A study of Revelation chapter 19 and the alleluia chorus of heaven, the final four alleluias of the Bible, from heaven as Babylon falls. Dr J Stewart Gillespie Systematic studies in Revelation

Explaining the mystery and meaning of Babylon in Revelation chapters 17 and 18. What is Babylon? When will Babylon appear? What will the mystery Babylon be like? In this bible study we examine the spirit of Babylon, the system of Babylon and the secret of Babylon. Practically we see the need for separation and Holiness from the corruption of the world's systems. Dr J Stewart Gillespie

Bible teaching from Revelation chapter 21 verses 4 to 8. In these verses we see God's purpose and plan for the world and the universe. God looks back at a world broken by sin, suffering, death, disease and dissapointment. The disasters of this world are not God's fault but God will fix them by the only means by which He can and will, by the power of His Son Jesus Christ.

Revelation chapter 17 and the prophetic future of Babylon, what it is and who it is controlled by and the challenges presented by Babylon today. From our systematic series of bible teaching messages in the book of Revelation.

The joy of believers in the presence of the Lamb seated upon the throne of heaven in Revelation chapter 5 contrasts with the disappointment, despair, death and loss of those who pursue the world with its passing atheism, materialism and hedonism. We cannot have both heaven and earth as our part and portion, a wise man will chose that which lasts the longest (Jim Elliot) - J Stewart Gillespie

The world looks on and wonders, surprised at the residence and presidence of the demonic beast's take over of Babylon. The most surprising aspect of Revelation 17 is that the world is surprised! Having fashioned a world system of atheism, humanism, hedonism and materialism nothing could be more predictable than that system would become a perfect habitation for the demonic. Anyone surely could predict this, except the world itself! Satan had mankind fashion his anti-church, his anti-kingdom on his behalf. Here was a place of safety, security, and salvation (17:4). Babylon offered everything a soul could wish for! Here was a false saviour and a false salvation! Here was Satan's master piece, the work of millenia! The angel (17:1) pauses from his busy schedule to emphasise to John that whilst the wheels of Divine justice may well turn slow, they turn certain and sure. There is nothing more certain than Divine justice played out in time and in eternity. Dr J Stewart Gillespie, www.graceinchrist.org.

We continue our series of systematic studies through the book of Revelation, arriving at Revelation chapters 17 and 18 and teh subject of the mystery of Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlots. The subject of Babylon is as significant as it is controversial. Babylon in many ways sits uncomfortably in such a sacred part of the closing book of the Bible, in a letter prefaced as being none other than the 'Revelation of Jesus Christ' and yet in this very book 2 out of 22 chapters are dedicated to the subject of mystical Babylon! Babylon is in a sense present here so that it may be removed! The Divine object and that of the 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 vials is the complete destruction and removal of this cancerous monstrosity from the Divine Creation! One day Babylon will be no more!

Babylon was conceived as the dimensions of a Satanic Dream in Isaiah chapter 14. It was a means to an end. That end was domination, placing Satan as the object of worship and the power behind the thrones of men. He could not claim the throne of the Most High any longer, but as the god of this world he would do all that he could to bring it down with him!

In Genesis chapter 11 we saw Babylon as a Building

In Daniel chapters 2 and 3 we see Babylon as a Body

In Revelation chapters 17 and 18 we perceive Babylon as corrupted Bride

This is Satan's antichurch, anti kingdom, standing in opposition to Christ.

Systematic bible teaching from the book of Revelation chapter 16. We consider the significance of God's seven fold judgement of the vials upon this world, the mark of the beast and, the three frogs and Armageddon. A bible teaching message from the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock.

Although set in a future time of judgment and tribulation, chapter 15 of Revelation contains truths and insights too good to be left till the future. This is a chapter which shows us afresh of God's power to turn victims into victors and which demonstrates God's sovereign power over the wickedness of men. Men may plot and persecute to have God's people put out of this world but an exit from this world quickly becomes an entrance into the Glory of heaven under teh hand of a sovereign God!

We glimpse the Glory of the Divine character in chapter 15. Judgment emerges from an unexpected source here! Out of the sanctuary and the Divine Glory and presence the vials of God's wrath are carried and consecrated by angel's hands! Divine wrath and justice is displayed before the world as the awful and awsome consequence of Divine holiness.

Revelation chapter 15 vs 1 to 4 traces the destiny of those who trusted the God of their strength, never flinching and refusing to let go until He became their salvation. As they stand upon the the crystal sea now mixed with the fires of affliction, they stand perpetual testimony to the God who is able to turn the victim into a victor. Here is the great secret of Christian trial and affliction that we have a God who is able to empower us to emerge butterfly like from the catastrophe of persecution and turmoil. The enemy in his hatred and cruelty may well have chased them to the brink of extinction at the edge of the sea but this was merely God's preamble to opening up the path before them for an eternal entrance to the habitation of God. They were like the Covenanter Martyrs of 1685, Corson and Hair; "Unknown till persecution dragged them into fame and chased them up to heaven"

What a God! What a Saviour! What a Lamb!

