Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
*******
God KNOWS our frame. God knows what we are made of- He created us from dust. Just because we weren't continuously created from dust but rather miraculously formed within the womb of our mothers after the essence from both father and mother join, doesn't mean that we are not dust. I think WE tend to forget that we are but dust and we also imagine God believing we are something other than dust as well. The most God fearing man of God was too made of dust, not of anything even remotely immortal.
Do you remember a study we did a short while back on immortality? In the study we saw how God planted the tree of life in the garden where Adam and Eve were created.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life.
Man was not created with immortal flesh. Man was created with the ability to life forever as long as He had access to the 'Tree of Life'. Man was created from the dust of the ground, and even then he wasn't a living thing. He didn't become a living thing until God breathed into him the breath of life.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God KNOWS we were created out of dust, He took that dust and He used His power to form all that we are, every intricate detail that we have was formed by God.
If a person's heart stops beating, or his lungs stop breathing we have measures we try to take to get that heart beating again, to get that breath going. We do CPR, we breathe our breath into the mouth and down into the lungs of another hoping to jumpstart the other person's lungs into responding, barring that we do it until mechanical means can take over and breathe for the person who isn't breathing. Without that breath going in and out of the body it doesn't live. God put the first breath into the lungs of Adam, God brought that lifeless body He'd created from dust- to life.
AFTER God brought that dust formed body to life man had to eat- he was created that way.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
'…good for food.'
Food. Man was created with the need to eat and given wonderful food to eat. Man was also given the TREE OF LIFE.
The Tree of LIFE-
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
12 manner of fruits.
Brought forth fruit every month.
Fruit is for eating. Man even in his immortal flesh will eat from this tree of life, man will eat every month a different fruit from that tree of life. That fruit will allow man to continue in immortality as He was designed. Remember…
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and NOW, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Man made of dust was NO longer allowed to eat from the tree of life- man made of dust was NO longer allowed to have immortality.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
The tree of life will one day belong to mankind once more, but only to those who are God's. No unrepentant, no unforgiven, no God-less person will have immortality.
God remembers we are dust- He remembers we are not immortal.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Our days are like the grass, our days are like the flowers in the field. We grow new as a tender shoot of grass until we reach full maturity as our season of life continues, then slowly we begin to wither as our life cycle winds down. Our life just like the life cycle of all living things is temporary. And unless we are some very important historical figure making some major contribution to history- we are soon forgotten. Sure we ALL know we've had ancestors dating all the way back in time- but we don't remember them.
God's mercy lasts forever! And it will last forever for those who are HIS, those who reverence Him, those who fear Him, those who claim God's righteousness because they have none of their own. Those who keep the Lord's covenant, those who remember the Lord's commandments, they will have the Lord's mercy. Long after we've returned to dust again, God will remember us. He knows we are housed in bodies of living dust, bodies that will wither away just as wild flowers and grass disappears. He loves us and every single person that is found in Him, loving Him, will one day receive a body of dust once more and immortality. Jesus took on a dust formed body, and Jesus rose from the grave in the dust formed body. He was touched, His flesh was felt and He had the same dust formed flesh as all humans have. He rose from the earth in that body of dust- He been given immortality. Our Savior, our Lord, He will forever bear His humanity- the first fruit of humanity given salvation through His innocence, through His complete obedience to His Father, to the truth they'd both created. Our Savior died pure so that we could live through His purity.
God remembers we are dust.
We need to remember this too.
We are dust. And while we will return to dust part of us that BREATH we are given by God, that LIFE we are given by God as we are formed within our mother's wombs, that part of us returns to God. WE do not return to God, our bodies, our thoughts, our memories, our ability to praise Him all cease as we sleep and know nothing- until by the Grace and Mercy of our Savior we will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns. That breath of life will return to us as we are raised in new bodies of dust and given immortality. What a blessing, what miracles!
God knows we are but dust and He has MERCY upon us.
In His love may we be His always!
Amen.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Matthew 24:32-51 We've been warned
Mat 24:32 Now learn a PARABLE of the fig tree
When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh
A fig tree would not have tender branches newly filled with leaves IF it weren't summer, it would be against all nature. People KNOW when they see the new leaves forming that summer is on its way- it is inevitable.
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Christ's return is inevitable.
Christ's return is on the way.
We see the signs. We've lived through so many years that we cannot help but realize that the signs are all there.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
This is TRUE. As sign by sign is fulfilled and we hold witness to them we KNOW that the generation witnessing the signs that are fulfilled at the very end will NOT pass away into the next generation without our Savior returning. THIS will happen and people make the grave mistake of believing that there is a fallacy here. They'd rather simply believe that all this is untrue than honestly imagine the words of our Savior coming to pass. It's easy to fall asleep when you are waiting for something and it takes a long time, longer than perhaps expected. I'm very confident in saying that I believe almost everyone in the world at one point or another has fallen asleep as they've waited for something. Many, many people have fallen asleep, in fact the Bible tells us that all fall asleep and it's HOW they awaken that will matter. Will they awaken prepared and ready, or will they have fallen asleep unprepared so that when they wake they are not ready? Before people fall asleep they NEED to be ready, completely ready for our Savior's return.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
As it was in the DAYS of Noah- people were going about their lives totally unconcerned with the flood that was going to come upon the earth. Just as today many, many people are totally unconcerned with the end of the world and the return of our Savior. In Noah's day they didn't believe it would happen. Today they don't believe it will happen. People laugh and scoff at those heralding the end of the world and in some ways they are justified - such as when people put a date on that moment and prepare for that date as the end of the world. The days constantly come and go without the end of the world happening and this has led many people to simply laugh at the idea of the world ever ending, and Jesus Christ returning to earth. Just as we can imagine them laughing at Noah as he built that ark- a flood, ha! Yet the flood came leaving many to perish along with their unbelief.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
The situation… our Savior will return and some will be prepared and some will not. It is the same theme in this passage since our Savior told us the parable of the fig tree. When we see things come to pass that point to a future reality we have to know they WILL come to pass. As it was in Noah's day it will be in our day. Christ will return and the dead in Christ will rise and the living in Christ will rise and meet the Lord in the air. The prepared person next to the unprepared will SEE that prepared person rising to meet the Lord in the air, even as they will be destroyed moments later by the brightness of our Lord's coming. The prepared are saved, the unprepared are NOT saved.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
WATCH. Be prepared! Look for the signs!
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
If we know a thief is headed our way we would NOT leave our house vulnerable to being robbed.
We KNOW that the end of the world is coming and we HAVE to WATCH and be ready, or we will suffer the consequences of NOT being prepared.
Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
BE ready! Because our Savior will return when people least expect Him. Remember- all will sleep but we can fall asleep READY. We can be ready even if our Savior comes when we don't expect Him to. We need to be ready ALWAYS! Not a day should go by when we aren't prepared for our Savior's second coming.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Those who are ready.
Those who are doing all the Lord tells them they should be doing.
Those who are faithful in serving the Lord will be BLESSED if they continue on in their faithfulness serving Him.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We have a choice! We have to choose to serve our Lord always, faithfully! We have to be prepared. We cannot EVER believe that our Savior will NOT come for us! We have to be FAITHFUL! Many will fall away. Many will lose faith. All will fall asleep but many will fall asleep UNPREPARED.
We've been WARNED!
No one will be able to say that they were not forewarned, NO ONE. That excuse will not be acceptable.
So go ahead call those who are waiting and watching for their Savior's return among the lunatic fringe, they won't mind because those waiting know there are going to be many that will scoff at their belief.
Ready or not, our Savior is going to return, it is my pray, my desire that we are all READY.
We have to keep watching the signs, we have to keep looking at the truth. No one will be able to say they didn't have an opportunity to be saved, no one. Every single person will have that choice. Please Lord let our choice be to know You to be Yours always! Help us to be prepared, to be ready, to be faithfully Your servant!
We do NOT want to be among those weeping and gnashing our teeth!
In Your love, through Your righteousness, by Your grace and mercy in Your forgiveness, ALWAYS!
Amen.
When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh
A fig tree would not have tender branches newly filled with leaves IF it weren't summer, it would be against all nature. People KNOW when they see the new leaves forming that summer is on its way- it is inevitable.
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Christ's return is inevitable.
Christ's return is on the way.
We see the signs. We've lived through so many years that we cannot help but realize that the signs are all there.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
This is TRUE. As sign by sign is fulfilled and we hold witness to them we KNOW that the generation witnessing the signs that are fulfilled at the very end will NOT pass away into the next generation without our Savior returning. THIS will happen and people make the grave mistake of believing that there is a fallacy here. They'd rather simply believe that all this is untrue than honestly imagine the words of our Savior coming to pass. It's easy to fall asleep when you are waiting for something and it takes a long time, longer than perhaps expected. I'm very confident in saying that I believe almost everyone in the world at one point or another has fallen asleep as they've waited for something. Many, many people have fallen asleep, in fact the Bible tells us that all fall asleep and it's HOW they awaken that will matter. Will they awaken prepared and ready, or will they have fallen asleep unprepared so that when they wake they are not ready? Before people fall asleep they NEED to be ready, completely ready for our Savior's return.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
As it was in the DAYS of Noah- people were going about their lives totally unconcerned with the flood that was going to come upon the earth. Just as today many, many people are totally unconcerned with the end of the world and the return of our Savior. In Noah's day they didn't believe it would happen. Today they don't believe it will happen. People laugh and scoff at those heralding the end of the world and in some ways they are justified - such as when people put a date on that moment and prepare for that date as the end of the world. The days constantly come and go without the end of the world happening and this has led many people to simply laugh at the idea of the world ever ending, and Jesus Christ returning to earth. Just as we can imagine them laughing at Noah as he built that ark- a flood, ha! Yet the flood came leaving many to perish along with their unbelief.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
The situation… our Savior will return and some will be prepared and some will not. It is the same theme in this passage since our Savior told us the parable of the fig tree. When we see things come to pass that point to a future reality we have to know they WILL come to pass. As it was in Noah's day it will be in our day. Christ will return and the dead in Christ will rise and the living in Christ will rise and meet the Lord in the air. The prepared person next to the unprepared will SEE that prepared person rising to meet the Lord in the air, even as they will be destroyed moments later by the brightness of our Lord's coming. The prepared are saved, the unprepared are NOT saved.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
WATCH. Be prepared! Look for the signs!
