Liar, Liar, Lake of Fire

(Satan’s Lies Exposed)

Chuck Burke

Copyright 2016

Extracts from the Authorized Version of the Bible (The King James Bible), the rights in which are vested in the Crown, are reproduced by permission of the Crown's Patentee, Cambridge University Press.

This publication is free of charge to all. It is ungodly and illegal to sell this book. You may download, copy and distribute this book, or any portion thereof, free of charge.

Downloadable, electronic copies and e-books available at www.libertyhavenbc.com

Revision 1.1

Lordswatch Ministries

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

How to Read This Book

Lie Number 1 - Children

Lie Number 2 - Pride

Lie Number 3 - Image

Lie Number 4 - Love

Lie Number 5 - Blood

Lie Number 6 - Fight

Lie Number 7 - Win

Lie Number 8 - Peace

Lie Number 9 - Devices

Lie Number 10 – Believe (Part 1)

Lie Number 10 – Believe (Part 2)

Conclusion of the Whole Matter

Foreword

When one considers reading a new book, written by an author unknown to them, especially one written on the topic of Biblical doctrine, there are a few questions they typically ask themselves before they decide to really dive in and see what the author has to say.

Why should I care about the topic?

You will typically read nothing more than the title of the book if you don’t care about the topic being discussed. So, let's talk about why this book was written and the importance of the topic to you as an individual. This book aims to expose some of the most deceptive and subtle lies that mankind tells themselves, propagated by the father of lies himself, Satan. However, the true aim of this book is to, in the face of these lies, make known the truth. Lies and Truth. The Bible has much to say on the topic, without even discussing specific lies and truths.

First, the Bible tells us what they really are. What are lies really?

Proverbs 26:28 A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

To lie is to hate. You may not feel like that is what you are doing, but when you lie, you are hating those persons you are lying to. Even when you are doing it to make someone feel better (flattering) you are not working good, but ruin. Why is this? It’s because to lie, really, is to murder!

Isaiah 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Ezekiel 13:19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?

Lying slays souls, plain and simple. It slayed Eve (2 Corinthians 11:3), Ahab (1 Kings 22:20-22), God’s prophets (1 Kings 13:18), Jesus (Matthew 26:59) and many more. Satan’s very first lie to mankind is the reason your body will age and die. Lies and deceptions are Satan’s instruments of death. That is all he has ever done to mankind; deceive them and accuse them (Revelation 12:10) before God. His very last act will also be to deceive as many as he can.

Revelation 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. ... 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations ...

You see, Satan wants you to die. He casts his subtle instruments of death at mankind so that one cannot deliver his soul. You should care about the topic because it is a matter of life and death. Yes, in fact, while lies bring death, the truth brings life.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom [synonymous with truth, as in Psalms 51:6] giveth life to them that have it.

Next, the Bible reveals the value of lies and truth. Now, many would be inclined to argue that lies can have value, that they are useful, and lying may even be the right thing to do in certain situations. God does not agree. Not one little bit. Lies are completely worthless and vain to God.

Job 24:25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

Jeremiah 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

Men may place value on lies, but God does not. However wisdom, the truth, is more valuable than anything man could ever desire.

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Proverbs 8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Not only is the truth life, but it is true and eternal riches. It is so much more valuable than gold, diamonds, or anything else that mankind places such extraordinary value on. The truth makes everything else look like comparing the top-speed of a Boeing 757 (~610 mph) to the speed of light (~670,000,000 mph). Why would anyone ever spend 26 years travelling from Earth to Mars when they could do it in less than 15 minutes? There really is no comparison.

Proverbs 16:16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Why should you care about the topic of truth and lies? It’s the difference between being extremely full of wealth and life, or being a poor prisoner on death row. It really is that serious to God.

Proverbs 25:18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Proverbs 26:18 As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, 19 So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

Deception and lies are not a joke to God. Throwing around lies and deceptions is like throwing around death. Lies and deceptions are incredibly dangerous. Only a mad man thinks lightly of them, laughs at them, and uses them casually. That must mean all of us are mad, since who doesn’t lie to their parent, spouse, child, or friend on a daily basis? You may lie in order to have a good laugh, you may lie to make them feel better, or lie to get them to behave (e.g. Santa Clause). Your intentions do not matter; the lies themselves are instruments of death. This book aims to expose the death that has been so casually cast like a sharp arrow in your direction.

What are my intentions?

Essentially, what do you want to get out of reading this book? Well, the answer should be that, “I intend to gain Biblical knowledge”. Whether or not you ultimately believe the author’s conclusions regarding the scriptures presented herein is really irrelevant. The value to you is that you are being spoon-fed the Word of God. You can’t help but grow from Scripture, as it is your spiritual food, and as we’ve learned above, it is life and eternal wealth. What you should want is to accumulate truth and wisdom.

Proverbs 19:8 He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.

Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

That last passage is a really powerful one. Let that sink in. Wisdom is the principal thing! Literally, the most important thing that you can acquire in this life that you live is not money or power, it is not even love and friendship. It is wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the truth.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

However, there is a problem. One where it is necessary to give caution. The problem you face is this: the truth is not free!

Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

If you want the truth, you are going to have to buy it. Now, before you start theorizing on what that means, know this: God does not require your money. The author of this book does not require your money. This book is completely free. That’s not what the Bible is saying. Let’s let Jesus explain.

Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Bob Jones, a fairly well-known evangelist and also the founder of Bob Jones University, a particularly strict and Christian college, once taught on verses 28-32 for a full 15 minutes, not even referring to another verse in the Bible. His message? Essentially, don’t buy a new car if you can’t afford it. That is certainly wise, is it not? But that is not what Jesus is teaching. That is the wisdom of this world. Any half-decent business man could teach you that. What Jesus is trying to tell you, is that there is a cost to being His disciple. There is a cost for the truth. The difficult thing for you to determine while reading this book is whether you will be able to accept the cost of believing the truth. Because the more truth you have, the more you will have to pay. Do you know how much money the Apostles had, who walked the earth with Jesus, and had been given much truth directly from His mouth?

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; ...

Not a little silver, not a few pieces of gold. They had NONE. Likewise, for real wisdom and truth, you are going to have to forsake (i.e. abandon, forget) all that you have (see also Luke 14:26 and Matthew 19:29). Understand, this is not a cost that God exacts. This is one that Satan and mankind will ensure that you pay. As an extreme example, an individual living in China or Iraq will be executed for accepting and following Christ. Maybe following the truth will not cost you your life where you live. Maybe it will cost you your relationships with your parents, your spouse, your best friends. Maybe it will cost you your job. Maybe you won’t ever know what it has cost you. The fact remains, Satan will make you pay for following the truth. But Christ will reward you abundantly.

Colossians 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Pay whatever cost is necessary to get wisdom, to get the truth. Because the truth is way more valuable than anything you could desire.

Why should I trust the author?

You shouldn’t. Any book you have ever read or ever will read (with the exception of one Holy Book) is written by an author who is a liar. Either on purpose or by ignorance, each and every one of us, and any others that we might respect, creates and speaks lies.

Psalms 116:11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.
But really, this question is better stated as, “am I going to be deceived or lied to by this author?” This is an important question, as all religious cults get their converts from this thing exactly: lies and false promises.

2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

This author is trying to give truth and liberty, and not put anyone in bondage. There is no intention to deceive or lie or convince anyone of anything that is not Bible truth. But MANY authors can and do make that same promise under false pretenses. And how can you, as the reader know whether it is true or it is a lie? How do you know who to trust? The answer again is: don’t trust anyone; man or woman. Don’t put confidence or trust in the author. Put your trust only in the Lord, and in His perfect Word.

Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Psalms 40:4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

When you place your trust in a human author, you will turn aside to lies.

What authority does the author have?

The answer in this case is: None. But this is a faulty question. There is no authority on this subject other than the final authority; The Word of God. Police officers have authority. Governmental law-makers have authority. Kings and Presidents have authority because they make and enforce laws. Not a single human alive today makes or enforces God’s law. No one creates or legislates His Word. The only one making and enforcing God’s law is God himself.

James 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

So there is no authority but Him. Pastors and teachers in Biblical matters are more like lawyers, in that they study and attempt to operate within the law. But lawyers have no authority, only the law has authority. Likewise, the Scripture is the sole authority.

Why should I read this book?

