Category: prophecy

Posted in end time, prophecy

Heaven and nature sing, and repeat the sounding joy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Did you ever stop to really consider the words to the Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World”? I’ll paste the first two stanzas and continue below:

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

Heaven sings. But how can nature sing? And how can fields, floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the joy that nature sings? Let’s look at some other, similar language and examples from the bible of nature doing just that:

In Luke 19:40, the Pharisees were aghast at the outpouring of adulation toward Jesus when “…the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ” (Luke 19:37b) The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”(Luke 19:39). “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 39:40).

Matthew Henry says of that verse, “Whether men praise Christ or no he will, and shall, and must be praised (v. 40): If these should hold their peace, and not speak the praises of the Messiah’s kingdom, the stones would immediately cry out, rather than that Christ should not be praised. This was, in effect, literally fulfilled, when, upon men’s reviling Christ upon the cross, instead of praising him, and his own disciples’ sinking into a profound silence, the earth did quake and the rocks rent.” 

Another instance of nature somehow becoming verbal is from Romans:

“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” (Romans 8:22).” Can creation groan? Barnes’ notes says

“And travaileth in pain together – This expression properly denotes the extreme pain of parturition. It also denotes any intense agony, or extreme suffering; and it means here that the condition of all things has been that of intense, united, and continued suffering; in other words, that we are in a world of misery and death. This has been united; all have partaken of it: it has been intense; all endure much: it has been unremitted; every age has experienced the repetition of the same thing.”

In Isaiah, we see another example of how nature reflects the glory of the Lord and point to us as to how we should reflect it also: “Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, He displays His glory in Israel.” (Isaiah 44:23 NIV)

The expressions of nature itself crying out is figurative, strongly figurative. As Barnes’ Notes say, “The expression here seems to be “proverbial,” and is not to be taken literally. Proverbs are designed to express the truth “strongly,” but are not to be taken to signify as much as if they were to be interpreted literally. The sense is, that his coming was an event of so much importance that it “ought” to be celebrated in some way, and “would” be celebrated. It would be impossible to restrain the people, and improper to attempt it. The language here is strong proverbial language to denote that fact. We are not to suppose, therefore, that our Saviour meant to say that the stones were “conscious” of his coming, or that God would “make” them speak, but only that there was “great joy” among the people; that it was “proper” that they should express it in this manner, and that it was not fit that he should attempt to repress it.”

So, no, little grass blades do not have a mouth that opens and sings and proclaims the glory of God. The fields do not ululate in joyful adulation at His soon return, and upcoming release from the burden of the curse. For nature, it is impossible to restrain their joy. With humans, we all too often restrain it. We drag around grousing over the petulant colleague, or the air conditioning in church or the car that has lost its new car smell. We should mirror the creation in how it declares His glory. We sing for the Redemption soon to come. We praise for the creation that will experience lifted curse. We shout to the heavens that the babe is born. We cry out that He is risen, lives, and loves us. We acknowledge His creation, even the stones, and sing out! He soon comes!

We are blessed to be the terminal generation who will not die but be changed in an instant, putting aside corruptible flesh for incorruptible glorified bodies. We will dine with the King. We will watch Him renew the earth to its perfection. We will live where there is no sin. If I was a blade of grass, I would cry out at that! Do you repeat the sounding joy?

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Posted in end time, prophecy, wheel within a wheel

The machinery of heaven

Posted on by elizabethprata

When we think of heaven, we often think of the emotions we will feel in heaven. Foremost in many Christians’ hearts is our reunion with the risen Jesus in the flesh. We know Him now by faith, but up there we will know Him by sight. We think of the love that will abound, and the crushing dazzle that will envelop us. We also think of the people we will reunite with, people we were heart-breakingly separated in time and space from husbands, wives, children, parents, friends.

Some Christians go further in their thoughts, when they dwell on heavenly things, envisioning the city of New Jerusalem (which descends from heaven). Puzzling over the transparent street of gold (street is singular in the Rev 21:21 verse), thinking of the animals that will be peaceful, pondering the upcoming beauty and majesty of the surroundings described in the few verses that present a physical picture of New Jerusalem to us.

But did you ever think of the machinery of heaven? Machinery is a strange word to think of being in heaven, because the word machines bring to mind oil and drip pans and messiness and noise, none of which meshes with a peaceful and perfect heaven. But if you never think of machinery in heaven, you haven’t read Ezekiel 1.

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision

In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was on him.

I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

lapis lazuli

Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
————————————————
Well! That was some inaugural vision! Did you notice the moment when Ezekiel saw the wheel beside the creature, and that the creature was in the heaven (sky) and the wheel was on the ground? I envision the the heavenly realms and the earth as connected, the wheels of heaven rotating and the creature moving as the Spirit led and the wheels beside him moving too. Machinery. Incredible, unexplainable machinery.