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
If we know a thief is headed our way we would NOT leave our house vulnerable to being robbed.
We KNOW that the end of the world is coming and we HAVE to WATCH and be ready, or we will suffer the consequences of NOT being prepared.
Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
BE ready! Because our Savior will return when people least expect Him. Remember- all will sleep but we can fall asleep READY. We can be ready even if our Savior comes when we don't expect Him to. We need to be ready ALWAYS! Not a day should go by when we aren't prepared for our Savior's second coming.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Those who are ready.
Those who are doing all the Lord tells them they should be doing.
Those who are faithful in serving the Lord will be BLESSED if they continue on in their faithfulness serving Him.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We have a choice! We have to choose to serve our Lord always, faithfully! We have to be prepared. We cannot EVER believe that our Savior will NOT come for us! We have to be FAITHFUL! Many will fall away. Many will lose faith. All will fall asleep but many will fall asleep UNPREPARED.
We've been WARNED!
No one will be able to say that they were not forewarned, NO ONE. That excuse will not be acceptable.
So go ahead call those who are waiting and watching for their Savior's return among the lunatic fringe, they won't mind because those waiting know there are going to be many that will scoff at their belief.
Ready or not, our Savior is going to return, it is my pray, my desire that we are all READY.
We have to keep watching the signs, we have to keep looking at the truth. No one will be able to say they didn't have an opportunity to be saved, no one. Every single person will have that choice. Please Lord let our choice be to know You to be Yours always! Help us to be prepared, to be ready, to be faithfully Your servant!
We do NOT want to be among those weeping and gnashing our teeth!
In Your love, through Your righteousness, by Your grace and mercy in Your forgiveness, ALWAYS!
Amen.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Duality of the 4th Commandment
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God
in it thou shalt not do any work . . . (Exodus 20:8-10)
This is a commandment not only to rest, but a commandment to use six days to labor. Seriously. It's easy to overlook this aspect of the fourth commandment when we are studying it because we tend to focus on the resting aspect of the day. But if we really examine it, this IS a commandment to WORK for six days prior to the one day of REST.
People have six days to work, six days to labor, not one, not two, not three, four, or five but six days to work. A lot of people have five days of what they call work but in truth when we are not focused upon our Creator we are usually focused where? Upon ourselves, upon the things that we want or need to do. On the seventh day we are to focus upon our Creator and that entails EVERY SINGLE facet of our Creator from beginning to end and by end I mean the end of our ability to know our Creator. There is infinite knowledge of our Creator in truth, and because He is a living being, a being without beginning and without end we can never, ever reach an end of knowing Him. Unlike so much in life that has a beginning and an end where we can discover all we can about things, God is a being that transcends all that. So no one can ever get to a point in their relationship with God where they can say they know everything there is to know about Him.
Six days of work. Six days of the secular. Six days to eke out a living for ourselves.
One day of rest. One day of the spiritual. One day to focus on solely living for God, as God would have us live.
We have one day in seven to store up a spiritual blessing enough to last us the next six days.
The Sabbath was created for us, for our spiritual existence.
Satan would have mankind believe they have no need of a spiritual existence, that a carnal existence is more than enough. Satan convinced Eve that she had no need to listen to God's command, that she needed to indulge HERSELF, she needed to focus on self, not God. Her flesh desires mattered more than God's spiritual desire. The fruit was *pleasing* to the sight. The fruit would give her a knowledge of *good and evil like God*. Yet the bottom line was it was God who told her NOT to eat of that fruit, not to indulge that flesh desire, but rather trust Him to know that it was best for them NOT to know good and evil, but to know rather only good. To gain a knowledge of evil is to open the door to evil.
Today in our sad, sick world we call those raised without exposure to a lot of worldly evils- naïve, as if that is a really bad thing. Our children are missing out on something good if we don't allow them to be exposed to worldly evil. Our children are missing out on vital mental and emotional building blocks when we keep them from evil. It's better people say to let them be exposed to evil at its worse then that way they are prepared to face life armed with necessary knowledge to get them far in our world. LIES!
It is Satan that does NOT want our children protected, any more than He wanted God's children protected. Rather than allowing our children to grow up without be exposed to the intense evil mankind exists in we try to protect them and THEN when they are mature enough is time enough to allow them the full knowledge of the evils out there. Why do we insist they grow up abused by life, just to teach them to develop a tough outer shell?
Satan wanted mankind exposed to evil, God did not. God wanted His children to trust Him and that trust protected them from evil. Satan did not want God's children protected, he wanted them exposed to evil and therefore become unworthy of God and partakers of the same evil he'd become a partaker of.
God wanted mankind to feed spiritually for a full day with Him- this was before sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were tending the beautiful garden and the creatures of the world- this was their six days of labor, just as God had labored in creating their world and bringing them into existence in six days, the seventh Day God rested, the seventh day God set aside as holy, the day after He'd completed His creation of mankind, for mankind. From nothingness into existence and this was worthy of great reflection.
From the beginning until now we have had a seven day week without any astronomic reasoning for it- unlike the month and the year.
Seven days.
Symbolic of creation no matter how the devil has tried to twist even that to become perverted through paganism and pagan titles.
Seven days.
Six days for man to do all they need to do for their flesh existence.
One day for man to do all they need to do for their spiritual existence.
One day out of every seven days we are to be reminded of God in all His glory, we are to be reminded of how we came to exist, why we exist. And Satan would have us forget how and why, rather desiring that we focus on our flesh self, our carnal self. As long as we are focusing on self we are NOT focusing on God and this pleases Satan.
Satan doesn't want us to believe we need to work six days. Satan would much rather have us believe that we deserve two days of rest or more. Satan is equally pleased if we want to work seven days a week. Satan wants us to do anything and everything that will defy God.
Told to work six days we are in essence being told that we need to use six days a week to prepare for the one day of rest. Get all the things we absolutely need to get done in order to provide for ourselves and those under our care and then give ourselves the blessing of devoting the seventh day to God, a spiritual blessing allowing us to set aside everything concerned with our providing for ourselves and allow God to provide for us a spiritual feast. Does this mean we are to shut ourselves up in a closet for a full day? Absolutely NOT! We are to live our lives as our Savior gave us an example to live them and He preached, He taught, He healed, He allowed provisions for eating all on the Sabbath day. He didn't want this day of spiritual renewal, this day of spiritual reminding of our Creator to be a day we abhorred. He didn't want the Sabbath day to be more important than the creature He'd created and MADE the Sabbath for. There would be absolutely NO need for a Sabbath if man hadn't been created. The Sabbath was made FOR US as a GIFT, a special gift and it is Satan who wants it to be seen as a burdensome, restrictive commandment of God's, something to limit us, to take away our time, to take away our carnal desire, something that is bad, not wonderful. It was Satan who allowed the Sabbath to become something seemingly more important than the mankind it was created for. Satan and his deception hard at work.
Six days we are to labor.
One day we are to rest.
This isn't to say we aren't supposed to rest at all during those six days. We are made to need sleep daily, to need the rest of sleep daily. It's been proven that those who undergo severe sleep depravation can actually die- after going through all sorts of horrible things- hallucinations, etc.
We rest during the six days but that entire day is not to be set aside to rest, and it is NOT a spiritually focused rest that we undertake during those six days. The Sabbath day is a day of full rest- flesh and spirit rest, a day we are to actually focus on spiritual resting in our God without anything to distract us from that renewing rest in our Creator. As we cease from labor we are acknowledging our need for spiritual renewal in God. It is a necessity, it is a chance for a BLESSING from God! The Sabbath was blessed and made holy so that we who entered into that Sabbath rest are given a special blessing and are sanctified- we are being made holy by our obedience to our Creator, our God, our King, our Savior!
We are to work six days as commanded by our God- and this isn't necessarily work as we know it today but rather work as God meant it- toiling towards providing for ourselves and those under our care. Your job could be working at home as a support to your family- not necessarily a job outside of the home working nine to five. Also, those who work nine to five - their obligation to work, to toil six days a week does not end with the work time clock. They too are commanded to work six days a week following God's plan which isn't Satan's plan. We need to really contemplate this aspect of the commandment of God as well as the RESTING one day, the Sabbath day.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior we will be blessed with understanding through the Holy Spirit so that we may truly follow our God in all ways, not just the ways we assume are right.
In the everlasting love of our God, of our Savior, of the Spirit may we live now and always.
In His love! May His will be done now and forever, may His kingdom come!
In Christ!
Amen.
Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God
in it thou shalt not do any work . . . (Exodus 20:8-10)
This is a commandment not only to rest, but a commandment to use six days to labor. Seriously. It's easy to overlook this aspect of the fourth commandment when we are studying it because we tend to focus on the resting aspect of the day. But if we really examine it, this IS a commandment to WORK for six days prior to the one day of REST.
People have six days to work, six days to labor, not one, not two, not three, four, or five but six days to work. A lot of people have five days of what they call work but in truth when we are not focused upon our Creator we are usually focused where? Upon ourselves, upon the things that we want or need to do. On the seventh day we are to focus upon our Creator and that entails EVERY SINGLE facet of our Creator from beginning to end and by end I mean the end of our ability to know our Creator. There is infinite knowledge of our Creator in truth, and because He is a living being, a being without beginning and without end we can never, ever reach an end of knowing Him. Unlike so much in life that has a beginning and an end where we can discover all we can about things, God is a being that transcends all that. So no one can ever get to a point in their relationship with God where they can say they know everything there is to know about Him.
Six days of work. Six days of the secular. Six days to eke out a living for ourselves.
One day of rest. One day of the spiritual. One day to focus on solely living for God, as God would have us live.
We have one day in seven to store up a spiritual blessing enough to last us the next six days.
The Sabbath was created for us, for our spiritual existence.
