Revelation – Auriesville Tubthumper

Is it true, will it happen? Part 2

“God has accepted this challenge. He has predicted multitudes of events to happen in the future. They have come true exactly as predicted, even though in some cases thousands of years were involved for the fulfillment. God has proved that He is our supernatural God with all wisdom. We have no alternative but to believe.”

Yes, all of it will.

A significant fact for you to absorb, let me repeat that word, absorb; is the fact that over half of the Bible prophesies – over 500 of them have already been fulfilled. Literally fulfilled, and that in itself is overwhelming proof that it’s all true and the rest will come true as written. This is evidence that should establish confidence beyond any intellectual question to the contrary. When you read the prophecy take it literally because it literally will happen. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Don’t let anyone lead you astray by saying prophesy in non-literal and needs interpretation. Forget about it… that thought is contradicted beyond any question due to the fact that so many hundreds of prophesies have already been fulfilled. (LITERALLY!)

If you are a believer, a child of God, that should be very important to you. Because over one-fourth of the Bible was written as prophecy. This gives you a picture of the future and gives you the hope of a future in eternity with God. Without this hope for the future there would not be Christianity at all. And if you are not a believer and reading this. Please get your life right with Jesus Christ before it’s too late. Because more half of the prophesies have already come true it should easily provide the basis for your understanding the rest will also come true. It should also justify the conclusion that the Bible is the inspired word of God and the prophecy is a revelation by God and is certain to come to pass. As we go through the book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible and it’s closing, it will reveal the power, righteousness, sovereignty of Jesus Christ and His wonderful grace for all those that come to Him in faith.

I said in the last post I would give you more proof. What do the scientists say about this prophesy thing? The scientists have developed detailed probability statistics and formulas to determine the likelihood these prophesies could have come true. This information will show that it is God and only God that could do it. And God said, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.” (I Peter 3:15)

For some reference on scientific data my Pastor, Raymond Barnett, at The Time For Truth Ministries led me to a book dealing with prophetic accuracy called, Science Speaks, by Peter W. Stoner.

Bye the way, if you want some great Bible Preaching and teaching go to our the church website at http://www.timefortruth.com/ and join us for worship each Sunday in Amsterdam, NY.

It is written, “One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18) Peter Stoner uses a well-known scientific principle of probability. The following information is taken directly from his book.

“If the chance of one thing happening is one in M, and the chance of another independent thing happening is one in N, then the chance that they shall both happen is one in M times N. The proof of this theory will be found in any college algebra text. In light of time and space.” I will not provide all his background calculations here but you can go to his book for reference.

Peter Stone looked at just 11 early prophesies that have come true. The probability is listed as well.

The destruction of Tyre 1 in 7.5 x 107

Destruction of Samaria 1 in 4 x 104

Gaza forsaken and Ashkelon desolate 1 in 1.2 x 104

The fall of Jericho 1 in 2 x 105

The sealing of The Golden Gate 1 in 103

Zion Plowed 1 in 102

Jerusalem Enlarged 1 in 8 x 1010

Palestine becomes waste 1 in 2 x 105

Moab and Ammon 1 in 103

Edom desolation 1 in 104

Babylon destroyed 1 in 5 x 109

The probability of these eleven prophecies coming true, if written in human wisdom, is now found by multiplying all of these probabilities together, and the result is 1 in 5.76 x 1059

With those probabilities listed now look at the summary. Peter stone says, “Suppose we had marked one of these silver dollars, and had stirred it into the whole pile before we had made them into balls the size of the sun. Then suppose we had blindfolded a man and told him to go over all of these great balls and pick up the dollar which he thinks is the right one. What chance would he have of finding the right one? It would be a very great task to look over this mass of dollars. If our blindfolded man were to travel sixty miles per hour, day and night, it would take him five years to go once around a star. This would give him a very poor chance to select what might be the marked dollar from that star, but this amount of time per star would take 500 billion years for each galaxy. Let us suppose our man were extremely speedy, able to look over all of the dollars contained in 100 billion stars each second (instead of 500 billion years), it would still take him about 3 x 109 years to look over the whole mass. This is one half the six billion years back to creation. It is absurd to think that he would have any conceivable chance of picking up the right dollar. The chance of these eleven prophecies being written in human wisdom, and all coming true, is a similar chance to that which the blindfolded man had of finding the right dollar. But these prophecies, and many more, all came true. We can then draw only one conclusion, and that is that God inspired the writing of every one of these prophecies. What stronger proof can any man ask for the inspiration of the Bible?”

