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With this entry I plan on wrapping up my little "Blog Trilogy." I didn't plan to do this, but I'm going to roll with it! So far, I have said that we are supposed to love God through obedience and following His commandments, and that believing in Him and repenting of our sins leads to salvation. In this installment I am going to show how we know we are saved, the signs that become evident in true followers of Jesus. Let's kick things off with what the Master says in John 15:
[1] I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
[2] Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
[3] Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
[4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
[5] I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
[6] If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
[7] If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
[8] Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
[9] As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
[10] If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
[11] These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
[12] This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
[13] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
[14] Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
[15] Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
[16] Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
[17] These things I command you, that ye love one another.
As usual, Jesus uses a beautiful and brilliant analogy to illustrate a very important point to us. He compares Himself to a vine, and His people grow out of that vine. The ones that are producing good fruit for Him are trimmed, so they may grow further and continue to be productive. The branch can't bear fruit on its own, it's totally dependent on the vine for its nutrition. The branches that are not connected to the vine will wither and die, and be cast into the fire. Notice here again that Jesus is giving us a conditional statement, like I mentioned in my "how does one love God?" entry. [10] If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Now, when Jesus talks of abiding in Him and He in us, He's referring to the Holy Spirit living in us. We can only produce fruit through the Spirit.
John 14:16-17
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
By the way, this isn't the only time a vine or vineyard is mentioned in the Bible. Of course, being the supernatural infallible masterpiece of the Word of God, we see foreshadowing in the Old Testament.
Psalm 80:14-19
[14] Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
[15] And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
[16] It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
[17] Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
[18] So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
[19] Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
The end verses of this Psalm are a messianic prophecy. The vineyard is planted through Christ, whom God placed with His right hand. The branch is another name for Jesus. (Is. 11:1, Jer. 23:5, Zech. 3:8, and more) So before I get too off topic here, I just wanted to show that Jesus is the vine, the branch, and it was foretold many years before He came to earth. Not a surprise, right?
Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit in the book of Galatians 5:22-24:
[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
[23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
[24] And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Something important to note here: Paul deliberately writes "fruit," in the singular form. Why not fruits? All these things he lists are evident in a believer, not just one or a few. The fruit we produce yields love, joy, peace, etc.
I don't want anyone to think that this all comes instantly when someone is saved. It's not this automatic life transformation where all your weaknesses and faults instantly go away, and you're a little Christ robot. No, this is a process. Certain things will manifest themselves in a believer rather quickly, while others may take time. Jesus works out the kinks in us through the process of sanctification, which I'll talk about a little later.
So after learning about good fruit, what should we take away from this? Do we have to go out and save the universe? Nope. Producing good fruit could be as easy as smiling at someone, sticking up for Jesus, witnessing, fellowship, standing against the devil, denying the lusts of the flesh, donating to the poor, anything that is done for God's glory. It comes natural to the believer, and becomes more apparent and abundant as Jesus continues to trim us. If you can see that you're producing good fruit in your life, that's definitely an indication that you are saved by the Lord Jesus.
I just mentioned that the fruit-bearing process is just that - a process. Christ Jesus sanctifies us through his Holy Spirit over time, conforming us to Him. The word sanctify means "to set apart for sacred use, to make holy; purify." This is the miraculous power of the Lord at work in a believer. Let's see what the Bible says about sanctification.
Romans 15:16
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
1 Thes. 4:1-4
[1] Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
[2] For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
[3] For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
[4] That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
2 Thes. 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Exodus 31:13
Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
[9] Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
[10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
[11] And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
There are even more verses that illustrate sanctification in the Bible, but I feel this is enough for you to get a feel of what's being said throughout. Sanctification is a process that God Himself does, alone, by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, to make us holy and to conform us to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. This sanctification process produces the fruit of the Spirit in us, and we can examine ourselves and see if these fruits are evident in our lives.
Let's take another look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 above. God is giving us a stern warning, and shows us what kinds of people will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. It's also repeated in Galatians 5:19-21:
[19] Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
[20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
[21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:3-5
[3] But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
[4] Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
[5] For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
God never pulls punches when He gives us warnings! To be honest, I'm glad He doesn't. Jesus also explained to us that we can know if someone is in God by their fruit. Too often I hear "Christians" say "don't judge, don't judge!," although Christ Himself gave us insight on it. I'm not talking about judging Christians here, I'm talking about weeding out false Christians and false prophets.
Matthew 7:15-23
[15] Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
[17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
[18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
[19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
[20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
[21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Here we see a reinforcement of what Jesus said in John 15, but with a little more emphasis on false prophets. If someone isn't abiding in Jesus the Biblical (only) way, and doesn't regard His law as holy and righteous, Jesus will cast that person into hell on the day of judgment. No doubt about it. So it is ok to examine people by the fruit they produce in life (like our rotten soon-to-be former President Dubya), and we are actually supposed to do so!
Before this entry gets too long winded, I want to illustrate one more point. Faith evidenced by works. This is a tricky one, because people can get sucked into works salvation. I believe the Catholic church teaches works salvation in part, although I could be wrong. Anyway, our faith is made apparent through the things we do in life. Some Bible for ya:
James 2:14-26
[14] What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
[15] If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
[16] And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
[17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
[18] Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
[19] Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
[20] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
[22] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
[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.
[24] Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
[25] Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
[26] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Matthew 7:26
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
1 John 3:18
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Again, there are even more verses that illustrate this, but for the sake of brevity I'll just include these. It is very important to read these passages carefully! They are easily twisted. Our faith is demonstrated and justified by the things we do, and going back a few blog entries, our obedience. If we have faith but don't obey the Lord, what good is that? What good is faith without action? It's dead. On the other hand, if we have faith that produces good fruit and that is evident by our works in life, we are justified and in good standing with the Lord Jesus!
