Does Satan have direct access to God?

"People get concerned about how can Satan, who is evil, come before the Lord. You and I associate with lost people every day. The elect angels and the fallen angels associate with one another in the heavenly places every day.

"Until Satan's cast into the bottomless pit he's free to go out there and associate. You say, 'Well, how can he come in the presence of God?' Well, he did it just like in Job 1.

"He's not going to the third heaven but Satan's evilness, just like with lost people's evilness--they're not like cooties where you just go by and you get them like something's going to jump on you. It's a moral kind of thing and the issue of the righteousness of God.

"Satan's plan isn't going to stand, but God doesn't just go 'boom' and get rid of him; He has a plan to demonstrate that Satan's plan was unsuccessful.

"Satan's plan was he said, 'I deserve to be the most high God. I'm the wise one here. I've got the better plan.' You know the story in Ezekiel 28; he said he's 'wiser than Daniel; there's no secret they can keep from me.'

"If God back in Genesis had just snuffed him out, there would always be the idea in the angelic creation that God snuffed him out because he really was smarter. There'd always be that issue, so God's plan was to demonstrate the foolishness of Satan.

"He takes the wise in his own craftiness. He lets him work his plan out and then show how dumb it was.

"All He did was keep a secret about the forming of the Body of Christ in the heavenly places and it demonstrated the foolishness of Satan because of what Satan did in crucifying Christ. It allowed God to have a restoration plan to restore the whole thing back unto Himself."

200 million out of the bottomless pit

Donald Trump was said to have once boasted you could find him in Revelation 9:11: A bad Don. What's ironic is his $100 million gold-encrusted NYC penthouse suite has murals exalting Apollyon on the ceilings.

Revelation 14:20: [20] And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

"The amount of blood that's being squeezed out of the wine press, as there is this tremendous slaughter, is actually going to be three feet deep by 160 miles. That's a lot of blood. Where is it all coming from?

"In Revelation 9 we read about these creatures that come out of the bottomless pit and yet the Bible never tells us what happens to them," says Alex Kurz.

Verse 11: [11] And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

"Interestingly, we get the Hebrew name of Armageddon. In the Greek tongue his name was Apollyon. What about these creatures?

"Joel 2 provides a description of their military capabilities. I mean, they're able to run on walls upside down. They're like out of the movies.

Verse 16: [16] And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

"That equals 200 million. Imagine there's 200 million creatures, satanic in origin, that come out of the bottomless pit. They have a commander; there's obviously a general in charge who actually has a name.

"Perhaps we maybe want to take into consideration that at this great epic conclusion of the battle these 200 million creatures are going to be under the command of the beast and the false prophet and Satan himself.

"You do the math here and you see these are monstrosity kind of creatures. You have 200 million of whatever these things are, you have the allied armies amassed together in this particular area and then you're going to add in the unbelievers to be taken at the valley.

"So, it isn't so far-fetched to envision an area basin that would be composed of 160 miles by three feet. I mean, that's a lot of blood."

******

Revelation 19:20: [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

"During the 70th Week, there is a satanic trinity that is a counterfeit of the true trinity. There's Satan, the beast and the false prophet. Revelation 20:10 says, [10] And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

"The devil is not cast into the lake of fire at the Second Coming like the beast and the false prophet are. He's put into the bottomless pit, locked up there for a period of time and then he gets out at the end of the Millennium to lead a rebellion.

"Some folks teach annihilation, saying that what happens to the lost in hell is they're not tormented forever; they're destroyed and they cease to exist," explains David Reid.

"But what does that verse tell you? The beast and the false prophet have been there for a thousand years suffering torment. Satan's cast in there and it's about to start for him, and it's just the beginning of how it's going to be. What they say to him is, 'It doesn't get better.'

"The word 'torment,' when you look in the dictionary, means torture. The verse says the lost are 'tormented day and night forever and ever.'

"The lake of fire, if you will, is the trash can of the universe. God throws into the lake of fire everything He hates. Death and hell are cast in there and then, as Revelation 20:15 states, 'whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.' "

(new article tomorrow)

Their memorial is Revelation 13

(new article this evening for certain)

“A man once wrote a list of 33 names in the Bible that are applicable to the Antichrist. There’s more in the Bible about the Antichrist than anybody else except for the Lord Jesus Christ.

“As ‘the foolish shepherd’ and ‘the idol shepherd’, as ‘the man of sin’ and ‘the son of perdition’, he’s literally the personification of Satan’s program and that’s why he’s called ‘the wicked one’.

