God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes
Revelation
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal
and, lo,
there was a great earthquake
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair
and the moon became as blood
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
...
Again, there is no horse-no rider- no beast to portray this message to John rather as soon as Jesus opens the sixth seal John experiences a myriad number of sights all very physical in nature without. He beheld instantly- there was no 'coming and seeing', no 'and I looked and saw', these strange sights were seen one after the other in quick succession.
A Great Earthquake
Sun Black as the mourning symbol
Moon As Blood
Numerous Stars Fell Quickly to the Earth
Heaven Departs as a Scroll
Every Mountain and Island Moved
Tell me why this sudden departure from seemingly completely symbolic gestures to the physical signs in nature? Why the leap from following the time line of the Seven Churches to seemingly jumping in this time period straight to the end of all things? From the point in time after the sixth angel things would seem to happen very swiftly without slowing down right to the end of time, right? Seriously, think about it. In about the mid-1800's the knowledge of people all over the world seemed to suddenly spring to life. By the early 1900's people had invented things that would keep the ball in motion right up until where we are today, after thousands of years of seeming stagnation with only little bouts of inspiration. Seriously, the horse for transportation and such existed for thousands of years- thousands. The suddenly we have cars. The increase in knowledge didn't slow down either after a short burst. We didn't suddenly have one startling change such as having the printing press or other noteworthy yet seemingly singular invents taking place. We had this sudden outpouring of knowledge and it hasn't ceased to this very day and in show no sign of stopping- people are not getting dumber, or slowing down, the fount of knowledge hasn't been exhausted if anything it's increased exponentially and continues to do so. You take a person from the 1700, 1800's and drop them into the 1900's, or into the new millineum and there would be such shock it would be unbelievable.
The rapidity of events shown to John here in a very physical way are like markers in time. This will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), and so on right up to a point we haven't seen it happen and yet having markers along the way tell you something don't they? Think about it.
You're on a trail with markers along the path - will you expect the markers to remain true to form until you reach your destination? You would.
Here are markers in time that are so blatant that to ignore them is to risk ignoring the fact that Christ is returning and the world is as we know it is ending. Following markers is important even if there are varying lengths of time between them, right? If I'm on a path I keep on it and hope for the markers even if it seems like a long, long time since I've seen the last one. That hope for the last marker has to remain and it's through faith that hope stays firm. Christ admonishes the Ladicean church to buy of Him gold tried in fire- faith. Through the early time period of these markers it's easy to follow, to believe and the sixth church of Philadelphia has this remarkable renewal of faith, a clarity of these markers.
A GREAT EARTHQUAKE -
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place on 1 November 1755, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake)
SUN BLACK as the mourning symbol -
The Great Dark Day - New England's Dark Day refers to an event which occurred on 19 May 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England's_Dark_Day)
MOON AS BLOOD -
Moon Turned Into Blood - "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31 May 19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration has ever been recorded. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31.
The moon became as red as blood on the night of the "dark day," May 19, 1780. Milo Bostick in Stone's History of Massachusetts says, "The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood."
(http://www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/moon-turned-into-blood.aspx
"New England's Dark Day" in The Weather Doctor Almanac 2004. Retrieved from http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2004/alm04may.htm.
"An Account of a very uncommon Darkness, in the State of New England, May 19, 1780" in The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an Enlarged Plan, p. 519.
^ Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 193 )
Numerous STARS FELL Quickly to the Earth -
Silliman believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November 1833.[23] People all across the Eastern US saw thousands of meteors, radiating from a single point in the sky. Astute observers noticed that the radiant, as the point is now called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation Leo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid
The meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over one hundred thousand meteors an hour,[2] but another, done as the storm abated, estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour[3] over the entire region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It was marked by the Native Americans, slaves and owners, and many others. That same 1833 shower, near Independence, Missouri, was taken as a sign to push the growing Mormon community out of the area.[3]
(http://www.answers.com/topic/leonids)
***
Heaven Departs as a Scroll
Every Mountain and Island Moved
***
Now we come to a time when the heaven departs as a scroll- how does a scroll depart when it's rolled together? If you have a scroll laid out on a table you put weights down on the corners to hold it open, don't you? It's hard to study otherwise, unless you are just going to stretch out your arms and put your hands on it to keep the two halves from closing. What happens when you lift the weights, or your hands? It snaps back into place doesn't it? And very quickly at that.