Finally, I want to clearly show in Scripture that our works have nothing to do with obtaining salvation! They are simply evidence that we are indeed truly saved.
Titus 3:5-7
[5] Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
[6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
[7] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Ephesians 2:8-9
[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 3:20-28
[20] Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
[21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
[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:
[23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
[24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
[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;
[26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
[27] Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
[28] Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Galatians 2:16
[16] Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
I hope you see the distinction the Bible makes on this. We are saved by faith alone through Christ Jesus. Any man that thinks his own works play a role in his salvation is fooling himself and robbing God of His glory! It is God alone who saves, who sanctifies us, who produces good fruit through us, and who leads us in our Christian walk. Without Christ we can do nothing. Without works, we don't have much faith at all though, do we? Is it genuine?
This entry has been a massive undertaking! I hope it isn't too long, and I hope I have made my points clear. We know we are saved by the good fruit we produce in our lives, the fruit of the Spirit that becomes evident, the things we do for the glory of God, and the overall sanctification process we see in our lives. We sin less over time, and gain a real victory over sinful ways in general - a life of holiness. We owe this all to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, without whom we can do nothing. Thanks be to God!
December 29, 2008
December 28, 2008
Belief AND Repentance vs. Asking Jesus Into Your Heart
I figure I might as well write another blog while the ideas are flowing, so here we go! What I want to write about next is related to my last blog, "How does one love God?" The idea of obedience to the Lord led me to start thinking about salvation, and just how is it that one is truly saved. (This blog will also tie into that ever famous Sabbath blog I keep talking about. This is the build up! :P) Sadly, the American church doesn't have a good grasp of this in many instances, and a lot of the time it doesn't produce a Christian when all is said and done. So, let me ask you a question:
"Have you asked Jesus into your heart?"
If you said yes, great! You're saved!
No, wait a minute. That's actually not true. While it's definitely not a bad thing to want Jesus/the Holy Spirit to live inside you (it's the only shot we've got!), simply asking Jesus in or saying the "sinner's prayer" won't do you much good. I'm sure many of you that will read this are already aware of this, but I feel the need to get this out there for those who don't. It's also a very talked about subject, Paul Washer loves preaching on it. I just wanted to put it into my own words, and show the people in my life what I think about it.
Let's begin by establishing how one is saved.
John 3:16-18
[16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
[18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
That's the essence of the Gospel right there. The Bible is filled with salvation verses, but these may encapsulate it best. We're sinners, damned to hell, all have transgressed from the law, and the wages of sin is death. God sent His only begotten Son to live a perfect life on earth, fulfill the law, and die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Anyone who believes in Him is saved (by grace and faith alone). However, what does the word believe imply?
James 2:19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Hmmm, very interesting, huh? Are you confused? The devils obviously aren't saved, but they believe in God? The only answer for this is to look into what the word "believe" means for a Christian. So let me break out my trusty (albeit a bit dusty) Strong's Concordance. The word "believeth" from John 3 is the word "pisteuo" in Greek. Sorry, don't know how to add the accents above the words! I'm going to type out what my book says:
To have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing) i.e. credit; by implication to entrust (espec. one's spiritual well-being to Christ); - believe, commit unto, commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be commit to one's trust, believer.
So right away we learn that "believe" goes way deeper than just thinking Jesus is God. It's trusting Him and committing to Him. The Concordance further explains it:
Pisteuo means not just to believe, but also to be persuaded of; and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence, hence it is translated "commit unto", "commit to one's trust", "be committed unto", etc.
Hey, pretty cool stuff! Now that we see that belief isn't just a mere thought, let's take the next step here. I'm gonna write out a few verses here for you to read:
Matthew 3:1-2
[1] In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
[2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:14-15
[14] Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
[15] And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 6:12, talking of the mission of the twelve disciples:
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 3:19-20
[19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
[20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Acts 17:29-31
[29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
[30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
[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.
Rev 2:5
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Matthew 9:13
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Ok, I'm afraid if I post any more verses here I'm going to lose you! There are more in the Bible, and the Old Testament is full of warnings from God for His people to repent or die. The idea we should take away from these verses is that belief alone doesn't do much good if one is not living in continual repentance. What is repentance? It means "a change of mind," a turning from sin. To realize that what we do against God's Word is wrong, and that we must do our best to live and conform to Him in obedience, through grace. Repentance is a continual process, we're ingrained with sin and it's always being thrown at us through our own thoughts, other people, television, movies, music, advertisements, the devil, and the list goes on. We must continually "mortify the deeds of the flesh" (Romans 8:13) and put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) throughout our lives. It's a fight! It's not a prayer we say once and forget about! Thank the Lord Jesus for giving us the power to live a life of belief and repentance!
2 Cor. 12:9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
God also understands what we are going through.
Hebrews 4:14-16
[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
1 John 2:1-2
[1] My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
[2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Isn't this great? The Lord understands, and is willing to forgive us as many times as we ask for it! (Mat. 18:15-22) The key point to take away here is that if we are willing to repent and obey the Lord sincerely, God is more than willing to extend His mighty hand and guide us.
