The Soon Return of Jesus

Why Jesus Compared Death to Sleep

Leave a comment
Lazarus-A Friend of Jesus

 “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

Then His disciples said, “Lord,  if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him.”

John 11: 11-15

The message had come to Jesus from Mary and Martha (the sisters of Lazarus)  of their brother’s sickness.

“Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

John 11:3

But, did you catch that?  Jesus loves Lazarus and he called him friend! Doesn’t he love everyone?  Isn’t Jesus a friend to everyone? No doubt Jesus loves everyone, but how many can say they are friends of Jesus? Being a friend to Jesus is something we start as we are drawn by the Holy Spirit.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

James 4:8

This verse in James contains an important element in being close to God.  It means we choose to start the relationship by taking a step towards Him.  But God starts the process because He wants to be near us. So, He draws us with the Holy Spirit. But if we resist the pull of the Spirit we will go in an opposite direction. It is the elements of His nature of love and kindness (towards us individually) that we are drawn.

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness, I have drawn you.”

Jeremiah 31:3

Here is why Lazarus was special to Jesus. He made special effort to converse with Jesus in his own home!. Martha and Mary had similar close relationships with the Son of man.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

John 11:5

This family of three siblings opened their home up to Jesus  who “ha(d) nowhere to lay his head.” Luke 9:58. 

“At the home of Lazarus, Jesus had often found rest. The Saviour had no home of His own; He was dependent on the hospitality of His friends and disciples, and often, when weary, thirsting for human fellowship, He had been glad to escape to this peaceful household, away from the suspicion and jealousy of the angry Pharisees. Here He found a sincere welcome and pure, holy friendship. Here He could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom, knowing that His words would be understood and treasured.”  Desire of Ages, Page 524

The disciples were aware of this special relationship and were surprised when Jesus remained where He was for two more days after hearing His friend was sick!  He had the power to heal Lazarus, but He allowed Lazarus to die.  There was a reason for this even though he told his disciples that his sickness was not “unto death.”

“This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

John 11:4

It is important to note that when death is described in the Bible, there are two types of death.  One is the death that has passed upon all mankind because of sin.  Then there is the eternal death or perishing.  This we will see as we go along in our study.

Why would Jesus say the sickness was not unto death even though he died?  Think about this.  Jesus never attended a funeral where there were dead people.  Why?  Because he raised them! He raised Jarius’ daughter and was ridiculed for saying she was “sleeping.” Let’s read the story:

And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying…

When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead but sleeping.”  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.

But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Luke 8: 41, 42, 51-56

Then there was the time Jesus interrupted a funeral in progress!  The man was already in the casket!  Let’s read the story:

 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”  So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.

Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

Luke 7:11-17

The man was not called friend, it is possible Jesus did not know Him personally and vice versa, but Jesus resurrected Him because of the compassion he had on the widow.  The same could possibly be said about the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus.

From these three resurrections, we can glean similarities that tell us something about how Jesus brings comfort to the dead and the family.

First, Luke makes the point of saying her spirit returned to the little girl.  Even though not stated with Lazarus and the Son of the widow, their spirit also returned to them. It is the Spirit of God that gives life to the body.  We know this from the creation of Adam:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (soul).

Genesis 2:7 

At death, the opposite of Gen. 2: 7 occurs

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit (breath) will return to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

In the cases of the three brought back to life, their breath (spirit) returned to them and they became a living being again. Even when the decay of the body had begun (Lazarus had been dead four days!

 “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

John 11: 39

Most important he tells something about the condition of the person who is dead.  They are sleeping an unconscious sleep!  This was confusing to the disciples, they thought Lazarus was resting and it would do him good.  To the mourners for the little girl, they didn’t understand and laughed at the Savior!  But, if they had believed Jesus, they would have found great comfort and understanding about the dead person.  They are not suffering nor were they enjoying the bliss of heaven.  Wouldn’t it have been very cruel to bring them all from the pure happiness of heaven? But there are no “out of body” experiences recorded for them.  Why? Because they were dead.

In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he made sure that the people understood the same thing Jesus was expressing about a person who is dead.  He did not want them to be ignorant about it.

 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14

Here Paul is referring, like Jesus, to the dead as those who have fallen asleep.  Because of this fact, we find comfort and don’t sorrow as those who have no hope.  Notice that the comfort does not come from the thought of them being in heaven enjoying the company of the other saints!  No!  The comfort Paul gives is that they are asleep in Christ and they will be resurrected to life one day.

Next, Paul gives the clearest picture in the Bible regarding the second coming and the resurrection. It demonstrates the hope we should all have in the resurrection:

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18

The description of Jesus coming and resurrecting those “asleep” in Christ and then meeting Jesus in the Lord cannot be any clearer. This is a wonderful thought that no one will precede the other in meeting and seeing Jesus.  That great day will be a great reunion day of those resurrected and those who will be alive!  It is these words that Paul tells us to comfort one another.

If those who died were already in heaven, this would have been the perfect time for Paul to talk like modern preachers and say a falsehood about those dead (asleep) as being in heaven enjoying eternal life.  But the comfort comes from knowing they are resting in peace and not aware of the passing of time, but will one day be resurrected and we can all be in heaven together at the same time!

Non-Biblical things I have heard at funerals:

  1. He/she is looking down on us now.
  2. They are talking with Jesus and the saints face to face.
  3. They are enjoying their favorite food
  4. His is finally back with his wife
  5. He is enjoying his favorite whiskey and hunting with his old dog, Blue.

These are not biblical and are well-intended efforts to comfort the bereaved.  But, the comfort comes from the fact that they are sleeping and not feeling any pain or anxiety, waiting for that great reunion day when Jesus returns.

For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward,

Ecclesiastes 9:5

His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Psalm 146:4

_____________________________________________________________

Let’s go back to the story of Lazarus to further understand about death and the importance of the resurrection.  Martha knew that she would see her brother again at the resurrection.  Her theology was correct, but she didn’t realize the power of Jesus who stood right there with her:

Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

John 11: 20-26

Martha knew about the resurrection in the last day and found comfort in seeing her brother then.  But she didn’t realize that the source for that resurrection was right there in front of her!

Though we die, we “shall live.” But why did Jesus say, “whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

The ultimate death is the second death where there is no hope.  It is those who are not part of the first resurrection:

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power

Revelation 20:6

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’

Revelation 2:11

This second death can be found in the most popular verse in the Bible

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

What is the fate of those who do not believe?  They perish (this is the second death).  Even though all die the first death, the second death is final (perish).

So why did Jesus and Paul compare death to sleep?  It is because there is comfort knowing that those in Christ are in a temporary sleep where they will rise again.  The passing of time, even though it be 100 or 1,000 years will be like a split-second.  The next conscience action will be to hear the trumpet sound and see the Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven.  They will rise up to meet those who are alive when Jesus returns and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Paul not only told the Thessalonians the truth about those who “have fallen asleep in Christ,” but he also told the Corinthians how important it is that we understand the power and hope in the resurrection.

 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty….And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. “

1 Corinthians 15 13-14, 17-18

Did you notice the word perished?  If Jesus were not resurrected, all those who have died are dead forever (perished)

Our entire hope for eternal life depends upon the fact that Jesus, as the first-fruits from the dead, was resurrected.  Because He died and was resurrected, we have the reality of being resurrected one day, even if our bodies have returned to dust!

Job (as described in the oldest book of the Bible) put his hope in seeing God in the last days as a result of the resurrection:

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19:25-27

This describes perfectly Paul’s end to his discourse on the importance of the resurrection.  It is at this point where we receive our new bodies no longer subject to death…Like Job, I say, “How my heart yearns” for that day!

This is where I find my comfort…In the coming of Jesus after a split second sleep in Him! Then I will be changed at the last trumpet.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

The last part of this verse cannot be said, until Jesus returns and resurrects us.

______________________________________________________

A personal experience.

I experienced what death must be like.  It happened when I had open-heart surgery.  They rolled me into the bright lights of the operating room and put a line into a vein for the anesthesia.  When they were ready to put me to sleep, the young nurse anesthetist said, “good night.”   The next moment I hear the nurse calling my name.  It was if the 2-hour surgery lasted less than a second before I heard my name called.

One day we will be called from our sleep to hear the voice of Jesus telling us to come forth.

Months after the surgery, I developed AFiB and was often awaken at night gasping for breath.  It bothered me greatly and I began to wonder if God would forget me when He came.  Like the thief on the cross, I said, “Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 

Several sleepless nights passed and finally one night I slept the entire night, but I had a dream that put my mind at ease about God remembering me.  In this dream, I could see my funeral and the very next moment, I heard the joyful and playful voices of two angels pulling me up out of the earth.  In the distance, I could see the light of Jesus and all the holy angels even though it was still dark in the dirt around me.  Then I heard one of the angels say,

“See!  He didn’t forget you!”

Enjoy this Biblically correct song by Sandi Patti….This is our comfort

We Shall Behold Him

Reasons to Believe

The Origin of Evil and Its End-Part 2

Leave a comment

“I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, . . . and never shalt thou be any more.”

Ezekiel 28: 18-19

In part 1, we discovered Lucifer, before his fall, maintained a high position of the kingdom of God (heaven).  He is shown in Ezekiel 28:14 as the anointed cherub who covers...But discontent and pride mysteriously rose up in his heart.  He rebelled against God and there was a war unlike what we see on earth. Lucifer (light bearer in Hebrew) was cast as a fallen angel to earth and one-third of the angels joined in this rebellion of God which continues to this day.

Lucifer became Satan (adversary-one who withstands). This occurred before the creation of mankind.  Since that day of rebellion in heaven, there has been a Great Controversy between Christ and Satan.  It was Satan’s design to lie and lead man and woman to distrust God.  He is “the father of lies…and a murder.” Jesus said,

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
John 8:44
Through lies, he has spun a web to trap his victims into thinking God has his sinful qualities and blame God for all the evil things that occur on earth when it is Satan who promotes death and destruction.  This misrepresentation of God’s character will lead, Satan’s captures to join in his rebellion which will lead them down the broad path of ultimate destruction.
If it were not for the first coming of Jesus to set the record straight about the nature and purpose of God and to pay the price for our sins (death) we would have all been lost and continue in sin and our destructive habits.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Hebrews 2:14
__________________________________________________________

The same spirit that prompted rebellion in heaven still inspires rebellion on earth. Satan has continued with men the same policy which he pursued with the angels. His spirit now reigns in the children of disobedience. Like him they seek to break down the restraints of the law of God and promise men liberty through transgression of its precepts. Reproof of sin still arouses the spirit of hatred and resistance. When God’s messages of warning are brought home to the conscience, Satan leads men to justify themselves and to seek the sympathy of others in their course of sin. Instead of correcting their errors, they excite indignation against the reprover, as if he were the sole cause of difficulty. From the days of righteous Abel to our own time such is the spirit which has been displayed toward those who dare to condemn sin.

