Monday, April 30, 2012

Revelation 4:5-6


5 Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne seven blazing torches burned, which are the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit]; 
We are shown immense power here! We are shown that Jesus is powerful and He is because our Father is powerful, and the two are One. Our peace is that through Christ we are one with our Father as well! Our Father’s power is not just for Himself, it is for those whom He has chosen! Go and read the parable that Jesus told us of the Prodigal Son and you will see that this is Truth. We are one with our Father’s power, just as Jesus is one with it! We have been given the Holy Spirit to teach us all Truth and to strengthen us and to seal us until the day that Jesus returns. Our power is right from our Father Himself. So before we are shown the end times we are shown that our Father is powerful and that we have His Seven Fold Spirit working through us. 
6 And in front of the throne there was also what looked like a transparent glassy sea, as if of crystal. And around the throne, in the center at each side of the throne, were four living creatures (beings) who were full of eyes in front and behind [with intelligence as to what is before and at the rear of them].
Our Father sees everything, past, present, and future. In prophesy the word sea is used by God to represent the people of the earth and here we see that the sea is transparent, it’s all crystal clear to our Father. There is nothing that we do or think that is hid from Him. 
For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. Colossians 1:16

It is also powerful to know that everything is crystal clear. This also means that we can see through it as well. We will clearly see who are of our Father and who isn’t. We will not be deceived by those who have a form of godliness, but who deny the power of it. Far too many believe that our Father has hidden things from us. Many won’t even read the Book of Revelation because they believe that it cannot be understood. But that is just not true, everything is clear and nothing is hidden from us. We have the mind of Christ. We have the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. We are the Bride of the Groom Who is the King of Kings. We aren’t just married to Jesus, we are His friends as well, so He plainly tells us all things. Nothing is hidden from us just as nothing is hidden from our Father. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Revelation 4:2-4


2 At once I came under the [Holy] Spirit's power, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne! 
Notice here that John only sees that One is seated on the Throne. This verse really shows us our unity with our Father. Jesus is seated with God in Heaven and yet when John sees the Throne, there is only One. Our Father had it written that we have been raised up and made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 
And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Ephesians 2:6 
There is absolutely no separation between our Father and Jesus and when John sees the Throne, the place of ultimate authority, He only sees One. Jesus teaches us in John 17:21-24, that we are now one with our Father as He is One with our Father. The TRuth is that if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father, John 14:7, and we are now one with Jesus. So if you have seen us, you have seen the Father! Just look at the power that we have been grafted into, and really take hold of it, because the revelation of who we now are in Christ and Who He is within us, will give you a peace and an actual joy of being around for all that we are about to study. 
This is why I believe that John was shown this first. Jesus could have just showed him the end times, but first He shows John unity and power. This allows John and us to know that we will never be left or forsaking. This also shows us that our Father is in control of everything, even the events of the end times. 
3 And He Who sat there appeared like [the crystalline brightness of] jasper and [the fiery] sardius, and encircling the throne there was a halo that looked like [a rainbow of] emerald.
4 Twenty-four other thrones surrounded the throne, and seated on these thrones were twenty-four elders (the members of the heavenly Sanhedrin), arrayed in white clothing, with crowns of gold upon their heads.

We are told that there are twenty-four elders in Heaven. I have always heard that these elders represent twelve Old Testament Elders and twelve New Testament Elders. But the scriptures never actually tell us this, it is only assumed. So I believe that they are just elders, they may represent the two Testaments, but we just aren’t told that they do. Here is what is important about the elders though: it is that God has elders in Heaven. Our Father has order and it means that He doesn’t act alone; our Father is accountable. We know that He is because when our Father acts, the elders all agree with His actions, we will study this fact in later verses as well. Our Father established a Truth for us, and it is that out of the mouth of two or three let everything be confirmed, Matthew 18:16. Our Father follows His Truth for us by having twenty-four elders and they all agree with what they hear and see happpening.  
You might be thinking to yourself, well of course they agree, they have to agree, they have to be just yes men. How could anyone disagree with God? Remember though when God told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham kept on reasoning with our Father. Abraham repeatedly asked what if there is fifty righteous people, thirty righteous people, or even ten righteous people? (Genesis 18:25-27) Our Father didn’t just kill Abraham off for questioning Him. Think of when our Father told Moses that He was going to kill off all of the children of Israel. Moses came right back at Him and the Bible teaches us that God actually repented, Exodus 32:14. Our Father didn’t just kill Moses off or punish him for his challenge to what He wanted to do. Even consider Mary, Jesus told her that it wasn’t His time to act, and she kept right on pressing Him until He did, John 2:4. 
These twenty-four elders are in Heaven, right by the Throne, seeing and hearing everything that is going on, and because they are, no one can ever say that our Father acts alone and is unaccountable. In the Book of Revelation we see that our Father’s wrath is poured out on the children of disobedience and we see that our Father has accountability and agreement with the elders of Heaven for His actions. 
Remember this Truth, our Father is even the Father of the children of disobedience. They will come under His wrath, but our Father will not abandon Grace. People far too often only consider the flesh. Our flesh will die, but our spirits will live. Our Father is working on our souls. The flesh will suffer, but Grace is what will be being applied to their spirits. Our Father even wants those who are disobedient to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth and our Father, Who is God, gets His way, Amen!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Revelation 4:1 (Part 2)


