For the Hour of His Judgment is Come - Revelation 14:7

This is a very important part of the Three Angels Messages. It is vital to understand this part of the Holy Bible. Pastor Stephen Bohr does a fantastic job at explaining this portion the Three Angels Messages, of Revelation 14:7.

I would also recommend starting at the beginning of this sermon series by Pastor Bohr.

Here are the prior posts in this blog series:

1. Revelation 14:6 - The Everlasting Gospel
2. Revelation 14:7 - Fear God
3. Revelation 14:7 - Give Glory to God

Give Glory to God - Revelation 14:7

Please read the prior posts in this series before this one if you have not.

1. Revelation 14:6 - The Everlasting Gospel
2. Revelation 14:7 - Fear God


Let's begin again by reading what the first angel's message says. The First of the Three Angels says, in Revelation 14:7, "Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

What does it mean to give glory to God? In the SDA Bible Commentary, Volume 7, p. 979, Ellen G. White has this to say: "To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own, and thus make Him known. And in whatever way we make known the Father or the Son, we glorify God."

Let's look at the example of Moses. In Exodus 33:18 Moses is asking for God to show him His glory. "And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." In verse 19, God gives His answer to Moses. "
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." The rest of the chapter is God describing to Moses where and how He will show Moses His glory.

In chapter 34 of Exodus, from verses 5 to 7, God is showing Moses His glory. The passage reads, "5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.  6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,  7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."

We can see from these passages that God's glory is synonymous with both His character and His name. Think about it this way: we can see what kind of a ruler someone is or what kind of a nation a country is by the laws they make. And when we hear their names, what's the first thing to come to mind? If you guessed their reputation, you guessed right.

In his sermon on this subject entitled, How to Glorify God, (<--- click to watch) Pastor Stephen Bohr mentions an interesting point. Romans 3:23 says this: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God..." That word for "come short," means "to lack." We all lack the glory of God. So how can we give Him something we don't have?

We've already determined that the glory of God is His character. To give glory to God means to be an example of His character to those around us. But we are born naturally sinful. We are not born with the natural desire to love God. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

 We need to be an example of God's character before we can give glory to Him. But how do we have His character? We need to totally surrender to God. As Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

Giving glory to God encompasses several different things. When we totally surrender to God, He begins to transform us. We no longer like the same things we used to. We begin to abhor our sin and to do what is necessary to overcome it. No, I'm not encouraging salvation by works here. That's not Biblical. But even Jesus said, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:29-30). 

If something is causing you to sin, take the necessary steps so that you are no longer tempted to use that excuse to sin. 

Let's go over a few aspects of what it means to glorify God. 

For example, if you are not already eating healthy, the Holy Spirit will encourage you to do that. Can we honestly say we are glorifying God when we are knowing eating a bad diet? In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, the Bible lists clean and unclean meats. And remember, God only gave permission to eat meat after the flood, when the vegetation was largely destroyed. Now that we live in a time when we don't have to eat meat at all, why should we? 

Even Daniel and his friends, when faced with the kings diet, they requested a water and veggie diet. After 10 days, they faired better than their peers. In our day, more and more people are coming to the realization that a whole foods, plant based diet is, by far, the healthiest way to eat. For a good explanation on why a whole foods, plant based diet is better, I recommend watching Forks Over Knives (watch it free!). 

Giving glory to God also includes watching what kind of media we take in, i.e. music, tv, movies, etc.. Ask yourself, does watching this movie bring me closer to God? Does listening to this song glorify God? If you can't answer yes, don't do it. In regards to visual media, I recommend watching the programs by Little Light Studios (see their youtube and vimeo pages as well) to see the research they have done on the topic. For musical entertainment, I recommend a sermon series by  Karl Tsatalbasidis. Christian Berdahl also has resources on music as well (see his content on audioverse also). 

If there is something in our lives that does not glorify God, it needs to go. We need to ask God for the strength to resist the temptation to partake in what does not glorify Him. He promised to provide that strength in 1 Corinthians 10:13: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Fear God - Revelation 14:7

Please read the first post in this series:

1. Revelation 14:6 - The Everlasting Gospel


The First of the Three Angels says, in Revelation 14:7, "Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

His first words are, "Fear God." But what does it mean to fear God? It does not mean to be afraid of God. The Bible says that God is love and that perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:16, 18). Strong's concordance (reference number G5399 ) has one definition of this word as being, "to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience."

But what does it really entail? We have the definition now. But how do we apply it? Well the Bible gives us that information. We apply it one way by keeping God's commandments. If we fear God, or revere Him, we will keep His commandments.

At the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says this, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

To fear God means to keep His commandments. Solomon even says that this is man's duty. We were created to worship and keeping God's law is part of that. Some teach that we don't have to keep God's law anymore, but that could not be further from the truth. Some call it legalism to keep God's law. But Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. And again in 1 John 5:3, we read, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."

