So much has happened recently in Bible prophecy. I'm blown away by all the political upheaval, the pc police, etc. I visit Drudgereport Daily for my dose of both domestic and international news. Go there and you will see the hand of God.
My Lord my Lord, please forgive us for our transgressions!!!
Coming Soon to a Planet Near You
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Revelation Bible Study
I am teaching a Bible Study on the Book of Revelation. I think I'm going to post my notes on here for my two followers to see... :-)
Much information is quoted from KJV of the Holy Bible and from Tim LaHaye's book, Revelation Unveiled.
“Almost one hundred years ago the author of the Scofield Reference Bible said in his notes on Revelation, “Doubtless, much which is designedly obscure to us will be clear to those for whom it was written as the time approaches.””
Reasons to study Revelation:
A special blessing to those who read it 1:3 (only book in Scripture that says this) and repeats blessing at the end for those who keep it. 22:7
Reveals the plan for our future
Gives clearer detail concerning Bible prophecy than any other book.
It completes the circle of Bible truths, the Scriptures predictably reveal superb planning and organization
Suggestions for Studying the Book:
1. Follow golden rule of interpretation: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the fact of the immediate text, clearly indicate otherwise.
2. Locate the scene of the activity (i.e. Heaven or earth). The action should also be followed closely for sometimes a scene in heaven results in action on earth. Example, chapters 4 and 5 take place in heaven while chapter 6 on earth.
3. With exception to chapters 12 and 17 most of Revelation unfolds chronologically. This is important as the Tribulation plays out. We’ll see that Seal Judgments of chapter 6 takes up 1st quarter of Tribulation while Trumpet Judgments of chapters 8 & 9 complete 2nd quarter of Tribulation. The Bowl Judgments of chapter 16 take up the last half of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation.
4 Major Types of Interpretations:
Futurist Interpretation: This was interpretation of early church through the 4th Century where events of Ch 4 and on were yet to be fulfilled. This is the view held by most premillennial Bible teachers.
Historical Interpretation: This view suggests that John was describing major events that would take place during the history of the Church. It suggests that we would see these events as we look back in history. This tends to distort the plain and literal meaning.
Spiritualizing Interpretation: The figurative and metaphorical way to view things: John was talking more about a spiritual struggle than a physical one. This view is held by amillennialists and postmillennialists.
Preterist Interpretation: This view holds that John wrote the book prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 and was referring to events of his own day.
John outlived all the other apostles in fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy John 21:20-24. John was banished to Patmos as an enemy of the State during the reign of Domitian (AD 91-96). The traditionally accepted date is AD 95, near the very end of John’s life.
Rev 1:7- This is a reference to His coming at the end of the Tribulation Period to set up the Millennial Kingdom. Christ said this in Matthew 24:30-31
Rev 1:8 Trinity: “…who is, and who was, and who is to come.” A reference to the Trinity or triune of God. Whenever the word God appears in Scripture, the context should be examined closely to figure out whether it is referring to God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. It does not always refer to the Father but rather the triune God. The expression, “…who is, and who was, and who is to come” is an expression that connotes the eternity of God. The triune nature of God is revealed in Rev 1:8.
Rev 1:10- The Lord’s Day is not a reference to the Sabbath. The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week which is why we worship on Sunday. The idea is that Christ rose bodily on the first day of the week and that is why we go to the Lord’s House on that day as a testimony to our beliefs. The church was freed from the Old Testament day of worship. In fact, 9 commandments are repeated in the New Testament EXCEPT for the command to worship on Sabbath.
7 Basic Divisions of Church History:
Ephesus-Apostolic Church (AD 30-100)
Smyrna- Persecuted Church (AD 100-313)
Pergamos- State Church (AD 313-590)
Thyatira- Papal Church (AD 590-1517)
Sardis- Reformed Church (AD 1517-1790)
Philadelphia- Missionary Church (AD 1790-1900)
Laodicea-Apostate Church (AD 1900-)
Characteristics of Christ:
“…someone “like a son of man” – human in appearance and not a supernatural creature. ref Dan 7:13
“…dressed in a robe reaching down…” - typical of long robes of the high priests
“…with a golden sash…”-a symbol of strength and authority common in ancient world.