And this powerful statement made by Mr. Stone, “God has accepted this challenge. He has predicted multitudes of events to happen in the future. They have come true exactly as predicted, even though in some cases thousands of years were involved for the fulfillment. God has proved that He is our supernatural God with all wisdom. We have no alternative but to believe.”

WE HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO BELIEVE. That statement from a scientist. Believe it!

We will be looking at the prophesies of the “end times” and a “preparation” for the events to unfold. Jesus tells us about the “beginning of sorrows.” “ “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24: 5-8) Our current events seem to be building up for the future. The forecast is for “perilous times” ahead.

Can you possibly have any doubt the prophesies concerning apostasy are being fulfilled? Even our churches have been tainted with a moral relativism. Denominations are having a hard time defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. Many religious leaders openly support homosexuality. The Bible is becoming subordinate in the modern church and they are trying to be more appealing. And leaders can’t even discern between a male and a female today. These are definitely “spiritually perilous times.”

Pieces are falling into place for the “revived” Roman Empire which will hold power before Christ returns. The formulation of the European Union, and the reunified Germany is certainly shining light on biblical prophecy. Let’s not forget that in 1948, Israel was recognized as a sovereign state. That was a direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Jesus indicated to us that the signs would arise together when His return was drawing near. “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” (Matthew 24: 33-34) Do you know that our generation is the very first to see every trend falling into place? You do now. Watch ye, and be ready. Look at these for just a taste of the sign of the times:

We were told false Bible teachers would come. “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” (2 Peter 2:1-2) Lots of people reject the Bible today because they heard it misrepresented by a false teacher.
We were told the false teachers would be money-hungry, smooth talkers. “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” (2 Peter 2:3) A lot of TV evangelists twist the scriptures and market to the unwary.
The Gospel would be preached to all nations. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14) The Bible has now been translated into over 2400 languages and covers over 90 percent of the world population.
Mankind will be capable of destroying all life. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22) When Jesus made that promise the only weapons were swords and spears. We are aware now that with nuclear and chemicals all flesh on the planet could be wiped out.
A global cry for peace. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3) There is a concerted global effort to have peace at any cost.
Ethnic conflicts would be prevalent. “Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” (Luke 21:10) Today more than ever we have ethnic groups fighting. Have you heard the word racist lately?
Jerusalem would be re-built on its own ruins. “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:6)
Israel which was divided in two kingdoms would be one united nation. (Ezekiel 37:22) And it is! Israel is one nation.
Asia would be capable of deploying a 200-million-man army. (Revelation 9:14-16) Today, according to the CIA, China alone has 281 million men ready for military service.
Great Earthquakes in places unforeseen. (Luke 21;11) And the seismic activity is ramping up around the world.
Men would be lovers of themselves. (2 Timothy 3:1-2) Can anyone say Facebook? Not much more explanation needed.
Youth will become increasingly rebellious. (2 Timothy 3:2-3) No comment necessary here either.
Humanity will become materialistic and lovers of pleasure. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) we have everything under the sun now to entertain and bring pleasure to the masses.
Homosexuality will be flaunted at the end of the age. (Luke 17:28-30) Today, the homosexual agenda is flaunted and forced upon our entire society.
Apostasy will occur just before the Antichrist is revealed. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) Experience based Christianity and other things have replace the Bible as the standard for saving faith and Christ’s exclusive claims are negated in the name of tolerance.
Some would depart from the faith. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1) In our generation there is an explosion of false doctrines luring folks away.
Men will sear their conscience so they can continue in sin. “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Timothy 4:2) There is sinning with knowledge as people ignore God’s moral law and violate their own conscience.
Sexual Immorality will be rampant. “How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.” (Jude 18) The availability of sexual products has exploded in our generation.
And what about the Ten Commandments no longer looked at as our moral code. With the words taken down from public places. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

