Category: prophecy

Posted in prophecy, theology

The toughest mission field

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Charles Spurgeon’s morning devotional for December 15 was about the decision that Ruth and Orpah made with Naomi. Spurgeon wrote,

BOTH of them had an affection for Naomi, and therefore set out with her upon her return to the land of Judah. But the hour of test came; Naomi most unselfishly set before each of them the trials which awaited them, and bade them if they cared for ease and comfort to return to their Moabitish friends.

At first both of them declared that they would cast in their lot with the Lord’s people; but upon still further consideration Orpah with much grief and a respectful kiss left her mother in law, and her people, and her God, and went back to her idolatrous friends, while Ruth with all her heart gave herself up to the God of her mother in law. It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them under all discouragements and difficulties.

The kiss of outward profession is very cheap and easy, but the practical cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in holy decision for truth and holiness, is not so small a matter.

There are many who profess Christ, but do not possess Him, as Sproul used to say, There are other folks whose thin veneer of Christianity is only for cultural purposes; others whose conscience doesn’t allow them to unhitch completely from attachment to a nebulous being called Jesus they don’t understand but cling to anyway. (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

These people are deceiving themselves. Their eternity will be inconceivably painful. We can’t comprehend it. Just as the demons see the light and comprehend it not (John 3:19) we see the darkness of eternity and comprehend it not. And who can understand the length of time of eternity? Only God.

Therefore, because of hell’s inconceivable, punishing pain, or because of the difficulty in understanding the time frame of “forever”, we tend to push thoughts of hell’s existence and the reality of the dreadful future of those who will experience it out of our minds. But that’s just when it should be more present, more palpable, more real to us.

The lightly professing Christian does possess something … they have a future where they will face Jesus, and unable to stand, they will cry out for mercy. None will be given.

He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:48)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.‘ (Matthew 7:21-23 NASB)

Spurgeon concluded with this uncomfortable phrasing about Orpah’s decision:

in glorious ease and idolatrous pleasure her life melts into the gloom of death

If you have friends/family who aren’t saved, or who use the Christian name for a cultural cover, or who are simply deceived as to what salvation is all about, I understand. It’s one of the toughest mission fields. It’s zeal without knowledge, fervor to get favor, deceptive deception. But persevere, no matter the consequences. The possibility that Light will come into their heart is always worth the risk.

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Posted in prophecy, theology

The Power of Abuse and the Necessity of True Hope

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

When you’re a kid in an abusive home, the number one feeling is uncertainty. The abused child is uncertain that this is the way things are supposed to be. One is unsure. Is this love, when daddy hits me? Is this what love is when mommy neglects me? They tell you they love you, but then act in ways that don’t seem loving. How do other families do it? The child doesn’t know, the other family is behind closed doors. When the child visits the other families, they seem nice. But then again, so does the kid’s family when other people visit the abusive home.

When you’re a kid in an abusive home, the number one feeling is uncertainty. The abused child is uncertain that this is the way things are supposed to be. One is unsure. Is this love, when daddy hits me? Is this what love is when mommy neglects me? They tell you they love you, but then act in ways that don’t seem loving. How do other families do it? The child doesn’t know, the other family is behind closed doors. When the child visits the other families, they seem nice. But then again, so does the kid’s family when other people visit the abusive home.

As the child grows, he or she becomes a little more sure that this dynamic isn’t the way that it’s supposed to be. Therefore what grows alongside the uncertainty is hope. As maturity forms, hope forms. The tween/teen/young adult thinks, I’m not sure this is the way things are supposed to be, but I hope tomorrow will be better. One hopes that tomorrow they’ll love me. They’ll stop hitting me. They’ll quit neglecting me. They won’t molest me anymore. Mommy won’t bully or belittle me. When they promise something, like a trip to the park or an ice cream, they really mean it this time; it will happen. The child hopes against hope that it will happen.

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The hope becomes a lifesaving ring but also an albatross. Each time the hope is dashed, one clings to it but it becomes more drenched with tears. And again, and again. The hope is battered and then one sad day, inevitably dashed. No trip to the park after all. Dad got mad and threw the ice cream cones to the ground. Mom wasn’t home to greet the kids after school again. The belt comes out, again. Tears drench the life ring, which becomes soggy and begins to sink.