So the heavens departing in a snap - has this happened? We've breached the atmosphere sending shuttles into space and still the sky doesn't snap away does it? Surely we'd know. We've set off atomic bombs which have sent mushroom clouds billowing upwards spreading the poison it contains for miles, but have the heavens departed? No.
This is a marker in time that hasn't oocurred- in fact the last marker would be in 1833 almost 176 years ago. Time indeed for the waters to become lukewarm.
This day is coming there is no doubt about it, and only those who are not lukewarm but found counciled by Christ will escape the dreadful coming of the end of times for those not found safe in the righteousness of Christ.
...
And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb
For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?
...
John saw this amazing trail of events and then it ended and he was seeing after those things - this:
...
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
...
The angels of God are holding in check the strife that would come upon the earth should they not hold it back. Why are they holding it back? Because of this...
...
And I saw another angel ascending from the east,
having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And I heard the number of them which were sealed:
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
...
Those that are God's in this time before the angels fully release winds of strife will be sealed. Sealed how? If I give my seal of approval it means nothing unless say you are my child- my son or daughter. They do something and I approve, giving them my seal of approval and it means a lot to them, it shows my approval of them which they hold in high esteem. If God seals us we are sealed His. We are given a mark that reveals that we are His and He approves of us, of our total reliance upon the Son of God for all things, for allowing Christ's righteousness to reign in us, for accepting fully the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
After the sealing John was allowed to see this:
...
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number,
of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands
And cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels stood round about the throne,
and about the elders
and the four beasts,
and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God
Saying, Amen
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
...
Amazing! Such a glorious sight! John witnessed the saints throughout time gathered before the throne of God, the angels, the elders, the beasts all of them fell before the throne and worshipped God! Truly this was an amazing sight to behold. God reigns forever in all blessing, all glory, all wisdom, all thanksgiving, all honor, all power, all might to God! Forever and ever!
Was John through with this vision yet? No. One of those 24 elders before the throne spoke to John as he witnessed the wonder of things to come.
...
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
and whence came they?
...
The elder wanted to know what John thought he was seeing. He asked- What are those in white robes and where did they come from? John answers--
...
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
...
He doesn't presume to know does he? He doesn't launch into some speech about who he thinks they are or where they come from but he tells the elder that the elder himself knows. He doesn't even ask that it be revealed to him, but lets the elder decide if that is something he wishes to reveal and he does...
...
And he said to me,
These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters:
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
...
How amazing! How beautiful! John is told the truth of the whole matter. Those who come through the great tribulation- for what other tribulation is there than to fight in the war of good and evil and prevail through Jesus Christ our Savior? This is a battle we ALL fight in, we are all called to war in it by our very birth.
Those who take their own filthy garments of unrighteousness and wash them in the blood of the Lamb are truly making them white in His righteousness, pure in the only righteousness that exists anywhere- the righteousness found alone in Christ.
Those who do this, who claim Christ's righteousness will stand before the throne of God- they will serve him always in his temple and that is wherever He dwells. No more hunger of any type! No more thirst of any kind! No more sun and heat to burn us and we will be fed by Jesus! We will be taken to the living fountain of water! And GOD shall wipe the tears from our eyes! Tears that we know so well, so deeply, agonizingly felt for all that goes on around about us.
May God bless and keep us! May God accept us through the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever may we be found in Him forgiven by Him as we ask for forgiveness and repent of our sins.
By His grace!
Amen.
9/11/10
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Crucifying the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame.
As sinners we sin.
As sinners we are faced with numerous temptations and often temptations we ultimately find too hard to resist and fall prey to. There is a certain sense of despair of ever being sin-free, of ever being able to overcome the sins that easily beset us. We cry out how wicked we are doing things we don't want to do. We even sometimes lose some hope and slowly fade away from our walk with Christ letting sin reign in our lives trying not to care any longer because we feel hopelessly lost to that sin. Is this the falling away talked about here in Hebrews 6:4-6? No.
What is talked about here is this…
Falling away-
G3895
parapiptō
par-ap-ip'-to
From G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: - fall away.
APOS'TATIZE, v.i. To abandon one's profession or church; to forsake principles or faith which one has professed; or the party to which one has been attached.