And look what recently happened. The move of the U.S Embassy in Israel back to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

We are witnessing it now. The book of Revelation is beginning to unfold right before us. We haven’t seen anything yet, anything we are experiencing is the tip of the iceberg. This pandemic we are in will not be the last. And more natural disasters will come.

Jesus said men will be gripped with fear when these signs occur. “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:26) And others are to be looking up with hopeful expectations. “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28)

Are you fearful?

God will judge every one who breaks His laws. Look at the Ten Commandments. How many have you broken? Keep in mind that nothing is hidden from God’s eyes. But. Listen, God is longsuffering and He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) The good news is there is a way to be forgiven and get to heaven. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) And “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Awaken from any spiritual slumber and be ready when the Lord returns “as a thief in the night.”

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51: 1-2)

God will never let you down and everything He has promised will be fulfilled.

Come with me next post as we get back into the book of Revelation.

Until He comes,

The Tubthumper

Armageddon On Schedule

Humanity began in the garden and will end in the Eternal City. Beginning in tragedy we will end in triumph. In the beginning was man’s failure but, in the end, there will be exaltation. Between all this there stood a cross. And on that cross Jesus Christ changed our course and the course of humanity forever.

Hi everyone,

It has been a long time since I picked up the pen due to things life has dealt. But now the Lord is prompting me to write about the book of Revelation. As we are living now in the year 2024 we are seeing prophesy come true before our eyes. Can it be much longer? Many things are still to happen but we are definitely experiencing the birth pangs of Armageddon. Hearts are waxing cold and evil is ever-present. It is time to look into the future. I believe this project will enhance my understanding of Revelation and hopefully enhance yours too. My attempt will be to provide it as clear as I can in a simple way that is easy to understand. So let us begin with the end in mind as Stephen Covey put it.

The New Testament has guided us Christians for well over a couple thousand years and it clearly shows Christ’s birth and resurrection. At the end of the New Testament is the book of Revelation that shows us a wonderful picture of the return of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ. The message of the Bible would be very incomplete without the New Testament.

The Old Testament shows us the message of the coming Messiah. All through the Old Testament we see evidence of the one that will come to be the King of Israel and savior to all mankind, the savior of the world. When the old testament ends, the coming of the Messiah is an event still not fulfilled. We await the arrival of “The Lamb of God,” to come to us and take away the sins of the world. (John 1:29)

Revelation is the most significant book as it relates to prophesy, in the New Testament. It is the finale, the grand and spectacular conclusion to God’s written word and the event we all await. All of us believers have cherished the book of Revelation, regardless of whether we completely and fully understand it. Why do we cherish it so, because it gives us hope? It gives us hope of the future time when God will make “all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) And God said right in the verse to, “write these things because what He is saying is faithful and true.” So even though in our frail human understanding and difficulty to believe such a dream can come true, He is saying believe it and trust it.

The book of Revelation is pretty fascinating and I am sure this will take me some time. I do not know how long. I do not know how many posts it will take. I am sure it’s a big project for me. I am excited to be getting started. Revelation is a look at the end of the world. It is God’s revelation of the end-times. These posts and threads will lead us to Armageddon and beyond. Are you curious? Do you want to know what happens next? Follow along with me in the coming weeks and months.

God is revealing for us, the future before it actually happens. Revelation is a prophesy of future events. Hopefully I can keep it simple enough for you all to understand the messages God wants us all the hear. I will focus on the “big picture” and I will strive to not get bogged down in all the details. Lots of people get drawn in and side-tracked by all the minute details. In my posts I will stay focused on the main message of the book.