The other unexplainable thing to this is that we GET TO GO THERE! We will see this creature. We will see the throne and the rainbow of lapis above. We will be with Jesus, yes. We will reunite with loved ones, yes. We will meet martyrs and missionaries and Apostles and just plain folks there, yes. But we will see God in all His glory and His works, too! His wonders to behold. He will give us glorified eyes so that we CAN behold them. He is marvelous and merciful indeed. Are you getting impatient to see all this? I am! I can’t wait!
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Posted in blair and hitchens, end time, Ixchel, julian of Norwich, prophecy

Of Mayan goddesses,Tony Blair’s time-delayed faith, and Pope Benedict

Posted on by elizabethprata

Despite the abundant evidence for God’s existence and for Jesus’ work on the cross, many people refuse to believe. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised…” Paul wrote in Romans 1:25. We know that this state of worshiping something or someone other than Jesus will only continue to increase in the last days. As a matter of fact, this state of affairs MUST continue, because it is prophesied. “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for [that day will not come] until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. “(2 Thess 2:3-4). In this case, “apostasy” means falling away or departure from belief.

The moment when the Antichrist proclaims himself to be god, the whole world will be astonished. We are told they will follow that beast and believe, especially when he recovers from a seemingly fatal head wound, though in a disfigured way- (Revelation 13:3; Zechariah 11:17). However it is not so astonishing. It is the logical conclusion to falling away from God. He simply allows people to follow their own desires to their natural end: total evil.

As the run-up to that moment proceeds apace, we see plenty of apostasy in the world already. Any and all religions, philosophies, and modes of higher thought are venerated, while the only true way, following Jesus, is denigrated. The global climate change conference held in Cancun Mexico this week opened with a prayer to the Mayan moon goddess Ixchel.

In January, a terrible earthquake occurred in Haiti. Though many were killed, it awakened a spiritual revival and many repented and came to Jesus. However, almost a year on, the Haitians have endured aftermath of the earthquake, a devastating cholera plague, riots, violence, water shortage and famine. We read, “Fear overtaking some Haitians in spiritual realm. “Throughout the eleven months from the January earthquake to the November elections, millions of lives have been lost in Haiti. Homes have collapsed, children have been orphaned, church leaders have fallen ill. No one can blame those who have managed to survive the extensive trauma for being at least a bit nervous. The suffocating fear that now chokes the country, though, has led to some troubling spiritual outcomes. For one thing, many believers have been too scared even to go to church. “[Fear] sets the stage for the other false religions to flare up, as they’ve been recently hearing more of the voodoo drums at night.”

In other apostasy news, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and noted atheist Christopher Hitchens debated religion this week.

“Mr Blair, a Catholic convert, said faith was a force for good and it was “futile” to attempt to drive it out. But Mr Hitchens, who is terminally ill with cancer, argued religion forced people into doing terrible things. In a vote after the debate, the audience voted two-to-one in Mr Hitchens’ favour. A 23-country poll paid for by the debate’s Canadian organisers suggests the world is evenly split on the issue.”

Evenly split…how sad! Note this news story from 2007 “After 30 years as a closet Catholic, Blair finally puts faith on the front burner

It is stated in the article, “His spiritual awakening goes back at least 30 years, to his time as an undergraduate at Oxford, but due to political considerations Tony Blair’s conversion to Catholicism has been a long time coming.” In Matthew 8 a disciple of Jesus said he would like to follow Him but wanted to bury his father first. The disciple’s father was not laying dead on a slab somewhere but what the disciple was saying was that he wanted to wait until his father died and then he would follow Jesus. Jesus said “Let the dead bury their own dead.” (Mt 8:21-22). In another case, the rich young man didn’t want to sell all he had to follow Jesus though he seemed zealous enough in the beginning of the conversation. (Mt 19:22) The hitch came when it became obvious he would have to give up wealth and disappointed, he turned away. Jesus demands that we be ready to give up our earthly possessions, money, and way of life to follow Him, or they will not inherit eternal life. For thirty years Blair stated a faith but was not willing to give all to Jesus to enact that faith. He wanted his political career and all that came with it, fame, wealth, attention. Blair lost the debate 2-to-1 because you cannot defend that which you do not know.

Speaking of Catholicism (and apostasy), Pope Benedict reveals his mystical side
From Ministry Values.com – “Pope Benedict XVI held a general audience this week in which he revealed a side of himself which is very real but, unfortunately, quite unknown to many who receive their information about the Pope from the secular press: he revealed his mystical side. The mystical side of the Pope came out this Wednesday when Benedict admirably spoke of Julian of Norwich, a medieval English mystic and visionary, as well as when he gave an enthusiastic shout out (on the same day) to Croatian pilgrims from the village of Medjugorje, where six modern visionaries have reported experiencing the supernatural phenomenon of Marian apparitions since they were children in 1981. Pope Benedict spoke of Julian of Norwich—who is considered one of the greatest English mystics in history and the first woman to write a book in the English language—with great affection, citing her work “Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love.” Julian, who lived between the years 1342-1416, was an anchoress in the town of Norwich who experienced mystical visions of Jesus Christ when she was 30. Her visions resulted in revelations that were recorded as theology in her book on Divine Love.”

An anchoress is a type of hermit living in a cell attached to the church, engaged in contemplative prayer. They are walled-in, never to come out. They are fed by the Church and are expected to produce evidence of their wisdom either verbally by dispensing advice to comers who knock on a small grate which she slides back, or written form through books. Julian’s book, “Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love” (circa 1393) is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the English language. She had her visions on what she believed to be her deathbed, but recovered, and wrote them down, finalizing her theology 16 years later.

