prophecy – Page 18

end time, high priest, melchizedek, prophecy

Jesus as High Priest

Posted on November 8, 2018November 12, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata
This first appeared on The End Time in December 2010

There are many aspects to the Lord’s personality, aspects we have been given through His grace to explore for all eternity. We will never learn all there is to learn about Him, because He is infinite, but the glory will be in the journey, drawing ever closer to Him.

The Christmas season rightly focuses attention to Him as savior, the babe born of a virgin and who lived a sinless life, died as the sacrifice to satisfy God’s Holy righteousness and fulfill the sin-debt that must be paid. We usually focus on Him as Savior, friend, father, and occasionally as judge. But there is another aspect to Him that I would like to explore today: Priest.

David refers to the coming Messiah as a priest on the order of Melchizedek. “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

Who was Melchizedek and why is his Order considered higher than Aaron’s, the first High Priest of the Levites? We read of Melchizedek when he meets with Abraham in Genesis. He is an actual King and an actual Priest, living and walking on the earth in Abraham’s day.

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.” (Gen 14:18-20).

The city of Salem was later known as Jerusalem.

In Hebrews 7:3 we read again of Melchizedek, and notice that there is an omission. Usually, especially in the Old Testament, people are introduced to the reader by their genealogy. “So-and-so who was the son of so-and-so and father of…” But it is specifically noted that Melchizedek has no genealogy, so we wonder how anyone who claims Melchizedek is actually Shem, for example, and some Talmudic scholars do, learned of Melchizedek’s lineage. No one knows his genealogy, as is stated in the Hebrews verse below.

In any case, the personage of Melchizedek is certainly righteous. Anyway, the story of the meeting with Abraham is repeated in Hebrews, and introduced this way:

‘Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s‘
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.” (Heb 7:1-3).

Melchizedek is referred to again in Hebrews 5:6-10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-21: “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”; and Hebrews 8:1. From his initial introduction at the meeting with Abraham it was another thousand years until David mentioned him and another thousand again until the writer of Hebrews mentioned him, and then Melchizedek disappears from the biblical record. But the notion of Jesus as Priest does not.

High Priests of the Temple died and their office was given to the son. But Jesus is perpetual and His office of High Priest will never die. High Priests in the temple managed the sacrifices, which were daily. Thousands upon thousands of lambs and other animals were killed, blood ran by the buckets all day every day, but Jesus is the once for all sacrifice. He IS our High Priest, forever.

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;” (Hebrews 3:1-3)

So what does a High Priest do? They were compassionate about sins, being human themselves. They participated in the sacrificial system, managing others’ sacrifices. Yet being human, they also had to sacrifice on behalf of their own sins. They represented humans before God.

In Revelation 1:6 we read that we are made to be Kings and Priests. “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father–to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Again, in Rev. 5:9b-10 we read that

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Peter reveals that we as believers are part of a royal priesthood:

“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:5,9).

Matthew Henry writes:

“All true believers are a holy priesthood; sacred to God, serviceable to others, endowed with heavenly gifts and graces. But the most spiritual sacrifices of the best in prayer and praise are not acceptable, except through Jesus Christ. Christ is the chief Corner-stone, that unites the whole number of believers into one everlasting temple, and bears the weight of the whole fabric. Elected, or chosen, for a foundation that is everlasting.”

What Grace! What Mercy! He as the Chief Cornerstone as High Priest, elects His priests and unites us in a priesthood to serve Him! We are called privileged and we are. Our duties today and forever are to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Him the Most High. Is this a good gift in your eyes? Better than an X-box or a bike or a diamond bracelet? It is a tremendous gift to be called to a royal priesthood serving the High Priest in heaven. It is a high calling. Are you living a holy life worthy of Him and making spiritual sacrifices so His name is magnified? I am rejoicing! I am singing His praises!

As you ponder the mysteries of His very Being this Christmas season, ponder Him as high Priest representing us before God. What a blessed Gift to be able to serve for Him and with him!

prophecy, theology

What will become of the devil? Satan’s end

Posted on October 8, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Part 1: I will vs. I AM
Part 2: From Lucifer to Satan: The Devil’s origins

On Friday I posted a comparison of the statements in the Bible that satan and God made. The named angel Lucifer, later known as satan or the devil, said in his heart that he will ascend higher than the most high, and also made four other blasphemously rebellious declarations. These are found in Isaiah 14:13b-14.