1 AFTER THIS I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard addressing me like [the calling of] a war trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future

Revelation 4:1 has been used a great deal in my upbringing to teach that there is a pre-tribulation rapture for the church. The people say that John being caught up to Heaven is a foreshadowing of us being caught up before the Great Tribulation. But as we will study in Revelation’s later chapters, the church has a great role to play during the Great Tribulation. While I used to be a big believer in a pre-tribulation rapture of the church, the more the Holy Spirit has shared with me the Truths of the Revelation of our Lord, I no longer do. I really believe that Jesus has far too great of role for us, as His body, to play during the Great Tribulation, for Him not to have us here. 
Also, the Truth is that Paul was caught up to the Third Heaven as well, 2 Corinthians 12:2, just as John is here. Yet I never hear it preached that Paul’s accession to Heaven was a foreshadowing of a pre-tribulation rapture? It just seems to me that our Father had things to show both John and Paul and He brought them to Heaven to do it. To say that it proves that there is a pre-tribulation rapture is a very great reach. Our Father Transformed Jesus while He was still on the earth, and in the flesh, to talk with Him. Our Father is always dramatic and He does dramatic things. I don’t know about you but I love that is has a flare for doing such things. 
Also there are 5 verses that clearly prove to us that there is no pre-tribulation rapture, 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, John 6:39, and Revelation 11:15.
For this we declare to you by the Lord's [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death]. 1 Thessalonians 4:15
Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed). In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day. John 6:39
The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Revelation 11:15
The Truth that our Father shows us is that no one who is alive in Christ shall in any way precede those of us who have died in Christ. The Truth is also that the dead in Christ shall not be raised from the dead until the Last Trumpet has sounded, on the last day, and we see in Revelation 11, that when the seventh angel, the last angel, blows the last trumpet, Jesus will take over the physical rule of the world. The pre-tribulation rapture theory tells us that Jesus won’t do this until seven years after we were raptured. The Truth is clear, and as we study the Revelation of our Lord, we will actually see that there is far too much work for our Father to do through us, for Him to take us away seven years before the end! 

Friday, April 27, 2012

Revelation 4:1


1 AFTER THIS I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard addressing me like [the calling of] a war trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future
Our peace and joy is that our Lord and Savior, Who is Jesus, always wants us to know what is going on. He does this because we are His body and as He told us, we aren’t just His servants, we are His friends, John 15:15. Jesus even began the Book of Revelation by telling John that He was about to show him all of the things that were to come in their entirety. Jesus wants us to know our Father completely. He always wants us to know the complete Truth that will set us free, John 17:26. Jesus wants us to know His full will for our lives, John 16:13, and our place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Our Father wants us to know just how dear we are to Him and how that He is unwilling to be without any us.  
Jesus absolutely knew what was going on in the Kingdom of Heaven when He was here on the earth as a man and He completely knew our Fathers will for Him. Jesus knew when He was going to die, how He was going to die, and who was going to do it. Jesus knew when Lazarus was going to die and when He was then going to raise him back up. Jesus knew our Father’s will completely and He was empowered with the Holy Spirit to accomplish all that our Father sent Him to do. Jesus knew the Truth that would set us free and He shared it with us. 
So if Jesus was allowed to know and was empowered to carry out our Fathers will, why wouldn’t we be allowed to live with the same knowledge and power? We have the same Holy Spirit that Jesus has and we are now member of His body, flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone, Ephesians 5:30. Through Jesus, our Father showed us plainly how man is supposed to be, fully one with Him and fully empowered by Him, John 17 clearly tells us this Truth. Jesus told us that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly, John 10:10. Jesus came so that we might have a life as He has life and to know the Truth as He knows the Truth. We have become one with our Lord and Saviors mind, His Spirit, and His Body. As Jesus is, so are we in this world, 1 John 4:17.
But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26
But you have been anointed by [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] the Holy One, and you all know [the Truth] or you know all things. 1 John 2:20
The end times are not mysterious and to be unknown. Our Father wants us to clearly know all things that are coming. He wants us to know them in their entirety, Revelation 1:1. 