By the same misrepresentation of the character of God as he had practiced in heaven, causing Him to be regarded as severe and tyrannical, Satan induced man to sin. And having succeeded thus far, he declared that God’s unjust restrictions had led to man’s fall, as they had led to his own rebellion.

But the Eternal One Himself proclaims His character:

“The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.”

Exodus 34:6, 7.

In the banishment of Satan from heaven, God declared His justice and maintained the honor of His throne. But when man had sinned through yielding to the deceptions of this apostate spirit, God gave an evidence of His love by yielding up His only-begotten Son to die for the fallen race.

In the atonement the character of God is revealed. The mighty argument of the cross demonstrates to the whole universe that the course of sin which Lucifer had chosen was in no wise chargeable upon the government of God.

In the contest between Christ and Satan, during the Saviour’s earthly ministry, the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe as did his cruel warfare upon the world’s Redeemer. The daring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should pay him homage, his presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to the mountain summit and the pinnacle of the temple, the malicious intent betrayed in urging Him to cast Himself down from the dizzy height, the unsleeping malice that hunted Him from place to place, inspiring the hearts of priests and people to reject His love, and at the last to cry, “Crucify Him! crucify Him!”–all this excited the amazement and indignation of the universe.

It was Satan that prompted the world’s rejection of Christ. The prince of evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus; for he saw that the Saviour’s mercy and love, His compassion and pitying tenderness, were representing to the world the character of God. Satan contested every claim put forth by the Son of God and employed men as his agents to fill the Saviour’s life with suffering and sorrow. The sophistry and falsehood by which he had sought to hinder the work of Jesus, the hatred manifested through the children of disobedience, his cruel accusations against Him whose life was one of unexampled goodness, all sprang from deep-seated revenge. The pent-up fires of envy and malice, hatred and revenge, burst forth on Calvary against the Son of God, while all heaven gazed upon the scene in silent horror.

When the great sacrifice had been consummated, Christ ascended on high, refusing the adoration of angels until He had presented the request:

“I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.”

John 17:24.

Then with inexpressible love and power came forth the answer from the Father’s throne:

“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

Hebrews 1:6.

Not a stain rested upon Jesus. His humiliation ended, His sacrifice completed, there was given unto Him a name that is above every name.

Now the guilt of Satan stood forth without excuse. He had revealed his true character as a liar and a murderer. It was seen that the very same spirit with which he ruled the children of men, who were under his power, he would have manifested had he been permitted to control the inhabitants of heaven. He had claimed that the transgression of God’s law would bring liberty and exaltation; but it was seen to result in bondage and degradation.

Satan’s lying charges against the divine character and government appeared in their true light. He had accused God of seeking merely the exaltation of Himself in requiring submission and obedience from His creatures, and had declared that, while the Creator exacted self-denial from all others, He Himself practiced no self-denial and made no sacrifice. Now it was seen that for the salvation of a fallen and sinful race, the Ruler of the universe had made the greatest sacrifice which love could make; for

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”

2 Corinthians 5:19.

It was seen, also, that while Lucifer had opened the door for the entrance of sin by his desire for honor and supremacy, Christ had, in order to destroy sin, humbled Himself and become obedient unto death.

God had manifested His abhorrence of the principles of rebellion. All heaven saw His justice revealed, both in the condemnation of Satan and in the redemption of man. Lucifer had declared that if the law of God was changeless, and its penalty could not be remitted, every transgressor must be forever debarred from the Creator’s favor. He had claimed that the sinful race were placed beyond redemption and were therefore his rightful prey. But the death of Christ was an argument in man’s behalf that could not be overthrown. The penalty of the law fell upon Him who was equal with God, and man was free to accept the righteousness of Christ and by a life of penitence and humiliation to triumph, as the Son of God had triumphed, over the power of Satan. Thus God is just and yet the justifier of all who believe in Jesus.

But it was not merely to accomplish the redemption of man that Christ came to the earth to suffer and to die. He came to

“magnify the law” and to “make it honorable.”

Isaiah 42:21

Not alone that the inhabitants of this world might regard the law as it should be regarded; but it was to demonstrate to all the worlds of the universe that God’s law is unchangeable. Could its claims have been set aside, then the Son of God need not have yielded up His life to atone for its transgression. The death of Christ proves it immutable. And the sacrifice to which infinite love impelled the Father and the Son, that sinners might be redeemed, demonstrates to all the universe–what nothing less than this plan of atonement could have sufficed to do–that justice and mercy are the foundation of the law and government of God.

In the final execution of the judgment, it will be seen that no cause for sin exists. When the Judge of all the earth shall demand of Satan, “Why hast thou rebelled against Me, and robbed Me of the subjects of My kingdom?” the originator of evil can render no excuse. Every mouth will be stopped, and all the hosts of rebellion will be speechless.

The cross of Calvary, while it declares the law immutable, proclaims to the universe that the wages of sin is death. In the Saviour’s expiring cry,

“It is finished,”

the death knell of Satan was rung. The great controversy which had been so long in progress was then decided, and the final eradication of evil was made certain. The Son of God passed through the portals of the tomb, that

“through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”

Hebrews 2:14.

Lucifer’s desire for self-exaltation had led him to say:

“I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the Most High.” God declares: “I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, . . . and never shalt thou be any more.”

Isaiah 14:13, 14; Ezekiel 28:18, 19.

When

“the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;. . . .all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

Malachi 4:1.

The whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and results of sin. And its utter extermination, which in the beginning would have brought fear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindicate His love and establish His honor before the universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law. Never will evil again be manifest. Says the word of God:

“Affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nahum 1:9.

The law of God, which Satan has reproached as the yoke of bondage, will be honored as the law of liberty. A tested and proved creation will never again be turned from allegiance to Him whose character has been fully manifested before them as fathomless love and infinite wisdom.

Great Controversy, p. 500-504

Essential Christian Beliefs

The Origin of Evil-Part 1

Leave a comment
Blame Game

Every day (even as I write this) someone is murdered, raped, tortured or disaster hits a home or a family. Life-changing sicknesses like cancer, Alzheimer,  or deadly heart attacks will strike down over 600,000 this year in the US alone.

 Last week, all the world’s attention focused on one young man who took a weapon entered a school and murdered 17 souls, but today, alone, over 150,000 will die in some form or fashion.  The death cycle will continue tomorrow and the next day…and the next…and the next…This is two people per second every day who expire.  But four additional births occur every second…twice as many that die. Nevertheless, the small infant born on this planet immediately begins his or her appointment with sickness and death.

Then there are the mental afflictions which keep life from being desired. Depression, anger,  anxiety, pain, and sorrow knows no gender or race. Each day brings fear of a nuclear holocaust or another war.

Arguably, our nation and the world has never known such division among its inhabitants. Planet earth has become a planet in rebellion against anything of a divine origin, dependent upon itself and its failures to find lasting solutions to its maladies.

 Violence, pain, suffering, and death will continue today and into the foreseeable future. Many blame God for things gone wrong, but is there an enemy that seeks our destruction, while our Creator offers the only solution?  When will evil end? How will it end? These as questions in the back of many people’s’ mind, while some just endure and live it up until their last day arrives.  Their motto is “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

To find answers, let’s go back to the only source which gives an account of the beginning of death and evil. Understanding the beginning helps us know the ending and why it has to end the way it does.

The Bible has the best track record of revealing truth, therefore, let’s connect the dots between the origin of evil, its history, and ultimately its destruction. Along the way, we will find the only way to have peace and assurance in this life.

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Psalm 13:2

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:26

__________________________________________________

To many minds, the origin of sin and the reason for its existence are a source of great perplexity. They see the work of evil, with its terrible results of woe and desolation, and they question how all this can exist under the sovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, in power, and in love. Here is a mystery of which they find no explanation. And in their uncertainty and doubt, they are blinded to truths plainly revealed in God’s word and essential to salvation.

There are those who, in their inquiries concerning the existence of sin, endeavor to search into that which God has never revealed; hence they find no solution of their difficulties, and such as are actuated by a disposition to doubt and cavil seize upon this as an excuse for rejecting the words of Holy Writ. Others, however, fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem of evil, from the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching of the Bible concerning the character of God, the nature of His government, and the principles of His dealing with sin.

It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin and the final disposition of sin to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil.

Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise responsible for the entrance of sin; that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, no deficiency in the divine government, that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is “the transgression of the law;” it is the out working of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government.

Before the entrance of evil, there was peace and joy throughout the universe. All was in perfect harmony with the Creator’s will. Love for God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,–one in nature, in character, and in purpose,–the only being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ, the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings.

“By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers” (Colossians 1:16);

and to Christ, equally, with the Father, all heaven gave allegiance.

The law of love is the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love–homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all, He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service.

But there was one that chose to pervert this freedom. Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled.

“Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering. . . .Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”

Ezekiel 28:12-15.

Lucifer might have remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all the angelic host, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to glorify his Maker. But, says the prophet,

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.”

Verse 17.

Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for self-exaltation.

“Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.” “Thou hast said, . . . I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation….I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.”

Verse 6; Isaiah 14:13, 14.

Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of His creatures, it was Lucifer’s endeavor to win their service and homage to himself. And coveting the honor which the infinite Father had bestowed upon His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power which it was the prerogative of Christ alone to wield.

All heaven had rejoiced to reflect the Creator’s glory and to show forth His praise. And while God was thus honored, all had been peace and gladness. But a note of discord now marred the celestial harmonies. The service and exaltation of self, contrary to the Creator’s plan, awakened forebodings of evil in minds to whom God’s glory was supreme. The heavenly councils pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established the order of heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker, and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed jealousy of Christ to prevail, and he became the more determined.

