Category: salvation

Posted in God, raise, salvation, victory

A praise

Posted on by elizabethprata

David sang to the LORD after being delivered to a military victory.

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:2-4)

How much more should we sing of the Lord who delivered us from the enemy of sin, and the violence of the devil? How much more should we praise His holy name for being our fortress and deliverer, accomplished by using His own body, broken and punctured, dead on the cross while enemies mocked? How much more should we sing of Him who rose from the dead, conquering death so that we could conquer death, and be with Him forever? How much more should we sing of Jesus who is our shield and is the very horn of salvation?

Praise our Lord today! Sing, laugh, praise, and proclaim His goodness for all His works! I pray you are victorious in Jesus today!

Posted in death by beasts, salvation

Killer bees sting man to death in Texas

Posted on by elizabethprata

I read of a man who was killed by a vicious swarm of killer bees. Whenever someone dies, and whenever they die in an unusual way, I always think, ‘were they saved? are they in heaven with Jesus now? Or in hell?’ It is somewhat macabre way to be, I admit, but I also think that as we grow into Christ-likeness day by day we become increasingly concerned with souls. We worry about eternal destinations, and are wont to feel the burden of eternity more and more acutely not only for ourselves but for others too.

Then if the way they died was unusual, I think about their last moments. No one expects to wake up any particular morning and think that in a few hours they will be dead, unless they are in seriously late stage 4 cancer or something. No one thinks that this is the day that death will come for you. And if we do think about death, it is usually only in the usual ways and only if death is immediately near- there is a report of a tornado, there is slippery ice ahead, there is gunfire down the road…

Did Tsunami guy standing on the beach on Christmas Day expect to be overcome by the entire ocean? (2004)
Did Steve Irwin expect a stingray to pierce his heart with his stinger-barb? (2006)
Did Surinder Singh Bajwa, the Deputy Mayor of Delhi, India, expect to die after falling from his building’s terrace while trying to fight off attacking Rhesus macaque monkeys? (2007)
Did Taylor Mitchell, a Canadian folk singer, expect to be attacked and killed by three coyotes, the only recorded adult person to have been killed by this species? (2009)
Did Larry Goodwin of Moody, Texas expect to die running from 40,000 killer bees and over 1000 stings which were covering every inch of his body?

“A Texas man was stung to death after he drove his tractor into a pile of wood that concealed a hive of 40,000 “killer bees,” authorities and family members said Sunday. Every inch of exposed skin was covered with stings on the body of Larry Goodwin, 62, of Moody, Texas, family members told NBC station KCEN of Waco. Goodwin died Saturday when the Africanized honeybees swarmed him after his tractor struck a pile of wood that included an abandoned chicken coop where the bees had built their hive. The hive encompassed 22 honeycombs harboring an estimated 40,000 bees.”

Even if you know death is coming you really don’t know at which second it will arrive. And for the hale and healthy, like Mr Goodwin, it was just another day on his tractor, doin’ stuff. Death isn’t expected, nor invited.

But Jesus says that we have to be ready at any moment.

“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

In those short verses, Jesus said it twice. Repent or perish. That does not mean that the repentant never die, just that wen they do they acquire eternal life in the presence of Jesus. That the unrepentant can meet their eternal destiny- destruction in hell at any moment.

In the article there was something interesting reported after the news of poor Mr Goodwin’s death was announced. The article states,

“Africanized honeybees — a highly aggressive hybrid of the Western and African honeybees — spread fear in the U.S. long before they arrived in the country from Central America about 15 years ago, fueled by alarming reports of their tactic of swarming their prey in the thousands and earning them the nickname “killer bees.” While federal figures indicate that fewer than a dozen people have been killed by the bees in the U.S., they are anecdotally believed to be proliferating rapidly. Just 2½ months ago, on March 15, emergency crews were called out after thousands of the bees swarmed inside a family’s home in Wichita Falls, Texas Allen Miller, a bee – removal specialist who cleared the giant hive Saturday in Moody, told KCEN that he’s run into at least five cases of Africanized hives in the past month — more than he usually sees all year.”

Sure enough, other news articles report the same.

KLAS-Las Vegas reports a Sharp Increase in Killer Bee Activity This Year
“The pest services technician destroyed the solid two-foot long swarm within minutes. It was the first of several killer bee extractions he did Thursday, and that’s compared to two a week last year. … If you ever discover a swarm or a hive, Villena warns not to make any loud noises or sudden movements that could trigger an attack. “Regular bees will chase you 50 yards. (Killer) bees will chase you at least a half a mile,” he said.”

This month an 88-year-old man in Las Vegas was chased and stung by killer bees. An Arizona hiker was found hanging dead by his ropes, after coming upon a hive he did not initially notice. This article says that killer bee attacks are on the rise but deaths from them are rare, but it was written before Mr Goodwin was killed a few weeks after the article appeared.

This next article is from a newspaper located in southeast Texas.

Experts say Africanized bee colonies ‘all stirred up’
Gary Maley, owner of Advanced Pest Control in Harlingen, said he’s had five calls in the last six days to remove bee hives, after receiving no calls in the last four months. Two of the hives he removed were Africanized bee colonies, but none of these calls involved bee attacks. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “The bee population’s down, but something’s got ‘em all stirred up right now. They’re not pollinating that much because there’s not that many flowers because of the drought, so I’m not really sure what.””