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Revelation 3:21-22


21He who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant him to sit beside Me on My throne, as I Myself overcame (was victorious) and sat down beside My Father on His throne.  
22He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).
Jesus is always calling and communicating to Bis Bride, who are the chosen ones. There is always a way and Jesus always causes us to overcome the world! We are able to hear because Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit and He allows and empowers us to hear! We can’t help but hear, if we aren’t listening our Father will slap us awake and cause us to hear, Acts 12:7. 
If these churches are representations of seven distinct church ages, wouldn’t the last church be the most mature one? It should be so that Jesus might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless]. Ephesians 5:27 But as we read about the seventh church, the Laodiceans, the last age, we read that they are luke warm, they are blind, naked, they are anything but glorious. So if the Truth is that these churches represent the seven different church ages, and if we are in the last times, we don’t have much to look forward to, do we? But the glorious Truth is that we do have a lot to look forward to, because Jesus always wins. So these six churches that Jesus has John write to have to represent organized religions that only appear to be doing the works of the Lord, yet in reality they are never really are His Bride, Matthew 7:23. For us to say that these are seven distinct church ages would mean that five church ages failed miserably, one was only abused, and one did what they were suppose to do. And what that would mean is for five church ages Jesus failed miserably, one He was only abused and poor, and only in one was He successful. This to me makes it clear that these are seven styles of churches that will exist up until the last day. Jesus just doesn’t fail! 
I kept bringing the point up about these churches being referred to by many people as church ages. If you have never heard that teaching, then you must be thinking that I am crazy for talking about it so much. But I heard it taught that these churches were actually seven different distinct church ages, or seven different periods of time for the church, a ton growing up. This teaching is false and it makes Jesus out to be a failure in six periods of the church, and He isn’t. Jesus never has been a failure in my life. He never was or is a failure in the Bible, so why would He be in six different periods of the church? So please bear with me if you have never heard the teaching of church ages, I was preaching a lot to myself in these posts.
Now we are ready to start to study about the end of the world, or the Great Tribulation. We will talk about the false teaching of a rapture. We will see that our Father controls every last event of the Great Tribulation. We will see that the church is used powerfully and miraculously. We will see the Truth and it will set us free. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit uses these studies to help us all read the Book of Revelation out loud in groups. We are told very plainly that here is a blessing when we do this, Revelation 1:3, and I hope that our Father has us do it all of the time.  

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Revelation 3:19-20


19 Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude]. 
The Truth is that Jesus loves everybody! All things and all people exist by Him, for Him, and through Him, 1 Corinthians 8:6. Jesus has been given power and authority over all flesh, John 17:2. That means that Jesus alone is in charge of correcting all flesh, whether we accept this Truth or deny it and whether we believe in Him or don’t believe in Him. Our Father will use tools such as satan to carry out His will in our correction, but He never allows anything or anyone free will over us. Our Father never leaves us or forsakes us. Even during the Great Tribulation our Father is the One Who is in complete and total control.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me. 
Here we see that Jesus tells these people to open the door themselves, but to the church that He keeps, the church of Philadelphia, He tells us that He alone opened the door. You can imagine the sermons coming from the elders of the church of Laodicea: we need to accept Jesus, no man is promised tomorrow, you better come up here and bow down at this alter in front of the Pastor and accept Jesus as Lord. Open the door to Jesus or be damned for ever. I hear this kind of message being preached all of the time. But the Truth that sets us free is this: Jesus opens the door, He chooses us, and He gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to become one with Him. 
When Jesus was here as a man 2000 years ago, He spoke in parables to all men. Then He would take His disciples aside and plainly tell them the Truth of what He had just spoken. Well, the Truth is that Jesus doesn’t change. Jesus spoke in this prophesy to all men and He has given His chosen ones the Holy Spirit to teach us all of the Truth that He spoke. They are all the same Words, the same Truth, but we know that it is Jesus within us, causing all of our Father’s judgments to come to pass in our lives. While those playing church look to themselves and not the Truth that will set them free! Now one day they will see the Truth. One day they will bow down, believe with their hearts, and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord. They will bow down before the Bride of Christ and acknowledge that our Father was right and they will learn the Truth from us and they will be set free. They will forever be our guests at our Wedding Feast. That is what Grace is and that is what is so glorious about the Truth that has set us free.  

