Point that every atheist comes to

"One thing you can know about the world out there, no matter what generation it is, is they know two things: there's a God and they're going to face Him in judgment. They hold that information in unrighteousness. They twist it. They don't want it because they want to be their own God.

Romans 1: [21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 

"Every atheist that you meet, the ones who write books. Christopher Hutchins was probably one of the most honest ones in the 20th Century. Every one of them, they'll tell you, 'We had a point in our lives where we believed in God; we had a religious experience and we came to a point where we tried it out and it didn't work and we decided it's false and we said there's no God.'

"Why? Because their false religious system didn't work, but they started from a position that God puts everyone in. Philosopher Blaise Pascal said there's a 'God-shaped vacuum' in all of us. You have a spirit, a soul and a body and the unsaved man's spirit is dead; that is, he can't connect to God, but it's still there and it's still operative.

"Have you ever got your cell phone where it wouldn't connect and is looking for the signal somewhere? That's the way the unsaved man's spirit is. It knows there's got to be a connection out there somewhere but it can't get it. Why? Because they're cut off from God.

"When they knew there was a God, they didn't glorify Him as God. They didn't say, 'We want you to be God.' You know who you want to be God in your life? Let's just be honest about it. What's the middle letter of the word 'sin'? What's the middle letter of the word 'pride'?

" 'Only by pride comes contention.' The greatest enemy of God isn't Satan. By the way, what's the middle letter of the name Lucifer? 

"It's interesting to find the words in English that have the middle letter of 'I.' By the way, what's the middle letter of the word 'believe'? You know whose responsibility it is for believing? 

"The greatest enemy God has in His creation is pride. The only reason anybody argues with God at all is because they want to be God.

"Imaginations are what you dream. You dream of the potential to what you can be. They had some worthless dreams about, 'Who do I want to be?' 

"The Lie Program is 'I'm going to make myself God.' The Lie is I take the truth of God and change it into a lie and I serve and worship the creature more than the Creator."

*****

"Over the years, the definition of humility has undergone a gradual but nonetheless profound change," explains a college professor of the New Testament. "Especially in the intellectual community. In the modern day, humility has basically become synonymous with another word: uncertainty. To be uncertain is to be humble. To be certain is to be arrogant. Thus, the cardinal sin in the intellectual world is to claim to know anything for sure."

Paul says in I Corinthians 1 that "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."

He then emphasizes, [30] But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
[31] That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

"Knowledge 'puffs up' if you don't let it edify you; it doesn't have to puff you up. One of the things you learn as you go through the Christian life is that you grow, and as you grow you gain confidence, and then you come to the place where you say, 'Uh oh, it's not me.' You have to have that 'Not I' moment.

"Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, [20] I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

"You have to keep having those 'Not I' moments so that you'll back up and say, 'Well, it's Christ.' If you're walking, you make progress: 'Not I, aghhh, it's got to be Christ. Okay, now I can take another step,' and then you go another step. That's how you grow; you learn more and more that it's not you. The moment you think you've arrived, that's the 'Not I' moment.

"Paul says, 'Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.' And old Southern preacher used to say, 'The closer you get to the light, the better you see the dirt.' Well, the closer you get to the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the more you see how inadequate you are in yourself and you see how wonderful that means He is for you.

"This lesson is the heart, the soul of the Christian life. It's not just that I'm going to die and go to heaven because my sins are forgiven. I have a fellowship with the Creator of heaven and earth through His Son. I have access unto the Father. The whole of the godhead I fellowship with.

"That's why you're transformed by the renewing of your mind. It's an internal thinking process. You replace the old human viewpoint with divine viewpoint and that Holy Spirit takes that doctrine, that divine viewpoint, and energizes.

"As Paul says in Romans 12, [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
[3] For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

"It's the Word of God that works effectually in you that believe. It energizes your inner man and produces the activity. You do all that that you may prove; test and try something to demonstrate its value. When you prove something, you test it and you test it to see whether it works or not.

"You know how when you give a demonstration of something for someone, you say, 'Well, I hope it works this time.' God's Word ALWAYS works. That's why Paul says, 'I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.' He never questioned the fact that the gospel works. It will prove itself every time to somebody who trusts it."

(new article tomorrow)

Unicorn = little horn = Antichrist

(new article tomorrow--in meantime here's an old post that suddenly gained traction)

Explaining the seemingly universal appeal of unicorns anymore, one "expert in the field" reasoned,  "That idea of openness to ideas, that you have to make a leap of faith in life to bond with a magical creature, is alluring. And it feels especially important now. Each era we create or revive myths to help make sense of the world. In recent times there have been vogues for aliens, zombies and vampires. But in a time of Trump and Brexit and terror, we’ve aligned ourselves with the unicorn – a symbol of hope and purity and strangeness."

*****

Among the prophetic visions laid out in Daniel 7, Daniel has a dream in which he sees a leopard, a lion and a bear in one.

"Daniel looks out into the future and he’s now looking at the 'end time,' " explains Jordan.

“Daniel says, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

[8] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

“That little horn turns out to be the Antichrist so these four beasts represent kingdoms in the earth. You’ve got three—the leopard, the lion and the bear—and then you’ve got one you can’t even describe it’s so bad-looking. And that’s the one the Antichrist comes from.”

*****

The Book of Jude describes how in "the last days" ungodliness reaches its zenith. Jude 4 says, [4] For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Book of Revelation, in the middle of the 70^th Week, there’s an angel that flies in heaven and preaches what’s called "the everlasting gospel."

Revelation 14:6-7 says, [6] And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
[7] Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water

“Doesn’t that sound just about like what Solomon the preacher says at the end of Ecclesiastes? The message of Ecclesiastes is just the message the remnant in Israel is going to be delivering to the world!