God and Jesus had made several I AM statements declaring who He is. The more well-known I AM statements Jesus said are found throughout the book of John from chapter 6 to 15.

On Saturday I posted an essay exploring satan’s origins. At one time he was a holy angel. When God made the world, he had not fallen yet. Lucifer was praising God for His creation (Job 38:6-8). The holy angels had not fallen when God pronounced the creation very good. (Genesis 1:31). However, sometime after the world was made and after the 6th day, we meet satan in the garden, impugning God’s character and tempting Eve to rebel. By then, he was fallen and evil. Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 describe Lucifer’s fall.

Ever since Genesis 3 when we first meet satan, he has ceaselessly been stalking the world. His activity is to steal, kill, and destroy. His incessant desire is to usurp God and thwart God, and meanwhile, to send as many people to hell as possible. (John 10:10).

Will satan always do these things? What will happen when the Kingdom comes and Jesus is enthroned on earth for 1000 years, administering justice and ruling with His rod?

Well, God has plans for satan. He always has. His future plans for satan include the following.

After the rapture of the saints (the moment when God calls his church members dead and alive up to heaven) then God will unleash satan to do his worst. Jesus said this time will be the worst known on earth, ever. (Matthew 24:21-22). God will allow satan to do his worst because rebellious Israel still needs to be punished. Their punishment has not come. God paused his attention to Israel after His resurrection in order to build His church. (Matthew 16:18.) When the full number of the church is met, God will return His attention to Israel, overseeing their Time of Jacob’s Trouble, as the Great Tribulation is known. (Jeremiah 30:7; Romans 11:25).

During this period, Satan will be allowed to overcome the saints through the antichrist. (Revelation 13:7). He will hunt the Christians who come to faith after the rapture, and kill as many as possible. (Revelation 20:4). He will raise up, influence, and indwell the antichrist. The “whole world” marvels after this beast and acknowledges his power. (Daniel 7:23; Revelation 13:3, 5, 7). This is why Jesus said the time will be the worst ever on earth. It is the devil’s time.

Though satan has the earth’s kingdoms in his hand at this period of time, (Luke 4:4-6), and is god of this world, (2 Corinthians 4:4) he will finally be taken off the leash he has been on.

However sometime during the Tribulation, likely midway thorugh, satan’s access to heaven will be denied. He and his cohorts will be thrown out of heaven finally, and this enrages satan. Again, this will be a terrible time. Satan’s rage will drench the world in blood. Again, this is the sovereign will of God.

Then Jesus returns. When the iniquity is full and in His timing Jesus determines the punishment has been met, and Israel cries out for the savior, He will put a stop to satan’s evil acts. Satan will be thrown into the abyss for 1000 years and locked up. (Revelation 20:3).

After the thousand years, satan will be let loose again, for a very short time, in order to deceive the earth a final time. You see, after Jesus returns, the earth’s people repopulate. Some saints survive the Tribulation and they procreate. Even though Jesus will be present one earth ruling and reigning, sin will still be present on the earth and in men’s hearts. In order to determine who will be allowed into the final kingdom after the earth and heaven is remade, satan will be allowed to deceive to draw them out.

Those people who harbored blasphemy in their heart will be drawn to the serpent, whose venom will overflow. They war against Jesus. The war will be quick, though. See Revelation 20-

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,

And satan finally, blessedly,

was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10).

In summary, the schedule of events for satan over the next years is:

–Church Age: allowed to do evil, on a leash
–Tribulation: Allowed to do evil, off the leash.
–Millennium: Bound in the abyss
–End of Millennium: Allowed out of the abyss, mounts a war, is quashed immediately.
–Eternal state: Tormented in the Lake of Fire forevermore.

Names: Satan is also known as the serpent, the dragon, and the devil. (Revelation 20:2).

Part 1: I will vs. I AM
Part 2: From Lucifer to Satan: The Devil’s origins

Further resources

Sermon: The Origin of Evil

Devotional: God’s Devil

Lecture: Before the Time (How demons operate)

demons

prophecy, theology

“But I’m a good person!”

