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Book of Revelation, eschatology, prophecy, revelation

Is Revelation the most difficult book in the Bible to understand?

Posted on July 20, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

John the Apostle on Patmos by Jacopo Vignali

No.

The Book of Revelation is not the most difficult book in the Bible to understand.

Is it possible to be dogmatic about this? So certain?

Yes.

First, some background. The Book of Revelation is the last book in the Bible. Chronologically it’s the last book as well because it is devoted almost exclusively of what is to come at the end of time. It is also the last book to be written, being finished by about 96AD by the last of the eyewitness Apostles to have walked with Jesus: John son of Zebedee, the Beloved Apostle. John had been exiled to the rocky, barren isle of Patmos off Greece,

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, (Revelation 1:9).

He had come onto the bad side of Emperor Domitian for the word of God, and the Emperor had exiled John, a common punishment.

Patmos is part of the Greek chain, sitting in the Aegean Sea but closer to Turkey than Greece. It is small, just 7.5 miles tall by 6 miles wide. Today, Forbes magazine voted Patmos as “Europe’s Most Idyllic Places To Live.” Back in 96AD it was barren, rocky, treeless, and hot.

John was an old man by 96AD. Perhaps he had thought his usefulness to the Lord was concluded. Perhaps he wondered why he had been kept alive long after his fellow disciples had been privileged to die a martyr’s death. And then one Lord’s day when John was in prayer and reverie, Jesus spoke to him.

Just as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:2 that he was caught up to the third heaven but whether in the body or out of the body he knows not. John described the circumstances of his surroundings and activities upon receiving the visions, said he was in the Spirit, but then simply begins to record when he was given to see without saying if he was actually in heaven or how he it was possible to hear Jesus and see these things.

What amazing, wonderful and terrible things John was given to see. Daniel was given a vision of the end and afterward he was sick many days. (Daniel 8:27). John concludes chapter 1 with a description of Jesus, the appearance of whom caused John to fall at his feet as though dead. So did Daniel (Dan 8:18).

Chapter two and three encompass personal messages Jesus wanted John to write and send to the 7 churches of Asia (Province of Rome, not the entire continent). These were Pergamum, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Smyrna, Sardis, Laodicea, Ephesus.

Wikipedia summarizes the flow of these early chapters in Revelation,

The letters follow a common pattern. For example: the Lord first addresses each church and identifies himself, then defines things that he knows about the church in question. After this a challenge or reproach is given, followed by a promise. In all seven cases the admonition is included, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”, although sometimes this comes before the promise and sometimes after.

What is interesting, and what would require study, is how Jesus identified Himself to each church. In one He says He is the Amen, to another, the Holy One, to another, the One who walks among the 7 lampstands, to another Him who has the sharp two-edged sword. It would take study, prayer, and thought to determine why Jesus identified Himself in these unique ways to certain churches and why this name matched the message He gave them. But that is regular Bible study, just like in any other book of the Bible. Revelation chapter 4 has John receiving a vision of heaven! This includes seeing those majestic, strange creatures with six wings and four faces and eyes all around. That’s deep! Yet Isaiah and Ezekiel also saw the throne room, these creatures, the rainbow, and flashes of fire and peals of thunder as John did We can compare those prophets’ previous texts and John’s text so scripture can interpret scripture. Just like we do for any book. Though the creatures are strange and the throne of God awesome in the word’s truest sense, these things are hard to comprehend, but not especially difficult to interpret. Especially when there are two other texts to help us.

Patmos. Wikimedia Commons

So why do people say Revelation is hard? Marginalize it? Ignore it? Dismiss it?

In his sermon “How to Study Your Bible” John MacArthur writes,

Perhaps if we asked people who have some familiarity with the Bible, “What would be the most difficult book in the Bible? What would be the hardest book of the Bible to understand?” they would probably say Revelation. Probably most people would say that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. I know many preachers, who throughout the life of their ministry, would never preach on the book of Revelation because they don’t think they can understand it. And that’s because they have abandoned the proper hermeneutics to interpret it. Because if they interpret it with the right hermeneutics they have to interpret it literally, and if they interpret it literally it goes against their historic theology. And they really don’t want to do that so they just don’t know what to do with the book of Revelation and they leave it out.

Actually, in my opinion, the book of Zechariah is theologically dense, and pound for pound contains more prophecy and symbolism than Revelation does. Revelation is pretty clear. MacArthur again:

Now I believe that the book of Revelation can be understood. It can be understood if you just read it; it’s very clear what it says. It’s only when people get mystical about it that it becomes confusing. Obviously there are some elements of the prophecies there that we will never understand until they actually come to pass, but that’s true of all prophecy. But the message of the book, exalting Jesus Christ, speaking about the glorification of the saints and the judgment of the ungodly is very clear in the book of Revelation.