There are Seven major points to consider:

The letters to the seven churches.
The seven seals.
The Seven trumpets
The seven bowls
The seven symbolic figures
The seven judgements
The seven triumphs

When we look into the book of Revelation the curtain gets raised and the future is there for us all to view. Through seven visions and a lot of symbolic word and number illustrations, the entire climax of human history gets told in lucid detail.

The term, “Revelation,” means “uncover” or “unveil” or “reveal” everything that was hidden so we can now see it. The Greek term, apokalupsis is translated for us. And this is why the book is often referred to as the Apocalypse. It is both apocalyptic and prophetic. The very last of the sixty-six books of the Bible bringing it all to a conclusion. The Apocalypse calls itself a “prophecy” of future events. (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10,18,19) It is a final book of New Testament prophesy. Prophetic visions of the future!

Bruce Metzger, a New Testament Scholar, tells us, “In order to become oriented with the book of Revelation one must take seriously what the author says happened. John tells us that he had a series of visions. He says he ‘heard’ certain words and he ‘saw’ certain visions.” Metzger adds, “Such accounts combine cognitive insight with emotional response. They invite the reader or listener to enter into the experience being recounted and to participate in it, triggering mental images of that which is described.” We have the temptation to read about the future through our eyes of the present. Let’s not do that. There is no guarantee the end will come in our lifetime. What glory that would be though.

Events predicted in the Revelation come in symbolic language. Many of the symbolic things come from the Old Testament passages. Such as tree of life, Lion of Judah, etc… Some are also drawn from New Testament passages. Some symbols have no biblical parallel and are left unexplained and still others are specifically explained and identified. There is a lot to consider. We should move forward with a guarded caution and keen insight.

We are looking at the “book of the unveiling,” God meant for us to understand it. He gave us the promise, “Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophesy, and heed the things which are written in it.” (Revelation 1:3)

Revelation is very Unique.

The book is based around a series of threes and sevens. The over-reaching three is Past, Present and Future.

Past: “the things which you have seen” (Chapter 1)
Present: “the things which are” (Chapter 2)
Future: “the things which shall take place after these things” (Chapters 4-22)

And the seven visions I mentioned earlier:

Seven churches (1:9-3:22)
Seven seals (4:1-8:1)
Seven trumpets (8:2-11:19)
Seven symbolic figures (12:1-14:20)
Seven bowls (15:1-16:21)
Seven judgments (17:1-19:10)
Seven triumphs (19:11-22:5)

The use of symbolic numbers is found throughout the book. The most significant numbers found in the Apocalypse are:

Three- as in the number of the Trinity. Lots of threes and triplets in the book.

Four- this number is generally related to earth as in four seasons.

Six- this is the number of man, later the number of Anti-Christ 666.

Seven- this is the most significant number, many, many sevens we will see. Seven churches, seven spirits, seven lampstands, seven stars, seven lamps of fire, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven peals of thunder, seven thousand people, seven heads, seven diadems, seven angels, seven plagues, seven bowls, seven mountains, seven kings, seven beatitudes and seven “I ams” of Christ. Twelve- this is the number of completeness, i.e.- the twelve tribes.

So, what is Revelation all about?

It is in the title. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the things which must take place. Jesus Christ is the central theme of it all. He is the key to understanding the book. He is both the author and the subject of the book. The purpose is to reveal the future. From David Jeremiah we get, “The word ‘revelation’ means the disclosure of that which was previously hidden or unknown. The book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is coming again, how He is coming, and what the condition of the world will be when He comes.”

The return of Christ, the risen savior.

Critics of prophecy have often referred to this as a book of doom and gloom. But it is not. It has both negative and positive implications. For the unbeliever its negative. Sorry but – if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and savoir then you lose. For the believer its good news- our Savior is coming and we win!

The book of Revelation shows us a series of wide views which are then followed by more concise snapshots. First, we get the big picture and then we get the details. The pattern is generally, bad news-details to follow, or good news-details to follow. With that said, things will not come to us in direct sequential order.