Monday, April 23, 2012

Revelation 3:11-13


11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one may rob you and deprive you of your crown. 
Anyone who is truly in Christ knows beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is our strength. We know this because we have the Spirit of our Father dwelling within in us conforming that we are His kids and that we are sealed by Him until the day of our redemption. We understand that Jesus is greater in us then anything that is in this world and that through our Groom we are always more than conquerors. So when Jesus tells us to hold fast, we naturally look to Him. When a guest hears that they must hold fast, they look to themselves. 
12 He who overcomes (is victorious), I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God; he shall never be put out of it or go out of it, and I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends from My God out of heaven, and My own new name.
13 He who can hear, let him listen to and heed what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). 
Amen the door for us has been opened and because of Jesus, no man will ever shut it from us.  The glorious Truth is that we cannot even shut it. We are victorious in Christ and He is victorious in us. Jesus will absolutely keep us! 
Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time). John 6:35 (Even during the Great Tribulation)
And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day. John 6:39
[Just as] You have granted Him power and authority over all flesh (all humankind), [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. John 17:2
No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day. John 6:44
The path to destruction is broad. There are many churches that are on the road to destruction. The path to righteousness is narrow, because it is only through Jesus that righteousness can come. The Church of Philadelphia is kept by Jesus and amen one day all men will belong to the Church of Philadelphia. Some of us will be elders of the Church and serve. We are being enlightened and empowered now for this service and the rest of humanity will be its members. Our Father will get His wish and all men will be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.  

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Revelation 3:10


10 Because you have guarded and kept My word of patient endurance [have held fast the lesson of My patience with the expectant endurance that I give you], I also will keep you [safe] from the hour of trial (testing) which is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth
Here is the first time that we see with any of the seven churches where Jesus proclaims that He will keep them. But we know the Truth that Jesus has always kept His Bride. This is another reason I have a problem with these churches being seven different ages. 
There is a time of the Great Tribulation, we will discuss this time in detail later in our study of Revelation, but true believers have always had trials. We have always needed Jesus to keep us and we will always need Him to keep us, and He did and He will! What is eye catching to me is that Jesus only says that He will keep the church of Philadelphia safe from the hour of trial. 
When I read about Philadelphia and Laodicea I can see that they will be side by side during the time of the Great Tribulation. Philadelphia being the true believers empowered by Christ to preach to the world and the church of Laodicea being the one led by the anti-christ and the false prophet. This is nothing new though, true believers have always been challenged by false and so called christian leaders. To me Jesus is always Jesus and He has always had a church of Philadelphia that He has empowered to hold fast to His Word. There has always been these other false churches and there will be, especially during the last days. During the Great Tribulation there will be a church of the anti-christ that has left Jesus, a church that has as its elders, false leaders, teaching false doctrines of men, proclaiming that they are working for God, while all along their works are dead. 
So as I wrote in the beginning of our study on Revelation 2, if these are seven different times, seven different churches, or seven different styles of churches, doesn’t really matter as much as the Truth that Jesus is with His chosen ones and the only way anyone can succeed, is because Jesus is in them causing to succeed! 
Now for those who say that there is a pre-tribulation rapture and that is how we are kept safe, I offer these scriptures to disprove that theory.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 1 Corinthians 15:52
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord! 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 
The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Revelation 11:15
These three scriptures prove there is no pre-tribulation rapture. Because the dead in Christ have to rise first. Those who are living in Him cannot in any way precede the dead in Him. The dead in Christ are not raised until the last Trumpet sounds and when the last Trumpet, or the Seventh Trumpet sounds, Jesus returns. Also John 6 is a great chapter that disproves a pre-tribulation rapture. Several times Jesus tells us that we will be raised from the dead on the last day, not seven years before the last day. 
What is so great is that we will be here during it all, but yet we will be kept safe. We will be used by our Father to give food and provision to those in need, just as Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:25. We may be killed for our Kingdom, but we will not be lost. Just as Jesus was killed. Just as Stephen was killed. We may be imprisoned as Paul and John were. But our focus will be on our Groom and serving our Kingdom. 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Revelation 3:9


