Tailor Made Truth
2 Corinthians {13:8} For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
For all our brilliance man cannot control the world we live in.
From day to day man cannot control the temperature outside, cold or hot, it's out of their hands. We have to make little environments to alter because we can't control what happens outside those little environments.
We're a the mercy of the rain, that is something we can't change. Droughts, floods, flourishing, all beyond man's control on the grand scale.
We see science fiction movies where men control such things, because man is forever seeking ways to control everything. The intentions are good. Control the climate, the heat, the cold, the wind, the rain and you can create a perfect environment for all. So the intentions are very good and with the technology that keeps advancing at such an astonishing rate I wouldn't be surprised if down the line such a thing become possible. How much today has become possible while people kept believing it would be impossible? Fifty years ago a computer wasn't something you owned, it was for the government, for scientist, twenty years ago even, most people didn't have computers they were novelties and not something the majority of people would have use for. That old, who would have thought? Well the impossible has become the possible.
We can change things. We can change that which at one time seemed impossible to change.
One thing we'll NEVER be able to change is the truth.
People will try, they always try, but it's not subject to change. We can't do anything against the truth. It cannot be altered. In the end when all is said and done the truth will remain. Everyone with their own beliefs is at the mercy of the truth and whether or not their beliefs conform to the truth or try to alter it to suit them.
We do that don't we? We try to twist things about to suit us. We try to make little changes here and there so it fits us better. We try to tailor make the truth so we can live in it comfortably. We trim a little here, we trim a little there, we add a bit of that there, and maybe touch up that just a smidgen. Tailor made truth we live by and all is well. The thing is, with the truth not being something subject to alteration, what's happening when it's being twisted and molded to suit a person? It's becoming a... lie.
2 Thess.
{2:10} And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {2:11} And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie
{2:12} That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
**
We we don't love the truth for truth's sake, but try to change it...we are allowed to believe our lies, the lies we create so the truth doesn't call for any undue hardship on us, so the truth fits snug into our lives without upsetting anything. The trouble is that truth tailoring turns the truth into a lie and everyone that wears that tailormade truth suit will be damned.
You might say with all the truth floating about there, how do we know the real truth. My truth, your truth, her truth, his truth, their truth everyone interpreting it all differently.
2 Corinthians {13:8} For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
The truth is the truth and it's up to each of us to find it through Jesus, He is the truth, He is the way, He is the life.
The truth will be the standard by which all of us our judged.
There is only one truth, Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior, the only Son of God our Father.
As when the Apostle Paul walked the earth along with the Apostle Peter, they didn't deliver the truth in the same manner, their methods were different but the truth was the same.
No matter who we are, no matter what we do, we can believe in the truth to salvation. While you might be compelled to live a life dedicated to the service of others through the medical field, and I might be compelled to live a life dedicated to a factory making products people use, we can both believe in the truth of God and live our lives in that truth. Living our lives in the truth doesn't mean we'll be the exact same in all we do. We are a diverse people, each individual different from the others in looks, in deeds, in thoughts, but we can have a common thread that runs through us all in the truth, in Jesus.
We can't alter the truth, we can live for it though. We can let the truth alter us, but we can never change the truth, never. We have to seek the truth in Jesus, not follow the truth as others tell it to us. We need to know the truth for ourselves, the truth has to be alive and real to each of us. We can speak the truth to others, we can proclaim Jesus our Lord and Savior, we can proclaim Him Savior of all mankind and it's the truth, unalterable and each person must choose the truth, or by default they choose a lie. One truth, many, many lies.
Tailormade truth, Jesus the designer, one size truly does fit all and perfectly.
If a fashion designer creates a gorgeous gown and you buy it then take off a ribbon here, add a bow there, cut that out and replace it with something else, is that design still the one the fashion designer created, or a new creation that you made from the original? It's a new creation, that fashion designer can no longer claim the gown as theirs in its entirety. Most likely to them you would have ruined their gown. When we wear Christ's truth and start snipping and sewing on it, adding this and that, taking away from it, it truly is no longer Christ's truth. The moment we change the truth, it becomes a lie, not another truth for there is only one truth and we can't change it, its impossible.
Jesus Christ, our Truth.
Amen.
