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PART TWO

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and THE BOOKS were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. THE DEAD WERE JUDGED ACCORDING TO what they had done, AS RECORDED IN THE BOOKS" (Revelation 20:11-12):

The Greek word for "books" in both verses is "Biblia" or "BIBLE".

The unsaved dead are NOT judged according to tradition or according to some religion's manufactured dogma.

They are NOT JUDGED BY some religion's INVENTED "rules" of "good Christian behavior".

The unsaved dead are judged BY THE BIBLE.

And ONLY by the Bible.

THAT is SOLA SCRIPTURA.

That we have THIS STATEMENT in the LAST Book of the Bible is EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT.

God is saying: "THIS is where MY BOOK ENDS".

He is saying "BY THESE BOOKS (Revelation and the ones that precede it, which together COMPRISE THE Book OF BOOKS) the unsaved will be judged".

When you combine this statement with Revelation 19:9, Revelation 22:7,9 (quoted below) -- and with the ominous warning given A FEW VERSES LATER about ADDING OR SUBTRACTING from God's Word (Revelation 22: 18-19), it's OBVIOUS that that is, indeed, WHAT GOD IS SAYING.

"Then the angel said to me... These are THE TRUE WORDS OF God." (Revelation 19:9)

"Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he THAT KEEPS THE SAYINGS of the prophecy OF THIS BOOK.

And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

Then he said unto me, See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, AND OF THEM WHO KEEP THE WORDS OF THIS BOOK: worship God." (Revelation 22: 7, 9)

Our God is SO AWESOME that He told us WHERE HIS BOOK "BEGINS" (Genesis 1:1) AND WHERE IT "ENDS"!

But surely you don't think THAT EVERYTHING that every human being who ever lived has ever done is written in the Bible...

Oh, no?

Evidently, you have not read Psalm 139:

"Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus. EVERY DAY (OF MY LIFE) WAS RECORDED IN YOUR BOOK BEFORE ONE OF THEM HAD TAKEN PLACE" (Psalm 139:16).

One thing the Bible Code has PROVEN is THAT THERE ARE MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS and layers of information contained in the written Word that GO BEYOND the surface text (that which we can readily read with our human eyes).

This verse plainly says that EVERY EVENT, EVERY ACTIVITY, EVERY WORD, EVERY THOUGHT a given individual has experienced, done, spoken or entertained in his/her mind - EACH AND EVERY DAY THEY SPENT ON EARTH - WAS RECORDED in God's BOOK - BEFORE ANY OF IT had happened in space-time.

Glory to God for all the eons of eternity-world without end!

EVERYTHING we've done, said and thought IS THERE, in SOME way, shape or form.

As the old hymn says (once in a while they get it right): "Oh, Lord, HOW GREAT YOU ARE!!!"

All those who have tried in vain to discredit the Bible, or to minimize its importance, will get the shock of their unrepentant, rebellious lives, WHEN THEY ARE JUDGED BY... THE BIBLE.

And ONLY BY the Bible.

 

                                            

 

MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2016

 

THE "BOOKS" WERE OPENED

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and THE BOOKS WERE OPENED: and ANOTHER BOOK WAS OPENED, WHICH IS THE BOOK OF LIFE: and the dead WERE JUDGED OUT OF THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE WRITTEN IN THE BOOKS, according to their works... And WHOEVER WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:12-15).

There are times when we seek God, study His Word diligently, and He gives us understanding and revelation.

And there are times when He SOVEREIGNLY gives revelation "out of the blue" and KNOCKS US FLAT ON OUR BEHINDS.

Such was the case recently, when I was working at home, and sort of half-listening to some program on TV about the "Bible codes".

It's one thing to READ the Bible, it's another thing to STUDY the Bible, it's another thing to MEDITATE on the Bible (after we've closed the Book), and it's yet another thing WHEN THE BIBLE COMES ALIVE...

...When God's Spirit QUICKENS a portion of His written Word and it COMES ALIVE in our spirits.

