Sheep's clothing kind of an attack

“In the Bible we find 24 people who dreamed dreams of sufficient spiritual or prophetic importance to be recorded in the Bible," writes Bible scholar Noah Hutchings. "These 24 people dreamed 34 separate dreams (22 in the Old Testament; 12 in the New Testament).

“Some of these people were godly people and others were ungodly. It is apparent from Scripture that God did reveal great prophetic truths to these people.

"But just as God has spoken to men in dreams, so has the Devil. We read in Ecclesiastes 5:7: ‘For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.’

“We read in Jeremiah 23:27 that the prophets of Israel were misled in dreams to believe that their god was Baal. Zechariah 10:2 also speaks of diviners, spirit mediums, conjuring up false dreams.

"There is indeed a mystical relationship between dreams and the spirit world, and Daniel had the spiritual perception to determine whether a dream was of God or the Devil, and to decipher its meaning.”

*****

Deuteronomy 13 says, [1] If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, [2] And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.

“When the Antichrist shows up in the tribulation, the ‘false prophet’ is going to be able to make an inanimate object speak; he’s going to give life to the image of the beast," explains Richard Jordan.

“In II Thessalonians 2, Paul talks about the coming of the Antichrist with 'lying wonders,' warning, ‘Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

[10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.’

“All of that stuff is coming through there to deceive and seduce Israel into believing a lie. 

*****

"Hosea 9:7 says, ‘The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.’

“That’s what’s driven them mad. Now what would the hatred be toward? Verse 8 says, ‘The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.’

“There’s a religious hatred aimed toward God’s people, the nation Israel, God’s truth, the Word of God. It says, ‘They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.’

“The prophets are snares; they’re out there trying to catch you. That’s all that stuff about the seductive program—in Mark 13 He talks about how even the elect would be seduced.

"They’re trying to seduce them out of the truth into the Lie program and it’s seducing spirits teaching doctrines of devils that produces the hatred of God’s Word and God’s plan IN God’s house.

“So you had the temple of Jerusalem, the temple of God, turned into the temple of Satan. Revelation 2 calls places associated with it ‘the synagogues of Satan.’ Baal worship never ceased in Israel; that’s the idea about them being deeply corrupted.

“That’s like in Revelation 2:24 when he talks about the depths of Satan: ‘But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.’ ”

“What John is addressing in I John is there’s these counterfeiting wolves in a sheep’s clothing kind of an attack that is part of the Antichrist. 

"I John 2: 18] Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
[19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

“If they aren’t spiritually alert and equipped with this doctrinal understanding on how to see through the one who is professing to be like the Most High God . . . 

"Satan is the great counterfeiter. He doesn’t simply come in and deny God’s truth; he counterfeits it and they’re literally going to see in the person of the Antichrist a counterfeit first coming of Christ, a counterfeit death, a counterfeit resurrection and counterfeit Second Advent and kingdom.”

'Bait in a trap to catch people'

Here's a message from the Roman Catholic Church to Buddhists, dated May 26, 2021:

1. On behalf of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, I am writing to you on the occasion of the feast of Vesakh to offer my heartfelt greetings. It is my prayer that this annual feast of the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of Gautama Buddha may bring joy, serenity, and hope to the hearts of Buddhists throughout the world.

2. The current world situation, tragically marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges the followers of all religions to collaborate in new ways at the service of the human community. In his Encyclical Fratelli tutti, signed in Assisi on 3 October 2020, Pope Francis reiterated the urgency of a universal solidarity that allows humanity to overcome together the difficult crises that threaten it, because “no one is saved alone” (Pope Francis, Fratelli tutti, 32).

*****

(I meant to incorporate this passage into yesterday's post. I will have a new post this evening.)

II Peter 2 uses Balaam as a prime example of what goes on with the covetous, false teachers who line up as the personification of the satanic policy of evil.

"They wind up in the last days under the ministry of the Antichrist, who rides to power riding the horn (Revelation 17)--riding the system of religion to power and these people are right in there with him," explains Jordan.