Pride in his own glory nourished the desire for supremacy. The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as the gift of God and called forth no gratitude to the Creator. He gloried in his brightness and exaltation and aspired to be equal with God. He was beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host. Angels delighted to execute his commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and glory above them all. Yet the Son of God was the acknowledged Sovereign of heaven, one in power and authority with the Father. In all the councils of God, Christ was a participant, while Lucifer was not permitted thus to enter into the divine purposes. “Why,” questioned this mighty angel, “should Christ have the supremacy? Why is He thus honored above Lucifer?”

Leaving his place in the immediate presence of God, Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent among the angels. Working with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealing his real purpose under an appearance of reverence for God, he endeavored to excite dissatisfaction concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that they imposed an unnecessary restraint. Since their natures were holy, he urged that the angels should obey the dictates of their own will. He sought to create sympathy for himself by representing that God had dealt unjustly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon Christ. He claimed that in aspiring to greater power and honor he was not aiming at self-exaltation, but was seeking to secure liberty for all the inhabitants of heaven, that by this means they might attain to a higher state of existence.

God in His great mercy bore long with Lucifer. He was not immediately degraded from his exalted station when he first indulged the spirit of discontent, nor even when he began to present his false claims before the loyal angels. Long was he retained in heaven. Again and again, he was offered pardon on condition of repentance and submission. Such efforts as only infinite love and wisdom could devise were made to convince him of his error. The spirit of discontent had never before been known in heaven. Lucifer himself did not at first see whither he was drifting; he did not understand the real nature of his feelings. But as his dissatisfaction was proved to be without cause, Lucifer was convinced that he was in the wrong, that the divine claims were just, and that he ought to acknowledge them as such before all heaven. Had he done this, he might have saved himself and many angels. He had not at this time fully cast off his allegiance to God. Though he had forsaken his position as covering cherub, yet if he had been willing to return to God, acknowledging the Creator’s wisdom, and satisfied to fill the place appointed him in God’s great plan, he would have been reinstated in his office. But pride forbade him to submit. He persistently defended his own course, maintained that he had no need of repentance, and fully committed himself, in the great controversy, against his Maker.

All the powers of his mastermind were now bent to the work of deception, to secure the sympathy of the angels that had been under his command. Even the fact that Christ had warned and counseled him was perverted to serve his traitorous designs. To those whose loving trust bound them most closely to him, Satan had represented that he was wrongly judged, that his position was not respected and that his liberty was to be abridged. From misrepresentation of the words of Christ, he passed to prevarication and direct falsehood, accusing the Son of God of a design to humiliate him before the inhabitants of heaven. He sought also to make a false issue between himself and the loyal angels. All whom he could not subvert and bring fully to his side he accused of indifference to the interests of heavenly beings. The very work which he himself was doing he charged upon those who remained true to God. And to sustain his charge of God’s injustice toward him, he resorted to misrepresentation of the words and acts of the Creator. It was his policy to perplex the angels with subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plainest statements of Jehovah. His high position, in such close connection with the divine administration, gave greater force to his representations, and many were induced to unite with him in rebellion against Heaven’s authority.

God in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry forward his work until the spirit of disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for his plans to be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might be seen by all. Lucifer, as the anointed cherub, had been highly exalted; he was greatly loved by the heavenly beings, and his influence over them was strong. God’s government included not only the inhabitants of heaven but of all the worlds that He had created; and Satan thought that if he could carry the angels of heaven with him in rebellion, he could carry also the other worlds. He had artfully presented his side of the question, employing sophistry and fraud to secure his objects. His power to deceive was very great, and by disguising himself in a cloak of falsehood he had gained an advantage. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his character or see what his work was leading.

Satan had been so highly honored, and all his acts were so clothed with mystery, that it was difficult to disclose to the angels the true nature of his work. Until fully developed, sin would not appear the evil thing it was. Heretofore it had had no place in the universe of God, and holy beings had no conception of its nature and malignity. They could not discern the terrible consequences that would result from setting aside the divine law. Satan had, at first, concealed his work under a specious profession of loyalty to God. He claimed to be seeking to promote the honor of God, the stability of His government, and the good of all the inhabitants of heaven. While instilling discontent into the minds of the angels under him, he had artfully made it appear that he was seeking to remove dissatisfaction. When he urged that changes be made in the order and laws of God’s government, it was under the pretense that these were necessary in order to preserve harmony in heaven.

In His dealing with sin, God could employ only righteousness and truth. Satan could use what God could not– flattery and deceit. He had sought to falsify the word of God and had misrepresented His plan of government before the angels, claiming that God was not just in laying laws and rules upon the inhabitants of heaven; that in requiring submission and obedience from His creatures, He was seeking merely the exaltation of Himself. Therefore it must be demonstrated before the inhabitants of heaven, as well as of all the worlds, that God’s government was just, His law perfect. Satan had made it appear that he himself was seeking to promote the good of the universe. The true character of the usurper, and his real object must be understood by all. He must have time to manifest himself by his wicked works.

The discord which his own course had caused in heaven, Satan charged upon the law and government of God. All evil he declared to be the result of the divine administration. He claimed that it was his own object to improve upon the statutes of Jehovah. Therefore it was necessary that he should demonstrate the nature of his claims, and show the working out of his proposed changes in the divine law. His own work must condemn him. Satan had claimed from the first that he was not in rebellion. The whole universe must see the deceiver unmasked.

Even when it was decided that he could no longer remain in heaven, Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since the service of love can alone be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice and the mercy of God in the destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted from existence, they would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. Evil must be permitted to come to maturity. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages Satan must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might forever be placed beyond all question.

Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages, a perpetual testimony to the nature and terrible results of sin. The working out of Satan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God’s government and His law is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made. Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy intelligences, to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin and suffering its punishments.

To the very close of the controversy in heaven, the great usurper continued to justify himself. When it was announced that with all his sympathizers he must be expelled from the abodes of bliss, then the rebel leader boldly avowed his contempt for the Creator’s law. He reiterated his claim that angels needed no control but should be left to follow their own will, which would ever guide them right. He denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of their liberty and declared that it was his purpose to secure the abolition of law; that, freed from this restraint, the hosts of heaven might enter upon a more exalted, more glorious state of existence.

With one accord, Satan and his host threw the blame of their rebellion wholly upon Christ, declaring that if they had not been reproved, they would never have rebelled. Thus stubborn and defiant in their disloyalty, seeking vainly to overthrow the government of God, yet blasphemously claiming to be themselves the innocent victims of oppressive power, the arch-rebel and all his sympathizers were at last banished from heaven.

Great Controversy, p. 492-500

Next time….the end of evil…..The Origin of Evil, Part 2

 

Essential Christian Beliefs

The Best Comfort Regarding Death

Leave a comment
God Compares Death to Sleep

None of the Bible writers believed that death is the time when the saints go to their reward in heaven.  They all looked forward to the resurrection when the reward would be given to all those who trust in Jesus. Jesus said,

“Behold I COME quickly; and My REWARD  is WITH me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

Revelation 22:12. 

The holy men of the Old Testament did not contradict the writers of the New Testament:

“Behold the Lord God will come…Behold His reward is with Him.”

Isaiah 40:10,

Well-meaning people have used a few verses out of context to contradict the multitude of texts which illustrate death is compared to sleep.

God, the only one who knows everything—including what death is like–tells us over and over in both the Old and New Testament that death is a “sleep.” Note these consistent statements:

Writing under inspiration,

The Psalmist David prayed to God lest he “SLEEP the SLEEP of Death.”

Psalm 13:3


“Now shall I SLEEP in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.”

Job 7:21

“Them that SLEEP in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Daniel 12:2

(Note the reference to the two resurrections. The first is for those “dead in Christ.” The second one is for the rest of the dead and the final judgment where they will be dead forever (2nd death)

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the FIRST RESURRECTION. Over such the SECOND DEATH has no power.”

Revelation 20:6 

“Now the days of David drew nigh that he should DIE…So David SLEPT with his fathers, and was buried.”

1 Kings 2: 1, 10

Miracles occurred when Jesus died on the cross:

“The earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen ASLEEP were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”

Matthew 27: 51-53

“AWAKE thou that SLEEPEST, and arise from the dead.”

Ephesians 5:14

When Stephen was stoned to death as the first Christian martyr, the Bible says,

“he fell ASLEEP.”

Acts 7:60

These are but a few of many examples from such diverse Bible writers as David, Job, Matthew, and Paul, and others who consistently speak of death as a “sleep.” Let’s hear and example from our Lord’s own lips.

One day Jesus received news that His friend Lazarus was very sick. After waiting two days before going to Lazarus, Jesus said:

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen ASLEEP; but I go, that I may AWAKEN him out of SLEEP.’ The disciples therefore (knowing how helpful bed rest is to sick people) said to Him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his DEATH, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, ‘Lararus is DEAD.”

John 11-11-14 NASB

Jesus used the same comparison of death to sleep in regard to the daughter of Jairus, whom he miraculously raised from the dead.

“He said to them, ‘Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.'” Matthew 9:24. See also Mark 5:39, Luke 8:52

The words of the Master Himself should settle the matter beyond all debate.

Speaking of death as a sleep is an appropriate, beautiful metaphor. But when the Word of God uses that term so consistently, it becomes more than a convenient euphemism for an unpleasant subject. For all who take the Bible seriously, it becomes FACT. And death itself becomes nothing to fear: It’s comforting to realize that just as drowsy slumber comes at the end of day, so death quiet, restful sleep comes at the end of life.

Psychiatrists know that death holds a terror for many people. But “men fear death as children fear the dark”—because it is unknown. Once we know the truth about death, that it’s simply a sleep without consciousness of time, its horror is dispelled.

If you were told by the Lord Himself to be comforted by certain words about death, would you listen? Would it be that your loved one is enjoying the streets of gold? Would your loved ones miss you? Of course they would, but is that heaven? God has a better plan! We will all see the Lord and go to heaven at the same time!