Killer bees were first introduced in Brazil in 1956, as queens from Tanzania and South Africa were brought to Brazil and tested. In 1957, 26 queens escaped. They spread north 100-200 miles per year. They made it to south Texas by 1990.

1990: Southern Texas
1993: Arizona
1995: California
2005: Florida

Africanized honeybees now are reported in over half of Florida counties (as of 2011)

100,000 ‘killer’ bees attack Florida park rangers
“Two park rangers in Tampa, Fla. were hospitalized after unwittingly disturbing a hive of what appear to be Africanized “killer” bees. David Zeledon and Rodney Pugh, were using a front-end loader to clear debris near the entrance of Picnic Island Park near Port Tampa. As they turned over a used truck tire, as many as 100,000 bees swarmed into their vehicle. The men fled, but not before getting stung almost 100 times.”

As horrible as it was, more deaths like Mr Goodwin’s will occur during the Tribulation when fourth seal is opened. I mean death by beasts.

“When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7-8)

A quarter of the earth’s population will die, and a quarter of them by beast (shudder).

Are you ready for death to come to your home? You are if you know Jesus. You know Jesus as friend and not enemy if you are aware you are a sinner, have repented of your sins by asking Him to forgive them, and that He is resurrected King and Lord who died for your sins, taking upon Himself the wrath of God that you deserved. John Piper said,

“What’s the Gospel?

What’s the gospel? I’ll put it in a sentence.

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.

That’s the gospel.”

There is more here from the 6-min audio by John Piper.

Praise Jesus that even if our last moments are terrible like Mr Goodwin’s, that we know that in a few further moments we will be entering glory forever with the wonderful Savior. I pray YOU are ready any day for death to arrive, and that it is only a portal to the eternal life in glory you will share with Him.

More about salvation here

Posted in bible, God, holy, salvation

We are to be holy because He is holy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Last night at Wednesday night bible study, we were approaching 1 Peter 1:10 toward the end of the lesson: (“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully”)

and the next section in 1 Peter 1 is titled “Called to be holy.” In vv. 10, & 13-21, it reminded me of the study I’m personally doing in Zechariah. This blog entry is about sharing my thoughts of the parallels between 1 Peter 1:1-21 and Zechariah 3. Chapter 3 in Zechariah is a tremendous passage in a tremendous book that really stopped me in my tracks this week.

Perhaps the reference Peter makes to the prophets of old prophesying about the grace of God can be seen in view here in Zech 3:1-5. Let’s see.

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” 5Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.”

My understanding is that Joshua the High Priest here is a picture of all Israel, called to be a holy (priestly) people before God and a light to the Gentiles. Now, I don’t want to spiritualize this passage or make it be about the Church. In this vision, God was giving direct comfort and an explicit message to Israel, but there is a wider view that I think I as a NT believer after the cross can safely take in seeing the character of satan in this scenes and the character of God, because those things don’t change.

In looking at the nature of the uncleanliness of Israel in their sin … the words used here refer to their uncleanness as human waste of the filthiest kind. That is what “Joshua”/Israel was covered in. That is how God looks at sin. This is always instructive to see. Sin is not just ugly, but it is the worst sort of pollution.

The thought of standing before God in my own waste is a jarring enough picture. Satan is right to accuse Israel, they were filthy. They were idolatrous, blasphemous, and sinning upon sin. How does that old adage go? “when satan talks to us he lies but when he talks to God he tells the truth”. He is truthfully pointing out the sin staining Israel.

Satan accuses us New Testament believers also, including me. (Rev 12:10). I can imagine him standing next to Jesus saying, “Did you see that? She is filthy with sin!” Ow!

But the wondrous part is when I read in Zechariah that the LORD rebuked satan for pointing it out and making the accusation!! He reminds satan that He has pulled Israel out of the fire (and us too, after the cross, 1 John 2:1). How great is His mercy that despite our filth, He loves His chosen people (and by extension, us)! It is a tremendous, tremendous scene.

And then His mercy deepens by His decision to place clean garments on Israel. They truly are a people close to His heart aren’t they! And His Holy, Merciful nature is that He also put clean garments on us when we become justified. Perhaps I can say that as Peter says in verse 7, the faith that is “more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire” is this garment of salvation! The clean garments he places on us, and it is an amazing thing. Faith in His word He’ll cleanse us of our sin and have it remain so, forever, despite satan’s accusations.

As Zechariah closes out the section saying that the LORD ordered that a clean turban be put on the High Priest’s head, we read in Exodus 28:36 that the turban had an engraving on it that said “HOLY TO THE LORD”.

Replacing Israel’s filth stained garments, and after the cross, replacing the Church age believer’s filth stained garments, is to me the most incredible act in the entire universe. Is this what the angels think also, and is why they long to look into such things? (1 Peter 1:12). I dare to speculate perhaps so.

As we read further in the 1 Peter 1 chapter, the upcoming verses 13-15, the call of Peter for us to be holy is contrasted by this scene in Zechariah of the grace and mercy of God, who cleans His children of our own excrement, calls us holy, and gives us the garments to prove it so. Though the scene in Zechariah is discrete to Israel, I can use that picture to extend it through the cross to understand that He rebukes my accuser, cleans me of my filth, places on my head His name, and ordains over me the call to be Holy. We are to be holy because He is holy (Lev 11:44).