You can backslide into sin without believing Jesus is NOT the Son of God.
You can sin knowing that the Son of God was crucified for You, and not have fell away.
To repent you have to believe you are in need of repentance.
Those who become fully apostate have no desire to repent, they believe in their hearts they have NOTHING to repent of, that there is NO repentance found in the Son of God, that the death of the Son of God was meaningless. You can not be renewed to repentance when you- like those who put the Son of God to death, having Him crucified- do not believe He is the Son of God.
To -
Crucify the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame is what keeps those-- who have had the knowledge and experience of the Son of God as their personal Savior, having once believed in Him as the Son of God, knowing Him in that way-- from being renewed. They knew the Son of God, they believed the Son of God, and then they choose to no longer believe. If you don't believe, if you don't have faith, you are lost.
This isn't talking about a situation like Peter denying Christ three times… if it were we could say Peter believed and then turned around and denied Christ, he fell away. We could say it's like Paul talking about what a wretched man His is- doing things he doesn't want to do, but it's not like that either! This is denying Jesus' God-hood. This is denying Jesus' power. This is denying Jesus' divinity and returning to a state of belief that God's Son never came to earth, God's Son never died for You, this is denying the Son of God in every way- and you can't be renewed to repentance ever if you believe that there is no Son of God, no innocent Son of God crucified. It truly is crucifying Him all over again and like the Pharisees who had the Son of God killed it's NOT believing that the Son of God was truly here on earth and died for you, to take away your sins. This is a falling away that cannot be renewed because the heart is set against the Son of God entirely.
Remember this parable--
Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Luk 8:6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Luk 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luk 8:8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Luk 8:9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Luk 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Luk 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
THEY- hear and the devil takes away the word out of their hearts LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED! NOTE: They DON'T believe.
THEY - hear, receive the word with joy, and they have no root, which FOR A WHILE BELIEVE AND IN TIME OF TEMPTATION FALL AWAY. NOTE: FOR A WHILE BELIEVE- obviously after a while they NO longer believe.
THEY - have heard and go forth and are CHOKED with CARES and RICHES and PLEASURES of this life, having NO fruit. NOTE: They heard and their belief is killed, they cannot flourish, the belief is dead-choked.
THEY - hear and KEEP believing!
Only through belief in the Word of God- the Son of God and Him crucified for our sins are we kept from falling away into apostasy.
When belief is gone, when hope is gone, then logically… there can be no believing, no hoping, and no renewing.
As long as there is hope, as long as there is belief in that hope, as long as we truly accept the Son of God as our Savior there is hope no matter that hardship you've been going through, no matter how far you've slid back into sin there is hope if you believe in the Son of God as Your Savior. You might think you are UNWORTHY of being saved and you know what? We are ALL unworthy of being saved! Being unworthy isn't what keeps you from being saved, not believing, having no hope in the Son of God is what keeps you from being saved. We can't hope in ourselves, there is NO hope in ourselves. All our hope must be in the Son of God.
So yes, there will be those who have once believed who choose to no longer believe and there is nothing a person can do to restore that belief to them and they will perish in their unbelief. I pray to God that I am NEVER counted among those who fall away and find it impossible to be renewed to repentance.
When these people were being talked to about not being perpetual spiritual children but growing up into spiritual adults if God willed, they were then told this very, very, very adult information. They were not given milk at this point. The meat was on its way and if God permitted they would spiritually grow as they listened to these words and studied them. We have to grow in Christ. We have to keep spiritually growing and never be satisfied with stagnating with the milk only fit for babes.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
9/11/11
Rev 6:5 And when he had opened the third seal,
I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse;
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Jesus opened the
third seal of this very important book and the third beast (the one with a face
of a man, with six wings and full of eyes like all four beasts had in common)
spoke and told John to come and see, to come look. And John was shown a black
horse. What is the opposite of white? Black. If white is purity and light, black
is impurity and darkness isn't it? White raiment is known as being the
righteousness of Christ, if there were black raiment it would be the
unrighteousness portray- filthy garments. The white horse traveling through a
period of time when the early church prospered without gross persecution. The
red horse traveling through a period of time where there was much blood shed
for God's people, in fact the bloodiest period of time in 303AD to 313AD before
Christianity was finally accepted by the mainstream. Now this black horse and a
rider with a pair of balances enters the picture.