“The passage says: [13] And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

[14] Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
[15] Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

[16] But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

“You see how it says, ‘Spots they are and blemishes’? The other time that’s used is in I Peter 1 when it says the Lord Jesus Christ was ‘without blemish and without spot.’ They’re the exact opposite of Christ.

“James 1:27 says, [27] Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

“That issue of ‘spots’ has to do with a sore spot, literally, that comes up on their body for having taken ‘the mark of the beast.’ Revelation 16 describes it as a grievous running sore like leprosy. Revelation 3:4 says, [4] Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

“This stuff’s talking about how they're part of this polluted religious system that promotes, through the false prophet, the activity of the Antichrist and they wind up with the judgment of that, and in the midst of that judgment don’t even understand.

“Still deceived, still dead to see it, sporting themselves, reveling. ‘Sporting’ means you’re trying to call attention to yourself. That’s the depths of sin’s dominion. They’re under the total, complete control of sin.

*****

“You know where the defilement comes from? In Luke 6, he talks about ‘an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.’

“Luke 11 tells us the ‘light of the body is the eye.’ It’s not just the issue of the external; there’s something inside of you and it gets contacted. Luke writes, [34] The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. [35] Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

“That’s II Peter 2:14! He says they have ‘eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin.’ These men in II Peter succumb to that; they’re not like Job who said, ‘I’ve not looked upon a maid to sin.’

“They’re like Christ was warning people in Matthew 5 about: ‘If you LOOK you’ve committed adultery in your heart.’ I mean, they literally can’t even look without sinning; without it triggering thoughts inside of self-consuming, self-indulgent sin. Completely captivated by it. It’s a heart problem.

“When it says they’re ‘beguiling unstable souls,’ that word ‘beguile’ is translated from a word that has to do with people who would go out and put out bait in a trap to catch people. The problem is in the soul; hearts not stabilized and fortified with some sound doctrine.

“Balaam made a deliberate choice to go the wrong way when the right way was known to him and he loved the wages of unrighteousness for money’s sake. These folks pose as prophets yet they teach ‘license’; they teach false doctrine for the sake of money.

“Old Man Bob Jones used to say, ‘When it doesn’t make sense, there’s a buck in it somewhere,’ and there will be in this. That’s one of the reasons in the law, God told the leaders of Israel not to take gifts. Notice adultery and money are two things that go together in these passages. You’ll see in Micah 5 that those are two sins people are judged especially for."

Mark of the beast, put on the 'spot'

Jude says, [22] And of some have compassion, making a difference: [23] And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

“Exactly what God has done all through Israel’s history is what He’ll do in that tribulation when the man of sin, that personification of the Lie Program, is there and God brings them out of the fire,” explains Richard Jordan.

“When He takes them into that kingdom they’ll be a brand plucked out of the burning, fit for wrath, fit for burning, and yet redeemed because God has another purpose for them.

"Revelation 16: [1] And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
[2] And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

“There’s this spot that develops in these people as a curse; it’s leprosy back in Leviticus 13. They take 'the mark of the beast' and then God marks them.

“Revelation 3: [4] Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
[5] He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

“Go back to Jude 12: [12] These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

“Over and over (II Peter 2 is another place) this issue about the spots and the garments spotted is talking about participation in the Antichrist religious system and the program involved in the worship and the submission to the Antichrist. They have a whole tapestry of religion. By the way, the garments are called 'vestments'.

“In Mark 12 they’re called 'long robes'. You know anybody that goes around in a certain kind of dress that involves long black robes of religious distinction? People who call their priest ‘father’ as in Judges 17?

“People get mad at me sometime over Revelation 17. They like to say it’s the Roman Catholic Church. It’s not; it’s Baal worship and you don’t find Baal worship just in the Roman Catholic Church. For sure you find it there, but it’s not only there.

“When it says in Revelation 17:5, [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH, she isn’t the only harlot on the block.

“All of the religious system is a harlotry system; it’s a sell-out system: Sell out the truth and go and get involved in that.