Satan would have mankind believe they have no need of a spiritual existence, that a carnal existence is more than enough. Satan convinced Eve that she had no need to listen to God's command, that she needed to indulge HERSELF, she needed to focus on self, not God. Her flesh desires mattered more than God's spiritual desire. The fruit was *pleasing* to the sight. The fruit would give her a knowledge of *good and evil like God*. Yet the bottom line was it was God who told her NOT to eat of that fruit, not to indulge that flesh desire, but rather trust Him to know that it was best for them NOT to know good and evil, but to know rather only good. To gain a knowledge of evil is to open the door to evil.
Today in our sad, sick world we call those raised without exposure to a lot of worldly evils- naïve, as if that is a really bad thing. Our children are missing out on something good if we don't allow them to be exposed to worldly evil. Our children are missing out on vital mental and emotional building blocks when we keep them from evil. It's better people say to let them be exposed to evil at its worse then that way they are prepared to face life armed with necessary knowledge to get them far in our world. LIES!
It is Satan that does NOT want our children protected, any more than He wanted God's children protected. Rather than allowing our children to grow up without be exposed to the intense evil mankind exists in we try to protect them and THEN when they are mature enough is time enough to allow them the full knowledge of the evils out there. Why do we insist they grow up abused by life, just to teach them to develop a tough outer shell?
Satan wanted mankind exposed to evil, God did not. God wanted His children to trust Him and that trust protected them from evil. Satan did not want God's children protected, he wanted them exposed to evil and therefore become unworthy of God and partakers of the same evil he'd become a partaker of.
God wanted mankind to feed spiritually for a full day with Him- this was before sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were tending the beautiful garden and the creatures of the world- this was their six days of labor, just as God had labored in creating their world and bringing them into existence in six days, the seventh Day God rested, the seventh day God set aside as holy, the day after He'd completed His creation of mankind, for mankind. From nothingness into existence and this was worthy of great reflection.
From the beginning until now we have had a seven day week without any astronomic reasoning for it- unlike the month and the year.
Seven days.
Symbolic of creation no matter how the devil has tried to twist even that to become perverted through paganism and pagan titles.
Seven days.
Six days for man to do all they need to do for their flesh existence.
One day for man to do all they need to do for their spiritual existence.
One day out of every seven days we are to be reminded of God in all His glory, we are to be reminded of how we came to exist, why we exist. And Satan would have us forget how and why, rather desiring that we focus on our flesh self, our carnal self. As long as we are focusing on self we are NOT focusing on God and this pleases Satan.
Satan doesn't want us to believe we need to work six days. Satan would much rather have us believe that we deserve two days of rest or more. Satan is equally pleased if we want to work seven days a week. Satan wants us to do anything and everything that will defy God.
Told to work six days we are in essence being told that we need to use six days a week to prepare for the one day of rest. Get all the things we absolutely need to get done in order to provide for ourselves and those under our care and then give ourselves the blessing of devoting the seventh day to God, a spiritual blessing allowing us to set aside everything concerned with our providing for ourselves and allow God to provide for us a spiritual feast. Does this mean we are to shut ourselves up in a closet for a full day? Absolutely NOT! We are to live our lives as our Savior gave us an example to live them and He preached, He taught, He healed, He allowed provisions for eating all on the Sabbath day. He didn't want this day of spiritual renewal, this day of spiritual reminding of our Creator to be a day we abhorred. He didn't want the Sabbath day to be more important than the creature He'd created and MADE the Sabbath for. There would be absolutely NO need for a Sabbath if man hadn't been created. The Sabbath was made FOR US as a GIFT, a special gift and it is Satan who wants it to be seen as a burdensome, restrictive commandment of God's, something to limit us, to take away our time, to take away our carnal desire, something that is bad, not wonderful. It was Satan who allowed the Sabbath to become something seemingly more important than the mankind it was created for. Satan and his deception hard at work.
Six days we are to labor.
One day we are to rest.
This isn't to say we aren't supposed to rest at all during those six days. We are made to need sleep daily, to need the rest of sleep daily. It's been proven that those who undergo severe sleep depravation can actually die- after going through all sorts of horrible things- hallucinations, etc.
We rest during the six days but that entire day is not to be set aside to rest, and it is NOT a spiritually focused rest that we undertake during those six days. The Sabbath day is a day of full rest- flesh and spirit rest, a day we are to actually focus on spiritual resting in our God without anything to distract us from that renewing rest in our Creator. As we cease from labor we are acknowledging our need for spiritual renewal in God. It is a necessity, it is a chance for a BLESSING from God! The Sabbath was blessed and made holy so that we who entered into that Sabbath rest are given a special blessing and are sanctified- we are being made holy by our obedience to our Creator, our God, our King, our Savior!
We are to work six days as commanded by our God- and this isn't necessarily work as we know it today but rather work as God meant it- toiling towards providing for ourselves and those under our care. Your job could be working at home as a support to your family- not necessarily a job outside of the home working nine to five. Also, those who work nine to five - their obligation to work, to toil six days a week does not end with the work time clock. They too are commanded to work six days a week following God's plan which isn't Satan's plan. We need to really contemplate this aspect of the commandment of God as well as the RESTING one day, the Sabbath day.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior we will be blessed with understanding through the Holy Spirit so that we may truly follow our God in all ways, not just the ways we assume are right.
In the everlasting love of our God, of our Savior, of the Spirit may we live now and always.
In His love! May His will be done now and forever, may His kingdom come!
In Christ!
Amen.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Matthew 24:23-31
Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Believe it not.
BELIEVE … IT... NOT.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
FALSE Christs.
FALSE prophets.
GREAT SIGNS.
GREAT WONDERS.
Signs and wonders so great that IF it were possible those great signs and wonders would deceive the very elect. But it's NOT possible to deceive the very elect. Why? Because the very elect are God's, wholly God's and they are walking in the truth with the Holy Spirit guiding them, fully living under the righteousness of Jesus Christ, covered by His forgiveness, His grace, His love in all these things. The very elect are NOT blind, they are NOT deaf, they are not void of understanding. The very elect are allowed to discern between truth and error, good and evil and they are not able to be deceived by the greatest of all deceivers, Satan himself.
Mat 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Do NOT believe those who try and convince you that Christ has come and is living on earth and we can go and travel to see Him, it's simply NOT TRUE and will NEVER be true.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The Lord will descend from heaven and … walk around? No. Go about working miracles? No. The Lord STAYS IN THE AIR where we who are His will meet Him!
If ANYONE ever says the Lord is somewhere here on earth and we are to go to Him just don't believe them! Do NOT, no matter what sort of miracles this pretender Christ is working. The Lord- our Bible tells us- will descend from heaven and we will meet Him in the AIR where He stays! We won't meet Him on the ground, NO ONE will meet Christ on the ground. When He returns we meet Him- He doesn't hide somewhere, He isn't inaccessible to His followers-all His followers will be caught up together in the clouds to meet our Savior in the air! This is FACT, this is TRUTH!
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
It's a fact- where there is a dead animal birds of prey will be gathered to eat from that carcass, yes? Of course it's not guaranteed but I've seen it myself- animals dead in the road and on the road side buzzards gathered to feed off what remains of animal. Now this verse to be can be of two meanings…
First- where false Christ's are preaching there will be followers of that false Christ.
Second- where Christ is in the air, there His followers will be.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
Signs in the sun, the moon, the stars.
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The tribes of the earth mourn as they see our Savior returning in power and glory- why? Because the people of earth, the people who call this world their home, the followers of the prince of this world do NOT want our Savior to return! Remember that broad path many find which leads to destruction? Well the tribes of the earth will have gone down that path and they'll realize their destruction is imminent when they see the Lord returning and it's too late for them to choose to walk the narrow path.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Again…God's elect, God's chosen are GATHERED together by the angels. We are gathered together to meet our Lord in the air. Praise God! Oh glorious day!
You have to really, really take it to heart when we are told the manner of Christ's second coming, because if we don't take it to heart we will be deceived. If we ignore the truth, if we ignore the words of God, if we ignore prophecy, if we ignore the gospel of the kingdom our Savior has preached to us Himself then we will be deceived. It's so easy to believe that it's impossible for us to be deceived, and yet ALL but the very elect will be deceived. MILLIONS will be deceived. BILLIONS will be deceived. I'm not lying to you! This is the truth. We are told, we are warned, we are cautioned, we are given the word of God and we must take heed to His word or we will be among those billions of people deceived. We can't simply think we won't be deceived. We read in the very word of God that we are to TAKE HEED. If someone tells you to take heed they are giving you a warning. I know I've spoken on this a lot lately but it bears repeating over and over, we have to take all this seriously and know that deception is very possibly and highly likely if we are not heeding our Lord's warnings.
Please Lord we would be Yours and Yours alone!
All praise, all glory, all honor to YOU!
Bless us Lord, bless us with Your Holy Spirit, please Lord, please we are at your mercy in all things.
In Your amazing love!
Amen.
Believe it not.
BELIEVE … IT... NOT.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
FALSE Christs.
FALSE prophets.
GREAT SIGNS.
GREAT WONDERS.
Signs and wonders so great that IF it were possible those great signs and wonders would deceive the very elect. But it's NOT possible to deceive the very elect. Why? Because the very elect are God's, wholly God's and they are walking in the truth with the Holy Spirit guiding them, fully living under the righteousness of Jesus Christ, covered by His forgiveness, His grace, His love in all these things. The very elect are NOT blind, they are NOT deaf, they are not void of understanding. The very elect are allowed to discern between truth and error, good and evil and they are not able to be deceived by the greatest of all deceivers, Satan himself.
Mat 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Do NOT believe those who try and convince you that Christ has come and is living on earth and we can go and travel to see Him, it's simply NOT TRUE and will NEVER be true.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The Lord will descend from heaven and … walk around? No. Go about working miracles? No. The Lord STAYS IN THE AIR where we who are His will meet Him!
If ANYONE ever says the Lord is somewhere here on earth and we are to go to Him just don't believe them! Do NOT, no matter what sort of miracles this pretender Christ is working. The Lord- our Bible tells us- will descend from heaven and we will meet Him in the AIR where He stays! We won't meet Him on the ground, NO ONE will meet Christ on the ground. When He returns we meet Him- He doesn't hide somewhere, He isn't inaccessible to His followers-all His followers will be caught up together in the clouds to meet our Savior in the air! This is FACT, this is TRUTH!