The basic Big Picture.

The church will continue to grow.
Satanic oppression will intensify.
Israel will return to the Promised Land.
The church will be raptured to heaven.
The tribulation period and its judgements will follow.
The marriage of Christ and the church will occur.
The triumphal return of Jesus Christ.
The Millennial Kingdom when Jesus will reign on earth for 1000 years.
The final triumph and Satan cast into the lake of fire.
The Eternal State- a new heaven and a new earth.

As we begin the journey through Revelation several things are very clear:

John is looking into the future.
He sees a pattern of events happening in heaven and on earth.
The events he sees will involve some catastrophic judgments on earth.
The judgments will result in the final triumph and the return of Christ with the establishment of His Kingdom. And the millennium.
Then there is the Eternal State- a new heaven and a new earth.

Well friends, humanity began in the garden and will end in the Eternal City.

Beginning in tragedy we will end in triumph. In the beginning was man’s failure but, in the end, there will be exaltation. Between all this there stood a cross. And on that cross Jesus Christ changed our course and the course of humanity forever. Amen! Hallelujah! What a Savior we have!

Praise the Lord.

Follow along with me and we will have a look to the glorious finish.

The Tubthumper Click here to jump to the next post.

To Act or Not: Part 2

Is it appropriate to attempt to be an “Acts Church” today by using the book of Acts as a guide?
Yes and No… let me explain. Certainly the ten points I outlined in the last post will be a great resource to follow and I support the use of them. In fact our churches won’t be too successful without doing those 10 things. So yes, I say we should follow the guide and do our best to carry it out. We need to keep in mind however the differences in culture and their community compared to ours. Without intense study of the culture in Jerusalem at that time in history it would be impossible to understand the vast differences. The response to leadership was different and some things done today were completely forbidden. There was also specific revelation occurring from God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The early converts were praying like we can’t even imagine and God was responding. I believe this issue of prayer is one of our problems but that is another subject. The early church was almost completely a made up of Jewish people before it spread to the Gentiles. (Officially in Acts 15) Our community is much more diverse. Things were done much different back then compared to now and the world mindset was different. I remember a guy saying to me, “Ok, that was the church for then but I want to experience our church for now.” We can be an Acts church but must modify for our contemporary times. It would be impossible to do everything exactly as the Apostles did in the early church.
Secondly I think there is more that God wants us to follow and the Bible provides it. I think if we add Ephesians to the Acts Church we have a winner of a blueprint to work from. We must not exclude the teachings of Timothy, Titus and others.
We know that the primary job of the Church is the ‘Great Commission’ of Matthew 28:16-20) which theoretically is a three part process. One is to make disciples, second is to baptize them, and third we must, “teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” The Church leaders must see to it that disciples are being made. It is their our principle responsibility.
How are disciples made? They are created through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone does not do the same job in the process. Some disciple, some evangelize, some teach, etc… No need to feel guilt if you can’t do everything well. “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12)
A major part of the blueprint for Church today is Ephesians 4:10-16. The main function of the church leaders is to equip the saints for the work of service. And every Christian is a saint, just call me Saint Frank. Church leaders are to be intimately involved in equipping each and every saint. The body of Christ is built up through the process of equipping. So the purpose of leaders is to equip Christians for ministry and not to replace them. The purpose of equipping members for service is so the body can be built up and the ‘Unity of the Body’ can only be achieved through every Christian ministering and supplying the body. When each individual is functioning properly the body builds itself up in love and unity. It will be self-perpetuating because God guaranteed it. The bottom line is that Churches will grow when we as Christians use our Spiritual Gifts in service to the body of Christ.
We need to be careful because looking at other churches through the ages and how other people are doing things has led to decline in Christianity. Churches that are dying are usually mired in tradition or off the path and unwilling to change. We need to be looking at scripture and reading scripture. We need to also be on our knees in prayer. God’s word has all the answers and it is not only in the book of Acts. Albeit Acts is a great place to be and I don’t want to diminish its importance.
The basic point we must remember is that with a guide or not, the church is built up on disciples that are willing to take up their cross and die for the Lord if need be. (Matthew 16:24)
I think I will close with a thought on this church leadership issue: We will all stand before God some day and answer to Him. Many Church Leaders will stand before God and be asked what they were told to do and if they completed it. Many won’t know what He is talking about and won’t be able to say they obeyed. He will ask if they warned the disciples about their accountability for their instructions in the Word. Not many leaders are reading the Word of God any more. The wrath of God will be visited upon disobedient disciples, and will be visited upon negligent church leaders because it is their responsibility to, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:28-30) Church leadership comes with an awesome responsibility. Woe to those who scatter my sheep.
Blessings for your day through Christ,