“Jude 1:22 is saying, ‘Judgment’s coming on that thing, so some you’re going to meet with compassion, and with others it’s the fear of that judgment coming that will get them, and you’re going to have to have discernment to understand where the brethren are in order to minister to them in an effective way.’

"All of this stuff is the functioning of what will go on in the Trib and every verse in the Book of Jude takes you back to the Old Testament--you could teach the book forever and just about teach all the Old Testament prophetic scripture because it draws on them so much.

“They’re going to fear the wrath of that fire. Zachariah, when it says ‘as a brand plucked from the burning,’ is looking prophetically at the nation Israel being restored from the Babylonian captivity back into the land. Zachariah is there with the return remnant.

“In Amos 4 you get the same kind of situation. Beginning in verse six, it goes through the history of Israel and what’s happened to them. In verse 12: [12] Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

“That’s talking about the fact that the fifth course of judgment is coming on the nation and God’s going to come and take them away into captivity. This is before the captivity; Zachariah is after.

“Notice what’s said about them in verse 11: [11] I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

“Every time God would rescue Israel from one of those courses of judgment it was like, ‘Here comes the fire, the judgment, the consuming wrath,’ and He pulls them out like a firebrand plucked out of the burning.

“All of that is a picture prophetically of the last installment of that judgment, which is the 70^th Week of Daniel in the tribulation period.

“Deuteronomy 4: [19] And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
[20] But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

“When God formed the nation He took them out of what He calls an iron furnace. That goes back to Genesis 15 when Abraham saw that vision. Israel is under satanic captivity.

“Remember that in the Exodus all 10 of those plagues were aimed at the gods of Egypt. When God brought Israel out of Egypt that was a religious contest, not a military contest. That was not a ‘who is the biggest guy on the block?’ contest.

“Listen, the Adversary has always said, ‘He might be the most powerful, but I’m the one who ought to exercise the power. I’m the one who ought to tell Him what to do with the power.’ The issue has never been a contest between God and Satan over power. It’s always been an issue about wisdom.

“If you’re the most powerful guy on the block you can be a bully. That doesn’t qualify you to properly exercise the power and the argument with the Adversary’s been, ‘Are you smart enough to do it? Are you really the one who has the best plan?’ ”

(new post tomorrow)

'Christless eyes have never seen'

John 1: 4-5: [4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

“If God is light and Jesus said, ‘I am the light,’ who is Jesus saying He is? That’s a proclamation by the Lord Jesus Christ of His deity. What deity? His deity as the Messiah. As the one who’s going to be the Light—Emmanuel,” says Richard Jordan.

“In Isaiah 59 is the Second Coming of Christ back to Israel to redeem it. The last two verses: [20] And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
[21] As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

“Now watch what happens when He’s come. Isaiah 60: [1] Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
[2] For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
[3] And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

“When Christ comes there’s light because He’s the light. Isaiah 60: 19-20, talking to the city of Jerusalem: [19] The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
[20] Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

“When Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world,’ that’s another one of those statements in the Book of John reminding Israel and teaching them that He is Messiah and as the Messiah, He’s not only the Passover lamb, and the atoning lamb, He’s the one who is God in their midst.

“He talks about being the light in John 8 because He just dealt with a bunch of people who are sitting in total darkness, blind to everything going on around them. In fact, so treacherous is their blindness that they not only don’t recognize the Lord Jesus Christ, they’re seeking to entrap and accuse Him.

“They were actually doing exactly what Satan was trying to do to God, by putting Him in that Isaiah 49:24 condition/conundrum of, ‘I’ve made Israel my lawful captive.’ But he wasn’t wise enough to figure how God demonstrated His wisdom, as we know now.

“That wisdom is described over and over in the Bible as the Light. That’s why He says in John 3, ‘Except a man be born again he can’t see the kingdom of God.’

John 8:12: [12] Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

“The spiritual condition of the Pharisees was walking in darkness. They’re lost. You remember how Israel followed the cloud in the wilderness that led to Canaan? If they follow Christ, He’ll lead them to the kingdom and if they do, they’ll have the light of life.”