It just EXPLODES...

I've walked with the Lord long enough, and experienced the latter often enough (glory to His Name!), to know when UNDENIABLE revelation comes.

This kind of revelation comes, NOT because we deserve it, NOT because we're smarter or "more spiritual", or "more obedient", or "more consecrated", or a "better Christian" than anyone else... but BY A SOVEREIGN ACT OF GOD'S MOST AMAZING GRACE.

It's His GIFT to us. Praise His Wonderful Name!

To Him be ALL the glory, now and for all eternity! Amen and Amen.

Fair warning to those who may be standing... BETTER SIT DOWN FOR THIS ONE:

I have stated in the past that "the word ‘Bible' is NOT FOUND IN the Bible".

I WAS WRONG ABOUT THAT: I'll have to revise that message.

When Revelation 20:12 says that "the books" were opened and the dead judged according to what IS WRITTEN in those "books"...

Do you know what the Greek word for "books" is?

BIBLE!!!!!!!

It's the EXACT word for "Bible" (biblia) which means "books", NOT a derivation.

Boy did the Lord ever set me up for this one!

I posted a message recently on "how we got the Bible" and I even explained that the English word Bible comes from the Greek biblia meaning "books"... And I STILL DIDN'T GET IT.

Duh.

At the general resurrection of the UNSAVED (those WHO DIED PHYSICALLY without knowing Jesus), GUESS WHAT "BOOKS" WILL BE OPENED, and BY WHAT "BOOKS" THEY'LL BE JUDGED...

Kaboom!

Oh... my... God!

I've always known (since age 10) that the Bible IS the Word of God.

I've always known it is FOREVER (eternally) SETTLED in heaven (Psalm 119:89).

And I've always known in my spirit that THERE'S A LOT MORE TO THE BIBLE than meets the human eye and human mind.

That there are DIMENSIONS OF KNOWLEDGE and Wisdom and revelation in that HOLIEST of books than we can't even imagine...

Heck, we haven't even FIGURED OUT THE ENTIRE SURFACE TEXT yet...

Just imagine what OTHER mind-blowing dimensions -- AND REVELATIONS -- may be in Him-it.

Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory to Jesus, our ETERNAL GOD AND SAVIOR, the LIVING, ETERNAL, Incarnate Word of God, now and forever!

Ooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!

ALL those who died without Christ WILL BE JUDGED... BY THE BIBLE!!!

By the same Bible that they claim is just "a fable".

By the same Bible they claim was put together at the Council of Nicaea (NOT!), as if God were so feckless and pitiful that He couldn't preserve THE PURITY of His ETERNAL Word.

Both Old and New Testaments were written WELL BEFORE Nicaea.

ALL they did at Nicaea was ADD the deuterocanonical books to the Old Testament (which are NOT divinely inspired but have historical value), and officially recognize the books of the New Testament, WHICH HAD ALREADY BEEN VETTED AND WERE WIDELY KNOWN AND ACCEPTED AS DIVINELY INSPIRED throughout the Christian world.

THEY'LL BE JUDGED BY the same Bible that they FALSELY claim is "full of contradictions".

...By the same Bible that they consider "antiquated" and NO LONGER APPLICABLE to modern society.

Guess again, numb skulls.

By the same Bible that they altogether DISMISSED, in favor of "scientific" human wisdom, that comes from CORRUPT, FINITE, PREJUDICED minds.

Never mind that THE BIBLE has told us FOR 3,500 YEARS what human "scientists" have ONLY RECENTLY stumbled upon.

DIDN'T JESUS SAY:

"There is A JUDGE FOR THE ONE WHO REJECTS Me and DOES NOT RECEIVE My words: THE WORD THAT I HAVE SPOKEN WILL JUDGE HIM ON THE LAST DAY" (John 12:48).

What is "THE Word" (singular) that He (the Word made flesh) has SPOKEN"?

THE BIBLE!!!

