Soon!

Here is a link to last week’s series, Soon!

You will save the afflicted people, but your eyes are on the arrogant, that you may bring them down.

2 Samuel 22:28 (WEB)

Our key verse for today is a prophetic look at God’s power in the lives of His humble people and His divine authority to judge arrogant people.

The vision that John has shared in Revelation has magnificently captured the holiness and power of God. We will resume our study with Chapter 8 on June 7th.

This week, however, we are stepping away from Revelation only to focus on a vital issue often overlooked in this graphic part of God’s Word.

Arrogance is the primary reason why many people will remain on earth after the rapture of the Church. They will have rejected Christ.

But many will receive mercy and grace and be redeemed. They will trade in their arrogant disbelief for humility and awe of God the Savior.

The Holy Spirit will remain on Earth to offer salvation until the Trumpet Judgments begin. But during the tribulation, His Spirit will guide the 144,000 Jewish evangelists in their mission to offer salvation.

Today, with all that God has done to pursue lost sinners so many people continue to remain stuck in their obstinance. They demand self-determination and freedom to sin and be corrupt, all the while claiming to be good.

The Bible is full of the stories of people like that. The list begins with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It continues with their son Cain. Genesis 3-4 (WEB)

Arrogance is evident in the wicked Pharaoh of Egypt, who would not free the Hebrews from his cruel bondage. His story is echoed in Revelation 8. Read the story here. Exodus 7-14

But even after all of the miraculous wonders of God’s provision for His people, they quickly rebelled and for the most part, have remained in biter arrogance centuries later.

But not forever. Isaiah 11 (WEB)

Long after the story of the Hebrew nation began there were many other stories of godless people that had a choice to make. Many arrogant hearts are included in God’s story.

Consider King Saul showing his sinful heart of self-reliance instead of waiting on God. It marked the beginning of the end of this man’s life. His story is in 1 Samuel, but the story of his arrogant heart is 1 Samuel 13.

There were few godly kings that would reign of Israel and Judah. David, Solomon, Josiah and only a few others served God with contrite and faithful hearts. You can read their stories in the Old Testament books of First and Second Kings and First and Second Chronicles.

The story of hard hearts continues into part two of God’s story in the New Testament with each of the Herod’s, Pilate, the Pharisees, Judas and the wicked Roman empire.

God’s Word is filled with great hope. David modeled humility when he declared God’s power.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 (WEB)

Even amid his sins and failures, David showed sorrow, repenting in humility and honoring God once again. Psalm 51 (WEB)

Other humble lives to learn from are Joshua, Caleb, Rahab, Naaman, the little girl, Ruth, Esther, the eunuch, Daniel, Mary, Joanna, Paul, and so many others. Click the links to read about each hero or heroine of the faith. Teach them to your children. Pay attention to the attribute of each selfless servant which can only come from Jesus, the greatest model of humility. Our Savior-the King of Glory a servant.

This brings us back to our study in Revelation. We must dig deeply into the meaning of these end times passages and be compelled to humbly obey our Savior’s command to share the Good News of His life-saving mercy and grace.

Look at your heart first. Are you certain about your standing with Jesus? It’s one thing to claim Christianity or believe you’ll go to Heaven because of good deeds. You may say you believe Jesus is who He says He is, but have you surrendered your self-determination to Him? Have you given your heart to Jesus?

If you said yes to the questions above, consider what you’re doing with your life. Believers should feel sorrow for this broken world. Do you pray for the lost and share the one way to saving faith?

If you read the terrifying prophecy of what is coming one day, and if you can do so without feeling grief for lost people then something is wrong. Read the short book of 1 John. There, you will find proofs of salvation.

Aren’t you so thankful that God helped you see and believe?

Let the Word of God inspire you to share the Gospel in your world.

World English Bible (WEB)

by Public Domain. The name “World English Bible” is trademarked.

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