Listen to the words written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But notice that he ends his description of the second coming with the encouragement to get our comfort from his words:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead (sleeping) in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. THEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

What words are are to be comforting to us who mourn the death of a beloved?  Is it that they have gone to heaven and are looking down on us?  No!  The words that are to comfort us is that Jesus is coming!  He will resurrect us, not matter how long we have been sleeping the slumber of death.  And then there will be a reunion of all those who died “in Christ.”  Then we will receive immortality and new bodies:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”[

1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

I once heard a preacher trying to comfort the mother and father of a young man who died suddenly.  He said, their son was in heaven enjoying eternal youth and that “Death was swallowed up in victory.” But, look closely at how the pastor took this portion of scripture totally out of context.  It is only when Jesus returns and the dead in Christ are resurrected that this saying that is written can be proclaimed.

We cannot claim that Death is swallowed up in victory until Jesus returns:

 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death

1 Corinthians 15: 26

Recently, I had surgery and was put under anesthesia. The doctor told me that they were administering the drug to put me asleep. That was the last thing I remembered. It seemed like a nanosecond had passed before the nurse was waking me up, but yet it had been a couple of hours.

The sleep of death is but for a second.  The next thing a Christian will see in their resurrected body is the Lord returning in the clouds of heaven to take us to where he is. Here are the words Jesus used to comfort his disciples.  May it comfort us too.  May it give us the longing to Jesus come again soon

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14: 1-3

“Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 22:20

Comfort one another with these words….

Aplogetics, Reasons to Believe

Common Misconceptions About Christianity-BLIND FAITH

“Grow up!  It is silly to believe in the man-in-the-sky  stuff!”

“Your belief is based on myths, the human need for comfort, and blind faith.”

“There is no evidence for your faith.”

How many times have Christians heard this?  In this series, we are going to explore the misconceptions associated with Christianity and the reasons and evidence for belief in Jesus Christ.

I have learned over the 40 years, as a believer in Jesus, that people who make derogatory statements like the ones above are simply uninformed. But even if they are informed, it does not guarantee an acceptance of the truth about Jesus and the word of God.

Benjamin Warfield from Princeton University put it this way,

“We are not absurdly arguing that *Apologetics has in itself the power to make a man a Christian or to conquer the world to Christ. Only the Spirit of Life can communicate life to a dead soul….But we are arguing that faith is, in all its exercises alike, a form of conviction, and is, therefore, necessarily grounded in evidence.”

*Note: Apologetics (in the Greek language apología) is not about "aplogizing" in the modern sense of the word, but rather a reasoned defending the faith.

As Christians, we are directed by Peter (one who was an eyewitness to the life of Christ) to:

….always be ready to give a defense (apología) to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

1 Peter 3:15

We are also told by Paul, another eyewitness and major player in the growth of Christianity, that

 faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

__________________________________________________________

Unprepared for the world’s attack.

Herein is the problem with the great loss of faith by our young children who enter college and face mature men and women armed with questions and doubts determined to convert their minds into their own agnostic/atheist beliefs.

We raise our young children in almost sterile environments complete with band memberships, Christian socials, and fun things, which are OK.  At night we tell them nice Bible bedtime stories, also good,  but we don’t give them the evidence, substance,  nor the reasons for their faith in Jesus.  Many are ignorant of the Bible itself and its faith-giving prophecies.  Perhaps even more crippling is the absence of a personal experience with and dedication to Jesus.

Even us adults may find ourselves in a state of doubt and an anemic  Christian experience because our faith is not based on facts, but rather feelings and family tradition.

Faith is not blind, it has substance and evidence. I agree with those who say, “my heart cannot rejoice in what my mind rejects.” God invites us to think and use our minds, not just our heart (feelings)

Jesus quoted from the Old Testament when he said,

“…you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 

Mark 12:30

The Christian experience includes the mind (reasoning) and not just the emotion.  God asks us to “reason together” with him (Isaiah 1:18). Reasoning involves communication and this communication is performed through prayer and the opening of the heart to what He has already revealed to us in scripture. But, it also involves having “facts” for faith in Jesus.

The order of the three “f’s” in Christianity must occur in this order: Facts, Faith, Feeling.  The facts about Jesus give you reasons for your faith (trust in Jesus), and all this give you the peace and all the feelings that come from the promises of God’s word.

An experience that starts and based only on feelings is destined to wither under the heat of life’s events.  Faith cannot be mustered up by mental exercises. The faith and feelings will come only by the facts.  This is what Paul stressed when he said,

 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17

As one evangelist, I knew, said,

“Little time in God’s word equals little faith, but much time in God’s word equals much faith.”

____________________________________________________________

Not Blind Faith

When Jesus Christ and the apostles called upon a person to exercise faith, it was not a ‘blind faith” but rather an “intelligent faith.”  The apostle Paul said,

I know whom I have believed”

2 Timothy 1:12

Jesus said,

You shall know (not ignore) the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:32

For me personally and many like me, I could not exercise blind faith about Jesus, I needed substance and evidence. I found it in three sources:  1.)  The prophecies about Jesus, 2.) History, and 3.) Eyewitness accounts.

“*The Christian faith is an objective faith; therefore, it must have an object. The Christian concept of ‘saving’ faith is a faith that establishes one’s relationship with Jesus Christ (the object), and is diametrically opposed to the average ‘philosophical’ use of the term faith in the classroom today.”

“Faith in the Christian sense goes beyond reason but not against it” (Paul Little)

For the Christian, historical facts are critical.  Paul drives home this point when he described the historical fact of the resurrection:

“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty…And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”

1 Corinthians 15: 14, 17

The Stories of the  Bible Are Not Myths

“Critics sometimes charge, ‘Events such as the virgin birth, the resurrection and ascension, Jesus’ turning water into wine and walking on water didn’t really happen. They were inserted to elevate Jesus to the status of a divine figure, though, if he lived at all, he was no more than a mere mortal.” “A professor of a world literature class to which I spoke asked the question, ‘What do you think of Greek mythology?’ I answered with another question, ‘Do you mean, were the events of the life of Jesus, the resurrection, virgin birth, etc., just myth?’ He answered ‘Yes.’ I replied that there is an obvious difference between the events recorded about Christ in the Bible and the stories conveyed in Greek mythology that bear a vague similarity. The similar stories , such as resurrections, and others, of Greek mythology were not applied to real flesh-and-blood individuals, but instead to non-historical, fictional, mythological characters However, when it comes to Christianity, these events are attached to the historic Jesus of Nazareth who the New Testament writers knew personally, the professor replied, ‘Your’re right, I never realized that before.”

The Bible Contains Eyewitnesses Unlike Mythology or the Writings of Other Religious Works

Peter was an eyewitness who refutes the events as fables:

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

2 Peter 1:16

John saw and touched Jesus:

 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested (made known) to us—  that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

1 John 1: 1-3

Luke, an educated physician put together a narrative from a “perfect understanding” of the events.

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled  among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,

Luke 1:1-3

Luke followed it up with “infallible proofs” as Jesus was seen by many for “forty days” after the cross.

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,  until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Acts 1: 1-3

Paul saw Jesus after 500 people saw him “at once” ( a congregation of people), then James and all the apostles saw Him.

After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.  Then last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

1 Corinthians 15: 6-8

John was an eyewitness to Jesus’ miracles and signs, most were not even written down! 

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name….And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

John 20: 30-31, 21:25

Luke states they were all witnesses even His death, resurrection, and having meals with Him afterward.

And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they[ killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,  not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.

Acts 10: 39-42

Peter witness not only His sufferings but also looked forward to the second glorious return as taught by Jesus before he died!

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

1 Peter 1:5

His followers listened and watched as Jesus ascended to heaven as promised.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Acts 1:9

Peter discloses to hecklers to the Pentecost that they also saw and know the actions and events of Jesus life

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

Acts 2:22

After Festus called Paul mad, Paul discloses that all that Jesus did was in the open and King Agrippa must have known about it. Further, Paul appealed to King Agrippa’s knowledge of the prophets and the fulfillment of their words in Jesus.

Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

 But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.  For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

Acts 26: 24-28

Conclusion

The Christian beliefs are not based on blind faith nor myths and fables. They are based on substance and evidence. Like all historical characters, there were eyewitnesses.  Faith is based on substance and evidence, but even the evidence is not enough to convert a person.  That person will only be convinced and converted if they yield to the encouraging the work of God’s Spirit which brings conviction about sin and its ultimate results.  Once the person goes “all-in” with Jesus, they will discover a life of peace, real joy, and hope in the coming events proclaimed by Jesus and God’s word.

Next time we will continue our study on misconceptions about Christianity.

*Much thanks to Josh McDowell and his book The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict. Volume I and II

Prophecies for Our Time, Reasons to Believe

Science, Sickness, and Death-Good Reasons to Doubt?

Leave a comment

Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise; do not ignore it.

Proverbs 8:33

A Brilliant Mind Falls Short

Albert Einstein was arguably one of the most brilliant minds of all times, yet he admitted his short-comings and “limited mind” on the topic of God.  He did not believe in a personal God. He considered himself an  agnostic or a “religious unbeliever.”

Einstein was not an atheist. He could see the work of a Creator in the order of the cosmos. He often complained about being put into the atheist camp:

“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.”5

“I’m not an atheist and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.”6

Einstein also expressed his skepticism regarding the existence of an anthropomorphic God, such as the God of Abrahamic religions, often describing this view as “naïve”[3] and “childlike”.[11] 

In a 1947 letter, he stated, “It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously.”[12] In a letter to Beatrice Frohlich on 17 December 1952, Einstein stated,

“The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naïve.”[13]

He also said, in an interview with the Saturday Evening Post (1929):

“As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.”

When asked,

“Do you accept the historical existence of Jesus?”, He replied emphatically,

“Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”7

____________________________________________________

The Shortcoming of Scientific Intelligence-Lack of Knowledge

Here is the oxymoron of Einstein’s statements. It fits many who consider Jesus to be a wise teacher, but nothing more:

Albert had doubts about the existence of a personal God, but he found Jesus wise and appealing in many ways. That is personal. Despite all this, he would not follow God’s own instructions so that he could know him personally:

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

God, Himself, tells the reader of His word that it is possible to know and understand Him.

But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these, I delight,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:24

It is possible to have a personal relationship with One who delights in things.  Being delightful is a very human emotion. It is an emotion that God possesses. There are human beings (like God) who are loving, kind, and always does the right thing for others, often sacrificing their own desires and comforts.  They did not come to be this way by themselves.  God is the author of these qualities!  But, there is another author at work that has opposite qualities.