Now there is a flipside to this. Here's where it gets scary. Some people may take advantage of God's grace and just think they can sin with reckless abandon and just ask God to forgive them afterwards. Anyone who thinks this is true is sorely mistaken. My last blog on loving God parallels this idea to an extent. I urge you that if this pertains to you, listen closely:
Romans 6:1-2
[1] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
[2] God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
1 John 2:4
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Matthew 7:21-23
[21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Hebrews 10:26-27
[26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
[27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Very, very scary warnings. Iniquity means "lawlessness," total disregard for God's law. It's an extreme, but there are plenty of people out there that live in ignorance to God and His will. People that don't truly love God and His Word (the Biblical way), people that don't walk the walk. I'm being careful here, because I don't want to portray lordship salvation or legalism and salvation by works. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. With that being said, it's one thing to claim a belief in Jesus, but if you don't live like you believe in Him, He will spit you out of His mouth!
Revelation 3:15-16
[15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
[16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
What I want you to come away with from this blog is the fact that simply "believing" Jesus doesn't do you any good, and that believing in Him goes above and beyond just knowing that He exists. We must believe in Christ AND repent. Salvation is something that is evidenced by our works, the good fruit we produce, and the sanctified life Jesus continually produces in us. I can't wait to expound on that in another blog! Man I'm getting ahead of myself with these, it's too much fun! I want to also stress that I'm not being legalistic - I don't believe that following the law will save anyone. The Christian life is a walk, a relationship, a continuous battle we're in until our death. It's amazing, full of ups and downs, but God is good and everything works out for the better for those who believe in Him!
"Have you asked Jesus into your heart?"
If you said yes, great! You're saved!
No, wait a minute. That's actually not true. While it's definitely not a bad thing to want Jesus/the Holy Spirit to live inside you (it's the only shot we've got!), simply asking Jesus in or saying the "sinner's prayer" won't do you much good. I'm sure many of you that will read this are already aware of this, but I feel the need to get this out there for those who don't. It's also a very talked about subject, Paul Washer loves preaching on it. I just wanted to put it into my own words, and show the people in my life what I think about it.
Let's begin by establishing how one is saved.
John 3:16-18
[16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
[18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
That's the essence of the Gospel right there. The Bible is filled with salvation verses, but these may encapsulate it best. We're sinners, damned to hell, all have transgressed from the law, and the wages of sin is death. God sent His only begotten Son to live a perfect life on earth, fulfill the law, and die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Anyone who believes in Him is saved (by grace and faith alone). However, what does the word believe imply?
James 2:19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Hmmm, very interesting, huh? Are you confused? The devils obviously aren't saved, but they believe in God? The only answer for this is to look into what the word "believe" means for a Christian. So let me break out my trusty (albeit a bit dusty) Strong's Concordance. The word "believeth" from John 3 is the word "pisteuo" in Greek. Sorry, don't know how to add the accents above the words! I'm going to type out what my book says:
To have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing) i.e. credit; by implication to entrust (espec. one's spiritual well-being to Christ); - believe, commit unto, commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be commit to one's trust, believer.
So right away we learn that "believe" goes way deeper than just thinking Jesus is God. It's trusting Him and committing to Him. The Concordance further explains it:
Pisteuo means not just to believe, but also to be persuaded of; and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence, hence it is translated "commit unto", "commit to one's trust", "be committed unto", etc.
Hey, pretty cool stuff! Now that we see that belief isn't just a mere thought, let's take the next step here. I'm gonna write out a few verses here for you to read:
Matthew 3:1-2
[1] In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
[2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:14-15
[14] Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
[15] And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 6:12, talking of the mission of the twelve disciples:
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 3:19-20
[19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
[20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Acts 17:29-31
[29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
[30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
[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.
Rev 2:5
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Matthew 9:13
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Ok, I'm afraid if I post any more verses here I'm going to lose you! There are more in the Bible, and the Old Testament is full of warnings from God for His people to repent or die. The idea we should take away from these verses is that belief alone doesn't do much good if one is not living in continual repentance. What is repentance? It means "a change of mind," a turning from sin. To realize that what we do against God's Word is wrong, and that we must do our best to live and conform to Him in obedience, through grace. Repentance is a continual process, we're ingrained with sin and it's always being thrown at us through our own thoughts, other people, television, movies, music, advertisements, the devil, and the list goes on. We must continually "mortify the deeds of the flesh" (Romans 8:13) and put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) throughout our lives. It's a fight! It's not a prayer we say once and forget about! Thank the Lord Jesus for giving us the power to live a life of belief and repentance!
2 Cor. 12:9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
God also understands what we are going through.
Hebrews 4:14-16
[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
1 John 2:1-2
[1] My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
[2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Isn't this great? The Lord understands, and is willing to forgive us as many times as we ask for it! (Mat. 18:15-22) The key point to take away here is that if we are willing to repent and obey the Lord sincerely, God is more than willing to extend His mighty hand and guide us.
Now there is a flipside to this. Here's where it gets scary. Some people may take advantage of God's grace and just think they can sin with reckless abandon and just ask God to forgive them afterwards. Anyone who thinks this is true is sorely mistaken. My last blog on loving God parallels this idea to an extent. I urge you that if this pertains to you, listen closely:
Romans 6:1-2
[1] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
[2] God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
1 John 2:4
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Matthew 7:21-23
[21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Hebrews 10:26-27
[26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
[27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Very, very scary warnings. Iniquity means "lawlessness," total disregard for God's law. It's an extreme, but there are plenty of people out there that live in ignorance to God and His will. People that don't truly love God and His Word (the Biblical way), people that don't walk the walk. I'm being careful here, because I don't want to portray lordship salvation or legalism and salvation by works. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. With that being said, it's one thing to claim a belief in Jesus, but if you don't live like you believe in Him, He will spit you out of His mouth!
