Month: February 2020

A vibrant prayer life is essential if you would be great in the kingdom of God. It is job #1 for all disciples of Jesus. Most of us pray to God the Father for only a few minutes a day at best and that is usually at bedtime when we’re dead tired.  I’m guilty of this too so when I discuss this topic I’m also exhorting myself to be better in my prayer life. However, I have started talking to God more during the day, without formality, and in more of a conversational tone.  We all need to grow our prayer life bit by bit and let it evolve into the powerful force it can be in our lives. Prayer is a precious gift of God to us, His beloved creation, and we sin by not fully utilizing what God has graciously given us.  Let’s face it, most of us are praying only a small fraction of the time we should be praying (less than 10%). Not praying enough will be the #1 regret of those going to heaven, along with not witnessing enough for Christ.

Hebrews 4:16 – Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:19-20 – Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.

We were made by God to seek His face and prayer is the mechanism God has chosen for us to speak directly to Him. God speaks to us through nature and His Word. Scripture confirms we are God’s children, He loves us, and He wants to hear from us about anything, everything, all day long.  That’s why God has given us 24/7 access to the throne of grace. It is impossible to pray too much. You cannot bore God or get on His nerves. God has infinite patience, kindness and gentleness toward us.  We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Remember that God sent His Son Jesus to redeem us from our sins so that we could have restored fellowship with God. Restored fellowship with God means renewed communication with Him through prayer.  Look at it like this, Jesus died on the cross so that God can now hear our prayers due to our restored fellowship with the Father.  If Jesus died so that we might have a restored prayer life we’d better use it to the maximum.

James 4:2 – You do not have because you do not ask.

1 John 3:22 – And whatever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

1 John 5:15 – And if we know that He hears us- whatever we ask- we know that we have what we ask of Him.

The whole intent of this two-part blog on Revelation is to reveal the prophetic message of hope contained in the following verse of Scripture:

Revelation 2:10 – Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.

The book of Revelation is prophetic because it’s about the conditions of the world in the end times, which many of us consider to be right now. I know I do. In Revelation 2:10 God is warning the Christians of our time what is coming and how to handle it.  The church will have already been raptured but many of those left on earth will turn to God and be saved.  It is those Christians left behind who Satan will persecute unto death.  Let’s break it down and evaluate what it says. During the coming tribulation Christians are going to suffer “things” which means death but may also include other hardships such as thirst, hunger, beatings and torture. God tells us not to fear what is coming because we are His possession.

God tells us that Satan is ultimately be behind the imprisonment of Christians for a period of ten days during which we will have tribulation and be tested,  which is another way of saying we’ll be tortured. The whole point of Christian incarceration is to get them to renounce their faith in Jesus and take the mark of the beast.  Those Christians that cannot be broken will be beheaded publicly. God tells us if we bear up and remain faithful unto death He will give us a crown of life in heaven.  These are the tribulation saints the Bible mentions as crying out to the Lord to punish the nations for their murder.  The conditions in Revelation 2:10, are predicted to happen and Scripture always comes to pass because God cannot lie. It’s clear those conditions have never occurred in the past nor are they happening right now.

Obviously the events can only happen at some future date and since we’re in the book of Revelation that future date is in the end times.  To narrow it down further, mentioning the word tribulation in the verse ties it to that seven year period known as the tribulation which covers the last seven years of human history.  It is my heartfelt desire that when these evil times do come the people left on the earth after the church has been raptured will turn to God and latch onto the lifeline contained in Revelation 2:10, as they are hunted, tortured and killed for their faith in God. The Holy Spirit will be there to give the saints the faith needed to overcome those evil times.

Most of the books of the Bible you can read and literally accept as written without any hidden meaning. That’s not the case with the book of Revelation written by the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos around 95 AD. Jesus appeared in His glory to John and instructed him to write to the seven churches in Asia and record the visions he received about the end times.  This Revelation of Jesus Christ contains metaphors, symbolism and allegories that obscure and hide the meaning from the casual observer yet reveals the truth of God’s Word to the believer when the time is ripe for that revelation to be revealed. For 2,000 years people have argued what the book of Revelation actually means and everybody has their opinion. I have my own thoughts on Revelation too.