Here is the big hangup in the scientific mind.  They won’t accept the fact that evil had a beginning and the flames of its passion are whipped up by this entity in the minds and hearts of people every day.   He is the author of destruction and death.

The scientific mind can’t, or won’t, consider the Bible as a viable book to read and study; therefore they will not search for spiritual knowledge. And since they won’t search its inspired writers, their skepticism grows. The converted Paul said,

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14

They can’t see the order of the cosmos and life as did Mr. Einstein. They would rather attribute it to chance and billions of years of blind luck. But, let’s be fair.  There are some very good reasons for people to doubt the existence of God or, at the least, a personal God.

________________________________________________________________________

Religion and Jesus-Two Different Things:

Real followers of Christ (not the religious) have found that the key to understanding God is Jesus. It is all about Him from Genesis to Revelation:

1 Corinthians 2:14

You search the Scriptures,…. these are they which testify of Me.-Jesus

John 5:39

At another time, Jesus revealed to his disciples an important truth about the God of the Old Testament and Himself.

 “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Luke 24:  44, 45

So if the scriptures are about Jesus, we can’t just say he is a “good teacher” or a “good moral man”….who suddenly and without warning appeared on the scene.  He is the One who all the writers of the Old Testament wrote and sought over the millennia of time. But, when

the time was right, God sent his Son…..Galatians 4:4

So, why wouldn’t a scientific mind desire to have a knowledge of Jesus and scripture?  It is because it is not science and does not fit into the comfortable world of science and its operational sterile paradigms.  The Bible is not a book of science, but rather a book about the human experience and spiritual truths. If God is all that He claims to be, then He is the author of science and the scientists are merely the discoverers of His science.  For example, scientists did not create the laws of gravity…they discovered them.

___________________________________________________________

Religion is Its Own Worst Enemy

Another couple of reasons for the scientific mind to dismiss the book that provides insight into many of the human experiences not addressed by science is the radical religionists and suffering.

The religious people are their own worst enemy! The ones who are not real followers of Jesus, but people who are re”religious” portray the God of mercy and loving-kindness and his truth into undesirable rounds of ceremonies, does and don’ts, eternal torment, and guilt trips. Some even feel God desires them to terrorize people into belief…and I am not just talking about our friends in the middle east. How often is eternal burning hell used as a weapon to scare the uninformed into belief?

You can’t blame unbelievers.  For a long time, this was my main reasons for unbelief and disdain for churches.  There are no answers or peace in such a religious world. But, there is a path to truth in Jesus who invites people into a one-on-one experience with Him.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

_____________________________________________________________-

Unbelief in God Because of Death and Suffering

Often I receive comments from readers of this blog and some of my Facebook sites who say that Jesus is “an imaginary friend.” While others ask, “Where was God’ when my (fill in a family member relationship) died from cancer or was killed in a car wreck, etc.

Einstein had similar feelings about the incompatibility of a caring God and the daily horrors of planet earth:

How many have asked….

 “Why would God allow my family member to die of cancer?”

“Why has he allowed death and destruction to reign on this planet?”

“Where was God when...If there is a God, He is not in control.”

These questions pre-suppose that God should make our lives perfect and without sin, death, and destruction.  To the uninformed, belief is contingent upon our feelings of what God should be like.  But, this is not according to what is revealed in God’s word.  This author captures my next thoughts exactly:

God made man perfectly holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from the Creator’s hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of the curse. It is transgression of God’s law–the law of love–that has brought woe and death. Yet even amid the suffering that results from sin, God’s love is revealed. It is written that God cursed the ground for man’s sake. Genesis 3:17. The thorn and the thistle–the difficulties and trials that make his life one of toil and care–were appointed for his good as a part of the training needful in God’s plan for his uplifting from the ruin and degradation that sin has wrought. 

God’s Love for Man. Page 9

When God made man as described in the opening chapters of Genesis, everything He made, He declared “good” or “very good.” There was not death, decaying, or the curse. But something went terribly wrong. Evil in the form of a rebellious angel called Lucifer began the journey of sin, death, and decay.  He is the author of the bad things in this life not God for it is written:

 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.

James 1:17 (ERV)

So when we blame God for the evil in this world, we demonstrate we do so without a knowledge of God and what He has revealed to us through his word.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55: 8, 9

Einstein’s failure to understand the motives of God are the result of his incorrect assumption that God intended this universe as His ultimate perfect creation. Einstein could not get past the moral problems that are present in our universe. He assumed, as most atheists do, that a personal God would only create a universe which is both good morally and perfect physically. Where Einstein erred was in that thinking that there was a god who designed the universe, but designed it in such as way as to allow evil without a purpose

___________________________________________________________________

It would be too inconvenient or dangerous to the dedicated scientist and to their worldview to consider there might be more to existence than what can be explained through formulas, books, test tubes, and philosophies, or unbelieving professors that focus only on what can be seen and understood by “limited human minds.”  Therefore, many won’t listen or follow any of Jesus’ words even though all are invited to follow Him down a path of discovery. So His words are chosen by unbelievers and religionists like fruit from the tree of knowledge to fit their own likeness of God, while other less palatable instructions are left to rot on the altar of narcissism and selfishness.

…while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

John 5:39

Ultimately, we cannot project limited human thoughts, philosophies, or reasoning upon God and create Him in our own image. He is supreme.  We are not.  He is omnipotent, we are not.

 How can we intelligently base our decision to be an unbeliever based on cancer which is often the result of our own actions i.e. smoking cigarettes or runaway eating of anything and everything?

The order and intelligence of the design of the universe leave us will little excuse for unbelief.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Romans 1:20

Yes, you can know God personally, but you must search and desire to understand and gain knowledge unlike what you will gain from the textbooks or even blog sites like this.  Being a scientist does not mean you can’t study and read the Bible.  If you do, at the least, you will find wisdom.  In fact, there are many scientists who are believers in Jesus and have faith in God’s word.

I have concluded that unbelievers are the uninformed! When I searched out Jesus through the Bible I found Him. He is there if you will just look.

Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise; do not ignore it.

Proverbs 8:33

If you want to begin your Jesus journey through the Bible, I invite you to click on the site below to begin a basic understanding of God’s word.  These studies will lead you to a deeper and deeper to an understanding of spiritual things and the God who made the universe.

Free Online Bible School

________________________________________________________________________

References

  1. “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” (Albert Einstein, “Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium”, 1941)
  2. “My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.” (Albert Einstein in a letter to M. Berkowitz, October 25, 1950; Einstein Archive 59–215; from Alice Calaprice, ed., The New Quotable Einstein, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2005, p. 206. )
  3. Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman (eds) (1981). Albert Einstein, The Human Side. Princeton University Press. p. 43.
  4. Cable reply to Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein’s (Institutional Synagogue in New York) question to Einstein, “Do you believe in God?”.
  5. Prinz Hubertus zu Lowenstein, Towards the Further Shore: An Autobiography (Victor Gollancz, London, 1968), p. 156.
  6. G. S. Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (Macauley, New York, 1930), quoted by D. Brian, Einstein: A Life , p. 186.
  7. G. S. Viereck, “What Life Means to Einstein,” Saturday Evening Post, 26 October 1929; Schlagschatten, Sechsundzwanzig Schicksalsfragen an Grosse der Zeit (Vogt-Schild, Solothurn, 1930), p. 60; Glimpses of the Great (Macauley, New York, 1930), pp. 373-374.

 

 

 

Daniel and Revelation

Daniel & Revelation-Part 6- Longest Time Prophecy

Leave a comment

Then I heard a holy one speaking;…“How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Daniel 8:13-14

_____________________________________________________________

Recap from the last study

See: Daniel and Revelation-Part 5-Longest Time Prophecy-Ram and Goat

In Daniel’s vision, he saw a vicious battle between a ram and a goat.  The two animals are easily identified as the kingdoms of Media-Persia and Greece:

The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of  Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king.

Daniel 8:20-21

So, there can be no doubt who these animals represent. History has proved the succession of these nations to be absolutely correct. The large horn of the kingdom of Greece is the first king who history has shown to be Alexander the Great.

As the prophecy predicted, Alexander’s great kingdom of Greece was divided into “four notable” generals: Ptolemy Lysimachus, Cassander, and Seleucus.

Then “from out of one of them came a little horn.”  This little horn power represented pagan Rome, the next kingdom in the succession of conquering kingdoms. This power corresponded to the iron legs in the metal image of Daniel 2 and the “dreadful beast” of Daniel 7.

These prophecies of Daniel 2, 7, and 9 are clearly interpreted from God’s own word within each chapter and further confirmed by the historians looking back on that time period.

This little horn now becomes the center of attention of Daniel.  He understood the rise and fall of the nations, but his main focus is on the little horn power and the destructive events at its hand.

The battles and events have been on a horizontal plane up to this point, but now it turns vertical and a spiritual war against the host of heaven.

 And it grew up to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host, and by him, the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered

Daniel 8: 10-12

This little horn power that “grew up” greatly concerned Daniel.  At this point in his vision, Daniel heard a conversation between the two attending angels:

 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Daniel 8: 13-14

Even the attending angels wanted to know how long this little horn power would rule and wage its war against God’s people and even Jesus Himself (Prince of the host). The chapter ends leaving us in suspense because even though the question about “how long” has been answered as “two thousand three hundred days” we have no idea as to the starting point. Daniel is so troubled by this little horn power that he faints and becomes sick. This time period is the only part of this prophecy not interpreted….at least at this point.

And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward, I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.

Daniel 8:27

___________________________________________________________

Daniel’s Prayer

Chapter 8 ends with the words “no one understood it.”  The ram, the goat, the horns were all explained and everyone understood this part, because the angel interpreted the beasts to represent coming kingdoms that would rise and fall.   But the little horn and its time of rule remained mysterious.

Chapter 9 opens with Daniel studying another prophet-Jeremiah. We must remember that Daniel and the Jews were in captivity, but Daniel understood from the book of Jeremiah that their captivity would last 70 years and those 70 years were coming to a close:

“I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”

Daniel 9: 2

Starting in verse 3, Daniel begins to pray to God in a state of great humility and confession for himself and his people (Jews) who have sinned against God.  Because of this, they did not enjoy the benefits, mercy, and protection God offers to those who keep His covenant and obey His commandments. They were in captivity!