Revelation 3:15-16
[15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
[16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
What I want you to come away with from this blog is the fact that simply "believing" Jesus doesn't do you any good, and that believing in Him goes above and beyond just knowing that He exists. We must believe in Christ AND repent. Salvation is something that is evidenced by our works, the good fruit we produce, and the sanctified life Jesus continually produces in us. I can't wait to expound on that in another blog! Man I'm getting ahead of myself with these, it's too much fun! I want to also stress that I'm not being legalistic - I don't believe that following the law will save anyone. The Christian life is a walk, a relationship, a continuous battle we're in until our death. It's amazing, full of ups and downs, but God is good and everything works out for the better for those who believe in Him!
How does one love God?
I just had the idea to write about this the other night. How does one love God? I feel it's a good prelude to the blog I'm going to write soon about the Sabbath.
Some people I've talked to would answer this question rather easily. They would basically say to just love Him, like our normal human emotions would love a wife, family, friends, etc. While I definitely agree with this, loving God does go deeper! Loving the Lord also must be about obedience, and having faith evidenced by works and bearing good fruit. (I also believe that this is also the case for salvation, I smell another blog coming!) Let's take a look.
Matthew 22:36-40
[36] Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Now, people (including my own father) like to distort this teaching that Jesus gives us. "Oh Jesus told us to love God and our neighbor, nothing else matters now! New covenant, yea!" They conveniently leave out verse 40. Following the two great commandments that Jesus gives would automatically cause one to fulfill all of the other commandments! If you loved God and your neighbor, would you kill, commit adultery, steal, covet, worship idols, and the like? Makes sense right?
So, what I'm getting at is that obedience is how a Christian shows his love for God. There are many conditional statements that Jesus gives us, and that other books in the Bible illustrate about loving God, even pertaining to our salvation. Now I'm not saying we're saved on works, we're saved by grace alone through Christ, but if we have no works that show evidence of our faith, it is dead.
James 2:14-26
[14] What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
[15] If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
[16] And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
[17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
[18] Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
[19] Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
[20] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
[22] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
[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.
[24] Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
[25] Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
[26] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
So, a Christian that "loves God" and doesn't show it outwardly in the slightest doesn't really have a leg to stand on.
Hebrews 5:9, speaking of Christ:
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Pretty self explanatory. Next, let's dive into 1 John, which very nicely illustrates what I'm saying here. From the second chapter:
[3] And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
[4] He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
[5] But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Simple: If you keep God's commandments, it shows that you love Him, and that loving God is perfected through that obedience. If you don't keep His word, you're lying to yourself and you don't truly love God. It's an eye opener!
Chapter 3 elaborates further, under The test of belief in my KJV:
[18] My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
[19] And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
[20] For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
[21] Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
[22] And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
[23] And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
[24] And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
So here we learn a few things. Loving the word comes by deed (works) and truth. That's how we know we are of the truth. Also, if our heart (conscience) doesn't condemn us, we know God is pleased with us. If there's something tugging at you, chances are He wants you to do some soul searching! We also learn here that God's giving us our desires through prayer is conditional based upon obedience! Did you know that? God's not going to answer our prayers if we're breaking commandments and living outside His will! Scary but true! Ah, but if we keep His commandments, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit will abide in us.
John 14:15-21
[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
I can't stress all the red stuff enough! Loving God is conditional upon us obeying Him! Jesus himself said it. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them!" are those that love Him!
1 John 5:2-3
[2] By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
[3] For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
I hope nobody gets "legalism" or "lordship salvation" out of this post. I'm not saying we have to obey the law in order to love God and be saved. We all slip up and sin, it's in our nature. Thing is, we have to get up and stay in the fight! We have to want to love God and obey His commandments! God gives us the grace to obey His word, we have to walk closely with Him. Throughout our lives we will experience more and more freedom from sin as time goes on. That's the beauty of being sanctified in Christ!
Ok, I think I'm going to wrap this semi-spontaneous study up. I feel that I've drummed enough into you and that you understand what the Bible is saying on how to truly love God. If you already knew this, excellent! If you didn't, I hope these passages in Scripture have changed your heart. Either way, please get this message out, because I don't think it's a popular one with the American church!
Some people I've talked to would answer this question rather easily. They would basically say to just love Him, like our normal human emotions would love a wife, family, friends, etc. While I definitely agree with this, loving God does go deeper! Loving the Lord also must be about obedience, and having faith evidenced by works and bearing good fruit. (I also believe that this is also the case for salvation, I smell another blog coming!) Let's take a look.
Matthew 22:36-40
[36] Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Now, people (including my own father) like to distort this teaching that Jesus gives us. "Oh Jesus told us to love God and our neighbor, nothing else matters now! New covenant, yea!" They conveniently leave out verse 40. Following the two great commandments that Jesus gives would automatically cause one to fulfill all of the other commandments! If you loved God and your neighbor, would you kill, commit adultery, steal, covet, worship idols, and the like? Makes sense right?
So, what I'm getting at is that obedience is how a Christian shows his love for God. There are many conditional statements that Jesus gives us, and that other books in the Bible illustrate about loving God, even pertaining to our salvation. Now I'm not saying we're saved on works, we're saved by grace alone through Christ, but if we have no works that show evidence of our faith, it is dead.
James 2:14-26
[14] What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
[15] If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
[16] And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
[17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
[18] Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
[19] Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
[20] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
[22] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
[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.
[24] Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
[25] Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
[26] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
So, a Christian that "loves God" and doesn't show it outwardly in the slightest doesn't really have a leg to stand on.