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
It's a fact- where there is a dead animal birds of prey will be gathered to eat from that carcass, yes? Of course it's not guaranteed but I've seen it myself- animals dead in the road and on the road side buzzards gathered to feed off what remains of animal. Now this verse to be can be of two meanings…
First- where false Christ's are preaching there will be followers of that false Christ.
Second- where Christ is in the air, there His followers will be.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
Signs in the sun, the moon, the stars.
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The tribes of the earth mourn as they see our Savior returning in power and glory- why? Because the people of earth, the people who call this world their home, the followers of the prince of this world do NOT want our Savior to return! Remember that broad path many find which leads to destruction? Well the tribes of the earth will have gone down that path and they'll realize their destruction is imminent when they see the Lord returning and it's too late for them to choose to walk the narrow path.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Again…God's elect, God's chosen are GATHERED together by the angels. We are gathered together to meet our Lord in the air. Praise God! Oh glorious day!
You have to really, really take it to heart when we are told the manner of Christ's second coming, because if we don't take it to heart we will be deceived. If we ignore the truth, if we ignore the words of God, if we ignore prophecy, if we ignore the gospel of the kingdom our Savior has preached to us Himself then we will be deceived. It's so easy to believe that it's impossible for us to be deceived, and yet ALL but the very elect will be deceived. MILLIONS will be deceived. BILLIONS will be deceived. I'm not lying to you! This is the truth. We are told, we are warned, we are cautioned, we are given the word of God and we must take heed to His word or we will be among those billions of people deceived. We can't simply think we won't be deceived. We read in the very word of God that we are to TAKE HEED. If someone tells you to take heed they are giving you a warning. I know I've spoken on this a lot lately but it bears repeating over and over, we have to take all this seriously and know that deception is very possibly and highly likely if we are not heeding our Lord's warnings.
Please Lord we would be Yours and Yours alone!
All praise, all glory, all honor to YOU!
Bless us Lord, bless us with Your Holy Spirit, please Lord, please we are at your mercy in all things.
In Your amazing love!
Amen.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Matthew 24:13-22
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Endure.
If we endure it means we are going through something to endure, right? Do you endure pleasure? Most would not say they endure pleasure, why? Because they are enjoying it and it's something they don't mind experiencing. When we endure we are putting up with a certain situation because it's necessary. We must endure unto the end of the world and we will be saved. We cannot give in to worldly ways, sins, lusts, deception, the fact of the matter is we will STAND OUT as something odd to the world. And in a world where people long to experience acceptance by their peers and likewise, very few will want to stand out for Christ and His truth. Many will stand out for Christ and deception- which is the trap of Satan, but very few will stand for the absolute truth found in Jesus. We have to endure living in a world ruled by Satan and Satan's followers- disguised and undisguised, and we have to endure all the way to the end not give up as it gets harder and harder to stand for truth, only then will we be saved. As we endure by relying completely upon our Savior's righteousness when the world wants us to rely on ourselves or other people, or false Christ's. Only by trusting wholly in our Savior will we be saved.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The gospel of the kingdom- Salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This gospel has been preached far and wide and there are very few, if any places that have not had the opportunity to know of the gospel of the kingdom.
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
The book of Daniel. We've just completed a long study in which we delved into the books of Daniel and Revelation. We studied the 'abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet' and we know that Jesus has guided us fully each step of the way- with broad overviews of our past, present, and future and then more detailed accounts. When we read of this prophecy and by the grace of our God are given understanding we have to be prepared, not clueless, not helplessly ignorant, we have to watch all these signs and know.
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day
Such imagery! Flee! Flee so quickly you don't run into your house and get anything, just FLEE. Flee if you are out working, don't think about going back home to retrieve a single thing… FLEE! And how hard, how difficult it would be if you were pregnant or had young children! How trying it would be to have to flee in the winter cold, or on the sabbath when you are meant to be wholly immersed in God and not caught up in self in any way.
There have been times we can look back to where people saw signs and they fled… yes?
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luk 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Jerusalem compassed with armies- this happened! Remember history? In 66AD Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, but NOT destroyed. In 70AD Jerusalem was destroyed by armies. So, if you were a Christian believing in the prophecy of Jesus and you saw the armies surrounding your city and then they left without capturing the city, what would you have done? Would you have relaxed in relief being thankful they were gone? Or would you take that sign as the one Jesus gave when He told you to FLEE, and would you then FLEE? All the Christians that listened and fled the city in haste were spared. All those who stayed in Jerusalem suffered terribly, many dying as the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem captured and the city overthrown. People were warned! People lived because they took heed to the warnings. Praise God!
Now we know for a fact the signs are all mingled and again it's with good reason, so a discerning heart motivated and guided by the Holy Spirit would be able to comprehend and those who would not fully give their hearts to the Lord would not be able to understanding. The blind will remain blind, the deaf will remain deaf.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Remember this… Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Now we read this…except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved.
The GREAT TRIBULATION- this will be endured by the elect, this will be endured by those who are saved at the very end of the world as we know it before our Savior returns.
The great tribulation is coming and it will be so much worse than we can imagine, yet maybe not in the ways we sometimes do imagine. The deceiver will be using all his lying wonders and the urge to conform to a world who has suddenly joined in believing in Christ, will be so tempting! Only the Christ they'll believe will be a false Christ and ONLY those who understand this fully right now before it comes to pass will be prepared to understand it when it happens. We can't wait to accept the truth, it must be accepted now. Things will NOT happen as the movies predict, things will NOT happen as the many books predict, things will happen as GOD alone predicts and His prophecy is given to us in the Holy Bible. We are not to be spoon fed His word but we are to eat of it eagerly growing quickly from suckling babes into adults as we feast on the word of truth to gain understanding given to us by the Holy Spirit that our Lord promised to send to us.
Please Lord God, Savior, King, Almighty Heavenly Father, please, save us!
By Your amazing LOVE!
Through Your grace and mercy in all YOUR righteousness always through faith.
AMEN.
Endure.
If we endure it means we are going through something to endure, right? Do you endure pleasure? Most would not say they endure pleasure, why? Because they are enjoying it and it's something they don't mind experiencing. When we endure we are putting up with a certain situation because it's necessary. We must endure unto the end of the world and we will be saved. We cannot give in to worldly ways, sins, lusts, deception, the fact of the matter is we will STAND OUT as something odd to the world. And in a world where people long to experience acceptance by their peers and likewise, very few will want to stand out for Christ and His truth. Many will stand out for Christ and deception- which is the trap of Satan, but very few will stand for the absolute truth found in Jesus. We have to endure living in a world ruled by Satan and Satan's followers- disguised and undisguised, and we have to endure all the way to the end not give up as it gets harder and harder to stand for truth, only then will we be saved. As we endure by relying completely upon our Savior's righteousness when the world wants us to rely on ourselves or other people, or false Christ's. Only by trusting wholly in our Savior will we be saved.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The gospel of the kingdom- Salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This gospel has been preached far and wide and there are very few, if any places that have not had the opportunity to know of the gospel of the kingdom.
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
The book of Daniel. We've just completed a long study in which we delved into the books of Daniel and Revelation. We studied the 'abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet' and we know that Jesus has guided us fully each step of the way- with broad overviews of our past, present, and future and then more detailed accounts. When we read of this prophecy and by the grace of our God are given understanding we have to be prepared, not clueless, not helplessly ignorant, we have to watch all these signs and know.
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day
Such imagery! Flee! Flee so quickly you don't run into your house and get anything, just FLEE. Flee if you are out working, don't think about going back home to retrieve a single thing… FLEE! And how hard, how difficult it would be if you were pregnant or had young children! How trying it would be to have to flee in the winter cold, or on the sabbath when you are meant to be wholly immersed in God and not caught up in self in any way.
There have been times we can look back to where people saw signs and they fled… yes?
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luk 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Jerusalem compassed with armies- this happened! Remember history? In 66AD Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, but NOT destroyed. In 70AD Jerusalem was destroyed by armies. So, if you were a Christian believing in the prophecy of Jesus and you saw the armies surrounding your city and then they left without capturing the city, what would you have done? Would you have relaxed in relief being thankful they were gone? Or would you take that sign as the one Jesus gave when He told you to FLEE, and would you then FLEE? All the Christians that listened and fled the city in haste were spared. All those who stayed in Jerusalem suffered terribly, many dying as the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem captured and the city overthrown. People were warned! People lived because they took heed to the warnings. Praise God!
Now we know for a fact the signs are all mingled and again it's with good reason, so a discerning heart motivated and guided by the Holy Spirit would be able to comprehend and those who would not fully give their hearts to the Lord would not be able to understanding. The blind will remain blind, the deaf will remain deaf.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Remember this… Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Now we read this…except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved.
The GREAT TRIBULATION- this will be endured by the elect, this will be endured by those who are saved at the very end of the world as we know it before our Savior returns.
The great tribulation is coming and it will be so much worse than we can imagine, yet maybe not in the ways we sometimes do imagine. The deceiver will be using all his lying wonders and the urge to conform to a world who has suddenly joined in believing in Christ, will be so tempting! Only the Christ they'll believe will be a false Christ and ONLY those who understand this fully right now before it comes to pass will be prepared to understand it when it happens. We can't wait to accept the truth, it must be accepted now. Things will NOT happen as the movies predict, things will NOT happen as the many books predict, things will happen as GOD alone predicts and His prophecy is given to us in the Holy Bible. We are not to be spoon fed His word but we are to eat of it eagerly growing quickly from suckling babes into adults as we feast on the word of truth to gain understanding given to us by the Holy Spirit that our Lord promised to send to us.
Please Lord God, Savior, King, Almighty Heavenly Father, please, save us!
By Your amazing LOVE!
Through Your grace and mercy in all YOUR righteousness always through faith.