The child cries, ‘Why are things like this?’ Why don’t parent have natural affection for their children? One thing the abused child knows is that parents are supposed to love their kids. This can’t be love. Is it? The abused wants to know what love IS…

The Bible says that in the end time, parents won’t have natural affection for their children.

Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, (2 Timothy 3:3 KJV).

The end time is the time between Jesus’ first coming and second coming. The end time is happening now. We’re in it.

This phrase “without natural affection” is the translation of one Greek word, astergeo. … The word stergeo (“natural affection”) is one of four Greek words for “love,” but it is never used at all in the New Testament. It refers to the natural love that members of the same family have for each other. It is such a common characteristic of all peoples that there was apparently no occasion to refer to it at all — except when it is not present, when people lose their instinctive love for their own parents and children, and thus are “without natural affection.” One thinks of the widespread abortionism of these last days, as well as the modern breakdown of the family in general. (Source: Institute for Creation Research)

The Christian mind does not want to, or can’t comprehend, the absence of natural affection from a parent to a child. It seems impossible that a parent does not love their child, batters them physically or emotionally, sometimes, just for fun. But it exists. The Bible says it does, our experience as social workers, police, teachers, shows that it does, the news reports illustrate that it does. But to the child, they simply don’t know why people who are supposed to love them actually do not.

John MacArthur has said that God uses three mechanisms to restrain sin in the unsaved: the individual conscience, the government’s laws, and the family. The family is basic to nurturing the God-instilled sense of right and wrong. Without that natural affection, there’s an absence of nurturing and cultivation of the conscience within the family. Society suffers a dreadful result.

EPrata photo

I think we are seeing that result in these days. The days and years ahead will be worse, I’m afraid. Any cycle, once reaching its tipping point, proceeds at an increased pace.The child with no footing will search for the love that is lacking in their nuclear home, making it easier for satan to lure the child/youth/adult into schemes and situations that are detrimental to him or her. He will try to find a substitute family that operates on a twisted cycle of love. Gangs become more attractive. Polyamorous relationships or even a cult will seem normal. The perversity of a kinky bondage Master/slave pairing will seem OK. Homosexual partners raising children. And so on.The horror of the end of the end times is pretty horrible. We see in movies and books, not to mention Revelation, the natural disasters and such that will go on, relentlessly. But the worse horror is a world full of twisted, perverse, emotionally stunted people with no conscience or sense of right and wrong.That’s the real horror.The beauty, the grace, the relief, is that God’s grace doesn’t stop. His Gospel in Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection now still has and always will have power to save the soul, revive the conscience, and enlarge the heart. Keep sharing. We know the times will get worse and worse. (2 Timothy 3:13). Fewer people will respond, but many will. God has ordained the times, and though we mourn the tragic life of those child en raised in homes without natural affection, the love of Jesus will pierce some of them and allow love to flow back in.Then they will eternally know the natural affection of the family of God, never to be offered conditionally, abused, or withdrawn ever again What a day that will be.

EPrata photo
Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

Thirty Days of Jesus Redux: Day 18, The Highest King

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

thirty days of jesus day 18

Further Reading

Though the verse is literally speaking about King David, the relation of David to Christ means the verse also prefigures the preeminence of King Jesus. The throne, through David’s line, would last forever through Christ.

Gill’s Exposition says,

Also I will make him my firstborn,…. Or, “make him the firstborn”; make him great, as Jarchi interprets it; give him the blessing, the double portion of inheritance: so Christ is made most blessed for ever, and has all spiritual blessings in his hands; and is heir of all things, and his people joint-heirs with him. Christ is God’s “firstborn”, or “first begotten”, Hebrews 1:6, being begotten by him, and of him; … even him the Father promises to make “higher than the kings of the earth”; having a kingdom of a superior nature to theirs, and a more extensive and durable one; and even they themselves shall be subject to him; hence he is called “King of kings”, Revelation 19:16.

The King of Kings shall reign forever, His Kingdom shall endure.