I’d opened with a dogmatic statement that the book of Revelation can be understood, at least as much as any other book of the bible and as much as any prophecy can be before it is fulfilled. I say this for two reasons.

Reason #1: The book is called The revelation. Revealed. It is not the book of Confusion. It isn’t the book of Mystery. It isn’t called The Really Hard Book We Should Stay Away From. The first line in the book, Revelation 1:1, says

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

Jesus chose to reveal things, for the purpose of showing us. Rather than being cloaked in mystery, the statement about itself is one of understanding.

Reason #2: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3)

It is the only book of the Bible in which His servants are promised a blessing just for reading it. THAT is how important this book is to Jesus, and thus to all of us. He did not choose to reveal, to show, and to bless, and then do a takes-back by cloaking it in mystery, hide, and curse.

Now, in one sense, of course the entire bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry says in his commentary,

This book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ; the whole Bible is so; for all revelation comes through Christ, and all relates to him. Its principal subject is to discover the purposes of God concerning the affairs of the church, and of the nations as connected therewith, to the end of the world. … This blessing seems to be pronounced with a design to encourage us to study this book, and not be weary of looking into it upon account of the obscurity of many things in it; it will repay the labour of the careful and attentive reader.

Reason #3: If Revelation is the only book in which the reader will receive a blessing for reading, what is the one book satan is going to concentrate on getting us NOT to read? Of course. He has done a good job in getting Seminary Professors not to teach it, and a generation of pastors coming up have not learned it well. Satan has spent a good deal of time getting pastors, teachers, and lay people to doubt their ability to understand it. That old serpent has done a good job of clouding our judgment when it comes to the Book of Revelation. The devil has been successful in getting to see this book almost as a curse, not a blessing. So reason #3 in which we can say with certainty is that we are not unaware of the devil’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11).

With that encouragement, I do encourage you to read Revelation, study it, enjoy it. It is magnificent book, relating to us the things of our end, the final state of this present age. Eden will be restored! The Holy City will have none to defile it! Wow! Blessing is pronounced, not just the one in chapter 1 but another in chapter 22:7

“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

——————————-

The Wonder of God’s Providential care

Posted on July 19, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.
And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here”
Revelation 4:1

Pastor, author and blogger Tim Challies leads an informal book group at his site. He reads a chapter a week of a classic book of the faith and invites anyone to do the same along with him. Once per week he posts his thoughts and invites others to do the same in the comment section. The series is called “Reading Classics Together.” This time it was John Flavel’s book “The Mysteries of Providence”.

They concluded the excellent post-script piece at the end of Flavel’s “theologically dense” tome. It is theologically dense. While the online informal ‘book club’ has concluded the book, I am still in chapter 3. But I am sticking with it because one of my favorite doctrines is the doctrine of Providence, how God ordains and orders all things in the universe and for each person on earth to accomplish His divine plan and purpose.

Apparently at the end of his wonderful treatment of the doctrine of God’s providence, Flavel wrote three simple rules for keeping a spiritual journal. Challies himself said he is a committed blogger but a sporadic journaler, but that these pieces of advice were enormously helpful. Flavel’s advice for keeping a journal was not to write a copious or emotional tell-all, but a streamlined journal for keeping in memory God’s answer to prayer and His grace in Providential care.

Challies wrote of Flavel’s exhortation,

First, understand that your memory is far too slippery to entrust with all of the amazing providences you have encountered in your life. It is true that we do not easily forget the things that greatly affect us, but still, new impressions have a way of overwriting existing ones. One wise man has said, “My memory never failed me because I never trusted it.” Writing down our important memories secures against forgetting them and has the added benefit of making them useful to others. Why would you carry all of this treasure to heaven with you? By writing down your memories you can leave them as a legacy to those who follow you. The loss of your money, your property, and your possessions counts for nothing next to losing the record of God’s faithfulness to you.

I am an incessant writer. Before the internet was invented I kept lists, notes, wrote stories, academic papers, was a journalist, and a pen pal. I even got a calendar each year with big enough squares to write down a sentence or two of what I did that day. I was always writing something. But I never kept a journal.

I don’t like journals, myself. I am a chronicler of external events, not an introspective explorer of personal emotions. But whenever I traveled I did keep a travel journal. In thinking of Flavel’s advice for spiritual journaling, I also was struck by advice #2,

Second, do not simply record these treasures in a book, but also ensure that you refer to them often. When you experience wants or needs or difficulties, or when temptations assault you, turn to the written record of God’s past graces. When when are in any kind of distress it will do your soul good to see how God has faithfully delivered you from similar situations in the past.