Well, I've always thought that those books referred to SEPARATE books and records about each person kept in heaven, AS THEY DO OR NOT DO certain things on earth (I thought so, too).

After all, it says they are judged "according TO THEIR WORKS".

Surely, the Bible CANNOT contain EVERY SINGLE THING each person who has lived has ever done...

Oh, ye of little faith...

Don't miss part two of this message tomorrow.

We haven't even gotten to the Book of Life yet.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2016

 

THE BIBLE CODE

 

Is there any truth to the so-called Bible Code?

 

Yes.

 

Should we rely on Bible Codes to know the future?

 

No.

 

There's TOO MUCH DETAIL AND ACCURACY IN SOME of the Bible Codes that have been found REGARDING PAST EVENTS for it to be mere "coincidence".

 

God's Word is inexhaustible: The Codes are simply PROOF that there's MORE to God's Word than what is stated in the Bible's regular text.

 

I'm certain that IN ETERNITY we'll discover multiple layers of depth, meanings and dimensions to it.

 

However, while we're still IN SPACE/TIME, God gave us THE SURFACE Bible TEXT as our instruction, NOT ANY "SECRET CODES" that may be found in it.

 

I know of one website which bases virtually all its "teaching" and predictions on supposed Bible codes.

 

They haven't got ANYTHING right yet.

 

They have predicted among other things -- BASED SUPPOSEDLY ON CERTAIN "CODES" THEY FOUND - that Hillary would win the presidency in '08 and that Philadelphia would be nuked in January '09.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I do cite ONE Bible Code on this website, because it is amazingly in line with the ACTUAL biblical text.

 

However, I do not base the teaching on that code, but on THE ACTUAL BIBLE TEXT verbatim.

 

Is it sin to look for Bible Codes?

 

No.

 

I don't buy the condemning theory that doing so is a form of divination.

 

We're dealing, after all, with the HOLY Word of God.

 

Seeking Truth in His Word - even at equidistant intervals -- can hardly be compared with going to a palm reader.

 

However, there's TOO MUCH WE STILL DON'T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND about such codes:

 

Consequently, AT THIS TIME, they are not a reliable source of doctrine, Bible prophecy, or of ascertaining the future.

 

Look at the mess we've made with Bible prophecy WITH THE SURFACE text ONLY- not to mention other things, LIKE SALVATION.  

 

Imagine if we start trying to base doctrine on supposed "Bible codes".

 

Those who MISUSE Bible codes for the purpose of predicting the future are likely to fail time and again:

 

ALL THEY ARE DOING IS GUESSING what might happen and then trying to find some "suitable" Bible Code to back it up.

 

That won't work.

 

We find Truth in WHAT GOD SAYS on the regular Bible text.

 

We can DEPEND on Him to bring His Word to pass.

 

Capriciously dreaming up a prophetic scenario ACCORDING TO OUR WILL - and NOT His -- is folly, I don't care how many "codes" someone may claim to have found.

 

One of the great tragedies in modern Christendom is APPALLING LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF SCRIPTURE.

 

Before we launch into a fruitless and meaningless search for some "secret code", we should be STUDYING AND MEDITATING the Bible text.

 

You'll be SURPRISED what you will find and learn.

 

UNLESS we are UNDENIABLY and specifically led by the Holy Spirit, SEEKING "secret codes" within the Bible is mostly unproductive and can be highly misleading.

 

Trying to GUESS the future based on some highly subjective "Bible code" is dumb, when we have THE LITERAL BIBLE TEXT.

 

2 Peter 1:19 calls it "A MORE SURE Word of prophecy". 

Saturday, January 16, 2016

THE SIN OF SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN" (Matthew 5:3).

Self-righteousness is AN ABOMINATION in the eyes of God.

Repeat: Self-righteousness is AN ABOMINATION.

Self-righteousness IS SIN.

And, with the exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, IT IS THE MOST EGREGIOUS AND DANGEROUS SIN A PERSON CAN COMMIT.

Self-righteous people LACK a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. ALL they have is dead RELIGION.