Posted on September 19, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

When they live in dreadful wickedness, they are but filling up the measure which God hath limited for them.~Jonathan Edwards

ust when we start to think we might be such bad people, here is a splash of cold water for us all to ponder. Commenting on Hosea 7:1, Israel’s sin, Matthew Henry wrote

The actual wickedness of men’s lives bears a very small proportion to what is in their hearts. But when lust is inwardly cherished, it will break forth into outward sin. Those who tempt others to drunkenness never can be their real friends, and often design their ruin. Thus men execute the Divine vengeance on each other. Those are not only heated with sin, but hardened in sin, who continue to live without prayer, even when in trouble and distress. (“Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible“)

We’re not as bad as we could be, but it’s in there and under certain conditions, our greater seed of iniquity comes out. Pogroms, genocide, the Holocaust, are all examples where the evil men did rose in greater proportion to what is in there. And that is not end of the evil that lurks within still. During the Tribulation, men will fully enact what is in their heart. The full measure of sin will be complete. (Dan 8:23, Matthew 23:32). Jesus said it will be the worst time the planet has ever known. (Matthew 24:21-22).

In 1735 Jonathan Edwards preached on 1 Thessalonians 2:16, in his sermon titled When the Wicked Shall Have Filled Up the Measure of Their Sin, Wrath Will Come Upon Them to the Uttermost

by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last! (1 Thessalonians 2:16)

This is true of every individual person, but will be in greater application during the Tribulation. Edwards’ sermon again,

There is a certain measure that God hath set to the sin of every wicked man. God says concerning the sin of man, as he says to the raging waves of the sea, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further. The measure of some is much greater than of others. Some reprobates commit but a little sin in comparison with others, and so are to endure proportionably a smaller punishment. There are many vessels of wrath; but some are smaller and others greater vessels. Some will contain comparatively but little wrath, others a greater measure of it. Sometimes, when we see men go to dreadful lengths, and become very heinously wicked, we are ready to wonder that God lets them alone. He sees them go on in such audacious wickedness, and keeps silence, nor does anything to interrupt them, but they go smoothly on, and meet with no hurt. But sometimes the reason why God lets them alone is because they have not filled up the measure of their sins.

Edwards urges us to get into the ark, Christ.

We find in Scripture, that where glorious times are prophesied to God’s people, there are at the same time awful judgments foretold to his enemies. What God is now about to do, we know not. But this we may know, that there will be no safety to any but those who are in the ark. — Therefore it behooves all to haste and flee for their lives, to get into a safe condition, to get into Christ. Then they need not fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled; though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof: for God will be their refuge and strength; they need not be afraid of evil tidings; their hearts may be fixed, trusting in the Lord.

Through rapture or death, what a blessing it will be to arrive home to heaven where Jesus dwells, and there is no sin or death or evil any longer. Then, we can be with and gaze upon the only truly Good Person there ever was or shall be: Emmanuel.

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filled with hope verse

prophecy, theology

The only glory they’ll ever see…

Posted on September 8, 2018September 8, 2018 by elizabethprata

…is when they are standing at the Great White Throne. It will be the ultimate flashbulb moment.

Psychologists have a thing called ‘Flashbulb memory”. It’s that moment when a piece of extremely emotional or traumatic news was heard. Cognition Magazine explains,

“Almost everyone can remember, with an almost perceptual clarity, where he was when he heard, what he was doing at the time, who told him, what was the immediate aftermath, how he felt about it, and also one or more totally idiosyncratic and often trivial concomitants.”

The prototypical event in past cognition studies was the moment President Kennedy was shot. More recent studies use the moment the news broke about the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001.

When I was a teenager, my father gave me a 1940s Argus camera, similar to the one above. It had the kind of flash you mounted on top of the camera. It was extremely bright, and you had to pop the bulb out after, which was extremely hot. The photo subject always involuntarily blinked in the microsecond after the flash went off, due to the brightness. You know when they closed their eyes, the reverse negative of the image is emblazoned on the inside of their eyelids. That’s a real flashbulb moment.

When the unsaved are exhumed and gathered to the Great White Throne, they will see Jesus in His glory. They will account for their lives, and try to explain their sin. However, they will be found without excuse. When the judgment is done, they will be sent to outer darkness.