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.  And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,..“

Daniel 9: 3-4

(Note: God’s covenant can be either conditional or unconditional based on the context. In the previous passage, we see that those who love Him and keep His commandments are recipients of His covenant of mercy.)

“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.

Daniel 9: 13

Such a great truth!  When we separate ourselves from Him and fail to follow His will, disaster is sure to come. But, through connecting back with this merciful God through prayer and turning from “our iniquities” we can find the path of righteousness and protection for our souls!

__________________________________________________________________________

As Daniel is praying, Gabriel appears.  He was the angel who interpreted the dream in Chapter 8.  This messenger of God has returned to continue the explanation of the part of the prophecy that concerned Daniel in Chapter 8.

 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 

Daniel 9: 20-22

 The context of the following time prophecy is with the 2,300 days until the sanctuary will be cleansed. (Daniel 8:14).  Gabriel has come to help him understand the vision.  What vision?  It was the mysterious part of Chapter 8.  All of it was explained except for the little horn that concerned Daniel and the time part of the vision i.e. 2,300 days. We know this to be true because this is what Gabriel explains.

(Note: In our previous study, we determined through comparing Bible passages about time prophecy that a day represents a year. (e.g Numbers 14:34, etc). So we are talking about 2,300 years.

_________________________________________________

God’s Mercy – Daniel’s People Given Time

“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.”

Daniel 9: 24

Th Greek word chathak word is translated “determined” which means “cut-off” or “marked out” Out of the 2,300 years, 70 weeks are cut-off or marked out for Daniel’s people (Jews). Using the day-year principle of interpretation, The 70 weeks are 490 years (70 X 7).  So out of the 2,300 years, 490 are given to the Jews to complete their purpose as God’s chosen people.  Their purpose was to follow and believe God.  To obey His laws within their heart rather than through legalism. Equally important was to bring in everlasting righteousness and end the vision and prophecy via anointing the Most Holy (Jesus)

But when was the time period to start?  When did the 2,300 days begin as well as these 70 weeks (490 years)? The answer is found in the next verse:

“Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street[ shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.”

Daniel 9:29

Here is our starting point for the 2,300 days.  A portion of this time period is allotted or “marked out” for Daniel’s people the Jewish nation.

The starting point is the “command to restore and build Jerusalem.” This was a command still future to Daniel, but we can easily find the time and date of this command from the Bible and history!

This command to restore and build Jerusalem can be found in Ezra Chapter 7 when Artaxerxes gave the commandment in 457 BC. (See the notes at the end)

The Arrival Time of Jesus the Messiah Predicted

Starting with this date, the prophecy is unlocked.  From 457 BC until “Messiah the Prince” would be 69 weeks.  There are 483 days in 69 weeks, but using the day/year principal, we discover that 483 years after 457 BC brings us to 27 AD.  This was the date Jesus was baptized and began his ministry.  The Messiah had arrived right on time! He was “anointed” by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He[ saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3: 16-17

Jesus also announced at the beginning of His ministry this message:

“Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1: 14, 15

The time of Daniel’s prophecy had been fulfilled. The Messiah the prince came right on schedule…483 years after the commandment to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” 

This time prophecy is further confirmed by the words of Paul (A great student of God’s word):

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son

Galatians 4: 4

But the prophecy continues

Jesus Ministry Confirms the Covenant

Jesus’ direct ministry would cover the space of 3 1/2 years. That is half of 7 years or the midst of the week. in 31  AD Jesus died on a cruel cross for us and not for Himself, but Jesus indirect ministry would continue through His disciples for an additional 3 1/2 years.

And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself...

…Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

Daniel 9: 26

Jesus’ message was primarily to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” first and foremost.  There are many parables and direct statements of Jesus.  He was “confirming the covenant” as predicted in this Daniel 9 prophecy.  Here is one example:

But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 15: 24

To continue with the confirmation of the covenant  God made with “Daniel’s people” (Israel) even after the “Messiah the Prince” had been “cut off,” Jesus gave specific instruction to His disciples before they “preached the gospel in all the world“

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel

Matthew 10: 5,6

They obeyed the resurrected and ascended Christ by doing this very thing for an additional 3 1/2 years to complete the prophecy to “confirm the covenant for one week” (7 years).

In 34 AD, Stephen was stoned marking the end of the 70 weeks (490 years) cut off from the 2,300 years before the sanctuary would be cleansed.

After that point, the gospel burden went to the Gentiles and those who accepted Christ as the Messiah became the new Israel. Listen to the words of Paul confirming this understanding of the mission of Christ and the fulfillment of the 70-week prophecy:

Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

Acts 13:46

Paul would go on to describe the real nation of Israel and how it is identified:

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3: 29

 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Romans 2:29

Let’s review the 70 weeks (490 years) through this simple chart:

 

 

Here are the important dates:

  • 457 BC-The commandment by Artaxerxes (Ezra 7: 12-26) to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem
  • 483 years later, “Messiah the Prince” appeared right on time. This was in 27 AD when Jesus was anointed and began his ministry primarily to the nation of Israel
  • In 31 AD, Jesus was crucified (3 1/2 years after his ministry to the house of Israel began)
  • 34 AD marked the end of the 70 weeks (490 years) allotted to the nation of Israel to turn to their God. In this year,  Stephen was stoned and the disciples began to be persecuted. Shortly after, Paul would begin his ministry to the Gentiles. He called himself a preacher to the Gentiles:

 I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles

2 Timothy 1:11

  • 70 weeks (490 years) of the 2300 days (years) are used in this section of the prophecy.  1810 years remains.

1810 years from 34 AD leads us to the year 1844. Daniel was told in the longest time prophecy that at the end of the 2300 days (years) the sanctuary would be “cleansed.”  What doe this mean?  We will let the bible interpreted itself in our next study, but here is a short introduction.

The sanctuary services were instituted by God Himself.  The pattern was given to Moses.  This design is a copy of the heavenly sanctuary. Some might think there is nothing applicable to the Christian since these services ended when Jesus was “cut off” and,

“(brought) an end to sacrifice and offering.

Daniel 9:27

But, as we shall understand next time, Paul dedicated a whole book to the study of the sanctuary and its comparison to the ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.  It is the book of Hebrews. If the earthly sanctuary and its services is a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, then it must foreshadow the work of Jesus there in heaven.  He has gone to “prepare a place for us.”  Does this mean He is a carpenter and building mansions or is He a priest doing a service of preparation for His people?

The old sanctuary service of “cleansing” is a type of resolution and end of the sin issue. By studying closely the sanctuary services, we will see a picture of what God has planned for the return of Jesus and an end of sin which includes the conquering of the last enemy, death.

Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Hebrews 8:5

And for this reason, He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:15

Until next time, may the Lord bless and keep you and your family.

_____________________________________________________________________

Notes on the Ezra dates:

*Notes about the dates described above:

Ezra has three decrees with different dates that could be used.  Nehemiah has a date also.  But the decision as to which one to use, you must keep in mind the key words of the prophecy: “the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.”

The four decrees are :
The decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4)
The decree of Darius I (Ezra 6:1-12)
The decree of Artaxerxes I (Longimanuus) (Ezra 7: 12-26)
The decree of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah Chapters 1 and 2)
Let’s eliminate some of the dates  based on the guiding verse of Daniel 9:25
Ezra 1-gave instruction only for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Said nothing about the whole city.  We can eliminate this date.
Ezra 6-simply the endorsement by Darius of the decree of Cyrus.  Only mentions the building of the “house of God.” We can eliminate this date.
Ezra 7 makes provision for complete restoration of the Jewish state, including the right to appoint magistrates and judges, hold trials, and pass and execute sentence upon violators of the own national laws. This is the date that fits the idea of “restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem.” 
Nehemiah 2-Wording has not been preserved but was simply a reinstatement of Artaxerxes original authorization to Ezra recorded in Ezra chapter 7.
Determination of the date of the decree: It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign (Ezra 7:7,8)
Biblical evidence for the 457 BC start date:
The dates for Artaxerxes reign are well documented in the ancient sources: Greek historians, Ptolemy’s Canon
The Babylonian business tablets
Elephantine papyri from Egypt
From the above documents, we know that Xerxes was killed in late December of 465 B.C. and the reign of Artaxerxes began at the time.

Artaxerxes Reign

Fall to Fall
First year 464/463 B.C.
Second year 463/462 B.C.
Third year 462/461 B.C.
Fourth year 461/460 B.C.
Fifth year 460/459 B.C.
Sixth year 459/458 B.C.
Seventh year 458/457 B.C.

 

Therefore, the seventh year of Artaxerxes, according to Jewish reckoning, extended from the fall of 458 to the fall of 457 B. C.

Reformation 500

Was Jesus’ Prayer for Unity Answered?

2 Comments

I love the 17th Chapter of John.  It is truly the Lord’s payer.  In this chapter, we are allowed to sit close to Jesus and hear His words as he makes requests from our Father concerning himself, his disciples, and finally, believers who will believe the testimony of the disciples throughout the ages to come.  Let’s read this part of John 17:

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

John 17:21-23

Jesus is praying first of all for the disciples, but also those who would believe their eyewitness account of Jesus short teaching time (3 1/2 years)

The new testament tells us about the eyewitness account of the disciples and their Jesus journey, but we also know that Jesus is found in the Old Testament as well:

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself

Luke 24:27

Jesus gave a long Bible study to disappointed disciples the day after His crucifixion as they walked to Emmaus sad and dejected.  For His Bible study, Jesus used what we call the Old Testament.  The topic? Jesus!

A disciple named Philip once helped an Ethiopian understand about Jesus by teaching him Scripture.  What scripture?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

Acts 8:35

What was the Scripture?  Was it the New Testament?  No! What we call as the New Testament had not been assembled and parts of it had not been written.  The scripture about Jesus came from the Old Testament! Philip explained to the Ethiopian this passage:

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.

Isaiah 53: 7,8 

Because of this, we should not be shy about learning from the Old Testament.  To neglect the teachings of the Old Testament is to be only partly equipped for your Jesus Journey.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2 Timothy 3:16

This passage was not about the New Testament.  It was not finished and assembled. It meant the scripture we call the Old Testament.  But, it certainly refers to the New Testament that we have now.

So Jesus’ prayer is for believers like you and me who believe in God’s word.  What was his prayer for the disciples and us who believe in God’s word?