“…His head and hairs were white…”-ref Dan 7:9-13, where Christ is called Ancient of Days. Whiteness refers to righteousness of God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.
“…eyes were like blazing fire…” indicates Christ was indignant over something.
“…his feet were like bronze…” bronze speaks of judgment. Reminds us of brazen altar of tabernacle, where sin was judged
“…voice like sound …” attitude of the Son of God as He comes on the Day of the Lord in judgment
“…in His right…”- interpreted in vs 20
“…out of His mouth…” –ref Eph 6. God’s Word.
“…His face was like…”- ref Matt 17
***FIRST 3 CHURCHES ENDED WITH THE START OF THE NEXT CHURCH. LAST 4 ARE HERE TODAY.***
Pergamum: Indulged Church: City was given over to worship of many Greek idols
Local Roman rulers demanded cooperation of all religious groups
Constantine: Emperor of Rome- claimed to be Christian, edict of tolerance of Christianity
Many pagan temples were taken over by Christians and practices were adopted
The word Pergamum means marriage or elevation. Until these things started to happen around AD 312
all churches were locally operated and worked together with others for common causes but dominated by a central authority.
AD 300: Prayers 4 dead
AD 375: Make sign of the cross
AD 394: Mass was first introduced
AD 431: worship of Mary begins
AD 500: Priests dressed differently than lay people
AD 526: Extreme Unction
AD 593: Doctrine of Purgatory introduced
AD 600: Worship conducted in Latin
AD 600: prayers directed at Mary
The church was doctrinally sound (Christ for salvation) but sinned by adopting ceremonies of paganism which ultimately corrupted the church.
Condemnation: Doctrine of Balaam: Numbers 22-31> whenever Balaam cursed Israel the exact opposite occurred and a blessing was the result. So, Balaam talked Balak (King of Moabites) into having his people intermarry with Israel and defile themselves.
The problem with Pergamum is that although they had the doctrine right they didn’t separate themselves from paganism.
Nicolaitans: doctrine of strong ecclesiastical hierarchy ruling over the laity. This isn’t conducive to a strong spiritual condition of the Church. Laypeople were not given a voice in Church affairs, but were required to obey blindly. The clergy eventually drifted away into an “ivory tower” type existence and separated themselves more from the membership. Faithful ministers should “search the Scriptures” but they must also “do the work of an evangelist.”
Thyatira: city founded by Alexander the Great 300 yrs before Christ. Lydia was Paul’s first convert in Philippi (Acts 16:14). This church age produced the Dark Ages. “Dark” indicated that the program of merging Paganism with Christianity, begun under Pergamum, continued and increased the demonic influence.
CHANGES ADOPTED BY THE CHURCH:
AD 607: Boniface III made first POPE
AD 709: Kissing Pope’s foot
AD 786: worshipping images and relics
AD 850: use of “Holy Water” started
AD 995: Canonization of dead saints
AD 998: fasting on Fridays and during Lent
AD 1079: Celibacy of Priesthood
AD 1090: Prayer beads
AD 1229: Bible forbidden for laypeople
AD 1870: infallibility of Pope declared
AD 1965: Mary proclaimed Mother of the Church
“Thyatira” comes from two words meaning “sacrifice” and “continual”. The church denies the finished work of Christ and believes in a continuing sacrifice that produces sacraments, and praying for dead, burning candles, and so on.
Heresy falls into two categories: a false concept of the personal deity of Christ or mixing works with faith. Church of Rome declares deity of Christ but mixes in salvation through works.
CONDEMNATION: SON OF GOD, NOT SON OF MARY!!!