AMEN.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Matthew 24: 1-12
Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Imagine for a moment someone telling you that not one stone will remain upon another as they gaze on the Pyramids, the White House, Westminster Abbey, the Taj Mahal, etcetera. It's not easy for us to imagine our famed buildings being so completely destroyed that not a single stone remains on top of another. Herod's Temple - the Temple Jesus was referring to wasn't a small building, it was an amazing structure. Here read about it--
Herod's Temple in Jerusalem was a massive expansion of the Temple Mount platform and major expansion of the Jewish Temple by King Herod the Great around 19 BCE.
*
Herod's Temple was one of the larger construction projects of the 1st century BCE. Herod was interested in perpetuating his name for all eternity through building projects, and his construction program was extensive. He had magnificent palaces in Masada, Caesarea and Tiberias. Herod built temples for various pagan gods to serve the gentile populations, which were paid for by heavy taxes on the local Jewish population.[18]
But his masterpiece was to be the Temple of Jerusalem. The old temple, built by Zerubbabel nearly half a millennium before, despite frequent renovation, most notably by the Maccabees in the century before, was still run down and relatively small.
In 20 BCE, Herod announced that the old temple would be torn down and replaced with something truly magnificent. The Kohanim, or Jewish priesthood, as well as the rest of the population, were skeptical, requiring Herod to quarry all the stones required for the project before the destruction of the Post-Exile structure could begin.
An agreement was made between Herod and the Jewish religious authorities: the sacrificial rituals, called korbanot, were to be continued unabated for the entire time of construction, and the Temple itself would be constructed by the Kohanim.
Pasted from
Click on that link, or paste it into your web browser and read much more on the Temple of Jesus' time it's fascinating.
Suffice it to say the temple was magnificent and quite on par with some of our famous historic sites today.
To hear Jesus say that the temple would be destroyed was truly something of great interest. This was something the apostles could scarcely imagine, yet they believed because they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, God's Son and His word was the word of Truth. Jesus would NEVER speak a lie and they believed His every word.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
The temple's destruction to the apostles could mean only one thing- the end of the world. It stood to reason that the great temple just recently erected after years and years of a much simpler temple would not be destroyed unless something catastrophic occurred. So when the disciples asked what the signs of this event would be, and what the signs of the end of the world would be- they most likely imagine the time being the same. Jesus knew better though. Jesus knew the events would be separate and so when we read the following we know that some of it occurred when the temple was destroyed and some will not occur until the end of the world, and still other signs in there would be given so God's people would know to watch, they'd know that Jesus wasn't going to return without ample warning, ample signs of the time.
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
This is good advice always, yes? Men will try to deceive us, and we know that not very often does someone try to deceive another blatantly but rather deceptively so that they are hardly aware they are being deceived. Is it any wonder we, and all those through all time from that moment on, would need to take HEED- to really pay attention- and let NO MAN deceive us.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Many will use Christ's name. Many will say they are Christ's. Many will deceive many and they will do it as supposed Christians! Not Muslims, not atheists, not Buddhists, not Hindu, not Satanists, not pagans… but they will claim to be Christ's and use Christ's name to deceive! No, we can't be partakers of any false religions, but those practices just named are blatant in their godlessness, they are not hiding under the pretense of being Christ followers. They can't deceive us, we know exactly what they are. The ones that deceive us are the ones we have to take heed against and watch out for, those that say they are Christ's but they really, really are not His at all.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
We see all these things don't we? We know these beginning of sorrows quite well they've been going on for a long, long time and only growing worse.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Sin abounds, sin reigns in our world and no one can tell me different. Sin is accepted, completely accepted and the norm for people. Love is ice cold. Is it any wonder we live in a world where divorce is expected, accepted, and considered normal? Is there any wonder parents can send their children off to day cares and schools without any real thought about who their children are being truly raised by? They love their children but like with so much in our world today that love is cold because sin - the love of self is the rule. With the love of self over the love of God the way of life for so many it's any wonder at all this world still exists, seriously. It's true that God isn't going to find very many people who are His, there will be very, very few that are His, very few found surrendered to Christ and His righteousness.
More tomorrow by the grace of our God!
In His Amazing Love.
May we be fully surrendered to the will of God and found living in Him and not in sin that abounds so incredibly much around us. All in Christ's righteousness!
Amen.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Imagine for a moment someone telling you that not one stone will remain upon another as they gaze on the Pyramids, the White House, Westminster Abbey, the Taj Mahal, etcetera. It's not easy for us to imagine our famed buildings being so completely destroyed that not a single stone remains on top of another. Herod's Temple - the Temple Jesus was referring to wasn't a small building, it was an amazing structure. Here read about it--
Herod's Temple in Jerusalem was a massive expansion of the Temple Mount platform and major expansion of the Jewish Temple by King Herod the Great around 19 BCE.
*
Herod's Temple was one of the larger construction projects of the 1st century BCE. Herod was interested in perpetuating his name for all eternity through building projects, and his construction program was extensive. He had magnificent palaces in Masada, Caesarea and Tiberias. Herod built temples for various pagan gods to serve the gentile populations, which were paid for by heavy taxes on the local Jewish population.[18]
But his masterpiece was to be the Temple of Jerusalem. The old temple, built by Zerubbabel nearly half a millennium before, despite frequent renovation, most notably by the Maccabees in the century before, was still run down and relatively small.
In 20 BCE, Herod announced that the old temple would be torn down and replaced with something truly magnificent. The Kohanim, or Jewish priesthood, as well as the rest of the population, were skeptical, requiring Herod to quarry all the stones required for the project before the destruction of the Post-Exile structure could begin.
An agreement was made between Herod and the Jewish religious authorities: the sacrificial rituals, called korbanot, were to be continued unabated for the entire time of construction, and the Temple itself would be constructed by the Kohanim.
Pasted from
Click on that link, or paste it into your web browser and read much more on the Temple of Jesus' time it's fascinating.
Suffice it to say the temple was magnificent and quite on par with some of our famous historic sites today.
To hear Jesus say that the temple would be destroyed was truly something of great interest. This was something the apostles could scarcely imagine, yet they believed because they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, God's Son and His word was the word of Truth. Jesus would NEVER speak a lie and they believed His every word.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
The temple's destruction to the apostles could mean only one thing- the end of the world. It stood to reason that the great temple just recently erected after years and years of a much simpler temple would not be destroyed unless something catastrophic occurred. So when the disciples asked what the signs of this event would be, and what the signs of the end of the world would be- they most likely imagine the time being the same. Jesus knew better though. Jesus knew the events would be separate and so when we read the following we know that some of it occurred when the temple was destroyed and some will not occur until the end of the world, and still other signs in there would be given so God's people would know to watch, they'd know that Jesus wasn't going to return without ample warning, ample signs of the time.
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
This is good advice always, yes? Men will try to deceive us, and we know that not very often does someone try to deceive another blatantly but rather deceptively so that they are hardly aware they are being deceived. Is it any wonder we, and all those through all time from that moment on, would need to take HEED- to really pay attention- and let NO MAN deceive us.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Many will use Christ's name. Many will say they are Christ's. Many will deceive many and they will do it as supposed Christians! Not Muslims, not atheists, not Buddhists, not Hindu, not Satanists, not pagans… but they will claim to be Christ's and use Christ's name to deceive! No, we can't be partakers of any false religions, but those practices just named are blatant in their godlessness, they are not hiding under the pretense of being Christ followers. They can't deceive us, we know exactly what they are. The ones that deceive us are the ones we have to take heed against and watch out for, those that say they are Christ's but they really, really are not His at all.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
We see all these things don't we? We know these beginning of sorrows quite well they've been going on for a long, long time and only growing worse.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Sin abounds, sin reigns in our world and no one can tell me different. Sin is accepted, completely accepted and the norm for people. Love is ice cold. Is it any wonder we live in a world where divorce is expected, accepted, and considered normal? Is there any wonder parents can send their children off to day cares and schools without any real thought about who their children are being truly raised by? They love their children but like with so much in our world today that love is cold because sin - the love of self is the rule. With the love of self over the love of God the way of life for so many it's any wonder at all this world still exists, seriously. It's true that God isn't going to find very many people who are His, there will be very, very few that are His, very few found surrendered to Christ and His righteousness.
More tomorrow by the grace of our God!
In His Amazing Love.
May we be fully surrendered to the will of God and found living in Him and not in sin that abounds so incredibly much around us. All in Christ's righteousness!
Amen.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Prophecy - 112 - Amen.
Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
All glory to God!
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Just imagine!
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
The LORD GOD of the HOLY PROPHETS- sent HIS ANGEL. Amazing! Wonderful! Why was this angel sent? To SHOW His SERVANTS the things which must shortly be done.
So tell me this… why would God give us His prophecy so we can see what would come to pass and yet make it IMPOSSIBLE to comprehend so that we wouldn't understand what would happen at all? HE WOULDN'T! Those who long to know the truth will see the truth, their eyes will be opened. If our eyes are closed, if we aren't getting any understanding at all we need to fall to our knees in earnest prayer and like Daniel we need to pray long and hard for understanding. God will hear our prayers!
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
We are BLESSED if we keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book. By the grace of God may we keep them! We need to be blessed as the end grows closer and closer with each passing day.
Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
John wanted to worship before the angel of the Lord who showed Him the wonders in the book of prophecy. The ANGEL told John NOT to worship him, why? Because that angel was a fellow servant with John, a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only was that angel a fellow servant he was a prophet- he was one of the angels that brought prophecy to God's human servants. The angel was also one who KEEPS the sayings of the book of prophecy. WORSHIP GOD.
WORSHIP GOD! This is what is all boils down to, isn't it? Worshipping God. Either you do, or you don't it's a choice we each have to make. It's not a flippant choice as our society tries to make it out to be. It's a choice that has grave consequences only because those consequences are not always immediate we don't care, so many just don't care. Just as Eve listened to the Serpent in the garden when he told her she wouldn't die. So many listen to the serpent. Did Eve die? Yes. Did she die immediately? No. Did that negate that she died? No. Her death was inevitable just as death is inevitable for all but those saints living when Christ returns. We don't know when we might die, none of us knows. We have to make the choice NOW in this moment, in every moment, to worship God
Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
AMEN.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
All glory to God!