One falsity that Julian taught was this: she believed that sin was necessary in life because it brings one to self-knowledge, which leads to acceptance of the role of God in one’s life. Julian taught that humans sin because they are ignorant or naive, not because they are evil.. Secondly, Julian saw no wrath in God. She believed wrath only existed in humans, but that God forgives us for this…Lastly, Julian’s theology was controversial in regard to her belief in God as mother. So you can see the issue with one of the leaders of the (perceived) Christian world, the Pope, admiring this anchoress and her false theology!

She was the first notable person noted as Universalist, believing that there is one universal truth: God is love, and ONLY love. She, and most Universalists believe that when Jesus spoke of God’s judgment upon the wicked, he did so with words that implied a limited, corrective punishment. This is not true. His wrath is real and He will not let the guilty go unpunished. The smoke of the torment of the lost goes up forever. (Nahum 1:2-6; Rev 19:2-3). Julian was troubled by the question of what would befall those who had never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The answer she received was that whatever God does is done in love, and therefore “that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Beloved, most importantly in these end times, mystical visions and experiences are NEVER theology. That is why we in the West are having the issue today of a diluted theology from the Charismatics who promote the Word of Life gospel, prosperity Gospel, and all the other perversions of the true Gospel. If the canon of scripture is not closed at John the Revelator’s warning in Rev 22:18, then you can and you will accept anything as theology, and build a faith upon t something will turn out to be sand and fog. We are told that satan comes as a minister of righteousness, and that in the Tribulation even the elect can be deceived because some supernatural workings will be so convincing and so powerful. NOT EVERYTHING SUPERNATURAL IS FROM GOD! Beware falsity.

I do not believe Islam is the major threat to Christianity, the “god is love” idea is the major threat and I beleive will be the prevalent religion in the tribulation. Not Islam. In Islam, no one is assured of attaining heaven (except through jihad). It is a works-based religion, which includes worshiping Allah and prayer, among other of the 5 pillars. You work and you pray and you obey but a Muslim will never know if they ‘made it’ until they face Muhammad, and even then he is said to be capricious. He may deny you entry. The only surety of attaining heaven is to die in jihad, a martyr’s death, killing non-Muslims.

As far as the Tribulation religion goes, to which would you rather succumb, a religious structure as embodied by Iran’s President Ahmadinejad in which you are never sure you will get to heaven, unless you blow up apostates? Or one in which is embodied in Pope Benedict, where “that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”, no repentance required?

The only way to stay true to Jesus and not fall away is to continually read His word. Study what He said to us, and you will be well.

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Posted in end time, microbe, mono lake, prophecy

What does the NASA discovery of the new life-form at Mono Lake mean?

Posted on by elizabethprata

This week, NASA scientists announced that a new life-form had been discovered, saying “NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.”

It caused a sensation among scientists, amateur astronomers, and conspiracy theorists. Waiting for the press conference on Thursday Dec 2 was a nail-biter. Millions tuned in. NASA explained what had been discovered. It was “a bombshell that upends long-held assumptions about the basic building blocks of life, scientists have discovered a a whole new type of creature: a microbe that lives on arsenic. It is unlike every other lifeform on the planet – from the simplest plant to the most complex mammal. “It’s terrestrial life – but not life as we know it,” said Mary Voytek, director of NASA’s astrobiology program.

Well.

“All life on Earth relies on six principal elements — carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus. Phosphorus is a key ingredient in the ladder of DNA, as well as many key components of cellular machinery. The microbe in Mono Lake uses arsenic as a nutrient; not one of six major elements thought to be essential for life.”

As science goes, this is pretty major and I can applaud the persistence of the scientists and enjoy the thrill of discovery and increased knowledge. But what does it mean for Christians? How does this discovery mesh with what we know, believe, and have faith in?

There could be of four paths of thought about this new ‘discovery.’ My list is certainly not exhaustive, they are simply musings upon my Lord and the work He is obviously doing in the world now, in the end of the end time.

First, in Revelation 13:3; Zechariah 11:17 the antichrist is seemingly killed by a head wound and then seemingly raised from the dead. (I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;) Can it be? Can satan create, or at least imitate, new life? I don’t think so, the verse in all its translations says that the antichrist only seemed to be dead. Satan is a counterfeiter. He can pervert life (Genesis 6:4). He can genetically mutate life (Numbers 13:23; 33 NASB) but he cannot and does not create new life. He only fakes it. It is toxic life, filled with sin as the antichrist is after he seemingly rises from the dead. If satan counterfeits life, than a toxic emergence of toxic cells filled with arsenic sounds like just his style. So one idea is that the microbe is something that satan perverted in his never-ending quest to be like God (Isaiah 14:14).

Second, we do know that the Lord has a purpose and a plan for this life that we do not know. Even if satan twisted God’s good life-forms into a toxic pestilence, God will use it for his good and his purposes. If God made this life, then He made it for His plan and His purposes which we know are always good. (Romans 8:28)

Third, is this microbe something that God made as a readiness of the pestilences that Rev 6:8 says will come? A pestilence(s) of some kind is prophesied to emerge when the fourth horseman rides. Maybe this is a killer pestilence. It IS a bacteria, after all.

