"And he cried with a strong voice, saying, Great Babylon has fallen . . . "
From Revelation 18
When the time comes for God to exact the severest judgment, notice that it is reserved for a city. There is more here said about the destruction of Babylon, the city, than about its inhabitants.
As the Left goes about reading Scriptures to ensnare Christians, why doesn't it look at this one carefully (unless their eyes are blinded to what it says?). Wealth, and riches, and pomp, and plenty, hoarded by just a few, is destroyed. It's all burned up. And the people that had been made wealthy through all of it, stand at a distance and watch it all go up in flames. This sounds like a dream come true, for the "Other 99 Percent."
We can talk about what is meant by "Babylon." There are many different meanings. But lest we jump to the conclusion that it means one region and its prominent religion, let us also remember that in one point of the Old Testament, Babylon is listed among them that will be redeemed side by side with Israel (and Egypt). There does seem to be a special place for Babylon - it's good variety.
But remember to share with your Leftist friends: "Hey! God says that the wealth of earth will be destroyed! The wealth of the 1% will go up in flames!!
Sunday, November 29, 2015
New Testament - What is the "Violence"? Chapter 19
And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword coming out of his mouth . . . "
- Revelation 19
And again, non-believers, and mostly those from the American political Left, like to quote Scripture as a way to ensnare believers, to trip them up, to illuminate hypocrisy.
Perhaps they use this verse.
"There! Did you see that?! Jesus Himself will kill people with a sword!!"
But what does it actually say?
The sword coming out of his mouth!
God's Word, and His plan, is full of symbolism. In the end, the unbeliever is the one that's vexed.
The Word of God, spoken by Christ, is more tangible than an iron broadsword, and more lethal.
But Christ does not return in judgment, only to slaughter all his enemies like an attacking medieval horde! His word itself convicts them! His words of life, His method of true love, is like H2O2 upon an infection. They cannot live, when in His presence! They cannot stand up to His light! And His words themselves, snuff out all that have refused Him!
It's like the breath of life that God breathed into them, in Eden on the first day, was sent out, under their own power! Their rejection of Christ is what ends it for them! When you reject life, and affirm that on the Last Day, then you're finished! It's actually not a big deal. It's what you wanted.
And many people today even allow that. "I don't want eternal life anyway."
Well, then.
- Revelation 19
And again, non-believers, and mostly those from the American political Left, like to quote Scripture as a way to ensnare believers, to trip them up, to illuminate hypocrisy.
Perhaps they use this verse.
"There! Did you see that?! Jesus Himself will kill people with a sword!!"
But what does it actually say?
The sword coming out of his mouth!
God's Word, and His plan, is full of symbolism. In the end, the unbeliever is the one that's vexed.
The Word of God, spoken by Christ, is more tangible than an iron broadsword, and more lethal.
But Christ does not return in judgment, only to slaughter all his enemies like an attacking medieval horde! His word itself convicts them! His words of life, His method of true love, is like H2O2 upon an infection. They cannot live, when in His presence! They cannot stand up to His light! And His words themselves, snuff out all that have refused Him!
It's like the breath of life that God breathed into them, in Eden on the first day, was sent out, under their own power! Their rejection of Christ is what ends it for them! When you reject life, and affirm that on the Last Day, then you're finished! It's actually not a big deal. It's what you wanted.
And many people today even allow that. "I don't want eternal life anyway."
Well, then.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
He Can't Lead the Nations Astray Anymore - Revelation 20
Revelation 20 identifies the dragon as "the serpent of old, the Devil and the Satan."
Of course, you have to go back to Genesis for the first appearance of The Serpent. We see the "Devil" and "Satan" woven in and out of Scripture from then forward, throughout all of the 66 books in the Old and New Testaments.
If the final chapters of Revelation are a summary of it all; if they comprise the "closing arguments" of God's plan, then it follows that the most important points are contained therein. If you have been following the narrative from Day One, that is, Genesis, then these closing points will be clear.
What is the chief activity of The Serpent? Apparently, to "lead the nations astray."
It says elsewhere, by Paul, that we fight against "powers" and of "principalities." Christ urged us to seek, not a Kingdom of the world, but the Kingdom of Heaven. He paid no attention at all to worldly Kingdoms. He did not command us to gain political power.
Yet, why have people today, on the political Left, embraced Scripture and used it as a bludgeon against Christians? Why have they partnered with "Christians on the Left," thus splitting the Body of Christ, with accusations of hypocrisy and failure to follow the words of Christ? Why do they insist on using government as God's tool to help the poor and needy?
The concluding remarks in Revelation seem to portray the nations as Satan's greatest tool. And we know that Satan can and does use Scripture to vex believers. Indeed, he very well could have tempted Christ with the words: "Why don't you take charge of the world's governments now, and feed the hungry? Why do you hate them so much?"