*****

George Wade Robinson, born in Cork, Ireland, was an Irish congregational minister who never married and passed away at only 38 years of age in 1877.

He published two volumes of poems, some of which were adapted for Christian hymnals, including the great old hymn, “Loved with Everlasting Love,” in which he concludes each verse with the refrain, “I am His, and He is mine.”

Loved with everlasting love, Led by grace that love to know; Spirit, breathing from above, Thou hast taught me it is so. Oh, this full and perfect peace! Oh, this transport all divine! In a love which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine.
2	Heaven above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green; Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen: Birds with gladder songs o’erflow, Flow’rs with deeper beauties shine, Since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine.
3	Things that once were wild alarms Cannot now disturb my rest; Closed in everlasting arms, Pillowed on the loving breast. Oh, to lie forever here, Doubt and care and self resign, While He whispers in my ear, I am His, and He is mine.
4	His forever, only His: Who the Lord and me shall part? Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart. Heaven and earth may fade and flee, Firstborn light in gloom decline; But, while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine.

In a Sunday message he once delivered on the subject of the atonement and its relationship to the human will, he challenged his congregation:

“Persevere and nourish that precious will you have by giving it to Christ. Without this, all the rest will be a failure. With this, all the rest will be a splendid success. Your will can never rule till it first bows. In proportion to the subjection of your will to Christ, will be the subjection of everything else to your will. Abide in Him and He in you. When the strong wind is blowing abroad, the trees all bend one way, the smoke all drifts one way, the weathercocks all point one way. Here today are hundreds of human wills, and the great Will of God is breathing past us toward righteousness. Does every will bend and point with Him? Is every heart so free from earthly attachments that it moves easily with the impulse of the wind of God? With all the strength of our will does each of us yield all we have to Him?”

In another poem turned to hymn, Robinson wrote:

I have tried and tried in vain

Many ways to ease my pain;

Now all other hope is past,

Only this is left at last:

Here before Thy cross I lie,

Here I live and here I die.

If I perish, be it here

With the Friend of sinners near;

Lord, it is enough — I know

Never sinner perished so.

Here before Thy cross I lie,

Here I cannot, cannot die.

(new article tomorrow)

Audible communication deaf shall hear

"People say today, 'Well, God spoke to me.' So how did He speak to you? A lady told me one time, 'Jesus appeared at the end of my bed.' I said, 'What did He say?!' She said, 'Well, He didn't speak in an audible voice.' Well, how did He talk? None of that stuff makes any sense.

"In Isaiah, it was revealed in his ear--God spoke to him audibly," explains Richard Jordan.

Isaiah 22:14: [14] And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

II Peter 1: [20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

"When it says they spake, there's an audible communication God is doing with men often back there and that isn't happening today.

"Here's a passage looking toward the deliverance of Israel into the kingdom. That's future from where we are right now. Isaiah 29:18: [18] And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

"Notice, it's the individual words of the Book. Out there in the future from where we are, something written back in the past is going to be there. That helps me because I'm in between the past and the future; I'm in the now.

*****

"The profession of all of the evangelical schools, seminaries, bible colleges is all the profession of neo-orthodoxy. All of a sudden the Word of God discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart and it's clear what's going on.

"Neo-orthodoxy is the great discussion about the Bible: 'Is it the Word of God or does it contain the Word of God?' Is it the Word of God when it speaks to you, or is it the Word of God when it lies on the page? Is Adam a real person or does it really matter?

"They go to the passages to get the lessons and the teaching, just not believing the underlying historicity of the passage.

"I once wrote a missionary in the grace movement after an article of his appeared in one of the magazines. I asked, 'Do you really believe in verbal plenary inspiration because your article doesn't indicate that?' He wrote back, 'Yes, I believe it.'

"I wrote back, 'Harry, I'm glad that you do, but the people who you're teaching aren't going to believe it because you aren't teaching it and they can't believe anything but what you teach.'

"That idea is where liberalism got its roots in the church today. It's when that Book became less than the absolute authority.