“There are whole chapters in the Book of Job about him, and in the Book of Psalms he’s described in very clear terms," explains Richard Jordan.

“People love the psalms. At a funeral, Psalm 23 is often used at the graveside. When you use it in an allegorical sense—'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want’—it is a psalm you understand gives comfort to a lot of people. It’s like the song Amazing Grace.

“Every drunk in an AA Meeting can sing that song. That song doesn’t tell you anything about Jesus Christ, or the gospel, or heaven and hell. It just talks about, ‘I’ve been knocked down, but by the grace of God I’m up and I’m going again.’

“You’ll see it every time there’s a big funeral in the national cathedral. Some big opera singer gets up and sings Amazing Grace. They don’t sing all the verses, though: ‘The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.’

“What you get in the Book of Psalms is a look into the heart of the Believing Remnant as they matriculate through the Fifth Course of Judgment, and especially the very end of it. It’s, ‘Here’s the remnant suffering under the heel of the oppressor and they look to the Lord to deliver them.’

“There are doctrines designed to give the believing remnant an internal capacity and fortitude to get through. Now they’re going to have to face this wicked one.

“When you trace through the psalms, there are probably 30-35 of them that directly address this character, and Psalm 10 is the first place he’s called the wicked and this psalm sort of sets the pace for what you’re going to read and learn about him.

Psalm 9: [5] Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
[6] O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

“There you have the wicked, who are Israel’s enemies, and they’ve got a memorial to themselves. You know what the memorial is—it’s Revelation 13. They’ve got an image made to the wicked one.

Psalm 9:16-17: [16] The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
[17] The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

That’s what’s going to happen to them. The psalm ends with the Second Coming: [19] Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
[20] Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

Psalm 10, a whole psalm dedicated to the Antichrist, says, [7] His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

[8] He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

[9] He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

[10] He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

Verse 2 says, "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined."

“Dozens of times through the minor prophets the text will refer to the poor, but it’s not talking about some folks on Lower Wacker living in a cardboard box. It's a specific reference to a specific group of people at a specific time.

“Jesus said, ‘The poor you have with you always.’ Well, that’s a truism in the sense it’s the common lot of mankind, but these poor result from the persecution in the time of Jacob’s trouble.

"If you don’t take ‘the mark of the beast’ what happens to you? You can’t buy, you can’t sell. You can’t own property; you can’t divest yourself of property.

“The kings are literally going to take the wealth from the people in the nations they control and make them poor. They’re going to use Israel and the Gentiles in those nations and suck the wealth out through corrupt money, corrupt government, corrupt policies.

"The wicked one’s going to oppress the poor; going to persecute the Believing Remnant and let them be taken in the devices they have imagined.

“Now, Psalm 10:3 explains why the Antichrist’s called the ‘foolish shepherd’: [3] For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.

“It’s the greed that’s driving him; the will to be rich. If you go to Ezekiel 28, you’ll see that when Satan starts out, that prince of Tyre and king of Tyre is the man of sin and the son of perdition, and the whole object there is to get rich."

Powers of observation in Song of Solomon

(new article tomorrow. unbelievably, I seem to have picked up another intestinal bug that is giving me a terrible headache in addition to vomiting and diarrhea.)

Song of Solomon shows Solomon knew who Pharoah was and had concourse with him. He took the daughters of Pharoah to be a part of his harem and made alliances. You can read about it in I Kings.

Chapter 1: [12] While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
[13] A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
[14] My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.
[15] Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

[16] Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.
[17] The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

“Solomon’s trying to seduce this woman and he says, ‘You don’t know where your beloved is? He’s left you. Come over here and I’ll take care of you. You can have all these things.’ He tries to woo her and call her in just to enjoy the wealth, the pleasures,” explains Richard Jordan.

“That verse in Hebrews about Moses that he didn’t count the wealth and the riches of Egypt. He was willing to bear the reproach. Here it is again—the wealth coming in.

“In chapter 2 all the way to the end of chapter 3, you see this Shulamite woman repel Solomon’s advances and push him away.

[1] I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
[2] As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
[3] As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
[4] He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
[5] Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

[6] His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
[7] I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

“She begins to brag on the details of who her lover is and she talks in verses 1-7 about how much he loved her and how she loved him.

Then in chapter 2:8: [8] The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

“She begins to describe his coming. In fact, this is a tremendous, important passage with a lot of doctrinal aspects when you’re studying the Second Coming of Christ and compare it to the writing prophets and the things they’re talk about taking place when Christ comes.