Understanding where I came from and what God has done for me through Jesus, and seeing the scene described so graphically in Zechariah helps me want to adhere fervently to the call of Peter to be holy for His sake- and not mine.

God is so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in rapture, salvation, time of jacob's trouble, tribulation

Will there be Christians saved after the rapture?

Posted on by elizabethprata

A question I’m asked quite often is “Will there be Christians after the rapture?” If the Holy Spirit is taken away from the earth, how will He draw men to salvation?

Lars Justinen, “Robe of Righteousness”

These are good questions and I’ll do my best to offer scriptural answers.

The first basis to answer this is to understand that God has plans. I think we all agree on that. Jeremiah 29:11 reveals that God has plans for Israel. Isaiah 14:26 reveals that God uses nations to fulfill His plans. Amos 3:7 reveals that God has plans and that He reveals them to His prophets (and in the NT, through the Holy Spirit Who set them down in the bible).

photo credit: khalid almasoud via photopin cc

In addition, God’s plans are different for His people & His nation Israel; and the church who is His bride. This is called dispensational biblical interpretation. You can read about this doctrine here in succinct fashion-

“What is dispensationalism and is it biblical?“

and here

“What are the seven dispensations?“

All it means is that God has different plans for Israel and the Bride. Ultimately however, His plans merge in general by His grande redemptive plan. No matter what dispensational epoch we lived in, we will all be trophies of His grace for all eternity. And how we all get there is the same (Old Testament believers from Adam, to Noah, to Moses to Abraham to Anna- through belief in and faith of the promise of a coming savior; for New Testament believers, from John and Peter, Mary, Paul, and on through to today’s born again believers throughout the world, belief in and faith of the promise of an already risen savior).

Secondly you have to understand that the rapture will occur prior to what the Jews call the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) and known to New Testament believers via the Olivet Discourse Matthew 24 as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation. I am not going to argue this fact, it is explicitly and implicitly set out in scripture that this is so. I have written about it at least ten times on this blog. Search in the search box above for ‘pre-trib’ and many results will come up.

Once you understand that the Age of Grace in this dispensation will end with the rapture and then the tribulation begins, we also can go on with answering the post’s main question. Will there be Christians after the rapture?

Yes. There will be Christians after the rapture.

Biblical proof of this is myriad. For example, Revelation 4:1 seems to be the pivot point in the Book’s largely chronological unfolding of events. The first three chapters are letters to actual churches of John’s day outlining praise and/or condemnation of their deeds. This section of Revelation is also a metaphor for believers in days of yore and us today in church, as to what Jesus will praise or condemn in our corporate worship life. As we begin Revelation 4:1 we read from then on, ‘These are things which will take place after’. By Revelation 5, the seals are about to be opened and we are told, gloriously, 

“Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5)

In Revelation 6, when He opened the fifth seal unleashing the wrath of God, we read:

“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

Those who were slain for God and their witness are Christians. They are not Christians from the Age of Grace because the Christians were raptured before the beginning of the Tribulation. These are souls who had come to saving knowledge of Jesus as Savior afterwards. How do I know this? Because all Christians were raptured prior to the wrath. The Bride is not appointed to wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9). The wrath begins in Revelation 6:1.

Another question that is asked is, how did they become Christians after the rapture if the Restrainer had been removed? This question is in reference to 2 Thessalonians 2:6. The Restrainer mentioned here is the Holy Spirit. One of His ministries is to restrain the devil in raising up the man of sin before his time.

MacArthur explains,

So he says to the Thessalonians…you know this, you know that there is a force, a supernatural force that keeps Satan from doing what he would otherwise want to do. Listen, you think the world is bad now, you haven’t seen anything yet. Fortunately if you know Christ you won’t see it, but in the day of the Lord when the restrainer is gone and all hell breaks loose, the world will see what happens when God does not restrain Satan in his plans.

In Genesis chapter 6 there is an important verse, verse 3, “Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.” What you have here is a concept. The Holy Spirit battling against wicked men. And God says My Spirit isn’t going to do that forever. My Spirit isn’t going to fight your wickedness forever. It wasn’t long until He drown them all, right? And I think you have there the work of the Holy Spirit that is a restraining work. The Holy Spirit was battling against the flood of wickedness in the ancient world. In Acts chapter 7, one other verse that shows us the Spirit’s ministry in this kind of area. In Acts 7:51, “You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit.” Now here again [in 2 Thessalonians 2:6] you have the Holy Spirit battling against sin, battling against iniquity, battling against evil, trying to restrain, as John tells us, to convict in John 16. (more here)

photo credit: Viqi French via photopin cc

So the Christians who are part of the Bride are whisked away before the wrath begins. Christians who come to faith after wards are not part of the Bride though they are appointed to eternity as well. The man of Sin is unveiled and the total saturating sin as it was in the Days of Noah repeat, (Dan 9:24) except worse. Yet Christians still come to saving faith. That is because though the restrainer is not holding back sin nor the man of sin any more he is still drawing men.

God supernaturally seals 144,000 super evangelists (Revelation 7:1-8) and by Revelation 9, a great multitude of the redeemed are standing before the throne and praising Him!