Balances- even
today we use them to denote what? Justice.
Symbolism-
The scales
(specifically, a two pan, beam balance) are one of the traditional symbols of
justice, as wielded by statues of Lady Justice. This corresponds to the use in
metaphor of matters being "held in the balance". It has its origins in ancient
Egypt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_scale
*******
When you have two
forces in play a balance can be tipped in favor of one or the other- or remain
in it's non-tipped state symbolizing equality.
You have two
forces good and evil, Christ's way or Satan's way.
The church of
good and the church of evil perhaps are represented in the balances.
With the balance
held as such in this time could it denote the birth of the corrupt church that
would counter the pure church? It was historically a time when paganisn began
to mingle with Christianity making it impure while retaining the title pure.
Corruption, deception, darkness winds its way into the church and a corrupt
church suits the purposes of Satan rather well. When you add the commerce of
goods and payments to the picture we're adding what to the mix? A government,
yes? An economy and every economy is ruled by a government. With the balances
in the picture we have can imagine that symbol of civil power, of governmental
power because once more meting out justice is government function. The
involvement of government with religion - the beginning of the very corrupted
pure Christianity began. Christ
would have His disciples render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is
God's, He did NOT promote a
Christian government or a time when the church would work as any type of civil
power, but rather claimed this was not His world, not our world. Yet during this
period of time- church and state entwined ever further as our study in Daniel
revealed. The political sway of the apostate pagan infused Papacy grew stronger
and stronger. Jesus NEVER intended
that His followers would hold powerful sway over worldly matters- never. Jesus
came to preach the gospel of the kingdom and instructed His followers to spread
that word- NOT to join with the world in any way.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the
four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
This time it's
not saying where the voice is exactly coming from rather from the midst of the
four beasts. It's not pinpointing the One Worthy who is opening the seals
either. This voice is in the midst of the beasts and thus far 3 of the beasts
have spoken as the seals were broken. This additional voice makes it stand out-
makes us take notice.
A measure of
wheat for a penny. Food
/money.
Three measures of
barley for a penny. Food /money.
Buying and
selling. The great concern here isn't the purity of Christ but rather money,
goods.
Yet there's an
admonition- see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
Could it be that
the wheat and the barley were being hurt? How could such commodities be hurt?
For that matter how could you hurt oil and wine? Corruption can hurt it all.
Here there is
pointed mention of the wheat and the barley being sold and the admonition not
to hurt the oil and wine. Nothing about selling the oil and wine but the fact
the oil and wine could be hurt. If I tell you not to hurt something then the
possibility exists that it can be hurt or else there need be no mention of it,
right?
Throughout the
Bible oil has had it's special place as well as wine in the service of God. Even
Jesus in the parable of the Samaritan helping the wounded man had the man
tending him with oil and wine- healing him, soothing him.
If the oil and wine are hurt there can be no healing perhaps?
Also
consider the parable of the virgins and the oil in their lamps- those who
brought extra were commended and welcomed to the feast while those who did not
bring extra were shut out. Already in the vision of the seven churches the last
church was admonished to buy eye salve to see, oil, so that their eyes would be
open to the truth's of Jesus that there would be Spiritual guidance. Wine, as we
know, Jesus used to symbolize the blood He spilled for mankind. If there is a
hurting of the oil an the wine there is a lack of spirit and blood both
necessary to be in Christ fully.
Those true to
Christ while the corruption began in earnest during the time of the third seal
needed to guard the truth of the oil and wine, the spirit and blood and hold
fast to that truth as it was being corrupted and brought into ruin so easily, so
deceptively.
May God keep our
eyes and hearts open to Him. May we remember these words and understand that
during great famines of a spiritual nature we can hold fast to Christ and His
sacrifice for us through the Holy Spirit's comforting, guiding, admonishing.
As the end
approaches the Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth and we who long to be
His and stand fast in Him need to protect the spiritually precious gifts that
cannot be bought but need to be given to us by Christ, who counsels us to buy
of Him- Him who has paid the highest price so that we may have the gift of
eternal life in Him, now and forever He reigns! All glory to God in the
Highest! All praise, all honor, all majesty heavenward.