I still had all my travel journals. I remember a lot but not everything, as Flavel opined. What had I written those years ago? Curious, I dug out my first travel journal from 1978. I was part of a High School senior class group traveling to London. Living in Rhode Island, we took a bus to Boston- Logan Airport and departed for Europe from there.

I do clearly remember many of the events of my life. I even remember my ebullient joy at this first plane ride. It was exhilarating to be lifted off the ground and also wondrous to see the small specks below that are people on earth living their lives. But I had forgotten this all-important detail:

Plane, 10:55 pm. Just completed takeoff. It was the most fantastic experience I ever had in my whole life. At first the plane went slow, then we saw the runway and we started to go fast, and the next thing I knew was the lights of Boston. They were beautiful. Like spider webs in the morning. The next second we were over Provincetown, and the next second I saw Nantucket.

Plane, 2:00AM (U.S). Sunrise, beautiful I’m watching one side of the world wake up, while the other side is still sleeping. It is all pink and blue, and the clouds are like cotton. The stewardess just asked us to lower our shades because the sun will be up soon and some people would like to sleep.

No way! I’m not going to miss this for all the gold on earth. This is God’s handiwork. I’m not turning down an offering from God. I’ve decided that this is heaven. When I die I want to spend eternity here. Nothing but God could have made this. This is another world.

There are magnificent layers of God’s Providence here. I was 17 years old at that time, but not saved. Romans 1 tells us we all know that God created the world but we suppress this truth in unrighteousness and worship the creation instead. God in His grace did not let me suppress this. Instead, when He showed Himself to me at 37,000 feet, I celebrated Him. This is because God made it plain. (Romans 1:18-20). Since then He has worked throughout my life, providentially.

How providential that I’d been reading a book about Providence and Challies’ comment about journaling. What prompted me to go get my travel journal out of its tucked-away, dusty bin? It is a book I haven’t looked at in nearly 40 years. His Spirit. Providentially, I had recorded my first inklings and stirrings of God’s witness of Himself to my heart through His creation. Providentially a book on Providence spurred me to re-think recording His graces, and unbeknownst to me, I had already started, 37 years ago.

For a further 26 years from that moment on the plane I wandered the earth as a sinful and evil person, living a life at enmity with God. Yet in His appointed time, He caused me to pass through His gates with thanksgiving. Ten more years have passed since that day of justification. Now more than ever, I can say with conviction and certainty that I will spend eternity up there, with God. His merciful gift of salvation is worth more than all the gold on earth, because at the center of it is Jesus.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all (Psalm 103:19)

aliens and strangers, encouragement, heaven tourism, macarthur, prayer, sermons

The RIGHT kind of Heaven Tourism

Posted on July 18, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Mike Riccardi at The Cripplegate began an excellent essay on the times in which we live this way:

The last few months have been emotionally tiring for Christians in America.

You can say that again.

The last few months have been emotionally tiring for Christians in America.

Weary with burdens? Climbing an endless mountain?
Let the Lord refresh you. (EPrata photo)

I don’t need to go over it all, we know what Pastor Riccardi means. We all know we are living in a sinful world, we all know we contribute to the sins that are piling up to heaven (though thank the Lord we are forgiven for them.) We are tired and we are weary. ANd it has only just begun.

The love of Jesus is a mystery in its depth and breadth and height and width and its eternality since before time began. This love given to us from heaven is incomprehensible and would overflow us if we received it openly in unglorified bodies.

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge…(Ephesians 3:17-19a)

Similarly, the hatred of satan is a mystery to us. We are unable to fully comprehend its evilness. We all know that the depths of sin and its ugliness is still a mystery to us, until some heinous acts are then exposed and we very nearly succumb to the shock. Remember, these heinous acts have been ongoing since the beginning of the world. Yet Christ in His mercy doesn’t reveal them all to us at once, else we wold veritably collapse from emotional exhaustion and spiritual despair. The last month has been hard enough.

the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. (Matthew 12:35a)

But it’s still difficult to deal with when we see previously unrevealed depths of depravity.

So what can we do when faced with incomprehensible evil? We can remember we are missionaries, aliens and strangers and this is not our home.

Our home is over yonder. EPrata photo

For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. (1 Chronicles 29:15)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; (Philippians 3:20)

We all know the summary of the verse at John 17:16, ‘we are in the world but not of it.’ In practical terms, I heard it explained best by Alistair Begg, “The boat is supposed to be in the water, but the water isn’t supposed to be in the boat.” ~Alistair Begg.