When the Left uses Scripture . . . especially when it uses New Testament scriptures, use the final few chapters, the concluding chapters, as your counterpunch.
Of course, you have to go back to Genesis for the first appearance of The Serpent. We see the "Devil" and "Satan" woven in and out of Scripture from then forward, throughout all of the 66 books in the Old and New Testaments.
If the final chapters of Revelation are a summary of it all; if they comprise the "closing arguments" of God's plan, then it follows that the most important points are contained therein. If you have been following the narrative from Day One, that is, Genesis, then these closing points will be clear.
What is the chief activity of The Serpent? Apparently, to "lead the nations astray."
It says elsewhere, by Paul, that we fight against "powers" and of "principalities." Christ urged us to seek, not a Kingdom of the world, but the Kingdom of Heaven. He paid no attention at all to worldly Kingdoms. He did not command us to gain political power.
Yet, why have people today, on the political Left, embraced Scripture and used it as a bludgeon against Christians? Why have they partnered with "Christians on the Left," thus splitting the Body of Christ, with accusations of hypocrisy and failure to follow the words of Christ? Why do they insist on using government as God's tool to help the poor and needy?
The concluding remarks in Revelation seem to portray the nations as Satan's greatest tool. And we know that Satan can and does use Scripture to vex believers. Indeed, he very well could have tempted Christ with the words: "Why don't you take charge of the world's governments now, and feed the hungry? Why do you hate them so much?"
When the Left uses Scripture . . . especially when it uses New Testament scriptures, use the final few chapters, the concluding chapters, as your counterpunch.
Friday, November 27, 2015
Holy, Set Apart: Our sin is linked with our tears. Revelation 21
But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death. - Revelation 21:8
More strong words from the final chapters of God's Scriptures. The closing arguments for eternity. The most important things are summarized. And the way to eternal life . . .
- the way to live forever
- the way to be happy, forever
- the way to have all your needs fulfilled, forever
- the way to see all of your loved ones again, forever
- the way to be in God's light and glory, forever
- the way to experience unimagined wonders, forever
Is trust in Christ. It is NOT in judging others. It is NOT in believing the right things. It is not in living according to a certain code of behavior, necessarily. It really isn't completely in expressing love in the ways that we have always heard. It isn't even, really, self-denial, not exactly.
For if it were all of those things, they would be listed.
How does God summarize the difference between people that make it, and people that don't, in these final chapters, where the most important points are made?
Simply put: to be holy. Now, those aren't the words used. To be sure, a holy person is charitable. A holy person is disciplined. A holy person loves unconditionally. But look:
Cowards are not holy. Neither are unfaithful, nor are people with dirty minds! Sexual immorality is not holy. Neither is idol-worship, or telling lies.
These are simply the high-end of holiness: the delineators that may be observed, or experienced. Any of the points are open to discussion. Chances are, though, do not take chances! Go for the high end of each! Keep your mind clean!! Be sexually pure! Be truthful! It's how we speak, think, and interact with others!
Notice too, that the wiping away of tears, is linked to it. Our dirty thoughts, our sexual acts, our lying, are all self-serving acts that only set ourselves up to be grief-stricken later. Think about the sexual bond. And when it is broken, the pain that one experiences: People going through a divorce often cry like a baby as they enter the first stages of grief. Our selfish needs only made us cry later.
Holiness, set-apart, joy . . . they all go together.
So, let your friends tell you what Jesus said about this or that moral issue, and how the New Testament doesn't mention some things. In the list here, of the types of people that make it, and those that don't, God speaks a few words, and speaks volumes.
More strong words from the final chapters of God's Scriptures. The closing arguments for eternity. The most important things are summarized. And the way to eternal life . . .
- the way to live forever
- the way to be happy, forever
- the way to have all your needs fulfilled, forever
- the way to see all of your loved ones again, forever
- the way to be in God's light and glory, forever
- the way to experience unimagined wonders, forever
Is trust in Christ. It is NOT in judging others. It is NOT in believing the right things. It is not in living according to a certain code of behavior, necessarily. It really isn't completely in expressing love in the ways that we have always heard. It isn't even, really, self-denial, not exactly.
For if it were all of those things, they would be listed.
How does God summarize the difference between people that make it, and people that don't, in these final chapters, where the most important points are made?
Simply put: to be holy. Now, those aren't the words used. To be sure, a holy person is charitable. A holy person is disciplined. A holy person loves unconditionally. But look:
Cowards are not holy. Neither are unfaithful, nor are people with dirty minds! Sexual immorality is not holy. Neither is idol-worship, or telling lies.
These are simply the high-end of holiness: the delineators that may be observed, or experienced. Any of the points are open to discussion. Chances are, though, do not take chances! Go for the high end of each! Keep your mind clean!! Be sexually pure! Be truthful! It's how we speak, think, and interact with others!