A message preached as part of our systematic study series on the book of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

Bible teaching from Revelation chapter 14 verses 14 to 20; the two judgments of Revelation chapter 14 of the world and of Israel. Man may be impatient for judgement, God is not! He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. God does not merely react to sin! God is sovereign over man and works purpose through even a world in rebellion. We ought not to underestemate the sovereign power of a God who is able to bring good from the slavery and betrayal of Joseph, the murder by Moses and the rebellion of Jonah. After cries which echoe through the Psalms of David, the service of the disciples, the sanctuary of Daniel and the sousl of the saints of Revelation chapter 6; cries of "how long?" finally the answer is "now". Here is God's perfect judgment in God's time. From a systematic exposition of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.

Take a step down from the mid heaven of the lamb and the 144,000 gives a completely different view of the future, not for the redeemed but for those marked for judgement. The middle section of chapter 14 is a story of missed opportunities, misstaken allegiences and men marked for judgement. The everlasting gospel is declared, but symbolically out of reach of those upon the earth. This is a gospel declared in the mid heaven, a gospel of conviction but with no conversion of fear but no faith. Dissolving before the eyes of men is the delusion of safety in the crowd. There is no longer comfort and security in the demonically inspired Babylon, the world and it's systems have fallen, fallen and with it all who took shelter in it. A bible teaching message preached as part of our systematic series of studies in the book of Revelation - Dr J Stewart Gillespie, Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock. Graceinchrist.org

Christian hymns, Old Testament Psalms (Psalm 2) and Biblical prophecies all look forward to Christ reigning in Zion; the Holy and royal mountain of Jerusalem. Well here He is; Christ in Zion, in Revelation chapter 14. John paints the picture, gives us a snapshot of Christ on mount Zion! It’s here He has finally arrived, but it's not what I would expect of:

• The Son of God
• The King of Kings
• The Lord of Lords
• Creator
• Redeemer
• Judge of all things
• Miracle worker

It’s the picture I might anticipate of one who is:

• Omnipotent
• Omniscient
• Omnipresent

“Yet have I set my King upon my Holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6)

I wasn’t expecting to see a lamb there! Maybe a lion!

Yet the path from earth to heaven and glory, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has taken as a lamb.

That’s interesting that we should find the lamb on Mt Zion

We find the lamb in all sorts of places:

• On the altar (Gen 22) – sacrifice
• In the fire and flame (Ex 12) – suffering
• In the mouth of the lion (1 Sam 17) – Satanic attack
• Led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53)
• Bearing away the sin of the world - As the Substitute

Finally we find the lamb here; on the throne (Revelation 4); in heaven (Revelation 14)

This path of the lamb by way of:

• Sacrifice
• Suffering
• Satanic attack

Is the path followed by those whom we find here in heaven. The route to the destination is the same.

They have followed the lamb all the way to Zion.

Some claim that we ought not to be ‘prisoners to our past, it’s a lesson, not a life sentence.’ There is some truth in that, but not much!

The biblical view of our past is far higher than being ‘free from the prison’ of the past and the past is certainly no lesson, it is the real thing!

If the past is but a lesson for today and today is but a lesson for the future. Where is it that we put into practice these so called lessons? When do we actually graduate from school into the real world! This of course is the real world!

No doubt lessons should be learned but regarding our life as merely a lesson is way short of the profound depths which God attaches to our life here and now.

Our past is not a prison from which we ought to regard ourselves as liberated from, our past is

• what in part moulds and shapes us and produces character in us (Romans 5:1ff).
• Theatre in which is worked out our service for God, the race is run, and as such reward can follow on.
• The arena of sin and error; a place where ripples extend out into eternity, to the judgment seat and to others

Our past is way more serious than a prison from which we might seek freedom.

Our past does indeed teach lessons, but it has eternal consequences for us and consequences for others, which we cannot ignore nor erase. Consequences not only of:

• Education
• Retribution
• Reward

Once we face up to the reality of this, once we grasp the truth of this, this will lead us to:

• Repentance
• Redemption
• Reward

As well as

• Education

There is by far the greater path of:

• Salvation

We are far more than prisoners of our past

We are products of our past

A past that is not merely a lesson in life but a past that is life itself, real life with ripples running off into eternity.

The 144,000 arrive in heaven, sounding like the lamb (14:2) with a “voice of many waters” and with a “new song” that no man could learn.

Anyone could read the lyrics but they could not learn the song

Anyone could learn words but they could not learn the song!

Anyone could follow a tune but they could not learn this song!

Many could play the music but they could not learn the song.

This was a song played on the heart, not only upon the harp (v2)

Like Christ who ‘learned obedience by the things which He suffered’

Learning is a change brought about from experience

At times in life we complain, we are resentful, become bitter, get discouraged.

At times we desire an:

• Easier life
• Smoother path
• To take it a little easier
• Put our feet up
• A bit less hassle

This path is the path to mount Sinai

This is the path which brought the Son of God to Glory

This song was and is the product of their lives.