“She says, ‘I love him; he loves me. One day he’s coming for me.’ She talks about her eager anticipation for his coming.

Verses 16-17: [16] My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
[17] Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

“We have a song, ‘Until the day break and the shadows flee away,’ talking about Christ coming.

"In the first five verses of chapter 3 she’s talking about him coming: [1] By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
[2] I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
[3] The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
[4] It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
[5] I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

“Now Solomon picks up on that and because he sees her anxiety and anticipation for his coming, Solomon comes along in 3:6 and he does something: [6] Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

“Who is that? She just spent all of chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 3 saying, ‘He’s coming! I’m looking for him! And when he comes, he’s going to come out of the wilderness and do all these things for me!’

“So here comes this guy out of the wilderness and he’s got pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense.

“You take things from chapter 1 about the king sitting at his table, his spikenard and the bundles of myrrh and frankincense--you take all these perfumes you read Solomon having and go back into Exodus and you’ll find those things are repeatedly associated with the priesthood. What Solomon’s doing is he’s trying to present himself as the Messiah.

“She’s looking for the Messiah to come and Solomon tries to fool her into thinking he’s it. He pretends to be like her returning beloved but she’s not fooled by it.

Verses 7-11: [7] Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.
[8] They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.
[9] King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.
[10] He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.
[11] Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

“She says, ‘Hey, that guy’s trying to make me think that’s my beloved coming; I see who it is. That’s not my beloved; that’s Solomon and I’m not going to follow him. And if you daughters of Jerusalem want to go out and make like he’s your beloved, go ahead but count me out! I’m not going.’

“Because she has her mind so fixed on who her beloved is, she’s not seduced by the counterfeit.

“In chapters 4 and 5, you’ll see that she’s absolutely captivated and occupied with what her beloved had to say. She remembers his words: [15] Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

“She remembers what her beloved said to her about his love and how he expressed their espousal and the fact that their marriage was at hand.

“She says in the last verse of chapter 4: [16] Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

“She’s just longing for him to come because she remembers what he says. Again, she’s focusing on his words to her.

5:2 [2] I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
[3] I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
[4] My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

“Even when she’s asleep she’s dreaming about him. Absolute, total occupation.

[5] I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
[6] I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
[7] The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
[8] I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

“She says, ‘I’m just heartsick for him.’ Notice the activity. When he said, ‘Open to me, I want to come in,’ her response was, [3] I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

“She said, ‘Wait a minute.’ There was a time when he came and said, ‘Open,’ and she didn’t get up. He said it’s not convenient. He came. In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John He comes and says, ‘Here I am.’ Early Acts period, He comes and says, ‘Here I am,’ and they said, ‘No, we’ll not have this man reign over us.’

“When he puts his hand in at the hole of the door, that’s what he does in the Book of Acts. He’s fertilizing it, he’s working on it, he’s putting forth the effort and she says, ‘Oh, man, that was him! I’ve been over her dreaming about him and that was him!’

“She ran to the door to open but he was gone. Too late. No Israeli would read that and fail to understand what they’re reading. Because he says over and over to them, ‘I’m going to go hide.’

“What he says in verse 6, you go in Micah and Hosea and Daniel and Isaiah, all the prophets that come and they say, ‘Hey, He’s gone away. He’s hidden Himself.’

“That’s what He does; He ascends back into heaven as a royal exile and they can’t find Him. What this woman’s doing now, here she’s dreaming about what had happened to him and why he’s gone.

“But she knows he’s going to come back and so she’s going to be faithful. She’s going to be there and stay faithful to him and she longs for him. She says, ‘Boy, if you see him, you tell him I’m waiting on him.’

“For the history of the nation Israel, this book fits that ‘day of the Lord’ for the Believing Remnant over there because they had the opportunity, they missed it, He’s gone away, they can’t find Him and they have to wait on Him coming back.

5:10-end of chapter: [10] My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
[11] His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
[12] His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
[13] His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
[14] His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
[15] His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
[16] His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

“The only physical description of Jesus Christ in His earthly life in the Bible is that passage right there. Look at verse 16.

“Songwriters use that as a title about Him. No question that anybody would recognize what that is. You want to compare that picture of him to Revelation 1--the resurrected, glorified Lord with this. Here is the picture of him during his earthly ministry, and in Revelation 1 you see His heavenly appearance after His resurrection and glorification.

“By the way, in Isaiah 53: 1-2 you see how the unsaved, apostate Israel viewed Him: [1] Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
[2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

“They said there’s no comeliness in Him. This gal says he’s the most beautiful thing: ‘He’s altogether lovely,’ and she can detail everything about him.