"Do you remember what the conclusion of Ecclesiastes is at the end of the last chapter? Verses 13-14: [13] Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
[14] For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

“Do you understand there are tremendous messages in the Old Testament that God gives to Israel to take even to the nations of the world, and this ‘everlasting gospel’ is giving information for that ‘believing remnant’ to carry to the nations in that 70^th Week of Daniel."

Leopard-bear-lion composite becomes 'law unto himself'

Chapter 38 of Job ends with the Lord asking Job, [39] Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

[40] When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
[41] Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

"God is looking not just at the heavens but at the animal creation and points out to Job, 'You don't even have dominion over the animals,' " explains Richard Jordan.

"There are 12 animals that appear in order: Lion, raven, the wild goats and the hen, the wild ass, unicorn, peacock, the ostrich, horse, grasshopper, the hawk, the eagle.

"Drop down to 40:15 and there's another one: [15] Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

"So you have 12 animals in chapters 38-39, where God's gone back to describing the battle with the Adversary, and then He puts one last one because this one is the source of the real rebellion.

"The behemoth, when he's a beast in the plural, look at Revelation 13:1-2 and notice how the Antichrist's described: [1] And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

[2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

"So the Antichrist is a leopard, bear and a lion combined together. He's a composite creature. Well, that's exactly what a behemoth is.

"This is not isolated imagery here. Hosea 13: [7] Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:

[8] I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
[9] O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

"That's describing what God's going to send on Israel in the tribulation as the Antichrist and his policies and plans destroy the nation Israel. So this combining of these beasts together as a picture back in Job is really a reference to the Antichrist himself."

*****

Revelation 13:4: [4] And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

"This issue of power and worship, that's exactly what the devil sought to do with the Lord Jesus Christ," explains Alex Kurz. "When the devil gives to this Antichrist--all that power, governmental authority--guess who worships who? Satan now receives all the worship. This is a repeat of a scenario of an event that did happen over 2,000 years ago. Satan possesses these kingdoms.

Verses 5-7: [5] And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

[6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
[7] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

"Wasn't that the promise the devil made to the Lord Jesus? He said, 'I'll give it to you if . . ' Conditional, right? Makes you wonder about that deal that was offered. I can't help but think about the similarity between the two.

Revelation 13:12: [12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

"What we begin to see in Revelation 13 for the first time is this power that is given to this individual, but not only that, look at Revelation 13:8: [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

"Prior to this, there's nothing said about anybody worshipping. Listen, whoever this man of sin is, he's a great charismatic, intelligent individual. He's able to thwart three of those kings and the remaining seven capitulate. We saw that perhaps he defeats the first three and by threat of long-range weaponry, the remaining seven say, 'Listen, we're not going to get stamped out,' so they capitulate to this guy.

"The worship part of this man does not begin until the middle of the week. Hence, as we just read in verse 8, they're going to begin to worship.

Verse 15: [15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Revelation 14:7: [7] Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

"For the first time, there's this issue of who is worshipping who. That man of sin has to be taken out of the way and he's going to be cut down, and now power is going to be given to the resurrected guy. Now the world does something for the first time. Adoration and worship is being given.

Revelation 13:3: [3] And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

"That word 'wonder' means they 'admire' this guy. This is, by the way, willful adoration, willful wonderment.

"This isn't out of compulsion. He's the Superstar. How do we know that? The world asks, 'Who is like unto the beast?' Someobody else asks that question. Exodus 15:11: [11] Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

"The son of perdition is going to portray himself as being the epitome of holiness. The world is going to fall in love.

"Sometime we think of the second stage of the career of the Antichrist as him being some sort of a monster; a kind of Hitler-type tyrant and dictator. Far from it. He's going to be a benevolent dictator.

"Listen, he EARNS the love, worship and adoration of the masses. Do you love a tyrant? If there is a dictator who cruelly oppresses you, do you worship that guy? In your heart? These people say, 'Who's like this guy?!' He's a wonderment. 

"Here's something E.W. Bullinger wrote regarding the second half of the week and the career and activities of the Antichrist:

'It's clear from this that everthing is combined in this man to make him not only acceptable to the world but to call forth their wonder, admiration and praise. He's not in any way a terror to men, but full of attractions, allurements and activities which will be all put forth in the interest of human greatness and happiness.'

"You know what this guy's doing? He wants to create his own Garden of Eden. Satan wants his own uptopia with HIS man. Everything Satan's doing is an exact duplicate; it's a counterfeit of what God Almighty is doing.

"God creates man from a pile of dust and the devil, within a few seconds of time, crushes what He thought God was seeking to do. You see, Satan's man would never do what God's man Adam did, right?

"Satan's got HIS man and this man will, for the first time, achieve what mankind was not able to achieve--that great societal development. This societal utopia. His man is a Superman and all the world, they love him for that.

"It's real easy to think he's some of kind of monster everybody hates, but it's the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD and Evil. Not evil in the sense of rape, burn, pillage, but evil in the sense of defying what God's doing and carrying out the policy and strategy of Satan, because Satan wants to be the most high God and wants people to willingly worship him because of his benevolence to humanity.

"Bullinger writes: 'It will be Satan's brief Millennium in which mankind will, by every art and artifice, be made happy.' 

"We'll see in Daniel 11 this guy is filthy, filthy rich but he's also generous, only the generosity extended by this guy is sort of like a politician who seeks to win your vote. In light of this, it will be a time of peace and progress. The Bible says peace is his mantra.

“Imagine being a member of that remnant and here’s this character out providing to humanity all they ever really wanted in ‘utopia,’ and you as the little flock say, ‘But he’s not the Christ.’