80% of my blogs are a repeat of things Christian scholars have written about that I also believe and report as my own with my personal commentary making up the other 20%. What I’m going to say now is all mine. Revelation was written while the center of Christianity was in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and the most prominent churches were in the seven cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Laodicea and Philadelphia.  It makes sense any letters from God to Christians would be addressed to those centers of Christianity. However, God knew those cities would eventually disappear from the faith so the intended audience for those letters was the Christian faithful worldwide in the end times which is right now. The revealed meaning of Revelation was meant for our time for those who seek the truth.

Think of the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation as God’s seven commandments to Christians living in our day. Nothing in Scripture is ever out of date so if there were letters to the seven churches and those churches no longer exist then God’s message has to be intended for all Christians wherever they are.  And since the letters are in the book about the end times we know they also apply to us Christians here at the end of time. I will briefly list what I think God is commanding us to do in each of the seven letters, in no particular order:

1. Live a pure life and do God’s work until Jesus comes again.
2. Watch for the second coming of Jesus.
3. Be passionate about Jesus until the second coming.
4. Persevere in your faith until Jesus comes again.
5. If you worship false gods, repent, and worship the true God while there is still time.
6. If your fellowship with God is broken, renew it through repentance and return to the Lord your God.
7. Be faithful to God until the end and though you lose your life a crown of life awaits you in heaven.

As of today I’ve published 177 blogs since 12-12-2019. I knew the point would come when I couldn’t remember what I’ve posted. I had to review what I’ve previously done. When I publish something from my files I usually make a notation as to the date published but I don’t see anything on my Apostle files. I want to discuss how the Apostles died. I feel like I’ve blogged about this already but I can’t find it so bear with me as I go over it, possibly for the second time. I just find it fascinating.  Here we have twelve disciples of Jesus and their leader had been put on trial, convicted and then crucified on the cross. They are fearful, possibly disillusioned, and they have all scattered out of fear the authorities will kill them too (except John). When Jesus was dying on the cross only John and the women followers of Jesus were there. There was no way these weak-kneed men were going to spread the gospel throughout the world!

Then a funny thing happened. Their Lord Jesus appeared to them after He was crucified, died and was buried. Then they recalled Jesus had said He would be killed and rise from the dead three days later. Everything became clear to them that their Jesus was God. That was reinforced when Jesus was talking in their midst and suddenly started rising from the ground and disappeared into the clouds.  If I saw those two things happen with my own eyes I would have done what they did.  When the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost the Apostles had all they needed to boldly proclaim the truth to all the world.  They had certain knowledge of God , the Scriptures and the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing else was needed. The fact that every single Apostle willingly suffered and all but one was martyred based on their eyewitness accounts of the glory of God is a powerful testimony in itself for believing in our faith.

I personally got the same feeling about the conversion of the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.  You don’t go from being the worst enemy of Christianity to its greatest advocate over the course of three days on your own.  It’s not human nature.  The only logical answer is Paul came face to face with Jesus just as the Scripture said.  At some point, the truth hits everyone who believes and we understand that we are free from the fear and sting of death.  We are immortal beings who received our eternal spirits from God at conception.  God’s plan is for us to spend that eternity in heaven with Him  but it’s our free will choice.  If we don’t choose God we’ll wind up spending eternity in hell instead where we’ll be tormented 24/7.