They will see the Ancient of Days, hair white as wool, glorious in light and power. They will see. Their eyes having been blind on earth to Him, will now see Him AND His glory. It will be bright.

Then they will be cast into outer darkness, fire, and torment forever. The darkness will be complete, palpable, utter. It will contain no hope, no glimmer, no crack at all. Even when waving one’s hand in front of one’s face, the sinner will find no relief from the ink. The only light they will ever see will be the glory light of God emblazoned on the inside of their eyelids forever. The actual glory will be unreachable, its chasm unbridgeable. It is the ultimate flashbulb moment.

Sister, we have been forgiven of our sins, the sins that would have sent us to that throne to plead our case, only to be finally rejected and sent to the Hopeless Dark. Our flashbulb moment will last for eternity. We will see Him and not be consumed by wrath. We will enjoy the brightness of His glory through glorified eyes. Let’s take a moment to be grateful for His grace today, and to remember the destiny of others. Be a witness to His name.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15).

Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:30).

By Elizabeth Prata

prophecy, theology

Throwback Thursday: One Day Closer to Seeing Our Groom

Posted on August 30, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

This post first appeared on The End Time in September 2012. I notice that my “Throwback” essays that I choose are usually prophecy. I am sad that eschatological topics have become marginalized, or too “controversial” to discuss. Many people avoid them altogether. This should not be so. They exist to orient us to our actual home, heaven, to excite us about the work we do now for when we see Him later, and to encourage us. (1 Peter 2:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:18).

I’m excited for what lay ahead and of course mainly to be rid of this body of death and sin no more! There are exciting times ahead, whether we enter into them through death’s door or through the rapture, we are all one day closer to it than we were yesterday. Be excited!

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Imagine how excited JESUS is! I like to think that He is excited as any groom who awaits his bride would be. As the moment draws closer the more excited any groom becomes. He is eager, thinking of all the love He has for his soon to be bride.

Jesus is the ultimate bridegroom, so His love and excitement is superlative and perfect, excellently outpacing our excitement at His soon return!

I know we sense the nearness of the time. We know the rapture can happen imminently, it has always been imminent. But the time seems so close, and we’re excited to see our Groom.

Our Groom is even more excited to claim His Bride, I am sure!

Don’t you think so too?!

“And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15).

The long dry spell of life without Him bodily on earth is almost over.

John the Baptist said,

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” (John 3:29).

O, we long to hear His voice, but He longs for His Bride, and waits for the Father to tell the Son:

“GO GET YOUR BRIDE.”

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

Be encouraged! We are one day closer to that moment than we were yesterday!

prophecy

prophecy, theology

Shout Your Abortion, and John Owen on infanticide

Posted on August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Evil in the Last Days

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, (2 Timothy 3:1-3 KJV)

The word for ‘natural affection’ here in the Greek means family affection. It involves the natural love people have for their parents or their children.

John Owen speaks to this verse from his book Indwelling Sin:

Paul tells us that the Gentiles are ‘without natural affection.’ (Romans 1:31). In this, sin has driven men below the level of the beasts. The instinct to love and care for their young is deeply inlaid in the nature of all living creatures. Yet such is the power and force of indwelling sin in man that it frequently stops this fountain and beats back the stream of natural affections, driving men to neglect and even destroy the fruit of their own bodies to accommodate their lusts. Hence, the practice of infanticide became common in the ancient world, as it has been in all nations, including our own. In this way, sin turns the strong current of nature, darkens the light of God in the soul, and defeats all natural principles, influenced as they are by the command and will of God.”

“But there is worse, for men not only slew but cruelly sacrificed their children to satisfy their idolatrous lusts (Psalm 106:37-38; Ezekiel 16:20-21), often burning them alive. It is beyond our power to explain the secret force and unsearchable deceit that is in our inbred traitor, sin, that can not only stop the course of nature, but even drive it backwards with such violence as to cause men to deal with their own children in a way that a good man would not, for any inducement, deal with his dog.” [emphasis his]

“But it may be good for the best of us to know what the effects the sin we carry about with us has produced in others.”