Now, the reason you should give this book a chance, despite that the author is an unknown, fallible liar, just like you and every other author of any other book not named The Holy Bible, is because this author gives you Scripture alone to support his conclusions. And if someone gives you Scripture (a.k.a. the authority), you are commanded by God to receive it.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

This is important to understand: God expects you to receive “the word”, not receive the individual’s explanation of the scripture, which is often loaded with personal biases and opinions. You are under no obligation to believe anything the author says, but rather your obligation is to receive and believe what the Scripture says. You are to receive the Scripture itself, and then to search the rest of the Scriptures, comparing Scripture with Scripture, to see whether or not what the author is telling you is so, is actually so. In other words, don’t reject possible Bible truth outright, having never sought the truth in the Scriptures! The apostle Peter did just this thing, as you’ll soon see – just hang on.

The reason you should give this book a chance is because it offers an opportunity to not only gain incredible value (i.e. the truth) but to also expose dangerous lies, which are valueless. Consider weeds in a garden of flowers, herbs and vegetables. Flowers, herbs, and vegetables are each valuable to the gardener in their own ways. But weeds have no value. Not only do they have no value, but they are extremely difficult to fully eradicate. Mankind has worked very hard for decades to create chemical products that kill weeds without killing the flowers, herbs, and vegetables. The difficulty is that weeds are resilient and very good at reproduction. So are lies among a garden of truth.

Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

Lies are passed down from generation to generation. Men die, but lies, they just keep chugging along. And now Satan has had 2,000 years since Jesus Christ died to create all sorts of lies that just keep getting passed down to the next generation. The value of this book, to you as the individual, is that it promises to expose and eradicate the lies (worthlessness and death) and reveal the truth (wealth and life). That promise alone is more than worth your time.

Now that last analogy of weeds in a garden wasn’t very accurate, Biblically. The truth is not like flowers, vegetables and herbs in a little well-tended garden. The truth is like finding a treasure chest in the Sahara desert, buried deep under the sand.

Psalms 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Job 28:12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. 14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. 15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

Job 28:20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,...

The place of truth and wisdom is not in this world. Truth does not originate from anywhere in this world. And it is incredibly hard to find, similar to treasure hidden in a desert. If not for someone specifically revealing the location of that treasure, one would never find it. Similarly, without God giving you the truth, you never will find it.

Proverbs 2:3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

But you really have to seek and desire the truth. You really have to be willing to buy it. And the Lord knows whether or not you are sincere in your search and desire for the truth (1 Chronicles 28:9). Our search for the truth will be not be in the Sahara desert, or in any physical location on the Earth, but instead in the spiritual Word of God, as it is the only source of absolute truth in this world.

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

How should I read this book?

This is where it is important to describe the manner in which this book should be read. The short version of the answer was already seen in Proverbs 2:3-5 and in Acts 17:11. Diligently seek the truth, and cry after it, no matter how inconvenient it is, or how much it costs you.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

And as you are given Scripture upon Scripture as the author draws his conclusions, your job is to receive the Word and search the Scriptures whether or not those things are so. It is entirely likely that you will at first disagree with the author’s conclusions, perhaps even strongly so. It is likely that some things may be hard to hear or accept. When that occurs, you need to remember something. Listen close, because this is very important. To be proved wrong, be corrected, and change your mind is exactly what God wants for you. That is his way!

Jeremiah 5:3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

Receiving correction is part of the Lord’s way for mankind. The fool hates knowledge, the wise man loves correction. No one would really argue against this. Receiving instruction and knowledge is wise, rejecting teaching is foolish.

Proverbs 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. 9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

Proverbs 15:5 A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Proverbs 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The problem is, you could show these verses to 1,000 people and almost no one would think they fall into this “foolish” category. But the truth is that when we hear some new information that disagrees with what we previously believed, most of us do just that; foolishly reject it outright.

Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Notice what happened with the apostle Peter there. Jesus told him a truth, something he had never heard before. Something that had been a hidden truth since the foundation of the world (Matthew 13:35). And what did Peter do with this truth? Did he receive it and search the Scriptures to see if it was so? No, he rejected it outright and said emphatically, this shall not be! Peter said directly to the face of God, “what you are telling me now does not agree with what I think is right, what I feel is right, or what I want to be right. This simply must be false!” WOW! And what was Jesus’ response? “Get out of my way, Satan!” WOW! Not only are you a fool for rejecting correction and instruction, but you are an offence to the Creator God (also see Psalms 50:16-17).

Take heed from Peter’s mistake. Do not reject alleged Biblical truth (when given the Word of God, the Scripture, as proof of course) without searching the Scriptures to see whether or not those things are so. It may cost you valuable time to do your searching. But that is just another way in which you must buy the truth. As Jesus said, count the cost. Can you afford to buy this free book?

The truth is that you do not know everything. In fact, if you think you already know a lot, you know nothing that you ought to know (1 Corinthians 8:2). There are many things that you do not know (Hebrews 5:11). If you can’t handle that basic truth, then you will not enjoy the truths revealed in the rest of this book. They will cost you too much. Of course, this book is absolutely free. This knowledge is without charge. However receiving, believing and obeying Bible truth is not free. The truth must be bought.

Ezekiel 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

God’s truth is often not easy to receive. Oftentimes it is tough to swallow. We will have to swallow negative things (lamentations, and mourning, and woe). To not eat what God gives in His word is rebellion (also see 1 Samuel 15:23). That’s a tough one to swallow just right there! If you are not willing to receive correction, you will read this book and learn nothing. You will see and hear, but not understand and perceive (Matthew 13:13). God looks for those that are humble. Those that know that they have a lot to learn. Those that are willing to dig and search for truth and wisdom as for hid treasure. And while reading this book, your goal should be to collect (lay up) as much as possible.

Proverbs 10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

May this book be merely a guide that illuminates and manifests the truth of God’s Word. May the eyes of mankind be opened from the lies and deceptions of Satan, and may truth and life abound. May you as the reader increase in knowledge and understanding. May you get wisdom, understanding and truth through the true and living Word of God.

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Jacob Christian Burke

Introduction

This doesn’t have to be a long book. For those of you frightened or disheartened by the prospect of reading a book of this size, I made it easy for you. See the very next section entitled “How to Read this Book” to discover how you can uncover Satan’s lies with a very small investment of your time.

This is not a complicated book. It is not written so that only rocket scientists or Bible scholars with PhDs in religion can understand it. It is written for the everyday man and woman. It is purposely as easy to read and understand as is humanly possible while still illuminating and confirming the truth.

The objective of this book is not to wow you with the writer’s intelligence or supposed closeness to God. It is written with the humble objective of helping others, many of whom I have talked with personally, to awaken from the sinister hypnosis Satan has cast on humanity regarding simple Bible Truth and the character of The God of The Bible. Satan has been lying to the human race for a very long time and, well, we have believed him. You may be thinking, what can you possibility say that hasn’t already been said for thousands of years by some very brilliant Bible scholars? Maybe nothing, maybe nothing at all. But I will leave that for you, the reader, to decide.

The purpose of this book is to simply expose the lies of Satan for what they are – deception designed to sway mankind’s opinion against his Benevolent Creator with the ultimate purpose of securing mankind’s worship for himself. Satan does not want to kill men; he wants to subject men, to make men worship him. Of course if they refuse, he will happily kill them.

Satan will end up in the Lake of Fire for all eternity, of that there is absolutely no doubt. It is simply a Bible fact, history written in advance (Isaiah 14:15, Revelation 20:10). Satan’s strategy is to, by any means, thwart God’s written plan, but it won’t work; it never has and it never will. It is written in God’s Word and cannot be changed by any creature, act, event, omission, review, bribe, poll, vote, lawsuit, begging, pleading or any other means. It is written. God closed that matter. What any other being in this universe, including Satan, thinks or says about it is completely inconsequential.

The point, dear reader, is that your fate, contrary to Satan’s, is not yet written. Your name does not openly appear in God’s Word, and you are obviously still alive since you are reading this, therefore your eternal fate, as far as Satan knows, has not yet been sealed, as has Satan’s. Satan knows you still have a chance to avoid his fate, but mark my words it is a slim chance. The Bible is very clear that “many” will find their way to Hell but only a “few” will make it to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). My hope, my heart’s desire, is that you, dear reader, will be one of the “few”. Satan’s hope is that you will blindly follow his blind false prophets and fall into the ditch that plummets down into the Lake of Fire, their eternal address. Let’s hope he is wrong about you!