“That’s called the powers of observation. You look at this lady’s observation of him in verses 10-16 and she had studied him closely, carefully, and she’s longing for him.”

(new article tomorrow)

'Tis an ocean vast with blessing

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!

Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!” begins the classic hymn from 1875. “Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!”

Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus was Samuel Trevor Francis’ (1834-1925) most widely circulated hymn, one he lived long enough to hear sung by congregations around the world, sometimes in different languages. Another hymn the England native wrote,  I Am Waiting for the Dawning, begins,

1 I am waiting for the dawning
Of that bright and glorious day,
When the darksome night of sorrow
Shall have vanished far away;
When forever with the Saviour,
Far beyond this vale of tears,
I shall swell the hymn of worship
Thru the everlasting years.

“Like young Timothy, Trevor benefited from a godly mother and grandmother, who understood the benefits of early child training,” wrote his longtime friend and co-laborer, F. B. Meyer, in a tribute after Francis’ death. “The Bible was their textbook used to teach him to read. One of his earliest memories is of stepping into his mother’s bedroom with his older brother, where they knelt beside her, and listening to her pleading that her sons would ‘grow up to be God-fearing men.’

“As a child of five or six, Trevor lived with his grandmother and aunt at Cheshunt. They poured in Bible truth in the way that the servants at the wedding in Cana filled the water pots. But it would be more than a decade before God would turn the water to wine. He attended religious services regularly and, with his father and older brother, sang the grand old hymns in the choir of Hull Parish. But he was not born again.

“On the threshold of adulthood, his father arranged a career for Trevor. For twelve months he was in an apprenticeship program with a medical doctor in Camberwell, but everything changed when his father died. He dropped out of the arrangement.

“In poor health, the teenager went to stay with his uncle in Hull. There Trevor met a chemist named Mr. Akester who was leading young people’s Bible studies. One day, Akester asked ‘if he would like to see a man buried alive.’ It turned out to be a baptism, with the eccentric Andrew Jukes officiating.

“Jukes was the author of ‘The Law of the Offerings, Types in Genesis, and A Comparison of the Four Gospels.’ Something of a prodigy, Jukes had a sad weakness for speculative interpretations. But despite Jukes’ future blunders and heresies, the assembly was at that time in a healthy state. There in Hull, Trevor had his first brush with an assembly of Believers who met in Scriptural simplicity. Unencumbered by ritual,  he heard clear gospel preaching.

“Soon after, the nineteen-year-old was returning to London: ‘On my way home from work I had to cross Hungerford Bridge to the south of the Thames. It was a winter’s night of wind and rain, and in the loneliness of that walk I cried to God to have mercy upon me. Staying for a moment to look at the dark waters flowing under the bridge, the temptation was whispered to me, ‘Make an end of all this misery.’

" 'I drew back from the evil thought, and suddenly a message was borne into my very soul, ‘You do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?’ I at once answered, ‘I do believe, and I put my whole trust in Him as my Saviour.’ Instantly there came this reply: ‘Then you are saved,’ and with a thrill of joy I ran across the bridge, burst through the turnstile and pursued my way home, repeating the words again and again, ‘Then I am saved; then I am saved.'

“After this great change, Trevor seemed perpetually thrilled. He wrote,

I thought I was saved by my working,
My goodness, my praying, my tears;
I labored with wearisome effort
To conquer my sins and my fears–
Until I at last saw the Saviour,
And knew it was only His blood
That could bring me, a vile, wretched sinner,
Near, near to a heart-searching God.

“In search of a church home,  Francis tracked down the source of a pamphlet, and discovered a congregation in Kennington, in the south of London, which was similar to the congregation he had seen in Hull. There he attended a number of months before he was received into fellowship. If the meeting was overly strict, it was also overly privileged. It was the home assembly of several remarkable saints. Dr. Edward Cronin was in fellowship there. He had been in the nucleus of the Dublin assembly in the winter of 1827-28 with Francis Hutchinson, John Nelson Darby and J. G. Bellett.

"Surely none of these young men had realized the reverberations in the church of God that would result from their inconspicuous beginnings. Only four years later, in 1832, Cronin went to Baghdad to assist Anthony Norris Groves in evangelistic work. There he lost his sister and wife to disease, and was once left for dead after being stoned out of a village.

“William Joseph Lowe also fellowshipped in Kennington. Lowe was about four years younger than Francis. Also raised in a believing home, he was converted in childhood, and Francis would have known him and his family. Lowe was a scholar in the classical languages. Ancient and modern together, he was familiar with ten or eleven tongues.