9 Take note! I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie--behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and learn and acknowledge that I have loved you.

One day the chosen ones will have those who have opposed them acknowledge that we were truly of God and that what our Father had spoken through us was right! Every true Christian will have this happen for them. 

Here is a great place to ask the question, when will the evil people of the world bow down before us and acknowledge that we were right? Because every time in the New Testament when one man bows to another we are told that it is wrong? Yet, Jesus clearly tells us that the wicked will bow down before us and acknowledge openly that we were right. 

This event happens after Jesus returns. Because when Jesus returns all of His chosen ones, whether we are alive or dead in Him, will be transformed to be just like Him. We are changed from being men, to being just like Jesus. Men are not to bow down to each other. 

Beloved, we are [even here and] now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [ as God's children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is. 1 John 3:2

The wicked will bow to us during the Millennial Reign of Christ and beyond. Notice that we are shown that when they bow down to us that they are taught, not that they are punished or demeaned. We will rule as Jesus rules, by serving and loving those who we are empowered to rule over. This brings up another great Truth, how will the wicked learn if they are in Hell? Why would they learn that Jesus loved them if they were in Hell? This is so awesome and if you want a complete answer go to the posts that study on “Is Hell Eternal.” 

I was always taught that the wicked are sent to Hell for all of eternity to live in anguish, torment, and fear. Yet Jesus tells us that the wicked will be around us and have to acknowledge and learn from us. The Truth is awesome and there is a ton of Truth concerning what Jesus spoke to the Church of Philadelphia. 

Jesus tells us in John 6:39 that He will not lose any that He has been given. He then tells us in John 17:2 that He has been given all flesh. Jesus is not going to lose the wicked. Grace will forgive them and they will learn the Truth that will set them free. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:14 that it takes an anointed preacher for people to hear the Truth that will set them free. We are those anointed preachers and our anointing is not just for this time, it is for all of eternity. The wicked will hear the Truth. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord, Romans 14:11. Our Groom will not lose anyone to Hell, except one, the son of perdition, Judas, John 17:12. The wicked will learn the Truth from us and they will be forever our guests, both the good and the bad, Matthew 22:10.   

Friday, April 20, 2012

Revelation 3:7-8


7 And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open:
The Truth that brings us such great peace is that once Jesus does something it is done! That is why He chooses us and empowers us to choose Him. We do not first choose Jesus to be our Lord, He first chooses us to be His Bride! And when Jesus opens the door for us, it is never shut, Romans 11:29. 
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3
And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day. John 6:39
Amen the door for the truly saved is open and no one can shut it! Philadelphia is the only church that Jesus proclaims that He will keep. Look at how absolute Jesus sounds when He first addresses them. Jesus boldly proclaims the door is open and no one will shut it. This is how Jesus always is. Who He has chosen, He has called, He has empowered, He has sealed, He has glorified, and He will protect and keep. We are Jesus’ Bride and our Groom is more than committed to providing for us.  
8 I know your [record of] works and what you are doing. See! I have set before you a door wide open which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name. 
Once again, Jesus has opened the door for us and no one can shut it, including ourselves! Jesus will Shepherd us through that door and because of Him we will always be more than conquerors! 
For the Church of Philadelphia to keep God’s Word and to guard the message, it has had to be Jesus within them empowering them to keep it. The Holy Spirit is their strength and He is their seal! It seems they have just a little power; the world with all of its evil keeps on going: war, sin, false religion, but even with all of these things going on they cannot loose their Head, which is Jesus. They cannot leave the Vine. They cannot leave the fold. They can’t because they are dead and nevertheless they live, yet it is not them who lives, it is Jesus in them Who lives.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Revelation 3:5-6


