"Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." (Jn 8 : 32)
Author: Sam Matthews K
'Doing my best to present myself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.' ( 2 Tim 2 : 15 )
‘Truth’, the word that seems to have lost its sanctity over time and has come to mean whatever one believes, has always been and will always be singularlistic in its eternal existence whereas ‘falsehood’ has been and will be pluralistic with all its blatant lies. ‘Truth’ has existed from time immemorial and will outlast this universe, into eternity but ‘falsehood’ has been around only since the fall of Lucifer and it will meet its end in the lake of fire.
“He was a murderer from the beginning not holding on to the truth for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
And no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerades as servants of righteousness.’ ( 2 Corinthians 11:14-15)
The Prophet Isaiah lamented : ‘Truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased … appalled that there was no one to intervene; his own arm worked salvation for him… He put on righteousness as his breastplate and … he put on the garments of vengeance … so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes.’ ( Isaiah 59:14-18)
Truth is destined to triumph, on ‘The Day of the Lord’! ‘The Lord Almighty has a day in store … when he rises to shake the earth. In that day … men will flee to caverns in the rock … from the dread of the lord and the splendor of his majesty …’ ( Isaiah 2: 12-21)
‘I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war … the armies of heaven were following him … He treads the winepress of the fury of God Almighty … the beast was captured and with him the false prophet … the two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.’ ( Rev 19:11- 20).
Truth cannot be destroyed or covered up forever for ‘there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known.” (Mathew 10 : 26 )
‘This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ.’ ( Romans 2:16)
As believers, let us always seek the truth, speak the truth and stand with the truth ‘for we cannot do anything against the truth but only for the truth.’ ( 2 Corinthians 13:8 ) Amen.
After my previous post titled ‘Theocracy to tyranny’, I happened to engage in a friendly conversation with the moderators of the group called ‘Theology for today’ on LinkedIn, where I had posted the article but we unexpectedly ended up debating the existence of hell. These liberal Christians were stubbornly unconvinced that there was a hell, inspite of me quoting Scripture after Scripture but they became increasingly abusive and expelled me from their theological group because they could neither win their argument with rhetoric nor could they find a Scripture to support their false notions.
Their argument was that if God is merciful, would he let men suffer for eternity, for a finite life of sin, much beyond the ‘cost of their sin’ ? Would he send men to hell even for the slightest of infractions? Their idea of paying for the ‘cost of sin’ was like serving a term in a state penitentiary and once the term was over, the state of the soul would be reversed. When I quoted to them that ‘the wages of sin is death …’ ( Romans 6 : 23 ), they immediately caught me on this verse to substantiate their belief that there is no hell because the verse in context did not refer to ‘hell’, while being oblivious of the fact that there were numerous other Scriptures that poignantly referred to hell. That showed how ignorant they were of Scriptures and the best they could do was to quote back the verse I had quoted to them, when asked to quote alteast one Scripture in support of their argument. Had they quoted the verse completely, it would have proved just the opposite of what they believe because the verse goes on to say, ‘… but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus’, which means everyone who is not willing to believe and receive this free gift of eternal life, will invariably remain in the state of death. However ‘death’ means just simple physical death to them but the Bible differentiates between ‘Spiritual death’ (the state every soul is born into since the fall of Adam until it is reversed at rebirth – Romans 5 : 12 – 16 ), ‘Physical death’ ( the state everybody is destined to experience irrespective of their faith – Hebrews 9 : 27 ) and ‘Eternal death’ ( the state of eternal separation from God for those who have rejected this salvation – Revelation 20 : 14 -15 ). The Bible calls ‘eternal death’ as the ‘second death’ which is also an euphemism for the ‘lake of fire’. The Greek word ‘Gehenna’ which was translated as ‘hell’, borrows the imagery from the place outside the walls of Jerusalem, where the garbage from the city was burnt ; where the fire was never put out. Therefore Jesus said, ” It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worms does not die and the fire is not quenched.” ( Mark 9 : 48, Isaiah 66 : 24 ) These liberals think it is absurd for the Bible to say that men will be cast bodily into hell because after all mortal flesh wouldn’t last in that ‘eternal fire’. But Jesus spoke about the bodily resurrection of all men when he said, ” Do not be amazed at this for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” ( John 5: 28-39 ) ‘So will it be with the resurrection of the dead … If there is a natural body there is also a spiritual body.’ ( 1 Corinthians 15 : 42 – 44 ) If their worms do not die in that eternal fire, then probably their bodies won’t either !
Why would Jesus often refer to hell, if it were not a real place ? ( These liberals claim to believe in Jesus but make him out to be the biggest liar by saying there is no hell.) Jesus said that the ‘eternal fire was prepared for the devil and his angels’ ( Mt 25 : 41 ) and therefore God is not willing that any man should go to hell. Every sin has been atoned for in Christ Jesus but if men reject this sacrifice, there is no sacrifice left to atone for the sin of having rejected Christ. ‘Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in God’s only begotten Son.’ ( John 3 : 18 )
If ‘atoning for the sins of the whole world’ ( 1 John 2 : 2 ) and ‘appealing to men to be reconciled with God’ (2 Corinthians 5: 20 ) weren’t acts of God’s mercy, then what do these liberals consider as mercy ? Filling up heaven with rebels who have rejected God’s salvation, because they think he is too loving to cast men to hell ? “Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mathew 10 : 28 ) ‘Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God.’ ( Romans 11 : 22 ) If men end up spending eternity in hell, they will only have the devil to blame for deceiving them, if not themselves for believing him! Suffice to say that God doesn’t send anyone to hell for the slightest infractions but they will send themselves to hell for rejecting God’s offer of eternal life ! If Scripture doesn’t convince them that Hell is for real, I earnestly hope that at least rationalism will awaken them from their stupor, before it’s too late ! Does not the attributes of the physical world around us teach us that they exist in opposites, with one having dominance over the other ? There is light over darkness, height over depth, big over small, strong over weak, and so on. Then why not apply the same logic and reason to the spiritual realm? Why is it preposterous to believe that hell really exists ? If there is no hell, then logically there can’t be a heaven, which means there are no judgments or rewards because there aren’t any laws since there is nothing good or evil, right or wrong, for there is no God or Satan. Therefore to deny part of the truth means to deny all of it but to believe the whole truth means to believe all of it. Amen.
Where is humanity heading to ? If we follow the course of human history, can we see where we stand now and where we are going ? Are we going from Theocracy to tyranny ? Did I mention God? Why is it politically incorrect in a democratic society with freedom of speech, to say, “God exists”, when those who believe in the existence of a God, far outnumber the atheists ? Shouldn’t that be proof of the existence of a God, because an overwhelming majority have their consciences bear witness to this truth ? Why is it that those who pretend to be atheists, rail at God when they go through hell on earth? Isn’t it right to conclude that there are no true atheists but only rebels, because the consciousness of a God seems undeniable ? Wasn’t it a nation of rebels who had seen the unquestionable acts of God, that rejected Theocracy and asked for a king ? ( 1 Samuel 8 : 7 – 22 ) If Monarchy was instituted by God as the next best form of governance, why has it become a thing of the past ? Was it not expected to fail because absolute power was being endued upon a mortal, who was prone to corruption ? If nobles were empowered and made the custodians of the state, when Kings became increasingly corrupt, shouldn’t Aristocracy been the next best form of governance ? Didn’t they fail as well to safeguard the interests of the common man over the ruling class ? If empowering the common man was the greatest social experiment in the history of humanity and Democracy was the next best form of governance, then why is it being undermined by those with vested interests? Did our innate human nature for corruption, guarantee the failure of all these successive forms of government ? What kind of shadow government do we have now ? Is it an Oligarchy, with Multi National Corporations and the Military-Industrial complex throwing their weight behind the candidates of their choice and the Media giants using their platforms to socially engineer the outcome of the polls, to install their puppets in office? Doesn’t history remind us that it was the failure of Democracy that opened the way for autocrats, dictators, tyrants and despots to rise to power, who herded the sheeple to Tyranny ? Do those who call for the abolition of the constitution and judiciary and those who demand the defunding of all law enforcement agencies, realize that they are unwittingly being used by antidemocratic forces to overthrow the very foundation on which this democracy was built ? Will this rebellion against all forms of human government, fomented by satanic forces, eventually make way for the rule of Satan ? This downward slide to tyranny seems unstoppable but shouldn’t we do something in our power to slow this down? Will exercising our democratic right to vote be enough, if we fail to exercise our conscience in choosing the right candidates; choosing the ones who stand for democracy and rejecting the ones that have a nexus with the global elite who seek to set up the New World Order ? Shouldn’t we keep Democracy alive, as long as it can last, by not carelessly casting our vote for those who want to pull it down ? But what is the blessed hope for humanity? Back to Theocracy, once the full cycle of other forms of governance have ended ? Doesn’t it make sense then to pray, “Thy Kingdom come” ? Amen.