What can we do to get the water out of our boat?

Take a missionary leave to heaven. Yes, enjoy some heaven tourism. All missionaries get leave to go home once in a while. We all need a vacation from our daily grind. So go home to heaven. Here is how to do it:

First, pray. The Lord will call us home bodily in His good timing. But every day we can visit our home through prayer. When your kids go on mission, or go to college, or move a distance away, don’t they Skype with you? Don’t they call? They are not in their in body to be with their father but they communicate with home base. Who doesn’t remember being a shaky, tearful kid alone at college, or on the Army base, and calling home to receive some love from Dad or comfort from Mom?

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26)

Stuck on this planet, our friends and colleagues perhaps have made it back home before us, lonely, shaky, tearful wanderer, pray. It is the “ET phone home” of Christianity.

Next, read the Bible. It is the security blanket the alien and stranger on this planet needs to stay warm, stay energized, stay effective. It is the energy pill, immunization shot, protein drink we need as we go out and complete our missionary tasks on planet Earth. When we are overcome with darkness because of the world, then overcome darkness with Light! The light is reading God’s word and seeing the face of Jesus. We can’t actually go to heaven and see Him yet, but we can behold His countenance by reading His words and having the Spirit point us toward Him. Behold His glory through the Word.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Third, wash yourself, wrap yourself in the Word by listening to a good sermon. Stay away from secular radio, avoid even Christian radio. Most times even Christian radio with its sad news coupled with songs that are only doctrine-light will not uplift you but bring you down. There is no better refreshment than the Living water to enliven the weary traveler, as we are.

When you listen to a good expositor plumb the beauteous depths of God’s word it washes over you like a flood of love and light. When you do this you are wrapping yourself in liquid sunlight, chasing away the vaporous darkness and illuminating the corners of your soul with heavenly love. Choose sermons that exegete verse on the beauty of heaven, or the strength of Jesus’ love, or the promises of things to come.

I can heartily recommend John MacArthur for this purpose. Phil Johnson on the Psalms is a wonderfully encouraging resource. Or choose another expositor who preaches verse by verse the word only. We do not want to hear some silly personal story from the pulpit when we’re faced with depths of sadness and are crying out to God. We don’t need practical tips for living, or topical studies. We want THE WORD, for that is the only ticket us expatriates require when it’s necessary to go on temporary leave to heaven.

Another good resource is just listening to an audio book that speaks the word. I listen to RefNet and at times they read aloud huge segments of the Bible. The word fills me and its vapors stream from the radio to my ears to my mind and glide along my veins and fill my innermost parts. It is His word that encourages, uplifts, transforms. When you want to visit heaven on a missionary reprieve, listen to a narrator read His eternal word. It is a living and active word, thus you WILL be refreshed.

Listen to hymns. Let strong, doctrinal music flood your soul, cleaning out the leaves and twigs that have accumulated in the corners of our our soul. Let good music wash away the despair and cleanse our mind. What a balm to bask in pure words from heaven! Choose your music carefully, and make a playlist that encompasses encouraging lyrics which include verses as straight from the Bible as you can. Again it is communication with heaven that we are after in order to visit heaven, they have to be His words, not man’s. Here is a list of good, doctrinal hymns from Religious Affections Ministries. They are grouped by category.

EPrata photo

So pray, read the Bible, listen to the Word, and enjoy good, doctrinal music. We are aliens on this planet. Taking time each day to temporarily visit home will please the Father, who sent us abroad. It will liven our heart, to further Jesus’ kingdom. It will allow us to partake of the peace, that Jesus gave us.

Be encouraged, Brother, be heartened Sister, be strong Pastor…

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

abortion, molech, Obama, planned parenthood, prophecy, sin

Planned Parenthood: The Handwriting is on the Wall

Posted on July 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Rembrandt: Belshazzar’s Feast

This week, an undercover video surfaced. It recorded in audio and video a conversation held during dinner in a restaurant between two people from the Center for Medical Progress and a Planned Parenthood Doctor/Administrator. CNN summarizes,

Planned Parenthood exec, fetal body parts subject of controversial video

An anti-abortion group has released an online video that it says documents how Planned Parenthood is selling fetal organs for a profit, a felony, while violating medical ethics by altering normal abortion procedures so as to preserve the organs.

The Doctor eats heartily and drinks swellingly as she casually describes how she shreds the baby in the womb so as to preserve the lucrative organs for later financial gain.

CNN screen shot

I don’t know which is worse, the fact of their shocking murderous activities, their duplicity in allegedly illegally selling human organs and tissue, the chilling language that coldly describing their calculating killing, or the party atmosphere in which this is all set.