By His grace and
mercy. Amen.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal
and, lo,
there was a great earthquake
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair
and the moon became as blood
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
...
Again, there is no horse-no rider- no beast to portray this message to John rather as soon as Jesus opens the sixth seal John experiences a myriad number of sights all very physical in nature without. He beheld instantly- there was no 'coming and seeing', no 'and I looked and saw', these strange sights were seen one after the other in quick succession.
A Great Earthquake
Sun Black as the mourning symbol
Moon As Blood
Numerous Stars Fell Quickly to the Earth
Heaven Departs as a Scroll
Every Mountain and Island Moved
Tell me why this sudden departure from seemingly completely symbolic gestures to the physical signs in nature? Why the leap from following the time line of the Seven Churches to seemingly jumping in this time period straight to the end of all things? From the point in time after the sixth angel things would seem to happen very swiftly without slowing down right to the end of time, right? Seriously, think about it. In about the mid-1800's the knowledge of people all over the world seemed to suddenly spring to life. By the early 1900's people had invented things that would keep the ball in motion right up until where we are today, after thousands of years of seeming stagnation with only little bouts of inspiration. Seriously, the horse for transportation and such existed for thousands of years- thousands. The suddenly we have cars. The increase in knowledge didn't slow down either after a short burst. We didn't suddenly have one startling change such as having the printing press or other noteworthy yet seemingly singular invents taking place. We had this sudden outpouring of knowledge and it hasn't ceased to this very day and in show no sign of stopping- people are not getting dumber, or slowing down, the fount of knowledge hasn't been exhausted if anything it's increased exponentially and continues to do so. You take a person from the 1700, 1800's and drop them into the 1900's, or into the new millineum and there would be such shock it would be unbelievable.
The rapidity of events shown to John here in a very physical way are like markers in time. This will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), and so on right up to a point we haven't seen it happen and yet having markers along the way tell you something don't they? Think about it.
You're on a trail with markers along the path - will you expect the markers to remain true to form until you reach your destination? You would.
Here are markers in time that are so blatant that to ignore them is to risk ignoring the fact that Christ is returning and the world is as we know it is ending. Following markers is important even if there are varying lengths of time between them, right? If I'm on a path I keep on it and hope for the markers even if it seems like a long, long time since I've seen the last one. That hope for the last marker has to remain and it's through faith that hope stays firm. Christ admonishes the Ladicean church to buy of Him gold tried in fire- faith. Through the early time period of these markers it's easy to follow, to believe and the sixth church of Philadelphia has this remarkable renewal of faith, a clarity of these markers.
A GREAT EARTHQUAKE -
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place on 1 November 1755, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake)
SUN BLACK as the mourning symbol -
The Great Dark Day - New England's Dark Day refers to an event which occurred on 19 May 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England's_Dark_Day)
MOON AS BLOOD -
Moon Turned Into Blood - "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31 May 19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration has ever been recorded. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31.
The moon became as red as blood on the night of the "dark day," May 19, 1780. Milo Bostick in Stone's History of Massachusetts says, "The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood."
(http://www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/moon-turned-into-blood.aspx
"New England's Dark Day" in The Weather Doctor Almanac 2004. Retrieved from http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2004/alm04may.htm.
"An Account of a very uncommon Darkness, in the State of New England, May 19, 1780" in The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an Enlarged Plan, p. 519.
^ Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 193 )
Numerous STARS FELL Quickly to the Earth -
Silliman believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November 1833.[23] People all across the Eastern US saw thousands of meteors, radiating from a single point in the sky. Astute observers noticed that the radiant, as the point is now called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation Leo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid
The meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over one hundred thousand meteors an hour,[2] but another, done as the storm abated, estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour[3] over the entire region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It was marked by the Native Americans, slaves and owners, and many others. That same 1833 shower, near Independence, Missouri, was taken as a sign to push the growing Mormon community out of the area.[3]
(http://www.answers.com/topic/leonids)
***
Heaven Departs as a Scroll
Every Mountain and Island Moved
***
Now we come to a time when the heaven departs as a scroll- how does a scroll depart when it's rolled together? If you have a scroll laid out on a table you put weights down on the corners to hold it open, don't you? It's hard to study otherwise, unless you are just going to stretch out your arms and put your hands on it to keep the two halves from closing. What happens when you lift the weights, or your hands? It snaps back into place doesn't it? And very quickly at that.
