Victory In Jesus

Victory is on the way so don't get discouraged.

Revelation 14:1-3 Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. 3 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Revelation 15:3-4 And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations. 4 Who will not fear You, Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous deeds have been revealed."

Revelation 19:1 After this, I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting, “Praise the LORD! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.

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A lot of people stay away from the book of Revelation because of all of the scary stuff that happens but that certainly wasn't the intention when this book was delivered to the early church. The saints that were being persecuted found these words to be encouraging as they were struggling to do church the right way.

It should be encouraging to know that the reader of this book is promised to be blessed and it should be even more uplifting to see God, Jesus and Heaven in vivid detail that is not seen very often in the rest of the Bible.

If you need to be encouraged today then check out the voices of victory that Revelation tells us about as the final triumph over evil is drawing near in the last half of the tribulation.

The first voice we hear is the combined voices of the 144,000 that lived through the tribulation. Their instruments and voices make up a huge choir that sings a wonderful new song to Jesus from Jerusalem. They don't stay on the earth much longer, their final destination is Heaven and in a little while we will see this same choir in Heaven singing the song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-27) and the song of the Lamb. (Revelation 15:1-4)

The next voices that John heard was of three angels. (Revelation 14:6-20) The first angel goes on the last mission trip that the world will experience as he goes across the sky proclaiming the gospel to everyone. The angels have never been used to share the gospel before but now there are not any believers left to share the gospel.

The next two angels announce that judgement is here and the world system is going down. If you are a child of God then you should find comfort in knowing that the burden of living in this sin filled world will not last forever. (Revelation 14:14-16)

The Son of Man comes with his harvesting tool as two angels announce that the harvest is ready to be gathered and put into the winepress. The judge is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; his tool for judgment is the Word of God. (Revelation 14:14-20, 19:11-16)

Revelation 16:17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, "It is finished!"

"It is finished!" The same words that Jesus spoke from the cross to announce victory over death for God's children are the same words that God spoke to announce victory over Satan and the end to his rule over this world. In both instances the victory was so sure that it was announced even though it hadn't happened yet. (John 19:30)

Praise The Lord
Five reasons for their praise emerge: 1) God’s deliverance of His people from their enemies (Revelation 19:1); 2) God’s meting out of justice (Revelation 19:2); 3) God’s permanent crushing of man’s rebellion (Revelation 19:3); 4) God’s sovereignty (Revelation 19:6); 5) God’s communion with His people (Revelation 19:7). -MacArthur Study Bible

As the end draws near and the final victory is in sight there is an explosion of praise and celebration. (Revelation 19:1-10)  All of the trials and the suffering that God's children have experienced and all of the effects of sin on this world are about to be gone forever. Living without sin sounds awesome but since we have never experienced it we really cannot comprehend or fully appreciate it.

The Bible makes it clear who will be victorious at the end of time. God's children will overcome this evil world but we don't get to take credit for it. As a child of God we need to live joyfully and give the credit where it is due knowing that our victory has been guaranteed by someone far greater than ourselves! (John 16:33)