So we keep God's law because we love Him. It is the same as being faithful to your spouse. You love your spouse and will not have affairs because of that love for them. You will do your best to do what makes them happy, because you love them. It is the same in our relationship with God. We obey His law because we love Him. We do not obey His law in order to be saved but because we already are saved.

This can be likened to how we are to treat our parents. Pastor Stephen Bohr, in his sermon on this very subject (to watch the sermon, click here) brings up Leviticus 19:3. It says, "Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God." Later on in the same chapter, verse 14 says, "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord." The word for fear is the same word in both texts. We are to have a profound respect for God, as Pastor Stephen Bohr states.

The Bible also says, in a couple of places, that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10). The fear, or reverence, of God leads us closer to Him. Psalm 111:10 reads, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."

The fear of God not only leads us to wisdom, it leads us to loving obedience in Him. We cannot obey God in our own strength. (Matthew 19:16-26). The Bible is full of examples of men and women who feared God and became very close to Him. Moses. Job. Daniel. Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary Magdelene. Because of the fear they had for God, they grew to love Him more than life itself.

Moses, considered to be the most humble man in the Bible, and likely in all the history of this planet, spoke with God face to face. (Exodus 33:11). When Daniel and his friends were faced with eating the kings meat, they wisely chose to eat a simple diet of vegetables and water and fared better than everyone else.(Daniel 1:12-15). Solomon is another example. In 1 Kings 3:1-15, is the story of when God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked what he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom, which pleased God. And as a result, God blessed him.

The fear of God means to revere Him, to have a profound respect for Him. It also means to keep His commandments because we love Him. When we do this, we will spend time with Him and time in His word. When we spend time with God and time in His word, He blesses us with wisdom. This is a clear concept in the Bible. Even the apostle James said this: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5.

Selah - You Deliver Me ~ With Lyrics

I absolutely love this song. God will deliver you. Just ask Him.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

He Will Carry You

Deuteronomy 32:10-12 (NKJV)

 ¹⁰ “He found him in a desert land
      And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;
      He encircled him, He instructed him,
      He kept him as the apple of His eye.
 ¹¹ As an eagle stirs up its nest,
      Hovers over its young,
      Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
      Carrying them on its wings,
 ¹² So the LORD alone led him,
      And there was no foreign god with him.

 I love this passage. Moses just spoke to the children of Israel saying that they would rebel after his death even worse than they did during his life. But during this song that Moses is is speaking, he paused to remember how God found Israel.

God found them in a desert land, a wasteland, a howling wilderness. So He saved them. He taught them. And on top of all that, they were the apple of His eye, and he kept them as such. Life was no easy task back then, in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When most religions had more gods than I have socks in my dresser, the children of Israel were a strictly monotheistic people. They believed in one God, and Him only.

But there came a time when they were enslaved, for over 400 years. And when God saw fit to deliver them from this slavery, most of them grumbled in the desert. But God still loved them, just as He still loves us.

But this is why I love this passage. God knew what they would do. He knew they would rebel. But He saved them anyway. He reached down, and gave them deliverance. My favorite part is verse 11 here. Read it again.

^"11 As an eagle stirs up its nest,
      Hovers over its young,
      Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
      Carrying them on its wings,"

I like the way the notes section of the MacArthur Study Bible puts it:

"The Lord exercised His loving care for Israel like an eagle caring for its young, especially as they were taught to fly. As they began to fly and had little strength, they would start to fall. At that point, an eagle would stop their fall by spreading its wings so they could land on them; so the Lord has carried Israel and not let the nation fall. He had been training Israel t ofly on His wings of love and omnipotence." 

 You see, God wants to help you fly on His wings of love. He wants to help you follow Him. You don't have to make the same mistakes that the children of Israel did. Too many people in today's world are following their own way or something other than God. And when you stop to think about it, you are serving either God or the devil. If you are not serving God, there's only one other option. There is no such thing as being your own master.

Make the choice for God. He is holding out His victorious, rightiouss hand to you. All you have to do is make that choice to reach out and grasp hold of Him. He will never let you go. He promised that. May you always know the wonderful love of our Savior and Creator, Jesus Christ. I hope to see you in Heaven.

While I'm Waiting.

There is a song called, While I'm Waiting. The message is a powerful one. While we are waiting for God, we should serve Him. However painful the situation may be, serving and praising our Heavenly Father is the only way to make it through. Here's the video for the song. It's from the movie Fireproof. It's a powerful song in a powerful movie.

Praise Through the Hard Times

Have you ever fallen on hard times? Whatever the case may be. The wife of Jacob had a problem. Leah could see that Jacob favored his other wife, Rachel over her. Rachel, after all, was who Jacob wanted to begin with. But because of the custom of the day, Leah had to get married first, being the older of the two sisters.

In Genesis 29 we find the story of Leah beginning to have sons by Jacob. She has one son. She named him Reuben. And she says, in verse 32, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." But Jacob still didn't show her the affection she wanted.

She has another son. This time she named him Simeon. She said, in verse 33, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." But again, Jacob isn't showing her the affection she wants from him.

She has a third son. She names this one Levi. In verse 33, she says, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Except he didn't.