You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:21)

The Leviticus verse makes it clear that sacrificing your child to a false god is profaning the LORD.

Her swilling wine and partying at the table while describing an abomination against the Lord reminded me of another party atmosphere where the participants profaned the LORD and thought nothing of it…until His Hand appeared.

Molech was an ancient false God of the Ammonites, and the Israelites imported him into the land. Parents would place the baby in the statue of Molech’s belly and a fire would be kindled. The child would be burned alive as a sacrifice.

In Daniel 5 we read of the riotous party that King Belshazzar had, using God’s holy temple implements for an orgy. Unaware or uncaring of his blasphemy, he carried on. King Belshazzar was son of Nebchadnezzar, King of Babylon.

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. 2Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. (Daniel 5:1-4)

It was the last straw for a profane King. The Jewish Encyclopedia describes it:

It is stated in Dan. v. that Belshazzar gave a banquet to the lords and ladies of his court, at which the sacred vessels of the Jerusalem Temple, which had been brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar at the time of the Judean captivity in 586 B.C., were profaned by the ribald company. In consequence of this, during the turmoil of the festivities, a hand was seen writing on the wall of the chamber a mysterious sentence which defied all attempts at interpretation until the Hebrew sage Daniel was called in. He read and translated the unknown words, which proved to be a divine menace against the dissolute Belshazzar, whose kingdom was to be divided between the Medes and Persians. In the last verse we are told that Belshazzar was slain in that same night, and that his power passed to Darius the Mede.

Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. (Daniel 5:5-6)

Belshazzar knew that something drastic was happening, as the Jewish Encyclopedia says, a message of divine menace. He could not read the message so he called for Daniel. Daniel said-

And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this [about the humiliation of proud King Nebchadnezzar], 23but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

24“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:22-28)

God hates to be profaned. He hates sin. He is patient, but His patience comes to an end at His appointed time. That night, Babylon fell to the Medes and Belshazzar was killed.

Dr Albert Mohler’s piece on the Planned Parenthood video was excellent. I linked to it above and below. He brought out a good point. He said

We must pray that this video will mark an important turning point in our nation’s conscience. Images and words can become seared in our minds. The horrifying knowledge of harvested baby hearts must lead to our own broken hearts. A nation that will allow this, will allow anything.

God knows this, he is ever before us and ahead of us. The child killers are sinners but those who ‘close their eyes’ to it are also sinning against the LORD. He said in Leviticus,

If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek. (Leviticus 20:4-5 NIV)

One doctor in one organization at one dinner is not the same as a King who sets a profaning example before an entire nation. Or is it? The doctor was speaking FOR Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood receives a sizable Federal subsidy. Here are a few facts

Planned Parenthood’s net revenue increased 5% to total of $1.21 billion in its organizational fiscal year ending on June 30, 2013,
45% of that revenue–$540.6 million–was provided by taxpayer-funded government health services grants,
In the year that ended on Sept. 30, 2012 it did 327,166 abortions.

So the organization for which the doctor was speaking is funded by the states and the US government. Obama has actively fought de-funding Planned Parenthood at the national and the state level. It is a trickle-up effect, landing squarely at ~~King Belshazzar~~ Obama’s desk.

I can’t proclaim what the LORD will do in this instance, I can only explain what the LORD has said. His character is such that if He hated child murder in the past He hates it now. If He punished those who profane His name in the past, He will punish them now. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; (Hebrews 13:8) He changeth not. (James 1:17, Malachi 3:6a).

Whether the secret video is something that as Al Mohler said will either prompt our national conscience to action or sear it further, only time will tell. But … the Handwriting is on the Wall.

———————-

The End Time Facebook page

Posted on July 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Someone mentioned to me the other day that I should think about doing a Facebook page for The End Time. I thought about it and looked into it and so I made one. I changed my Facebook badge on the right menu from my personal FB page to The End Time FB page. If you click on it, it should take you to the new Facebook page.

All are welcome to visit there, comment, or just browse. On The End Time FB page we do not have to be friends in order for you to view or post, so this should be helpful to you and to me.

Here is what it looks like

The link is https://www.facebook.com/The.End.Time.Blog

Thank you!

discernment, false teachers, lucre, prosperity, root of all evil, treasure

The lure of the lucre: false religion is big business

Posted on July 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Money brings with it the lure of the world and what it has to offer. We are from heaven, sent into the world (John 17:16) but we are not to be conformed to the pattern of it while we are here. (Rom 12:2).