Jezebel: name of the woman who brought Baalism into Israel and perverted the nation. It’s a point of comparison for those bringing paganism into the church.
Her teaching took two forms: “…misleads my servant into sexual immorality” is a symbol of idolatry and the second “..eating of food sacrificed to idols” is a reference to the union of the church with the world. During this period Rome sought to bring the Kingdom of the world under dominion of the POPE in Rome. (Jezebel ref I Kings 19)
Church of Sardis: the Reformation (AD 1517-1790): Means “escaping ones” or those who “come out.”
The twofold condemnation of the church: 1: Became a State Church, the Lutheran Church became the state church of Germany, as did others throughout Europe. With the church as the head of the state the need for a personal relationship with Jesus is diminished and REPLACED. 2: Reformed churches didn’t change customs of Church of Rome (still had infant baptism, sprinkling, and ritualism). Ritual and formality are forms of pagan worship where the Scriptures teach us to worship God is SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Ritual from paganism does not come from the Holy Spirit. Main purpose of the church is the proclamation of gospel of Christ. If people leave a church with ritual “worship” and haven’t been brought face to face with Jesus then they’ve been worshipping in a DEAD CHURCH.
Christ’s commendation: “I know they works that thou has a name that thou livest” refers to the early period when Martin Luther and others chose to defy Rome and obey the Bible’s teaching on salvation by faith and that their reputation was a church faithful to Christ.
CONDEMNATION: “But you are dead.” Reformation leaders began well, they didn’t proceed to complete the works of reforming the church, but stopped short.
Christ’s counsel: 1. Wake up
2. Strengthen what remains: strengthen the good doctrinal teachings of the early days
3. Remember, therefore what you have…: return to days of blessing by searching the Bible
4. Obey it: adhere to the doctrines taught in Scripture
5. “… and repent”: repenting involves not only an act of turning to God but a submissive heart
Christ’s warning: they will be unaware when the Lord comes back. Currently they are leaders in the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical program. They want to unite the world’s religions. If they read and obeyed Scripture they would know that they are aiding the Antichrist’s program for that will be his church during first half of Tribulation.
Church of Philadelphia: Missionary church (AD 1790-1900): a throwback to churches of Ephesus and Smyrna:
Name means “brotherly love.” Came out of church of Sardis just like Sardis came out of Thyatira. This produced the modern missionary movement. Biggest factor led to this movement had to be printing of Bible to different languages. William Carey read our Lord’s command to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” so he did!!! The second biggest factor for this movement was the doctrine of the Second Coming. Those who look for Christ’s coming are more inclined to preach the gospel and stick to the Scriptures due to imminency.
Commendation: 1. I know your deeds… an open door no one can shut…: Oppty to preach the gospel
2. “you have little strength”: refers to minority status of believers in this church. Except for America, this church is characterized by small congregations, which are not strong by human standards.
3. “you have kept my word..”: They not only believed the Word but obeyed it. The reformed church believes but does not obey by comparison.
4. “and have not denied my name..”: greatest increase in false Christ’s and false religions began during this age.
Promise: 1.Vindication: those false religionists and heretics will realize that in persecuting the saints they turned their back on Christ. 2. Preservation: Obvious reference to the Tribulation period and a strong argument to pre-trib rapture.
Church of Laodicea: (AD 1900-Tribulation): wealthy inland city 40 miles from Ephesus.
Has distinction of not having a commendation.
“Lukewarm”: not on fire or lifeless, instead it is indifferent. These churches are characterized by social action than gospel action. This church doesn’t see transformation of soul from darkness to light.
I am grateful to men like Tim LaHaye and his ministry. I have learned a great deal from him and the Lord has blessed me with an understanding of Bible Prophecy. Maranatha!!!
Much information is quoted from KJV of the Holy Bible and from Tim LaHaye's book, Revelation Unveiled.
“Almost one hundred years ago the author of the Scofield Reference Bible said in his notes on Revelation, “Doubtless, much which is designedly obscure to us will be clear to those for whom it was written as the time approaches.””