Fourth, and last, it could be that the scientists are wrong. Mockers of Christ will scorn this last idea, for their god is science, and to them, it is inerrant. But science has often been wrong. Last year, the fossil dubbed “Ida” was supposed to be a missing link in the theory of evolution., We are related to lemurs, scientists said. ‘This will re-write history,’ they said. Almost immediately, the hoopla faded and scientists were saying Oops! Fossil not missing link after all, It’s just 2 animals squashed together, Utah museum says. History re-written? And I didn’t even have time to uncap my pen. Some scientists even claim that the notion of a missing link at all is a myth. After Ida, a new missing link was touted. Before Ida, we were supposed to have been related to birds.

This microbe was found in the lake but then grown in a petrie dish and increased amounts of arsenic added to it. It was manipulated, in attempts to re-create the in-situ conditions. In biology in situ means to examine the phenomenon exactly in place where it occurs (i.e. without moving it to some special medium). Moving the bacteria to other conditions and coddling them as you inject new arsenic to see if they can handle it is not exactly the same as what was found at Mono Lake.

This is not to say science is bad. It isn’t. I am saying that science isn’t my god. I don’t believe it is the source of absolute truth, or even inerrant truth. The discoveries are touted with ever-increasing fervor (nervous hysteria?) combined with blaring headlines full of hyperbole. Let’s just say, based on an observable track record, I am skeptical that this microbe is what science is purporting it to be.

Scientists keep exclaiming that this microbe is not like any life they thought possible, nor is like any life that thought existed. New life-forms are conformed to exist, scientists say, and it is not like any life they thought possible. The discovery “changes what we think of as life” they say. Scientists need to expand their thinking a little more. Christians know that other life exists. God created angels, you know. They are off-earth life forms that live, breathe, think, and exist in various dimensions inside of time and outside of time – at will. Here is a description of one extraterrestrial life-form that’s pretty dizzying:

“Within it there were figures resembling four living beings And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies…” Ezekiel 1:5-11…

I think God’s wheels within wheels beats a toxic microbe any day.

Whatever God is doing by revealing a bacteria that has a basic building block different from us humans is not cause to doubt nor to defend nervously. It IS cause for celebration. His ways are so far above our ways, but He lets us participate in observing His work on earth with insight from the indwelling Holy Spirit, and soon we will FULLY participate as co-heirs in His work from heaven. Praise His name, He is amazing!

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Posted in end time, prophecy

They hate Him without cause

Posted on by elizabethprata

We know that many of the Psalms are prophetic. Psalm 83 lists a particular configuration of nations that attack Israel, and that particular configuration has not occurred yet. In Psalm 22, the crucifixion is depicted. We know that David was not crucified so it must be that Jesus is speaking through David in a prayer that’s a  forerunner to the actual event. Psalm 69 is again one of those prayers of Christ speaking through David, in part or in whole. Though Psalm 69 could be easily applied to the Christ-type David, most of it can also applied to Christ speaking those words, especially verses 4, 9, 21, bolded here:

 Here are verses Psalm 69:1-12; 22

Save me, O God,         
For the waters have threatened my life.    
I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;         
I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.    
I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;        
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.    
4. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;         
Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;
What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
O God, it is You who knows my folly,         
And my wrongs are not hidden from You.    
May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts;         
May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,    
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;        
Dishonor has covered my face.    
I have become estranged from my brothers         
And an alien to my mother’s sons.  
9. For zeal for Your house has consumed me,         
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.   
When I wept in my soul with fasting,         
It became my reproach.    
When I made sackcloth my clothing,         
I became a byword to them.    
Those who sit in the gate talk about me,         
And I am the song of the drunkards.
…
21. They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

In Psalm 69 we get a peek at how the Lord was feeling, not just what He was doing or saying as he is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

I was moved to think of Him born in a stable, or a cave, laid as a babe to rest in a trough. His humble beginnings carried out through his life, with the Son of Man having no place to lay His head. And to boot, being scorned by drunkards at the gate, and his own half-brothers not believing Him (John 7:5). Just as Psalm 22 begins with humility and ends in exultation, so does Psalm 69.

Now the cross-reference:

Prophesied:
(Psalms 69:4) Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.

Fulfilled:
(John 15:23-25) “He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, “They hated Me without a cause.'”

Do you hate Him without cause?
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Posted in end time, mud island appears, pakistan, prophecy

Island appears overnight in Pakistan, it’s seismic

Posted on by elizabethprata

Island of mud appears near Hingol, shows seismicity

PFF spokesman, Sami Memon told Dawn.com that the fishermen of Ibrahim Hyderi area described the occurrence after returning from Hingol. Fishermen observed white, slippery hot sand erupting from water,  three km away from the beach. Before the upsurge of sludge, fishermen also observed high tides near the coast and several boats were trapped due to the emergence of the island. Memon told Dawn.com that the island is 98 feet beneath the water and 196 feet above the sea level which is a total of 295 feet in height. According to Memon, the fishermen also registered another island 12 years back which plunged into the sea after four months. However, the amateur video of the event clearly showed eruption of white hot liquid sludge on top of the island which is still ongoing. Speaking to Dawn.com, Director of Geolabs at Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP), Asif Nazeer Rana said the area holds three tectonic plates – namely Eurasian, Arabian and Indian plates which are responsible for high seismic activity due to subduction in the Makran area. Rana said that the Chaman Transverse Fault could also be responsible for the sudden rise of the island at Hingol because the fault is extremely active, moving at a rate of four centimeter yearly. The Chaman Fault is the only physical feature of Pakistan which can be seen from space and it was responsible for the horrifying earthquake of 31 May, 1935 in Quetta. Over 30,000 people died in the quake. Rana said that an earthquake of 4.1 magnitude on the Richter scale was also recorded recently in the Chiltan area due to activity of the Chaman Fault and the series of these events need serious attention. – Dawn.com”

This happened before. An island appearing overnight, that is. “New Volcano appears, Wasn’t there days ago.”