Notice too, that the wiping away of tears, is linked to it. Our dirty thoughts, our sexual acts, our lying, are all self-serving acts that only set ourselves up to be grief-stricken later. Think about the sexual bond. And when it is broken, the pain that one experiences: People going through a divorce often cry like a baby as they enter the first stages of grief. Our selfish needs only made us cry later.
Holiness, set-apart, joy . . . they all go together.
So, let your friends tell you what Jesus said about this or that moral issue, and how the New Testament doesn't mention some things. In the list here, of the types of people that make it, and those that don't, God speaks a few words, and speaks volumes.
Letting the Bible Speak
"Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."
- Revelation 22: 15
Since I last blogged actively, social media has become a firestorm of debate. One of the common themes is the use of Scripture, by political Progressives, to mock and vex Believers. They love to point out areas of "hypocrisy." They love quoting Scripture back at us: as in rules for treating women, and support for slavery, etc., found in the Mosaic Law. All of these are areas of fervent discussion, at another time.
But let's consider what the New Testament (i.e., Jesus Himself) says about certain matters that keep popping up. And I will take the approach at letting Scripture itself state the point, with as little elaboration as possible. The New Testament is used all the time, by the Left (the Christian, as well as the non-believing Left), to suggest, most prominently, that God endorses homosexuality by saying nothing about it, in the New Testament. (And not just homosexuality . . . our treatment of aliens, of the poor, etc., stands up poorly under any Scriptural test. We don't need pagans pointing that out to us).
Or, as a Christian college professor would say: "What does the passage mean? It means what it says! What does it say?"
I have isolated the above verse from the final chapter of the Bible. It's the final word, if you will. In fact, when debates arise over what the Bible says about this or that, redirect to Chapter 22 of Revelation. This is the closing arguments, if you will, of everything contained in all of the Old and New Testament books that precede it. It describes those that are not going to make it. And we all know what that means. Some say these are the people that end up in Hell. Others say they are the ones that will die forever, whatever that means.
So here it is again:
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Show this to your friends that gleefully point Scripture out to you. How to define "sexual immorality"? Well, we can define it using Scripture. Or we can just choose to take the most severe definition of it, and live.
And the same goes for murder, idolatry, and the practice of falsehood! It doesn't leave much wiggle room for any of us!
So that, God seems to be saying: "Look, yes it is true that you should not be sexually immoral. But I don't even want you telling little fibs!"
And notice who are not on the list: Drunks, thieves, the uncharitable.
At the end of it all . . . God wants us to go beyond just practicing real love and servant-hood to others. He doesn't want us just to refrain from being judgmental.
He wants us holy. Set apart. Different.
- Revelation 22: 15
Since I last blogged actively, social media has become a firestorm of debate. One of the common themes is the use of Scripture, by political Progressives, to mock and vex Believers. They love to point out areas of "hypocrisy." They love quoting Scripture back at us: as in rules for treating women, and support for slavery, etc., found in the Mosaic Law. All of these are areas of fervent discussion, at another time.
But let's consider what the New Testament (i.e., Jesus Himself) says about certain matters that keep popping up. And I will take the approach at letting Scripture itself state the point, with as little elaboration as possible. The New Testament is used all the time, by the Left (the Christian, as well as the non-believing Left), to suggest, most prominently, that God endorses homosexuality by saying nothing about it, in the New Testament. (And not just homosexuality . . . our treatment of aliens, of the poor, etc., stands up poorly under any Scriptural test. We don't need pagans pointing that out to us).
Or, as a Christian college professor would say: "What does the passage mean? It means what it says! What does it say?"
I have isolated the above verse from the final chapter of the Bible. It's the final word, if you will. In fact, when debates arise over what the Bible says about this or that, redirect to Chapter 22 of Revelation. This is the closing arguments, if you will, of everything contained in all of the Old and New Testament books that precede it. It describes those that are not going to make it. And we all know what that means. Some say these are the people that end up in Hell. Others say they are the ones that will die forever, whatever that means.
So here it is again:
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Show this to your friends that gleefully point Scripture out to you. How to define "sexual immorality"? Well, we can define it using Scripture. Or we can just choose to take the most severe definition of it, and live.
And the same goes for murder, idolatry, and the practice of falsehood! It doesn't leave much wiggle room for any of us!
So that, God seems to be saying: "Look, yes it is true that you should not be sexually immoral. But I don't even want you telling little fibs!"
And notice who are not on the list: Drunks, thieves, the uncharitable.
At the end of it all . . . God wants us to go beyond just practicing real love and servant-hood to others. He doesn't want us just to refrain from being judgmental.
He wants us holy. Set apart. Different.
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