"In later years Lowe traveled across Europe and aided Darby in his extensive translation work. Darby remarked that Lowe was the best taught young man he knew. After Darby’s death he labored extensively with Thomas Neatby and William Kelly.

“The weighty input these men gave to the Kennington assembly was like the ballast in the boat. The zealous young Francis began to develop. In open-air preaching, especially during the Revival of 1859-1860, his giftedness in the gospel became obvious. He was also a worker in the city missions.

*****

"Later, when Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey conducted their London campaign in 1873-1874, men like F. B. Meyer and S. Trevor Francis were willing helpers. Ira Sankey enlisted Francis’ help directing the singing at several evangelistic meetings. "In one accord with Moody’s fervor, Francis’ poems show an energetic, aggressive faith."

Arise! ye warriors of the cross,
The Master’s word obeying,
Gird on the sword, count all things loss,
Go forth without delaying;
Still forward, ’tis our Lord’s command,
He will forsake us never;
His mighty hand none can withstand,
And He is with us ever.

“During this active career, he authored Eternal Love, Oh Mighty Sea; Hark! A Gentle Stranger Knocketh; Call the Weary Home; Let Me Sing You a Song of Heaven; Jesus, We Remember Thee; Home of Light and Glory; Forward, Christian, Forward; Revive Us, Lord Jesus; Oh, For the Meeting in the Radiant Air; Safe to Land; No Shadows Darken, and many more, some of which are found in the Believers’ Hymn Book and Hymns of Light and Love.

“After a partial loss of sight, the doctor encouraged Francis to take a sea voyage, which became a world tour. The beloved poet sailed to Canada, Australia, Palestine, Egypt, and, accompanied by R. C. Morgan, the first editor of The Christian magazine, to parts of North Africa.

"It was the testimony of those who knew him that during all his seventy-three years in the Christian pathway, Francis was a consistent, fruitful witness in Britain and all other lands he visited. In December of 1925, at the advanced age of 92, he entered into the perfection of the joys he had previously only tasted:

No pain, no grief, no sorrow,
For night hath changed to day;
In God’s eternal morrow
All tears are wiped away.

A collection of his poems, which had appeared in many papers, including The Revival, The Witness, The Christian, Word and Work, Great Thoughts, Life of Faith, was produced under the title of “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.”

Dr. Thirtle, in The Christian, said: “All his poetical work, as well as his spoken word, was permeated by a realization of the love of Christ, and with a heart desire to see the Saviour’s face.” Now he realizes what he so sweetly penned:
“At Home with the Lord, what joy is this I
To gaze on His face is infinite bliss.”

****

Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:9, [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

“In this verse, Paul talks about the three ways you can know something. By the eye, or empiricism, the ear (rationalism or figuring it out on the basis of reason) and then revelation, explains Richard Jordan. “God can reveal the thing to you, as in verse 10: [10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

“Notice the description of the things of God in verse 10. ‘The Spirit searcheth all things.’ That is, He knows everything there is to know. He’s not talking about how the Spirit doesn’t know what’s going on so he looks into it. He’s talking about how there’s nothing held back from what the Spirit of God understands and knows.

“David says to God, ‘Search me and know me. Try me and see if there be any evil way.’ He isn’t saying God doesn’t know what’s in his heart. He’s saying, ‘Come down here and know me and look and see and examine.’ Not as someone who doesn’t know, but as someone who DOES know.

“The spiritual man can personally, experientially enter into all things--‘yea, the deep things of God.’ He knows the doctrines of God inside and out; he even knows the deep things of God. When Paul’s talking about deep things, he’s talking about mystery truth. He calls them that because they’re hidden things and not known.

“Notice how this word ‘deep’ is used in Psalm 92: ‘[5] O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
[6] A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

“The idea there is a brutish man, a natural man, can’t know them. For a thought to be deep, the idea there is that it’s unknown. It’s not understood by others. They’re hidden thoughts. They’re thoughts that are kept back and not made known.

“The mystery truth is that God kept some things secret and hid in Himself so that no one else could know them. They were tremendous in their value and scope but it was also hidden wisdom.

*****

“Romans 11 says, ‘[33] O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
[34] For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller?
[35] Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

“Paul has just spent 11 chapters writing down, delineating, and explaining the judgments and the ways of God. He’s just spent all the previous part of Romans revealing to you the MIND of the Lord.