5 Thus shall he who conquers (is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of Life; I will acknowledge him [as Mine] and I will confess his name openly before My Father and before His angels.
Of course their names won’t be erased from the Book of Life, because they were chosen before the foundation of the world and their names are permanently written in it, Romans 11:29. Our Father cannot be fooled. He doesn’t let someone be one with Him whose heart is not right. That is what always cracks me up about people who believe that we can walk away from our Father, Who is God. The first Truth is that He chose us,we did not chose Him. Second, did we fool Him into choosing us? Did we sucker God in to letting us become one with Jesus and then we just told Him to take a hike? Salvation is us becoming one with Jesus and there is absolutely no fellowship between Light and darkness! Our Father knew what He was doing, we cannot fool Him!
A ton of people use this verse in Revelation 3 to say that we can lose our salvation. But all Jesus is saying is that He will not erase or blot names out of the Book of Life. He won’t erase or blot them; because the Truth is that He never will erase or blot a name out. If we are in the Book, we are in it to stay. People who believe that we have the power through our own free will to hold on to or gain salvation will always believe that it can be lost. But for those of us who have been born from God’s incorruptible seed, we know beyond any shadow of a doubt that our Father is in control of our lives and we are eternally saved! He will never lose us. 
So far we have studied about a church that left Jesus, a church that has allowed false teachings in, a church that is abused, a church that has no true works of God, and a church who has allowed false leadership and teachings in. These sound an awful lot like today’s churches if you ask me? It is easy to find all of these things going on in today’s churches, especially the bragging about the power of man working for God. These faults are in no way unique to one certain church age. To say that all of these churches truly represent the real church of Jesus Christ during different periods of time, is to say that Jesus has had a terrible track record of empowering His church! These are people playing church, the real church is always one with Jesus, empowered with His might, and always being lead in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.
These messengers, or leaders, of these churches are all in danger of committing the only unforgivable sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 12. These leaders are in positions of power and they are teaching and trying to lead the little ones astray. Jesus tells them to remember what they have been taught, so He is telling them that they know better, yet they still teach and encourage people to trust in man, and glorify man, not God. It would be better if these leaders would tie a millstone around their necks and cast themselves into the sea, Matthew 18:6.  
6 He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). 
Only the true chosen ones of God can hear Him and that is why at the end of these letters Jesus always tells them that they will overcome. True believers have always had the Holy Spirit telling them that their future is securely in the hands of Jesus. While those who are playing church will read these letters and believe that Jesus is telling us what we have to do. The Truth that sets us free is that it is not what we have to do; it is what Jesus has to do through us! Greater is He that is within us, than he that is in the world. Not one of us can claim anything as coming from ourselves, unless it has first been given to us from our Father in Heaven, 2 Corinthians 3:5.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Revelation 2:3-4


3 So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent. In case you will not rouse yourselves and keep awake and watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know or suspect at what hour I will come. 
Jesus doesn’t even tell these people to call unto Him. He proclaims that they are to arouse themselves. Where do we ever read in the Gospels that we are to call upon ourselves to walk in the ways of the Lord? But here all of a sudden this is how it is done? No! This is Jesus speaking to those whose hearts are not right and He is clearly speaking to them in a parable, unless hearing He should have to come and heal them. 
For this nation's heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them. Matthew 13:15
Our Father had Ezekiel prophesy to us that after Jesus was raised from the dead that He was going to place His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His ways, Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.
You have to ask yourself why did Jesus have John write to these churches? Many will say that it was to warn them so that they could repent. But if that were true why does He never tell them to look towards the only power that could change them? Why would Jesus tell them to look to  themselves, or in other words look to anti-christ? Because anything other then our Father’s power is anti-christ. I honestly believe that He had John write these things to be a parable of sorts, so that the false teachers and wolves in sheep’s clothing would believe it was what they had to do. Jesus could do this because His true chosen ones have the Holy Spirit teaching them that it is all our Father’s power working through us. Jesus always spoke in parables to false religious people in the Gospels, why not now?
4 Yet you still have a few [persons'] names in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy and deserving. 
Once again we see that Jesus is telling His truly chosen ones in Sardis, I have your back and I know all that is going on! Think of what a relief that hearing this is to these true believers. They are always hearing the leaders of the church bragging about what the church is doing, when they know that it is actually dead. They see men being elevated and praised and they have to be thinking, where is Jesus in all of this vain glory? And then Jesus has John write to them. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Revelation 3:1-2