The Bible tells us that your soul is precious, the most precious thing you have (Psalms 49:8). The Bible also clearly says that at the time of your physical death, your eternal fate is sealed and can never be changed (Luke 16:26). This book is humbly written to help save your soul from an eternal fate worse than you can possibly imagine – the fate that awaits Satan and his deceived followers.

In Thessalonica, the believers weren’t very noble (Acts 17:10-12). On the contrary in Berea, they were quite noble. What made them “more noble” in Berea? They, “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” That is exactly what you, dear reader, must do, if you are going to be one of the “few” and save your soul.

Dear reader, please ask yourself one question. Am I willing to learn something new or do I already know everything there is to know about God’s Word? If you already know everything then you are wasting your time reading this book. If you already know almost everything then you’re in even worse trouble.

I have many times heard entire church congregations whoop and holler about what they “stand on”. They stand on “what they believe”, or they stand on “the fundamentals”, or they stand on their “church creed”, or they stand on “the word of our prophets”, or they simply stand on “love”. What they should be standing on, and far too few actually are, is “The Bible”. There is absolutely NOTHING else on this planet worth standing on (John 17:17, Psalms 138:2, 1 Corinthians 2:6). Now, listen closely, if you actually do stand on The Bible, and if you admit that you do not know everything there is to know about The Bible, then you must also admit that you can be taught The Bible. You can learn some new things because you don’t know it all (1 Corinthians 8:2). Neither do I know it all. But, I crave to learn the Truth from the Word of God (Proverbs 23:23, Proverbs 8:11). Do you? What, dear reader, do you stand on?

First, I implore you to read and understand; don’t just turn off what’s being taught because you don’t like it, or have never heard it before, or have been told the exact opposite your whole life. God is asking you to “receive THE WORD”, not this author’s words, but THE WORD of God. To their ultimate eternal shame and regret some won’t receive the Word of God. They simply turn it off because it is inconvenient or unpleasant or costs too much to believe (Proverbs 23:23). This is exactly what Satan wants you to do, so you will continue to believe his lies and remain oblivious to the fact that you will join him in his fate. Satan doesn’t care one lick if you go to Hell, but God does.

Second, you must search the Scriptures daily whether THESE THINGS are so. This is what God demands of you. Many believers read a chapter in their Bible per day, some maybe more. Many church-goers use devices like “Our Daily Bread” or other such publications on a consistent basis. While I am not saying these are completely useless, I am saying they don’t fit the description of “searching the Scriptures daily WHETHER THESE THINGS ARE SO”. That’s exactly what Satan does not want you to do; open The Bible and find the real Truth. Satan would rather you continue to believe his lies than find out the truth about him and about your Creator. If you are willing to dismiss perfectly quoted Bible Scripture as “false” or “too difficult” or “out of context” or “that’s just your interpretation” simply because you don’t want to believe it, and don’t care to prove it right or wrong, then you are exactly where Satan wants you. If you are willing to dismiss THE TRUTH directly from THE WORD OF GOD because it will cause you discomfort, loss, hardship or shame in this life, then you are exactly where Satan wants you.

You see, in reality The Bible is not hard to understand at all; it is hard to believe! I did my study for me; I can’t do yours for you. That burden is on you and for that you will be held 100% accountable to The Lord at your judgment and will be without any excuse. I implore you, for the sake of your precious soul, to take this book very seriously. The truth in it has the power to change your eternity.

All Scripture in this book is quoted word for word and letter for letter as it appears in The Bible, without modification or manipulation. Any variation is completely unintentional and purely accidental. There is a stern warning about just such manipulation at the end of The Bible. Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. I do not want any part of that.

Some Scripture verses are presented in an abbreviated fashion. The purpose is simply for brevity and salience (relevance to current topic) and not in any way to remove undesirable or “indefensible” portions, or to manipulate any verse to mean other than exactly what it says. If at any time the reader feels that has occurred, please pull out your Bible and search the Scriptures whether these things are so. A sincere quest will yield the same truths that are presented here.

Iron sharpeneth iron (Proverbs 27:17). Let the godly man that understandeth discern what that means. Thank you for sharpening my iron.

Finally, not just this book, but myself and everything I “own” and will ever own is dedicated to the One True God, The King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lord Jesus Christ.

How to Read This Book

This book is designed to be read in three (3) different ways. How you read this book depends on your interest and your personality.

Some say, “I don’t really like to read much or I just don’t have the time. I’m not interested enough to read a long study of The Bible, but I do want to know what Satan has been lying to me about.” For you folks I have designed the book to be read in a much shorter time, with the option to bypass all of the lengthy Bible proof-texts. I realize everyone isn’t driven to read and study as much as I do, however, you can take advantage of my extensive study and learn a whole lot in a comparatively very short amount of your time. You can get as much as you want or as little as you want.

This book is laid out with ten satanic lies, corresponding to ten chapters. Each of the ten lies (chapters) has a short but lively introduction. You will want to read that. After this introduction the exposing of the satanic lie begins. You will then notice that there is a numbered and underlined set of headings. Nothing else in this book is underlined except those headings (not counting the underlines in this instructional section for emphasis). You will want to read each numbered and underlined heading. Under each heading is The Bible Scripture proving and justifying that particular truth. You may skip all of this if you so desire. This is reading option number one – read only the numbered and underlined headings. Of course, you are encouraged to read as much as you’d like, but remember, you don’t really like to read.

Consider then, if you would like a bit more information, that immediately under each numbered and underlined heading will be a few brief points or Bible verses; let’s call this the main thought or main proof. For reading option number two, you will want to read this condensed thought/proof. At that point, under many of the underlined headings (especially the longer ones) you will see a separate line with a stop sign.

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This indicates the end of that main thought/proof and you will want to stop reading at that point and jump right to the next numbered and underlined heading. Using reading option two, you can read only the main thrust of this book and discover valuable truth about Satan’s lies, in considerably less time than it would take to read the whole book. And if you read a particular numbered and underlined heading that intrigues you, you can simply read the entire Bible proof under that particular heading, and then resume again reading at the next underlined heading. Just remember, when you see the |<STOP>|, you have gotten the main point and you may then jump to the next underlined text. I genuinely hope you enjoy the book this way.

At the end of each lie (chapter) is a conclusion printed in large bold lettering. It is a very short synopsis of the lie vs. the Truth and all will want to read that.

Others say, “I love to read and learn. I’m eager to pick up as much Truth as I possibly can.” I believe there is plenty of Truth in this book if that is you. For folks like you, you’ll want to start at the beginning and read all the way through (reading option number 3, duh); just run right through the stop signs. (It’s not like you’ve never run a stop sign before!) That will make the book quite a bit longer, but you will discover an abundance of Bible Truth. I encourage you to search the Scriptures daily whether these things are so.

Time to expose the Liar, who is going to the Lake of Fire!

Lie Number 1 - Children

If you have not, I strongly suggest you read the short prior section entitled “How to Read This Book”.

Let’s begin with a story. I went to an old friend’s funeral that had died too young and after the service the mother of my deceased friend was understandably visibly shaken. The priest, in his attempt to be “kind” and to “comfort” the grieving mother, proudly proclaimed to her, “I guarantee you that your son is in heaven.” That sounded like some serious priesting to me! This guy can guarantee that people he barely knows go to heaven? I wondered about his guarantee, so I listened intently that I might also learn to give this awesome guarantee. The priest was assuring her that “we are all the children of God” and “your son was a good man.” Her son was a decent man by human standards. He never killed anyone that I knew about. He went to church on Christmas and Easter and was kind, jovial, friendly and giving. He gave considerable time and money to charity for a man of his mediocre means.

I honestly can’t say if this priest’s guarantee actually made my friend’s mother feel any better, but it is certainly possible that it did. If that was his goal, and I believe it was, I would think he got an “A”. But, as ugly as this may sound, there was not one thing that he told her that was even remotely the truth. How can any human being, regardless of affiliation or position, be arrogant enough to “guarantee” that someone is in heaven? Especially when the basis of the guarantee is, “he was a good man” and “we are all the children of God”! It seems to me that since God is in charge of Heaven, that only He can make that guarantee! I recall that some really smart guy guaranteed the Titanic couldn’t sink. That wasn’t much of a guarantee either. About he was “a good man” I will simply commend you to these:

Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Micah 7:2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

I think it is fair to say that no priest can “guarantee” that any person went to heaven because they were “a good man”, when The Bible clearly says, that “the good man” does not exist (“is perished out of the earth”).