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Posted in end time, pre-trib, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

The rapture will occur before the Tribulation

Posted on by elizabethprata

Believers of the Church Age will not go through the Tribulation. This statement is not an opinion. It is decree from God. Anyone who firmly believes the Church will go through the Tribulation is twisting verses. Further, anyone believing the Church will go through the Tribulation has an incomplete understanding of what the Tribulation is all about. Here are the verses:

The Tribulation’s purpose is stated in Dan 9:24. God’s purpose for the Tribulation is to accomplish 6 things:

Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to:
1. finish transgression,
2. to put an end to sin,
3. to atone for wickedness,
4. to bring in everlasting righteousness,
5. to seal up vision and prophecy and
6. to anoint the most holy.

First, the verse begins by stating it is for “your people,” the Jews. Not the church. It is stated for Jerusalem, (and wicked unbelievers by extension). Not the church. The transgression to be finished was the prophesied 490 years of a decree stated in Daniel 9:25:

“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.”

The starting point of that decree began in Artaxerxes given in 444 b.c. as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8. It paused at the crucifixion of Jesus. It will resume the last 7 years of this earthly existence, after the rapture. It is a time when the Jews will be dealt with, God picking up the threads of a work begun at the decree of Daniel.

Second, believers in the church age have had our transgressions is already put an end to. We are considered righteous with Him, made perfect, our sins nailed to the cross. (Heb 12:23; Col 2:14). So that takes care of #1 and 2 and 3. Jesus atoned for our wickedness and our repentance clears the judgment against us. Why would Jesus die to make us perfect, we are seen as righteous in His eyes, only to be punished for sins already wiped away? Makes no sense. It makes God contrary and inconsistent, and He is not that!

Third, Paul said we are not appointed for wrath. (1 Thess 5:9). The “wrath” is not that God is really, really mad. It’s not an emotion. It is punishment and it is controlled and it has a purpose (see above, again). It has a designated beginning and an end. Rev 6:17 declares that His wrath has begun (with the seals opened) and Rev 15:1 concludes it. The church is seen in Rev 5 in heaven already (singing!), and a  reasonable interpretation of Rev 4 shows our arrival. Revelation is mostly chronological and we arrive in Heaven prior to Rev 6 when the wrath begins.We are not only not appointed for it, but He promises to rescue from it.

“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thes. 1:9-10).

Fourth, Paul wrote: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess 13-18). The Second Coming shows Jesus returning all the way to earth. But that is not where we meet Him. We meet Him in the air. When? Prior to our return with Him in Rev 19:4.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3).

“For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.” (Psalm 27:5)

The Holy Spirit spent a tremendous amount of energy and words encouraging us to look for Him, telling us we won’t be here, and blessing us for longing for His appearing. Therefore, we will not be here. It is not an opinion, it is a promise of GOD! 🙂 You can bank on it, rest on it, and declare His glory through it!

Have a wonderful day and blessings to you!
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Posted in end time, prophecy, wikileaks

What effect will the Wikileaks dump have on the end time?

Posted on by elizabethprata

WikiLeaks ‘nothing short of a political meltdown for US foreign policy’ – Der Spiegel

“The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year. At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables – many of which are designated “secret” – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN’s leadership. These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistlebowers’ website, also reveal Washington’s evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.” Read more from The Guardian

Some of the revelations include:

Iran is fortifying its arsenal with the aid of North Korea – NYT

Arms deliveries to militants: Cables describe the United States’ failing struggle to prevent Syria from supplying arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has amassed a huge stockpile since its 2006 war with Israel. One week after President Bashar al-Assad promised a top State Department official that he would not send “new” arms to Hezbollah, the United States complained that it had information that Syria was providing increasingly sophisticated weapons to the group.- NYT

US embassy cables: US fails to dissuade Turkey from Iran ‘meddling’ – The Guardian

Iran is fortifying its arsenal with the aid of North Korea – NYT

Saudi willingness to see nuclear weapons deployed in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) as a deterrent to Iran. – Wikileaks

Wikileaks docs show Turkey helped al-Qaeda – Jerusalem Post

What does all this mean for the end time? We know that conflict in the Middle East is front and center at the end of the end time and in the Tribulation. At some point, a war prophesied in Psalm 83 occurs where Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and miscellaneous enemy groups (potentially Hezbollah and Hamas) attack Israel. Isaiah 17:1 depicts Damascus (Syria) totally destroyed. And of course, Gog-Magog battle takes place, by the end of which all the nations know it was GOD who protected Israel from the surprise attack by Russia, Iran, and Turkey.