So the heavens departing in a snap - has this happened? We've breached the atmosphere sending shuttles into space and still the sky doesn't snap away does it? Surely we'd know. We've set off atomic bombs which have sent mushroom clouds billowing upwards spreading the poison it contains for miles, but have the heavens departed? No.
This is a marker in time that hasn't oocurred- in fact the last marker would be in 1833 almost 176 years ago. Time indeed for the waters to become lukewarm.
This day is coming there is no doubt about it, and only those who are not lukewarm but found counciled by Christ will escape the dreadful coming of the end of times for those not found safe in the righteousness of Christ.
...
And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb
For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?
...
John saw this amazing trail of events and then it ended and he was seeing after those things - this:
...
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
...
The angels of God are holding in check the strife that would come upon the earth should they not hold it back. Why are they holding it back? Because of this...
...
And I saw another angel ascending from the east,
having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And I heard the number of them which were sealed:
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
...
Those that are God's in this time before the angels fully release winds of strife will be sealed. Sealed how? If I give my seal of approval it means nothing unless say you are my child- my son or daughter. They do something and I approve, giving them my seal of approval and it means a lot to them, it shows my approval of them which they hold in high esteem. If God seals us we are sealed His. We are given a mark that reveals that we are His and He approves of us, of our total reliance upon the Son of God for all things, for allowing Christ's righteousness to reign in us, for accepting fully the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
After the sealing John was allowed to see this:
...
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number,
of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands
And cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels stood round about the throne,
and about the elders
and the four beasts,
and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God
Saying, Amen
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
...
Amazing! Such a glorious sight! John witnessed the saints throughout time gathered before the throne of God, the angels, the elders, the beasts all of them fell before the throne and worshipped God! Truly this was an amazing sight to behold. God reigns forever in all blessing, all glory, all wisdom, all thanksgiving, all honor, all power, all might to God! Forever and ever!
Was John through with this vision yet? No. One of those 24 elders before the throne spoke to John as he witnessed the wonder of things to come.
...
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
and whence came they?
...
The elder wanted to know what John thought he was seeing. He asked- What are those in white robes and where did they come from? John answers--
...
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
...
He doesn't presume to know does he? He doesn't launch into some speech about who he thinks they are or where they come from but he tells the elder that the elder himself knows. He doesn't even ask that it be revealed to him, but lets the elder decide if that is something he wishes to reveal and he does...
...
And he said to me,
These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters:
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
...
How amazing! How beautiful! John is told the truth of the whole matter. Those who come through the great tribulation- for what other tribulation is there than to fight in the war of good and evil and prevail through Jesus Christ our Savior? This is a battle we ALL fight in, we are all called to war in it by our very birth.
Those who take their own filthy garments of unrighteousness and wash them in the blood of the Lamb are truly making them white in His righteousness, pure in the only righteousness that exists anywhere- the righteousness found alone in Christ.
Those who do this, who claim Christ's righteousness will stand before the throne of God- they will serve him always in his temple and that is wherever He dwells. No more hunger of any type! No more thirst of any kind! No more sun and heat to burn us and we will be fed by Jesus! We will be taken to the living fountain of water! And GOD shall wipe the tears from our eyes! Tears that we know so well, so deeply, agonizingly felt for all that goes on around about us.
May God bless and keep us! May God accept us through the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever may we be found in Him forgiven by Him as we ask for forgiveness and repent of our sins.
By His grace!
Amen.
9/11/10
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Crucifying the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame.
As sinners we sin.
As sinners we are faced with numerous temptations and often temptations we ultimately find too hard to resist and fall prey to. There is a certain sense of despair of ever being sin-free, of ever being able to overcome the sins that easily beset us. We cry out how wicked we are doing things we don't want to do. We even sometimes lose some hope and slowly fade away from our walk with Christ letting sin reign in our lives trying not to care any longer because we feel hopelessly lost to that sin. Is this the falling away talked about here in Hebrews 6:4-6? No.
What is talked about here is this…
Falling away-
G3895
parapiptō
par-ap-ip'-to
From G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: - fall away.
APOS'TATIZE, v.i. To abandon one's profession or church; to forsake principles or faith which one has professed; or the party to which one has been attached.