( This is the unabridged version of the article originally posted in a secular group on LinkedIn. Since members are required to open up the platform for discussion, instead of being affirmative about their faith, every sentence was phrased as a question to get the message across. )
We seldom doubt the existence of God and his ability but we often question the willingness of God, because we haven’t understood the goodness of God yet ! A man with leprosy came and knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. ( Mt 8 : 3 ) Jesus touched him instantly, as if to assure him of God’s willingness, inspite of his faith being far from perfect. The goodness of God was being revealed to the world in Christ, just as it was revealed to Moses, in the cleft of the rock – In Exodus 33 : 17 – 18, we read : And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do everything you have asked because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory” ( Hebrew : kābôd means splendor or glory ) It was through Moses that God had displayed his awesome power, as he led a band of slaves to freedom from the most powerful civilization on earth and it was through him that God had dramatically parted the waters of the Red Sea for the Israelites to miraculously escape from the Egyptian army who pursued them. And on the other side, he had also seen God’s mercy and forbearance in dealing with the Israelites, when they rebelled against him in the desert. Overwhelmed by the goodness of God, he was eager to see the face of the person behind these spectacular deeds. ( During his first encounter with God at Horeb, when God appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush, he was afraid to look at God when he heard God say : “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob.” At this Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3 : 6 ) But since then he had come a long way and experienced the goodness of the God, along the way. ) And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence … There is a place near me where you may stand on the rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen … And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished …” (Ex 33 : 18 – 34 :7 ) – When asked to reveal his face, God revealed his character instead and this self description of God became for the Jews a profound summary of God’s nature. The Old Testament quotes or alludes to this passage more than any other. God doesn’t seem to glory in his splendor and power but he seems to glory in his good nature. We glory in our looks and introduce ourselves to others by our names and by our achievements but God introduced himself to Moses by his character ! Put in the cleft of a rock, Moses heard the description of the goodness of God, as he passed by. That is why Scripture says : ‘He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel : The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love …’ (Psalm 103 : 7 ) ‘And that Rock was Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 10 : 4 ) It is in ‘Christ the Rock’ that we receive this revelation about the goodness of God. ‘In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form …’ ( Colossians 2 : 9 ) So Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” ( John 14 : 9 ) The word ‘euangelion’ which in Greek means ‘good news’, was translated as ‘Gospel’ (Old English : ‘gõd spell’ means ‘good message’ ) It is the goodness of God that makes the message of the Gospel so good to those who hear it. The saints of old had themselves appealed to the goodness of God, in the face of adversity. ‘I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.’ ( Psalm 27 : 13 ) NASB ‘Give me a sign of your goodness that my enemies may see it and be put to shame.’ ( Psalm 86 : 17 ) And we ourselves have chanted the popular refrain : ‘God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good !’ The sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate expression of the goodness of God, where his heart was revealed to mankind when ‘he was pierced for their transgressions and crushed for their iniquities’. ( Isaiah 53 : 5 ) ‘God demonstrated his love for us in this : While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ ( Romans 5 : 8 ) If we ever tend to doubt the goodness of God, the sacrifice on the cross should assure us of his infinite goodness. Amen !
We had earlier considered the three fold ‘Gospel’ (Greek : euangelion which means ‘good news’ ) about a King called Jesus, his glorious Kingdom and his Kingdom’s all surpassing power. But to further understand the meaning of the ‘Gospel’, we need a revelation of the true identity of Jesus because the ‘Gospel’ is primarily about ‘Christ’ (Hebrew : Māšîah which means ‘Anointed’) Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am ?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven.” ( Mt 16 : 15 – 16 )
What then is the revelation that God gave about Jesus ? ‘This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ … And it is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify : the SPIRIT, the WATER and the BLOOD ; and the three are in agreement.’ (1 Jh 5 : 6 – 8 )
Thrice, a voice from heaven thundered, testifying about Jesus. It happened the first time, at his baptism. ‘As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” ( Mt 3: 16 – 17 ) And later while speaking about this incident, John said: ‘I myself did not know him but the reason I came baptising with water was that he might be revealed to Israel … I would not have know him except the one who sent me to baptize said: “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God.’ ( Jn 1 : 31 – 34 ) The ‘WATER’ testifies to his ‘SONSHIP’.
It happened the second time when he spoke of his imminent death to those around him.‘Then a voice came from heaven … The crowd that was there and heard it, said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit and not mine.” ( Jh 12 : 27 – 30 ) And later while recalling the moment of his death, Matthew wrote: When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed ” Surely he was the Son of God.” ( Matthew 27 : 54 ) The ‘BLOOD’ which symbolizes his death, testifies to his ‘CHRISTSHIP’.
And it happened a third time when he transfigured before them and a cloud enveloped them. ‘While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” … Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the son of Man has been raised from the dead. ( Mt 17 : 1 – 5 , 2 Pt 1 : 16 – 18 ) And later while addressing the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed: ‘God has raised Jesus to life … Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear … God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ ( Acts 2: 32- 36 ) The ‘SPIRIT’ testifies to his ‘LORDSHIP’.
‘We accept man’s testimony but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God which he has given about his Son. Anybody who believes has this testimony in his heart.‘ (1 Jh 5 : 6, 9, 10 )
The three fold testimony of God in our hearts about Jesus is that he is Son of God, the Christ and Lord. It is the spoken word of this testimony in our hearts causes us to overcome the devil. ‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY.’ (Revelation 12:11) Man’s testimony won’t revolutionize you but God’s testimony will ! Amen.
Jacob’s encounter with God at Peniel should have marked the end of his wanderings and the beginning of his spiritual journey into God, but it was not ! He had come a long way since he first met God at Bethel, when he fled from home, twenty years ago. But after his transformation into ‘Israel’ ( which was an Old testament shadow of the born again experience ), a new spiritual standard was set by God, that he had to live upto, for the rest of his life ! He reconciled with his estranged brother Esau, ( that story should remind us what is expected from us who have been born again ) and with that his past was effectively put behind him ; so he thought ! He settled in Succoth and there he made a place for himself and shelters for his livestock ( Genesis 33 : 17 ). But Jacob seemed to be oblivious of the vow he made to God at Bethel, twenty years back, when he fled from his brother. “If God will be with me and will watch over me … so that I return safely to my father’s house, … this stone that I set up as a pillar will be God’s house …” ( Genesis 28 : 20 – 22 ) Then trouble began to brew around him ! His daughter Dinah was violated by Shechem the Hivite. In fury, her two brothers, Simeon and Levi, put all the males in the city of Shechem to the sword. Jacob feared an attack by the Canaanites and Perizzites and realized he would be vulnerable, if they join forces against him and attack him (Genesis 34 : 25 – 30). So he decided to leave Succoth immediately. ‘Then God said to Jacob,“Go up to Bethel and settle there and build an altar there to God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” ( Genesis 35 : 1 ) So Jacob said to his household, “Get rid of your foreign gods … and purify yourselves … then come, let us go up to Bethel …” (Genesis 35 : 2 – 3 ) Then they set out and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.’ ( Genesis 35 : 5 ) ‘Then they moved on from Bethel.’ ( Gen 35 : 16 ) But before long, he suffered a heartbreak ! Rachel, the love of his life, died while giving birth to Benjamin and was buried on the way to Ephrath. ( Genesis 35 : 17 – 20 ) ‘Israel moved on again …’ (Genesis 35 : 21 ) Then the unthinkable happened ! ‘While Israel was living in that region he heard of the incest Reuben had committed. ( Genesis 35 : 22 ) Tragedies struck him one after another ! But why were these incidents happening to ‘Israel’, the man transformed by God ? The answer seems to be obvious ! He left Bethel, in violation of God’s command and became vulnerable outside the will of God. Have we wandered from ‘Bethel’, the place of our first consecration ?Have we fallen below the spiritual standard set by the Holy Spirit, that day at ‘Peniel’, when our lives were transformed ? Are we now struggling to make the promise work ? ‘After beginning with the Spirit, are we now trying to attain our GOAL by human effort?’( Galatians 3 : 3 ) Let’s return to Bethel and spare ourselves needless heartbreaks ! The promise is not attained by striving but by yielding to the Holy Spirit, just as we first did, the day we were born again. Amen.