Reasons to study Revelation:
A special blessing to those who read it 1:3 (only book in Scripture that says this) and repeats blessing at the end for those who keep it. 22:7
Reveals the plan for our future
Gives clearer detail concerning Bible prophecy than any other book.
It completes the circle of Bible truths, the Scriptures predictably reveal superb planning and organization
Suggestions for Studying the Book:
1. Follow golden rule of interpretation: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the fact of the immediate text, clearly indicate otherwise.
2. Locate the scene of the activity (i.e. Heaven or earth). The action should also be followed closely for sometimes a scene in heaven results in action on earth. Example, chapters 4 and 5 take place in heaven while chapter 6 on earth.
3. With exception to chapters 12 and 17 most of Revelation unfolds chronologically. This is important as the Tribulation plays out. We’ll see that Seal Judgments of chapter 6 takes up 1st quarter of Tribulation while Trumpet Judgments of chapters 8 & 9 complete 2nd quarter of Tribulation. The Bowl Judgments of chapter 16 take up the last half of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation.
4 Major Types of Interpretations:
Futurist Interpretation: This was interpretation of early church through the 4th Century where events of Ch 4 and on were yet to be fulfilled. This is the view held by most premillennial Bible teachers.
Historical Interpretation: This view suggests that John was describing major events that would take place during the history of the Church. It suggests that we would see these events as we look back in history. This tends to distort the plain and literal meaning.
Spiritualizing Interpretation: The figurative and metaphorical way to view things: John was talking more about a spiritual struggle than a physical one. This view is held by amillennialists and postmillennialists.
Preterist Interpretation: This view holds that John wrote the book prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 and was referring to events of his own day.
John outlived all the other apostles in fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy John 21:20-24. John was banished to Patmos as an enemy of the State during the reign of Domitian (AD 91-96). The traditionally accepted date is AD 95, near the very end of John’s life.
Rev 1:7- This is a reference to His coming at the end of the Tribulation Period to set up the Millennial Kingdom. Christ said this in Matthew 24:30-31
Rev 1:8 Trinity: “…who is, and who was, and who is to come.” A reference to the Trinity or triune of God. Whenever the word God appears in Scripture, the context should be examined closely to figure out whether it is referring to God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. It does not always refer to the Father but rather the triune God. The expression, “…who is, and who was, and who is to come” is an expression that connotes the eternity of God. The triune nature of God is revealed in Rev 1:8.
Rev 1:10- The Lord’s Day is not a reference to the Sabbath. The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week which is why we worship on Sunday. The idea is that Christ rose bodily on the first day of the week and that is why we go to the Lord’s House on that day as a testimony to our beliefs. The church was freed from the Old Testament day of worship. In fact, 9 commandments are repeated in the New Testament EXCEPT for the command to worship on Sabbath.
7 Basic Divisions of Church History:
Ephesus-Apostolic Church (AD 30-100)
Smyrna- Persecuted Church (AD 100-313)
Pergamos- State Church (AD 313-590)
Thyatira- Papal Church (AD 590-1517)
Sardis- Reformed Church (AD 1517-1790)
Philadelphia- Missionary Church (AD 1790-1900)
Laodicea-Apostate Church (AD 1900-)
Characteristics of Christ:
“…someone “like a son of man” – human in appearance and not a supernatural creature. ref Dan 7:13
“…dressed in a robe reaching down…” - typical of long robes of the high priests
“…with a golden sash…”-a symbol of strength and authority common in ancient world.
“…His head and hairs were white…”-ref Dan 7:9-13, where Christ is called Ancient of Days. Whiteness refers to righteousness of God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.
“…eyes were like blazing fire…” indicates Christ was indignant over something.
“…his feet were like bronze…” bronze speaks of judgment. Reminds us of brazen altar of tabernacle, where sin was judged
“…voice like sound …” attitude of the Son of God as He comes on the Day of the Lord in judgment
“…in His right…”- interpreted in vs 20
“…out of His mouth…” –ref Eph 6. God’s Word.