God also sends an angel flying at mid-heaven to pronounce the Gospel (Revelation 7:6) and the result is that by Revelation 7:12 there are saints enduring in the faith.

None of this would be possible if the Spirit had not drawn them. (John 6:44, John 6:65). Even during the Tribulation the Father, the Son and the Spirit are working in perfect unity to perform His plan and to redeem trophies of grace for His glory!

Finally, of course there are Christians who come to faith after the rapture, because it is those believers who are alive – in the flesh- and left upon the earth who enter the Millennial Kingdom. GotQuestions explains,

Matthew 25:31-46 is another passage that should be considered. This passage is commonly called the separation or judgment of the sheep and the goats. The sheep and goats refer to righteous and unrighteous Gentiles. Christ will judge the unrighteous Gentiles (goats), and they will be cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). Therefore, no unbelieving Gentile will survive to live on into the millennial kingdom. The righteous Gentiles, or sheep, will live on into the millennial kingdom. Read more

The Lord our God is a God of steadfastness to His persecuted ones. He sent His Son to be persecuted and die for our iniquities, and thus the finished work of His salvation to the elect was completed when God exhausted His wrath in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit continues to draw all those people whom God had written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8, 1 Peter 1:20, Matthew 25:34). No matter when a believer lived or will live, in the Garden in the Age of Innocence, the Age of Conscience which was pre-flood, the Age of Human Government which was post flood, Age of Abraham and the Promise, during the Age of Law with Moses, the Age of Grace which is the Bride, or the Millennial Age to come, if your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life you are His trophy of grace and will never be set aside, lost or otherwise disowned.

As Paul says in Romans 8:23,

“And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

So yes, Christians will come to faith after the rapture, as they will also in the Millennium age after that. What a wonderful eternity we will have, sharing and listening to the stories of His graceful redemption of humans throughout the ages, all the while praising the Holy Spirit who worked throughout to draw men unto the God of Salvation! (Hosea 13:4)

Lars Justinen, “Robe of Righteousness”
Posted in florida, salvation, signs in the sky

Another meteor-fireball, this one in South Florida

Posted on by elizabethprata

In the wake of four unexpected and spectacular astronomical events this week, comes another. By the way, the Weather Underground blog says that “The odds of the largest meteor strike in 100 years occurring on the same day as the closest asteroid approach in 15 years are about 1 in 200 million”.

Earlier this week, an asteroid flew by earth at a mere distance of 17,000 miles, very close. It was the closest fly-by in recorded history of a non-satellite nature. In addition, on the same day no less, three major meteor sightings occurred. The one that happened in the Russian Urals was especially interesting, being the largest meteor to crash to earth in 100 years, injuring 1,200 people and causing absolute panic. The two other meteor sightings occurred in San Francisco and Cuba.

It should be noted that there is no ongoing meteor shower the earth is passing through. These space rocks just appear and suddenly they are crashing down on our heads.

One thing to notice especially of the Russian Meteor is the suddenness of its appearance. With all the satellites, NASA money to roam Mars, and telescopes looking at and radios listening to space, the Russian meteor snuck by them all and boomed into land before we could say Boy Howdy. Now if that doesn’t bode ill for the Tribulation, then what does? It made me think of Revelation 8:10-11,

“The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.”

Or Revelation 8:8,

“The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.”

These events will occur in the time of the Tribulation, the 7-year period where Jesus punishes the world for its sins via His wrath in a series of judgments from 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Bowls. It has not begun yet but one can certainly see the suddenness of a burning mountain thrown into the sea could easily be a undetected meteor appearing out of nowhere.

Another meteor shower has occurred, this time in South Florida. They are calling this one a ‘sporadic’ meteor, because it is not attached to any known meteor shower happening anywhere earth. In other words, it appeared out of nowhere, all on its own. This just in:

Possible meteor shower sighting in South Florida
“Some South Floridians reported seeing bright, flare-like objects disappear into the sky Sunday night, in what resembled a meteor shower. The Coast Guard’s command center starting receiving reports of a possible meteor shower at about 7:30 p.m., said Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Sabrina Laberdesque. Laberdesque said the Coast Guard could neither confirm nor deny whether it was, in fact, a meteor shower. The Coast Guard sent out a helicopter to check on a report of a flare but found nothing. Laberdesque said there were no injuries and no boats in distress after the reported sightings. The Broward Sheriff’s Office also reported receiving several calls from locals claiming there were “lights in the sky.” On Friday, a meteor exploded about 15 miles overhead near the Russian town of Chelyabinsk. More than 1,100 people were reportedly injured.”

NBC Miami reported,
“South Floridians who happened to be looking in the right place at the right time Sunday night saw one spectacular light show – possibly a sporadic meteor. People called in, describing the flares “as orange or red fireballs in the sky,” Laberdesque said. The display was limited to the sky: No injuries were reported, Laberdesque said. A sporadic meteor is basically a rocky object that comes from the asteroid belt, said Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society, based in Genesee, N.Y. The group logged 27 reports within about the first two hours of the event, he said. “This is a lot of reports to come in quickly,” Hankey said. Gauging by the reports, it happened somewhere over the ocean. “These fireballs are common,” Hankey said. “It’s rare for any one person to see one more than once or twice in their lifetime.”

http://media.nbcmiami.com/assets/pdk449/pdk/swf/flvPlayer.swf?pid=_yneGWiWDuuR

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

They reported seeing it from Jacksonville to Key West, pretty much the length of all of Florida. I looked at the video, it IS pretty spectacular!