“In I Corinthians 2, the last verse says, ‘[16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

“Where do you have it? In the Word of God. Folks, you wouldn’t know the depth of them if they weren’t revealed to you. You ever thought about that?! You would just SUSPECT that they must be deep, big and wonderful.

*****

“In your Bible, there’s not only the deep things of God; there’s another system of deep things. In the first two chapters of II Corinthians is the conflict between divine viewpoint and human viewpoint. More than that, though, between divine viewpoint and ‘the wisdom of the princes of this world which God’s wisdom has brought to nought.’

“The program of the Adversary is referred to in Revelation 2:24: [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.

“Notice, the depths of Satan is associated with a doctrine. There is a wisdom and a set of principles, programs and plans and philosophy that are described in the Bible, not as ‘the deep things of God,’ but rather as the deep things of the Adversary.

“It’s his agenda, his program, his plans, his purposes, his personality, and what he is seeking to accomplish. It has to do with a doctrine.”

A hymn from 1900, written by Selma, Ala., pastor Charles Price Jones, credited with writing 1,000 gospel songs, begins:

Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know

Even the wrong team knows . . .

"The principalities and powers in the heavenly places recognize the ‘mystery of Christ’ for what it is. They realize the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ in what He has done in ‘taking them in their own craftiness.’ 

"They realize God has triumphed over them in the Cross. They understand what God has done in providing for their removal from their positions and the reconciliation of their positions back to God through the instrumentality of a ‘new creation.’

"They, much to their own grief, see the genius of God in ‘the mystery.’ Unfortunately, though, far too many Christians do not.”

—Author Keith Blades, Satan & His Plan of Evil.

*****

Colossians 2:15: [15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

“To spoil something or someone, is to defeat it militarily and plunder it; attack it, rob it, and dispossess it. Notice, ‘He made a shew of them openly.’

“One of the dumbest arguments you get about dispensationalism is, ‘It can’t be true because who else believes this?’ Just to see how silly that is, remember what happened when Noah was alive? He’s built the Ark for 120 years. Do you think he had some neighbors who thought we was wacky?

“He’s called a preacher of righteousness, which means he’s preaching, telling people what God’s preparing to do and they mock him: ‘Noah, you’ve been saying that for 119 years!’ The moment after the Flood starts it’s too late, but just the day before it was like 12 million people to eight.

“If you look at verse 15, it really gives you a clue about something. What the Cross demonstrated by ‘the mystery’ is God’s manifold wisdom. What He did is He kept one little secret from Satan.”

*****

"When you abandon a clear understanding of dispensational truth, you abandon the divinely prescribed method of gaining the profit from God's Word that He's put in His Word just for you," explains Richard Jordan. "You give up the opportunity for the genuine, real, authentic working of the excellency and the power of His Word in your life in its details.

"You go through Paul's epistles and you see Paul talk to people about what happens when they abandon what he teaches them and you see them multiplying questions with no answer; you see strife of words to no profit.

"I Timothy 6: [3] If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

[4] He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

[5] Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

"You know what that list describes? The condition of modern evangelicalism. Can I tell you that where you are, whether you've got a little assembly of people or an outreach that includes thousands, that issue of the excellency of the power of God in His word working is to be put on display in your life. That's why I keep telling you it isn't enough to be a Mid-Acts Dispensationalist.

"We get it through Paul, but you got to get the message of grace that he teaches that produces the life grace is designed to produce."

*****

“The whole reason Paul is ‘persecuting the church unto strange cities’ in the early part of the Book of Acts is he knows exactly what they teach and he views it as heresy and wants to stamp it out," says Ohio preacher David Reid.

"If all Paul did after his conversion was preach the same doctrine Peter did, he wouldn't have needed a revelation from God to do that; he already knows what it is!

“But he had to have a mystery REVEALED to him if God was doing something different. Paul says in Ephesians 3 ‘that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.’

“Now, I know what happens. People say, ‘Well, today we’re saved looking backward to the Cross just as everyone in time past was saved looking forward to the Cross and it’s always been the same gospel.’

“That’s one of those things that’s just 'Christianese.' It may sound good and it tickles the ears but, biblically it’s just nonsense. Nonetheless, the vast majority of ‘Churchianity’ just goes along in their own ‘programming’ oblivious to what God has purposed.

“I mean, what Paul’s saying is that, ‘In other ages the doctrine that I’m teaching wasn’t even made known!’ It wasn’t that they didn’t teach it; it wasn’t even revealed!