9/28/09
The United States in Prophecy - Revelation 13
Taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith
Verse 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Two-Horned Beast.--This verse brings to view the third great symbol in the line of prophecy we are examining, usually denominated the two-horned beast. We inquire for its application. The dragon, pagan Rome, and the leopard beast, papal Rome, present before us great organizations standing as the representatives of two great systems of false religion. Analogy would seem to require that the remaining symbol, the two-horned beast, have a similar application, and find its fulfillment in some nation which is representative of still another great system of religion. The only remaining system which is exercising a controlling influence in the world today is Protestantism. Abstractly considered, paganism embraces all the heathen lands, containing more then half the population of the globe. Catholicism, which may perhaps be considered as including the religion of the Greek Orthodox Church, so nearly identical with it, belongs to nations which compose a large part of Christendom. A clear portrayal of Mohammedanism and its influence has been given in other prophecies. (See comments on Daniel 11 and Revelation 9.) But Protestantism is the religion of nations which constitute the vanguard of the world of liberty, enlightenment, progress, and power.
A Symbol of America.--If, then, Protestantism is the religion to which we are to look, to what nation as the representative of that religion does the prophecy have application? There are notable Protestant nations in Europe, but for reasons which will hereafter appear, the symbol cannot apply to any of these. A careful investigation has led to the conclusion that it does apply to Protestant America, or the United States of America. The reason for such an application and the evidence by which it is supported we will carefully consider.
Are they any reasons why we should expect that the United States would be mentioned in prophecy? On what conditions have other nations found a place in the prophetic record? First, that they have acted a prominent part in the world's history; and second, and above all, that they have had jurisdiction over, or maintained important relations with, the people of God. In the records of the Bible and of secular history, we find data from which to deduce this rule respecting the prophetic mention of earthly governments: A nation enters prophecy when the work and destiny of God's people are definitely linked with it. All these conditions are certainly fulfilled in the United States. The conviction has fastened itself upon many minds that the rise and progress of this nation has been of such a nature that Providence saw fit to forecast it in prophecy.
Governor Pownal, an English statesman, predicted in 1780, while the American Revolution was in progress, that this country would become independent; that a civilizing activity, beyond what Europe could ever know, would animate it; and that its commercial and naval power would be found in every quarter of the globe. He then speaks of the probable establishment of this country as a free and sovereign power as " 'a revolution that has stranger marks of divine interposition, superseding the ordinary course of human affairs, than any other event which this world has experienced.' " [5]
George Alfred Townsend, speaking of the misfortunes that have attended the other governments in the Western Hemisphere says:
"The history of the United States was separated by a beneficent Providence far from this wild and cruel history of the rest of the continent." [6]
Such considerations as these are calculated to arouse in every mind a strong expectation that this nation will be found to have some part to act in the carrying out of God's providential purposes in this world, and that somewhere it will be spoken of in the prophetic word.
Chronology of This Power.--At what period in this world's history is the rise of this power placed in the prophecy? On this point, the foundation for the conclusions at which we must arrive is already laid in the facts set forth regarding the leopard beast. It was at the time when this beast went into captivity, or was killed with the sword (verse 10), or had one of its heads wounded to death (verse 3), that John saw the two-horned beast coming up. If the leopard beast, as we have conclusively proved, signifies the papacy, and the going into captivity met its fulfillment in the temporary overthrow of the papacy by the French in 1798, then we have the time definitely specified when we are to look for the rise of this power. The expression "coming up" must signify that the power to which it applies was but newly organized, and was then just rising into prominence and influence.
Can anyone doubt what nation was actually "coming up" in 1798? Certainly it must be admitted that the United States of America is the only power that meets the specifications of the prophecy on this point of chronology.
The struggle of the American colonies for independence began in 1775. In 1776, they declared themselves a free and independent nation. In 1777, delegates from the thirteen original States--New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia--in Congress assembled, adopted Articles of Confederation. In 1783, the War of the Revolution closed with a treaty of peace with Great Britain, whereby the independence of the United States was acknowledged, and territory ceded to the extent of 815,615 square miles. In 1787, the Constitution was framed, and by July 26, 1788, it was ratified by eleven of the thirteen original States; and on the 1st of March, 1789 it went into effect. The United States thus began with less than one million square miles of territory, and less than four million citizens. Thus we come to the year 1798, when this nation is introduced into prophecy.
John Wesley, in his notes on Revelation 13, written in 1754, says of the two- horned beast:
"He has not yet come, though he cannot be far off. For he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast." [7]
Age of This Power.--There is good evidence in the prophecy to show that the government symbolized by the two-horned beast is introduced in the early part of its career; that is, while a youthful power. John's words are, "I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb." Why does not John simply say, "He had two horns"? Why does he add "like a lamb"? It must be for the purpose of denoting the character of this beast, showing that it is not only of an innocent and harmless demeanor, but also that it is a youthful power; for the horns of a lamb are horns that have barely begun to grow.