1. Matthew – While preaching in Ethiopia Matthew was run through with a sword.
2. Mark – While not an Apostle, the disciple Mark did preach the gospel. Mark was drug through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt until he was dead.
3. Luke – Luke was also a disciple and not an Apostle. Luke also preached the gospel and was hanged in Greece because of his preaching.
4. Peter – Peter was martyred in Rome by the Emperor Nero. Peter was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross because he said he wasn’t worthy to die like Jesus.
5. James the lesser – James was a leader of the church in Jerusalem. When he refused to deny his faith James was thrown down from the top of the Temple pinnacle (100 ft.). When James survived the fall his tormentors beat him to death with a club.
6. James the greater – James was beheaded in Jerusalem by the Romans.
7. Bartholemew (Nathaniel) – Bartholemew was martyred in Armenia (present day Turkey) for preaching. He was flayed to death with a whip.
8. Andrew – After being whipped, Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras, Greece.
9. Thomas – Thomas was stabbed to death with a spear while preaching in India.
10. Jude (Thaddeus)- When Jude refused to renounce his faith he was killed with arrows.
11. Matthias – Matthias was stoned and then beheaded.
12. Paul – The Apostle Paul was beheaded in Rome on the order of the Emperor Nero.
13. John – John was the only Apostle to live to old age and die peacefully. John did survive an attempt to boil him alive and he was sentenced to the prison mines on the Island of Patmos. John was later freed and went to Edessa in modern Turkey.  

* Judas Iscariot – Judas was one of the original disciples before he Jesus to the authorities for thirty pieces of Silver.  Afterward,  Judas went and hanged himself.

Brief summary of Matthew:

God is loving, kind, just, forgiving, and longsuffering.
God is all powerful, all knowing and God is everywhere.

God made the heavens, the earth, man and everything in our world. God established physical and spiritual laws to govern His creation. Man was created to serve God and have fellowship with Him as sons and daughters for eternity in heaven. A physical life on earth was to be a time of testing to determine if man chose God and heaven or Satan and hell.  God and His fallen creature, Satan, have been in a struggle for earth and man since their creation. God gave the earth to Adam and Satan stole it. Sin, death and corruption entered the world. God sent His Son Jesus to defeat Satan and the sin, death and corruption of the earth through Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection in order to regain control of creation.

Man was then restored to fellowship with God and eternal life without sin by the grace of God through acceptance of God and His Christ, repentance of sin and living for Jesus. God has provided an owner’s manual, the Word of God, the Holy Bible, to guide us in our walk with God on this earth.  God’s Holy Spirit is also placed in us to guide us and help us. We are called to emulate Jesus Christ in all we say and do. We are called to be a shining example of God and to do good works, We are to be a witness to the truth of the gospel of Christ for the salvation of all non-believers through belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.  May God make His face shine upon you!

Epilogue:
We all know the story of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus ate his last meal with His disciples, the Lord’s Supper, where He described to them the new covenant going forward due to His blood being shed on the cross for them. After going to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray Jesus was arrested, tried in secret and sentenced to die.  Jesus was taken before the Roman governor, Pilate, because only the Romans could execute someone. Pilate confirmed the sentence and at 9:00 am on Passover Jesus was nailed to the cross and at 3:00 PM Jesus died. Jesus was buried before sundown according to Jewish custom and He rose from the dead three days later.

Temple sacrifices were at 3:00 PM sharp. Jesus died at that exact time because on that day Jesus was the sacrifice for us all, the only sacrifice that would ever be needed for the forgiveness of sins for all men past, present and future. God signified that by ripping the veil in front of the Holy of Holies where the ark was kept and where God’s presence was.  This curtain was sixty feet tall, thirty feet wide and an inch thick and very heavy. Only God could rip it down its entire length. No longer would only one man once a year be allowed in God’s presence. Through Jesus each person now has unfettered access to God 24/7 and our bodies have become God’s temple. Animal sacrifices are no longer necessary to cover sins that have been forgiven once and for all by the death of Jesus.

Crucifixion was such a terrible way to die the Romans outlawed it shortly after the death of Jesus. Victims were normally left on the cross to rot. Eventually the remains were thrown on the garbage dump for the dogs, carrion and insects to finish off.  God intervened to make sure Jesus was removed from the cross shortly after his death by a rich disciple named Joseph of Arimathea who then prepared Jesus for burial and entombed him in a new rock tomb before sundown as was the Jewish custom.  Because of Jesus dying on the cross for us God made a promise to forgive our sins if we believe in Jesus and and ask for forgiveness. God cannot lie nor can He break a promise. Think of it! We now have our fellowship restored with God and can enjoy eternal life in heaven with the Father all because Jesus died in our place. Jesus paid our sin debt. That’s why we call Jesus Lord. That’s why we call Jesus Savior.