1 AND TO the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Sardis write: These are the words of Him Who has the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit] and the seven stars: I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead.
The Truth for a born again Christian is that we are crucified with Christ, but nevertheless we live, yet it is not us who lives, but it is Christ within us Who lives, Galatians 2:20. We are also told that now we are dead and our lives are hid in Christ in God, Colossians 3:3. Jesus however starts off by telling the church of Sardis, that they are dead, He is not alive in them. Do you see how these four churches that we have studied so far in Revelation 2 and 3 cannot truly be part of the Bride of Christ. Jesus is speaking to them, but He is not speaking to them as actually being one with them. He is pointing out their strengths and faults, but our Father is not getting the glory for their strengths and Jesus is not being given His glory as their Shepherd Who will lead them to righteousness. They can’t be of Jesus, because Jesus is not dead, He is alive! Jesus cannot leave Himself or allow false teachings into Himself. This is another reason that I believe these letters are to styles of churches and not to church ages. I just can’t believe that there has been a time in our history when Jesus allowed His church, which is His body, to be dead! 
Remember what the Seven Fold Spirit represents: wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, reverence, and obedience. Jesus has control of the Holy Spirit and Who Jesus is one with has the full force of the Holy Spirit operating within them. This is why Jesus told the Disciples that it was better if He went away, John 16:7, because if He did, He would send the Holy Spirit to us. This means that Jesus has sent us the strength of our Father to cause us to be wise, understanding, mighty, knowledgeable, reverent, obedient, and so that we would always have our Fathers righteous counsel. We have been sealed with all of the power of our Savior until the day of our redemption. So it is impossible to leave our first love, allow false teachings in, or be dead. 
2 Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.
Jesus tells us in the Gospel’s to be perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect, Matthew 5:48. Jesus can say this to us, because this is how He is, He is perfect, and we are now one with Him. This is why our burden is light and our yoke easy. Being perfect is easy for Jesus! But yet we read that the church of Sardis is dead, they are dead because their works are human, so nothing they do can be perfect. Jesus plainly tells them that He knows their works, not that He knows the works of the Father within them.
Notice here too, that Jesus tells these people to rouse themselves, not that they should seek the power of our Father to be great within them. The Shepherd, our Lord, is leading the wolves, or the elders of Sardis, away from the flock here. Jesus is speaking directly to them, and they are being told to go and do it on your own. While Jesus is telling true believers through the Holy Spirit that is within them, that we can do nothing without Him being the power doing it, John 15:5. Read the Gospels and you can clearly see the difference in Jesus’ teachings for the saved and what He is telling these church leaders.

This is an important Truth to see because during the end times we will be empowered with the Holy Spirit to see past the lies and deceptions of the anti-christ and false prophet. We may be asked to be around these organizations, but we will be empowered to know the Truth and not take the mark of the beast. Look at Jesus' life and you can see this. He was always around the Jewish leaders, but He never was drawn into their lies and deceptions. 


Monday, April 16, 2012

Revelation 2:24-29


24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the depths of Satan, as they say--I tell you that I do not lay upon you any other [fresh] burden: 
25 Only hold fast to what you have until I come. 
Jesus once again is confirming to His chosen ones in Thyatira that He knew what was going on and that He would cause them to hold fast. Yet to the false leaders, when they read this letter, they would believe that they to hold fast, through their own human strength. They would have read this prophesy and then began to teach on it, placing all of the burden on their congregations, telling them the works that they must do to satisfy Jesus. But for the true chosen ones, the Holy Spirit would have reminded them of our Father’s Truth, that He is the One keeping us until the day of their redemption.