However, I would really like to focus on one of the favorite lies of Satan. Oh, he likes this one. I don’t think it is his most favorite, but it is up there in the top few! One of Satan’s favorite and most effective lies is, “we are all the children of God.” Unfortunately, this is a lie. This lie is repeated in pulpit after pulpit and from denomination to denomination every Sunday all over the world. The Bible Truth is that we are NOT all the children of God.

So, if we are not all the children of God, why would Satan purpose to lie and to have us believe that we are? Satan wants to hurt man and this lie doesn’t hurt, it makes man feel better! Exactly! It’s the same reason that the priest proudly guaranteed that my old friend was in heaven. It makes people feel better. If people believe they are God’s children then they will feel secure in that. God, they feel, would certainly not throw me, his child, into Hell! They then say, “I certainly wouldn’t throw my child into Hell and I am only a human. I would not even want to worship a God uncaring enough to throw his own children into Hell”. Satan smiles.

Satan loves to give humanity this false sense of security. It sounds so comforting rolling off your minister’s lips, “we are all the children of God”, sung almost, trailing off with a confidence inspiring sigh.

You see, if you believe your house is on fire you will call 911. If you don’t believe it is on fire you will stay in bed, probably until it is too late. Satan does not want you to call 911. “Stay in bed”, he says, “sleep in, enjoy life. All is well. You are safe in the arms of God your Father.”

We are NOT all the children of God. This lie is from the pit of Hell and is designed to make you feel like you have a “guarantee” that God (your supposed father) would never hurt one of his children. Let’s search the Scriptures concerning this horrific lie.

1. It wouldn’t help you even if you were God’s child.

First, even if we are God’s children, which we are not, God will still throw us into Hell if we deserve it. He would have thrown Jesus Christ into Hell if Jesus had deserved it!

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Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

These “sons of God” are not human, they are spiritual beings. I am quite sure when Satan (a spiritual being) came to present himself before the Lord in Heaven that no mere earthbound humans made the journey.

Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. 4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

These same “sons of God” were around for the laying of the foundations of the Earth. No man was there (v 3 and 4). These are angelic beings, angels, and they are called “the sons [children] of God.”

2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels [sons of God] that sinned, but cast them down to hell…

Well, He would certainly, without doubt, cast any human (even if they were the children of God) sinner down to Hell also.

Job 4:18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: 19 How much less in them [humans] that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

2. Humans are by nature NOT God’s children.

Romans 9:8…They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:

Let’s just examine the Scriptures for exactly what they say. Romans 9:8 is very clear that the children of the FLESH, and we are ALL children of the FLESH by nature, are NOT the children of God. Now, this may not be what you have been taught, and it may not be what you want to be taught, but it is undeniable Bible truth. It’s not hard to understand.

3. God is not the Father of the human race.

John 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. ... 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

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In Jesus’ day, the religious also believed their Father was God, but that didn’t make it so, according to Jesus himself. Satan is the father, according to Jesus, of every man, woman and child born on this planet. That’s why we are liars. Humanity is a race of liars. God didn’t create humans to lie – Satan provided that. God didn’t make humans murderers – Satan did. You look like your father and act like your father for a reason – because you are his offspring. Every man, woman and child on this planet is a child of Satan and is a liar just like him.

You say, wait, how dare you! I’m not a murderer! Sure you are. There is only one thing, one thing only, that will prevent you from murdering someone in your lifetime. You know what that is? You think it is because you are a good, moral, god-fearing person? Nope. It is simply because you are going have a very short lifetime and you are going to die. You can (probably) resist the temptation to murder for that short a period of time. But, if you had to live on this planet for many years, as a young adult, without dying, say a million years, you would likely commit murder. You proudly say, “I wouldn’t commit murder in a billion years”! Well, eternity is longer than a billion years and if you lived that long you would eventually succumb to who you are; a murderer, an adulterer and a liar. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Satan, not God, is your Father.

4. Humans can “become” the children of God.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

One can “become” a child of God by being born of God (born-again), but one is never a child of God by natural birth. When you were born of blood, of flesh and of man you were not a child of God. Only being born-again of God, makes one a child of God.

5. The verse your ministers love to (partially) quote is Galatians 3:26.

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Of course your ministers quote only quote part of the verse. They conveniently leave out the part that reads, “by faith in Christ Jesus”.

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It is not “rightly dividing the word of truth” to quote part of a verse and leave an undesired or indefensible portion out. Not one person is naturally born “in Christ Jesus” already. That is something that happens when we “become” the children of God, later in life, by a second birth which is “by faith in Christ Jesus”. Many never “become” the children of God, and remain the children of Satan for life. Hence, we are certainly not ALL the children of God.

6. Some shall be the children of God.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

This is the first mention of “children of God” in the Bible. It doesn’t say “are called” but “shall be called”. This verse is in the future tense. So, if they “shall be called” that, then they aren’t called that right now. This is fulfilled in the verse we already looked at:

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

7. Some are definitely not of God, so ALL cannot be of God.

John 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

This verse clearly says we are not ALL of God, since some, the ones specifically mentioned in this verse, are definitely not of God. Therefore, we certainly are not ALL the children of God.

8. We are God’s offspring, but NOT God’s children.

Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

How could we not be His children if we sprang off of him? Here’s how:

John 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. … 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

They are “Abraham’s seed”, but not Abraham’s “children”. This is the same as natural humans being God’s “offspring”, but not his “seed” or his “children”.

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How is that possible? Paul explains for us:

Romans 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Some were the seed of Abraham, but were not counted for the seed. Likewise, some (many actually) are the offspring of God, but are not counted as his seed/children. What makes them the seed? The promise. Unsaved men and women (those without the promise) are children of the flesh, children of the devil, not children of God. Paul here further explains: all are not Christ’s until they receive the promise of salvation.

Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

9. Humans are by nature the children of wrath.

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

We all were by nature the children of wrath. We all have the spirit of Satan in our flesh.

10. There is a clear division between “the children of God” and “the children of the devil”.

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:

11. The children of God are ALL adopted (except Jesus, the only begotten Son of God).

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Any child of God (except Jesus) has to be adopted at some moment, because by nature not one person is God’s child. You are aware, of course, that an adopted child is a child that is legally with adopted parents that are NOT the child’s natural/biological parents. By nature humans are the children of Satan and the servants of sin. Only the adoption process makes some of them the children of God.

12. The “Heavenly Father” has His children; they are NOT “all of humanity”.

Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

The exact phrase “heavenly Father” only appears six (6) times in Scripture. They are ALL in Matthew, Mark and Luke and in each case Jesus is speaking to Jewish people during His earthly ministry. Israel (The Jews) is the child of God by nationality, through Abraham.

But, this is the really interesting thing:

Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:

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In the same context, in Matthew, we see that just because Jesus referred to the Father in Heaven as “your Father in heaven”, that does NOT mean that they are God’s children! Matthew 5:45 says, “that ye may be”. And if it says, “that ye may be”, then it means, “that ye MAY be” – “the children of”. This definitively says they are NOT all God’s children simply by default.

This is the same thing we saw a couple of points ago, where we learned that they were Abraham’s physical seed, but not his children. Likewise, they were “offspring”, but not “children”. We need to believe EVERY WORD in The Book!

Satan’s Lie!       We are ALL the children of God.

Bible Truth!       We are NOT all the children of God by human birth. We are all the children of Satan by human birth.

So what?       If you think you are a child of God just because you were born on planet Earth, and hence God would never hurt you, then Satan already has your worship and you will join him in the Lake of Fire.

What should I do?       Figure out exactly how to get right with God so you can become one of God’s Children. You are not His by natural birth.

Lie Number 2 - Pride

Let’s begin with another story. I went for a job interview in my young career. I entered the interviewer’s office, and as directed shut the door and sat directly across the desk from him. The interviewer began by speaking about general topics that he thought would interest me. We chatted effortlessly and pleasantly for about 10 minutes, just long enough for him to feel he had gotten me sufficiently comfortable. Then he struck. He halted practically mid-sentence, leaned toward me over the desk with his arms crossed, looked me straight in the eye and quickly said, “What motivates you?”