Self-righteous people believe that THEIR BEHAVIOR plays a role in their Salvation.

Self-righteous people THINK they are saved by their own "righteous" DEEDS, when all the while THEY ARE LOST.

Unfortunately, Christendom is rife with "Christians" who practice this prideful and horrible sin.

I KNOW BECAUSE I SEE THE EVIDENCE OF IT EVERY SINGLE DAY:

FEARFUL religionists trying to WIN God's favor through their DEEDS. Smug and confident they are saved because of THEIR OWN obedience.

They make their works and their purported "obedience" SAVIORS, along with Jesus.

SELF-righteousness is A LIE.

There's NO SUCH THING.

God says that "there are NONE righteous, NOT EVEN ONE" (Psalm 53:1).

"For in thy sight NO MAN living is righteous" (Psalm 143:2).

 He said ALL our purported "righteousness" is "as filthy rags" in His eyes (Isaiah 64:6).

Jesus Himself told the self-righteous rich young ruler, WHO BOASTED - AS MANY DO TODAY - of "keeping all the commandments since childhood", that he was lying. Jesus said NO ONE IS GOOD, except God ALONE (Mark 10:18),

So, either God was lying or SELF RIGHTEOUS religionists ARE.

That means you can try to be "righteous" from the moment you open your eyes each morning, to the time you close them at night. It's not going to win you any points with God.

You can try to keep commandments till you turn into a shriveled old prune.

You can keep the weekly Sabbath till there are no more Sundays, Mondays or Wednesdays...

You can try to follow the Sinai Law until your legalistic mind goes numb...

You can follow dietary laws until you're nothing but skin and bones...

You can get circumcised until you resemble John Bobbitt...

You can shun make up until Maybelline, Revlon and L'Oreal go out of business...

You WON'T merit Salvation. You're NOT saved and you're going to hell.

NONE OF THAT will save you.

NONE OF THAT will make you righteous.

There's ONLY ONE Righteousness IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, and it's God's Righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

You and I have ZERO.

The sooner we come to THAT stark realization, the better.

So, if we have NO RIGHTEOUSNESS, despite all our attempts to be and ACT righteous, we might as well throw in the towel.

We might as well just GIVE IT UP.

We might as well throw ourselves HELPLESSLY at the Mercy of God, and SEEK GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, because THERE IS NO OTHER (Matthew 6:33).

His Righteousness is the ONLY RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT EXISTS.

How do you get God's OWN Righteousness?

By having the Righteous One Himself LIVING IN you.

He comes to LIVE IN you when you INVITE Him.

When you HAVE Him, brother, sister, YOU GOT IT MADE! (1 John 5:12).

Get Jesus IN you, and you NEVER have to worry about sin.

Get Jesus IN YOU, and you're FOREVER Righteous!

God has NO LAW against Himself. Selah.

Get Jesus IN YOUR HEART, and you'll never know OR FEAR condemnation (Romans 8:1).

Colossians 1:27: Jesus IN us is OUR ONLY hope of glory.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2016

"D" IS FOR DAMASCUS

Some 2,800 years ago Isaiah prophesied THE DESTRUCTION OF Damascus:

"...See, Damascus WILL NO LONGER BE A CITY but will become a heap of ruins" (Isaiah 17:1).

Yet Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the center of a large metropolitan area comprising 2.6 million people.

While the city has been attacked, conquered and damaged several times in history, it has never ceased from being a city, nor has it been entirely turned to rubble.

On-going events in Syria seem to be paving the way for this ancient prophecy to be fulfilled.

However, most of the fighting is going on in the northern part of Syria, or in Damascus' SUBURBS.

Since Scripture MUST ALWAYS be taken IN CONTEXT, the Damascus that is prophesied to become "a heap of rubble" is THE DAMASCUS THAT EXISTED in Isaiah's time, which is OLD Damascus.

That Damascus, which dates back to the 2 millennium B.C., is presently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Center. UNESCO is the UN's educational, scientific and cultural agency. 