“He goes in in Ephesians 3, [7] Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
[8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

*****

“In John 5, the Lord is dealing with some folks who are unbelievers. Christ says in John 5:39-40, [39] Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
[40] And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

“He’s dealing with some folks who don’t believe in Him but they claim to believe the Old Testament. What He says to them is, ‘Look, you claim to believe the Old Testament, so if you really do, search it and what does it unmistakable tells you?’ He’s saying, ‘The truth about me is going to be demonstrated from the Scriptures; all you have to do is search it.’

“Paul, in Ephesians 3:8, said he ‘preached the UNsearchable riches of Christ,’ meaning you could take your Old Testament and flip through it and scour the whole thing, and guess what, it’s not there.

Verse 9 says, [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

“I don’t know what people do with that verse. How can you say that Peter was doing the same thing when, from the beginning of the world, God didn’t hide it in the Scriptures, He hid it in HIMSELF! Was God so inept at hiding things that man has figured it out because man is such a genius?! That’s just nonsense.

“Verse 10 says, [10] To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

“The intent of us making all men see, it’s not simply to make all men see, although that’s a good thing. It is to demonstrate unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places. That’s including the guys on the wrong team."

A.D. 70 Doctrine for dummies

(new article tomorrow for certain)

"The coming of Christ in A.D.70 was a coming in judgment on the Jewish nation, indicating the end of the Jewish age and the fulfillment of a day of the Lord. Jesus really did come in judgment at this time, fulfilling his prophecy in the Olivet Discourse." (R.C. Sproul, The Last Days According to Jesus, p. 158)

"It has been a standard feature of Christian preaching through the ages that the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was really God's decisive punishment of the Jewish people for their rejection of Jesus, who died around the year 30." (Steve Mason, Josephus and the New Testament)

*****

In one of His most commonly known parables, Jesus Christ informs, “When a fig tree begins to put forth its leaves you know harvest time is coming. You can tell what time of the year it is; you can tell what’s going on by looking around you.”

Matthew 24: [32] Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
[33] So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
[34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
[35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

“This is the passage people wrongly use to try and date the Rapture and the Second Coming,” explains Richard Jordan. “Anti-dispensationalists say that all these things Christ talked about in these verses about the judgment coming have already past and are historically filled; there’s no future prophecy.

“With Preterism, Calvinism and Covenant theology, they literally believe that everything except the final consummation has taken place. All the prophecies of Daniel, Revelation; they all took place around 70 A.D. when the Romans came in and defiled the temple in Jerusalem.

“That’s just bad Bible thinking. It took until 135 A.D. before they got the Jews out of Israel, so the deportation, finally, didn’t take place for another 60 years. Theologians get all that stuff out of things like Josephus’ writings, not out of the Bible.

*****

Luke 21:27: [27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

That’s Mark 13:25. [25] And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
[26] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

Luke 21 continues, [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
[29] And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
[30] When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
[31] So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
[32] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

“When those events start to take place, He says, ‘Look up because the Son of man is coming.’ By that verse write down Acts 1: 9-11: [9] And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
[10] And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
[11] Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

“Just like He personally goes up in a cloud, He’s going to come back in a cloud, this time in power and in great glory, as opposed to in meekness and lowliness, as with His first coming.

“The reason it's asked, ‘Why you keep looking up into heaven?’ is because it isn’t time for Him to come back. When would they look up? When you see all these signs.

“In Acts 1:6, His apostles had asked, ‘Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?’ Jesus said, ‘It’s not for you to know the times,’ and then He ascends up and the apostles look up, He’s gone, and the angel says, ‘Hey, it’s not time for you to look up; it’s time for you to go get busy.’ The time to look up is when you see the sign.”

“There were things they would be able to identify as happening, telling them, ‘Okay, it’s time for His coming in power and in great glory.’

*****

“Mark 13: 28] Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
[29] So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

“Here’s the conclusion in verse 30: [30] Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

“This is where people go sideways. The generation here is not 33 years, or 40 years, or 100 years. People talk about, ‘Okay, the generation that sees Israel become a nation.’ They fight about, 'How long is a generation?'

“They say, ‘A perfect generation will be 33 years because that’s how old Jesus was.’ Someone else says, ‘No, a perfect generation would be 40 years.’ Somebody else says it’s 100 years.

“You can do all those things in your Bible and come up with ‘eeny meeny miny moe,’ whichever one you want, and that’s got nothing to do with what’s going on.

“A generation in the Bible is not the issue of how long something lasts; it’s, 'Where did it come from?' When He says, ‘This generation,’ He’s talking about a wicked and adulterous generation in Israel.