The Tubthumper

1 Stephen Parker, Church Growth Crisis: The Decline of Christianity in America (Oklahoma City, OK: Forever Family Publications, 2011).

Hell Yes It’s Real, part 4

New Testament Doctrine of Hell

Three words are translated to “Hell” from the New Testament. Hades, Tartarus and Gehenna. Hades and Tartarus are Greek and the word Gehenna is the Greek form of the Hebrew words Gee and Hinnom which mean “the valley of Hinnom.”

Hades occurs eleven times and has a meaning of “grave” one time and “Hell” ten times. 2 Cor. 15: 55, ” O death, where is thy sting. O grave (hades) where is thy victory?” An example of a use where it takes the meaning of “Hell” is Rev. 6: 8, “And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was death, and Hell followed him.”

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus provides a good example of hades being used in the figurative sense of depravity, suffering and degradation. The word Tartarus was used only one time and was within the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Tartarus was the place of torment within Hades. It is the place where the rich man was located and was used figuratively. The word Gehanna shows up 12 times always being associated with “Hell”. It is found in the following scriptures: Matt. 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28, 18:9, 13:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5 and James 3:6. It is clear to see the word Gehanna, or Hell, within the New Testament represents anything repulsive, foul and evil with judgment of destruction.^{^[1]}

The majority of people today cannot quite grasp the Biblical teaching on the destiny of the lost. Someone you love could possibly end up in eternal punishment because of wickedness. Now that is a thought and a place where even Christians with generally high views of Biblical inspiration cannot go.^{^[2]}

The bible teaches the existence of Heaven where we can end up in a state of joyous eternity and residing in the fellowship of God. It also teaches the presence of Hell which is presented as a state of anguished separation from God. Those decisions are made while you are in this life and once this life ends they become permanently fixed states.^{^[3]}

The very first description of Hell in revelation comes in Chapter 14 when John wrote about the final judgment. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name” (Rev. 14:9-11). This is another very terrifying section of God’s word as it is referring to “God’s wrath” and “God’s anger” all mentioned within the context of “tormented with fire and brimstone” forever and ever. It does not get any more frightful than this. John sends all a very forceful warning of “Do not oppose God!” He goes on in revelation describing the torment and the lake of fire.^{^[4]}

In Revelation 20 and 21 the “Lake of fire” is described as the place where all who choose to turn from Jesus will go as a final destiny. In Rev. 20: 11-15 the words are clear that the lake of fire is for punishment. John tells us there will be two different places for believers and unbelievers. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Rev. 22:14-15). If these subjects have not dealt with their sins through the blood of Jesus in this life, “washed their robes”; their destiny will be chosen. There will be no way to wash your robes when you are in the lake of fire.^{^[5]}

The doctrine of Hell is fully supported by the Bible and has been an accepted doctrine of the Christian church from the beginning. Many Scholars such as C.S. Lewis have come to the conclusion that scriptures also are supported by reason.