“Can you imagine how the world and the religious system is going to crush this ragtag team of heretics telling them, ‘Get out of there; don’t participate!’ You see why the hatred and the policy of extermination that’s being launched?

“This guy makes WAR with the saints because the saints are opposed to what this fraud is doing, trying to establish his Garden of Eden.

“It will be a time of peace and progress for the world. Great secrets of nature will be discovered. Evil angels will be the teachers and deceiving demons the guides of mankind.

“Keep that in mind when you go back to Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel whose top may reach unto what? They were trying to call down these evil angels to serve as spirit guides.

“Great inventions and discoveries will be made. Who needs God if man functions as their own gods, right? Philanthropy will be the governing principal of the world: ‘Man can take care of man.’

“In the Book of Daniel you see this guy’s going to change laws and times. Which laws and times do you think he’s seeking to change? The laws of Scripture.

“Remember, the Book of Revelation is like a daily newspaper. It’s like the Metra schedule; you know exactly when the next train is coming. There are specific times and events that are predicted in Revelation. This guy is going to seek to change times.

“You have members of the little flock saying, ‘Listen, this is Antichrist because the Scriptures provide a timeline and he who sits in the temple being worshipped as God—he’s going to change the times to confuse the blind.’

“Oh, he’s a genius. Corrupted, satanically empowered genius. Satan doing it through him as long as Satan is being what? Worshipped.

“I love what E.W. Bullinger says: ‘He becomes a law unto himself. Men will delight in him and regard him as the greatest benefactor the world has ever seen. Kings will gladly owe him, and behind all will be Satan himself, swaying the tongues, hearts and energies of thousands of willing agents.’

“You see in Genesis the satanic attempt to be the mastermind behind civilization, agriculture, the fine arts. Why is Satan interested in the fine arts? You would think all he cares about is pushing the drugs and all that. No, that’s not what Satan’s interested in because your flesh is pretty capable of doing that anyway.

“Revelation 18 deals with commercial Babylon. The kings of the earth, when it comes to the destruction of commercial Babylon, they cry. The greatness, the economic system and the system of commerce that’s established by this wicked genius comes to an end by Almighty God and the response by humanity is just horrible.

Revelation 18: [2] And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
[3] For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

"Something is going to happen to that literal city of Babylon and it’s fallen.

"Revelation 18:4: [4] And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

“Paul says ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.’ The greed is the motivating force that causes man to bend their knee in worship to this guy who is operational control of it all because all power is given to him by that seven-headed dragon.

“Verses 7-9: [7] How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
[8] Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
[9] And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

“They mourn over her: ‘My business is bankrupt!’ He’s not some tyrant who brings humanity under this slavish fear. He’s benevolent and he’s participating. He wants all men to live happily and prosperously.

“Why? Did not God say, ‘If you worship me and obey my commandments I will bless you with overabounding fruitfulness and wealth.’ You see what the fake king of kings is seeking to do in his phony Millennium, his phony Garden of Eden?

“He’s doing the thing that God says: ‘I will do, worship me.’ Satan says, ‘Worship me, I’ll bless you,’ and you know what that apostate nation of Israel is going to do? They’re going to crack open Deuteronomy and confront the members of the little flock and say, ‘Try and argue against Deuteronomy 28.’

“Because he’s doing it! He’s doing Deuteronomy 28! 'Who is like this guy?!' You see why members of the little flock are getting their heads cut off? You understand the tremendous pressure?

“Imagine being a member of the little flock who’s trying to convince someone who’s using Scripture and here’s this guy feeding it.

“That’s why Revelation 13:10 says, [10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

“The Lord wasn’t playing around when He said, ‘They that endure.’ Hebrews isn’t playing around when it says, ‘Hold fast; don’t let go of that hope.’ Like Paul says in II Thessalonians, ‘Strong delusion.’ Wow, this guy is EARNING worship because he’s practicing what Jehovah God said He would do based upon that covenant and program.”

(new article tomorrow)

WHO's serpent represents worthiness to suffer

(sorry for delay--new article tonight for certain)

Numbers 21 has the very famous passage: [5] And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

[6] And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
[7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
[8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
[9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

“At that crucifixion event, you know what some of those people did?” asks Alex Kurz. “They behold what just happened and recognize their unworthiness and the guilt of the nation.

“Listen, those fiery serpents represent us. The fiery serpent represents the rebellion and unbelief of the nation of Israel.

“By the way, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization, you know what their official logo is? It’s a pole with a serpent. Where did they get that from?

“They would argue, based upon Greek mythology, ‘Well, that represents the rod of Asclepius.’ Some mythical God in Greek history who practiced the healing and medicinal arts. This is so cute.

“So the medical profession, they don’t go to the Book of Numbers to appreciate the origins of the serpent around the pole. They would rather go to Greek mythology: ‘Agh, it’s the rod of Asclepius.’ Well, who’s this guy? A god, small ‘g’, false, fictious god, who supposedly practiced medicine.

“Now, why don’t you just acknowledge the Bible is always right? Listen, the origins of the serpent on the pole, we’re reading it! Unbelievers unwittingly don’t even know they’re following the Word of God.

“Verse 8: [8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

“God says, ‘I don’t want your works, I don’t want your achievements, I just want you to look at what I’m doing.’ What God’s reaffirming is, ‘I don’t want what you can do; I want you to acknowledge what I’m doing.’ That’s what happens after the crucifixion.

“Verse 9: [9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

“These fiery serpents represent the rebellion of Israel and Israel’s worthiness to suffer the eternal consequences of rebellion. Jesus is reminding Israel, ‘You deserve the all-consuming eternal wrath of Almighty God because you’re rejecting me.’