John Owen, Indwelling Sin in Believers, Chapter 16

Infanticide was not just a problem in the ancient days nor just in Owen’s day. In our day, we face the same. Abortion is infanticide, it is the killing of an infant, albeit not outside the womb as normally thought of when speaking of infanticide, but inside the womb. Either way, a child is killed by people who are supposed to harbor natural affection for them.

Shout Your abortion is a media campaign wherein the premise is that “Abortion is Normal” (their words) and one who has killed one’s child in that manner is supposed to be proud of it. From Wikipedia (I won’t link to their website) it states,

#ShoutYourAbortion is a social media campaign where women share their abortion experiences online without “sadness, shame or regret” for the purpose of “destigmatization, normalization, and putting an end to shame.”

If we turn our mind to the ancient days, did the mothers who put their babies in the burning brazier of a Molech statue skip home and shout their infanticide? One wonders. Today we not only have women without the most natural affection of all slaying their children in abortion clinics from coast to coast, but as Romans 1:32 says, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

“God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,” (Romans 1:28)

Any society that does this and gives hearty approval to others who do the same, has most sadly lost its mind. Jesus will have something to say about that on His day. And He won’t have to shout.

cross-1

prophecy, theology

Why the Book of Revelation should be energizing and reviving to the Christian

Posted on August 11, 2018 by elizabethprata

I found the book of Revelation one of the easiest to understand. Its intent for the reader is plain to read, it has its own built-in study guide, and contains a double promise from Jesus that those who read it will be blessed. Jesus WANTS us to read Revelation. It’s a wonderful book. The following was written by Pastor James Bell and I found it concise and helpful. I hope you do too. I love speaking up for the Book of Revelation and I love anyone else who does too! It’s a great book of the Bible, sadly undermined, ignored, and misunderstood. Perhaps this essay below will help dispel that.

———————————————–

The Revelation
By Pastor James Bell, Facebook
Southside Baptist Church, Gallatin TN

PLEASE do not slander the Holy Spirit, the ultimate Author of the last book of the Bible– by claiming that this grand Unveiling of Jesus is hard to understand and scary. The truth is that the primary messages of The Revelation are exceedingly plain to see and the primary truth of the book is most comforting. The Revelation IS scary to satan, demons, and all other haters of God. Doubtless, Satan does not want saints to enter into the profound comfort and instruction that God has in The Unveiling of Jesus. Moreover, let all saints beware of heeding our deceitful flesh that hates the corrections and the commands found in The Revelation!

Through the exiled and imprisoned Apostle John, the Holy Spirit gave The Revelation— which is the unveiling of Jesus as He is today. In this grand unveiling of Jesus, we are given much to heed and much to obey.

We are clearly shown that no matter how bad the storms get on planet earth — Jesus is still the Great Captain of the good ‘ship’ earth! The risen, ascended, ruling from heaven King of Kings and LORD of Lords will accomplish all of the Great Triune God’s good purposes! Jesus is sovereign and Supreme!

*** A WAKE-UP CALL: We are kidding ourselves if we think that we can stand firm in the midst of the present and coming ‘storms’ if we are not deeply grounded in the Unveiling of Jesus AS HE IS TODAY!

Keys to great profit from The Revelation:

[1] REMEMBER that this last book of the Bible was FIRST OF ALL written to persecuted Christians, who needed some encouragement, who needed to know that Jesus, not Rome was in command, who needed commendations, commands, and corrections.

[2] PLACE YOURSELF IN THE MIND-SET of one of those first Christians to receive The Revelation. Family members and other fellow saints were missing. They were not AWOL. No, they had been fed to the lions… or maybe banished like the Apostle John to slave labor on the isle of Patmos. Rome was mighty.

The saints were becoming fearful. Some were wondering if they were but fools. Some were already tolerating sin and apostasy. (Revelation 2-3)

But at just the right moment, Almighty God invaded the isle of Patmos by the Holy Spirit and moved John’s pen! And when The Revelation was completed, some how, God got The Revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, to the churches.

Can’t you just imagine, the persecuted saints at Ephesus, meeting in secret… and a ‘runner’ comes in… and they are startled and wonder, “Is he a spy?” No, he proves his credentials… He has just left the aged pastor/Apostle John and likely reported something like, “I have in my hand a scroll that God has given to John to give to the churches!”