Consider so many churches today, homosexuals are allowed in leadership, Jesus is not the primary focus of the message, people are constantly told what they must first do, there are false teachers wanting our money, and people are being abused. It just gets clearer and clearer, these seven churches are not church ages, but seven church styles. These church styles are not the true body of Christ, they are not the true chosen believers. True believers are kept by God, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and Shepherded by Jesus 100% of the time. The Bride is never left or forsaken! We cannot loose our first love, because we have eternally become one with Him. We cannot have false teachings overtake us, our Father prunes them away, Jesus refines them out, and the Holy Spirit causes us to remember the Truth, because we now have the mind of Christ! 
26 And he who overcomes (is victorious) and who obeys My commands to the [very] end [doing the works that please Me], I will give him authority and power over the nations; 
27 And he shall rule them with a sceptre (rod) of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, and [his power over them shall be] like that which I Myself have received from My Father;
Look at what our future is, we rule the nations right along with our Lord Jesus. There is no maybe here, because we have our Father’s Spirit within us, causing us to walk in His ways, we will rule along with Jesus. Through Christ we are more than victorious, we are one with His power and His authority and we will serve the people as Jesus serves them.
These verses provide us with just a little glimpse, a foreshadowing, of what Jesus will declare to us later in His Revelation. Our present and our future with Jesus is Great! During our study of the Great Tribulation we will see just how powerfully Jesus uses His true church. We will see how we are used during His millennial reign and then Jesus will show us how we are one with Him for the rest of eternity. The Truth of our salvation is that we are gloriously used from the moment that our Father calls us to be used! We are one with Jesus, and the part that our Father has Jesus play on this earth, we are directly involved with, because we are one with Him. Jesus never leaves us or forsakes us. Our heritage and future are absolutely victorious! 
28 And I will give him the Morning Star. 
29 He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).
We are able to hear only because our Father has called and empowered us with His Spirit to hear. There will be many who try and tell us that we can’t hear everything that our Father has to say; they are wrong! There will be many who shy away from the Book of Revelation, don’t follow them. We are one with Jesus and He is far greater within us than anything that is in this world. Read and listen to this Book being read out loud, there is a special blessing in doing so!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Revelation 2:23


23 And I will strike her children (her proper followers) dead [thoroughly exterminating them]. And all the assemblies (churches) shall recognize and understand that I am He Who searches minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts, and I will give to each of you [the reward for what you have done] as your work deserves
For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin [ not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character]. Romans 3:20
The Truth is that we will all be used by our Father, whether we believe in Him or not, to do works. We are shown that even Pilate and Herod were used by our Father, Acts 4:27-28. This is why our justification never depends on any work that we do, but on what our Father does. Jezebel was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She and her followers were being scolded for what she was teaching, which was leading people to themselves and not towards our Father. Jesus will bring the teachings of Jezebel to and end. He will absolutely throw all of her lies into the Lake of Fire. But she and her followers will be allowed to stay as guests for eternity or what we also call the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
And those servants went out on the crossroads and got together as many as they found, both bad and good, so [the room in which] the wedding feast [was held] was filled with guests. Matthew 22:10
A Bride is not a guest at her own wedding. There will be good people and there will bad people who are allowed to stay for eternity as our guests. They will be allowed to stay because of Grace. Our Groom, Jesus, is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He never changes. Jesus forgave the Jewish leaders who lied about Him, who threatened His followers, and who even killed Him. If He forgave those leaders, why wouldn’t He forgive Jezebel? Why wouldn’t He forgive the false teachers of Pergamum or those who left their first love at Ephesus? Our works do not justify us, our Father’s work of Grace is what justifies us. Not everyone is called to be a Bride of Christ, but that doesn’t mean that our Father doesn’t love them and want to be with them. Grace allows everyone, both good and bad to stay with Him for eternity. The glorious thing is that the bad people will be forgiven and all of their bad works will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. The bad will be forgiven of much and they may even end up being the last in the Kingdom, but amen, they will still love much because they have been forgiven, Luke 7:47.  
It is so easy to condemn people who are wrong. But Grace overcomes and overtakes all faults. Grace looks at what our Father accomplished through Jesus and nothing else. The Truth is that all of Jezebels works will be burned up and she and those who followed her will suffer lose. But amen, all of those evil works will no longer be, those works will die and be eternally done away with. The evil works will not follow the people who did them into eternity. The evil people will be saved as ones who passed through the fire of Hades. They will not be able to be the first in eternity, they may very well have to be the last, but praise God they will be there. 
But if any person's work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:15
Remember this glorious Truth as we continue to study Revelation. We often judge so harshly those who will fall short during the Tribulation. But Grace still applies and its freeing power will overcome the most egregious failures of man. Hades will bring the wicked to understand their evil works, but the people themselves will be saved from being thrown into Hell. Our Father would that all men be saved and through Christ I truly believe that our Father will get His way!