In the last part of Matthew 25 it says, “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:44-46). Think about what the Bible is always talking about. Believe on Christ and be saved. Believe and have everlasting life. Be saved from what? It is important to connect with this fundamental issue. If you believe and have a saving faith in Christ you are then saved from that awful and terrible place in outer darkness. You will be saved from the wrath of God. No one wants to experience the wrath of a just God visited upon who ever has been hostile toward Him. You should be seeing the reality of Hell in all this. The most frightful thing anyone could ever experience is the judgment of a holy God.^{^[6]}

Tony Evans wrote, “The Bible is clear that at the moment of death, our souls pass immediately into conscious existence in eternity, either in heaven or in hell. A lot of people think there’s some kind of second chance after death. God’s Word says nothing about an intermediate state of purgatory after death in which we have a second chance to get our act together, have our sins dealt with and then make it to heaven.”^{^[7]}

As mentioned before, this life is no trial run. It is the only shot we have. So let us all get our act together so as not to end up in that horrible place called Hell. Yes, it is for real.

Come back for the next post as we look at what Jesus said about Hell.

Click here to jump to the next post. Jump to part 1, part 2, part 3, Conclusion.

Have a Godly day,

“The Tubthumper”

[1] Velarde, Is Hell Real?

[2] David Horton and Ryan Horton, eds., The Portable Seminary (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2006), 166.

[3] Ibid., 194.

[4] Evans, Tony Evans Speaks Out on Heaven and Hell, 15.

[5] Chan and Sprinkle, Erasing Hell, 33.

[6] Sproul, Unseen Realities, 65.

[7] Evans, Tony Evans Speaks Out on Heaven and Hell, 8.

Are we a Bunch of Losers? Part 6

Part 6

I mentioned earlier that you should evaluate the church, your church and your life. Let me draw your attention to the first six books of Revelation.

The first church Jesus addressed is the Church as Ephesus. He started with giving them a commendation, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.” Oh, but all is not good because He then rebukes them, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen!” If you have studied the Bible much at all you should know that love is one of the top three topics if not the one greatest of all. They had forsaken the LOVE! And then comes the warning, “Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”(In other words He would leave them in darkness!) And then He gives them a promise, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Now there is some fine motivation. Have you forsaken the Love?

The second church in the evaluation is the church at Smyrna. He starts again with an accolade. I think this may be where the “sandwich” style of delivering some criticism in the business world might have come from. It is usually the way we get something positive as the first slice of bread and then the filling is the rough stuff before the last slice added is a word of hope and praise. Jesus tells them, “I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Ouch! Next comes the warning, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Lastly he gives the hope, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” Notice the hint to listen to what the Holy Spirit says for the things churches are to do. Be sure you are not a synagogue of Satan.

Church number three is the church of Pergamum. Right away we see the praise coming, “I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.” Not long after, however, comes the complaint, “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” He is warning them against false teachers and sexual immorality which we have plenty of in these days. The warning is sharp, “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” And He finishes with the hope, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.” Once again He says to listen to the Holy Spirit! Do not worship idols or be committing sexual immorality.

The fourth Church Jesus addresses is the church of Thyatira and He starts by acknowledging they have grown from where they started, “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” But then comes the reprimand, “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” It sounds to me like He is not happy with them, to say the least… So now comes a further warning, Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.” So to those of you that are somehow righteous you better stick with the program until I come get you. Jesus then tells of the reward for doing as He commands, “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’ ¬- just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Hear it? Listen to the Holy Spirit? Do not follow false teachers.

Please join me in the next post (JUST CLICK HERE) for the conclusion as we review the last three churches and bring this series to a close.

God bless your day,

‘The Tubthumper’

Are we a bunch of losers?

Are we just a bunch of Losers?

As the “Church” are we failing? Are we just a bunch of losers? This will be a series of several posts on the state of the church and what is happening. As I began writing the content led me to first “What is the Church?” After that I wanted to look at what the Bible teaches “the church” should look like, what happens to us by relating two parables and then it led to an evaluation based on the way Jesus evaluated the church in Revelation chapter 2.