“…His face was like…”- ref Matt 17
***FIRST 3 CHURCHES ENDED WITH THE START OF THE NEXT CHURCH. LAST 4 ARE HERE TODAY.***
Pergamum: Indulged Church: City was given over to worship of many Greek idols
Local Roman rulers demanded cooperation of all religious groups
Constantine: Emperor of Rome- claimed to be Christian, edict of tolerance of Christianity
Many pagan temples were taken over by Christians and practices were adopted
The word Pergamum means marriage or elevation. Until these things started to happen around AD 312
all churches were locally operated and worked together with others for common causes but dominated by a central authority.
AD 300: Prayers 4 dead
AD 375: Make sign of the cross
AD 394: Mass was first introduced
AD 431: worship of Mary begins
AD 500: Priests dressed differently than lay people
AD 526: Extreme Unction
AD 593: Doctrine of Purgatory introduced
AD 600: Worship conducted in Latin
AD 600: prayers directed at Mary
The church was doctrinally sound (Christ for salvation) but sinned by adopting ceremonies of paganism which ultimately corrupted the church.
Condemnation: Doctrine of Balaam: Numbers 22-31> whenever Balaam cursed Israel the exact opposite occurred and a blessing was the result. So, Balaam talked Balak (King of Moabites) into having his people intermarry with Israel and defile themselves.
The problem with Pergamum is that although they had the doctrine right they didn’t separate themselves from paganism.
Nicolaitans: doctrine of strong ecclesiastical hierarchy ruling over the laity. This isn’t conducive to a strong spiritual condition of the Church. Laypeople were not given a voice in Church affairs, but were required to obey blindly. The clergy eventually drifted away into an “ivory tower” type existence and separated themselves more from the membership. Faithful ministers should “search the Scriptures” but they must also “do the work of an evangelist.”
Thyatira: city founded by Alexander the Great 300 yrs before Christ. Lydia was Paul’s first convert in Philippi (Acts 16:14). This church age produced the Dark Ages. “Dark” indicated that the program of merging Paganism with Christianity, begun under Pergamum, continued and increased the demonic influence.
CHANGES ADOPTED BY THE CHURCH:
AD 607: Boniface III made first POPE
AD 709: Kissing Pope’s foot
AD 786: worshipping images and relics
AD 850: use of “Holy Water” started
AD 995: Canonization of dead saints
AD 998: fasting on Fridays and during Lent
AD 1079: Celibacy of Priesthood
AD 1090: Prayer beads
AD 1229: Bible forbidden for laypeople
AD 1870: infallibility of Pope declared
AD 1965: Mary proclaimed Mother of the Church
“Thyatira” comes from two words meaning “sacrifice” and “continual”. The church denies the finished work of Christ and believes in a continuing sacrifice that produces sacraments, and praying for dead, burning candles, and so on.
Heresy falls into two categories: a false concept of the personal deity of Christ or mixing works with faith. Church of Rome declares deity of Christ but mixes in salvation through works.
CONDEMNATION: SON OF GOD, NOT SON OF MARY!!!
Jezebel: name of the woman who brought Baalism into Israel and perverted the nation. It’s a point of comparison for those bringing paganism into the church.
Her teaching took two forms: “…misleads my servant into sexual immorality” is a symbol of idolatry and the second “..eating of food sacrificed to idols” is a reference to the union of the church with the world. During this period Rome sought to bring the Kingdom of the world under dominion of the POPE in Rome. (Jezebel ref I Kings 19)
Church of Sardis: the Reformation (AD 1517-1790): Means “escaping ones” or those who “come out.”