Kudzu enveloping and choking a tree

But we need to live, eat, work, raise families. And for that, we need money. We need to be part of the world’s economic system in some degree.

Being part of an evil world system through employment, or pension, or financial investment, means we have to make decisions at all times to refrain from being drawn in and compromising our biblical principles. Lydia of Acts 16:14 seems to be one of the people who was involved in a business which brought much money (seller of purple, quite expensive) yet retained her fervent love of the Lord. We know she was successful at this because she had a large enough home to host gatherings and hosted a home church. It seems from the few gleanings we can read in scripture, that once Lydia found Jesus, she used her means to further the kingdom instead of having a divided heart or worse, succumbing to the world like Demas did. (2 Timothy 4:10). She was in the world, but not of the world.

The boat is supposed to be in the water, but the water isn’t supposed to be in the boat. ~Alistair Begg

Ananias and Sapphira became entangled in the world system of the love of money, briefly but eternally. In their real estate transaction, they succumbed to the lure of the lucre and kept back some for themselves, even though they had promised God to give it all to Him. God doesn’t require all, but their broken promise meant that they were like Mrs Lot, looking back and not putting Him first. They were hypocrites. (1 Tim 6:10).

The love of money and Christianity do not mix. The love of money and false religion are a perfect match. For the non-Christian, false religion can bring in big bucks, incredible bucks. False religion is a blockbusting money-maker. Let’s look at a few instances of this from the bible.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

19But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” Acts 16:16-20).

First, the most literal and obvious part of the verse is that the slave owners were raking in the money by farming out this girl in fortune telling. Just as fortune-telling is lucrative now, it was then. Why does fortune telling make so much money? It plays into the emptiness of the world system and of the individual heart. People have eternity in their hearts, (Ecc 3:11) know God exists, (Romans 1:19), have a conscience (Romans 2:15) and yet suppress all that and go seek temporal to fill the vacuum things anyway. False religion is only too happy to oblige.

“Anyone that has a deep longing for true happiness is unsatisfied with any material thing, things which cannot quiet the heart.” John MacArthur

Secondly, the false religionists do not care about you. I repeat, they do not care about you. They don’t care about your well-being, your spiritual growth, your emotions, your self-esteem, or your happiness. At all. The slave owner knew their girl was possessed. How horrible to be possessed! Yet do the false religionists care about her as a person? No. They wee only angry their money-making enterprise was destroyed.

Third, false religionists are liars. They said among themselves that they were angry their hope of gain was gone. But do they say that when they go to court? No. They lie and they present a false front of caring for “the city” and its laws.

Let’s look at another instance which shows the incredible money-making potential of the false religions.

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19:18-19)

This occurred in Ephesus.

Acts 19:19, Ephesian Book Burning. Artist unknown

The total of the books burned from just this one segment of the population of the city, not even the whole of the city, toted up to 50,000 pieces of silver! This is a staggering amount of money. Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver. According to Thucydides, a drachma or silver piece was approximately a day’s pay for a skilled laborer. So 30 pieces of silver would be comparable to 120 day’s wages. The people in Ephesus spent roughly 200,000 day’s wages on false religion materials!

Fifty thousand pieces of silver is a monumental amount of money to be investing in false religion materials! People are financially supported by false religion to a degree that not only is seen then, but is seen now. The false religionists deeply care about their money, very deeply. Remember, the love of money is the root of all evil.

One more. Also from Acts 19 verses 24-25,

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. (Acts 19:24-25)

Once again, we see that their first concern is that they have obtained wealth. In the Greek it’s “Our prosperity depends upon this business.” Their first thought is always money.

Second, notice that the verse mentions with the workmen in similar trades. In Greek it’s ‘of similar kind.’ There are the idol makers like Demetrius, shrine makers, amulet makers, magic arts bookbinders and scribes, potion purveyors…the list goes on. If you walked into any Christian bookstore looking for a bible, think of all the OTHER stuff that goes along with it. Bible covers, bookmarks, highlighters, CDs, etc. In any religion there is always the main stuff to buy and then all the extra stuff to buy. False religion was a huge business in Ephesus.

Third, if you read in the next few verses, Demetrius said that these men from The Way are putting a dent in our pocketbooks, and plus, oh yeah, they are besmirching the name of Artemis. Since their first thought is always gain, the caring about Artemis is secondary and a cover. We know it’s a cover because of the example above. The aggrieved slave girl owners first stated they lost a lot of money but when they went to the court, they put on a show of mourning over the upset city inhabitants and the civil law. The Artemis lovers cared first about their money and secondarily about the goddess- only then as a means to an end. The end being their pocketbook.