Hebrews 5:9, speaking of Christ:
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Pretty self explanatory. Next, let's dive into 1 John, which very nicely illustrates what I'm saying here. From the second chapter:
[3] And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
[4] He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
[5] But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Simple: If you keep God's commandments, it shows that you love Him, and that loving God is perfected through that obedience. If you don't keep His word, you're lying to yourself and you don't truly love God. It's an eye opener!
Chapter 3 elaborates further, under The test of belief in my KJV:
[18] My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
[19] And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
[20] For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
[21] Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
[22] And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
[23] And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
[24] And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
So here we learn a few things. Loving the word comes by deed (works) and truth. That's how we know we are of the truth. Also, if our heart (conscience) doesn't condemn us, we know God is pleased with us. If there's something tugging at you, chances are He wants you to do some soul searching! We also learn here that God's giving us our desires through prayer is conditional based upon obedience! Did you know that? God's not going to answer our prayers if we're breaking commandments and living outside His will! Scary but true! Ah, but if we keep His commandments, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit will abide in us.
John 14:15-21
[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
I can't stress all the red stuff enough! Loving God is conditional upon us obeying Him! Jesus himself said it. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them!" are those that love Him!
1 John 5:2-3
[2] By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
[3] For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
I hope nobody gets "legalism" or "lordship salvation" out of this post. I'm not saying we have to obey the law in order to love God and be saved. We all slip up and sin, it's in our nature. Thing is, we have to get up and stay in the fight! We have to want to love God and obey His commandments! God gives us the grace to obey His word, we have to walk closely with Him. Throughout our lives we will experience more and more freedom from sin as time goes on. That's the beauty of being sanctified in Christ!
Ok, I think I'm going to wrap this semi-spontaneous study up. I feel that I've drummed enough into you and that you understand what the Bible is saying on how to truly love God. If you already knew this, excellent! If you didn't, I hope these passages in Scripture have changed your heart. Either way, please get this message out, because I don't think it's a popular one with the American church!
December 25, 2008
Why I believe the "post-trib" view is the correct interpretation of the Bible.
Ok, here comes a controversial and touchy subject. The "rapture" of the church. For those that don't know, the rapture of the church is the "snatching away" of the elect in the end times. The controversy about this "snatching away" has to do with when it will occur. Some believe in a secret rapture of the saints before any tribulation occurs, some believe it will happen midway through, and others believe that it happens after the tribulation, before God's wrath. This last stance is the one I take, and I believe the Bible is very clear on it. Please allow me to show you what I have studied. I believe knowing the truth about the rapture is very important, because we are coming closer and closer to the end, and I don't think enough Christians are prepared for what we may face in our lifetime. This is a long read, but I encourage you to stick it out and please give me feedback, whether you agree with me or not. I am ultimately looking for God's Truth on the matter, and while nobody has been able to Biblically show me otherwise yet, I am still willing to hear people out! I'm not looking to defend a belief that doesn't coincide with God's Word. So with that being said, here we go...
First, it is very important to please pray and ask the Lord for the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us His Truth. Pray that He leads you in this, and that He give you discernment to analyze this study for yourself. He is the Teacher after all. If He shows you any errors of mine, please do not hesitate to show me!
My study began with Matthew, Chapter 24. In it, Jesus gives us the signs that the end of the age are upon us. Here's Matthew 24:1-44:
[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.
[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.
[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?
[4] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
[5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
[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.
[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.
[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.
[10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
[11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
[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.
[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:)
[16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
[17] Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
[18] Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
[19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
[20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
[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.
[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.
[23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
[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.
[25] Behold, I have told you before.
[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.
[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.
[28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
[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:
[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.
[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.
[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:
[33] So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
[34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
[35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[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,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
[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.
[44] Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Please take the time to read this passage, it's very important. With that said, I want to point out a few things. First off, verses 5-12 are all things that are happening NOW, to varying degrees. Many coming in the name of Christ (Joel Osteen, Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Creflo Dollar, Pat Robertson, Todd Bentley, Benny Hinn, the list goes on and on). I believe that verse 5 refers to both people claiming to actually BE Christ (they're already out there) and those that claim they are OF Christ, or IN Christ. So we are seeing this all over the place today. Next, the wars and rumors of wars: Iraq, Afganistan, Israel, Palestine, Iran, nuff said? Famines are all over the place, earthquakes are happening at a much greater frequency and severity. Christians in non-Christian countries are being killed for their faith - just ask Paul Washer. False Prophets are everywhere. Finally, the love of many is waxing cold. Selfishness is the trend of the day. Nobody has time for anyone else, and "we're number 1!" A good way I gauge that is the way people drive these days. Think about it.
Ok, now for some intense stuff. Jesus warns that when we see the "abomination of desolation" stand in the holy place (temple), to flee. Keep in mind, Jesus is warning his people about what they will go through in the end times. He's warning about the antichrist here, saying to flee, to run away, to pray our plight isn't in the winter or the sabbath day (a blog on the sabbath is coming soon!) Notice verses 21 and 22. I have to write them here again, they are of the utmost importance.
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
So a timeline is developing. We have all the birth pang signs - the false Christs, the wars, earthquakes, love of many growing cold - and now we are warned of the antichrist's arrival along with tribulation that the world has never seen before! Jesus says for the elect's sake these days will be shortened, out of mercy. Now, many have tried to explain away the meaning of the word "elect" as being the Jews. This is preposterous. When Jesus died he saved both the Jew and the Gentile, with the Gentiles being grafted into the vine, both collectively being the elect. Romans 9-11 explain this very clearly.