In retrospect, this interviewer obviously thought it quite revealing to use this technique and had likely gotten many different answers. He probably enjoyed watching people squirm in their seats searching their minds for the “right” answer. And those that blurted something out, well, he had them right where he wanted them. In my case, he had me right where he wanted me. I didn’t hesitate for a blink of an eye, because I had known that answer before he even asked the question. I quickly shot back just one word, “pride”. He slowly leaned back into his seat, stared at me for a few moments and said, “that’s a good answer.” Of course it was. I immediately replied with simply, “it’s the truth”. I didn’t need raises or time off or promotions or thanks or any other outside influence to motivate me – I was self-motivating. I had pride!

I didn’t get the job; frankly I don’t even remember what the job was. But I remember the moment like it was yesterday. “Pride”, I proclaimed, and I meant it. That was always my motivator, especially since I was quite the perfectionist about most things. I just could not allow myself to do a mediocre job on anything, because of my pride. And I was quite proud of that.

I proudly carried that with me until sometime a little later in life when I began to come across some things in The Bible that bothered me. It seemed to me that there were times in The Bible that “pride” was not a good quality but an evil one. But how could this possibly be? I decided to do a comprehensive Bible study to find out.

Imagine my shock to find that EVERY SINGLE reference to pride in The Bible is a scathing rebuke of the emotion in all of humanity. There is not one single verse in The Bible that says pride is any good, has any value or is a justifiable attribute for a human being. Every time it is mentioned it is simply ungodly and harmful in any form.

It is possible that you are completely horrified to read this. It is possible that you simply believe I am dazed and confused. That just can’t be so, you say. Pride is a great thing! We need pride. We take pride in many good things; our families, our children, our homes, our schools, our teams, our accomplishments, our churches, our country, our heritage, our work, our business, our giving. We take pride in many things. We are proud of the good things we do. And now you want to tell us we are wrong? You want to tell the whole world it is wrong – that all pride is wrong? No. God, specifically the God of The Bible, is telling you that pride is wrong. Are you willing to listen? The world will not listen, of that I am sure. But will you?

If you are still with me and haven’t thrown this book out with yesterday’s diapers, let’s examine some of the evidence. I have performed a comprehensive study and to the best of my knowledge I am not picking and choosing only the verses that support my conclusion. If you have the time and the desire, by all means, check it out. Get your concordance and find ALL the references to “pride” and “proud”. I am quite sure you will find the same evidence and come to the same conclusion that I have. With that in mind I will present the most salient (relevant) verses to prove the point. Rest assured that if there is any even potentially contrary evidence I will not leave it out of this discussion.

1. God Hates Pride

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, ,…

2. Pride is one of the very evil things on God’s list of evil things.

Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Notice it says ALL these things, pride included, are EVIL and DEFILE a man. There really isn’t anything else to say about that, is there?

So, if you would try to make a case that pride can be good in some cases, would you make that same case for any of these other acts with which it is listed?

3. Everyone that is proud is an abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD…

Every one! Is an abomination! Why? Because they are homosexual? While that may be true elsewhere in the Word of God, it doesn’t say that here, now does it? PRIDE is abomination to God.

4. Men think pride will lift them up, the opposite is true.

Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low…

Well, think, if it DEFILES you, it will surely bring you low. There is no other way to go if you are defiled.

5. The ONLY reason you fight and argue with your spouse and your parents and your kids and your best friend and anyone else is - your pride.

Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention:…

ONLY, The Bible says very clearly, ONLY by PRIDE cometh contention. You argue and fight because of pride. You can fight (contend with) The Bible on this one if you want, but the only reason you are contending with God on this is your pride. The reason that humans, all humans, refuse to believe God’s Word is very simple; pride. The ONLY reason they fight and argue; pride.

6. I referenced the “potentially contrary” verse(s) and said I would point them out. This is the only one I can truly identify. It isn’t good for pride either!

Psalms 31:23 …: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Wait, see, there is a reward to the proud, you proudly say!

There is a reward, just as The Bible says. I’m pretty sure you don’t want it!

Psalms 94:1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. 2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. 3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

Vengeance; remember “vengeance”. You will see it again shortly.

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There is a “reward” for pride just as there is a “reward” for unrighteousness.

2 Peter 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time…

That is not a reward you want.

7. Mankind refuses to listen to the truth about pride.

2 Timothy 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

8. Pride is not from “the Father” God.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

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So, if “pride” is not from the Father, who is it from? Notice in the verse it is, QUOTE, “of the world”. Let’s find out from whom we do get our pride.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The god “of this world” according to The Bible is Satan. Pride is from him.

9. Pride always leads to destruction.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction…

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Want an example?

Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, … 16 … and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up [pride] because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

The King of Tyrus, whom many Bible believers believe is a reference to Satan, as do I, was cast out because of pride. The evidence is very strong when you consider the subject of this verse was in the Garden of Eden. To my knowledge the only beings ever there were God, Adam, Eve and the Serpent (Satan). The only one of those four to possibly fit the description given here is the serpent. That being the case this serpent was “perfect” until his heart was lifted up and he developed pride. He, the serpent, is the originator of pride.

There is another serpent mentioned in The Bible. You can read about him in Job chapter 41. He is called leviathan. Isaiah 27 calls “leviathan” a “cooked serpent” and a “dragon”, and so it is certain this is a reference to the same serpent. God says about him…

Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

No other created being can come close to his power and might. It is quite clear this is the same serpent. That is what makes the last thing that God says about the serpent so interesting.

Job 41:34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

So, who are the “children of pride”? I think it is very logical to assume that “prideful” humans are. And I think it is very safe to say that all humans have pride. Even if they are proud of their humility, it is pride.

Think about this: when we are proud of our children, we say it this way, “I am proud of my son.” If we are a patriot and we are proud of our country, we say it this way, “I am proud of my country.” If we are a coach and we are proud of our team’s effort, we say it like this, “I am proud of the effort my team showed today.” What does each of these statements have in common?

Well, grammatically they are all basically the same. The subjects of these sentences are not the son, the country and the team. The subject of each of those sentences is simply “I”. The main verb is the verb “am” and the adjective defining “I” is “proud”. So, the main part of each sentence is “I am proud”. The rest of each sentence is a prepositional phrase starting with the word “of”. So, really what we are saying every time we are proud of someone or something is exactly that; “I am proud”. I don’t think there is really another way to honestly look at this.

So, if there are children then they must have a father, right? And if they are the children of “pride”, then I believe it logically follows that the father of these children is the father of “pride”. So, who is the father of pride? Well, since we have already established that Satan is the father of the humans on this planet and Satan is also the old serpent, the dragon (Rev 20), it is certain that Satan is the father of both pride and the children of pride.

10. Vengeance goes hand in hand with destruction.

You don’t want to be anywhere around destruction and vengeance.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

11. Pride has chained the human race in Satan’s prison.

Psalms 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain

Isaiah 14:17 … that opened not the house of his prisoners?

If you want out, you are going to have to drop your pride.

12. The proud are cursed of God. The cursed will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Psalms 101:5 …him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

Psalms 119:21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 

Enough said.

Pride, in all forms, in every form, comes directly from Satan and is an abomination to God. Satan is gleeful when a human is “proud” of anything, it doesn’t matter what it is. God is never glorified with pride and neither is man.

Satan’s Lie!       Pride is a great human trait; there is nothing wrong with being proud of the things we love or the good things we do. It motivates us to do our best.

Bible Truth!       Pride is completely ungodly. God condemns pride in every form and hates the proud. Pride is from the father of the human race; Satan.

So what?       God is warning you that He hates all pride in all forms and everyone that is proud is an abomination to Him.

What should I do?       Drop pride. Get rid of it completely in your life. Stop saying it and stop living it. “I am proud of {anything}” is a very dangerous place. Humble yourself and watch God lift you up.

Lie Number 3 - Image

We begin again with a story. I was reading an article that appeared in The Huffington Post. Now, in my opinion, The Huffington Post is one the most God-hating publications on this planet. I read articles in it occasionally because I believe it is important to know your enemy, and it is usually good for a disgusted laugh. I honestly feel sorry for the people that believe the garbage spewed by this publication. They routinely mock God in every way possible, and often use people that call themselves Christians to make their case against God, The Bible and Christianity.