You can backslide into sin without believing Jesus is NOT the Son of God.
You can sin knowing that the Son of God was crucified for You, and not have fell away.
To repent you have to believe you are in need of repentance.
Those who become fully apostate have no desire to repent, they believe in their hearts they have NOTHING to repent of, that there is NO repentance found in the Son of God, that the death of the Son of God was meaningless. You can not be renewed to repentance when you- like those who put the Son of God to death, having Him crucified- do not believe He is the Son of God.
To -
Crucify the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame is what keeps those-- who have had the knowledge and experience of the Son of God as their personal Savior, having once believed in Him as the Son of God, knowing Him in that way-- from being renewed. They knew the Son of God, they believed the Son of God, and then they choose to no longer believe. If you don't believe, if you don't have faith, you are lost.
This isn't talking about a situation like Peter denying Christ three times… if it were we could say Peter believed and then turned around and denied Christ, he fell away. We could say it's like Paul talking about what a wretched man His is- doing things he doesn't want to do, but it's not like that either! This is denying Jesus' God-hood. This is denying Jesus' power. This is denying Jesus' divinity and returning to a state of belief that God's Son never came to earth, God's Son never died for You, this is denying the Son of God in every way- and you can't be renewed to repentance ever if you believe that there is no Son of God, no innocent Son of God crucified. It truly is crucifying Him all over again and like the Pharisees who had the Son of God killed it's NOT believing that the Son of God was truly here on earth and died for you, to take away your sins. This is a falling away that cannot be renewed because the heart is set against the Son of God entirely.
Remember this parable--
Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Luk 8:6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Luk 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luk 8:8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Luk 8:9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Luk 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Luk 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
THEY- hear and the devil takes away the word out of their hearts LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED! NOTE: They DON'T believe.
THEY - hear, receive the word with joy, and they have no root, which FOR A WHILE BELIEVE AND IN TIME OF TEMPTATION FALL AWAY. NOTE: FOR A WHILE BELIEVE- obviously after a while they NO longer believe.
THEY - have heard and go forth and are CHOKED with CARES and RICHES and PLEASURES of this life, having NO fruit. NOTE: They heard and their belief is killed, they cannot flourish, the belief is dead-choked.
THEY - hear and KEEP believing!
Only through belief in the Word of God- the Son of God and Him crucified for our sins are we kept from falling away into apostasy.
When belief is gone, when hope is gone, then logically… there can be no believing, no hoping, and no renewing.
As long as there is hope, as long as there is belief in that hope, as long as we truly accept the Son of God as our Savior there is hope no matter that hardship you've been going through, no matter how far you've slid back into sin there is hope if you believe in the Son of God as Your Savior. You might think you are UNWORTHY of being saved and you know what? We are ALL unworthy of being saved! Being unworthy isn't what keeps you from being saved, not believing, having no hope in the Son of God is what keeps you from being saved. We can't hope in ourselves, there is NO hope in ourselves. All our hope must be in the Son of God.
So yes, there will be those who have once believed who choose to no longer believe and there is nothing a person can do to restore that belief to them and they will perish in their unbelief. I pray to God that I am NEVER counted among those who fall away and find it impossible to be renewed to repentance.
When these people were being talked to about not being perpetual spiritual children but growing up into spiritual adults if God willed, they were then told this very, very, very adult information. They were not given milk at this point. The meat was on its way and if God permitted they would spiritually grow as they listened to these words and studied them. We have to grow in Christ. We have to keep spiritually growing and never be satisfied with stagnating with the milk only fit for babes.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
9/11/11
Rev 6:5 And when he had opened the third seal,
I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse;
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Jesus opened the
third seal of this very important book and the third beast (the one with a face
of a man, with six wings and full of eyes like all four beasts had in common)
spoke and told John to come and see, to come look. And John was shown a black
horse. What is the opposite of white? Black. If white is purity and light, black
is impurity and darkness isn't it? White raiment is known as being the
righteousness of Christ, if there were black raiment it would be the
unrighteousness portray- filthy garments. The white horse traveling through a
period of time when the early church prospered without gross persecution. The
red horse traveling through a period of time where there was much blood shed
for God's people, in fact the bloodiest period of time in 303AD to 313AD before
Christianity was finally accepted by the mainstream. Now this black horse and a
rider with a pair of balances enters the picture.