The nations have been gridlocked for so long over matters of national security maybe the lid being blown off will prompt some action. Iran is obviously making nukes, but they deny it, and their plausible denials have allowed the cover to stay on. Turkey’s shift in alliance from the west to the Muslim nations is obvious, but their protestations and insistence on inclusion in Western channels allowed the cover to stay on. Syria’s obvious military build-up behind the UN’s coattails has allowed plausible deniability to reign- until the Wikileaks cover blew them all sky high.

Perhaps this will be the catalyst for action to be taken. Perhaps this is what it will take for Israel to say, we wait no more for fickle and lying “allies”. Perhaps this is what it will take for the US to fall, in credibility, foreign policy, and be forever marginalized at the edges of the grownup table. It certainly has destabilized the US.

I am not intelligent enough in foreign affairs to determine what effect these documents will cause. And after all, fewer than 300 of almost 3 million have been yet published. But the above allegations alone are incendiary. I believe the most incendiary is the Saudi plea to allow a nuclear deployment to Iran’s ambitions. This will have an effect. What exactly that will be, only God knows. In the meantime, come, Lord Jesus!
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Posted in end time, north korea, prophecy, wars and rumors of wars

Will the church be on earth during wars? Will we experience wartime hardship?

Posted on by elizabethprata

We know that the first judgments in the Tribulation (the Church is gone) are the Seals. The Second Seal is the Red Horse and its rider takes peace from the earth. But the warnings of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse also remind us that one of the birth pang signs is also war, and not just between nations but kingdoms against kingdoms. Will we, the Church experience the effects of war? Will war occur on our soil prior to the Rapture?

We have experienced war since the moment Jesus ascended, as part of the prophesied birth pangs. In one sense, the Church is already experiencing wartime hardship. Any Christian in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, or much of Africa is living in a time when war touches their lives directly. But with the ramping up of the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, with the US and China being dragged in as powerful allies, it is a timely question. There was a mystery missile shot just 35 miles from the western shores of the US this month, which also spooked many. In our secret heart of hearts, we have visions of mushroom clouds over LA, NY, Kansas… Or Sydney or London. Will wartime hardship touch the Christians in other places and locations? Let’s take a look.

WARS RUMORS OF WARS-
Matthew 24:6: “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.”
Mark 13:8a: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
Luke 21:11– “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus spoke of what will happen in direct response to the Disciples’ questions about the end of the age and the signs indicating it. In the first verse of His answer in Mt 24:2 He told of something that will happen in a few years hence, though the Disciples were not aware of the timing. The Temple was going to be destroyed in 70AD. Then He spoke of signs of the end of the age in verses 4-8. Verse 9 begins a shift to the time of the Tribulation. Jesus says: “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” The rest of the Discourse relates only to the Jews and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble as they term it, or as we term it, The Tribulation.

We know that the first judgments in the Tribulation (the Church is gone) are the Seals. The Second Seal is the Red Horse and its rider takes peace from the earth. But the warnings of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse also remind us that one of the birth pang signs is also war, and not just against nations but kingdoms against kingdoms.

The number of military conflicts have risen dramatically as the end nears. In one of John MacArthur’s sermons on this subject (the end days) he cited statistics at the Encyclopedia of Wars, and I placed those numbers into a spreadsheet and turned it into a graph showing the number of military conflicts over the last 3000 years. No one on the planet since Jesus uttered His warning sign has been immune from wars, conflicts, battles, and uprisings. You can view that post by clicking here. The graph is below:

Though numbers of wars have been rising and rumors of wars are constant nowadays, I believe that the difference between our living through military conflicts now and those in the Tribulation will be markedly different. Why? The bible tells us. The verse in Revelation states: “When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.” (Rev 6:4)

Please notice several things about that Tribulation verse. First, peace is taken from the earth. There is no peace, anywhere! Imagine living in a constant state of conflict. Even in your home, you feel no peace. Riots, wars, conflict, fights, any flavor of the opposite of peace you want to think of, will be the state of things, all the time. Now, even in the end time prior to the Tribulation, we can find peace. Rumors of wars are unsettling, but they are not the scale and breadth that they will be as soon as we leave and the Seal is opened.

Sword is the Lord’s metaphor for war, or actually, judgment. The root word in the verse in Rev 6:4 is megas, meaning exceeding, great, large; and machaira, meaning figuratively, war, judicial punishment — sword. So, second, the verse takes careful note of the size of the sword. The Lord gave unto men a sword in other verses throughout the bible, as in Ezekiel 21:14; Ez 32:20; Jer 50:36; etc. Look up sword in the bible, and then look up large sword (or great sword, mighty sword). The sword of war is never described in any of the verses I could find, as mighty, (except in one verse in Isaiah 27:1, The Deliverance of Israel, which is the Lord’s own sword.) In other words, the wars and rumors of wars now are normal business, but the Tribulation wars will be devastating.

See what happens in the Fourth Seal: When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” The verse tells us a quarter of the earth’s population dies, partly from results of war (sword).

Ultimately, I interpret the verses in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 to say though there will be conflict both prior to the Trib and afterwards, the conflict in the Tribulation will be horrendous while the conflicts in the end of the age will be manageable. Will the US experience a nuclear holocaust, or even en electro-magnetic pulse wiping out all electronics? Maybe, I can’t predict the future, but I believe the church all over the world will experience normal conflict prior to leaving, but not horrendous hardship from nukes and direct attacks. That would be judgment, and we are not to be judged.