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
There is no doubt that the elect pertains to both Jews and Gentiles, anyone that calls upon the Lord to be saved. The Jews aren't a special sort of elect, there's nothing in the Bible that shows that. There's no secret rapture that leaves behind Jews that have an opportunity to realize Jesus is the Messiah. Where is this in Scripture?
Moving on, Jesus starts to explain how His coming back will look. Everyone will be able to see Him. Next we have three of the most critical verses possible on this subject.
[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:
[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.
[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.
I can't stress the words in red enough. Jesus comes back right after the tribulation, and with the great sound of a trumpet has His angels gather the elect! This can't be any more straightforward than it is. I know, you probably have questions like "what about being caught up" and the like. I will address this from every angle I can. This chapter is the foundation for everything.
Next, Jesus describes more of how things will look at the end. Skip ahead to verses 40 and 41, two of the most twisted verses in all of the Bible.
[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
See! See! The rapture! Ah, not so fast my friend. :) Now that we've examined these verses in the context of everything Jesus is saying here, we can easily see that the people taken up are taken at the second coming of the Lord. The ones that survive the tribulation.
So to summarize up to this point, here's what we have. We have the signs of the end of the age, then the warning to flee when the antichrist arrives, then the second coming of Jesus in the clouds, then the angels gathering up the elect. This passage is also illustrated in Mark 13:5-37 and Luke 21:5-36. I would encourage you to read those also, it will give you a great background and show you that the Bible is in agreement with itself about this. (We know the Bible cannot be wrong, so therefore we must test every verse that has to do with this, and they must all align.)
Now that we have established the backbone of this study, let's branch out into the supporting verses. 1 Corinthians 15 talks about the resurrection of Christ and our inheritance. Verses 51-52:
[51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
[52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I'm not sure if I really need to explain this, but I will. The pre-tribulation stance likes these verses, because it's easy to see the "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" part and immediately think "rapture." Ah, but Paul gives us a reference point that fits directly with the timeline Jesus Christ gives us in the gospels: at the last trump. This is the trumpet we read of in Matthew 24:31. This is coming together isn't it!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
[13] But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
[14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
[15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
[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:
[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.
[18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Crucial, crucial stuff here! We see in this passage that same exact timeline Jesus gave in the gospels, once again. The Lord comes, the trumpet sounds, THEN the ones that are still left after the tribulation meet the Lord in the air.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 is another excellent passage defending this. Here we receive a warning about the antichrist:
[1] Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
[2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
[3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Here we learn that BEFORE Christ shall come, BEFORE anyone is taken up (the elect), BEFORE it's all said and done, there has to be a falling away (departure from Christ) and the antichrist has to reveal himself and sit in the temple! Once again, this is directly in line with Matthew 24. It even references the antichrist standing in the holy place, Matthew 24:15. Christians will see and experience the antichrist and his tribulation.
More words from Jesus here that coincide with a post-tribulation rapture. John 6:39-40:
[39] And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
[40] And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
It doesn't get any clearer. Jesus Himself says twice in a row that he will raise His people up at the last day. He doesn't say He'll do it secretly, or He'll raise the Jews up at the last day, or He'll raise some people up, then raise the rest up later. No, He will raise ALL His elect at the last day.
John 11:24 shows that believers in Jesus knew as well. This passage is about Jesus' resurrecting Martha and Mary's brother. Let's see what Martha says:
[24] Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
A more lengthy passage is Jesus' parable about the kingdom we find in Matthew 13:24-30, then explained in verses 37-43. I know this study is getting long, but I feel I should still paste the verses here! I want you to read them.
[24] Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
[25] But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
[26] But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
[27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
[28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
[29] But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
[30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
explained:
[37] He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
[38] The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
[39] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
[40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
[41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
[42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
[43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
This passage is awesome. Jesus paints us an amazing picture. I hope the meaning of this is clear to you. We see that the harvest is at the end of the world, not at some special time beforehand. The angels gather the elect, and the unrighteous are gathered and thrown into the fire. Does this sound like a pre-tribulation rapture to you? Everything happens at Jesus' second coming, the end of time!
Well that's pretty much the extent of my study on the rapture! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, I hope it has helped. I hope that from this you can see that the only "rapture" we will have is the ultimate gathering of the elect at Jesus Christ's second coming in glory! I encourage you to share this message with anyone you know, because the more we are prepared for the times to come the better off we will be. We want to be strong in Christ if we are to face this tribulation, and if most Christians don't even believe we will suffer, what will it do to their faith if they face the sword, or if they are deceived when the antichrist hits center stage?
Again, I would encourage you to leave any feedback you have from this, whether it be positive or negative. I'm willing to hear and read differences of opinions, as long as they can be shown through Scripture. Thanks again!
First, it is very important to please pray and ask the Lord for the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us His Truth. Pray that He leads you in this, and that He give you discernment to analyze this study for yourself. He is the Teacher after all. If He shows you any errors of mine, please do not hesitate to show me!
My study began with Matthew, Chapter 24. In it, Jesus gives us the signs that the end of the age are upon us. Here's Matthew 24:1-44:
[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.
[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.
[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?
[4] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
[5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
[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.
[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.
[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.
[10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
[11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
[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.
[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:)
[16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
[17] Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
[18] Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
[19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
[20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
[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.
[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.
[23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
[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.
[25] Behold, I have told you before.
[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.
[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.
[28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
[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:
[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.
[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.
[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:
[33] So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
[34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
[35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[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,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
[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.