The twofold condemnation of the church: 1: Became a State Church, the Lutheran Church became the state church of Germany, as did others throughout Europe. With the church as the head of the state the need for a personal relationship with Jesus is diminished and REPLACED. 2: Reformed churches didn’t change customs of Church of Rome (still had infant baptism, sprinkling, and ritualism). Ritual and formality are forms of pagan worship where the Scriptures teach us to worship God is SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Ritual from paganism does not come from the Holy Spirit. Main purpose of the church is the proclamation of gospel of Christ. If people leave a church with ritual “worship” and haven’t been brought face to face with Jesus then they’ve been worshipping in a DEAD CHURCH.
Christ’s commendation: “I know they works that thou has a name that thou livest” refers to the early period when Martin Luther and others chose to defy Rome and obey the Bible’s teaching on salvation by faith and that their reputation was a church faithful to Christ.
CONDEMNATION: “But you are dead.” Reformation leaders began well, they didn’t proceed to complete the works of reforming the church, but stopped short.
Christ’s counsel: 1. Wake up
2. Strengthen what remains: strengthen the good doctrinal teachings of the early days
3. Remember, therefore what you have…: return to days of blessing by searching the Bible
4. Obey it: adhere to the doctrines taught in Scripture
5. “… and repent”: repenting involves not only an act of turning to God but a submissive heart
Christ’s warning: they will be unaware when the Lord comes back. Currently they are leaders in the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical program. They want to unite the world’s religions. If they read and obeyed Scripture they would know that they are aiding the Antichrist’s program for that will be his church during first half of Tribulation.
Church of Philadelphia: Missionary church (AD 1790-1900): a throwback to churches of Ephesus and Smyrna:
Name means “brotherly love.” Came out of church of Sardis just like Sardis came out of Thyatira. This produced the modern missionary movement. Biggest factor led to this movement had to be printing of Bible to different languages. William Carey read our Lord’s command to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” so he did!!! The second biggest factor for this movement was the doctrine of the Second Coming. Those who look for Christ’s coming are more inclined to preach the gospel and stick to the Scriptures due to imminency.
Commendation: 1. I know your deeds… an open door no one can shut…: Oppty to preach the gospel
2. “you have little strength”: refers to minority status of believers in this church. Except for America, this church is characterized by small congregations, which are not strong by human standards.
3. “you have kept my word..”: They not only believed the Word but obeyed it. The reformed church believes but does not obey by comparison.
4. “and have not denied my name..”: greatest increase in false Christ’s and false religions began during this age.
Promise: 1.Vindication: those false religionists and heretics will realize that in persecuting the saints they turned their back on Christ. 2. Preservation: Obvious reference to the Tribulation period and a strong argument to pre-trib rapture.
Church of Laodicea: (AD 1900-Tribulation): wealthy inland city 40 miles from Ephesus.
Has distinction of not having a commendation.
“Lukewarm”: not on fire or lifeless, instead it is indifferent. These churches are characterized by social action than gospel action. This church doesn’t see transformation of soul from darkness to light.
I am grateful to men like Tim LaHaye and his ministry. I have learned a great deal from him and the Lord has blessed me with an understanding of Bible Prophecy. Maranatha!!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
What Is Going On?
I don't normally get too stirred up over the things going on in this 'ole world (i.e. earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, volcanoes, etc.,) but this has me a little on edge. It's just weird. The strangest thing is that it's not just limited to birds. People are finding massive amounts of dead fish, starfish, crabs, jellyfish, bees, and even bats. What gives???? In fact, use the attached link and you can see a map of the world where all this is going on: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201817256339889828327.0004991bca25af104a22b
I know that we are in an age where more and more strange things will happen but to be honest with ya I'm dumbfounded with all of this. Perhaps this is all part of things which are about to take place. The Bible talks of the oceans and rivers turning to blood and nothing will survive. I don't believe this has anything to do with that but I do think we're a lot closer to that event than a lot of people think. Stay tuned Christians. If you don't know Christ as your Savior then I beg you to seek Him out and ask Him to forgive you for your sins and accept Him as your personal Savior. Time is running out!!!
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