Twenty years had passed by since Jacobhad his first encounter with God at Bethel in a dream, as he was fleeing from his brother (Genesis 28 : 12 – 17 ) and then he had this strange night time encounter with God at Jabbok, on his way back home. He wrestled with God till daybreak and was told, “Your name will no longer be Jacob ( his name in Hebrew meant ‘he grasps the heel’ or figuratively, ‘he deceives’ ) but Israel, because you have struggled with God and men and have overcome.” ( Genesis 32 : 24 – 28 ) Jacob had been scheming all his life to appropriate the blessings of God. He had cheated his brother and deceived his father to inherit the blessing. And in doing so, he had incurred the wrath of his brother and had to flee for his life. But after his first encounter with God, he strived to be an honest person, while working for his Uncle Laban, who cheated him ten times by playing on his love for Rachel. ( Genesis 31 : 38 – 42 ) He ran off with his family and possessions, only to be caught up by Laban with whom he made a treaty at Mizpah. But soon after Jacob made peace with Laban, the news came that his brother Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. In great fear and distress, Jacob prayed to God, but found no comfort. (Genesis 32 : 6 – 12 ) He had once played on the love his brother had for food and cheated him of his birth right. Then when he realized that his father still wanted to bless the elder, he deceived his father and swindled the blessing from his brother. But now his past was soon catching up with him ! He thought of pacifying his brother with gifts and making restitution for his sin. But not assured of forgiveness, he sent his family across the ford of Jabbok and spent the night alone, wrestling with God and emerged as a ‘new man’ at daybreak! Herein you see the travail of a man to become a ‘new creation’. ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ; the old is gone, the new has come! ( 2 Corinthians 5 : 17 ) ( Just as it takes nine months for a woman to conceive and deliver a new born, so also the process of rebirth takes time. ) Speaking of his travails, Paul said, “My dear children, I am again in the pains of Childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” ( Galatians 4 : 19 ) God had planted the incorruptible seed of his word in Jacob’s heart when he was told at Bethel, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ( Genesis 28 : 15 ) Even so, ‘he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Philippians 1 : 6 ) ‘For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1Peter 1 : 23 ) Just as it took twenty years for Jacob to become Israel; to go from ‘Bethel’ ( which means ‘the house of God’ ) to seeing ‘Peniel’ ( which means ‘the face of God’ ), so also every man will go through the process of rebirth, before Christ is formed in them. Amen.
All through the Bible we see many covenants and we ourselves had considered three out of the seven covenants in the Bible, in my earlier posts. Every ‘Covenant’ ( Hebrew : berit means an association with two parties with various responsibilities, benefits and penalties ; ‘to cut a covenant’ means ‘to make a covenant’, a figure of the act of ceremonially cutting an animal into two parts, with an implication of serious consequences for not fulfilling the covenant ) was founded on one or many promises made by one or both parties and their violations demanded punishment. We people in the modern world are more familiar with the term ‘Contract’ and the phrases ‘Terms and conditions’ and ‘Breach of Contract’, where if one party breaches the contract, the other party is absolved from all obligations and has the right to seek compensation from the other, for losses incurred. But unlike a contract, if one of the parties violates the sanctity of a covenant, the other party is still obligated to fulfill his or her part of the promise, whether or not the first party is taken to task. ( Doesn’t that sound like a marriage covenant ? ) Now it makes sense when Scripture says, ‘If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.’ ( 2 Timothy 2 : 13 ) God desired an everlasting relationship with man and he was the one who initiated these covenants with those that he chose, just as he did with Abraham and his descendants, with David and his descendants and now with the Church, the bride of Christ. God had modelled marriage to be a covenant relationship ( But we have made it look like a contract ! ) and that is why he hates divorce. “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, … So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith. ( Malachi 2 : 16 )
As we considered in my earlier post, he is a God of promises by which he woos those he choose, as he did Abraham and cut an everlasting blood covenant with him. Abraham therefore, could depart in peace because he believed that the ‘zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish’ the task of testifying to his descendants, as he himself would not be alive to oversee their adherence to the covenant. It was God’s responsibility to bring Abraham’s descendants to the faith of their forefathers. Now we understand why the Lord appeared to Jacob at Bethel, while he was fleeing from his brother Esau and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Issac … I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ( Genesis 28 : 10 – 15 ) God made all these wonderful promises to Jacob when he didn’t deserve any but because of his covenant with Abraham.
If we have a covenant with God, we can rest assured that God will take care of our children, even after we depart because he is faithful to keep his covenant with our children’s children.
‘From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.’ ( Psalm 103 : 17 – 18 ) Amen.
Unless we receive the indwelling of the Spirit, we cannot claim that we are ‘saved’ because he is the ‘deposit guaranteeing our inheritance’ ( Eph 1 : 13 ) Since it is indwelling of the Holy Spirit that imparts the righteousness by faith in Christ Jesus, how are we justified without him ? ( Gal 5 : 5 ) So it mattered to the Apostles that the people receive the Spirit after having believed. They refuted every ‘teachings of men’ that it was by ‘works’, meaning the law, that we receive this free gift of God. So the Apostle Paul asked the Galatians, “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard ? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believed what you heard ?” ( Gal 3 : 2, 5 ) Let not the Christian Sacraments of Baptism and Communion or Eucharist be the ‘works’ by which we think we receive the Spirit but only by believing the gospel. Amen.
‘Understand then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham, “All nations will be blessed through you.” (Gal 3: 7 – 8 )
All the nations on earth have been blessed to know about a Saviour who is the ‘seed’ of Abraham and now these gentiles who believe are being counted as Abraham’s descendants, implying he fathered them in the spirit. ‘Therefore the promise ( of the Spirit ) comes by faith so that it is by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” ( Ro 4 : 16 – 17 )
We considered the three new testament promises and how they were ‘better’ than the three old testament promises and how they were the fulfillment of the three fundamental promises made to Abraham. In doing so, we considered the three promises on which each of these three covenants (Abrahamic, Mosaic and Messianic ) were based upon. Now let us consider the threefold gospel according to Scriptures :- ‘The beginning of the GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS CHRIST …’ ( Mk 1 : 1 ) “And this ‘GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM’ will be preached in the whole world …” ( Mt 24 : 14 ) ‘I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL, because it is (about ) THE POWER OF GOD for the salvation of everyone who believes …’ (Ro 1 : 16 )
So the gospel is about : 1. A KING 2. His KINGDOM 3. And KINGDOM POWER. For many the gospel ends with Jesus but the good news is also about the Kingdom he established and its power. Speaking of that power, Jesus said : “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing” (Mt 11 : 12 ) and the “gates of Hades will not overcome it.” ( Mt 16 : 18 ) Rejoice ‘for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son …’ ( Col 1 : 13 ) Amen.
The ministry Jesus has received is as superior as the covenant of which he is a mediator is superior and it is founded on better promises.’ ( Hb 8 : 6 )
What were the promises under the old covenant ?
Freedom from slavery in Egypt. ( Ex 3 : 8, 17 )
Land flowing with milk and honey. ( Ex 3 : 8 ) – Though they were free from slavery, they died in the desert because of their sin and rebellion. Only Joshua and Caleb could enter the promised land.
Conditional healing ( Ex 15 : 26 ) – However, the nation of Israel that had the covenant of healing, was filled with sickness, when the Jesus began his ministry. Why ? Because the promise of healing was conditional and many could not appropriate it.
How are the new testament promises better ?
Freedom from the slavery of sin ( Gal 5 : 1 )
Heavenly country ( Hb 11 : 16 )
Unconditional healing. (1Pt 2 : 24 ) – All who touched Jesus and the ones he touched were healed, including his enemies. Why ? Because the Prophet Isaiah predicted that ‘by his wounds all are healed’. ( Isaiah 53 : 5)
Healing is for all of the human race and if this truth is realized, it will be the God given ‘vehicle’ for us to reach the Gentiles with the Gospel. Amen.
We considered two gospel promises on which the new covenant was founded. Firstly, the promise of the Spirit for all who believe and are washed in his blood of Jesus. Secondly, the promise of unconditional healing for all, in the name of Jesus. Now let’s consider the third gospel promise of Spiritual blessings in Christ, which in fact should have been stated second because the order in which it beset man was : sin, curse, sickness and death.
‘When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you … Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his promise very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.’ (Hb 6 : 13 – 17 )
‘The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham : “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are BLESSED ALONG WITH ABRAHAM, the man of faith.’ ( Gal 3 : 8 – 9 ) ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us … He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus …’ ( Gal 3 : 13 – 14 ) ‘Praise be to God….who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ( Eph 1:3 )
The greeting of the angel to the shepherds couldn’t be more appropriate : “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” ( Lk 2 : 10 ) Had we really understood the gospel, there would have been untold joy in our hearts. If the gospel doesn’t change us, nothing will ! May the glorious gospel be revealed to us. Amen.
The first reference to healing in the Bible is in Gen 20 : 17 where we read : ‘Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and slave girls …’ Healing is a covenant blessing and it was through Abraham, that this Gentile received his healing. But prior to God’s covenant with Abram in Gen 12 : 17 – 20, we read that ‘the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai’ but they were not healed though Pharaoh returned Sarai to Abram because the covenant was not cut yet.