"There's a whole doctrine about inspiration and there's also a whole doctrine about preservation.

"A number of years ago I went through a real controversy with some brethren in the grace movement about these issues and they kept saying, 'Well, Jordan's just got this philosophical commitment.'

"And I kept saying, 'No, no, no. There's a Bible DOCTRINE!' Some of those people never would sit down and consider the doctrine.

"If it isn't based on a doctrine, folks, it isn't based on some understanding of some verses; it's then just human viewpoint.

"The things we teach about these things have nothing to do with what we always believed. I didn't always believe what I believe now. I started out in that other camp but some verses in a Bible began to form my thinking and changed it."

(new article tomorrow)

God's making and creating process

"If you believe the earth was created you can’t deny the way it was created. I understand why the scientists look at it and think it’s 15 trillion years old. God created it to look like that. Adam was one-day old and looked like a 33-year-old grown man.

"I know why they think dinosaurs were all squished over and compacted down and made petroleum jelly," says Richard Jordan. "That’s nonsense but I understand why they think that. That’s the way they would have done it if they did it.

"You know how God did it? Poof, it was there. But He did it so it was creatively and marvelously and intricately put together in order that we could reconstruct the process with the creative genius He gave us and go out and use what He put there for His glory.

"Another thing they say is man brought death into the world; by one man sin entered into the world. Well, who sinned first? Satan or man? If Satan sinned, did his sin bring death? Well, there must have been some world it brought death into that isn’t your world.

"Isaiah 45: [18] For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

"That verse says He didn’t create it the way Genesis 1:2 says it was. There’s a verse in Exodus 20 that says in six days God made all the things in heaven and in earth. You know the difference between making something and creating it?

"Creating it is, ‘Out of nothing it’s there.’ Making it is, ‘The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the earth.’ He took something already there and, out of it, formed something that wasn’t there before. That’s the making process. In your Bible there’s a difference.

*****

"Inspiration means God gave some words and it is a very exacting kind of a concept. That’s why in Deuteronomy 4, at the beginning of your Bible, and in Proverbs 30:5-6, in the middle of the Bible, and in Revelation 22:18-19, at the end of the Bible, you’re told not to diminish one word—not to add to it or take away from it.

"No matter where you read it in the Bible, it tells you, ‘Leave it alone; it’s God’s Word.’ That’s why in Amos 8:11 you read about how in the tribulation period there will come a time when there’s going to be a famine in Israel. Not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the w-o-r-d-s. Not the message but of the words found in a Book that belong to God.

"It’s always fascinated me that the Bible writers, including the Lord Jesus Christ on a number of occasions, will get a verse from Scripture and take one word out of it and hang a whole doctrine on one word. You know, that’s trusting the Book that He had. That’s not just the sense of the passage; that’s every w-o-r-d He put confidence in.

"John 10: [33] The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
[34] Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
[35] If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
[36] Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

"In verse 34, when He says, ‘Ye are gods,’ that’s Psalm 82. The whole argument revolved around verses 34-35. He said, ‘If God said to the leaders of Israel, [You’re gods], what are you getting mad at me about for saying that I’m the Son of God?!’

"His whole defense of His deity is based on one word. He trusted one word." 

Future will be rehearsals from the past

After a day of exercising my healing wrist (now in a brace with velcro straps) it is really sore and aching. Because I was holding 3 lb. weights when I fell (once again I was pitched/lurched to the ground by foot getting caught in unseen pothole in pavement) a lot of "stuff" is messed up beyond the broken wrist (including thumb and forearm). Anyway I will finish post tomorrow and here is old post in the meantime:

The Book of Revelation begins, [1] The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

[2] Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
[3] Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

In verse 9, John writes, [9] I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

"There's more tomfoolery taught about verse nine than any other verse in the Book of Revelation," says Jordan. "John was not exiled on the isle of Patmos because he'd been preaching and they didn't like what he was saying and got mad at him and stuck him on that island. That's what you're told but that's not what the verse says at all.

"When John writes, 'I'm your brother and companion in tribulation,' he's saying, 'I'm part of the community that's suffering. I'm on the island to get something from God.'