That is not to say that the normal course of war is anything to take lightly. It’s terrible. Ask any war widow. Ask anyone who lives in the line of fire, whose home is blown up and who has lost their nation, being a refugee. But the terrible times of the wars depicted in the Tribulation will be so much worse.

When Jesus said that there will be nations rising against nations, and kingdoms against kingdoms, it sounds quaint and old-timey to hear the word “kingdom.” Monarchies seem outdated and bygone. But there are kingdoms in the world today, many with ruling and active kings (or queens). UK’s full name is really The Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The full name of other nations reveal many kingdoms. Others on the earth today include the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Kingdom of Denmark. Kingdom of Bahrain. Kingdom of Belgium. Kingdom of Bhutan.  Kingdom of Cambodia. Kingdom of Lesotho. Kingdom of Morocco. Kingdom of the Netherlands. Kingdom of Norway. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Kingdom of Spain. Kingdom of Swaziland. Kingdom of Sweden. Kingdom of Thailand. Kingdom of Tonga.

Kingdom of Tonga

Isn’t it strange to think that in the Tribulation, no where will be peaceful, including the far-off, remote and tiny place of Tonga. How many travel posters tout places like Tonga as the quintessential peaceful place, perfect to escape to? Pictures sch as the one above are emblematic of peace and tranquility. But when Jesus tells John that “peace will be taken from the earth”, that means that nowhere on earth will you find peace. Nowhere. At all.

As for the current conflict in the China Sea, time will tell how that may or may not blossom into a hot conflict narrow in scope or worldwide in impact. We won’t have long to wait. The joint US-SKorean military exercises are due to begin on Sunday and NKorea has vowed retaliation of we do. Here are a series of recent news headlines illustrating the progression of the conflict that has evolved over the last four days:

Boston Globe: South Korea’s Defense Minister Resigns
South Korea’s defense minister resigned Thursday, two days after an artillery attack by North Korea killed four people on small island near their disputed frontier.  The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vowed to send more troops to the island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from its blackened wreckage. Pyongyang warned of additional attacks if provoked.

Korean Times: NK fired fuel-air shells on Yeonpyeong
North Korea used a new type of artillery shell capable of penetrating concrete walls and causing fires in Tuesday’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, military investigators said Thursday.  The “special shell” similar to a thermobaric weapon, known as a fuel-air bomb, is believed to have been deployed since 1985, they said. A team of investigators has recovered some 20 duds that landed on the island for analysis.

BBC News: N Korea warns war drills take region to ‘brink of war’
North Korea has warned that impending joint military exercises by the South and the US are pushing the region to “the brink of war”.  A group of naval ships, led by a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier, is heading to the Yellow Sea to take part in the drills, due to begin on Sunday.  At least four South Koreans died on Tuesday when the North shelled the Southern island of Yeonpyeong.

Korea’s Yonhap News: N. Korea says it is ‘ready to annihilate’ S. Korea’s stronghold North Korea said Friday it is “ready to annihilate” South Korea’s stronghold if its sovereignty is violated even a bit, raising already high tension after the two countries exchanged artillery barrages earlier this week, Yonhap reported. “We will show a firm and merciless example to whichever provoker encroaches on our dignity and sovereignty,” the North’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation: Japan increasing air patrols
Japan currently deploys five EP3 aircraft at its Iwakuni Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan.  The aircraft routinely patrol the skies over Japan and surrounding areas, monitoring North Korea’s military activities, such as a ballistic missile launches.  The Defense Ministry appears to be increasing the number of EP3 flights to be on the alert for further possible military actions by the North.

UK Independent: Expats recalled as North Korea prepares for war
A mass exodus of North Korean workers from the Far East of Russia is under way, according to reports coming out of the region. As the two Koreas edged towards the brink of war this week, it appears that the workers in Russia have been called back to aid potential military operations.

China’s Xinhua News: Chinese FM discusses Korean Peninsula issue with Russian, Japanese counterparts on phone
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Saturday discussed the latest situation on the Korean Peninsula in phone calls with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Japanese foreign minister Seiji Maehara. He said all parties should work together to help cool the situation as soon as possible and effectively ensure no repeat of such conflict. Meanwhile, the Chinese minister expressed the hope that concerned parties would take a reasonable and pragmatic approach to actively create favorable conditions for resuming the six-party talks.

Hankyoreh (Korea’s Independent Newspaper): Joint drills will be far from NLL, military reports
Joint South Korea-U.S. drills with the USS George Washington in the West Sea will be held from Sunday to Wednesday. North Korea has promised retaliation if both countries hold the drills in the West Sea. South Korea and the United States have stated that the drills are routine and defensive in nature, but with the drills being held in the middle of the West Sea for the first time, they strongly take on the character of a show of force against North Korea.

Stock Analyst: SKorea may elevate NKorea to main enemy status
Meanwhile, an unidentified South Korean official told Yonhap Saturday Seoul was mulling over whether to designate North Korea as its “main enemy” when the Defense Ministry publishes its next biannual defense white paper. The South now considers North Korea “an immediate and direct threat” to its national security.