However, under the Mosaic covenant that was cut with the Israelites, healing was conditional. “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, (then) I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” ( Ex 15 : 26 ) But while the old covenant was still in effect, Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah and the unconditional ( by which I mean unmerited favour or grace ) healing for all, through his sufferings : ‘He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.’ ( Isa 53 : 5 )
Therefore, it is through us, the Church, with whom he has cut a covenant, that God intends to impart this healing to the world. Jesus sent the twelve with these instructions: “As you go, preach this message: ‘The Kingdom of God is near’. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give !” ( Mt 10 : 8 ) No wonder Scripture says about all believers, “they will place their hands on the sick and they will recover.” ( Mk 16 : 18 ) KJV If healing through Christ has been received by Gentiles, how much more should those who are of the household of God ? The Centurion and the Canaanite woman received the healing they sought, though they were not under the old covenant, because by faith they accessed the new covenant blessing in the Messiah, even before the covenant was cut in his blood! Unconditional ( by which I mean unmerited favour or grace ) healing is a covenant blessing and let us receive it by faith. Amen.
When God Almighty wanted Abram’s attention, he promised this childless nomad more land and children. Unlike politicians who make promises to get the our attention, which they can’t or won’t fulfill, God is able and faithful to fulfill them. Just as God made a covenant with Abram based on those promises, so also has he made a covenant with us in the blood of Jesus upon better promises. More than getting our attention, God’s promises sustain us, when we are down and under, as it did Joseph when he was put in the dungeon, David when driven out into the wilderness and many more. And finally God’s promises are a revelation of his plans and purposes concerning us, as it was revealed to Abram when the Lord said, “… all the people on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen 12 : 3 )
Hold on to your promises today and it will go well with you ‘for no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.’ ( 2Co 1 : 20 )
“And he shall send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” ( Mt 24 : 31 ) You might have noticed that in this passage from Matthew, he only mentions about the gathering of the elect who are dead, from the ends of the heavens and not the gathering of the elect who are living, from the ends of the earth, probably because none of the elect survived the tribulation. The only ones who will be protected during the tribulation and escape from being beheaded are the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel ( Rev 7 : 4 ) because they had the seal of the living God on their foreheads ( Rev 7 : 3 ). They are the first fruits from among the Jews and they will be ‘snatched’ (Greek : Harpazo, the same word used in 1 Thess 4 : 17 to denote Rapture ) upto God (Rev 12 : 5 ) and will be seen with the Lamb ( Rev 14 : 1-3 ) As said earlier, the gathering of the saints who are dead in Christ and those who are still alive and left, at his secret coming in the clouds, will happen at Rapture and they will be with the Lord forever ( 1 Thess 4 : 17). So they are not the ones who need to be gathered again at the second coming of Jesus because they will have been with him during the tribulation and they will be also be with him at his second coming ( Rev 19 : 14, Jude Vs 14 ) But it is the tribulation saints ( both Gentiles and Jews ) who will be beheaded during the tribulation, who needs to be gathered ( not in the heavens but on earth because it will happen after the second coming of Jesus, when he takes his seat on the throne in Jerusalem – Lk 1 : 32, Mt 25 : 31 )
Here then are the references about the elect who will be beheaded :- ‘I saw under the altar souls of those ( mostly Gentiles ) who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.’ ( Rev 6 : 9 ) ‘And I saw … those ( mostly Jews ) who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps .. and sang the song of Moses …’ ( Rev 15 : 2 – 3 )
Here is the reference of these two groups being gathered together :- ‘And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead ( the wicked in Hades ) did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.’ ( Rev 20 : 4 ) ( The wicked people who survive the tribulation, will go into the millennium but from among them and their children, many will be gathered by Satan , at the end of the thousand years, for the final rebellion against God – Rev 20 : 8 – 9)
So coming back to your question: Will all the elect be slain? It is not explicitly said so in the Scriptures but it is implicit . ‘Then I heard a voice from heaven say,” Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” ( Rev 14 : 13 ) But if some of the elect escape from being beheaded and survive the tribulation, they will have to be gathered ( not in the heavens but on earh because it will happen after the second coming of Jesus, when he takes his seat on the throne in Jerusalem ), before the Millennial rule of Christ, provided they never worshipped the image or took the mark of the beast (Rev 14 : 9 – 11 ). Probably that could be the reason why Mark also added :‘from the ends of the earth …’ ( Mk 13 : 27 ). But that reference doesn’t alter the course of events nor support the arguement for a post-trib rapture.
‘Then each of them was given a white robe and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.’ ( Rev 6 : 11 )
The full number of Gentiles have to come in, before Israel will be saved ( Ro 11 : 25 ) and those who didn’t get saved before rapture were saved during the tribulation and that is the number Rev 6 : 11 refers to. Indeed the number of Gentiles who will be saved during the tribulation is know by God and they are the ones being addressed as ‘brethren’. If we go by your assumption that all of them were not slain, shall the same apply to Rev 13 : 15, which says the beast that came up from the earth ‘ caused all who refused to worship the image to be killed’ ? So the ones who escaped earlier in Rev 6 : 11, will now face the inevitable martyrdom or should we assume again that some of them escaped for 1 Thess 4 : 17 to be fulfilled ? If so, when are they going to be raptured? At the second coming of Jesus ? Why go up when Jesus and all the holy ones are coming down ? ( Rev 19 : 11)
All through the Bible we see that when God judged the wicked, the righteous escaped his wrath. Ex : Noah from the Floods, Lot from Sodom, the Hebrews from the plagues in Egypt, Rahab from the fall of Jericho etc and these narratives unequivocally back up this Scripture : ‘For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1Thess 5 : 9 )
But the strongest argument for a pre-trib rapture is the fact that the ‘man of lawlessness’ cannot be revealed unless the person of the Holy Spirit leaves the earth ( 2Thess 2 : 6 ) and the Holy Spirit will not leave without the Bride of Christ going along with Him. ( Just as Eliezer, the servant of Abraham would not return without taking along with him Rebecca as a bride for Issac, the ‘offspring’ of Abraham, so also the Holy Spirit will not return without taking along with him the Church as a bride for Christ, the ‘seed’ of Abraham.) Together they wait for the appointed time ! ‘The Spirit and bride say, “Come!” (Rev 22 : 17 ) Maranatha!
The truth of the matter is, not all are going to be raptured but only those who have the Holy Spirit in them or in other words are born again. ‘Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.’ ( Eph 1 : 13 – 14 ) “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of the water and the Spirit.” ( Jn 3 : 5 )
Unfortunately many Christians are not born again and they will find themselves left behind. Some might abandon their faith whereas many will realize the truth and will take a stand for Jesus and will be saved.
‘When he opened fifth seal, I saw under the altar souls who have been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained … they were told to wait a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.’ ( Rev 6 : 9 – 11 ) ‘After this I looked and there before me was a multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. “Who are they and where did they come from? … These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” ( Rev 7 : 13 -14 ) ‘And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God … They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.’ ( Rev 20:4 ) Both the raptured saints and the tribulation saints will reign with Christ.
Many think that the dispensation of grace ends before the tribulation but it actually ends with the tribulation because multitudes of Gentiles are going to be saved during the first half of the tribulation and thereafter a remnant of the Jews during the second half of the tribulation. In short, the grace for salvation is available until the second coming of Jesus. If it is not for grace, how can these tribulation saints stand for Jesus, even to the point of being beheaded ? ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.’ (Eph 2 : 8)
The context in which Jesus said this parable was Mt 24:3 “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age ?” ‘At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom … The bridegroom was a long time in coming and they all became drowsy and fell asleep…” ( Mt 25 : 1 – 12 ) Just because Jesus used a Jewish custom to predict the state of the Church, in the last days, it doesn’t make the parable exclusively for the Jew. Even if it is, the warning is relevant to both the Jew and the church. “Keep watch because you do not know the day or hour.” ( Vs 13 ) So what difference does it make?