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Just imagine!
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
The LORD GOD of the HOLY PROPHETS- sent HIS ANGEL. Amazing! Wonderful! Why was this angel sent? To SHOW His SERVANTS the things which must shortly be done.
So tell me this… why would God give us His prophecy so we can see what would come to pass and yet make it IMPOSSIBLE to comprehend so that we wouldn't understand what would happen at all? HE WOULDN'T! Those who long to know the truth will see the truth, their eyes will be opened. If our eyes are closed, if we aren't getting any understanding at all we need to fall to our knees in earnest prayer and like Daniel we need to pray long and hard for understanding. God will hear our prayers!
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
We are BLESSED if we keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book. By the grace of God may we keep them! We need to be blessed as the end grows closer and closer with each passing day.
Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
John wanted to worship before the angel of the Lord who showed Him the wonders in the book of prophecy. The ANGEL told John NOT to worship him, why? Because that angel was a fellow servant with John, a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only was that angel a fellow servant he was a prophet- he was one of the angels that brought prophecy to God's human servants. The angel was also one who KEEPS the sayings of the book of prophecy. WORSHIP GOD.
WORSHIP GOD! This is what is all boils down to, isn't it? Worshipping God. Either you do, or you don't it's a choice we each have to make. It's not a flippant choice as our society tries to make it out to be. It's a choice that has grave consequences only because those consequences are not always immediate we don't care, so many just don't care. Just as Eve listened to the Serpent in the garden when he told her she wouldn't die. So many listen to the serpent. Did Eve die? Yes. Did she die immediately? No. Did that negate that she died? No. Her death was inevitable just as death is inevitable for all but those saints living when Christ returns. We don't know when we might die, none of us knows. We have to make the choice NOW in this moment, in every moment, to worship God
Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
AMEN.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Prophecy - 111
Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
That Satan should deceive the NATIONS no more.
We have to ask ourselves if there are any nations left to deceive. Seriously. We discussed this some yesterday and we're going to discuss it more today.
The state of the world after our Savior's second coming is what?
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Lightning from the east all the way to the west. As we know lightning, powerful lightning is not something you can hide. Everyone will see the Lord when He returns.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Even those who pierced him will see the Lord when He returns. We know for a fact the dead in Christ will RISE from their graves and be transformed as they meet the Lord in the air. The dead that aren't in Christ will see the Savior too, only they will NOT rise to meet the Savior in the air.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
Destroyed by our Savior's coming. Evil cannot live in the sight of our returning, conquering Lord and King Jesus Christ.
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The elect are gathered, not those who have chosen not to be His.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This parable is giving us the message of truth- that those who are not among the servants of the Lord will be destroyed.
Do you remember these verses- immediately given before Satan is bound and chained, given to the bottomless pit?
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
The flesh of ALL men- both free and bond, both small and great. Whose flesh is this but that of all the wicked killed.
Read this verse from Jeremiah which also mentions the fowls feasting-
Jer 16:4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
We know that the remnant means the very last of something and there are a remnant of God's people- the very last that are alive and waiting for Him when He returns, and there are a remnant of evil people. The remnant of those who have aligned themselves against the true love of God found in Christ Jesus, are those left alive after the plagues have taken many. The remnant of evil will be slain by our Savior's word which is sharper than any two-edge sword. The earth will be filled with dead bodies, no one will be left alive not one single person. This is why it's enough to say that for 1000 years Satan is bound and for 1000 years God's elect will be with Him in heaven- not here on earth. This earth will be left desolate for 1000 years, void of all human life, void of any one to deceive. There could be no greater prison for a being that thrives on deception, that thrives on evil, thrives on lies. There will be no one to deceive, no one to be evil towards, no one to lie to. Left alone and unable to leave, chained to the desolate earth, Satan is trapped in that fate until the 1000 years is over.
Does is make sense? Seriously, does it? Or is it better to think of a real bottomless pit and Satan trapped inside it endlessly falling? It would have to be one amazing bottomless pit, in fact a circular one so Satan can continue his descent endlessly for 1000 years. And honestly, is there a point to such literal imagery? The fact of the matter is Satan is bound and unable to deceive anyone.
'that he should deceive the nations no more'
There are no NATIONS left to deceive! There is no one left alive!
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE 1000 YEARS WERE FINISHED.
The first resurrection is all about those who are Christ's. The dead in Christ will rise, those alive in Christ will rise. The rest of humanity is DEAD. The rest of humanity will NOT live again UNTIL the 1000 years is over!
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Only those who a part of the first resurrection- resurrected to NEW life in Christ- resurrected from death to live forever in Christ, resurrected from mortal bodies to immortal- these and only these are BLESSED.
Those who are apart of the second resurrection are NOT blessed, because all of those will take part in the SECOND DEATH- which is permanent and something from which no one ever can possibly return from. The second death is destruction and complete annihilation so that it will be as if those people never, ever existed. It will be as if Satan himself never existed, he too is completely destroyed once and for all after that 1000 years.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
The rest of the dead are resurrected upon earth and now Satan has people to deceive all over again, millions and millions, billions of people to deceive. This looses the chains that bound Satan for 1000 years doesn't it? He's free to deceive and he does just that. He deceives them and gathers them together the number as the sand of the sea- and that number is what? Seemingly practically infinite! And this amazing army follows their General Satan...
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
None of those resurrected after the 1000 years will be with Christ, none will be found written in the book of life. The only names there will be the names of the saints who have been with Christ for 1000 years.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
Rev 21:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
Rev 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
Rev 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Rev 21:18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
Rev 21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
Rev 21:20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
PRAISE GOD!
All glory to God!
His kingdom come!
His will be done!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Amen.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
That Satan should deceive the NATIONS no more.
We have to ask ourselves if there are any nations left to deceive. Seriously. We discussed this some yesterday and we're going to discuss it more today.
The state of the world after our Savior's second coming is what?
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Lightning from the east all the way to the west. As we know lightning, powerful lightning is not something you can hide. Everyone will see the Lord when He returns.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Even those who pierced him will see the Lord when He returns. We know for a fact the dead in Christ will RISE from their graves and be transformed as they meet the Lord in the air. The dead that aren't in Christ will see the Savior too, only they will NOT rise to meet the Savior in the air.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
Destroyed by our Savior's coming. Evil cannot live in the sight of our returning, conquering Lord and King Jesus Christ.
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The elect are gathered, not those who have chosen not to be His.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This parable is giving us the message of truth- that those who are not among the servants of the Lord will be destroyed.
Do you remember these verses- immediately given before Satan is bound and chained, given to the bottomless pit?
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
The flesh of ALL men- both free and bond, both small and great. Whose flesh is this but that of all the wicked killed.
Read this verse from Jeremiah which also mentions the fowls feasting-
Jer 16:4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
We know that the remnant means the very last of something and there are a remnant of God's people- the very last that are alive and waiting for Him when He returns, and there are a remnant of evil people. The remnant of those who have aligned themselves against the true love of God found in Christ Jesus, are those left alive after the plagues have taken many. The remnant of evil will be slain by our Savior's word which is sharper than any two-edge sword. The earth will be filled with dead bodies, no one will be left alive not one single person. This is why it's enough to say that for 1000 years Satan is bound and for 1000 years God's elect will be with Him in heaven- not here on earth. This earth will be left desolate for 1000 years, void of all human life, void of any one to deceive. There could be no greater prison for a being that thrives on deception, that thrives on evil, thrives on lies. There will be no one to deceive, no one to be evil towards, no one to lie to. Left alone and unable to leave, chained to the desolate earth, Satan is trapped in that fate until the 1000 years is over.
Does is make sense? Seriously, does it? Or is it better to think of a real bottomless pit and Satan trapped inside it endlessly falling? It would have to be one amazing bottomless pit, in fact a circular one so Satan can continue his descent endlessly for 1000 years. And honestly, is there a point to such literal imagery? The fact of the matter is Satan is bound and unable to deceive anyone.
'that he should deceive the nations no more'
There are no NATIONS left to deceive! There is no one left alive!
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE 1000 YEARS WERE FINISHED.
The first resurrection is all about those who are Christ's. The dead in Christ will rise, those alive in Christ will rise. The rest of humanity is DEAD. The rest of humanity will NOT live again UNTIL the 1000 years is over!
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Only those who a part of the first resurrection- resurrected to NEW life in Christ- resurrected from death to live forever in Christ, resurrected from mortal bodies to immortal- these and only these are BLESSED.
Those who are apart of the second resurrection are NOT blessed, because all of those will take part in the SECOND DEATH- which is permanent and something from which no one ever can possibly return from. The second death is destruction and complete annihilation so that it will be as if those people never, ever existed. It will be as if Satan himself never existed, he too is completely destroyed once and for all after that 1000 years.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
The rest of the dead are resurrected upon earth and now Satan has people to deceive all over again, millions and millions, billions of people to deceive. This looses the chains that bound Satan for 1000 years doesn't it? He's free to deceive and he does just that. He deceives them and gathers them together the number as the sand of the sea- and that number is what? Seemingly practically infinite! And this amazing army follows their General Satan...
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
None of those resurrected after the 1000 years will be with Christ, none will be found written in the book of life. The only names there will be the names of the saints who have been with Christ for 1000 years.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
Rev 21:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
Rev 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
Rev 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Rev 21:18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
Rev 21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
Rev 21:20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
PRAISE GOD!
All glory to God!
His kingdom come!
His will be done!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Amen.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Prophecy - 110
Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
The bottomless pit.
(Strong's)
abussos
ab'-us-sos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of G1037; depthless, that is, (specifically), (infernal) “abyss”: - deep, (bottomless) pit.
