The End
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข What first comes to your mind when the topic of end times comes up?
โข Are you fond of stories with unexpected endings? Why or why not?ย
โข Whenever there are challenging times ahead, how do you ensure that you are prepared?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ถ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ! ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต; ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.โย ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ญ๐ต:๐ญโ๐ฎย
(Read also ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ญ๐ต:๐ฏโ๐ญ๐ฌ.)
Whenever the topic of the end times or the book of Revelation comes up, people often become hesitant and anxious. Most are afraid that those days will be filled with war, destruction, and doom. This is perhaps why many avoid reading the book of Revelation altogether. But when we examine this epistle of John, weโll find that the highlight of this book is not the impending chaos, but Christโs ultimate return and victory, and the hope of the fulfillment of Godโs plan for those who call on Him. Revelation was meant to encourage believers and give them hope.
Today, as we read Revelation 19 specifically, we see how Godโs judgment is true and just, so for those who believe there is no need to fear. Whatโs more is that He is preparing usโHis Churchโas a bride for His begotten Son and our victorious SaviorโJesus Christ. How must we live today in light of our future glorious union with Christ?
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.ย
๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ถ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ! ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต; ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.โย ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ญ๐ต:๐ญโ๐ฎย
(Read also ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ญ๐ต:๐ฏโ๐ณ.)
The writer of Revelation, John, in a vision heard the Hallelujah, which is a call to people to praise Yahweh. As the great multitude in heaven cried out in worship, they recounted the greatness of God and His mighty deeds. In the end, it is not the war with evil that is the climax of history, but the rule and reign of God in righteousness and justice. We do not have to live in fear, but we can respond in repentance, hope, worship, and obedience in light of the glory and majesty of God. Even in your current circumstance, how can worship, obedience, and hope mark your life?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐.ย
โ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ; ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆโโ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.ย ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ญ๐ต:๐ณโ๐ด
Another reason we donโt have to fear is because greater than the impending war is a glorious wedding between the Lamb and His bride. Jesus is the Lamb our Savior, who has given His life for His brideโthe Church. As with any wedding preparation, the bride is to ready herself and to clothe herself with fine, bright, and pure clothing. This clothing is the righteous deeds of the saints. In anticipation of Jesusโ return, we are to adorn ourselves, as His bride, with good works not for our salvation but to be ready to be united with Christ for eternity. This is the hope of those who have put their faith in Christ and hold to His testimony. As part of a spiritual community, how have you been participating in clothing the Church with righteous deeds?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข In light of the last days and the coming of Christ, how may your life be marked with the hope we have in Him, instead of living in fear and uncertainty? How may our topic today help you with this?ย
โข Today, think of at least three reasons God is worthy of your worship and obedience. How may you incorporate this practice of reflection and worship into your daily life?ย
โข What do you believe is God calling you to do to prepare for Jesusโ return? How may your life and posture be an example for others to trust God and hope for the future He has prepared for His people?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for a hope-filled future for those whose faith is in Christ. Pray that despite the troubling news in the world, youโll be reminded of and live in this hope.
โข Ask God to remind you every day that there is always a reason to worship and trust Him. Pray for the conviction and resolve to obey Him and pursue His plans for your life.ย
โข Pray that you and your church community will be salt and light to a world living in fear and apathy. May you be a beacon of the hope found in Christ.