We read about the announcement of the wedding supper in the 19th Chapter of Revelation, towards the close of the 7 years. Why not earlier, soon after Rapture ? ‘Let us rejoice and and give him glory ! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean was given her to wear … Then the angel said to me, “Write : Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” ( Rev 19 : 7 – 10 ) Since both the Raptured saints and the Tribulation saints together make the bride of Christ, the wedding will have to wait until all of the tribulation saints are beheaded. So the wedding supper is not the entire seven years but towards the end of it. Since it happens in heaven, it is definitely not in the Millennium or even at the second coming of Jesus. ( The Raptured saints will have experienced a bodily resurrection, earlier at Rapture but the Tribulation saints will experience a bodily resurrection only after the second coming but before the Millennial rule of Christ. (Rev 20 : 4 ) It shouldn’t surprise us then that the tribulation saints too will be found wearing fine linen at the wedding of the Lamb because John had seen earlier in his vision, these souls in heaven and they were found wearing white robes and holding palm branches even before they experienced a bodily resurrection. ) ‘When the fifth seal was opened, I saw under the altar the souls who were beheaded … Then each of them was given a white robe …’ ( Rev 6 : 9 – 12 ) ‘After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.’ (Rev 7 : 9 ) … These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ( Rev 7 : 14 )
After Abraham was tested on Mount Moriah, the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, … I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore …Your descendants will take possession of the land … and through your seed (meaning Christ ) … all nations on earth will be blessed …” ( Gen 22 :16 – 18 ) ‘ … Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be the HEIR OF THE WORLD, through the righteousness that comes by faith.’ ( Ro 4 : 13 ) How can all this be humanly possible, if it is not for the Spirit of God ?How can Gentiles be reckoned as Abraham’s descendants, if the Holy Spirit doesn’t impart the faith of Abraham to them ?‘This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are HEIRS together with Israel, members together of one body and sharers together in the PROMISE ( of the Spirit ) in Christ Jesus.’ ( Eph 3 : 6 ) He redeemed us inorder that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, so that by faith we might receive the ‘PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT.’ ( Gal 3 : 14 )
The phrase ‘least of my brethren’ refers to the Jewish and Gentile believers because they share a common destiny. “… who are my brothers ? … For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother …” ( Mt 12 :48 – 49 ) ( So the Gentile who believes is included but the Jew who doesn’t believe is excluded according to this verse. Therefore Jesus himself addressed the believer as his brethren.) ‘Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.’ ( Hb 2 : 11 ) ‘For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are descendants are they all Abraham’s children.’ (Ro 9 : 6 – 7 ) ‘A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.’ ( Ro 2 : 28 – 29 ) There are three distinct people groups that God is dealing with and they are the Jews, the Gentiles and the Church which consist of believing Jews and Gentiles. However the proponents of replacement theology doesn’t recognize the Jew anymore and all the promises pertaining to the Jews are misappropriated for the Church. That is anti-semitism!
The only references we have are the following and from these we have to make an inference : “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you …” ( Mt 12 : 11 – 12 ) ‘In his great mercy he has given us new birth … into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept on heaven for you …’ (1Pt 1 : 4 ) These New Testament passages do reveal that there is a reward in heaven but it doesn’t tell us when it will given. But this Old Testament passage does hint of a possible time : “As for you, go your way till the end.You will rest and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” ( Dan 12 : 13 ) So could it be that the Raptured saints will receive their reward in heaven but the Tribulation saints, who will come to life to rule with Christ for a thousand years, will receive their reward on earth, before the Millennial rule of Christ ? It should be or else, how is the reward distinct for those who are faithful now ?
Though God’s call to salvation is Universal ( Acts 17 : 30 ), only those appointed to eternal life will respond to it. ( Acts 13 : 48 ) That is in agreement with what we read in Scripture : “For those God foreknew, he ALSO predestined; those he predestined, he ALSO called; those he called, he ALSO justified; those he justified, he ALSO glorified.’ ( Ro 8:30 ) The word ‘ALSO’ guarantees us that , ‘He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.‘ ( Phil 1 : 6 ) Though all who are saved are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation ( 2Co 5 : 18 – 20 ), God calls some to the fivefold ministry. ‘It was he who gave some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be Evangelists, and some to be Pastors and Teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service. …’ ( Eph 4 : 11, 12 )
‘Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted and they came to him. He appointed the twelve – designating them Apostles’ ( Mark 3 : 13, 14 ) Not that there were no other capable men among those that followed him, ‘But God chose the foolish to shame the wise; the weak shame the strong; the poor to shame the rich so that no one may boast before him.’ (1 Co 1 : 27, 28 ) They heeded to the unmistakable call of Jesus. They left everything to follow him ‘for it was God who worked in them to will and to act according to his good purpose.’ ( Phil 2 : 13 ) Often we wish that Jesus would call us thus and indeed he is calling us by his Holy Spirit. If you have a calling on your life, be certain that the Spirit of the Lord will begin to stir you as he did Samson (Judges 13 : 25 ) It is an unmistakable unction that you feel within, which you know for certain is God. It doesn’t require much knowledge of Scripture to figure it out. If somebody is struggling will it, it is because they are fighting against it. Yield to it and then it becomes the only thing left for you to do. “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20 : 24 ) Amen.
‘For it is time for judgement to begin with the family of God and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God ?’ ( 1Pt 4 : 17 ) ‘For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.’ ( 2Co 5 : 10 ) ‘For we will all stand before God’s judgement seat … each of us will give an account of himself to God.’ (Ro 14 : 10 – 12 )
So believers will have to stand before judgement seat of Christ, but it is not for condemnation, ‘for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live according to the Spirit’ ( Ro 8 : 1 ), but to be judged and rewarded accordingly.
When will this happen ?
God has appointed Jesus as the Judge of the living and the dead ( Acts 10 : 42 ). So there are two groups that needs to be judged. The ‘judgement of the dead’ will happen only after the 1000 year rule of Christ. ‘Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it … And I saw the dead … standing before the throne … The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the book … each person was judged ( not for reward) according to what he had done … If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.’ ( Rev 20 : 12 – 15 ) But the ‘judgement of the living’ will happen before the Millenial rule of Christ, when he takes his seat on his throne together with his Apostles, on the thrones set for them. “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” ( Mt 19 : 28, Lk 22 : 30) ‘I saw thrones on which were seated those who had authority to judge.’ ( Rev 20 : 4 ) The three parables we read in Mathew 25 also gives us an insight into the timeline of events. The ‘parable of the ten Virgins’ended with the door being shut and the foolish virgins being left behind while the virgins who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding banquet, denoting rapture. (Mt 25 : 10 ) Soon after this, Jesus said the ‘parable of the talents’, wherein he spoke about judgement of his servants, the Church. “After a long time the master returned to settle accounts with them”. ( Mt 25 : 19 ) “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” ( Rev 22 : 12 ) “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.” ( Mt 16 : 27 ) All these passages indicate that the saints will be judged and rewarded at the second coming of Jesus. Paul had this blessed hope when he said : ‘Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day – and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’ ( 2 Tim 4 : 8)
After he said the ‘parable of the talents’, Jesus ended his conversation with ‘parable of the sheep and goats’. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations ( meaning all the people in the nations who will survive the tribulation and will be still alive ) will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and goats on his left … Then the King will say to those on his right … whatever you did for one of the least of these ‘brothers of mine’you did for me … Then he will say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me … into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” ( Mt 25:31-41 ) So the remnant of the living, left alive on earth after the tribulation, will be judged according to their works ( Vs 35 – 36 ) and then it will be decided who will go into the Millennium and who will not! “The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will weed out of his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ( Mt 13 : 41 – 42 ) “They will be tormented with burning sulfur … the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” ( Rev 14 : 9 – 11 )
“Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you heard me speak about”. ( Acts 1 : 4)
What was that promise and to whom was it promised ?
‘He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to ABRAHAM might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT.’ ( Gal 3 : 14 )
The promise of the Holy Spirit was made to Abraham and it was and is being fulfilled in the new testament. It is the most fundamental of all gospel promises and it is for all whom the Lord our God will call.
“This PROMISE is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” ( Acts 2 : 39 ) Amen.
When was it promised and why was it promised? ( Read the write up in the Questions and Answers section for a better understanding of the topic. )
The Antichrist will mimic Christ in every possible way, even following the same time line. ‘Jesus was 30 years old when he began his ministry’ ( Lk 3 : 23 ).The first year was the year of his inauguration and the second year was the year of his popularity and the third year was the year of opposition, after which he was killed at the age of 33 & 1/2 years following which ‘he was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead’ ( Ro 1 : 4 ) and was worshipped ( Mt 28 : 17 ) and was given all authority in heaven and on earth. ( Vs 18)
So also when the Antichrist ‘rides out as a conqueror bent on conquest’ (Rev 6 : 2), he will probably be 30 years old and will gain popularity in the years that follow. But after 3 & 1/2 years, he will receive a fatal wound, probably from an assassination attempt, but will be miraculously healed and thereafter will receive great authority and will be worshipped. ‘And I saw a beast coming out of the sea … The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast and they also worshipped the beast …’ ( Rev 13 : 1 – 4 ). ‘Then I saw another beast coming out of the earth … He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived … and cause all who refuse to worship the image will be killed. ( Rev 13 : 11 – 15 )
Just as it was revealed only after 3 & 1/2 years into his ministry, that Jesus was the Messiah ( Mt 16 : 20 ), following his death and resurrection, so also will the man of lawlessness, the man doomed to destruction, the Antichrist be revealed only half way into the tribulation when he claims to be the ‘Messiah’, following his fatal injury and recovery, thus mimicking Christ’s death and resurrection. ‘He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.’ ( 2 Thess 2 : 4 ) “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’. In the middle of the ‘seven’, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” ( Dan 9 : 27 )
‘This is the last hour and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many have come’. ( 1Jn 2 :18 )
Since the ones who came before were forerunners, it would be Scripturally sound to apply those passages pertaining to them to the one to come. Two passages in Daniel, that scholars believe match the description of Antiochus IV of Syria, who was the the Jew’s worst enemy in history until Hitler, does speak prophetically about the coming AntiChrist. “… a master of intrigue will arise. He will become very strong but not by his own power … he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed but not by human power.” ( Dan 8 : 23 – 25 ) “He will invade a kingdom when it’s people feel secure and he will seize it through intrigue … after coming into an agreement … will act deceitfully and with a few people will rise to power… his armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation ( Rev 13 : 14 ). With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the ‘covenant’ but the people who know their God will firmly resist him … he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard of things against the God of gods. ( Rev 13 : 5 – 6 ) He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed for what has been determined has to take place … yet he will come to his end.” ( Dan 11 : 21 – 45 )
Since the AntiChrist is the ‘false Christ’, he will do everything possible to deceive the elect. “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible.” ( Mt 24 : 24 ) So it makes sense for the AntiChrist to make a covenant with the Jews because they will not believe him to be the ‘Messiah’ unless he does.