Balances- even
today we use them to denote what? Justice.
Symbolism-
The scales
(specifically, a two pan, beam balance) are one of the traditional symbols of
justice, as wielded by statues of Lady Justice. This corresponds to the use in
metaphor of matters being "held in the balance". It has its origins in ancient
Egypt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_scale
*******
When you have two
forces in play a balance can be tipped in favor of one or the other- or remain
in it's non-tipped state symbolizing equality.
You have two
forces good and evil, Christ's way or Satan's way.
The church of
good and the church of evil perhaps are represented in the balances.
With the balance
held as such in this time could it denote the birth of the corrupt church that
would counter the pure church? It was historically a time when paganisn began
to mingle with Christianity making it impure while retaining the title pure.
Corruption, deception, darkness winds its way into the church and a corrupt
church suits the purposes of Satan rather well. When you add the commerce of
goods and payments to the picture we're adding what to the mix? A government,
yes? An economy and every economy is ruled by a government. With the balances
in the picture we have can imagine that symbol of civil power, of governmental
power because once more meting out justice is government function. The
involvement of government with religion - the beginning of the very corrupted
pure Christianity began. Christ
would have His disciples render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is
God's, He did NOT promote a
Christian government or a time when the church would work as any type of civil
power, but rather claimed this was not His world, not our world. Yet during this
period of time- church and state entwined ever further as our study in Daniel
revealed. The political sway of the apostate pagan infused Papacy grew stronger
and stronger. Jesus NEVER intended
that His followers would hold powerful sway over worldly matters- never. Jesus
came to preach the gospel of the kingdom and instructed His followers to spread
that word- NOT to join with the world in any way.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the
four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
This time it's
not saying where the voice is exactly coming from rather from the midst of the
four beasts. It's not pinpointing the One Worthy who is opening the seals
either. This voice is in the midst of the beasts and thus far 3 of the beasts
have spoken as the seals were broken. This additional voice makes it stand out-
makes us take notice.
A measure of
wheat for a penny. Food
/money.
Three measures of
barley for a penny. Food /money.
Buying and
selling. The great concern here isn't the purity of Christ but rather money,
goods.
Yet there's an
admonition- see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
Could it be that
the wheat and the barley were being hurt? How could such commodities be hurt?
For that matter how could you hurt oil and wine? Corruption can hurt it all.
Here there is
pointed mention of the wheat and the barley being sold and the admonition not
to hurt the oil and wine. Nothing about selling the oil and wine but the fact
the oil and wine could be hurt. If I tell you not to hurt something then the
possibility exists that it can be hurt or else there need be no mention of it,
right?
Throughout the
Bible oil has had it's special place as well as wine in the service of God. Even
Jesus in the parable of the Samaritan helping the wounded man had the man
tending him with oil and wine- healing him, soothing him.
If the oil and wine are hurt there can be no healing perhaps?
Also
consider the parable of the virgins and the oil in their lamps- those who
brought extra were commended and welcomed to the feast while those who did not
bring extra were shut out. Already in the vision of the seven churches the last
church was admonished to buy eye salve to see, oil, so that their eyes would be
open to the truth's of Jesus that there would be Spiritual guidance. Wine, as we
know, Jesus used to symbolize the blood He spilled for mankind. If there is a
hurting of the oil an the wine there is a lack of spirit and blood both
necessary to be in Christ fully.
Those true to
Christ while the corruption began in earnest during the time of the third seal
needed to guard the truth of the oil and wine, the spirit and blood and hold
fast to that truth as it was being corrupted and brought into ruin so easily, so
deceptively.
May God keep our
eyes and hearts open to Him. May we remember these words and understand that
during great famines of a spiritual nature we can hold fast to Christ and His
sacrifice for us through the Holy Spirit's comforting, guiding, admonishing.
As the end
approaches the Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth and we who long to be
His and stand fast in Him need to protect the spiritually precious gifts that
cannot be bought but need to be given to us by Christ, who counsels us to buy
of Him- Him who has paid the highest price so that we may have the gift of
eternal life in Him, now and forever He reigns! All glory to God in the
Highest! All praise, all honor, all majesty heavenward.
By His grace and
mercy. Amen.