The most interesting part, to me, is where the newscaster says that because of our newly heightened awareness of meteors, that fewer people were scared, and more people correctly identified what it was. The citizen observer being interviewed confirmed this.

Are they becoming so jaded, so quickly, that seeing a spectacular sight that only occurs once or twice in a lifetime is now an “Oh, well, ho-hum, another fireball streaking across the sky”? I hope not.

The power of a creator God to alert His people to His presence should never get old, and hopefully would have the intent it should have: inquisitiveness toward the Gospel.

Pastor JD Farag reported that this indeed is happening. He is a pastor in Hawaii who gives a weekly prophecy update on Sunday evenings. He said that more non-Christians than Christians are seeking to know why it really does seem like it is nearing the end of the world. They sense that the things we have been saying are true and want to know more. This is a praise to the Lord, who seeks His sheep with all diligence. (Matthew 18:12).

As the gap between saved and unsaved grows ever wider, the fence-sitters will soon lose their standing and have to choose a side to settle on.

Source

The unsaved are looking up and seeing meteors. We Christians are looking up to watch for the coming of our Lord and Savior. May He come soon to collect His sheep! You can join us, by being saved today:

Posted in jesus, salvation

Kendrick Johnson’s sad death

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m listening to John MacArthur’s latest sermon, John 3:1-3, “Jesus Teaches the Teacher.” What a blessing this pastor is to the global believing church! This sermon is wonderful, wonderful.

I’m cooking scrambled eggs for supper and preparing the last notes on the Wed night bible study I attend. We are looking at Colossians 3:18-25. It opens with “Wives, submit to your husbands…” Should prove to be a good discussion. 😉

We are supposed to get a winter storm coming through tomorrow afternoon and overnight. Friday is supposed to be sleety and rainy cold and generally yucky. Thursday is my usual day to grocery shop but in advance of the storm I went to get groceries today. (And yes, I bought milk and bread, lol).

That cramped down my time between work and church to do a blog entry. I’m looking at so much to write about, but I can’t do it justice in the next hour. I will relate a quick story though.

Here in Georgia there was a tragedy. A young high school athlete died suddenly…and weirdly. Kendrick Johnson climbed a roll of wrestling mats in the gym after hours, they dislodged, and he tumbled down, upside down, inside them. He hung there, all night…until he died. They found his body the next morning.

When you hang upside down for a long period of time, the extremities lose their blood and rushes to the head, you pass out, and eventually stroke and/or heart failure follows, says the article. It must have been incredibly scary for that young man to hang there, trapped. Alone. In the dark. And then to die.

No one expects to die when they do, except for perhaps people with long-term diseases. Certainly the 17-year old boy didn’t think that was his last day on earth. Johnathan Edwards preached in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God the Deuteronomy 32:35 verse “Their foot shall slip in due time.” This means that as you slip on the ice as you’re walking on a winter’s day, suddenly you are not standing but splayed out flat on the sidewalk. Boom! You’re down. That has happened to me. It happens fast. In spiritual terms, God is holding you up and suddenly your foot slips and you are catapulted into your eternal destiny.

Maybe you have been approached by someone asking you about church…or if you know Jesus. These things niggle at you but you put off thinking about it more because, after all, tomorrow is another day. These things niggled at Nicodemus, the teacher of all Israel. He had reached the height of his religion and yet he was troubled by a feeling that maybe he wasn’t right with God. He sought out Jesus and asked of Him what he should do. (John 3:1-21)

Maybe you have been meaning to approach someone who is on your heart to share the Gospel with them. You’ve been meaning to give out that tract in your wallet. You’ve been meaning to pick up the phone. But suddenly, they die. And you never get that chance again.

Jesus is such a great treasure. Please share Him.

“For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Posted in apocalypse, end of the world, salvation

Waiting for the Apocalypse

Posted on by elizabethprata

People who aren’t saved are not immune from God’s presence in the world. And He IS present. He is present by the Holy Spirit indwelling Christians all around. He is present by having revealed Himself in the world as Romans 1:18-20 says–

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

What does it feel like for a non-believer to writhe under the presence of God and His wrath being revealed? What does it look like? Perhaps like this–

Waiting for the Apocalypse, Part II: In the beginning, a fear of the end
“We’ve worried about the end from the very beginning. Since Biblical times apocalypticism has been a constant human narrative, providing fearful ideas and images about the ultimate destiny of the world. In recent years, despite the cultural influence of science, it has taken on a whole new impetus and impact. “Apocalypticism … (has) become a constant and unavoidable presence in everyday life,” say anthropologists Kathleen Steward and Susan Harding. We might all share the humour if the idea of apocalypse didn’t affect so many.”

The article appeared in the Ottawa Citizen just before the apocalypse-that-wasn’t, the Mayan end of the world thing that was predicted for December 21, 2012. The article reported that entire governments were sending out bulletins to reassure people. NASA was inundated with queries from scared kids. Prisons described mass psychosis. Whole ‘bug-out’ mountains were closed due to panicked survivalists scurrying to clamber up and hide.