Please strap your seat-belts on and ride with me as we begin with Part 1:

Are we Americans first and Christians second or are we Christians first and Americans second? What do you think of when someone mentions the ‘the Church’. If you think it is some organization in the next county or some building up the street, then think again. The church, my friend, is you and it is Me. The church is a group of people. It is the believing souls that follow Christ.

“‘Church’ might be a denomination, a building, or an organized group of believers, but THE Church consists of followers of Jesus Christ who have been saved by grace through faith in him—the ‘body of Christ’. Instead of pointing fingers and saying the ‘church’ has failed at this or that, we might want to pause and take a hard look at ourselves first. Is the church failing us or are we failing the church?” – G.S. West.

The church is failing because we want to be like the world. To completely believe in the Gospel will destroy our lives as Americans. We have all compromised what we have been taught. We have all forsaken the word of God. We are a bunch of two faced hypocrites! I use that strong language because it is true. We are supposed to be different. The Bible says, “They will know we are Christians by our love”. It also says that we would easily be recognized by our fruit.

What has happened is that we have been watered down so far that we cannot be picked out of the crowd any longer. If we all were in God’s word and in prayer each day as we are commanded something amazing would happen. We would be so profoundly different from everyone else that the world would have to sit up and take notice. What if preachers today expounded God’s word from what was written instead of making up their own? A few still hold to Gospel but most do not. What I see are preachers that only talk about the pleasantries involved and somehow skip the issue of sin and the wrath of God. There are so many false teachers out there now it is frightening. We have all bought into the health and wealth philosophy in some extent if not wholly and it cannot be denied. We have done it without even being completely aware it happened. It has been like the story of how you can boil a frog. If you try to put a frog in hot water to kill him he will just jump out quickly to safety. If you want it done you must put the frog in a pot of cold water and let him swim around and get comfortable. Then turn up the heat slowly and bring the water to a boil while the frog is sleeping. And that’s it, he’s cooked! And yes, we are cooked! We have all been slowly boiled into the world.

Do you know the parable of the “Rich Fool” or the parable of the “Rich Young Ruler”? Both of them serve as good examples of where we have come. And the fix we are in. The parables are great so read them all. The Rich Fool parable can be found in Luke chapter 12 starting at verse 13. Just prior to the parable on the Rich Fool Jesus was cautioning against covetousness. The text shows Jesus teaching about being ready for the redeemer. This parable is the very first of five parables about the second coming of Jesus the Christ. He was preaching to the multitude, probably in Jerusalem because it was in the last month of His ministry. Jesus was addressing the crowd and He was teaching. The crowd heard about the hypocrisy of the Pharisee’s. They also heard about the Fear of God and the need to confess Him before men. They heard of the urgency of the time and that possessions are not as important as Godliness. Jesus was warning against greed and materialism. The Rich Fool was trying to store up his mast harvest to be able to eat, drink and be merry. What Jesus knew that the fool didn’t is that it was the last day of the fool’s life. He would die that night. He drew a parallel between the rich fool that met an untimely death and those that store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God. The point being: Spiritual wealth far exceeds material wealth in value. In verse 20 he was called a fool. This is the only place in the Bible where Jesus directly called anyone a fool. The rich fool was called that because he was totally self-centered. The personal pronouns of “me, mine, and I” are used 12 times in this short parable by the fool. It is a very telling point of reference.

Then we have the “Rich Young Ruler” found in Luke 18:18-30. Let us look in verse 22, “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” This guy wanted to be in the Kingdom. He wanted to be saved. But he couldn’t unless he sold all the riches he had. When he heard those things he became very sad for he was very rich.

With us it is not that we are all rich even though we are better off than the rest of the world. What our problem is absolutely is the way we have come to live. In order to completely follow Jesus we would need to surrender how we live, how we work, how we love, how we communicate and I could go on and on. Every ounce of our lives would need to be surrendered or “sold” to completely follow Jesus.

We are all unwilling to take that step. Aren’t we?

Click here to jump to Part 2 as we reflect on the hearts of the two rich guys…