“Isaiah 66:23-24: [23] And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
[24] And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

“What does Moses do? The fiery serpent represents your worthiness to burn as a worm with the fire that is not quenched.

“What does Jesus do? He’s unloading, reminding Israel, ‘Guess what’s going to happen when I’m lifted up? You’re going to understand.’

“In Numbers 21:7, the problem is it’s in their heart. Peter actually indicts the nation of Israel: ‘You wicked, rebellious apostates. You took the anointed one and with wicked hands crucified Him.’

“If you go to II Kings 18, 700 years later, you know what Israel’s doing with that brass pole? They’re worshipping it!

“So King Hezekiah, you know what he says? ‘We’re destroying this!’ Verse 4 says, [4] He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

“Israel is guilty of apostasy. They take an object that symbolizes their worthiness to burn in hell and they’re worshipping it. This is 700 years later! Isn’t sin absolutely destructive?! They don’t even realize the symbolism.

"That tells you how destructive sin and rebellion are. It reminds me of Romans 1 where the sinner actually enjoys seeing other people guilty of sin. They actually relish the rebellion, relish their sin, accusing and excusing one another.”

Hogwash so engrained in American mind

“Calvinists tell you that before God created anything, He preordained every last event in every person’s life,” writes a preacher online. “If that were true, people don't sin because they chose to sin but rather God chose them to sin! They say that because God is ‘sovereign,’ He isn't God unless He controls every last detail.”

As Solomon testifies in Ecclesiastes 9:11, "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

"If you were Muslim, for example, you'd say, 'The will of Allah be done,' " says Richard Jordan.  "In fact, the name Islam itself means 'submission.' Submission to the will of God. 'Whatever happens, Allah determined it.' Do you know average Christendom thinks the same way about the God of the Bible?!

"Calvinism is simply the Christian veneer upon the paganist fatalism that comes from heathendom. That's where it comes into the Islamic religion and Christianity. It's the idea that God controls every event—that there's this pre-arranged, pre-ordained, pre-laid-out map of life and everything that happens, God determined it. Folks, God has not pre-determined everything that's going to happen on this planet at every given moment."

In the Book of Jeremiah alone are several examples of God Himself making this point clear. In Jeremiah 7:31, Jehovah God says of the pagan practices that were being carried out in Israel, "And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart."

What He's saying is it wasn't His intention they do any of the evil things they did.

Similarly, Jeremiah 32:35 reads, "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."

"God's saying, 'I didn't talk to them about it, I didn't purpose it, it wasn't something that came in my mind for them to do,' " explains Jordan. "That doesn't mean He didn't foreknow it or wasn't acquainted with it ahead of time. What He's talking about is He didn't purpose for them, He didn't ordain for them, He didn't predestinate for them. He didn't pre-determine for them that they'd do it. If He did, explain what exactly does that verse mean?!"

*****

While preachers like Billy Graham, who popularized the phrase "divine providential appointment," have long-encouraged people to think whenever anything good happens, "Surely God must have  been behind that," nowhere in the Bible—either in Israel's program or the grace program operating today—is there demonstration of God teaching people through events.

“Circumstances are simply not God's means for teaching,” says Jordan. "When God wants to communicate with someone, He does it with words. "He doesn't use situations and happenings. In I Kings, for example, Elijah hears all this noise from the thunders, the wind and the earthquake and there's no voice of God, so He sits down in the cave and God comes and speaks to him in a 'still small voice.'

"You and I have that in a Book that sits in our lap. That's why we talk about the Bible versions issue. That's why it's so important. You don't need to go, 'Oh, God, show me what you want me to do. Just give me a sign.' You know what He says back? 'I already have.'

"You're complete in Christ and you have the complete, total revelation of His will in His Word and when you really, truly get a hold of that it LIBERATES your life from the bondage of religious tyranny and questioning and always living by defining yourself and your relationship with God and others in ways that He doesn't."

*****

Unbelievably, the Calvinist mumbo-jumbo that has riddled our country for centuries maintains an ever-growing foothold in Christian worship and study.

It's crazy stuff and yet some of the biggest names in Christian history bought into this pure pagan heresy: Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, John Eliot, Karl Barth, Jonathan Edwards, Blaise Pascal, Noah Webster, William Carey, John Bunyan, John Knox, Lyman Beecher and Francis Schaeffer.

"Largely forgotten today, George Whitefield was probably the most religious figure of the 18^th century," writes the editors of Christian History magazine in their 2000 book, 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. "Before his tours of the colonies were complete, virtually every man, woman, and child had heard of the 'Great Itinerant' at least once. So pervasive was Whitefield's impact in America that he can justly be styled America's first cultural hero. Indeed, before Whitefield, it is doubtful any name, other than royalty, was known equally from Boston to Charleston."

As for evangelist Charles Spurgeon, the book says of his fame, "No chapel seemed large enough to hold those who wanted to hear the 'preaching sensation of London.' He preached to tens of thousands in London's greatest halls—Exeter, Surry Gardens, Agricultural. . . His sermons were published in the Monday edition of the London Times, and even the New York Times."

*****

Calvinism gets its name and theology from John Calvin, a 16^th century scholar from France who, upon studying law as a young student at the University of Orleans, dipped into Renaissance humanism and studied Plato and Aristotle.

Originally a Catholic, Calvin derived his doctrines from the teachings of Augustine, the Roman Catholic theologian from the 4th century who, at an early age, fell under the influence of Neoplatonic philosophy and was a major early proponent of studying the Bible allegorically rather than literally.

Not only is Calvin regarded as a leading figure in Puritanism but, "his ideas have been blamed for or credited with (depending on your view) the rise of capitalism, individualism and democracy," says the Christian History book.