The thrust of the article was two-fold. First the authors note that ‘apocalypse mania’ has been among the people since biblical times. The tone of wonder and perplexity underlying the article reveals that they can’t figure out why. ‘Aren’t we rational? Haven’t we gotten past all that, yet?’ the authors seems to say. And secondly, that perhaps, just perhaps, since this kind of notion has been embedded in the human psychology all this time, it might, just might, bear looking into.

The former attitude is revealed when we read statements from the article like–

–We’ve worried about the end from the very beginning
–has been a constant human narrative
–recent times a new impetus and impact
–affect so many
–Notions of apocalypse are rooted in our understanding of history

It is evident that the human race has been dealing with notions of the end of the world and will continue to deal with those notions despite all man has done through culture an science to rid themselves of that pesky fear. The worry does not just affect the few and the insane, the article’s authors are forced to admit. It is pervasive.

The second notion that authors seem to be grappling with is that because the fear of the end of the world has affected humankind for so long, it is not a historical or cultural phenomenon we can easily dismiss. Try as they might to rid themselves of the fact that people do indeed worry about the end of the world, there must be something to all this, they say. However, they make a failure of the attempt to understand why fears of the end of the world won’t go away. They continue in the latter part of the article to construct a complicated secular humanist argument to grapple with this notion that so irks them and yet won’t go away. They write:

“Perhaps before dismissing this kind of thinking we need to understand it.”

The job of the rational being here, of course, is to inculcate a proper understanding of this persistent but ridiculous notion of the end of the world, before dismissing it. The end game all along is to dismiss it. The job of the rational being is to pigeonhole it and then say “AHA!” with pompous authority, then to dismiss it.

But they can’t. They won’t. They never will. Not until right up to the time when it states in Revelation 6 that the day of wrath is here.

“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:17). That verse isn’t talking about the believers who converted after the rapture saying that the Lord’s day of wrath has come. The verse just prior says that “everyone” will be saying that. Everyone.

It’s through articles like that where one can get a real sense of the Romans verse. God is the authority on the end of the world, and behind that, we know, is the judgment. The reason we have had whole populations worried about the end of the world is that there will come a day when the world will end.

“Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31).

The psychologists and sociologists and anthropologists all try to understand the mass fascination with the end of the world and the answer is simple- but they never study it. It is all in the bible. The reason there is a fascination is that the verse from Romans is being lived out in humankind. God has revealed Himself, and what is known about God has been made plain to them. And if God is plainly revealed to humankind through His creation, that means His holiness has been revealed. If His holiness is revealed, than our sinfulness is revealed. Humankind can never escape knowledge our our sinfulness, no matter how many pretty words and social sciences overlay it with reasonable sounding arguments. All that article reads to me is that the Romans 1:18-20 verse is true and living. Its truth is making them squirm. See, the article continues in Part 3:

“So why in our supposedly post-ideological age has apocalypticism returned so strongly? Why despite all the “progress” of modernity — scientific, social, political, moral, etc. — do so many think the world is going to end, at least as we know it? And what might be the consequences of this new Apocalyptic Era? The problem is that even in our supposedly rationalist era a lot of people — billions in fact — subscribe to apocalyptic scenarios of one sort or another.”

Why won’t it go away? Why? Why?

The article concludes like this:

“The only end-times prediction that can be made with any reasonable certainty, at least according to science, is that a few billion years from now the sun will go nova and balloon into a red giant and turn the planet into a cinder. Long before then we, as a species, will either have disappeared through our own folly — surrender to some apocalyptic delusion? — or evolved into entities that will take us home to the stars.”

Are those our only choices? Die in a delusion, or become a cold and heartless star-baby, doomed to ever wander the universe in a perpetual evolution upward…to nothing? You can see exactly why Jesus is HOPE. The non-believer has no choices before him with regard to eternity, the future of the planet, and our reconciling to the higher power. Articles like that one from the Ottawa Citizen are really a plea for answers, because they have no answers and thus, no hope. But when given the answer: Jesus Christ, they writhe and shy away from the truth. But no matter, He is the answer.

Jesus Christ is our savior. There is no sweeter relationship on earth or heaven one can have. If you repent of your sins and believe that He died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead to rule from His throne in heaven, you will be saved. Not Allah. Not the Mormon’s Heavenly Father, not Buddha or Gandhi or Obama. Only the name of Jesus saves.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

When I was saved the Holy Spirit came into me and suddenly I understood the scriptures. He opens your mind. (Luke 24:45). He gives knowledge of your future. He offers HOPE! HOPE! HOPE! You will know about the end of the world and you will understand. It is my prayer that if you are wondering, seeking, or chafing under conviction of a weight you cannot shed, or living with an emptiness you cannot fill, here is how to be saved

How to be saved

Posted in glorification, justification, salvation

We are dragged toward salvation

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m watching Columbo on Netflix. One of my favorite episodes was Swan Song, starring Johnny Cash. The show opens with Cash singing “I Saw the Light”. When I saw this show last, I was not saved. I remember loving the song, and searching the internet for the lyrics. I found them,

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

I’ve wandered so aimless, life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord, I saw the light

I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light

I’ve walked in darkness, clouds covered me
I had no idea where the way out could be
Then came the sunrise and rolled back the night
Praise the Lord, I saw the light

Just like a blind man I wandered alone
Worries and fear I claimed for my own
Then like a blind man who God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light

When death takes me down and I breath here no more
My anthem will sound on that eternal shore
When I join with the angels in heaven on high
Singing “Praise the Lord, I saw the light”

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

I wondered, ‘what did it mean?’ I liked the tune, but what was the reference to darkness and light all about?