Bear in mind that by the preceding argument on chronology, our gaze is fixed on the year 1798, when the power symbolized was then youthful. What notable power was at that time coming into prominence, but still in its youth? England was not, nor was France, nor Russia, nor any European power. For a young and rising power at that epoch, we are obliged to turn our eyes to the New World. But as soon as we turn them in that direction, they rest inevitably upon the
United States as the power in question. No other power west of the Atlantic Ocean fits the description.
Location of the Two-Horned Beast.--A single declaration of the prophecy is sufficient to guide us to important and correct conclusions on this point. John calls it "another beast." It therefore is no part of the first beast; and the power symbolized by it is likewise no part of that which is intended by that beast. This is fatal to the claim of those who avoid the application of this symbol to the United States by saying that it denotes some phase of the papacy; for in such a case it would be a part of the preceding, or leopard, beast.
Since this is "another" beast, "coming up out of the earth," it must be found in some territory not covered by any other symbols. Babylon and Medo-Persia covered all the civilized part of Asia. Greece covered Eastern Europe, including Russia. Rome, with the ten kingdoms into which it was divided, as represented by the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, the ten horns of the dragon of Revelation 12, and the ten horns of the leopard beast of Revelation 13, covered all Western Europe. In other words, all the Eastern Hemisphere known to history and civilization is covered by prophetic symbols respecting the application of which there is scarcely any room for doubt.
But there is a mighty nation in the Western Hemisphere, worthy, as we have seen, of being mentioned in prophecy, which is not yet brought in. There is one symbol remaining whose application has not yet been made. All the symbols but one are applied, and all the available areas of the Eastern Hemisphere are covered by the applications. Of all the symbols mentioned, one alone, the two-horned beast of Revelation 13, is left. Of all the countries of the earth respecting which any reason exists why they should be mentioned in prophecy, one alone, the United States of America, remains. Does the two-horned beast represent the United States? If it does, then all the symbols find an application, and all the ground is covered. If it does not, it follows that the United States is not represented in prophecy, and the symbol of the two-horned beast is left without a nation to which it can apply. But the first of these suppositions is not probable, and the second is not possible.
Another consideration pointing to the location of this power is drawn from the fact that John saw it arise from the earth. If the sea, from which the leopard beast arose (Revelation 13: 1) denotes peoples, nations, and multitudes (Revelation 17: 15), the earth would suggest, by contrast, a new and previously unoccupied territory. By exclusion from Eastern continents, and by looking to territory not previously known to civilization, we turn of necessity to the Western Hemisphere.
Manner of Its Rise.--The manner in which the two-horned beast was seen coming up shows, equally with its location, age, and chronology, that it is a symbol of the United States. John saw the beast coming up "out of the earth." This expression must have been designedly used to point out the contrast between the rise of this beast and that of other national prophetic symbols. The four beasts of Daniel 7 and the leopard beast of Revelation 13 all arose out of the sea. New nations generally rise by overthrowing other nations, and taking their place. But no other nation was overturned in order to make room for the United States, and the attainment of its independence was already fifteen years in the past when it came into the field of prophecy. The prophet saw only peace.
The word which is used in verse 11 do describe the manner in which this beast comes up, is very expressive. It is {GREEK CHARACTERS IN PRINTED TEXT}, anabainon, one of the prominent definitions of which is, "to grow or spring up as a plant." It is a remarkable fact that this same figure has been chosen by political writers, without any reference to the prophecy, as the one conveying the best idea of the manner in which the United States has arisen. George Alfred Townsend says:
"In this web of islands, the West Indies, began the life of both [North and South] Americas. There Columbus saw land; there Spain began her baneful and brilliant Western empire; thence Cortez departed for Mexico, De Soto for the Mississippi, Balboa for the Pacific, and Pizarro for Peru. The history of the United States was separated by a beneficent Providence far from this wild and cruel history of the rest of the continent, and like a silent seed we grew into empire; while empire itself, beginning in the South, was swept by so interminable hurricane that what of its history we can ascertain is read by the very lightnings that devastated it. The growth of English America may be likened to a series of lyrics sung by separate singers, which, coalescing, at last make a vigorous chorus, and this, attracting many from afar, swells and is prolonged, until presently it assumes the dignity and proportions of epic song." [8]
A writer in the Dublin Nation spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire which was "emerging," and "amid the silence of the earth daily adding to its power and pride."