(Thayer's)
G12
abussos
1) bottomless
2) unbounded
3) the abyss
3a) the pit
3b) the immeasurable depth
Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Once again we HAVE to realize that this is a book of PROPHECY. Books of prophecy are FILLED with symbolic accounts. We've seen beasts as symbols of empires, kingdoms. We've seen that horns are kings, and those of power. We've noted that waters is a symbol of many people, nations. I could go on and on but we've spent months now studying the books of Daniel and Revelation and I know you know exactly what I'm talking about. Symbolic prophetic language is used throughout these books of prophecy so that understanding when it is meant to be understood would take place. As a parable is told by our Savior and He was asked why He spoke in parables, we understand that He did so because … well let's read it.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Prophecy and parables have a lot in common because those whose hearts wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes are kept close, these people do NOT want to really see, hear, or understand because they do NOT want to know God, they do not want to be healed by our Savior. People are to watch, people are to study, people are to keep the words of the prophecy and yet so many could care less about prophecies, most deeming them too hard to understand, others believing they are more literal than symbolic and they grow greatly confused. We NEED to understand, we NEED to hear, we NEED to see all of this and continue to study so we may understand and keep the word given to us.
Reading about the bottomless pit we have to ask ourselves is this suddenly a very literal pit? We know what pits look like. We can imagine pits- deep, dark, smoky, fire-filled pits. We've been given the image over and over again in portrayals of what a fictional hell is supposed to look like. Just as we have images of heaven- a very cloud filled fluffy white place with a throne and such.
Yet this bottomless pit we've read about is the place were Satan will live for a 1000 years while the saints are in heaven.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
So while the saints are in heaven reigning with Christ for a thousand years, Satan is in this pit. Now, where are the people of earth during this time?
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds-- only those who are Christ's will be left alive and there will be many more dead than alive. Remember- narrow is the way and few their be that find it. Remember- as it was in the days of Noah, the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Very few lived in comparison to the number of people that died. All the wicked will be destroyed. All the wicked will taste that first death without any exception. Not a single wicked person will be left alive when our Savior returns and takes His saints- dead saints newly risen and alive saints home with Him.
So the situation here is- Christ returns and his saints rise up into the air to meet Him, and they go to live with Him for a 1000 years. Meanwhile, all those who are not Christ's are killed. The prince of the world, Satan- a fallen angel- is bound for a 1000 years. Now, why would he need to be put into a bottomless pit if there is nothing left on earth to deceive? Seriously, think about it for a moment. Logic dictates that Satan and His angels were cast from heaven to earth and on earth there were humans to tempt and deceive, to steal from God. Now if there are NO longer any humans to deceive do you think Satan would want to remain on the earth He was cast out to? No. And so, Satan is bound isn't he, bound by circumstances. Before you think it crazy that the earth itself could be considered a wasteland, a bottomless pit, an abyss, remember this…
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The deep.
This word for deep in Greek is…
abussos
ab'-us-sos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of G1037; depthless, that is, (specifically), (infernal) “abyss”: - deep, (bottomless) pit.
The earth in the beginning was like a bottomless pit, a nothingness- a void, no form. God created it to be what we know the earth to be, it was NOT always like this.
The earth left destroyed will be in a state that is void of all human life, and with the plagues having destroyed so much, it truly will be a pit. I'm not saying that the greenery and such won't renew itself, it very well could and that also could be in God's plan, but the main point is that there is absolutely NO HUMAN LIFE left, NONE. We can't ever be naïve enough to imagine Satan as even remotely human. Satan is a fallen angelic being without any humanity in him whatsoever. He will live for a 1000 years chained to the nothingness the earth has begun, the nothingness of not a single human being left to toy with. Satan will be completely powerless and unable to leave earth. His angelic wings are effectively clipped and clipped permanently by the power that is from God. With all of God's people with Him in heaven it makes perfect sense for Satan to be left on the human-less earth in punishment made to abide their until the 1000 years if over.
More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior. All through HIS will now and forever!!!!!!!
Amen.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
The bottomless pit.
(Strong's)
abussos
ab'-us-sos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of G1037; depthless, that is, (specifically), (infernal) “abyss”: - deep, (bottomless) pit.
(Thayer's)
G12
abussos
1) bottomless
2) unbounded
3) the abyss
3a) the pit
3b) the immeasurable depth
Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Once again we HAVE to realize that this is a book of PROPHECY. Books of prophecy are FILLED with symbolic accounts. We've seen beasts as symbols of empires, kingdoms. We've seen that horns are kings, and those of power. We've noted that waters is a symbol of many people, nations. I could go on and on but we've spent months now studying the books of Daniel and Revelation and I know you know exactly what I'm talking about. Symbolic prophetic language is used throughout these books of prophecy so that understanding when it is meant to be understood would take place. As a parable is told by our Savior and He was asked why He spoke in parables, we understand that He did so because … well let's read it.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Prophecy and parables have a lot in common because those whose hearts wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes are kept close, these people do NOT want to really see, hear, or understand because they do NOT want to know God, they do not want to be healed by our Savior. People are to watch, people are to study, people are to keep the words of the prophecy and yet so many could care less about prophecies, most deeming them too hard to understand, others believing they are more literal than symbolic and they grow greatly confused. We NEED to understand, we NEED to hear, we NEED to see all of this and continue to study so we may understand and keep the word given to us.
Reading about the bottomless pit we have to ask ourselves is this suddenly a very literal pit? We know what pits look like. We can imagine pits- deep, dark, smoky, fire-filled pits. We've been given the image over and over again in portrayals of what a fictional hell is supposed to look like. Just as we have images of heaven- a very cloud filled fluffy white place with a throne and such.
Yet this bottomless pit we've read about is the place were Satan will live for a 1000 years while the saints are in heaven.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
So while the saints are in heaven reigning with Christ for a thousand years, Satan is in this pit. Now, where are the people of earth during this time?
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds-- only those who are Christ's will be left alive and there will be many more dead than alive. Remember- narrow is the way and few their be that find it. Remember- as it was in the days of Noah, the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Very few lived in comparison to the number of people that died. All the wicked will be destroyed. All the wicked will taste that first death without any exception. Not a single wicked person will be left alive when our Savior returns and takes His saints- dead saints newly risen and alive saints home with Him.
So the situation here is- Christ returns and his saints rise up into the air to meet Him, and they go to live with Him for a 1000 years. Meanwhile, all those who are not Christ's are killed. The prince of the world, Satan- a fallen angel- is bound for a 1000 years. Now, why would he need to be put into a bottomless pit if there is nothing left on earth to deceive? Seriously, think about it for a moment. Logic dictates that Satan and His angels were cast from heaven to earth and on earth there were humans to tempt and deceive, to steal from God. Now if there are NO longer any humans to deceive do you think Satan would want to remain on the earth He was cast out to? No. And so, Satan is bound isn't he, bound by circumstances. Before you think it crazy that the earth itself could be considered a wasteland, a bottomless pit, an abyss, remember this…
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The deep.
This word for deep in Greek is…
abussos
ab'-us-sos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of G1037; depthless, that is, (specifically), (infernal) “abyss”: - deep, (bottomless) pit.
The earth in the beginning was like a bottomless pit, a nothingness- a void, no form. God created it to be what we know the earth to be, it was NOT always like this.
The earth left destroyed will be in a state that is void of all human life, and with the plagues having destroyed so much, it truly will be a pit. I'm not saying that the greenery and such won't renew itself, it very well could and that also could be in God's plan, but the main point is that there is absolutely NO HUMAN LIFE left, NONE. We can't ever be naïve enough to imagine Satan as even remotely human. Satan is a fallen angelic being without any humanity in him whatsoever. He will live for a 1000 years chained to the nothingness the earth has begun, the nothingness of not a single human being left to toy with. Satan will be completely powerless and unable to leave earth. His angelic wings are effectively clipped and clipped permanently by the power that is from God. With all of God's people with Him in heaven it makes perfect sense for Satan to be left on the human-less earth in punishment made to abide their until the 1000 years if over.
More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior. All through HIS will now and forever!!!!!!!
Amen.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Prophecy - 109 - By Faith the Bride of Christ is Making Herself Ready
Excerpt taken from:
WWN 1995 Oct -- XXVIII -- 10(95) -- EXEGESIS OF REVELATION -- THE TALE OF TWO CITIES -- Part 6 --
'God's original plan called for man to be only "a little while inferior to the angels." (Heb. 2:7, margin)
Created in the image of God, "designed to be a counterpart of God," a high destiny awaited man.
He, however, sinned and fell prey to the dragon's "wrath" and jealousy.
Now through the "redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24),...
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
... not only can man be restored, but a group, designated in Revelation as the 144,000, is to be the "wife" of the Lamb, sharing His throne.
Lest we read into the description - "his wife hath made herself ready" - a salvation-by-works theology, we need to recall that "those arrayed in white robes" have "washed" them and "made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (7:13-14)
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
What then could the expression mean - "the fine linen (in which the wife is arrayed) is the righteousness of saints"?
Is this the full realization of "imparted righteousness"?
If so, then if we desire to be among that group, should we not study to know exactly what it means - "His wife hath made herself ready"?
What is that "readiness" by which the righteousness of Christ can become ours in a personal possessive sense?
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Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his WIFE hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's WIFE.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
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Zec 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
Zec 3:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Zec 3:3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Zec 3:5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
Zec 3:6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
Zec 3:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
Zec 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
Zec 3:9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Zec 3:10 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
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He that overcomes will be clothed in white raiment.
Why is it necessary to change our clothes, to be clothed in white raiment?
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Maybe we need to go all the way back to the beginning when mankind first sinned. Remember there in the garden after Eve and Adam committed the very first sin- disobeying God, not trusting God, allowing themselves to be deceived? Remember the pair realized their nakedness for the first time? They'd been clothed with the brightness of our God's righteousness, that pure white raiment that could only come from God. As soon as they left off trusting and obeying God that brightness, that covering of God's righteousness was gone! We can't really imagine 'clothes' as we understand them, being part of our new life in Christ once He comes again, can we? I mean the dead in Christ will rise and they aren't going to be handed a white gown of linen as we know it. We have to remember that Adam and Eve did not lose the clothes off their backs and suddenly see they were naked. They hadn't been wearing conventional clothes such as we know, they were wearing the righteousness of God and enveloped in the brightness of that righteousness.