Since the book of Revelation doesn’t specify that the tribulation lasts 7 years, it is obviously based on the passage in Dan 9 : 27, where it says : “And ‘he’ will confirm the covenant with many for one ‘seven’ and in the midst of the ‘seven’ shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease …” But there exists an ambiguity about who this ‘he’ is ! Some believe ‘he’ refers to the ‘prince of the people’, the Antichrist who too will arise from the territory of the erstwhile but resurgent Roman empire, while others believe that ‘he’ refers to ‘Messiah the Prince’ mentioned in Vs 25. So they interpret that Jesus made a covenant with Israel for one ‘seven’ at the start of his ministry ( though there is no scriptural reference to back this view other than Dan 9 : 27 ) but he was rejected and crucified 3 & 1/2 years later, leaving Israel with just another 3 & 1/2 years, which would be the second half of the seven years, after which they will be restored.
It then makes sense that the Antichrist too will enter into a seven year covenant with Israel at the start of his reign, in a bid to deceive the elect, if that were possible but will violate it midway. In that case both these interpretations seem to be compatible and run parallel to each other without creating a clash in our understanding. So either way the ‘7’ year timeline seems to be consistent.
The only time we come across the word ‘tribulation’ in the Bible is in Rev 7 : 14, when John the Apostle was told by one of the 24 elders : “These are they who came out of the great tribulation…” It is the translation of the Greek word ‘thlipsis’, which means trouble, distress, oppression, tribulation. But there are many other passages that refer to this period of time.
“There will be a time of distress such as not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” ( Dan 12 : 1 ) “For then there shall be great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now – and never to be equaled again.” ( Mt 24 : 21 ) “I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” ( Rev 3 : 10 ) etc.
So the word that is used in the book of Revelation to collectively address this period of time has been translated as ‘tribulation’.
“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches : to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyathira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.” (Rev 1 : 11 )
The cities mentioned were actual cities in the ancient world where a church existed. John listed them in the order in which a messenger on the road would have found them, starting with the chief city of Ephesus and then circling back clockwise. The cities lie in what is now part of modern Turkey. But none of these churches survived the religious wars that took place. However these seven churches represent the universal church throughout the age. Since these churches existed at the same time, it would be irrational to interpret them as different periods of the church age. According to this interpretation, the Church age has been divided into different periods based on Church history. Ephesus upto 170 AD Smyrna upto 312 AD Pergamos upto 606 AD Thyathira upto 1517 AD Sardis upto 1750 AD Philadelphia upto 1900 AD Laodicea upto Rapture. The fallacy of such an interpretation is the notion that we are in the Laodicean period of lukewarmness and therefore there can’t be an endtime revival. Yet the greatest revivals happened after 1900 AD. The Welsh revival in 1904, Asuza street revival in 1906, the healing revivals from 1947, the latter rain movement in 1949, the Charismatic revival in 1959, Jesus movement in 1970, just to mention a few ! Infact the 20th century has witnessed more awakenings and revivals worldwide than in the centuries preceding it.
In addition to this incongruity, some have even gone to the extent of identifying the seven angels of the seven churches, as men through whom these periods of church history were ushered. That is because the Greek word ‘angelos’, which was translated as ‘angels’ or ‘messengers’, could mean either angelic or human messengers or even both. But whom did John see in his vision?“The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand … are the angels of the seven churches …” ( Rev 1 : 20 ) ‘I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given the seven trumpets.’ ( Rev 8 : 2 ) ‘Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues.’ ( Rev 15 : 6 ) So undoubtedly he was speaking about angels ! Just because the letters to the churches were written to the ‘messengers’ of the seven churches, does it mean that the seven stars in the right hand of Jesus were men ? ( William M Branham taught about the seven church ages and identified St Paul, St Irenaeus, St Martin, St Columba, Martin Luther and John Wesley as the six ‘messengers’ that preceded him and declared himself to be the seventh and last messenger to the Laodicean church. No wonder the ministry he founded eventually became a Christian cult! )
What then is the central message in all these letters to the churches ? A searching of the hearts by the ‘one who stood among the seven golden lampstands’, revealed the state of the churches, which otherwise is the state of believers themselves : Ephesus the ‘loveless’ church, Smyrna the ‘suffering’ church, Pergamos the ‘worldly’ church , Thyathira the ‘adulterous’ church, Sardis the ‘hypocritical’ church, Philadelphia the ‘faithful’ church and Laodicea the ‘complacent’ church. The call to repentance rings through the letters and five out of the seven churches were admonished to repent. But it was to the ‘faithful’ believer that Jesus promised : “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.” (Rev 3 : 8 – 11 ) So whatever be the period we are in or whichever be the church that we attend, what matters is our obedience, if we want to ‘escape all that is about to happen and be able to stand before the son of man.’ ( Lk 21 : 36 ) Amen.
Vs 24 – “Seventy ‘sevens’ (Hebrew : ‘shabua‘ means ‘week’ or ‘seven’ ) are decreed for your people (Israel ) and your Holy city (Jerusalem ) to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy.”
In this passage ‘shabua‘ doesn’t mean ‘seven’ days or a ‘week’ but ‘seven’ years, as understood from Dan 12 : 7 where it states: “It will be for a time, times and half a time ( meaning a year, two years and half a year ), when the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things are completed.” So if half of a ‘shabua’ adds upto 3 & 1/2 years, then one ‘shabua’ is 7 years and seventy ‘shabuas’ are ( 70 × 7 ) 490 years.
Vs 25 – Know and understand this : From the issuing of the degree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed one comes there will be seven ‘sevens’ (49 years) and sixty two ‘sevens’ ( 434 years ). A total of 483 years.
There were three decrees that were issued for the restoration of the temple and the city :-
1. The Babylonian invasion took place in 586 BC. After the 70 years of exile (counted from the time Jehoiakim was taken as a captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 608 BC), prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 29 : 10 ), was fulfilled (Dan 9 : 2 ), ‘the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, to make a decree, during the first year of his reign ( 538 BC ), to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through the prophet Jeremiah.’ ( Ezra 1 : 1 – 4 ) The first group of exiles returned under the leadership of Zerrubbabel and they began to rebuild the temple but before long the work was hindered until second year of the reign of Darius, King of Persia. ( Ezra 4 : 5, 24 )
2. The second decree was issued by Darius during the second year of his reign when he confirmed the decree made by Cyrus. ( Ezra 6 : 3, 12 ) So the temple was completed during the sixth year of his reign ( Ezra 6 : 15 ) but the wall and streets of the city were not restored. After this a second group of exiles returned under the leadership of Ezra in 458 BC, who had received a letter from Artaxerxes, King of Persia, during the seventh year of his reign ( Ezra 7 : 8 – 26 ) but there is no mention about any rebuilding in the succeeding chapters of Ezra.
3. The third decree was issued by Artaxerxes in the twentieth year of his reign when the last group of exiles returned under the leadership of Nehemiah in (445 BC ? ). He had sought the permission to go to city of Judah and rebuild it ( Neh 2 : 5 ) because he was told: “The wall of Jerusalem remains broken down and its gates burnt with fire. ( Neh 1 : 3 )
“The street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublous times.” ( KJV ) This prophecy was partially fulfilled when Nehemiah completed the wall in 52 days ( Neh 6 : 15 ) but the restoration of the city and its streets were far from over. Once the city wall was built, it was possible to restore the city within, without fearing the hostile enemies outside.