[44] Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Please take the time to read this passage, it's very important. With that said, I want to point out a few things. First off, verses 5-12 are all things that are happening NOW, to varying degrees. Many coming in the name of Christ (Joel Osteen, Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Creflo Dollar, Pat Robertson, Todd Bentley, Benny Hinn, the list goes on and on). I believe that verse 5 refers to both people claiming to actually BE Christ (they're already out there) and those that claim they are OF Christ, or IN Christ. So we are seeing this all over the place today. Next, the wars and rumors of wars: Iraq, Afganistan, Israel, Palestine, Iran, nuff said? Famines are all over the place, earthquakes are happening at a much greater frequency and severity. Christians in non-Christian countries are being killed for their faith - just ask Paul Washer. False Prophets are everywhere. Finally, the love of many is waxing cold. Selfishness is the trend of the day. Nobody has time for anyone else, and "we're number 1!" A good way I gauge that is the way people drive these days. Think about it.
Ok, now for some intense stuff. Jesus warns that when we see the "abomination of desolation" stand in the holy place (temple), to flee. Keep in mind, Jesus is warning his people about what they will go through in the end times. He's warning about the antichrist here, saying to flee, to run away, to pray our plight isn't in the winter or the sabbath day (a blog on the sabbath is coming soon!) Notice verses 21 and 22. I have to write them here again, they are of the utmost importance.
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
So a timeline is developing. We have all the birth pang signs - the false Christs, the wars, earthquakes, love of many growing cold - and now we are warned of the antichrist's arrival along with tribulation that the world has never seen before! Jesus says for the elect's sake these days will be shortened, out of mercy. Now, many have tried to explain away the meaning of the word "elect" as being the Jews. This is preposterous. When Jesus died he saved both the Jew and the Gentile, with the Gentiles being grafted into the vine, both collectively being the elect. Romans 9-11 explain this very clearly.
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
There is no doubt that the elect pertains to both Jews and Gentiles, anyone that calls upon the Lord to be saved. The Jews aren't a special sort of elect, there's nothing in the Bible that shows that. There's no secret rapture that leaves behind Jews that have an opportunity to realize Jesus is the Messiah. Where is this in Scripture?
Moving on, Jesus starts to explain how His coming back will look. Everyone will be able to see Him. Next we have three of the most critical verses possible on this subject.
[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:
[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.
[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.
I can't stress the words in red enough. Jesus comes back right after the tribulation, and with the great sound of a trumpet has His angels gather the elect! This can't be any more straightforward than it is. I know, you probably have questions like "what about being caught up" and the like. I will address this from every angle I can. This chapter is the foundation for everything.
Next, Jesus describes more of how things will look at the end. Skip ahead to verses 40 and 41, two of the most twisted verses in all of the Bible.
[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
See! See! The rapture! Ah, not so fast my friend. :) Now that we've examined these verses in the context of everything Jesus is saying here, we can easily see that the people taken up are taken at the second coming of the Lord. The ones that survive the tribulation.
So to summarize up to this point, here's what we have. We have the signs of the end of the age, then the warning to flee when the antichrist arrives, then the second coming of Jesus in the clouds, then the angels gathering up the elect. This passage is also illustrated in Mark 13:5-37 and Luke 21:5-36. I would encourage you to read those also, it will give you a great background and show you that the Bible is in agreement with itself about this. (We know the Bible cannot be wrong, so therefore we must test every verse that has to do with this, and they must all align.)
Now that we have established the backbone of this study, let's branch out into the supporting verses. 1 Corinthians 15 talks about the resurrection of Christ and our inheritance. Verses 51-52:
[51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
[52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I'm not sure if I really need to explain this, but I will. The pre-tribulation stance likes these verses, because it's easy to see the "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" part and immediately think "rapture." Ah, but Paul gives us a reference point that fits directly with the timeline Jesus Christ gives us in the gospels: at the last trump. This is the trumpet we read of in Matthew 24:31. This is coming together isn't it!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
[13] But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
[14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
[15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
[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:
[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.
[18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Crucial, crucial stuff here! We see in this passage that same exact timeline Jesus gave in the gospels, once again. The Lord comes, the trumpet sounds, THEN the ones that are still left after the tribulation meet the Lord in the air.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 is another excellent passage defending this. Here we receive a warning about the antichrist:
[1] Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
[2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
[3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Here we learn that BEFORE Christ shall come, BEFORE anyone is taken up (the elect), BEFORE it's all said and done, there has to be a falling away (departure from Christ) and the antichrist has to reveal himself and sit in the temple! Once again, this is directly in line with Matthew 24. It even references the antichrist standing in the holy place, Matthew 24:15. Christians will see and experience the antichrist and his tribulation.
More words from Jesus here that coincide with a post-tribulation rapture. John 6:39-40:
[39] And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
[40] And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
It doesn't get any clearer. Jesus Himself says twice in a row that he will raise His people up at the last day. He doesn't say He'll do it secretly, or He'll raise the Jews up at the last day, or He'll raise some people up, then raise the rest up later. No, He will raise ALL His elect at the last day.
John 11:24 shows that believers in Jesus knew as well. This passage is about Jesus' resurrecting Martha and Mary's brother. Let's see what Martha says:
[24] Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
A more lengthy passage is Jesus' parable about the kingdom we find in Matthew 13:24-30, then explained in verses 37-43. I know this study is getting long, but I feel I should still paste the verses here! I want you to read them.