The second promise God made because of Jesus’ death was to write His laws on our hearts with His Holy Spirit so we could be faithful and have access to God in prayer. Think of it! In Old Testament times only kings, prophets or priests could talk with God. God now says all people have access to Him through the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross.  Our sins have been forgiven and when God looks at us He sees only the righteousness of His beloved Son which Jesus bestowed upon us when he took our sins away. Jesus got our sin and we got His righteousness. We didn’t deserve it but God loved us that much. The mercy and grace of our God is unfathomable.

More parables:

1. The lost sheep – A shepherd missing one lamb from his flock will go in search of it.

2. Unforgiving servant – A servant who owed the king a large sum was shown mercy. The same servant then turned around and did not grant mercy to a fellow servant who owed him a trifling sum and had him imprisoned. When the king learned of this the first servant was also imprisoned and made to repay his debt to the king.

3. Workers in the vineyard – A vineyard owner needed workers and hired several during the course of the day at different times. At the end of the day the owner paid all the workers the same wage even they had worked different lengths of time. This caused the workers who had worked longer to grumble. It’s the owner’s business if he wants to be generous and reward everyone equally.

4. Ungrateful tenant – A vineyard owner leased his vineyard to tenants and when rent was due he sent his servant to collect the rent but he was beaten. Other servants were sent to collect the rent and they also were beaten, stoned or killed. Finally the owner sent his son who was also killed. The vineyard owner punished the transgressors.

5. Wedding banquet – A man’s son was getting married and invitations were sent out to attend the banquet but nobody showed up. The father had his servant go into the street and bring in any who would come to fill the banquet hall.

The parables clearly show us some of God’s attributes. God loves us; God is merciful; God is generous; God is just; God is longsuffering; God is kind. When the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah God turned to the Gentiles to build the church of God.  Our church age started at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to indwell the believer and it will end when the Rapture takes the church to heaven. God will then turn back to Israel for the last seven years of human history before the Second Advent of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Jesus makes it clear those who follow Him will be persecuted so bow up and be ready for it. We are to defend ourselves if physically attacked but otherwise do not respond to violence. Jesus said even family will turn against you. Be faithful until the end and the kingdom of God awaits you.  If you suffer persecution it’s because God allows it up to a point. God has numbered your days and no amount of persecution can cut short the number of days God has allotted you. Everyone who has ever lived will one day know the truth of the gospel and kneel before the throne of Jesus Christ on the great Day of the Lord.

By claiming to be the Lord of the Sabbath Jesus was identifying Himself as God Almighty. Restoring a withered hand in the synagogue was an act of creation which further identified Jesus as God. When Jesus cast out demons He was proving that the kingdom of God was overthrowing Satan’s kingdom.  Those who are humble will be great in heaven and vice versa. Many of those we expect to be exalted in heaven will be on the bottom rung. Heaven will be full of surprises. Jesus confirms that angels are assigned to protect both people and nations.

For example, the archangel Michael is the protector of Israel. Angels not only protect us, they intercede with God on our behalf. Angels number in the millions and spiritual warfare is going on around us continually.  The gospels are “Cliff Notes” on the life and ministry of Jesus and you should know them inside and out. God touches only on those items needed to sustain the narrative so we understand the basic story and then God adds truths about the kingdom He wants us to know. The gospels are summary outlines that jump around a lot but somehow the reader gets the picture. God doesn’t do fluff. Everything in all four gospel accounts is there for a specific purpose.

Olivet discourse:
This is a famous prophecy from God Himself. It’s true the signs Jesus mentions for the end times are in every generation but not to the extent they are just before the second coming of Jesus (i.e. wars, peoples and countries fighting, famines, earthquakes and lawlessness). What hasn’t happened yet is Christians being persecuted on a large scale and executed for not renouncing their faith in God.  We see it increasingly in China and the Middle East and even secular America is starting to target the Christian faith. This is only the beginning. When the persecution starts in earnest it will result in millions of Christians being beheaded. These will be the saints in heaven crying out for God to judge the nations.