Well, the Light found me and I became saved. Now I know what it means.

Isn’t it fun to look back and see the steps He used to draw us to Him? He surely pursues us, even drenched with sin as we are.

I review my life before I was saved and I can clearly see the people and the incidents He used to bring me along, ever closer to the cross. GotQuestions asks,

“What does it mean that God draws us to salvation?“
“Answer: The clearest verse on God’s drawing to salvation is John 6:44 where Jesus declares that “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Greek word translated “draw” is helkuo which means “to drag” (literally or figuratively). Clearly, this drawing is a one-sided affair. God does the drawing to salvation; we who are drawn have a passive role in the process. There is no doubt that we respond to His drawing us, but the drawing itself is all on His part.”

The essay continues in explaining His drawing of us. I was glad to read that, because I know I was not ‘drawn’, I know I was dragged. LOL. I mentioned that once to a Christian friend. I’d said, “He dragged me kicking and screaming to the cross.” My friend has replied, “Of course He didn’t drag you!” But He did. I knew He did.I remember those last three years before I was saved distinctly and I felt like I was being dragged. Further, even now I know I never would have come on my own unless He had brought me. Now I can read it for myself in John 6.

Our sin is so pervasive, it can only be the power of God to drag us out of it. Not that God struggles with bringing us to salvation, but that we struggle against it so much. I wish more people understood how firmly sin has us in its clutches, and how much we like it there.

I enjoyed learning the word helkuo, and that it means drag. Here is a bit more from GotQuestions about that word and its use in bringing us to salvation:

“Helkuo is used in John 21:6 to refer to a heavy net full of fish being dragged to the shore. … Clearly the net had no part in its being drawn to the shore … Why does God need to draw us to salvation? Simply put, if He didn’t, we would never come. Jesus explains that no man can come unless the Father draws him (John 6:65). The natural man has no ability to come to God, nor does he even have the desire to come. Because his heart is hard and his mind is darkened, the unregenerate person not only doesn’t desire God, but is actually an enemy of God (Romans 5:10). When Jesus says that no man can come without God’s drawing him, He is making a statement about the total depravity of the sinner and the universality of that condition.” More at link.

So you get saved by His power. You’re justified, the Judge has pardoned you. Now what?

GotQuestions explains spiritual growth
“When the transformation of salvation takes place, spiritual growth begins. The Holy Spirit indwells us (John 14:16-17). We are new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The old nature is replaced with a new one (Romans 6-7). Spiritual growth is a life-long process that depends on our study and application of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and our walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26). As we seek spiritual growth, we should pray to God and ask for wisdom concerning the areas He desires us to grow in. We can ask God to increase our faith and knowledge of Him. God desires for us to grow spiritually, and He has given us all we need to experience spiritual growth. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can overcome sin and steadily become more like our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Sometimes I like to look at the glossy magazines’ photos of Before and After. You know, when they take a regular looking woman and they make her up and dress her and she looks totally different. But that change is only external. I love to think about the Before and After of our salvation. If we could see how putrid sin is and how ugly it makes us, before, and how beautiful we will be after glorification…now there is a real Before and After. I can’t wait to see my friends in their eternal state when the rapture comes. How beautiful they will be and how pure their soul will shine, inside and out. We will have had our sin-nature removed and been changed into incorruptible bodies with full and complete access to God in person.

I look forward to that day! I pray for that day! I hope you do too.

Posted in jesus, monkeys, salvation, skelton, storing up treasure

$7 million in gold found in dead Nevada man’s home

Posted on by elizabethprata

An odd story, and a sad one. The scripture that comes immediately to mind is:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

$7 million in gold found in dead Nevada man’s home
“When Walter Samaszko Jr. died at his home in Carson City, Nev., he had $200 in a bank account. But as officials later discovered, Samaszko had about $7 million stored neatly around his home, the Nevada Appeal reported. In late June, neighbors called authorities because of a smell emanating from Samaszko’s home. He was a recluse who had told them he hated the government and feared getting shots, but still, it had been a while since they had seen him, according to the Appeal. According to the coroner, Samaszko, 69, had been dead for at least a month.”

“He died of heart problems, the Las Vegas Sun reported. In came the cleanup crews, which discovered boxes of gold in the garage. “At that point, we took the house apart,” said Carson City clerk-recorder Alan Glover. They found gold coins and bullion, tiny dos-pesos, $20 gold pieces, Austrian ducats, Kruggerrands and English Sovereigns dating to the 1840s – enough gold to fill two wheelbarrows. Samaszko and his mother had lived in the three-bedroom home since the 1970s, which is around the time they started collecting gold. Glover told the Appeal that the two kept detailed records of the gold they had purchased.”