“You remember in Matthew 3:7, John the Baptist looked at the Pharisees and said, ‘O generation of vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come.’

“Satan is the viper, the poisonous serpent, the liar. Here’s a group of people who, spiritually, Jesus said of, ‘You are of your father the devil,’ and He’s talking to the Pharisees and Sadducees; the religious leaders, the rabbinical leaders of his nation. He said, ‘You’ve been co-opted by the satanic policy, the lie program, and where you spiritually come from is the Adversary.'

“That’s a wicked generation and it began in Genesis 4. That generation began with a character named Cain. So it’s not a time element; it’s a ‘who are you following?’ element. Are you following the lie program or the truth program?”

Jeremiah's fire in the bones

Jeremiah 19 ends with, [14] Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to all the people,

[15] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

"Tophet was a place of fire; it was like the city dump," explains Richard Jordan. "Tophet is that place in Isaiah 30 where He puts the Antichrist and people can look down into hell.

Jeremiah 20 begins: [1] Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

[2] Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
[3] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.
[4] For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

"Jeremiah wasn't just put in jail; he was put 'in the stocks.' You put someone in stocks to restrain them, but also to torture them. This was the first real taste of physical violence Jeremiah experienced.

"He's been preaching and people haven't been getting it; they've been mocking him, laughing at him, calling him names. But now you have an official from the government take him and throw him in jail and torture him. Things have escalated.

"Jeremiah ends up in jail five times. In chapters 37-38 you see some more of it. If you notice verse 3, that name Magor-missabib means 'terror on every side.' Pashur means tranquil; it's what Israel should be. They should be at rest. You know, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want . . . '

"But because of the apostasy of the nation, especially in its spiritual leadership (the priests were the leaders of the nation), he said, 'You guys are going to be at peril on every side. There's destruction coming.'

Verse 7: [7] O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

"Jeremiah is struggling with what's going on in his life. What he's saying is, 'Lord, where is your promise to deliver me?! Look what they're doing to me. They mock me, laugh at me, reject what I'm saying, and now they're beating me up! They got me in jail. They're thumping me on the rack and they're turning the screws. You said you were going to deliver me.'

"There's this inner tension, turmoil of, 'Thou hast deceived me.' Verses 8-10: [8] For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

[9] Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

[10] For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 

"Jerry says, 'I know what I'll do; I'll just quit.' When he says in verse 8 that the 'word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me,' come back to Jeremiah 15:16: [16] Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

"Jeremiah, by the way, was a man who went through fits of depression. At the end of chapter 20 is an illustration of it and in chapter 15 is another case of it.

"He says, 'Thy words were found, and I did eat them.' Remember when his daddy found the Word of God in the temple? When they found it, Jeremiah became a man of the Book and studied that. He says, 'I consumed them; thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.'

"He began to understand who Israel was; he saw the identity God gave that nation. He got it out of the Word. Jeremiah was a man who loved the Word of God.

"When his daddy found that copy of the law and gave that out, you see, they weren't privileged like you and everybody who's got a copy of the Bible. They weren't getting it that way and it had apostasized. So, Jeremiah is a guy who the Word of God means something to. It was the ecstasy of glory for him.

"In Jeremiah 20:8 it's, ''That word that was so thrilling to me--I go preach it and everybody just hates me for it!' So what does he want to do? Verse 9: 'I will not make mention of it.' He's just got this torment: 'I'll just quit. Phooey if that's what it gets me.'

"But don't you just love all the 'buts' of the Bible? He goes on, "But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."

"How did it get in his heart? 'Thy words were found, and I did eat them.' Jeremiah had this intake. David said it: 'Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.'

"You see, Jeremiah put it in his heart as a 'burning fire shut up in my bones.' Someone wrote a book years ago on the Book of Jeremiah and called it, 'Fire in the Bones.' That's what it was to Jeremiah. He HAD to speak; he couldn't quit.

"Even when it got him into trouble, even when nobody thanked him, God's Word had a grip on his heart that wouldn't allow him to be quiet. He was more weary trying to NOT tell people than to tell them.

"Verses 10-11: [10] For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

[11] But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

"They're trying to tear him down: 'We're going to watch him to see if he fails.' But Jerry responds with, 'But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one. They want to fight--the Lord's with me and He knows how to fight. He's the Man of War.'

Verses 12-13: [12] But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

[13] Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

"What Jeremiah's doing in verses 11-13 is he just recites what God has told him and says, 'I'm going to trust God.' It was his faith in God's Word that came to the rescue for Jerry and got him out of the punk he was in." 

(new article tomorrow)