Jesus also said there would be a great falling away of the church due to false teachings and false prophets fooling the faithful. We need to know God’s Word intimately so we can make sure any teachings don’t contradict Scripture. We don’t need the opinions of others, we need confirmation in the Bible.  Jesus said even the elect will be fooled so depend on prayer and the Holy Spirit to warn you of evil men. It seems to me a majority of church denominations will be corrupted so it’s up to each of us to decide for ourselves and not be led like sheep to the slaughter.  Don’t listen to me either; look for yourself.

Parable of the ten virgins – Five virgins were waiting for the bridegroom with lamps full of oil while five had lamps without oil. When the bridegroom came to the banquet only the virgins with lamps full of oil were allowed to enter. The other virgins were turned away because they were unprepared. I’m asking you to be prepared or suffer the same fate as these virgins. The parable of the talents carries the same message to be ready.  I’m astounded when Christians treat Jews badly. Don’t they know we will all be judged on how we treat Israel and the Jewish people? God is jealous of His chosen people. All you have to do is look at all the wars where Israel was attacked and any fool should be able to see when Israel wins repeatedly against 1,000 to one odds that God is fighting for them. Harm the Jewish people at your own peril.

As for me, I love Israel and the Jewish people because we Gentiles have received salvation through the Jews and we have all been blessed through Abraham as God promised. My Lord and Savior is a Jewish rabbi.  If I hated the Jews I would then have to hate Jesus because He is a Jew.  It makes no sense.  Love the Jewish people like family because they are.  The Jewish people are my brothers and sisters and I will die for them if need be. You need to evaluate things and decide now where you stand on this issue and speak out before things get worse.  Satan hates the Jewish people most of all and he has stirred up hatred for the Jews throughout history.  Don’t be influenced.

One of the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus was he would teach in parables. Parables are simple stories, metaphors, that everyone can understand which teach truths about the kingdom of God. Why is this? To make sure the message is clear without any misunderstanding as to its meaning.  Parables are good because they reveal truth to those who are ready to receive the spiritual message while concealing the truth from those not ready. Non-Christians and most Jews can read the parables all day long and get nothing from it. Parables are clear only if the Holy spirit has convicted your heart of your sin. You can’t receive salvation without an invitation from the Holy Spirit.

Many of the parables we can remember from Sunday School:

1. The sower – Seed sown on good soil will give abundant crops
2. Tares in the wheat – Weeds will be separated from the wheat at the harvest and burned up
3. The fishing net – When the full net is pulled in the good fish are harvested and the bad fish thrown away.
4. The mustard seed – The smallest seed grows into the biggest plant and is like the kingdom of heaven
5. The pearl- When you find something of great value sell all you have to possess it

For the longest time I couldn’t understand why everybody isn’t a Christian because the truth is so clear to me it’s like being on the big screen at the movies. According to Scripture Satan has blinded the unbeliever and when the gospel seed is planted in the unbeliever Satan snatches the Word from their hearts before it can take root.  The Jews are a special case because God has blinded them Himself until the end time because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah and crucified Him. As further punishment God allowed the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and scatter the Jewish people throughout the world for 2,000 years. The Jews are still God’s chosen people and He said He would recall them home to re-establish Israel, which happened in 1948.

Jesus proved He was God by calming the wind and walking on the sea. Jesus made it clear his coming ended the old covenant and the new covenant is through him by his shed blood on the cross. Going forward, Jesus is the new Abraham, the new Moses, who will lead his followers to salvation and set up his kingdom on earth for 1,000 years.  The more truth you are exposed to the greater your accountability before God at the judgement. The saved Christian who has received the Holy Spirit and who knows God will be judged severely if he rejects God afterwards because he knows better. It would have been better for him not to have been born.