9 And (another) third angel followed them saying in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the wild beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

10 he will drink of the undiluted anger of God that has been mixed in the cup of His wrath and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and there is no respite day and night for those who worship the beast and its’ image, and those receiving the mark of its’ name.

12 Here is the endurance of the saints, those who are keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

In Luke 18.8 Jesus made this comment: “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth, when He comes?”

In the Last Days we may be certain that it will be harder to remain faithful and loyal to Jesus. They will be days when demands will be placed upon the followers of Jesus to conform to the world, even more than is the case today.

Jesus gives this prophetic warning: [10] “And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other. [11] And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray. [12] Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. [13] But those who endure to the end will be saved” – Matthew 24.10-13 (NLT).

Throughout the Scriptures there is the constant call for the saints (the people of God) to stand firm, knowing that God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Jesus said: “As you persevere (endure) you will acquire your soul”– Luke 21.19.

In the Last Days there will be the need to persevere, the call to be constant in the faith of Jesus.

In 1858 George Duffield Jr wrote these words:

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armour, each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.

The Last Days will be times when we will all need to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, because in our own strength we will fail, since it is within our fallen nature to submit to the current ways of culture.

We will need to put on the full armour of God so that we can stand and resist the attacks of Satan to try and defeat us. In our natural state we are defenceless against these attacks, but clothed with the full armour of God we shall still be standing when the battle has been won.