The article I was enjoying was written by a young woman that claimed to have grown up “Christian”. Of course, I didn’t know this woman personally and thus could not see or hear her testimony for myself. However, by her own admission in the article, her alleged support for her Christianity consisted of the usual claims of: “I grew up in church. My parents made me go. I saw awful things in church. I saw ugly people and heard them say ugly things. There was no love. They were haters of everyone not like them, yada, yada, yada.” BUT, she said, “I am a Christian, always have been and always will be.” Then, she proceeded to say how she was now a happily-married lesbian and had many Christian friends that were gay or lesbian.

You would think that was the big bomb and the reason the article was published: their usual attempt to spit in the face of Bible-thumpers and “prove” that gays and lesbians are Christians too. But, it wasn’t. She then proceeded to drop her real bomb and the one for which The Huffington Post undoubtedly published her article. She said, basically, “I am not a lesbian by choice, I was born this way. And if I was born this way, then God made me this way, and God doesn’t make mistakes. He also made millions of other people, and animals, gay. So, in conclusion, obviously homosexuality is fine with God and He loves me just like everyone else, since He made me this way.” This is the supposedly “irrefutable” argument of the God-hating, Bible-hating population. I have even heard it repeated by some well-meaning ministers and church leaders as the proof that God accepts homosexuality.

I am not saying that it is impossible for a person to be homosexual and a Christian at the same time; it is completely possible, especially in this world of God-hating wickedness. Bible Truth however, completely conflicts with the female author’s article in a way that neither she nor the godless Huffington Post will likely ever understand.

Let’s examine The Bible evidence and find Satan’s lies.

1. Nobody is “born” a Christian. They are completely and wholly conceived and born in sin.

No person on this planet is born a Christian, even if they are born into a Christian home and spend their entire life in church – it just is not Biblically possible.

Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

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Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

As soon as I hear a person say, “I have always been a Christian”, I know they have no real understanding of what a Bible-defined Christian actually is. Every person living on this planet today, all 8 or so billion, are conceived in sin, unclean, unrighteous, children of wrath, estranged from God and gone astray speaking lies as soon as they are born. That is absolute Bible Truth.

2. God created man, Adam, in God’s image.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The phrase “the image of God” only appears three (3) times in the entire Bible. This is #1 of 3.

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Genesis 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Genesis 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

This is #2 of 3 of “the image of God”. God created mankind and called mankind “Adam”. He created mankind, including womankind, in His image. Mankind, the species, was CREATED in the image of God. In THE DAY THEY WERE CREATED, they were created in the image of God. Adam and Eve were created (made) in the image of God.

3. Adam and Eve were clean and sinless. They were unknowingly naked and not afraid or ashamed.

Genesis 2:2 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

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Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Adam and Eve were “very good”. Now, however, not one person on this planet is even “good”, not to mention “very good”. We already settled that back in the section for lie number one and here is a reminder:

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

What was Jesus saying? Was Jesus saying that not even He, Jesus Himself, was good? On the contrary, He was telling this man that if he was going to call Jesus good (and Jesus absolutely was/is good) that he must also realize that Jesus MUST then also be God, because ONLY God is good. You see, The Bible is exacting and this can only be true if God the Father and God the Son are indeed “one”! There is only “one” that is good.

4. God doesn’t make mistakes. God doesn’t make imperfect things. God doesn’t make defective things or things that break down or require repair. God doesn’t make deficient things.

Adam and Eve would have lived forever except they broke the one rule that God set for them. It wasn’t because God didn’t want them to have fun or discover new frontiers or have new ideas. He didn’t want them to DIE!

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

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Death is an ugly thing. It caused Jesus great agony when it approached.

Luke 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Death is the most horrible fate imaginable. God did not create or design man to die. Man would have never died. But, man decided against God’s plan and chose instead to follow Satan’s (the serpent). We will get more into the significance of this later but for now understand this: God did not design man to die. God did not design man to get sick. God did not design man to get hurt. God did not design man to feel pain. God did not design man to make mistakes. God did not design man to grow old. God did not design man to fight and argue and hate and kill. God designed man perfectly. We can thank Satan for every, and I mean EVERY, imperfection of man. When something bad happens to any person on this planet, even by birth, it is NOT by God’s design and it is certainly not His fault. The wicked always want to blame God for the bad that happens on this planet. NONE of it is God’s fault and NONE of it is His design. It is all from our father, Satan.

5. Adam and Eve sinned and died. They were irreparably changed for the worse.

That’s pretty simple, isn’t it? And along came death, sickness, pain, suffering, agony, hate, jealousy, rage, murder, lying, theft, rape, crying, sadness, and you name it. Everything that we humans consider “normal” is not normal to God. We were not designed or created to experience any of these things. They are part of our life because our father gave them to us, and that father, as you now know, is not God, but Satan.

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Genesis 3:19 … thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

That was the result of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; death to all men. All men are now creatures of death, not creatures of life. Think of it this way; every second you “live” you are one second closer to death. So, even though we are “living” we are at every moment “dying”! From the very moment we are born we are “hungry”, because we are dying. The Bible says of the future of mankind, “Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;…” This is the way man was originally created. And along with death come the elements of death we have already listed; pain, suffering, aging, etc. After the moment of eating that fruit, mankind was irrevocably and entirely changed.

6. Adam was no longer in God’s image or in God’s likeness, for he had fallen.

He could no longer have fellowship with God and was put out of the garden of Eden. Although Adam had routinely physically walked with God there, now it would all change.

Genesis 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, …

7. Mankind’s (Adam’s) original image had become corrupted – as he had become corrupted.

Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

8. Adam and Eve had a child. That child was NOT made in God’s image. That child was in Adam’s fallen image and in Adam’s fallen likeness.

Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Seth was NOT made in God’s image and likeness but in Adam’s. This is an extremely important development. This is the result of the sin on the human body and spirit. Mankind was no longer in God’s image but in Adam’s fallen image. You know, our current image with pain and suffering and hatred. That, dear reader, is NOT God’s image!

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After eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil mankind’s image was changed. We still looked the same. Our appearance was still the same. You wouldn’t have known by looking. We still had the appearance of our Creator (i.e. head, eyes, hands, feet, etc.) but no longer his true image.

Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

God’s image is incorruptible. This means things “in His image” are imperishable, everlasting, immortal, indestructible, etc. Man was created this way but was CHANGED to a CORRUPTIBLE image by Satan’s fruit. We no longer bear God’s incorruptible image but now a CORRUPTED image. Since God is absolutely incorruptible, we can’t possibly still be in His image – as our species was originally in His image.

We were originally created in God’s likeness, but we no longer bear that likeness.

Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

David knew He didn’t have God’s likeness. He knew that resurrection was his only hope to again have God’s likeness. Paul said the same thing in the New Testament.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Our likeness NOW is of “sinful flesh”. Of course, it goes without saying, although I will say it anyway, that God’s likeness doesn’t involve or contain anything “sinful”.

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Someday, those in Christ will be RENEWED to the image of God.

Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

9. Adam was called the Son of God.

Luke 3:38 … Adam, which was the son of God.

Adam is called the son of God, but you will notice he “was” the son of God. No other man is called the Son of God until…

10. Jesus is called the Son of God. He is also called “the image of God”.

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

2 Corinthians 4:4 … lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

This is #3 of 3 and the last and final time the phrase “the image of God” is used in the entire Bible. Coincidentally (maybe not coincidentally?) only three (3) humans were ever created “in the image of God” on this planet; Adam, Eve and Jesus. Jesus “is” the Son of God.

Adam’s image had been corrupted by the fall and now only the new man Jesus bore the image of God.

11. Adam was the first man. Who was the second man?

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul;

That is an easy one. Everyone knows that one. But, who was the second man?

12. Jesus was the second man.

A little surprised to learn that? Interestingly it was not Cain or Abel or Seth or Methuselah or Noah or Abraham or Jacob or David or Josiah or Daniel or John the Baptist. These are all Bible legends, but in fact not one living person after Adam was considered a MAN, as God had created man, until Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

That makes perfect sense when you realize that there were only three (3) humans ever created in the image of God and one of those was a woman!