…that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me

John 17 21

Jesus is praying for us to be one, but it is one in Jesus as he is one with the Father.  The purpose of this is for evangelism.  To help non-believers, believe.

And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

John 17: 22

Notice that he has given the disciples glory that came from the Father through Jesus.  This glory is given that we may be one just as Jesus and the Father are one!  That is powerful and so people will know about the love of God the Father and Jesus!  Here is how I see the unity Jesus desires in His prayer:

Picture1

_____________________________________________________________________

Let’s fast forward to 2017.

The Christian church is the largest of all religions, but it is divided into two major sections: Catholic and Protestant. Both are split into some 30,000 different denominations.

Lately, it has been suggested by the Pope and Tony Palmer (now deceased) that the divisions within the Christian church happened when the Protestants “protested” and broke away from the Catholic church.

Martin Luther a priest of the Catholic church found a Bible chained to a monastery wall written in Latin. As he read, he discovered the theme of righteousness by faith.  The church was promoting salvation by works.

As Martin Luther read the Bible and compared it with the Roman Catholics’ teaching, he developed 95 thesis that he was prepared to defend.  In 1517, he took this document and nailed it to the door of the Wittenberg church.  The document started off with these words:

Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate (make it clear, explain it), the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Reverend Father Martin Luther saw a conflict between the practices of the church and the words of the disciples and the words of the prophets.

He was ready to defend the truth either orally in person or by letter!

Tony Palmer made a statement in front of a large congregation of Protestants that Luther’s protest was over…finished… because the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church had signed an agreement about the theme of righteousness by faith.

But there we 94 more disagreements and many more men involved in the Protestant Reformation. Men such as John Calvin, John Wycliffe, Jon Huss, Peter Waldo and many others.  Many were burned at the stake for not giving alliance to the Roman Catholic church during what we call as the dark ages.

Tony proclaimed that the children should come home to the church at Rome.

So there is a big move toward unity between the Catholic church and many of the Protestant churches as I write this.  What is the basis for this unity?  Tony said that it is the Spirit that we can work out all our difference on doctrine “when we are upstairs.” That seems to be saying that the teachings of Jesus are not as important as unity.  His teaching and the teaching of all the prophets are doctrines are they not?

‘Truth and doctrine of God’s word cannot be compromised.  Why? Because the doctrine is the revealed will of God.  It is teachings of Christ and of God.  Can we compromise any truth?  Which ones do we throw out for the sake of unity?

___________________________________________________________

Divisions within the church started long before the 16th century

Let’s look at a few instances from the Bible:

 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”  Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

Many of the believers were lining up behind men and their teachings that they liked.  It was like a popularity contest.  Does this sound familiar?  Paul was pleading that they all come together and speak the same thing and that there are no divisions!   He wanted them to line up behind Jesus, who is not divided.  Paul placed the importance on Christ and not himself when he asked, in 55 AD “Was Paul crucified for you?”

Making a commitment to Jesus can cause divisions:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 10: 34-39

No doubt we are to love and care for our family, but making Jesus #1 in your life can be tested if you have to choose family over following Jesus.  We often hear people say that their priorities in life are:

God then family then job.

This is sometimes tested.

Paul knew that when he left a town he had evangelized, that men would come in and draw them away from the simple teachings of the gospel and Jesus:

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Acts 20:29-32

What protects the new believer from these wolves?  The new believer is like a small seedling just starting to sprout.  It must be fed, watered and pampered until it is rooted and grounded.  Let us never forget this.

Also, grumblers and complainers in the church can cause divisions:

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.  These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Jude 1: 16-19

Notice the type of person they are:  sensual who cause divisions and they don’t have the Spirit of God in them.  They will use flattery to gain an advantage.  With their mouth, they will use “swelling words” to influence.

How often do people decide truth by the appearance of the person rather than by comparing their teaching with the word of God?  During Paul’s time, there were a people who were very careful to compare Paul’s teaching with the word of God.  We must be like them!

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Acts 17:11

Notice they were excited about receiving the words of Paul, but they searched the scriptures every day to see if Paul was telling the truth.  How many people in a church can do this or even want to do it?

The word of God should never be compromised for the sake of unity.  The word is what is a light unto our path.  There is no light in someone who teaches against God’s word:

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isaiah 8:20

______________________________________________________

So the question is did Jesus’ prayer fail?  No!  If you are in Christ.

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Romans 12:5

Our unity is found IN Christ. We are members of the same body if we are IN Christ!

 Many are at different points in their Jesus Journey, but if we are IN Christ we are IN the father and are one!  Some have much light from God’s word and some have little but we can be one IN Christ.

The term “IN CHRIST” appears 76 times in the New Testament. Notice that right after the phrase is the way to be “IN CHRIST”

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are IN Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 8:1

“Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified IN Christ Jesus, called to be saints.”

1 Corinthians 1:2

Church is not a membership, it is a calling! We are sanctified IN Christ and called to do His will!

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”

Ephesians 4:1

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

Ephesians 4:4

What is this calling?

It is to follow in his steps to live a life IN Christ following His example.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

1 Peter 2:21

Here is how to be IN Christ:

Unity in Christ

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For

“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers

1 Peter 3: 8-12

By doing these things, you are doing the things you were called to do!

_______________________________________________________________

So we are brought into unity as individuals who are IN Christ.  When we believe and follow His words as given by his disciples (eye witnesses) and the prophets who were carried away in vision we become one.

We might be different by sex, nationality, race but if we are In Christ we are one:

 For you are all sons of God through faith IN Christ Jesus…There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one IN Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:26, 28

If we are truly in Christ, His word will not be compromised in our experience with Him. Those “in Christ” will be eager to know His will and follow the simple word of God, not worrying about mother, father, son, or daughter, or church denomination.  Unity is about individuals who have a personal experience with the Lord and not necessarily, about organizations,  His word will bring division, but it is for the purpose of separating truth from false; real from unreal; sincere from insincere; saved from lost so that His church might accurately reflect His character and love for people.

Reformation 500

Reformation 500 Years-The Controversy Ended

Leave a comment

Today, October 31, 2017, marks the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation!  What does God have in store for us as we move forward in our journey?

I hope you have seen the importance of the Reformation period through these excerpts from the book, The Great Controversy.  We only scratched the surface in the last several days.  The book is over 600 pages. This inspired writing pulls back the curtains and exposes the working of the evil one over the centuries.

My prayer is that you will read the entire book.  But, more importantly, my desire is you will study God’s word daily. To help, you, we offer free online Bible studies.  If it is your desire to know more, just click on the link in the upper right-hand corner called “Free Online Bible Studies”

The Last Enemy Destroyed

 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15: 20-26

_____________________________________________________________

The great controversy between Christ and Satan all started with war in heaven between Christ and Lucifer. (Revelation 12:7).  Soon Satan and His angels squeezed in on God’s new creation through his lies to Adam and Eve.  Then mankind came under the dominion of sin and death.  God’s first step in the plan of salvation was at that moment when HE asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you.”  (Genesis 3: 1-9). God came searching for us and asks us even today “where are you?” The question is more for us that it is for Him. When we realize we are separated from God, our heart will begin to change.

Then the first death occurred on earth when an innocent animal gave its skin for the covering of a naked, cold, and fearful creatures created in the image of God (Genesis 3:21). Since that time, death has reigned unstoppable on planet earth. The only hope we have is that innocent lamb of God who covers our sins and His resurrection that demonstrates his power over death.

The great controversy between Christ and Satan has continued throughout the ages even to our time. It is not over.  It will not be over until death is destroyed.  It is the last enemy…the last thing disturbing the peace God intended for the earth and universe.

The great controversy did not end with the cross nor the resurrection otherwise, Satan would not be effective in the destruction of souls today.  Today, he mars the image of God in people through his desperate lies and attempts to remove God from the very thoughts of mankind. But, the death of Jesus for our sins on the cross and His resurrection, not to mention the ministry of Jesus in the sanctuary in heaven, has forever sealed the fate of Satan and all those who have chosen a sinful life on earth in exchange for happiness and immortality on an earth made new. Jesus is the victor, because of His life, death, resurrection, heavenly priesthood, and His soon return to end the great controversy.

The rebellion continues, but the power of God’s word is stronger than all the evil of Satan and fallen angels.

The controversy will end when there is no more death and Satan and his followers are no more.  Until then, the battle for man’s soul will continue.  The beast will make every attempt to frustrate the desire of anyone to rely on Sola Scriptura and the direct access to Jesus as our mediator in heaven.

____________________________________________________

Excerpts from the book, The Great Controversy stating on page, 636 and 662

God’s People Delivered

It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow in quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up and clash against each other. In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying: “It is done.” Revelation 16:17.

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, “such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” Verses 17, 18. The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a reed in the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a roar as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriek of a hurricane like the voice of demons upon a mission of destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way. Mountain chains are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports that have become like Sodom for wickedness are swallowed up by the angry waters. Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God, “to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” Great hailstones, every one “about the weight of a talent,” are doing their work of destruction. Verses 19, 21. The proudest cities of the earth are laid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world’s great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rent asunder, and God’s people, who have been held in bondage for their faith, are set free.

Graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth. . . awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2. All who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God’s covenant of peace with those who have kept His law. “They also which pierced Him” (Revelation 1:7), those that mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.

Thick clouds still cover the sky; yet the sun now and then breaks through, appearing like the avenging eye of Jehovah.

Now is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for His disciples: “I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” “Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring: “Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given Me.” “Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept.” Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin’s discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!

________________________________________________________________________

The Controversy Ended

At the close of the thousand years (Note: For a clear study of the thousand years, click here.), Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the redeemed and attended by a retinue of angels. As He descends in terrific majesty He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised at the first resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty. The wicked bear the traces of disease and death.

Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim: “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth with the same enmity to Christ and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new probation in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgression has not softened their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would be occupied as was the first in evading the requirements of God and exciting rebellion against Him.

Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the prophet: “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, . . . and there shall be a very great valley.” “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.” Zechariah 14:5, 4, 9. As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the Holy City.

Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan’s captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom. In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell.

Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions.

At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on–an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth’s broken and uneven surface to the City of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city and make ready for the onset. 

Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fills the City of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance.

Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, . . . before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Revelation 7:9. Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run the race and reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their triumph, the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.