“As for who can lay claim to the riches — Glover said the Internal Revenue Service will take a sizable amount in taxes — about $750,000 — and that the rest will likely go to a first cousin, a substitute teacher in San Rafael, Calif.”

I think of what it must have been like for that old man…piling up gold, worrying about it, attending to his records of it, thinking up hiding places for it. Yet he died alone, and no one noticed for a month, until his body had decomposed and the death smell wafted out to the street. How sad!

What did he put his trust in? He didn’t trust government. He didn’t trust doctors. He didn’t trust neighbors. He had no family to confide in. What was his heart condition? The bible tells us–

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.” (Proverbs 23:4)

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).

Jesus does not condemn riches. Job and Abraham were massively wealthy and they are noted as men of integrity and faith. Yet their first priority was God. They clung to Him, His ways, and His statutes.

We should do the same. People who are not saved do not realize the utter fulfillment of knowing Jesus, no matter what the external circumstances. Whether I have money or whether I don’t have money, I am rich. When we take our eyes off ourselves and our earthly belongings, and focus on Him, perspective immediately shifts to eternal treasures and immeasurable wealth of eternal life in glory. The richness is life with Him, and the treasure IS Him. Yet the unsaved senselessly cling to what will eventually disappear.

There is an old story missionary Arnold Skelton told of the natives in the jungle who discovered a way to trap monkeys. They dried and hollowed out a gourd, hung it from a tree, and in it, they placed peanuts. The monkeys would come and slither their hand into the gourd’s narrow neck seeking the delicious treat. The monkey would grab a handful and clenching it, try to remove its hand from the gourd. The hole was too small for a clenched fist to go through. If they let go the peanuts, they would be free. But it would never occur to the monkeys to let go the treasure they had found. Eventually the hunter came back and killed them. Their own greed and selfishness ensnared them in a trap.

It is the same with people. Are you ensnared in a trap of your own making? Let go the gourd, and look up over the top of the trees. Jesus is in the clouds and He will return soon to claim HIS treasures: us. Please be part of that group. Repent and believe on the Gospel, and you shall be saved.

 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Posted in jesus, remnant, salvation

The Christian remnant

Posted on by elizabethprata

We love God because, “God does not do many things that he can, but he does all things that he will.” (George Swinnock).

One of the things He can do is wipe out humanity. He was grieved with us in Genesis before the flood. But He did not erase us from the earth. He CAN do it. He did not. He preserved a remnant, Noah and his family. He always preserved a remnant of His people the Jews.

There was a remnant returning from the Babylonian captivity. A remnant of 7000 was preserved when Elijah killed the false prophets of Baal when he thought he was the only one left.

It is promised, “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.” (Isaiah 10:21). Paul reiterated that in Romans 9:27, “Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;”

The Jews were set aside for a time so the Lord could build His church out of the Gentiles. He will return to fulfill the promises to the Jews at the culmination of the Tribulation and save the remnant who had been hiding at Petra throughout the remainder of the Tribulation and establish His promised Kingdom for 1000 years. We praise the LORD for His promises to always preserve and protect a Jewish remnant.

But I want to bring another thought to your mind. Christians are a remnant too. We know the multitudes which are His bride will be singing praises to Him after the rapture. We read passages like this “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev 5:13) and think, ‘Wow!’ Lots of Christians!’ But it is not so.

We are a remnant too. Romans 11:5:

“So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.”

The odds are not good for making it in Christianity. We know that the road is narrow and FEW FIND IT. (Mt 7:14). The road to destruction is broad and MANY FOLLOW IT. (Mt 7:13). We know that Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Are you getting the picture? Many/Few. It is a theme. How many righteous did Abraham ask the LORD to find in Sodom? “He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” (Gen 18:32b). But it ended up there were less than ten. So four cities were destroyed that day: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim. And of the four that were found to be righteous, Lot, Mrs Lot, and the two daughters, one of the four was revealed to be a false righteous and was turned into a pillar of salt.

On Judgment Day, books will be opened, and a book will be opened. “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Rev 20:12).

The books – plural – is the book of the dead. The book that was opened, singular, is the book of life. Many /Few. All the names of the living will fit into one book.

Christians are a remnant. There seems to be a lot of us but we can’t see the wheat from the chaff. The enemy has sown seeds that grew, too. St. Augustine said, “O you Christians, whose lives are good, you sigh and groan as being few among many, few among very many.”

Félicien Rops, Satan Sowing Seeds, pencil, c. 1872. 

My reason for bringing this up is that my heart and life’s blood beats in yearning that every person who believes himself to be a Christian examine him or herself to see if you are in the faith!

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Cor 13:5)

Here is an essay that helps you test yourself and see if you bear the distinguishing marks of being a Christian.

“Examine Yourself“

Of those that fail to meet the test, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Mt 13:41-43)

I want to sing with you in heaven, and I do not want to see you thrown into outer darkness, weeping and gnashing your teeth, screaming, LORD, LORD did I not do many mighty works in your name? And He will say to you, I never knew you, depart from me you evildoers!

Are you in the remnant??? Praise Jesus if you are. Let His light of glory shine in you and through you. Let us give it all back to Him in thanks for salvation which He delivers through grace plus nothing. No works of ours, mighty or mild, will earn us heaven. But believe on the Son whom the Father sent, and ye shall be saved.