"What did he get at Patmos? Verse one and two says he went there for the purpose of getting the information God gave him.

"Verse 10 says, [10] I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
[11] Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

"That's the Lord Jesus Christ talking to him. Notice, 'I was in the Spirit.' That is a common statement in the prophets about being in a prophetic vision.

"Where was he taken? With Ezekiel, God took him and showed him the temple. John was literally transported out of the 1st Century into the future to see in prophetic vision the things that are going to come to pass out there.

"When you come to chapter 2, and as we studied through the minor prophets, I said to you over and over and over again that when you read Israel's history, and you read the prophets in Israel, they constantly say, 'You see this thing happening out in the future; it's like that thing back there in the past.'

"In fact, back in the Book of Judges, he records some incidents and says, 'This is a rehearsal for what's going to take place in the future.'

"In Zachariah 14, he says, 'He'll fight as He did in the days of old.' So it would not be unexpected for a Jewish Bible student to read these passages of John's in Revelation and spot things in them that refer to their past history.

"The fascinating thing about it is that when you go through and list those things, you discover that the problems listed are traced all the way the history; they match the course of history in your Old Testament. The literary order of Revelation corresponds to the historical order found in the Bible.

"Jude 11 says, [11] Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

"Notice there are three examples. Verse 16 says, [16] These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. He does that in Revelation 19.

*****

"Revelation 2:20 says, [20] Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

"That's exactly what Baal did back in verse 14. With Jezebel you've moved over into the time of the I and II Kings. Jezebel's husband's name was Ahab. They were the two who took Baal worship and made it a state religion in Israel. They intensified it, not just as something Israelis were doing, but they literally made it the state religion.

"Instead of God's truth, it became the Baalite truth and they made it the national religion. It's the official religion, by the way, for the Antichrist in Revelation 17: [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

"That's why he says in verse 24, [24] But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

"The 'depths of Satan' is that intensive zenith form of Baal worship where you're completely captured, captivated, by that blinding false doctrine. That's when they're carried out into captivity. Those first four churches focus on Israel's history up to the captivity."

Jerusalem spiritually Sodom, Egypt in Trib

 “Just because the whole world, the whole kit and caboodle except eight of them, had gone to seed--just because there’s a lot of them, because there are masses of the ungodly, doesn’t mean God spares them.

“Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of the plain, but the greatness of their achievements doesn’t cause God to spare them. The things that men look at—might, capacity, numbers, excellency of attainment and achievement—none of these are things that cause the judgment of God to be held back,” says Richard Jordan in a study on II Peter 2.

“Jesus says in Luke 16:15: [15] And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

“There’s a verse you ought to lay to heart. What were they doing? ‘They were they that justified themselves before men.’ They find what’s highly esteemed among men and say, ‘See, we’re right!’

“Success at gathering people and permeating society and developing a sophisticated, well-oiled world that is politically correct, socially acceptable and economically prosperous and religiously united as the old world of Noah’s day was. And God says, ‘That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination.'

“You know why that is? You know where men go for their wisdom? Paul says in I Corinthians 2, [14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

“That verse is so fantastic when it comes to defining the nature of man and sin. Isaiah 53:6: [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

“You know where man by nature goes to get answers to his questions? 'To his own way.' They don’t go to God. ‘No, way! Eww! I don’t want THAT!’ They love darkness because their deeds are evil.

“What men’s wisdom goes after is an abomination to God. It leaves God out.

“II Peter 2: [4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
[5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
[6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

“If God didn’t spare them, don’t worry, He ain’t going to spare you! See, that’s the idea. When he talks about the angels that sinned and the old world in Noah’s day and Sodom and Gomorrah—those three events, in whatever details they are, are events that are going to be like the events that take place in the tribulation.