Vs 26 – “After the sixty two ‘sevens’ ( 434 years after restoration ), the Anointed one ( Messiah ) will be cut off but not for himself” (meaning for the sin of others). This was fulfilled in 30 AD when Jesus was crucified for the ‘sins of the world.’ ( Jh 1 : 29, 1Jh 2:2) “Then the people of the ruler (Romans) who will come will destroy the city and the Sanctuary.” This was fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the city and set fire to the temple as prophesied by Jesus . ( Mt 24 : 1 – 2 ) What Jesus spoke of as the ‘birth pains’ ( Mt 24 : 8 ) are summed up by Daniel in these words : “The end will come like a flood. War will continue till the end and desolations have been decreed.”
Vs 27 – “He ( referring to ‘the ruler of the people’, which is another term for the Anti-Christ who will come out of the resurgent Roman empire) will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’ (70th ‘seven’ ). In the middle of the ‘seven’ ( 3 & 1/2 years into the tribulation ) he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And in the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation ( Mt 24:15) until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” ( Rev 16:10 ) Amen.
Rev 1 : Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. Rev 2 – 3 : ‘Seven Churches’ represent the entire Church age – ‘Seven messengers’ with a message from him who stood among the ‘seven golden lampstands’.
( Two events that will take place before the Tribulation begins ) :- 👉🏻 Rev 4 : John saw a door standing open in heaven (Mt 25 : 10 – 11 ) and heard a voice say, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this(Church age ).” He saw a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. Surrounding the throne were twenty – four other thrones and seated on them were twenty – four ‘elders’ (Greek : presbyteros – elder of a Jewish community ). Who are they ? ‘Raptured’ (Greek : harpazo – to catch, steal or carry off – 1 Thess 4 : 15 – 17 ) saints ? 👉🏻 Rev 5 : The Lamb was found worthy to take the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne and open the scroll and its seven seals. Jesus glorified in the presence of the saints (Dan 7 : 14, Jh 17 : 5, 24 )
Rev 6 : The ‘seven seals’ were opened and the inhabitants of the earth were judged.
( Two events between 6th and 7th seal ) :- 👉🏻 Rev 7 : 144,000 from the tribes of Israel were sealed. (Ro 9 : 27, 11 : 5 ) 👉🏻 A great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, language – ‘the full number of Gentiles has come in’( Ro 11 : 25 ) – These are they who have come out of the great tribulation.
Rev 8 – 9 : 7th seal was broken and the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. The inhabitants of the earth and their ‘gods’ (fallen angels ) were judged – a third of everything was destroyed.
( Two events between the 6th and 7th trumpets. ) :- 👉🏻 Rev 10 : A mighty Angel with a scroll in his hand was standing on the sea and the land and swore by him who was seated on the throne that the mystery of God will be accomplished when the 7th Angel blows his trumpet. 👉🏻 Rev 11 : 1 – 6 Temple was measured but the outer court was excluded – given to the Gentiles. They will trample the holy city for 42 months.Two witnesses prophesy for 1260 days.
[ Events during the 1260 days that are revealed in Rev 12,13 ,14, should be read in between Rev 11 : 6 and Rev 11 : 7 :- 👉🏻 Rev 12 : A woman ( Jewish Church ) was about to give birth and the dragon stood in front to devour her child the moment it was born – child was ‘snatched’( Greek : harpazo ) upto God – There was war in heaven – The great dragon , that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. 👉🏻 Rev 13 : Rise of the Antichrist ( Beast out of the Sea ) and the false prophet (Beast out of the Earth ) – ordered that the image of the first beast be set up in the temple ( Dan 9 : 27, Mt 24 :15 -16 ) – all who refuse to worship the image to be killed – forced everone to receive the mark of the beast. 👉🏻 Rev 14 : John saw the Lamb and with him the 144,000 who did not defile themselves with women. When did the 144,000 reach heaven? The male child who was ‘snatched’ ( Rev 12 : 5 ) ? – Three angels flying in midair – proclaimed the eternal gospel and warned the rest of the mankind against worshiping the image of the beast or receiving the mark of his name. ]
Rev 11 : 7 – 14 The two witnesses finished their testimony and they were killed by the beast that came up from the Abyss – their bodies lay in the street of Jerusalem but after three and a half days, they came back to life and ascended into heaven. Rev 11 : 15 -19 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven, which said :“The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ … ” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened.
Rev 15 : Seven Angels with seven bowls of wrath came out of the temple in heaven. Rev 16 : Seven bowls of God’s wrath was poured out on the earth and the kingdom of the beast was judged.
( Two events that John was shown after the bowls of God’s wrath ) :- 👉🏻 Rev 17 : John was shown a Woman ( false Church ) riding on the beast (Antichrist ) – the woman is the great city on seven hills – Babylon 👉🏻 Rev 18 : John was shown the fall of Babylon – never to rise again – in one hour her doom has come !
( Two events between the 6th and 7th bowl that are revealed in Rev 19 should be read in between Rev 16 : 14 and Rev 16 : 17 :- 👉🏻 Rev 16 : 15 / Rev 19 : 1 – 10 Stay awake and keep your clothes / The wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready – fine linen was given her to wear. 👉🏻 Rev 16 : 16 / Rev 19 :11 – 21 The kings of the earth and their armies were gathered together at Armageddon / to make war against the rider on the white horse and his army – the beast ( Antichrist) and the false prophet were captured and were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Rest of them were killed by the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse – flesh will rot while standing on their feet ( Zech 14 : 12 – 13 ) – birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
[ Rev 16 : 17 Seventh Angel poured out his bowl into the air – out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying, “It is done !” Then there was a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake that the great city split into three and the cities of the nations collapsed, every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.]
Rev 20 : Satan was bound for a 1000 years – the tribulation saints were resurrected ( first resurrection ) – Judgement of the living – Millennial rule of Christ began – At the end of 1000 years, Satan was released from prison – gathered the nations for the final rebellion – Satan was thrown into the lake of fire – Great white throne – second resurrection – Judgement of the dead – those whose names were not found in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire ( second death). Rev 21 : John saw the new heaven and new earth. He saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven. Rev 22 : John was shown the River of the water of life – Final exhortation to keep the words of this book. Amen.
‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.’ ( Rev 12 : 11 ) God who knows the end from beginning, has declared the Church victorious over its arch enemy the devil. It definitely didn’t look like that to John who ‘was on the island Patmos because of the ‘word of God’ and the ‘testimony of Jesus.’ ( Rev 1 : 9 ) and it certainly doesn’t look like that to us either. But ‘the Revelation of Jesus Christ … to show his servants what must soon take place’, was intended to encourage the Church, because we get to know the outcome of the battle, even before it is over ! Everytime the nation of Israel went out to war in obedience to the word from God, they were invariably foretold the outcome of the war. “This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s … You will not have to fight this battle. Take your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem.” ( 2 Chron 20 : 15 – 17 ) So what they were supposed to do was to put on the armour and take their positions . ‘Therefore put on the full armour of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then …’ (Eph 6 : 13 – 14 ) Faith in the ‘blood of the lamb’ is the shield with which we can ‘extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’ and the spoken ‘word of the testimony’ in our hearts about Christ is the ‘sword of the Spirit’ with which we can strike terror in the hearts of the enemy. The Church is the only army on earth that is armed to fight the invisible realm and let us learn to wield our weapons. Let’s not forget that those who are in the frontiers of this fight against this pandemic are but human and they are already overwhelmed, trying to contain it in the physical. So let the Church battle it out in the spiritual, since ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.’ ( Ro 8 : 37 ) Amen.
‘Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of :- 1. Repentance … 2. Faith in God 3. Baptisms 4. Laying on of hands 5. Resurrection of the dead 6. Eternal judgement And God permitting, we will do so.’ ( Hb 6 : 1 – 3 ) ‘Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about :- 7. Righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish between good and evil.’ (Hb 5:13-14)
👉🏻 So what is this teaching about righteousness ? ‘For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last …’ ( Ro 1 : 17 ) ‘This righteousness from God, comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.’ ( Ro 3 : 22 ) Having believed in Jesus, we have been credited with his righteousness, just as ‘Abram believed the LORD and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ ( Gen 15 : 6 ) Since we have been declared righteous by faith, God requires that we work out this righteousness in all aspects of our life.
👉🏻 What then were the works that God required from Abraham, after he was declared righteous? “For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is ‘right and just’, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” ( Gen 18 : 19 ) Likewise, it is required of us, who have been justified by faith, to do what is ‘right and just’; to do for others what God did for us. “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured … This is then how my heavenly father will treat each one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” ( Mt 18 : 33-35 ) In this parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus exposed the double standards among believers who have not been acquainted with the ‘teaching about righteousness.’ Forgiving others who have wronged us is not a matter of our choice but a command ! ‘Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’ ( Col 3 : 13, Eph 4 : 32 ) The impetus is therefore on the believer to forgive .