Ancient Damascus contains a Jewish and Christian Quarter, just like Old Jerusalem.

And one can still visit the Via Recta (or street called "Straight"), mentioned in the Book of Acts, where Ananias was ordered to go see Paul and pray for him so that Paul would recover his sight (Acts 9:11).

That Damascus, SO FAR, is largely unscathed.

So, will it happen?

You can COUNT ON IT.

Isaiah chapters 13 through 27 correlate extremely well with the Book of Revelation:

We have the Rapture in chapter 13.

We have satan cast out of heaven for the final time and the resurrection of Antichrist in chapter 14.

...The persecution of Jews in chapters 15 & 16, with them taking refuge in Petra.

...The destruction of Damascus in chapter 17.

The large number of lethal missiles launched from the Euphrates region under the 6th trumpet in chapter 18.

The judgment of Egypt in chapter 19...

...Judgment of Iraq in chapter 20, against Babylon and Saudi Arabia in 21, about Jerusalem in chapter 22, against Lebanon in chapter 23.

We have the devastation of the earth during the tribulation in chapter 24, the deliverance and Salvation of Israel in chapters 25 and 26, and the punishment of satan in chapter 27.

That the destruction of Damascus takes place DURING THE TRIBULATION is clearly shown in Isaiah 17:4 and 7, for they state:

"In THAT DAY the glory of Jacob (Israel) WILL FADE; the fat of his body will waste away".

"In THAT DAY men will see their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel".

Considering that there were no chapter divisions in the original text, and assuming Isaiah generally mentions these events in chronological order, the destruction of Damascus would take place AROUND THE SAME TIME THE 6TH TRUMPET IN REVELATION IS BLOWN and the missiles from the Euphrates go off (Revelation 9:13-19).

If by any chance it doesn't happen then, it would take place UNDER THE 7TH BOWL described in Revelation 16:17-18 where we have the largest quake in human history AND MAJOR CITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD, including Damascus - or whatever may remain of it - are turned to rubble.

The fact Damascus is singled out in Isaiah 17, as well as its location in the Isaiah narrative, leads me to believe the correct scenario is the first (6th trumpet), and not the second (7th bowl), but time will tell.

It may even be the result of BOTH events.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

 

DON'T ACCEPT IT!!!

Lord God in heaven... when I read some of the correspondence that comes in, I don't know whether to cry or just throw my hands up in the air.

There are SOME VERY IMPORTANT things about the Church that we need to teach real soon.

However, HOW CAN WE GO INTO DEEPER Truth, when most Christians are IN DIAPERS?

There is SO MUCH SPIRITUAL WEAKNESS, and SO MANY MISCONCEPTIONS - that I DON'T KNOW WHERE to begin:

It's amazing to me HOW QUICKLY Christians ACCEPT bad reports.

How quick they are to accept the role of "victims".

How HELPLESSLY they act, AS THOUGH they had NO SAY and NO AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER on the matter.

As though TEMPORARY circumstances were FIXED and FINAL.

How IGNORANT they are about dealing with various situations.

How full of SELF PITY they are.

And HOW RESISTANT they are to HIGHER Truth when we try TO HELP THEM.

WHAT TO DO when you get a "bad report", whether it's about health, finances, or ANYTHING ELSE:

1. DON'T ACCEPT IT!!!

We exist in the realm of "time". Time, by very definition, is TEMP-orary.

ALL THAT IS TEMPORARY CAN BE CHANGED.

Repeat: ALL that is temporary CAN BE CHANGED.

If you don't like the "bad report" you got, for Pete's sake, REJECT IT, and CHANGE IT!!!

2. WHAT GOD SAYS

"But you don't understand, the doctor says..." "my employer says"... "the bank says", "the lawyer says"...

Doctors, employers, lawyers and bankers ARE SINFUL MORTALS.

They all MAKE MISTAKES.

They DON'T HAVE the last word - ON ANYTHING.