*****

"Most of American culture has been so influenced by Calvinism that there's much about Calvinism engrained into people's thinking and philosophies of life that they don't even know where it came from," says Jordan. "The old idea of 'manifest destiny' and the 'rugged individualist' comes right out of that pit. It's nothing but pagan nonsense."

At its base, Calvinism contradicts not only the Word of God but God's intrinsic nature as a loving Father whose desire is that all men be His children, accepting His gift of eternal life to be with Him in heaven forever.

Of course, even Calvin himself contradicts himself in his different written commentaries.

In one commentary, he states, "As Scripture then clearly shows, we say that God once established by His eternal and unchangeable plan, those whom He long before determined once for all to receive into salvation and those who, on the other hand, He would devote to destruction. . . By His just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment, He has barred the door of life to those He's given over to damnation."

Then in another commentary, regarding I Tim. 2:4, he writes, "Paul demonstrates that God has at heart the salvation of all because He invites all to the acknowledgment of the truth."

In his commentary on the famous verse John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"), Calvin assures, "Such is also the import of the term 'world, which He formally used. For though nothing would be found in the world that is worthy of the favor of God, yet He shows Himself to be reconciled to the world when He invites all men without exception to the faith of Christ, which is nothing else than entrance into life."

You just wonder how in the world the guy can say such opposite things and not get that he's changing his story. The worst part of it is he makes a liar out of God.

*****

Jordan explains, “Theologians love to extrapolate and extrapolate; and premise and premise and premise; and use their logic and extend everything out. The result is they deduce from the plain words in the Bible all sorts of hare-brained ideas constructed from their own faulty logic and philosophy. They arrive at their conclusions by totally and completely ignoring dispensational truth along with the Word of God in general.”

Take Calvin's business about God choosing some people for salvation and others for damnation. He arrives at this from the twisting what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28-30: [28] And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

In the passage, the word "foreknow" comes from the Greek word "progonosco" (pro is before and gonosco means "to know something").

"It means to know it, to recognize something in advance," explains Jordan. "It's exactly what our word 'foreknowledge' means. But Calvinists change that meaning and say it means 'to forelove something'—you love it beforehand. Foreknowledge does not mean foreloved or foreordained. It doesn't mean God determined ahead of time what was going to happen; that's he's predetermined everything that happens on this planet at every given moment.

“The word ‘know,’ or gonosco, is often used in Scripture in the sense of ‘intimate acquaintance.’ In fact, in passages like Matthew 1:25, where it explains that Mary didn't 'know' Joseph, it's talking about the fact the couple didn't have sexual relations until after Christ was born.

“In Matthew 7:23, when Jesus Christ says, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity,’ He's not saying He doesn't have knowledge of a person, precisely because God knows everyone on the earth. What He's saying is He doesn't have regard for the person.

“The word foreknow and the word know are not the same word in the Bible, as Calvinists wrongly conclude. Bottom line, God's purpose is never that somebody sin and by stating that God predetermined for you or me to sin is to make God the author of sin.

*****

That's why the Westminster Confession of the mid-1600s, produced by English-speaking Presbyterians and given official status in England, makes absolutely no sense.

The confession, referred to as a "theological consensus of international Calvinism" in Merriam Webster's "Encyclopedia of World Religions," states that "some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death," and yet "neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of creatures."

"Calvinists constantly double-talk to deceive people away from using common sense," sums up a preacher. "They insist that free will makes man the cause of his own salvation but then it's not of your own free will to choose or reject the gospel. That statement doesn't even make sense.

"They teach that a sinner is of himself neither capable nor willing to believe the gospel and therefore 'the elect' are so influenced by divine power that their will is overcome and changed by the 'saving irresistible grace of God'?! It's all hogwash!"

(new article tomorrow)

Walking on the wings of the wind

 In Job 26, Job, answering Bildad, makes some statements about what his understanding of creation is.

Verses 5-6 read: [5] Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

[6] Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

“Notice the connection with water and dead things under the water?” observes Richard Jordan. “There’s some people living under the water and Hell is under the water. Destruction, or those things connected with dead people and hell, are underneath the water.

“Verse 7 says, [7] He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

“There’s a place up there in the heavens that’s empty; it doesn’t have a bunch of inhabitants. This place is not given to anybody. It’s an empty field and above it is ‘the north.’ There is an absolute direction for the universe.

“Psalm 75 says, ‘[6] For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.'

“You’ll notice a lot of these verses like this one are just kind of stuck in places. People say, ‘Well, why isn’t all this stuff just laid out for you—bop, bop, bop, bop, bop?’ Well, one reason is it would be kind of boring.

"Have you ever read a scientific textbook? Did you ever take Physics? Didn’t you just get a real thrill reading through the Physics textbook? Didn’t you just go home at night and want to read it again?!

“Did you know the easiest way to learn is as a corollary to some life experience? And if your Bible was written like a theological textbook . . . I’ve studied them for 30 years and I never saw a one—I’ve read dozens of them—that I thought was good reading again.

“I’d rather read a Tom Clancy or a Robert Ludlum novel any day than to read a theological textbook. It’s like choosing between ‘Gone with the Wind’ and an Encyclopedia Britannica. Which one you want to read, you know. Why would you want a Bible written like that? It’s written in a way to captivate your interest and cause you to learn because you keep reading and studying it!

“A preacher told me just the other day, ‘You know, I just get tired of studying.’ That’s something I never have done. I’ve been studying the Bible over 30 years. Just yesterday I spent about 15 hours studying. I was researching something and I turned the phone off and went to it.