Psa 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Psa 104:2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain
This makes so much more sense doesn't it, than God giving physical clothing to people and suddenly it disappears. I can comprehend the light of God's righteousness surrounding us individually and I can comprehend that when sin entered our world that righteousness was gone in a VERY real way. The glory of God cannot remain where sin exists, the light and the dark cannot inhabit the same space, light dispels the darkness- it doesn't share it, just as darkness blots out light. Adam and Eve were clothed in the very beginning with the pure righteousness of God, they had that white raiment upon them - the clothing of righteousness.
Rev. 19:8 '... for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ' The fine linen isn't silk, it isn't satin, it isn't soft wool- it is the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ and righteousness is not a tangible material we can cut and sew. So yes, this is truth--
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his WIFE hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
To the wife of the Lamb will be granted the fine linen- clean and white- the righteousness of saints. And the wife makes herself ready by accepting the truth of God's righteousness, that we must believe solely in Him for all righteousness we have none of our own. We must believe, we must have faith. Abraham and Noah, neither had any righteousness in and of themselves, they believed in GOD and that belief, that faith in God made them acceptable to God and His righteousness was given to them. If we believe in the least way that our own righteousness is what determines our salvation we have misunderstood everything. Any righteousness we might possess, any righteousness we may be able to experience as we are told to be righteous and walk in righteous ways, follow righteous paths, seek righteousness is all the righteousness of God, not any righteousness of our own making. Christ is everything, in Him is all righteousness and we have to believe that He will cover us in His righteousness just as He enable us to follow righteous paths, just as it is HIS power that enables us to resist the devil, to resist unto blood as we strive against sin, HIS POWER. If we continue to believe that we will develop super spiritual powers and be able to defeat the temptations of Satan on our own and thereby prove to God we are powerful enough- good enough-then we are not understanding our God at all whatsoever! Every single victory we achieve over sin is Christ's victory, not ours. We are not able to make our filthy rags clean- they must be cleaned for us, they must be removed from us and we must be given a clean heart, a clean life, a robe of righteousness white and pure as such as our first parents wore- God's righteousness freely given, not deserved by us at all.
Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Job 36:3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
Psa 9:8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Psa 24:5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psa 31:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
Psa 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
Psa 85:13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Psa 89:16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
Psa 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Psa 119:144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
Psa 119:172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.
Pro 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Pro 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Isa 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isa 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Hos 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Zep 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Rom 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Rom 4:9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Rom 4:10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
Rom 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
Rom 9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Rom 9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
Rom 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2Co 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Like Noah, like Abraham, those who live in the last days will be living purely by faith in God- and not living at all by any sight whatsoever because for all intents and purposes things will appear one way but in truth will be another. Is it any wonder we are encouraged to read the books of prophecy, that we are blessed by them? Only those who realize what is coming, only those who truly believe those words and understand that living in the time directly before the coming of our Lord they must live on faith alone in His truth will receive His righteousness.
We are told that a great, great deception is coming. It's not going to be an obvious deception at all. Anything the movies and books have portrayed as to what will be are deceptive because while people are looking for their envisioned last day symbols- the deception will overcome them and they won't even realize it.
Is it any wonder the bride of the Lamb will be arrayed in the fine linen of Christ's righteousness- they are a people TOTALLY dependent upon our Savior, they are a people living completely by FAITH in God.
In the last days Satan's deceptive powers will completely fool the majority of people into believing he is God, that he is Christ returned, that he is the way, the truth, and the life - when in truth he is the way to damnation, the lie, the death of millions, billions caught up in his trap. We must live by faith in Christ and in His truth! He has given us His truth, He has given us prophecy- outlining His plan. Just as Abraham and Noah were told God's plan- long, long before the realization of those plans and by faith they held fast to them- we are told God's plan and we have to hold fast to it by faith in our Savior and His righteousness.
Yes, it will be as it was in the days of Noah- for us in the end days we too will have to live completely by faith while the world around us is caught up in a false truth, a nearly perfect deception that Satan will create and is creating.
Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled
2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
By faith!
All through HIS righteousness!
In our Savior's love always!
Amen.
WWN 1995 Oct -- XXVIII -- 10(95) -- EXEGESIS OF REVELATION -- THE TALE OF TWO CITIES -- Part 6 --
'God's original plan called for man to be only "a little while inferior to the angels." (Heb. 2:7, margin)
Created in the image of God, "designed to be a counterpart of God," a high destiny awaited man.
He, however, sinned and fell prey to the dragon's "wrath" and jealousy.
Now through the "redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24),...
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
... not only can man be restored, but a group, designated in Revelation as the 144,000, is to be the "wife" of the Lamb, sharing His throne.
Lest we read into the description - "his wife hath made herself ready" - a salvation-by-works theology, we need to recall that "those arrayed in white robes" have "washed" them and "made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (7:13-14)
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
What then could the expression mean - "the fine linen (in which the wife is arrayed) is the righteousness of saints"?
Is this the full realization of "imparted righteousness"?
If so, then if we desire to be among that group, should we not study to know exactly what it means - "His wife hath made herself ready"?
What is that "readiness" by which the righteousness of Christ can become ours in a personal possessive sense?
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Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his WIFE hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's WIFE.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
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Zec 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
Zec 3:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Zec 3:3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Zec 3:5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
Zec 3:6 And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
Zec 3:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
Zec 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
Zec 3:9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Zec 3:10 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
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He that overcomes will be clothed in white raiment.
Why is it necessary to change our clothes, to be clothed in white raiment?
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Maybe we need to go all the way back to the beginning when mankind first sinned. Remember there in the garden after Eve and Adam committed the very first sin- disobeying God, not trusting God, allowing themselves to be deceived? Remember the pair realized their nakedness for the first time? They'd been clothed with the brightness of our God's righteousness, that pure white raiment that could only come from God. As soon as they left off trusting and obeying God that brightness, that covering of God's righteousness was gone! We can't really imagine 'clothes' as we understand them, being part of our new life in Christ once He comes again, can we? I mean the dead in Christ will rise and they aren't going to be handed a white gown of linen as we know it. We have to remember that Adam and Eve did not lose the clothes off their backs and suddenly see they were naked. They hadn't been wearing conventional clothes such as we know, they were wearing the righteousness of God and enveloped in the brightness of that righteousness.
Psa 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Psa 104:2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain
This makes so much more sense doesn't it, than God giving physical clothing to people and suddenly it disappears. I can comprehend the light of God's righteousness surrounding us individually and I can comprehend that when sin entered our world that righteousness was gone in a VERY real way. The glory of God cannot remain where sin exists, the light and the dark cannot inhabit the same space, light dispels the darkness- it doesn't share it, just as darkness blots out light. Adam and Eve were clothed in the very beginning with the pure righteousness of God, they had that white raiment upon them - the clothing of righteousness.
Rev. 19:8 '... for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ' The fine linen isn't silk, it isn't satin, it isn't soft wool- it is the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ and righteousness is not a tangible material we can cut and sew. So yes, this is truth--
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his WIFE hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
To the wife of the Lamb will be granted the fine linen- clean and white- the righteousness of saints. And the wife makes herself ready by accepting the truth of God's righteousness, that we must believe solely in Him for all righteousness we have none of our own. We must believe, we must have faith. Abraham and Noah, neither had any righteousness in and of themselves, they believed in GOD and that belief, that faith in God made them acceptable to God and His righteousness was given to them. If we believe in the least way that our own righteousness is what determines our salvation we have misunderstood everything. Any righteousness we might possess, any righteousness we may be able to experience as we are told to be righteous and walk in righteous ways, follow righteous paths, seek righteousness is all the righteousness of God, not any righteousness of our own making. Christ is everything, in Him is all righteousness and we have to believe that He will cover us in His righteousness just as He enable us to follow righteous paths, just as it is HIS power that enables us to resist the devil, to resist unto blood as we strive against sin, HIS POWER. If we continue to believe that we will develop super spiritual powers and be able to defeat the temptations of Satan on our own and thereby prove to God we are powerful enough- good enough-then we are not understanding our God at all whatsoever! Every single victory we achieve over sin is Christ's victory, not ours. We are not able to make our filthy rags clean- they must be cleaned for us, they must be removed from us and we must be given a clean heart, a clean life, a robe of righteousness white and pure as such as our first parents wore- God's righteousness freely given, not deserved by us at all.
Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Job 36:3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
Psa 9:8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Psa 24:5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psa 31:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
Psa 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
Psa 85:13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Psa 89:16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
Psa 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Psa 119:144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
Psa 119:172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.
Pro 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Pro 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Isa 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isa 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Hos 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Zep 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Rom 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Rom 4:9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Rom 4:10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
Rom 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
Rom 9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Rom 9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
Rom 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2Co 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Like Noah, like Abraham, those who live in the last days will be living purely by faith in God- and not living at all by any sight whatsoever because for all intents and purposes things will appear one way but in truth will be another. Is it any wonder we are encouraged to read the books of prophecy, that we are blessed by them? Only those who realize what is coming, only those who truly believe those words and understand that living in the time directly before the coming of our Lord they must live on faith alone in His truth will receive His righteousness.
We are told that a great, great deception is coming. It's not going to be an obvious deception at all. Anything the movies and books have portrayed as to what will be are deceptive because while people are looking for their envisioned last day symbols- the deception will overcome them and they won't even realize it.
Is it any wonder the bride of the Lamb will be arrayed in the fine linen of Christ's righteousness- they are a people TOTALLY dependent upon our Savior, they are a people living completely by FAITH in God.
In the last days Satan's deceptive powers will completely fool the majority of people into believing he is God, that he is Christ returned, that he is the way, the truth, and the life - when in truth he is the way to damnation, the lie, the death of millions, billions caught up in his trap. We must live by faith in Christ and in His truth! He has given us His truth, He has given us prophecy- outlining His plan. Just as Abraham and Noah were told God's plan- long, long before the realization of those plans and by faith they held fast to them- we are told God's plan and we have to hold fast to it by faith in our Savior and His righteousness.
Yes, it will be as it was in the days of Noah- for us in the end days we too will have to live completely by faith while the world around us is caught up in a false truth, a nearly perfect deception that Satan will create and is creating.
Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled
2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
By faith!
All through HIS righteousness!
In our Savior's love always!
Amen.
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