Thirty Days of Jesus Series-

Introduction/Background
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive
Day 2: A shoot from Jesse
Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time
Day 4:  Marry her, she will bear a Son
Day 5: The Babe has arrived!
Day 6: The Glory of Jesus
Day 7: Magi seek the Child
Day 8: The Magi offer gifts & worship
Day 9: The Child Grew
Day 10: The boy Jesus at the Temple
Day 11: He was Obedient!
Day 12: The Son!
Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
Day 14: Propitiation
Day 15: The gift of eternal life
Day 16: Two Kingdoms
Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence

Posted in prophecy, theology

Praises for prophecy, higher praises for the One who ordains it

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I love prophecy. In the early days of the blog I did newspaper eisegesis, where I looked at the newspaper (AKA the global news) and then looked at the Bible to see how close we were to fulfillment. I don’t mind that though, those were heady days. My eyes had been opened to all the answers I’d been seeking all my life, the reasons humankind was the way it was, the reasons why there was chaos and turmoil, and I was exploring with wonder and amazement my new Christian worldview. Suddenly everything made sense! Graciously, the Spirit grew me out of that, and I soon looked to the Bible only.

Prophecy is all about movement. The LORD’S plan is always moving toward fulfillment. The first prophecy given was the Lord’s to Adam & Eve, in Genesis 3:15. Another example of the Lord’s every move as an inching toward fulfillment of His overall plan in prophecy is the lineage of Jesus was ordained from the beginning. Each and every union resulting in a child was a movement toward Mary’s birth of the Messiah.

Sometimes prophecy seems to be fulfilled suddenly, sometimes extremely so by those who have not been following it. All of a sudden, the Babylonians were invading and carrying away the nation of Israel into bondage. Jeremiah had been prophesying this for decades, but to those who didn’t listen, the sudden appearance of the invading army seemed sudden.

Other times His prophecies seem impossible to follow, and only with the benefit if hindsight do we understand. For example, in the generations that preceded Jesus, who knew that 1300 or so years prior to the birth of the Messiah that Rahab the prostitute’s faith would save her and that she would subsequently be included in the line that would produce the Savior? Either way, God’s hand is always moving, His Divine Providence is always working in the world.

Divine providence is the means by and through which God governs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. This includes the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human birth and destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8).” (source)

So everything that happens, He is aware of, causes, or allows. And that means everything that happens is on a path toward fulfilled promises, including prophecy.

What I, and many others, notice is that the movement seems to be speeding up. I shake my head in wonder at the cruelty of abortion and yet as Romans 1:32 says, many heartily applaud this craven act, the killing of babies and selling their parts. I mourn over the constant mass shootings in America, the advance of the homosexual agenda, marriages and family units reconfigured, gender-bending, the breakdown of civility and boiling hatred of those who oppose Jesus, right here in America. Even within my own lifetime, it seems the nation has gone from activist (the 1960s) to purely insane (2000s).

And what it is speeding up toward? The rapture of the saints from the earth, the Tribulation, and the end this Church age. We are hurtling toward the culmination of all of God’s works regarding sin, with the exception of the short rebellion at the end of the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom, where the earth will be renewed. It will have no graves, bones, cemeteries, or sin upon it to mar its holiness and beauty. At last the earth will be the Garden God intended, except this time, the incarnated Jesus will bodily rule and reign in purity and perfection over His trophies of grace.

From Genesis 3:15, the promise of the coming of the savior and defeat of sin, to Revelation 22:3, the conclusion, whether it be tomorrow or a thousand years from now, will happen. Every day we are one day closer to this:

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Prophecy is grand and amazing. The God who ordained His prophecies, shared them with His people, and works every day to uphold and fulfill his promises is even more amazing. All praise for the Lord God Almighty!

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Posted in end time, high priest, melchizedek, prophecy

Jesus as High Priest

Posted on 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!

Posted in prophecy, theology

What will become of the devil? Satan’s end

Posted on 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

Posted in prophecy, theology

“But I’m a good person!”

Posted on 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

filled with hope verse

Posted in prophecy, theology

The only glory they’ll ever see…

Posted on 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

Posted in prophecy, theology

Throwback Thursday: One Day Closer to Seeing Our Groom

Posted on 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

Posted in prophecy, theology

Shout Your Abortion, and John Owen on infanticide

Posted on 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.

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