Fourth, after Demetrius did his damage, the city was riled up. The rabble eventually made their way to the amphitheater, but get this,

Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. (Acts 19:32).

They didn’t know why they were mad or against who! They didn’t even know why they were there! They were truly a rabid dog, mindless crowd, not caring one bit about Artemis until they were told to. (Acts 19:33-34).

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

One note before I close. There is nothing wrong with being rich. Sometimes God blesses us with means so that we can further His kingdom like He did with Abraham, Job, Solomon, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia.

However, the love of wealth is:

tempting (1 Tim 6:9)
a snare (1 Tim 6:10)
deceitful (Matthew 13:22)
ruinous to households (Proverbs 15:27)
disqualifying men for leadership (1 Timothy 3:3)
unrighteous (Luke 16:22)
A false god (Matthew 6:24- Mammon!)

If money is the root of all kinds of evil, then money and false religion are made for each other because false religion is a high evil and money will be the root of it.

The lesson is, never underestimate the tentacles of money in false religion’s purveyors and how committed to money they are to it, how sneaky they are to maintain it, and the depths they will descend to in order to keep it.

Make your decisions wisely, don’t get caught in a money trap. Heed the many admonitions in the Bible. Loving money too much will cause you to make unrighteous decisions, as it did for Ananias and Sapphira. As for those who purvey a false version of Christianity, they do not love you. They do not care for you. They put on a false front, a big ole Texas smile, sisterly jokes about big hair, intimate confessions of past trauma, but at the root of it, all they want is money.

Smaug the dragon protecting his treasure in The Hobbit movie. LOTR wiki.

But for us,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; (Matthew 6:19-20)

And where the most precious treasure of all abides: Jesus

scripture photo

Scripture photo: Rocky ground

Posted on July 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

EPrata photo

offense, prophecy, truth

Evildoers are without hope. Let the truth offend, proclaim it boldly!

Posted on July 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Yesterday was a day of horror. I read about the Chicago Theological Seminary’s endeavor at the Chicago Pride parade and I was sickened and knocked out of my senses by what a “Seminary” is doing in the name of Jesus.

The news headlines even constrained in a 140 character limit are too much to bear these days. Never mind absorbing full headlines and the actual news. I thought that Chicago Theological incident would likely be the worst thing I would read that day.

I was wrong.

The horror continued with the revealing of a secret video of a Planned Parenthood executive having a casual discussion about a monstrosity she regularly performs. And I’m not talking about abortion, monstrosity as well that is.

I begged the Lord to have mercy on us.

Then my thoughts turned to Him, our precious Savior who came to save us from our sins. He is so pure, holy, and sinless, and yet He is so long-suffering and patient. Because if I am having this reaction to some vile and revolting news, then what of Jesus? I praised Him in tearful prayer for His restraint, His patience, and His mercy. We’re offended, but every sin that happens under the sun is an offense to Him and against Him.

He said in Luke 12:49 NASB, I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!

His fervency to punish the wicked and right the wrongs done to His Father boils within our Savior. Knowing this makes seeing His mercy and restraint all the more wonderful.

There will come a day when fire will consume evildoers. It is up to us to tell the Good News until that Day. For many millions and billions are living daily in complete offense to God. They have no hope. Meanwhile, His anger builds.

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:5)

Political correctness cannot allow us to water down the message any more. There is a burning necessity of being bold and proclaiming the word in truth. Sinners need Jesus so badly, and we have only had a minor glimpse of the horrors of sins previously unrevealed and you can be sure there are worse to come. And this is with the Restrainer on earth. (2 Thessalonians 2:6)

In the end,
Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. (Luke 12:2).

I’m glad that by then we will be glorified and can take the amount of sin that is going to be revealed on the Day of Judgment in Wrath. But until then, my concern is for sinner of course, but my first thought (and yours should be) is of Jesus. We sin against Him and Him alone. (Psalm 51:4). His patience in enduring against these offenses Him is monumental.

If nothing else, the news should fire up Christians to evangelize in boldness. This is why:

aimee byrd, discernment, housewife theologian, pride

Discernment helps: Danger in Women’s ministries, how discernment should affect our walk, and detecting pride

Posted on July 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Over coffee this morning, I read three good articles this morning and realized that they were all similar in theme.

In this first article, “Housewife Theologian” Aimee Byrd explores why it is that women are weak and gullible when it comes to discernment. In 2 Timothy 3:6 Paul wrote,

For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Ms Aimee is writing a series of blog posts to help women spot the Danger in Women’s Ministries. And if you have followed me for very long you know that Ms Byrd is preaching to the choir with me, for it is an extremely important and timely message I hold dear to my heart. It’s no accident that Joyce Meyer is one of the most popular “preachers” in America. It’s no accident that the best selling book of any genre is Jesus Calling. And Ann Voskamp’s influence is tremendous. She’s everywhere, writing books, holding positions on boards, participating in movements, and guest blogging on popular websites. Please follow along with Aimee as she continues the series she began on Friday and so far has two parts.