[24] Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
[25] But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
[26] But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
[27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
[28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
[29] But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
[30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
explained:
[37] He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
[38] The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
[39] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
[40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
[41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
[42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
[43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
This passage is awesome. Jesus paints us an amazing picture. I hope the meaning of this is clear to you. We see that the harvest is at the end of the world, not at some special time beforehand. The angels gather the elect, and the unrighteous are gathered and thrown into the fire. Does this sound like a pre-tribulation rapture to you? Everything happens at Jesus' second coming, the end of time!
Well that's pretty much the extent of my study on the rapture! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, I hope it has helped. I hope that from this you can see that the only "rapture" we will have is the ultimate gathering of the elect at Jesus Christ's second coming in glory! I encourage you to share this message with anyone you know, because the more we are prepared for the times to come the better off we will be. We want to be strong in Christ if we are to face this tribulation, and if most Christians don't even believe we will suffer, what will it do to their faith if they face the sword, or if they are deceived when the antichrist hits center stage?
Again, I would encourage you to leave any feedback you have from this, whether it be positive or negative. I'm willing to hear and read differences of opinions, as long as they can be shown through Scripture. Thanks again!
December 14, 2008
Satanism/Luciferianism/sun god worship in Hollywood.
As if alert Christians need any more proof to realize the underlying motivations and roots of Hollywood (a scroogle or youtube search can teach you a lot about this) , I found yet another glaring piece of evidence I want to share with you.
After having a nice little hibernation of about 12 hours, I sleepwalked over to my tv this morning and turned it on. AMC was honoring Samuel L. Jackson, giving him the American Cinematheque Award. From its own website:
Apparently, the image on the above left is a picture of one of the AC's logos. Forgive me for the low image quality, I snapped this picture with my cell phone camera straight off my tv as I was seeing this. If you can't tell, it's a very familiar looking eye (right) grafted into a piece of film reel.
Anyone familiar with Satanic/occult symbols will immediately recognize this eye as the infamous Eye of Horus. It is an ancient Egyptian symbol that ultimately represents Satan! It's the same all-seeing eye on the back of our dollar bill, as well as cleverly hidden in many corporate logos. Here is a quick link describing this symbol. There is much more information on this symbol readily available on the internet.
Here's another quick picture I snapped. It was hard to get these, their cameras kept cutting away from the logo. Here Denzel Washington is introducing and praising Sam Jackson, who made a career off of foul language.
Is it a coincidence that Hollywood is so corrupt and sinful, and we see a Satanic image of an ancient Egyptian god in connection with a film society that has an Egyptian Theatre?!? I wonder how many actors, writers, directors, etc. realize what's going on here. If I had to guess, I would say most. Hollywood has an agenda, and it is to manipulate, control and poison the population of America, and to shape her culturally and morally.
Samuel L. Jackson walking to the stage to accept his reward, in front of the Eye of Horus. (Sorry, hard to see!)
I hope this message helps you realize how evil and Satanic Hollywood is. It has definitely helped me, as watching movies is a weakness of mine. Christians must remain watchful and must guard their homes.
The Lord gave us many warnings in the Bible:
Romans 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you.
Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
Proverbs 2:12-15 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Ephesians 5:8,11 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:...And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
There are too many verses for me to list here. Do we want to give place to devil, or do we want to live our lives unto the Lord?
After having a nice little hibernation of about 12 hours, I sleepwalked over to my tv this morning and turned it on. AMC was honoring Samuel L. Jackson, giving him the American Cinematheque Award. From its own website:
"The American Cinematheque is a non-profit, viewer-supported cultural organization dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Picture in all its forms. The Cinematheque presents the best of film and video - ranging form the classics to the outer frontiers of the art form."
You can read more about the American Cinematheque (AC) on that website. Something very important to note: The Hollywood American Cinematheque theater is called the Egyptian Theatre.
Now, on to what I saw.
You can read more about the American Cinematheque (AC) on that website. Something very important to note: The Hollywood American Cinematheque theater is called the Egyptian Theatre.
Now, on to what I saw.
Apparently, the image on the above left is a picture of one of the AC's logos. Forgive me for the low image quality, I snapped this picture with my cell phone camera straight off my tv as I was seeing this. If you can't tell, it's a very familiar looking eye (right) grafted into a piece of film reel.
Anyone familiar with Satanic/occult symbols will immediately recognize this eye as the infamous Eye of Horus. It is an ancient Egyptian symbol that ultimately represents Satan! It's the same all-seeing eye on the back of our dollar bill, as well as cleverly hidden in many corporate logos. Here is a quick link describing this symbol. There is much more information on this symbol readily available on the internet.
Here's another quick picture I snapped. It was hard to get these, their cameras kept cutting away from the logo. Here Denzel Washington is introducing and praising Sam Jackson, who made a career off of foul language.
Is it a coincidence that Hollywood is so corrupt and sinful, and we see a Satanic image of an ancient Egyptian god in connection with a film society that has an Egyptian Theatre?!? I wonder how many actors, writers, directors, etc. realize what's going on here. If I had to guess, I would say most. Hollywood has an agenda, and it is to manipulate, control and poison the population of America, and to shape her culturally and morally.
Samuel L. Jackson walking to the stage to accept his reward, in front of the Eye of Horus. (Sorry, hard to see!)
I hope this message helps you realize how evil and Satanic Hollywood is. It has definitely helped me, as watching movies is a weakness of mine. Christians must remain watchful and must guard their homes.
The Lord gave us many warnings in the Bible:
Romans 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you.
Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
Proverbs 2:12-15 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Ephesians 5:8,11 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:...And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
There are too many verses for me to list here. Do we want to give place to devil, or do we want to live our lives unto the Lord?
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