This is the song that makes us sound like Christ!

• Bass notes of suffering
• The treble clef of lifes melody
• The sharps of excitement
• The flats of disappointment
• The rests of recuperation
• The repeats of routine
• The majors of life’s dominant themes
• The minors of less significant

We may be an epistle written and read as Paul reminds us but our life also produces a song that is sung and nothing need be wasted.

From a systematic bible teaching series from the letter of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie, preached at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock. Free to download messages and free to view online. 

Great songs are born of deep experience. Some of the richest treasures of human expression arise from our deepest emotions of love, both fulfilled and frustrated. From lessons learned in deep anguish arise the expressions of heart uniquely tuned in the life and experience of every believer. To heaven these 144 000 bring a song so unique that only their life and their experience is able to give expression to it. 

Dr J Stewart Gillespie at Faskally House Families Week 2022 - Tell me There's a Heaven. 

Heaven is the expected conclusion to the life of faith. The path to heaven is fragranced with the presence and provision of the God of heaven. As pilgrims heavenward, the one to whom we go is the one who goes with us. We drink of the well of the living waters of Christ, as he promised to the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. We hear His word of revelation and enjoy an ongoing relationship with the Saviour day by day. When heaven finally comes the summit is to the believer no surprise. With every step upward we feel the strain in our muscles, the tension in our tendons, the cool dew condensing on our hair, the air becoming thinner and the sun a little brighter. Heaven is the conclusion to a life of faith. We know the way because we know the person.  
 

From a series of messages on the theme of "Tell me There's a Heaven" given at Faskally Families Week in 2022 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

Trace back the fuse wire to the detonator that triggered the pouring out of the 7 vials of judgment, the fall of Babylon the Great, the battle of Armageddon, the sounding of the 7 trumpets, and the opening of the 7 seals, will lead you to this book in the hand of God in Revelation chapter 5. Whatever this book is, it contains the secret of all subsequent judgments and catastrophes in the book of Revelation which are to befall the world. Whatever it is, this book is important. Despite the fact that loosening the seals to open the book leads to global environmental, economic and spiritual melt down following in the wake of war, famine, disease and demonic attack, this is a risk worth taking.   

The 4th message in a series of studies in the book of Revelation given at Faskally Family week 2022 on the theme of "Tell me There's a Heaven" by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.

The lion of the tribe of Judah reigns sovereign and supreme from the throne of the Universe in Revelation chapter 5. His sovereignty has suffered and sacrificed through time and humanity. To the throne of heaven He brings Divine right and appointment fused with moral right and authority. He is the King who wore the crown of thorns ever before He bore the royal diadem. His reign in Righteousness is above fault and criticism, He was both given this right to reign, and He died for this right to reign. As the Lamb He concludes His retribution with redemption, His purpose in time for the universe collectively and for us individually will not be revealed in the raw power of destruction but rather every pain, each sorrow, every disappointment, all trials and affliction ultimately work together for good and Glory. 

The 3rd message given at Faskally House Family Week in 2022, by Dr J Stewart Gillespie on the theme of

"Tell me there's a Heaven" - studies in the book of Revelation. 

The anticipated ecstasy of hymns, the crystal sea pictures the absolute, transparent holiness of God. Solomon was commissioned to reflect the pattern in the sea of his temple, provided for the cleansing of the priesthood. In this solid sea of glass, washing from sin and defilement is eternally out of the question. Nothing that defiles can enter into the dwelling place of God. Access to God's Heaven has as it's requirement holiness. It is a condition of entry and not a consequence. Absolute purity, the kind of righteousness that only Jesus Christ can provide, purchased by His blood and freely given to those willing to receive salvation by faith alone.  

This crystal sea marks the boundary conditions of heaven. It is both heaven's floor and earth's ceiling. It is the extent of man's experience of the Divine when sought without Christ; a barrier of solid holiness.  
Revelation chapter 5 paints a picture of the character and nature of the God of heaven: 

1. Lion like in His Sovereignty 
2. Calf like in His salvation 
3. Man like in His incarnation 
4. Eagle like in the transcendence of His Spirit 

Get a glimpse of Glory 
Get a glimpse of God

From a series of messages presented at Faskally House Family Week 2022 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie on the theme:

"Tell me There's a Heaven" 

It has taken 4000 years for the Spirit of God to introduce us to heaven. Heaven is a place of many surprises, but perhaps the greatest of all surprises is that there are so few surprises! Heaven has a door; a door we know of well from John's gospel. Heaven opens with a voice familiar; that of Jesus Christ. Heaven is the throne room of God. Upon the throne of heaven we see one like a Jasper and Sardine stone; one who is the Son of God's right hand and the Son of His mother's sorrow. The throne is surrounded by a rainbow of covenant keeping glory; echoing the one who is life and light.

Here is heaven.

Here is the God of heaven.

This is the God we know.

This is Jesus Christ.

The first of 6 studies in the book of Revelation presented at Faskally House, families week in 2022, by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.