Amazed and excited, they listened as the entire Unveiling of Jesus was read! I am convinced that by the time the last ‘Amen’ of the Revelation was read — well, words cannot capture the joy, the excitement, the hope, the repenting, the revival that took place!

[3] THEREFORE, please, if you have never done this— read The Revelation straight through in one… and with the mind-set of those who first heard it read!

Let us so prayerfully read, so seek to hear, and so commit to obey the things written in The Revelation— That we too, will enter into a new day of joy, excitement, hope, repenting,… in other words— God-sent revival!

—-end Pastor Bell—-

Amen and Amen. Please don’t be afraid to read Revelation. Those are the very last words Jesus chose to speak to His church before He comes again. They are highly important and as Pastor Bell wrote, instructive and comforting.

revelation 1 verse

prophecy, theology

The Different Kinds of God’s Wrath

Posted on August 8, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Thomas Hooker, a Puritan preacher of the 1600s, said in his book The application of redemption by the effectual work of the word, and spirit of Christ, for the bringing home of lost sinners to God (don’t you love their lengthy titles, lol? And their antiquated spelling? )

who shal comfort, who can releeve what ever he doth, whereever he is, the wrath God abides upon him, thou art not within the Mercy nor the compass of that Redemption?

Jonathan Edwards said the word “wrath” 52 times in his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. He said “anger” 6 times. He preached,

The Wrath of God burns against them, their Damnation don’t slumber, the Pit is prepared, the Fire is made ready, the Furnace is now hot, ready to receive them, the Flames do now rage and glow.

What IS the wrath? Most people, if they think of God’s wrath at all either think of Jesus exhausting it on the cross for forgiven sinners, or the last day when Jesus returns in wrath, blood, fire etc to pour His wrath out on unforgiven sinners.

The wrath of God is not an easy topic. It is not a popular topic. It is not often directly preached from pulpits, nor spoken of on social media or in conversation. But it is an important topic. Upon death, the final state of all humans who were not saved during life will be to endure horrific wrath forever. The wrath hangs over every unsaved person while they are alive.

The wrath is something that Jesus endured and died for so we believers would not have to encounter it. When we say are saved, what are we saved from? God’s wrath. The wrath is half of the Gospel. So we need to understand it in all its different aspects, speak of it, include it judiciously in conversation. It is an attribute of God. And though we love to think of Jesus the babe meek & mild, He is also wrathful. He will return to deliver that stored-up wrath one day.

However there are different kinds of wrath. Just because we don’t see fire and brimstone raining down from heaven does not mean God is not expressing His righteous anger against sinners this very moment. Let’s look at the different kinds of wrath that exist and have existed for all time.

John MacArthur preached on this a number of times, here is a paraphrase / excerpt from one of the sermons. Please note that though MacArthur put the different wraths in a descriptive list, by no means is the list extra-biblical. It’s just that people aren’t used to thinking about the wrath in different types delivered at different times.

1. Eternal wrath – because it is the punishment that God brings upon unbelieving sinners forever in hell. (Matthew 25:41-46, many other verses).
2. Eschatological wrath, that is the wrath of God that is released at the end of the world described by some of the Old Testament prophets, described by Jesus Christ Himself in the Olivet Discourse, and clearly laid out for us in the book of Revelation. (Luke 21:23, Romans 2:5, Revelation 6-18).
3. Cataclysmic wrath, like a tsunami, a volcano, a hurricane, an earthquake… Noah’s FLood and the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, & Zeboiim are examples of this wrath. Cataclysms are a reflection of the judgment of God. (Numbers 16:31-35).
4. Consequential wrath. Consequential wrath is the sowing and reaping wrath, you live a certain kind of life and you set in motion certain forces that will produce judgment. The resulting wrath can be reflective of the consequence of the sin-choice a person makes. (Acts 5:4-5, 1 Corinthians 11:29-30).
5. The wrath of abandonment. It is that wrath exhibited by God when He turns His back on a group, society, or individual. (Romans 1:24, 28, 28).

We should be careful though, not to attribute any particular event as an example of a specific kind of wrath. The tornado-wind that destroyed Job’s house was not wrath. (Job 18:18). The man born blind did not experience a lifetime of infirmity due to sin. (John 9:2-3). The Tower of Siloam fell over because the Tower of Siloam fell over. (Luke 13:4). Someone whom God has seemed to have turned over to their sin in a wrath of abandonment could become the unlikeliest convert (Saul/Paul).