“I study at least 20 hours a week and have the personal discipline to do that and I’m fairly busy in other things. It’s the one thing I do that NEVER has been a burden to me. Now, sometimes it’s frustrating—you don’t understand something—and sometime your old flesh says, ‘Boy, I’d sure like to not do that,’ and sometime I can’t read it—I got to get closer or put it away from me, but it’s wonderful to study it.

*****

“But getting back to ‘the north.’ You’re going to find these verses in strange little places and they’re just going to be dropped in. Little explanations, little statements dropped in because the Bible is written in such a way to assume that you’re going to read all of it and pay attention to the details, picking them up as you go along. It’s meant to be a treasure hunt.

“When Psalm 75:6 says, ‘For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south,’ do you see from the Book of Job how God is put in the place of the fourth direction? He does that because that’s where God is!

“The message is, ‘Look, promotion doesn’t come from the east, it doesn’t come from the west, it doesn’t come from the south—it comes from, only one direction left. But he doesn’t tell you the direction; he tells you WHO it comes from that lives there! It comes from ‘the north,’ but Job says it comes from God because God . . .

*****

“Now you understand God is omnipresent. That’s a theological term to try and describe the immensity of who God is. He is not limited by time or space. And yet you know, although God is everywhere, as theologians would say, you know He’s not everywhere in the same sense. You know if God the Holy Spirit indwells you as a Believer, He is in you, in communion with your spirit, in a sense in which He is not in an unsaved person.

“God isn’t limited by where He can be, but He chooses to manifest the glory of His person and His personality in certain places, and the place where He has chosen to manifest for His creation, the glory and the majesty of His person, is a place located in ‘the north.’

“So when I start Genesis 1, I’m going to need to know that there is a place that God calls 'north.' Anytime you get a map out, the first thing you need to do if you’re going to get directions is find the little arrow that is always pointing north. Why doesn’t it always point south, or east or west? That’s interesting but now you know.”

*****

In Bible commentary notes below Genesis 1:2 (‘And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters’), there’s commonly a reference given to Deuteronomy 32:11 (‘As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings’), because that’s where the other occurrence for the Hebrew word that is translated “move,” lies.

“When it says that thing about her fluttering over her young, the Hebrew word translated ‘flutter’ is the same word for ‘moved’ in Genesis 1:2,” explains Jordan. “So all the commentaries say, ‘See, the Spirit of God fluttered over the face of the deep.’ Now, did that help you understand something? Well, it never did me.

“I look that word up in the dictionary and I say, ‘Flutter? The Spirit of God fluttered? What’s He doing?! What does that mean?!’

“The commentaries never made any sense to me until one day I met up with a fellow, a farmer down in Alabama, who had chickens. You learn a lot from people who just know about life.

“I was asking him, ‘Doug, what in the world is a chicken doing when it’s fluttering?!’ He says, ‘Oh, that’s no problem; she’s roosting on her nest.’

“It’s not a bird off flying all around or soaring up; its when a bird tries to sit down on its nest and get settled in on it and kind of flutters around and gets its feathers all up and you don’t know what they’re doing and she’s trying to get her brood together and sit down on it.

“I went back and looked at that verse: ‘As an eagle stirreth up her nest.’ You know what she’s doing? She’s getting her family together; she’s putting her house in order and she’s going to settle down on her nest.

“I thought, ‘Oh, that’s what the Spirit of God was doing!’ When God began to move on the face of that water, He began to give some attention to this place. He was doing the same thing a bird does, not just flying willy-nilly around, but fluttering over the nest. The nest is your home.

“So immediately in Genesis, God’s doing something that’s going to relate to some place He’s going to call home. Now, here’s His home up (in the third heaven) but He’s doing something down here that is going to have something to do with His nest.

*****

“Psalm 104 is a Millennial psalm—a psalm about the Second Coming of Christ—when Christ comes, looks back and is able to praise God for what He’s done. He’s come down and is living—Emmanuel God living with us on the EARTH.

“Psalm 104: [1] Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
[2] Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

“He’s got His curtain up there and He blocks out His light. This thing in here is all dark because the curtain keeps the light out.

“Verse 3 says, [3] Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind.

“Tell me something--what are God’s chambers? That’s a building; that’s where He lives! There’s a particular place on the earth that He created to dwell in. That place is known all through your Bible.

“Understand, when God created this stuff, the reason He created the earth was He was creating a place to put His house and to live on.

“He created it for the purpose of bringing His chambers down here to dwell on. So God, in six days, creates an environment on the earth suitable for His chambers--His palace, the mini-mansions--to exist.”

It's that enticement, that appeal of secrecy

At the very beginning of a YouTube trailer for a new heavily-advertised FOX News "investigative" special on "Freemasons: A Society of Secrets," comedian Tom Shillue asks "the grand master of Pennsylvania": "So you're the biggest guy around here--kind of the grand poobah?"

Master: "You could say that, yes."

Shillue: "I'm going to say some things and you tell me if Masons think these are good things or bad things? Human sacrifice?"

Master: "Bad."

Shillue: "Murder?"

Master: "Bad."

Shillue: Child trafficking?

Master: "Bad."

Shillue: "Ice cream?"

Master: "Fantastic."

Shillue: "Why do people think the Masons engage in demonic activity?"

Master: "I think they're minds just run wild and they think, 'Oh my goodness, what are they doing behind closed doors?' No demonic activity. No. We're not sacrificing anybody at altars. We're not burning any incense. Our meetings are basically a business meeting."

Shillue: "Nobody says any conspiracy theories about the Knights of Columbus. Nobody says it about the Rotary Club. Why do they say it about the Masons?"

Master: "You know what, the other thing that I would point to is the whole thing with the way we do things with symbols."