Part 1-The Danger in Women’s Ministries
Part 2-Why We Are So Insulted

Here is an essay I’ve authored containing recommendations for good women and men’s ministries that can be trusted (as of this writing, in my opinion). You will notice that Aimee Byrd is already listed on there.

Trustworthy Women’s and Men’s ministries

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1

In the second essay I read over coffee this morning is written by the ever wise and gentle Sinclair Ferguson. He explains what biblical discernment is and how it should affect our Christian walk.

Discernment: Thinking God’s Thoughts after Him

The experience caused me to reflect on the importance of discernment, and the lack of it in our world. People do not see issues clearly and are easily misled because they do not think biblically. But, sadly, one cannot help reflecting on how true that is of ourselves, in the church community too. Most readers of this article would want to distance themselves from what might be regarded as the lunatic fringe of contemporary Christianity. But there is more to discernment. True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, the permanent from the transient, the good and the better from the best. Thus discernment is like the physical senses; to some it is given as a special grace gift (1 Cor. 12:10), but a measure of it is essential for us all, and must be constantly nourished. The Christian must take care to nourish his “sixth sense” of spiritual discernment. This is why the psalmist prays, “Teach me knowledge and good judgment” (Ps. 119:66). But what is discernment? …

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
John 7:24

Discernment is important to each and every Christian, whether it is a specifically endowed gift, (1 Corinthians 12:10) or simply something the non-gifted Christian practices for the glory of the Lord. However especially gifted discernment practitioners are also especially given to the sins of pride, a harsh spirit, a tendency to look at only the negative, and more. All of us are prone to pride, no matter the gift we have been given. Here is an essay that we can benefit from … or be convicted by … as the case may be. It is written by Fabienne Harford at Desiring God with an aid to making that all-important diagnosis.

Seven Subtle Symptoms of Pride

Pride will kill you. Forever. Pride is the sin most likely to keep you from crying out for a Savior. Those who think they are well will not look for a doctor. As seriously dangerous as pride is, it’s equally hard to spot. When it comes to diagnosing our hearts, those of us who have the disease of pride have a challenging time identifying our sickness.

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Galatians 6:3

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Are we supposed to be able to hear a voice from God? If we do, how can I detect if it’s really Him?

Posted on July 14, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A Pastor friend of mine posed this excerpt from a lengthy article dismembering the notion of contemplative prayer and hearing personal voices from heaven. This excerpt contains a salient part I believe is one of the best apologetics rebuttals of hearing voices that I’ve seen. The link to the full article is the clickable headline. It is by noted theologian Larry DeBruyn.

With more and more pastors attempting to legitimize that hearing personal revelation is normative, with more and more teachers teaching that there is something wrong with you if you don’t hear a voice from God… and with more and more bible teachers offering “lessons” on how to detect if a heard voice is the flesh, devil or God, discernment is needed for the everyday Christian more than ever. Therefore, please consider these things.

“Listen” by Ky, Flickr, CC by 2.0

Who Goes There?

(Pastor Larry DeBruyn) The fact that contemporary evangelicals seek “fresh” revelations from and experiences with God, even to go “out of the body,” indicates that they no longer consider Holy Scripture to be sufficient and authoritative in matters of faith and its practice (Contra 2 Timothy 3:16.). Yet if the Bible is no longer considered sufficient, hearing another voice give a revelation raises the following conundrum:

1. If a voice repeats what’s in Holy Scripture, then the word is UNNECESSARY.

2. If a voice intuition or actual speaking contradicts the Word of God, then what it says is HERESY.

3. If however, the voice supplements the Word of God, then the fresh revelation points to the Scripture’s insufficiency,

and regarding this last point Proverbs warns: “Add thou not unto his [God’s] words, lest he [God] reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:6, KJV).

[Thus, again, such practices of adding to the Word of God are HERESY]

So the Apostle Paul warned the Colossians against the folk religion that was leading them astray from the faith:

“Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God” (Emphasis added, Colossians 2:18-19).

One of the marks of spiritual defrauders is, as Paul points out, that they take their “stand on visions they have seen.” Would it not also be a legitimate application of Paul’s words to think that spiritual defrauders might also take their stand upon voices they have heard?

FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE: Who Goes There? Encountering voices in contemplative prayer . . .