Unlike in Edwards or Hooker’s time, in today’s Christianity God is talked of as a kindly grandfather in the sky, or Jesus is treated as a romantic boyfriend. However, God’s wrath is real. It is already present and it is also to come. Humans may not live any way we want and God will sit idly by smiling upon His wayward children. He has high moral standards and a high holy standard. Departure from His standard will result in wrath. Since none of us can attain these standards on our own, it means we are all due to experience His wrath. This presents a problem because none is righteous, no, not one. We are all separated from God. Yet He desires communion with His creatures.

Graciously, Jesus lived a perfectly holy life, died on the cross as the sacrifice, having exhausted all of God’s wrath for those whom He will save, and after laying dead in the tomb for three days, God raised Jesus to life. Those who repent of their sins and turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior will never experience His wrath. Praise God for that.

Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! (Romans 5:9).

We truly don’t have any idea of what is coming. Read Nahum for an example. It’s just three short chapters. Read Revelation for a glimpse. God is angry with the wicked every day. (Psalm 7:11).

Repent now, while there is still time.

After the arrest of John, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God.and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15).

wrath verse

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In love with Nahum

Posted on July 19, 2018 by elizabethprata

My internet went out at 4:00 yesterday afternoon. I took a quick nap, did some other things, and after an hour or so saw it was still out. I turned the modem on and off, still no internet. I called my company and they said it was a widespread outage due to node failure. No word on when it was coming back.

It’s certainly disconcerting to be disconnected. All my lectures, sermons, entertainment, notes in the cloud etc. require online connection. I have no TV or stereo. Absolutely everything I do is online.

I have some downloaded lectures on my laptop from Todd Friel, in a series called Drive By Discernment. I bought them about ten years ago and went through them all at that time, about 70 lectures, delivered by various men. It’s one of the only and in my opinion, best, series on actually teaching what discernment IS and how to practice it. 70 lectures sounds like a lot but it isn’t. Drive By is the series, and it’s so named because the lectures are 7-11 minutes each. It’s to be listened to, you guessed it, as you drive to work or wherever. So they made the lectures fairly short so people can grab a listen on the go.

Two of the men on the series have since fallen. RW Glenn and Art Azurdia. It is so sad to see the progression of sin and the devastation of what it does to a man and his ministry. Here are a few of the quotes and thoughts from lesson #1 of Drive By Discernment, Todd Friel, speaker:

False teachers hate Jesus. They hate the Bible.

They carry a Bible around on the stage. They put it up on the big screens behind the podium. They claim to love Jesus, but the Jesus they love is the Jesus of their imagination, or the Jesus that makes their bank account better. It is the Jesus that gives them power. It is the Jesus that allows them to live a licentious life- which are all the markings of false teachers.

Believe it or not, there are some positives of false teaching-

1. Heresy clarifies orthodoxy.
2. Heresy sharpens believers in being able to give a reason for the hope that lies within us.
3. It increases the suffering of false teachers. This one is harder to swallow, but given God’s hatred of sin and His vengeance against those who draw His beloved people away from Him, it makes sense.

There are 3 reasons to practice discernment

1. Love of truth
2. Love of people
3. Love of God

Thomas Brooks said, “False teachers are hell’s greatest enrichers!”

I recommend Drive By Discernment. You can listen to the first three sessions for free here on Sermon Audio.

During the offline time I did spend time of course in my Bible and in prayer. I started the Book of Nahum. I finished the book of Nahum. It’s only 3 chapters, lol. I love the Old Testament prophets, Major or Minor. Yesterday I’d heard a sermon from the wonderful series from Grace Community Church, Sundays In July, about the Major Point of the Minor Prophets. For my Bible reading, I decided to spend some time renewing my acquaintance with some of the OT Minor prophets again.

I say again, because I’ve read them all. I read through the OT when I was first saved and I focused a lot of my time on the OT prophets. I love the OT Prophets. I can’t say that enough.

There was a new book on sale that I’d bought back along, a Nahum commentary called Severe Compassion, The Gospel According to Nahum, by Gregory D. Cook. The commentary is so easy to read, insightful and biblical. I also have all of Roy Gingrich’s OT Prophet outlines.