*****

“Satan’s spirit works in lost people. He’s got a whole crew of people; the rulers of the darkness of this world. The politicians, the business executives, the music moguls, the movie producers, the newsmen, the preachers.

"All of the people in the upper echelons who RUN things have a philosophy and thinking process that is in line with the Lie Program.

“You need to understand, when you look to politicians for your answers, that’s where they’re getting their answers from. When you look to business executives to lead your nation, or your life, that’s where they’re getting their answers from," explains Richard Jordan.

When Revelation 17:5 talks about MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH, this verse is not just about the mother of all mysteries, but there’s the mother’s mystery maidens. The verse says she is the mother of harlots, meaning she has offspring that are of her lineage, so she’s got a lot of children in the world.

“When Paul talks about the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the principalities and heavenly places, there’s a satanic counterfeit mystery system. Satan always seeks to counterfeit what God’s doing.

“Unlike the Adversary, when God does something, He doesn’t keep it hidden behind codes and walls. I love in Matthew 10:27 where Jesus Christ says, ‘What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.’

“God wants things made known, whereas the Adversary’s whole system is based on this secret society; that’s what the ‘occult’ means, by the way. It’s this kind of thing where I’ve got wisdom, understanding, powers that are secret that you can only get in contact with if you have my instructions and you’re one of my initiated.

"In Deuteronomy is the warning from God, 9] When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
[10] There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
[11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

“All of those titles and names are descriptions of attempts to use special knowledge to try and tell you the future, claiming they have power in the spirit world to pull things out—hidden wisdom, hidden understanding and knowhow.

“You see, the devil has power and he uses it to coordinate things together to achieve his end. His aim is to install himself on the throne of the universe.

“Satan’s goal is the deification of the creature: ‘I will ascend into heaven; I will be like the most high.’ It’s to take the creature and make God out of it.

"That’s the ultimate, fundamental lie that, when you buy into it, you’re following the Adversary. You’re making him your authority. It’s only when you follow the truth of God’s Word that you make God your authority.

“The Bible says of Satan, ‘Behold thou art wiser than Daniel.’ He uses his wisdom to traffick. He uses his ability to know a secret that you can’t know and that only he and those he shares it with know.

"Satan uses that enticement, that appeal of inside knowledge that only he and those who are his associates can have. That’s the basis of his marketing plan. He did that starting with Eve.

“Genesis 3:1 says, 1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

“You see that word ‘subtle’? He’s going to use deceit; he’s not going to just come up to Eve and say it out clearly; he’s going to try and deceive her.

“You get these sales calls on the telephone and they ask you a question so they can get this answer, and if they get that answer, they got this other thing for you to answer and it’s all designed to get you to the point where you say, ‘Yes, I’ll buy the product.’

“Now, Satan uses his wisdom to deceive. He says, ‘I know something you don’t know. If you knew what I know . . .’ It’s that enticement. ‘Yeah, hath God said?’ He’s saying, ‘Are you sure that’s all there is to it?’ You see how he puts that little thought in the back of your mind?

“Satan says to Eve, ‘For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’

“He’s telling her, ‘You’re going to be like me and those folks associated with me.’ Knowing good and evil means knowing something only God knows. While God says ‘Good and evil’s mine,’ Satan says, ‘You know, I can tell you how to know something God doesn’t want you to know. I already know it. My guys know it!’

“Like I said, he uses that enticement of, ‘It’s secret information nobody can know unless they come and get it from me, and you’ve got to come do what I want you to do, and when you do, then you can have it.’

“The people who fall for that wind up ‘ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,’ because they’re always reaching for it and never quite get there.”

(new article tomorrow)

Which is, and which was, is Revelation

(happy to report I am feeling better today and was able to return to work after calling in sick for two days in a row. I have been struggling through the worst health episode of my life, dealing with IBS flare-up, insomnia, fragile nerves and accompanying anxiety causing flu-like symptoms. Went to a doctor Friday and was not given anything to help except a blood pressure pill I told her didn't work in the past. So, it's a rollercoaster.)

Will post my new article tomorrow. In meantime:

"People have a habit of loving to talk about things they're not involved in," says Richard Jordan. "That happens in Bible study, too. With the Book of Revelation, because you know you're not involved in it, it's safe to talk about and even if you get it wrong, it doesn't make any difference because you're not going to be there.

"When you study the Bible, if you just read it, it's so weirdly wonderful how it blows out of the water all the things people have always told you that it says and the things that you thought it taught.

"Revelation 1:20 says, [20] The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

"In Israel's temple and in their tabernacle, they had the menorah, but it was one candlestick with seven branches. Here you have seven separate candlesticks. That's telling you you're dealing with a period of time where the nation Israel has been scattered among the nations; they're no longer that one nation gathered together.

"Now, I'm looking for somebody who's got the seven stars in his right hand who walks in the midst of the seven candlesticks.

Verses 16-17: [16] And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. [17] And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

"Who is it that's walking amidst the candlesticks and has the stars? It's Christ. Every one of these letters to each one of these churches begins with an introductory description.

"Well, if you go back to Revelation 1:18: [18] And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

"Revelation 2:18: [18] And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass.

"Go back to 1:14-15: [14] His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; [15] And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

"Each one the angel's telling them, 'I'm the messenger, but the one who's talking to you is the glorified Son of man.' For each description John gives of Christ, you'll see that the issue in the description is the issue he's going to deal with each church about.

"Probably one of the most enlightening things I've ever read came from Thomas Newberry and E.W. Bullinger, back in the 1800s, as they taught through the Book of Revelations and had commentaries pointing out that each one of these churches, in the context of remembering, calls to remembrance Israel's past history.