Edward Everett, in an oration on the English exiles who founded this government, said:
"Did they look for a retired spot, inoffensive for its obscurity, and safe in its remoteness, where the little church of Leyden might enjoy the freedom of conscience? Behold the mighty regions over which, in peaceful conquest-- victoria sine clade [victory without strife]--they have borne the banners of the cross." [9]
Will the reader now look at these expressions side by side--"coming up out of the earth," "emerging amid the silence of the earth," "like a silent seed we grew into empire," "mighty regions" secured by "peaceful conquest." The first is from the prophet, stating that would be when the two-horned beast should arise; the others are from political writers, telling what had been in the history of the United States of America. Can anyone fail to see that the last three are exactly synonymous with the first, and that they record a complete accomplishment of the prediction?
Another inquiry naturally follows: Has the United States "come up" in a manner to meet the specifications of the prophecy? Let us see. A short time before the great Reformation in the days of Martin Luther, more than four hundred years ago, this Western Hemisphere was discovered. The Reformation awoke the nations that were fettered in the galling bonds of superstition and oppression, to the great truth that it is the heaven-born right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. But rulers are loath to lose their power, and religious intolerance continued to oppress the people. Under these circumstances, a body of religious heroes at length determined to seek in the wilds of America that measure of civil and religious freedom which they so much desired. In pursuance of their noble purpose, one hundred of these voluntary exiles landed from the "Mayflower" on the coast of New England, December 21, 1620. "There," says Martyn, "New England was born," and this was "its first baby cry, a prayer and a thanksgiving to the Lord." [10]
Another permanent English settlement had been made at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. In process of time, other settlements were made and colonies organized, which were all subject to the English crown till the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
The population of these colonies amounted in 1701 to 262,000; in 1749, to, 1,046,000; in 1775, to 2,803,000. [11] Then came the struggle for independence, the establishment of a united constitutional government, and the proclamation to the world that here all could find an asylum from oppression and intolerance. From the Old World came immigrants by the thousand, adding by peaceful means to the population and
prosperity of the new nation. Large territories were purchased or acquired by treaty to make room for all who came to settle. Now, passing over more than 150 years, to the second quarter of the twentieth century, the territory of the United States has expanded to more than three and a half million square miles, and its population has increased to over 135,000,000 people.
The growth of the United States in material prosperity and enlightened development is an astonishment to the world, and furnished an ample basis for the application of the prophecy.
Character of Its Government Symbolized.--Under this division of the subject we find still further evidence that the symbol represents the United States. In describing this power, John says that it had "two horns like a lamb." The horns of a lamb indicate youthfulness, innocence, and gentleness. As a power which has but recently arisen, the United States answers to the symbol admirably in respect to age, while no other power can be found to do this. Considered as an index of power and character, it can be decided what constitutes the two horns of the government, if it can be ascertained what is the secret of its power, and what reveals its character, or constitutes its outward profession. The Hon. J. A. Bingham gives us the clue to the whole matter when he states that the object of those who first sought these shores was to found "what the world had not seen for ages; viz., a church without a pope, and a state without a king." Expressed in other words, this would be a government in which the ecclesiastical should be separate from the civil power, and civil and religious liberty would be characteristic.
It needs no argument to show that this is precisely the profession of the American government. Article IV, sec. 4, of the Constitution of the United States reads in part: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government." Article VI: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." The First Amendment to the Constitution begins as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." These articles profess the amplest guaranty of civil and religious liberty, the entire and perpetual separation of church and state. What better symbols of them could be given than "two horns like a lamb"? In what other country can be found a condition of things which would represent so completely this feature of the symbol?
Republican in Form.--The two-horned beast, with a noticeable absence of crowns upon its horns, symbolizes a nation with a republican form of government. A crown is an appropriate symbol of a kingly or dictatorial form of government, and the absence of crowns, as in this case, would suggest a government in which the power is not vested in any such ruling member, but is lodged in the hands of the people.
But this is not the most conclusive proof that the nation here symbolized is republican in its form of government. From verse 14 we learn that appeal is made to the people when any national action is to be performed: "Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast." This is emphatically the case in the United States. The Constitution on which it was founded guarantees "a republican form of government," as shown above. This constitutes another link in the chain of evidence that this symbol applies to the United States of America. There is no other government to which anyone could reasonably think of applying this symbol.
A Protestant Nation.--The two-horned beast symbolizes a nation which cannot be Catholic in religion. The papacy is a religion that is fundamentally a union of church and state. The Constitution of the United States of America (Article VI ) declares that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust," and thereby establishes a perpetual separation of church and state. Civil and religious liberty is a fundamental principle of Protestantism. The founders of this great land, living close to all of the events that resulted from a union of church and state, were jealous of the liberties that they claimed as the rights of all, and were quick to denounce anything that savored of a union of church and state. From the religious standpoint, therefore, the United States is a Protestant nation, and meets the requirement of the prophecy admirably in this respect. Thus again the prophecy points directly to this nation.