She has a fourth son. She named him Judah. But something different happened this time. She stopped feeling sorry for herself. She realized her worth didn't lie in her husband. She realized her worth was in God. God helped her to understand that praising Him is what it's all about. She said in verse 35, "This time I will praise the LORD."

And you know the cool part about this? When she finally decided to praise God instead of throwing a pity party, God blessed the lineage of that son. It was Judah that the promised Messiah would one day come to rescue Israel and the world.

You see? When we praise God, He does great things. Yes, it may take a while to see them. But this is a hard learned lesson sometimes. Trust me. I've had to learn this the hard way.

I've had such troubles over the years with finding a job. But I began to realize that praising God is step one. Focusing on my relationship with Him is the priority. And when I realized this, God began to bless me in ways that still dumbfound me.

And yes, I'm still learning this lesson. It's an every day, often multiple times a day, battle. The devil isn't going make things easy for me. But as long as I keep my eyes on God, the world around me can fall apart. But my God will supply all my needs, according to His glorious riches.

So when you're tempted to feel sorry for yourself, do yourself a favor, and don't. It only hurts you. Trust me. I know from experience. God is all that really matters. Rise, take up your cross, and follow Him.

Life Really is a Highway

You know the song. The one by Rascal Flatts. It was in a movie. Life is a highway. Interestingly enough, the Bible refers to Christianity as a journey. In Acts 9, we find Saul of Tarsus. He’s a zealous persecuter of Christians. In fact, in verse 2 it says: “and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. “

The Way. Interesting that it would say it like that. The word, transliterated, is hodos. Literally translated, it means a traveled road or a travelers journey. It can also mean, “a course of conduct.” Did you get as excited as I did? Christianity isn’t a one day trip. It’s not a drive down the street 5 minutes to the nearest Wal-Mart. It’s a life long journey of how we conduct ourselves. It’s a forever trip down the highway with the greatest driver in the universe.

You know, the hardest part for me is letting God drive. When I take the spiritual wheel, it would be like letting a 5 year old behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler. Yea. I cringe at the thought, too. But what we don’t realize is that we won’t make it far if we don’t let God drive. Let Him drive so you can enjoy the scenery.

I had this idea to make this blog self hosted. I wanted to design the website and make it go to a full blown ministry. There’s one problem. I can’t afford to pay for the website. I noticed the ones I was looking at want you to pay all at once in order to get a cheap monthly price. Confused yet? They want you to pay all at once and when you do the math it works out to a low price when you think of it by month. You just can’t pay it monthly. Cue the sigh.

*sigh*

So what next? I don’t really know. But you know the strange part? It’s ok. I’m not worried. Not really. I know God is in control and will lead me where He wants me. Sure, it’s a bit of a scary concept. Not knowing where I’m being lead. But I’m being lead by the all might, all powerful, all knowing God of love and compassion.
Until next time, my friends. Stay blessed!

I Surrender All

I Surrender All

I surrender all.
All of the pain.
All of the sorrow.
All that this world has to offer.

I surrender my life.
All of my wants.
All of my desires.
All that I thought I was.

I surrender my plans.
All that I have done.
All that I am doing.
All that I will do.

I lay it at your feet, my God.
All that You are.
All that You want for me.
All that you want for my family.

I take up my cross,
To follow You.
To learn from You.
To love like you.

By: Gabriel Taylor
On: September 25th, 2011.

Fear Not

This is a picture of a magnet on a friend’s fridge. It’s one of my favorite quotes by E.G. White. And it’s a integral part of any Christian’s life. God has said countless times in the Bible that we have no need to be afraid if we are following Him. Let me give you an example.

In Numbers 13 & 14 the story is told of the 12 spies being sent to scout the Promised Land. They all came back. But only 2 had a good report to give. 10 of them said, “It’s great. It does flow with milk and honey. But there’s a problem. The people are powerful and huge! Let’s just skip out and find somewhere else to settle.”

Nevermind the fact the God had told them He’d be with them and protect them. They saw how big the residents were and forgot how big God is. Ever heard this quote? “Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is.” Yea. They forgot that. They even tried to pick a leader and go back to a life of slavery in Egypt.

Contrast them with the 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb. They scouted out the land along with the other 10. But they were the only two to remember how God had led them in the past. They were the only to that seemed to remember the promise from God that He would give them the Promised land if they followed Him.

This is what Caleb and Joshua had to say to the Israelites: “And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. ⁸ If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. ⁹Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.”

Did you see it? “The Lord is with us.” This takes away our excuse to be afraid. It takes away our excuse to “be of little faith.” So be strong, y’all. God is with you! Follow His word, claim HIs promises, and you will someday enter into His eternal Promised Land. You will have trials still. He never promised you wouldn’t. But He promises that He will be with you every step of the way.
Here’s a few promises of God’s protection:

Psalm 34:7 (KJV)
"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."

Isaiah 43:1-3 (KJV)
^“1But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
² When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
³ For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee."

Psalm 27:1 (KJV)
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"