"It's something out of Israel's history that would bring into the consciousness of someone familiar with the Old Testament, which a believing Jew would be, an issue in Israel's history that will correspond with what these churches are facing in 'the last days.'

*****

"Revelation 1:9 says, [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 that verse than any other verse in the book. John was not exiled on the Isle of Patmos because they didn't like what he was preaching and got mad at him and stuck him on an island. That's what you're told. That isn't what the verse says at all.

"He didn't say anything about being exiled. He said, 'I'm there to get something from God.' What did John get at Patmos? Revelation 1:2: [2] Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

"He went there for the purpose of getting the information God gave him. He's there on purpose. John writes in verse 10, 'I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.'

"That's the guy that we read in verse 13 and following; that's the Lord Jesus Christ talking to him. Notice, 'I was in the Spirit.' That was a common statement in the prophets about being in a prophetic vision.

"In the Bible, 'the Lord's day' is a day in prophecy that's future from where we are. 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.

"The literary order of Revelation corresponds to the historical order found in the Bible. He starts in Ephesus with a historical reference and then it travels through the Scripture. It's fascinating how this works, and he's going to point them back to those past things they're going to face where they are.

*****

"Revelation 2:4: [4] Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. He says, 'You're problem is you've left your first love.' Where does that take them back to? The beginning of the nation Israel. That's a concept that's used several times in the prophets to describe Israel when God first formed that nation.

"Jeremiah 2 says, [1] Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [2] Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

"Write down by that passage Ezekiel 16 where you'll see God describing bringing Israel out of Egypt and literally marrying her, entering into a covenant. We've studied about Israel being the wife of Jehovah.

"As a nation, Israel's first love was Jehovah. Hosea 11 says, [1] When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. Look at Exodus 4: [22] And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.

"We sing that song, 'I love Him because He first loved me.' Well, that's what God did. When He says, 'You left your first love,' it's, 'Listen, God gave birth to you and you've forsaken the purpose for which He gave birth to you. You've lost your way.' 

*****

"Revelation 2: [8] And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; [9] I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. [10] Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

"There's some satanic doctrines of devils being propagated in Israel back in the Book of Numbers. Balaam was a prophet Balak hired to curse Israel and God wouldn't let him do it, so what Balak did is he taught Israel how to get God to curse them by introducing Baal worship, going after false gods.

"By the way, you notice it's the doctrine of Baal. In Revelation 2 it's the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. The passage reads, [14] But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. [15] So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

"We're talking about a doctrinal issue that's going to curse. The teaching corrupted the nation by causing them to commit fornication and sacrifice things and eat things sacrificed to idols, to devils.

"II Peter 2:15: [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;

"You know why Balaam did what he did? He says in Numbers 31 before he gets killed, 'Oh, let me die the death of a righteous man.' You?! Ha! That's a little late, man.

"When you read about Balaam in Numbers 22-24 what you find out is Balak came down with a big bag of money and said, 'I'll pay you to curse Israel.' Balaam, always looking for a buck, goes and asks God, 'What do I do?' and the Lord says, 'Don't go, you can't curse them.'

"So he goes and tells Balak what God said and they come back with, 'We'll give you more money.' God tells Balaam again, 'You can't curse them,' so he goes out and says, 'Well, I can't curse them, but I'll take the money and go with you.' Four times he tried to curse them and God wouldn't let him. But the guy loved the wages of unrighteousness. He wanted the money. The love of money, right there, is the root of all evil.

"I just want you to see how important this stuff in Numbers is to these tribulation saints. Jude 11: [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 (Cain, Balaam and Core) of how the seductive policy of the Adversary is going to seek to seduce the nation Israel into idolatry, the Baal worship.

"Balaam is right in the middle of it. The way of Baal, the error of Baal, the doctrine of Baal. Three different issues. It's a big thing in Numbers and it's a big thing in Revelation.

"By the way, when he says 'where Satan's seat is,' that specific idolatry associated with him, Numbers 31 says they killed Balaam with a sword.

"Look at Revelation 2:12-13: [12] And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; [13] I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 

"Come down to verses 16-17: [16] Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. [17] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

"Now, he does that in Revelation 19. My point is the way they got rid of Baal and Balaam, that's the judgment that's going to fall on these guys. So what Revelation does is keep pulling back things from that history there, and if you were a biblically-intelligized Israeli at this time, you'd see those connections.

"Ahab and his wife Jezebel were the people who took Baal worship and made it a state religion in Israel. They intensified it, not just to something that some Israelis were doing, but they literally made it the national religion. Instead of God's truth, it became the Balak truth. It's the official religion, by the way, of the Antichrist in Revelation 17: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

"That's why he says 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.

"The depths of Satan is that intensive zenith form of Baal worship where Israel's completely 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. When you come to chapter 3 with the church of Sardis, you're going to see Israel in captivity; the fifth course of judgment begins there.

"Revelation 3: [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.[6] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

"If you're not going to blot the overcomer out, what would you do to a guy who didn't overcome? You'd blot his name out.

"Matthew 10: [32] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. [33] But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

"So if you don't overcome, you don't confess Him, what does He do? He denies you. That's that reciprocal activity of the Abrahamic Covenant.

"When Israel's fifth course starts, Deuteronomy 29 says, [19] And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

[20] The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

[21] And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: 

"He says, 'I'm going to wipe you off the record of Israel's history,' and that issue of blotting out their name has to do with sending them away into captivity; taking their citizenship away by taking the nation away. If you're a man without a country, you're gone.

"I know people get bent out of shape about this passage, trying to get around the idea of having your name taken out of the Book of Life, but if you look at Revelation 7, Dan and Ephraim are left out of the list of the tribes who get sealed and out of whom the 144,000 come."