The world holds its breath as it teeters on the brink of war.
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Posted in end time, prophecy

Enduring sound doctrine in the days of tickling ears

Posted on by elizabethprata

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires…” (2 Timothy 4:3)

Do you notice that word “endure”? The verse does not say “they will not like sound doctrine…” It does not say “they will not enjoy sound doctrine…” It doesn’t even say “they will not accept sound doctrine.” It uses the word endure. When you endure something, you writhe. You wish you were not there in the midst of it. If anyone has ever undergone physical therapy, you know that you have to endure it but if you could you would shoot out of the gym so fast you’d be like a speeding bullet. If anyone has ever had to get a root canal, you know that you endure it. You do not seek it, you do not like it, and if you could, you go away from it.

That is the process by which lukewarm Christians, fake Christians, and unholy pastors feel about the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. To be sure, the true Gospel of the Risen Savior is full of warm fuzzies. He loves us. He prospers us. He sends angels to us. But the True Gospel is also full of truth, the unpalatable truth that the iniquitous lawless cannot endure: we are sinners. Rejection of the remedy for your sin means you will spend eternity in torment, apart from God. That there is nothing good in us. That we are fallen, craven, and deserve judgment. No, they will not endure that. So they don’t.

Instead they seek teachers to tempt us with what the devil has always tempted us with, and tempted Jesus too: health, wealth, fame. They may find it in some “preachers” and in some “churches”, but it is for a season. Most do not find prosperity in health, wealth and fame. The only ones becoming famous and rich are the false pastors who urge the hapless and desperate to send money.

In his new series, “Toxic Television: Unmasking the Prosperity Gospel part 1” bible teacher John MacArthur spends a few minutes below of his one-hour sermon (linked above) explaining why Joel Osteen is false, dangerous, and unholy. He also spends time explaining why the Trinity Broadcast Network is also false, dangerous and unholy. MacArthur says, Osteen “is a quasi-pantheist where Jesus is a footnote that satisfies his critics and deceives his followers.” As for Osteen’s book, MacArthur says ‘Your Best Life Now’, the title, is a dead giveaway. The only way you can have your best life now is if you’re going to hell.”

Toxic Television: Unmasking the Prosperity Gospel part 1

A watered down gospel removes the book-end to the love parts that they seek. That other book-end is judgment. They will not endure sound teaching that His holiness involves love but it also includes righteous judgment.

“I have sworn by Myself,
         The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
         And will not turn back,
         That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
“They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’
         Men will come to Him,
         And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. (Isaiah 45:23-24)

A watered down gospel that removes the other book-end from truth is less filling but it tastes great. The bible shows us that the True Gospel tastes great, and also the watered down false Gospel tastes great. In the verses telling us of Ezekiel’s commission,

“Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.” (Ez 3:1-3).

The true word absorbed by submissive believers is sweet. But it is also sometimes accompanied by a bitterness felt by even the most beloved of followers, even the most obedient of disciples. Sometimes the true word is hard to hear and bitter even for believers, because it reveals to us the true state of our sinfulness and the fate of those who refuse His hand, those mockers and scorners whom we mourn over-

“I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.” (Rev 10:10) The only way to endure the knowledge of judgment that is coming is to rest on His truth and His promises. Those who do not rest in that truth, bitter as it sometimes is, do not endure it. Not only have they stopped asking the Spirit for wisdom, but they simply stop ingesting the sweet Words of the LORD and they flee away, being unstable in all they do.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8)

But we do endure! Paul said to in 2 Tim 2:3, 10. Peter said to in 1 Peter 2:20. The writer in Hebrews 12:7 advised us to endure. Endure what? Hardship. Beatings. Wrongdoing. Life. Hardship. Persecution. And there are those today who cannot sit still in a chair or a pew and ‘endure’ the Word of the Living God who loves them. They seek tickling instead. They are gaining the world only to lose their lives forever.

If you seek sound doctrine but have had a hard time finding it, I encourage you to enjoy the teachers I have been enjoying. John MacArthur is strong, loving, and firm in preaching and teaching all of the Gospel. His doctrine is sound because it comes verse by verse from the Living Word. His website is Grace to You, or gty.org. There, you can read essays and transcripts if you do not have a fast connection, or click on audio or  video to listen or watch.

Steve Hadley of Harvest Family Fellowship is another who teaches the bible and is unapologetic but loving about presenting sound doctrine. Steve’s recent message on 11/21/10 called Judgment Day is a devastatingly honest and convicting message that all need to hear. Click here for the list of messages, including the one titled Judgment Day.

Has solid preaching become an endurance test for you? Or are the hard but truthful words uplifting to you and filling in every way? If you have recently changed churches because the pastor is “a little too bible thumping for my taste”, or have drifted away from regular worship lately because the sermons are too long, too convicting, or demand endurance on the part of your deceitful heart, then ask yourself if you are really just trying to accumulate a teacher in accordance with your own desires, and are wanting your ears tickled with a less filling but great tasting sermon. If so, you may be at risk.

Why at risk? Because we all live forever in eternity in one of two places. The day will come when the eternity you are beginning will either not have the word endure associated with it, which is heaven, or it will have the word endure associated with it. You may try to avoid enduring a convicting sermon from a ticklish teacher today, but the end result will be that you will have to endure an eternity separated from Him in torment. O, faithful one, let it not be so!
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