The aim of the great rebel has ever been to justify himself and to prove the divine government responsible for the rebellion. To this end he has bent all the power of his giant intellect. He has worked deliberately and systematically, and with marvelous success, leading vast multitudes to accept his version of the great controversy which has been so long in progress. For thousands of years this chief of conspiracy has palmed off falsehood for truth. But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated and the history and character of Satan disclosed. In his last great effort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take possession of the City of God, the archdeceiver has been fully unmasked. Those who have united with him see the total failure of his cause. Christ’s followers and the loyal angels behold the full extent of his machinations against the government of God. He is the object of universal abhorrence.

Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has trained his powers to war against God; the purity, peace, and harmony of heaven would be to him supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced. The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself. And now Satan bows down and confesses the justice of his sentence.

“Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.” Verse 4. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan’s rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’s wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all His dealings in the great controversy have been conducted with respect to the eternal good of His people and the good of all the worlds that He has created. “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee.” Psalm 145:10. The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that with the existence of God’s law is bound up the happiness of all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.”

 The sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch–Satan the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare the righteousness of Jehovah.

Satan’s work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has wrought his will, filling the earth with woe and causing grief throughout the universe. The whole creation has groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God’s creatures are forever delivered from his presence and temptations. “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they [the righteous] break forth into singing.” Isaiah 14:7. And a shout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe. “The voice of a great multitude,” “as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,” is heard, saying: “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Revelation 19:6.

While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the Holy City. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield. Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.

One reminder alone remains: Our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, beholding Christ in His glory: “He had bright beams coming out of His side: and there was the hiding of His power.” Habakkuk 3:4, margin. That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to God–there is the Saviour’s glory, there “the hiding of His power.” “Mighty to save,” through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that despised God’s mercy. And the tokens of His humiliation are His highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise and declare His power.

Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. There will be no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying: . . . for the former things are passed away.” “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 33:24.

There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, “a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” “Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” “The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.” Saith the Lord: “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people.” “The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Isaiah 62:3; Revelation 21:11, 24; Isaiah 65:19; Revelation 21:3.

In the City of God “there shall be no night.” None will need or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning and shall ever be far from its close. “And they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.” Revelation 22:5. The light of the sun will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God and the Lamb floods the Holy City with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day.

And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Revelation 5:13.

The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.

 

Reformation 500

Reformation 500 Years-The Scriptures a Safeguard

Leave a comment
Author’s notes:

Tomorrow (10-31-17) will be the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation.  Over the last several days, we have been reading excerpts from the book Great Controversy.  The writer quotes historians and pulls back the curtain on the events that took place when reformers discovered the Bible and compared it to the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic church.  To their surprise and eventually to their death, they discovered an evil force behind a powerful and widely accepted church which protected the head of a beast determined to keep the word of God out of the hands of the common people.

A good and Spirit-led Bible student can trace the rise and fall of the beast in the pages of God’s word.  This beast is cunning, deceptive and unlike other powers who rose out of the sea of people, nations, and wars.  The beast of Daniel and Revelation will use cunning and a show of signs to deceive the whole world in the last days and to enforce his dogmas hidden behind the transparent veil of good intentions.  Solutions for peace and unity will be the opening wedge between her and the separation of God’s word from the hearts of the people and appeal to the unbeliever.

The newly accepted protestant apostate teachers and prophets of the beast will now begin to flood the airways and public forums to twist and turn the simple words of God to bring destruction upon those who will listen.

The deception will be so effective that if possible even the very elect of God would be deceived.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Matthew 24:24

Image result for images of the pope and the bible

The only safeguard against deception is the plain and simple words of God stored in the mind of its reader. An alarming trend among churchgoers is the same paradigm of the dark ages, but with a twist. The once-a-week churchgoers have left the reading and interpretation of the Bible up to their priests, pastors, and novels of Bible fiction. The church has become a social gathering rather than a search for end-time truth. The earth is practically flooded with the Bible even available on the smart-phones we cherish, but there is a broad and general ignorance despite the availability to all.

The same objections proclaimed by Reformers of the Dark Ages exist today and the influence of beast is rising once again. The wound is almost healed. This past week was a major step in healing the wound caused by God’s word and the Reformers 500 years ago. However, for the Bible believer, the reformation will continue.  And again the Bible will be the source of division and wounds. This time, it ends differently.  Michael will stand up for His people and  God’s meek followers will inherit the earth after its destruction and the end of sin and the destruction of the beast described, again, in the books of Daniel and Revelation.  During these troublous times, soon to come upon the earth, the Bible alone (Sola Scripture)  will be the only safeguard against the deception of the beast.

_______________________________________________________

From the Great Controversy, starting with page 593…

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions. At every revival of God’s work the prince of evil is aroused to more intense activity; he is now putting forth his utmost efforts for a final struggle against Christ and His followers. The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.

Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?

Before His crucifixion the Saviour explained to His disciples that He was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and angels were present to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples were looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should suffer an ignominious death. The words which they needed to remember were banished from their minds; and when the time of trial came, it found them unprepared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had not forewarned them. So in the prophecies the future is opened before us as plainly as it was opened to the disciples by the words of Christ. The events connected with the close of probation and the work of preparation for the time of trouble, are clearly presented. But multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths than if they had never been revealed. Satan watches to catch away every impression that would make them wise unto salvation, and the time of trouble will find them unready.

When God sends to men warnings so important that they are represented as proclaimed by holy angels flying in the midst of heaven, He requires every person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the message. The fearful judgments denounced against the worship of the beast and his image (Revelation 14:9-11), should lead all to a diligent study of the prophecies to learn what the mark of the beast is, and how they are to avoid receiving it. But the masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth and are turned unto fables. The apostle Paul declared, looking down to the last days: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:3. That time has fully come. The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world-loving heart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority–not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support.

Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God. He leads the people to look to bishops, to pastors, to professors of theology, as their guides, instead of searching the Scriptures to learn their duty for themselves. Then, by controlling the minds of these leaders, he can influence the multitudes according to his will.

When Christ came to speak the words of life, the common people heard Him gladly; and many, even of the priests and rulers, believed on Him. But the chief of the priesthood and the leading men of the nation were determined to condemn and repudiate His teachings. Though they were baffled in all their efforts to find accusations against Him, though they could not but feel the influence of the divine power and wisdom attending His words, yet they incased themselves in prejudice; they rejected the clearest evidence of His Messiahship, lest they should be forced to become His disciples. These opponents of Jesus were men whom the people had been taught from infancy to reverence, to whose authority they had been accustomed implicitly to bow. “How is it,” they asked, “that our rulers and learned scribes do not believe on Jesus? Would not these pious men receive Him if He were the Christ?” It was the influence of such teachers that led the Jewish nation to reject their Redeemer.

The spirit which actuated those priests and rulers is still manifested by many who make a high profession of piety. They refuse to examine the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the special truths for this time. They point to their own numbers, wealth, and popularity, and look with contempt upon the advocates of truth as few, poor, and unpopular, having a faith that separates them from the world.

Christ foresaw that the undue assumption of authority indulged by the scribes and Pharisees would not cease with the dispersion of the Jews. He had a prophetic view of the work of exalting human authority to rule the conscience, which has been so terrible a curse to the church in all ages. And His fearful denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees, and His warnings to the people not to follow these blind leaders, were placed on record as an admonition to future generations.

The Roman Church reserves to the clergy the right to interpret the Scriptures. On the ground that ecclesiastics alone are competent to explain God’s word, it is withheld from the common people. [SEE APPENDIX NOTE FOR PAGE 340.] Though the Reformation gave the Scriptures to all, yet the selfsame principle which was maintained by Rome prevents multitudes in Protestant churches from searching the Bible for themselves. They are taught to accept its teachings as interpreted by the church; and there are thousands who dare receive nothing, however plainly revealed in Scripture, that is contrary to their creed or the established teaching of their church….

Jesus promised His disciples: “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26. But the teachings of Christ must previously have been stored in the mind in order for the Spirit of God to bring them to our remembrance in the time of peril. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart,” said David, “that I might not sin against Thee.” Psalm 119:11.

All who value their eternal interests should be on their guard against the inroads of skepticism. The very pillars of truth will be assailed. It is impossible to keep beyond the reach of the sarcasms and sophisms, the insidious and pestilent teachings, of modern infidelity. Satan adapts his temptations to all classes. He assails the illiterate with a jest or sneer, while he meets the educated with scientific objections and philosophical reasoning, alike calculated to excite distrust or contempt of the Scriptures. Even youth of little experience presume to insinuate doubts concerning the fundamental

We are living in the most solemn period of this world’s history. The destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about to be decided. Our own future well-being and also the salvation of other souls depend upon the course which we now pursue. We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth. Every follower of Christ should earnestly inquire: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, with fasting and prayer, and to meditate much upon His word, especially upon the scenes of the judgment. We should now seek a deep and living experience in the things of God. We have not a moment to lose. Events of vital importance are taking place around us; we are on Satan’s enchanted ground. Sleep not, sentinels of God; the foe is lurking near, ready at any moment, should you become lax and drowsy, to spring upon you and make you his prey.

Many are deceived as to their true condition before God. They congratulate themselves upon the wrong acts which they do not commit, and forget to enumerate the good and noble deeds which God requires of them, but which they have neglected to perform. It is not enough that they are trees in the garden of God. They are to answer His expectation by bearing fruit. He holds them accountable for their failure to accomplish all the good which they could have done, through His grace strengthening them. In the books of heaven they are registered as cumberers of the ground. Yet the case of even this class is not utterly hopeless. With those who have slighted God’s mercy and abused His grace, the heart of long-suffering love yet pleads. “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, . . . redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:14-16.

When the testing time shall come, those who have made God’s word their rule of life will be revealed. In summer there is no noticeable difference between evergreens and other trees; but when the blasts of winter come, the evergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are stripped of their foliage. So the falsehearted professor may not now be distinguished from the real Christian, but the time is just upon us when the difference will be apparent. Let opposition arise, let bigotry and intolerance again bear sway, let persecution be kindled, and the halfhearted and hypocritical will waver and yield the faith; but the true Christian will stand firm as a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, than in days of prosperity.

Says the psalmist: “Thy testimonies are my meditation.” “Through Thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:99, 104.

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom.” “He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Proverbs 3:13; Jeremiah 17:8.

"He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:28