Before entering upon a discussion of another aspect of this prophetic symbol, let us review the points already established:
The power symbolized by the two-horned beast must be some nation distinct from the powers of the Old World.
It must arise in the Western Hemisphere.
It must be seen assuming a position of prominence and influence about the year 1798.
It must rise in a peaceful and quiet manner, not augmenting its power and expanding its territory, as other nations have done, by aggressive wars and successful conquests.
Its progress must be so evident as to strike the beholder with as much wonder as would be the perceptible growth of an animal before his eyes.
It must be republican in its form of government.
It must be Protestant in its religion.
It must exhibit before the world, as an index of its character and the elements of its government, two great principles which are in themselves perfectly just, innocent, and lamblike.
It must perform its work after 1798.
We have seen that of all these specifications, it can be said that they are conclusively met in the history of the United States thus far; and that they are not met in the history of any other nation. It is therefore impossible to apply the symbol of Revelation 13: 11 to any other nation than the United States of America.
To Speak as a Dragon.--Now that we have identified the United States of America as the power symbolized by the two-horned beast, we can follow through without fear or prejudice the course that that nation takes as marked out clearly in the prophecy itself. In doing so, let us observe once more that the dragon as the first of the three beasts in the chain of prophecy under consideration, was a relentless persecutor of the church of God. The leopard beast that followed was likewise a persecuting power, destroying the lives of millions of Christians during a period of 1260 years. As we come to the third beast, with two horns like a lamb, it is declared that he "spake as a dragon." This can only mean that at some time his nature changes from that of a lamb to that of a dragon, that he speaks as a dragon, and that he does the same kind of work as the dragon before him.
Permit us to say at this juncture that it is with much pain that we contemplate a nation arising so peaceably and devoted to such noble principles of government, taking on the nature of the beasts that preceded it, and in doing so descending to the role of persecutor of God's people. We have no other choice, however, but to be guided in our study by the divinely inspired outline so plainly given us in the prophecy. Since the United States is the power denoted by the symbol that speaks as a dragon, it follows that it will enact unjust and oppressive laws against the religious belief and practice of its citizens so that it may be justly called a persecuting power.
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Prophecy given to John by Jesus. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. History projected. That's what prophecy is, the future foretold. It was foretold back in Daniel's time and foretold in John's time. Thousands of years of prophecy.
The question has to be asked- if prophecy has correctly foretold thousands of years of what we now call history, will ANYTHING stop the rest of the prophecy from coming to pass? The answer is no. The prophecy in its entirety will be fulfilled it is only future history. Our history is foretold up until the time that God's people dwell with Him 1000 years and then return to earth where all evil will be destroyed completely and the earth made new. From that point on life will be what it was always meant to be before sin corrupted everything.
By His grace and His mercy may we live in Him now and forever without end.
May we gain all the understanding we need to live our lives as He would have us live them in Him.
Amen.
10/05/09
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
When you take away from the words of a book you are doing what? With any book what happens when you take parts out? Books are edited by editors before being published. This book was edited by God and deemed to be appropriate in all that was written there. Appropriate and important, vital to us. So vital there is a warning given-
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Our names are to be taken OUT of the book of life. Names that are written in the book, names of those to live forever, are to be taken out! So grievous is the crime of altering this book of Revelation it warrants removal from eternal life. Great caution has to be taken that nothing is altered, that nothing is taken away from these words of prophecy. How amazingly important these words have to be for such an eternal punishment to be given. Why such a punishment? Because by taking away from these words we take away the understanding people need to claim Jesus as their Savior. The everlasting gospel, the choice of either receiving the mark of the beast or not, knowing that God's people are to be those who keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus. Without the knowlege, without giving this knowlege to others in its fulness the responsibility for their lack of salvation rests upon the shoulders of those who understand. To take away the knowledge warrants eternal death.
This all sounds like something from a fantasy movie, Satan would have us believe its just that, not real. If he can get us to marginalize everything, to fictionalize the truth he has us as His fully.
How many people long for adventure, for an amazing life such as those pictured in movies and described in books little realizing they live daily the adventure that will decide their eternal life in a battle, a warfare that has everlasting consequences for them. Taught to believe their lives have little meaning beyond the daily grind, that their lives are so banal they could do whatever they want and nothing matters. Taught that to reject fantasies that hint at reality as being beyond their intelligence, people are trapped by their own limited beliefs and need to realize that their lives are amazingly important and the gift of that life to be lived in Christ has a reward unimaginable in its fulness to anything we can think of.
Truly this is our prayer...
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
11/05/10
11/05/11