“For example, in Revelation 11:1: [1] And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
[2] But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

“You’re in the middle of the 70^th Week. Three and a half years into it and three and a half to go. [3] And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

[4] These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
[5] And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
[6] These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

“Now, you’ve got the two witnesses come in. Moses and Elijah begin to testify. Verse 7: [7] And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

“That’s the Antichrist. “[8] And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
[9] And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

“Where was Jesus crucified? Jerusalem. Jerusalem in that day is going to be, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt. The same systems that ran Egypt and Sodom and Gomorrah is going to run Jerusalem on to the reign of the Antichrist.

“That’s why when you find that those heads of the Antichrist go all the way back to Egypt--it’s the same system that runs them. In the tribulation, the things that were true in Sodom are going to be true in Jerusalem, and you can go back to Sodom and Gomorrah to get your details of what will be.

“The same’s true of the old world destroyed in Noah’s day. Luke 17:26. [26] And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
[27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
[28] Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
[29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

“There’s a correlation between those two things. The same thing is true in II Peter 2:4, and this is the heart of what to really accept and understand. There’s going to be angels sinning in the tribulation. I told you that was weird.”

(to be continued later today)

How Jesus financed His ministry

 Luke 8 begins, [1] And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

[2] And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
[3] And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

“It’s only in Luke that you find this little commentary about who goes along with Him,” explains Richard Jordan. “The twelve are with Him and they’re traveling in an itinerant ministry, but along with that is a whole host of people. He’s traveling with quite an entourage. In modern parlance you would say these were ‘my people,’ as the politicians and celebrities do.

“The thing that fascinates me is not so much that He has the 12 with Him (I expected that) but there’s this whole group of women following along; women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. There's these two categories of miracles and here are some of the ones who had been healed.

“Mary Magdalene is introduced to you here and it says seven devils were cast out of her. Most of the time when you read about Mary Magdalene it’s said that she was this wicked woman and a harlot—none of that’s true, at least not based on what’s in Scripture.

“She had a great appreciation for the deliverance Christ had given her from satanic possession and oppression.

“You notice these ladies are ones of some influence: ‘Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward.’ Here’s somebody in the upper echelons of the governmental ranks of the day and this guy’s wife is out going around with Jesus, following Him around and working with Him. Susanna, you don’t ever hear of her again in the Bible, and many others, and it says ‘which ministered unto him of their substance.’

“I don’t know if you’ve ever wondered about how it is the Lord Jesus Christ lived during His earthly ministry. It’s not real clear in Scripture exactly how He financed most of His three and a half years of ministry. Prior to that time He worked as a carpenter. He learned the trade of His dad Joseph.

“Around age 30 He went up to be introduced into the ministry and from that point on He no longer lived at home and was no longer following the carpentry trade.

“Matthew 8: [19] And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
[20] And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

“He didn’t have a permanent dwelling place. He didn’t have a home. In His earthly ministry as the Son of man, the Messiah, He was basically homeless; a fugitive.

“And yet if you go to John 12: [4] Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
[5] Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
[6] This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

“When it says Judas had the bag, that’s the idea that he was the treasurer for the group. He carried the money purse.

“John 13:29: [29] For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

“Obviously the group had funds and somebody who took care of the money. Obviously what happened is people who were recipients of His ministry gave to Him, in return for His ministry, a place to live, things to eat, substance.

“They did what these ladies did; they ministered unto Him all their substance. He tells the apostles in Matthew 10:9 (the initial installment of the Great Commission): [9] Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
[10] Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

“The Lord, in the carrying out of His earthly ministry and in His life, demonstrated the things He taught. His followers placed at His disposal their means, and while He was doing miracles for other people (He feeds five thousand people at once and another time four thousand people at once, He turned water into wine . . .) He lived out of the charity of His followers, as they, out of love for Him, gave to Him to provide for His means and that of those who worked with Him.

“In the Sermon on the Mount, He says in Matt 6: [25] Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
[26] Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
[27] Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
[28] And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
[29] And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
[30] Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
[31] Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
[32] (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

[33] But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
[34] Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

“I’ve heard people quote, especially verse 33--you go down to the mission downtown and that verse gets quoted about six times every meeting.

“But what they ought to be quoting is Colossians 3: [1] If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
[2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
[3] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

(new post tomorrow)