👉🏻 However the matter doesn’t end there because there are two ways to it ! Just as we forgave others who wronged us, we ought to be forgiven by those whom we might have wronged. Again the impetus is on the believer to reconcile; to return what might have been stolen or to make restitution if someone might have been cheated. “Zacchaeus stood up and said … Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today Salvation has come to this house …” because Zacchaeus proved his faith by works. (Lk 19 : 8 – 9 ) ‘Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ( James 2 : 17 ) So did Jacob prove his faith when he reconciled with his brother Esau and made restitution. In fact the restitution paved way for the reconciliation ! Many believers would forgive the wrongs of others but would not seek forgiveness for their own wrongs because their ego forbids it. They would rather give to charity than make a restitution, thinking that would suffice. But Zacchaeus did both! “I have NOT found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore what you have received and heard; obey it and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know what time I come to you.” ( Rev 3 : 2 – 3 ) Amen.
God’s covenant with Abraham was founded on the seven promises stated in Gen 12 : 1 – 3. Of the many promises, the first promise was about a land that God later showed him ( Gen 13 : 14 -17 ) and even marked out the boundaries for him. ‘On that day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land from the river of Egypt (Wadi) to the great river, the Euphrates.” (Gen 15 : 18) “I will confirm my covenant between you and me … the whole land of Cannan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you … My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.” (Gen 17 : 2, 8, 13 ) And then when God confirmed his covenant with Abraham, he swore by himself saying : 1) “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. 2) Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 3) and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed , because you obeyed me.” (Gen 22 : 17 – 18 ) When the time came to possess the land, under the leadership of Joshua, the Lord marked out the borders of the promised land : “Your territory will extend from the desert ( Negev ) to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates to the Great Sea (Mediterranean ) in the west.” ( Joshua 1: 4 )
God’s covenant with Abraham is an everlasting covenantwhile the Mosaic covenant with the children of Israel was ‘until the Seed to whom the promise referred to had come’ ( Gal 3 : 16 – 19). So the ‘written code with its regulations stands cancelled’ ( Col 2 : 14 ) but the Abrahamic covenant still stands. Just as ‘the law introduced 430 years later, did not set aside the covenant previously established by God’ ( Gal 3 : 17 ), the new covenant in the blood of Jesus did not ‘do away with the promise’ made to Abraham.
In fact the gospel is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham. When ‘those who believe are children of Abraham’ (Gal 3 : 7 ) and are ‘blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith’ ( Gal 3 : 9 ), God’s promise to Abraham to give him ‘descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as sand on the seashore’ is being fulfilled among the Jews as well as the Gentiles.
And when ‘this gospel of the Kingdom is preached in the whole world’ ( Mt 24 :14 ), God’s promise to Abraham that ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you‘ ( Gen 12 : 3 ) is being fulfilled. Yet one promise remains unfulfilled and it concerns the land! It was once fulfilled during the reign of Solomon, the son of David : ‘Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River ( Euphrates ) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.’ ( 1 Ki 4 : 21 ) It will once again be fulfilled during the Millennial reign of Christ, when he sits on the ‘throne of his father David’ ( Lk 1 : 32 ). Until then, there will be claims by the Jews and counterclaims by the Arabs but it will be settled in favour of Abraham, with whom God had cut a covenant and confirmed it with an oath ( Hb 6 :13 – 17 ), and also had confirmed it with Issac ( Gen 26 : 3 ) and with Jacob ( Gen 35 : 12 ), thus fulfilling the promise :“Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies.” ( Gen 22 : 17)
“In those days and at that time ( Millennium ), when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgement against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land … Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy ; never again will foreigners invade her.” ( Joel 3 : 1 – 2, 17 ) Amen.
Why is it that exhortation unites us while teaching divides us ? But teaching cannot be done away with because it lays the foundation of our faith. Exhortation has to do with the ‘goodness of God’ and we are not double minded about it. Whereas teaching has to do with the ‘standard of God’ but we have double standards ! If there is only one Teacher and a single teaching, how did we end up so divided ? The strategy of the enemy has been to introduce as many teachers and teachings to divide us and rule over us. So we have the ‘teachings of men’ ( Mt 15 : 9 ) and the ‘teachings of demons’ ( 1Tim 4 : 1 ) apart from the true ‘teaching of Christ’. ( Jn 8 : 31)
Jesus said to his disciples : “Be on your guard against the … teachings of the Pharisees and Saducees.” (Mt 16 : 12 ) “They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” ( Mt 15 : 9 ) Paul the Apostle warned the Church at Ephesus : ‘Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard.’ ( Acts 21 : 30 )
‘The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings will come through hypocritical liars …’ ( 1Ti 4 : 1- 2 ) ‘For a time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine … they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.’ ( 2 Tim 4 : 3 ) So we read in the book of Revelation : ‘You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam’ (Rev 2:14) … ‘you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans’ (Rev 2:15) … ‘you tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants …’ (Rev 2 : 20) If such teachings plagued the early Church, how much more would it have infested the Church of this age ?
Jesus said to the crowds and his disciples: “You have one Teacher, the Christ.” ( Mt 23 : 10 ) “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.” ( Jn 7 : 16 ) “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” ( Jn 8 : 31 ) “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” ( Jn 14 : 23 ) “It is written in the Prophets : They will be taught by God.” ( Jn 6 : 45, Isaiah 54 : 13 )
‘As for you, the Anointing you have received… teaches you about all things … just as it has taught you, remain in Him.’ ( 1 Jn 2 : 27 ) Amen.
‘Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, … that day will not come unless the ‘rebellion’ ( Greek : Apostasia means turning away or rebellion ) occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed … For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work but the one who holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed …’ ( 2 Thess 2:1-8)
The ‘secret power of lawlessness’, which is already at work, is setting the stage for the ‘man of lawlessness’ to come onto the scene, as soon as the Holy Spirit moves out of the way and leaves with the ‘raptured saints’. This pervasive power seeks to plunge the world into a state of lawlessness and anarchy, even before the ‘lawless one’ could be revealed because that would be the setting in which the Antichrist will come on to the world stage and usurp all authority. There are already uprisings against all forms of elected Governments, Civic authorities and Institutions. (‘Antifa’ calls for the abolition of the Constitution and thereby doing away with the ‘rule of law’ and the need for law enforcement agencies like the Judiciary and the Police. The organization doesn’t have a visible leadership but its cadres are bound together by this ideology of human freedom from the ‘rule of law’ and there is a display a brotherhood among those who have identified with them. This ideology seems to won the hearts of a godless and perverse generation who wish to live as they want. They add teeth to protests organized by others groups by infiltrating and perpetrating acts of arson and violence. The BLM movement is currently being used by ‘Antifa’ to push forward their agenda and we now hear the BLM leaders calling for the abolition of the Police department. Those who have converged on the streets of the world, demanding equality and justice, are trying to overturn the foundations of ‘righteousness and justice’ laid down in the Constitution and yet expect to live in ‘peace and safety’. If these activists who protest against racism around the world, are still Antisemitic, then they are being racist as well and that exposes the deceitfulness of this movement, for it is not really about equality and justice but a revolt against the ‘rule of law’ and in essence, against the ‘law of God’. ) ‘When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do or what is the Righteous one doing ?’ (Ps 11 : 3 ) ‘While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly as labour pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape.’ ( 1 Thess 5 : 3 ) The disciples asked Jesus,“When will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “… At that time many will turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other … Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold …” ( Mt 24 : 10, 12 ) “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” ( Lk 18 : 8 )
This rebellion being fomented by satanic forces against human government instituted by God, is unwittingly being led by corrupt men and who will inadvertently make way for the tyrannical rule of Satan, through his man, the Antichrist. He will come on to the world stage with his solution for world peace by abolishing all that divides humanity i.e. color, caste and creed. He will be seen as a true champion of human freedom until he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God ( 2 Thess 2 : 4 ) and will cause all who refuse to worship the image to be killed and will force everyone to receive the mark ( Rev 13 : 15 – 16 ). Even after the Millennial rule of Christ, when Satan will be released from his prison, he will go out to deceive the nations and gather them for the final rebellion against God and the sheer number of rebels who will resent the righteous rule of Christ will surprise us ! ‘In numbers they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people.’ ( Rev 20 : 8-9 )
As more people are being misled to join this revolution, let the Church of this age heed to the counsel given by Paul to the early Church : ‘Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authorities is rebelling against what God has Instituted and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.’ ( Ro 13 : 1-2 ) “When you hear about wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first… when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near.” ( Lk 21 : 9, 31 ) Amen.
World will be in a state of turmoil. ( Mt 24 : 6 -7, Lk 21 : 9, Dan 9 : 26 )
There will be signs in the heavens and on earth. (Lk 21 :11, 25 – 26, Joel 2 : 30 -31 )
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. ( Rev 22 : 20 – 21 )
Site Title : Teaching of Christ 