Roy Gingrich contributed uniquely to the faith by making outlines of most of the books of the Bible. Instead of lengthy prose treatment explaining all the aspects of the verses, his outlines succinctly state the main point of each verse in one or two sentences. In his introduction to the book of Nahum, Gingrich wrote:

The book has great value because of its teachings concerning God’s righteousness. It teaches that God ultimately destroys the wicked and delivers the righteous. It teaches that God is severe to His enemies and good to His friends. It is majestic in its moral descriptions of God—No other Bible book excels Nahum in this respect. Gingrich, R. E. (2003). The Books of Micah and Nahum (p. 28). Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing.

As I read through Nahum, I was so moved by the poetry, the images, the contrast of man who thinks he is mighty and the true Mighty One. The OT Major and Minor prophets are majestic pieces of work. Nahum is particularly known for its poetic imagery.

If you are new to the faith, Minor Prophets are called that not because they are of less value, for all scripture is good for correction, edification, and reproof. But they are simply shorter books. Nahum, as I mentioned, is just 3 chapters.

We’re familiar with Jonah, mainly because of the strange tale of the runaway prophet who was swallowed by a great fish. Jonah was sent to Nineveh, the capitol city of Assyria, to preach that God was going to destroy the city. The Ninevites heard the message and repented.

They remained in God’s good graces for a few generations, but after 100 years passed, the Ninevites were back in the same boat. They were committing atrocities, they were boastful, they were spiritual adulterers. God determined that the time had come. He sent Nahum to preach to Judah that their oppression and harassment by this nation was about to be over, and gave Nahum an oracle to deliver. That message comprised the book of Nahum.

Nahum is a straightforward book, offering no interpretive challenges. Its history doesn’t bear a lot of digging into because it’s not complicated. Assyria & Nineveh, your time for destruction has come. That’s it.

Nahum is one of the most beautiful of the prophetical works, being the most vivid in imagery and poetry. Give Nahum a try. Better yet, read Jonah, then Nahum. I think you will learn a lot about God.

nahum

prophecy, theology

Why Study Eschatology?

Posted on July 17, 2018 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

1. Why Study Prophecy (the prophetic scriptures)

It’s a sanctifying hope. Keeping our eyes on the heavenlies keeps our hope in the future reward alive. Our citizenship isn’t here on earth, it’s in heaven. Hoping in faith for Jesus to come, each day, (‘When you pray, pray…Thy Kingdom Come…’ Matthew 6:10) keeps us inside a sanctifying hope. Our eyes lodged firmly on Jesus, we can better resist the flesh, which, in our sanctifying hope, we know will pass away

And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)

2. What does it mean to keep our eyes on our future?

It means we always remember this earth is not our home. Once your mind is awakened to this concept that we are pilgrims, you will see the reference and types throughout scripture from the Old Testament to the New. The Bible alternately uses words like sojourner, exiles, foreigners, aliens, and strangers.

You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 29:3)

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. (Psalm 39:12)

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11-12)

The word in Greek as used in the 1 Peter 2 means,

parepídēmos – a sojourner (foreigner) – literally, someone “passing through” but still with personal relationship with the people in that locale (note the prefix, para, “close beside”). This temporary (but active) relationship is made necessary by circumstances.

The writer of Hebrews noted the patriarchs that have come before us, and concludes,

All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Do we acknowledge we are in relationship with the citizens of earth but know this relationship is temporary? Or do we participate in the world systems, for example the political, with a do-or-die attitude?

3. What will happen at the very, very end?

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10).

As John MacArthur said of global warming: “So, your hairspray isn’t going to do it. Go ahead and spray.”

This is one startling example of reasons not to get entangled in world systems. In the above case, it’s environmentalism. In the vein of the word sojourner above, we have a relationship with the people in our lives and our surroundings, and God did tell us to shepherd the earth (care for the garden). But getting embroiled in saving the earth is a quite different activity. It is an activity that people who are eternally attached to the earth will do. We are not attached to the earth. Upon salvation, our citizenship was transferred off the earth, to heaven.

We can rejoice in knowing our future is with Jesus and He is sovereign over all things, including the prophetic plan.