13. So every “man” in-between the two was not a “man” at all.

So, between Adam and Jesus not one living person could claim the title of second man. You see, God didn’t consider them to be what He created or intended. They were a shell (as are we) of the “man” God created in His own image.

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Adam is the first of a now corrupt, fallen, dead race of humans. The whole entire race! But human “pride” won’t admit that.

Jesus is the first of a new race; a newly born race of humans that will never die.

So, don’t go blaming God for what you are “naturally” at birth. That is your fault, and your father’s.

14. Jesus is the “only begotten” Son of God. Jesus alone was BORN in the image of God. No other human ever born can make that claim!

Adam was “created” from dust and was never in a human womb. Eve was created from dust and the rib of Adam. Likewise, she was never in a human womb.

Every other human being to ever exist on this planet either spent time, or will spend time, in a human womb. They are “born” human. Even Jesus spent time in a human womb.

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

However, unlike in every other human birth in the history of the human race, Jesus was filled with the Holy Ghost right from the moment of conception.

Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

No other human in the history of mankind can say that.

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Every other human is conceived in sin.

Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus was “begotten”.

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Jesus is the only “begotten” Son of God because, even though Adam was the Son of God, he was not “begotten”. In other words, Adam was never the product of the seed of humanity. He was not “conceived” from the seed of a woman. Jesus is the ONLY Son of God that was the Son of God from the womb of a woman. He was “begotten”, from the first moment of conception, the Son of God. And He is the ONLY one. He alone was BORN in the image of God in the history of the human race.

15. God has given all of natural-born mankind over to a corrupt mind, body and nature.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

This stuff is from our completely reprobate minds. None of it, NONE OF IT, is from The Lord. And we are FILLED with it! If we are filled (full), then logically, there is no room for anything else.

Your mind is so reprobate you don’t even realize just how completely reprobate you are. Satan has been lying to you about exactly what you are.

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I remember a movie sequence. In my mind I recall that a very heavy man was eating a huge amount of food at a restaurant. He has many empty plates of food in front of him, his huge bib is completely a mess and he is finally stuffed full. The waiter comes by and offers him a small mint wafer for dessert. He says he is full but the waiter insists. The heavy man says he can’t eat another thing or he will explode. The waiter finally convinces the man, who then eats the tiny mint wafer. Of course the heavy man proceeds to immediately blow up to blimp size and then explode all over the restaurant and its patrons. The lesson? When you are full, you are full! You just can’t put anything else in. We are so full of sin that we can’t possibly put in anything good. If we tried we would explode.

16. Satan is the source of ALL human emotion, desire, lust and pride.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Think about what that is saying. “ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD”, I repeat for emphasis, “ALL” that is in the world, “ALL” the things your flesh lusts for, the things your body craves, the things your mind wants so badly, the things you think will satisfy you, the things your eyes call “eye candy”, NONE of them are from God at all! All of the things that you think God put here to satisfy you, are not that at all. They are things Satan put here to satisfy you! They are of Satan’s world. You will learn much more about this topic in chapter 9.

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Some would like to push back on that and say not everything in this world is from Satan. Some would say that a beautiful sunset is from God, not Satan. The beautiful ocean is from God, not Satan. Now, while it is true that the original sunset was from God, and probably many after that, the current sunsets you and I think are so eye-poppingly beautiful, are in reality just a corrupted (just like humans are corrupted and a shadow of their original selves) version of the original. Thank you, Satan.

The sun was most likely seven times brighter than it is today. And the moon, well it was probably just as bright as our sun is now! So, if there was a full moon, and it was just as bright as the sun is now, do you think it was very dark? Of course it wasn’t. Oh, wait, you’d like to see that in the book, huh?

Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

I realize the verse says “shall be” but that is beside the point. This verse speaks of the time when the Earth will be restored to its former glory, before it was cursed – the glory it had at a time when God said…

Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Now, my friend, at this present time, it’s not so good. There is a curse on the Earth and the universe. ALL of it is only a shadow of its former created form.

Isaiah 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth,

So, think with me here. If a “curse” has “devoured” the Earth, do you think it is anywhere near as glorious as it was when it was created? Do you think it looks exactly like it did when the Lord made it? Of course you don’t – you know better. So, even though, as humanity, things on the Earth are similar to the way they were created, they are not nearly as glorious. We are vastly different, thanks to sin and Satan. So, everything else on this planet is in the same shape. Devoured and a mere shadow of its created self.

Isaiah 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

So, that sunset you see? It’s at least seven times less spectacular than it should be, if not more. That ocean? That ocean is filthy, daunting and salty compared to the way it was created.

Do things look the same in the DARK as they do in the LIGHT? Of course not. We walk in DARKNESS. How can I say that? Well, think, if the Moon was created to rule the NIGHT (and it was) and it used to be (when it was created) as BRIGHT AS THE SUN is now, wouldn’t that make our current Sun of the same strength that the Moon had in its original state? So our sun, in the middle of the day NOW, is as bright (or dark) as the Moon was in the middle of the night THEN.

Zechariah 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: 7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

So, in a very real sense we WALK IN DARKNESS. The middle of our day is dark – just as dark as the middle of the first ever NIGHT!

Paul realized this for he said…

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Satan has ruined our world. The things you lust for in this world, they are all corrupted dung.

17. God has much better stuff for those that love Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

This Earth and everything on it is dead, corrupt, worthless and belongs to Satan, who is “the god of this world”. You have never seen, never heard of and can never even imagine the great things God has for those that will be with Him for eternity. The things God has for us have never even entered into the heart of man. Will you be there? Will you see them? Will you hear them? What will enter your heart? My hope is that we can share all of that together as brothers and sisters in Christ for all eternity!

Humans are reprobate (rejected and abandoned by God) and are thus naturally born filled with all of those things listed above. But they are not God’s work. They are the work of God’s (and man’s) enemy; Satan.

Satan’s Lie!       All humans are created and born in the image of God.

Bible Truth!       Only two (2) men have ever been created in the image of God; Adam and Jesus. Everyone else is created in the satanic sinful image of their human parents.

So what?       Humanity can’t blame God for anything in this world nor can it blame Him for any bad thing that happens, including death, sickness, disaster, crime, hatred, perversion, birth-defect, abomination, war and rumor of war. Of our own fault and by our own choice we are tainted, ruined, rejected and abandoned by God. That is all because we are now made in the image and likeness of our father, Satan, and the sins of our father we do.

What should I do?       Remember that God is not to blame for any bad thing that happens on this planet. The tornado is not His mistake. There were no tornadoes in Eden. The 2-year-old killed by the alligator in Disney World is not His fault. Alligators would have loved to play with that little boy in Eden. The heroin epidemic is not His problem. There was no need or desire for heroin in Eden. There were no needles (thorns) to inject it. Terrorism is not God’s doing. Lying and cheating and killing and especially sexual perversion are not God’s products. They are Satan’s products. Start blaming Satan for “making me this way”.

Lie Number 4 - Love

If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times, no exaggeration! So have you. We have read it on bumper stickers, signs, refrigerators, newspapers, books, internet, television, movies and even on graffitied walls and bridges. We have heard it from ministers, pastors, evangelists, scholars, authors, newscasters, speakers, parents, children, cops, robbers, killers and almost everyone.

“Smile, God loves you.”

“God loves us all.”

“No matter how bad it gets, remember, God loves you.”

Listen, this sounds great. It sounds wonderful. It is so warm and comforting. It certainly seems to befit the God of love we have heard about all our lives.

Unfortunately, it just isn’t true. It is a lie from the pit of Hell. Satan has drummed it up himself. I hear you, “Now you have gone just too far. Who are you to say God doesn’t love everyone?! I have heard that my whole life and The Bible surely says that God loves everyone. He does, he must, or He isn’t really God.”

It is a tough pill to swallow, the Truth. The Truth, however, is the Truth whether you swallow it or not. I suppose you would like to see The Bible Truth on this one. Okay, here we go.

1. The Word of God is absolutely pure Truth.

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The Word of God is absolutely pure, without imperfection.

Psalms 119:140 Thy word is very pure: …

2. Every single word of the Word of God is pure, without imperfection.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: …

3. Every character of every word of every sentence of the Word of God is pure.

God’s Word is perfect down to the jot and the tittle. Each and every character is absolutely pure.

Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

4. Every single word of the Word of God is necessary if we are to live.

Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

The Bible is Pure Truth, every word. The truth is not what your granpappy or your Sunday-school teacher told you. Those are called lies, if they disagree with the Truth, no matter how much you trust your granpappy.

5. The first and most beloved suspect, John 3:16, exposed.

John 3:16 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.

First, let’s agree about what The Bible does NOT say in John 3:16. The Bible does not say, “God so loves the world”. The Bible does not use the present-tense word “loves” but rather the past-tense word “loved”.

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Do you think this is an accident? Do you think it is a mistake? Do you think this is insignificant? Well, if every word, yea every character, is completely pure, then that can’t be the case, can it? This is probably the most well-known and oft-quoted verse in the entire Bible. The kids learn to quote it before they can even read sometimes. Posters are hoisted in sports stadiums all the time that say simply, “John 3:16”. And this is the verse almost everyone runs to when I make the claim that The Bible does not say God loves everyone. So, will you give it an honest look?

Dear reader, the perfect, pure word The Bible uses here is “loved”, which is in the past tense. I have met and counseled many couples. I have heard from many men and women alike the following statement: “I don’t love him/her anymore”. I then ask, “did you love them when you married them”? Most (not all) answer in the affirmative. So I would allow that it is safe to say they “used to love their spouse” or they “loved their spouse” at one time. That is not the same as saying “I love him/her.” By using “loved”, you are saying I loved him/her in the past but I don’t necessarily love him/her any longer.

I was a young boy, around 12 or so, and my mother used to make the greatest thing that had ever been conceived by any mother in the history of mankind; strawberry shortcake. Now, my mother’s strawberry shortcake was better than anything I had ever tasted in my entire life. Every time she made it I sucked it down like a black hole. Man, was it good.

One night, my parents decided to have a party and had about 50 people to the house. For that party my mother made, you guessed it, strawberry shortcake! Since there were 50 people coming, my mother made 50 individual cakes, one for each person. Well, as difficult as it is to believe, everyone did not want one. I couldn’t understand why. I just thought my parents had a few really dumb friends, but I certainly wasn’t upset about it. That meant there were leftovers! And lots of them! I ate approximately 10 of those leftovers (not counting my own, thank you). I enjoyed them like a kitten enjoys catnip. All was right with the world. Until about 30 minutes later.

I’m not sure for how long I vomited. When I was finally done, I did not like strawberry shortcake at all. I didn’t come within 10 yards of strawberry shortcake for at least 20 years after that. I couldn’t even stand the smell. I can tolerate it now, but I certainly do not love it. It is accurate to say I absolutely “loved” strawberry shortcake. But, I do not “love” it now. If someone said about me, “he loves strawberry shortcake”, that would be a lie. If someone said, “he loved strawberry shortcake”, that would be the truth. Something changed.

God is saying in John 3:16 that He LOVED, at one time, the world. Not that He loves it currently. You may think, well, then does God use “loves” at other times? Sure he does…

John 3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

The Father loveth (The Bible form of the equivalent of “loves”) the Son always and at all times. So, if God uses the word “loveth” about His Son, then why doesn’t He use it in John 3:16 about the world? Because it would not be pure, it would be a lie!

Now let’s agree about what it is that God “loved”. Notice that God “loved”, not individuals or men, but “the world”. What John 3:16 says is that God loved His creation, “the world” he had created. He “loved” it so much, the way that He had created it, that He was willing to do whatever was necessary to restore it. And that necessitated the giving of His Only Begotten Son to die so that “the world” might be saved and restored to its condition as it was when God “loved” it.

Dear reader, this may be shocking and upsetting news to you. You may not want to hear this because you have never even considered it before, but it is the Truth. This is exactly what The Bible says, not what Satan wants you to think it says.

6. There is not one single verse in The Bible that says God loves a natural man.

The other usual suspects are here.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us

The two verses above use the same past-tense word “loved” that John 3:16 uses. Why doesn’t God use “loveth” in Ephesians 2:4? Why does it not read, “his great love wherewith he loves us”? Because that would be impure. That would be untrue. Those are called lies. God never tells them. Satan is the master of them.

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Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared

The love of God “appeared” (past tense). When did it “appear”? When was it made known?

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Why doesn’t it say “herein is love,… that he loveth us”? It can’t. It would be a lie from the pit of hell to change the word “loved” into “loves”. Remember the warning to not mess with God’s Word? This is telling us when the love of God appeared. God showed the world that He “loved” the world when He sent His Son to die so the world could be restored to the glory of God’s Creation. This verse does not say that God currently loves the world or anyone in it. It says He showed the world His love AT THE TIME when it was MANIFESTED. God “loved” us when He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Again, that is “loved” not “loves”. 1 John 4:10 uses “loved us” and not “loves us” or “loveth us”. Again, the words are pure and perfect.

Why don’t these verses say “loves” or “loveth” like God said when speaking about His love for His Son? They could have. But they don’t. God does not lie and He does not use imperfect or impure words. God did not use the wrong words by mistake.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1) God “commendeth” (recommends) his love to us. What is He recommending? Jesus’ sacrifice for us; “Christ died for us”. 2) Notice we “were” sinners, not we “are” sinners. The only people on this planet that can say they “were” sinners are the SAVED people. It is not true that the lost “were” sinners; they “ARE” sinners. Consistent with the other verses, this is saying that God showed His love to His creation by sending His Son to die. That isn’t saying He loves anyone that is lost. He showed He loved the creation and WOULD love those that would accept His Son.

I have often challenged folks to show me a Bible verse that says God currently loves the natural unsaved men and women on this planet. I have yet to be shown one. Maybe you, the reader, can find one. Will you search the Scriptures daily to see whether this is so, or will you just refuse to believe it because you don’t want to believe it? Satan is either seething or laughing based on your decision. Will you believe God’s Truth or Satan’s lie?

If you still refuse to believe it, then how do you explain all of the following if you still maintain, “smile, God loves you”?

7. God is angry with men every day.

Psalms 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

8. Natural man is God’s enemy.

Philippians 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

Acts 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

We already established that natural-born men are the children of the devil so then they are also the enemy of all righteousness. And God is ALL righteousness.

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Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

“The devil” and “the wicked one” are the same person. So, if you are a child of the devil you are a child of the wicked one. And if you are a child of the wicked one then you are wicked. Just like a person with the name “John Smith” is the son of Smith and “Paula Jones” is the daughter of Jones, your name might as well be “Joe Wicked” or “Cindy Wicked”. The wicked are the offspring of the wicked one. And natural-born humanity is wicked.

Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

It isn’t personal, it’s just that it is impossible to have been born on this planet without sin.

The wicked are God’s enemies.

Psalms 37:20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

God’s enemies are the “workers of iniquity”. And we already know the human race is born in iniquity and are workers of iniquity.

Psalms 92:9 For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

The “workers of iniquity” are His enemies.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Are you friendly with the world? Are you happy and comfortable being a part of this world? This world is completely wicked and anyone that is a part of it is the enemy of God.

What will happen to God’s enemies?

Nahum 1:2 God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

Luke 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

The bottom line: you are either righteous or wicked, there is no in-between.

Malachi 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

You are either wicked or just, there is no middle ground.

Matthew 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

9. God does not love bastards.

Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The Lord “loveth” (present tense) His “sons”. Those He “loveth”, “EVERY SON”, He chastens. Did you get that? If He “LOVETH” you, He chastens you. But, if you are a “bastard” (not a saved “son”), then you aren’t being chastened because HE DOESN’T LOVE YOU! Not hard to understand.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:

There are some without chastening. God does NOT love them.

10. God hated Esau.

Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Where was it written?

Malachi 1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

This is only significant if one argues that God loves everyone. He didn’t love Esau. Esau is part of everyone.

11. God’s love is conditional love.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. … 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Notice the love of the Son (verse 21) and the Father (verse 23) are CONDITIONAL and extended only to those that love the Son. Those that do not love the Son are not loved. Why would a conditional statement like this be made about one that God already loves by default, simply because that person is a human?

John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

The Father “loveth” (present tense!) the saved BECAUSE (conditionally) they have loved the Son. If God already loved them, this statement would actually be more than unnecessary – it would be a lie!

12. God hates all unsaved natural born men.

It’s a big leap to get from “God loves you” to “God hates you” in the same Bible, written by the same God. Those two things are diametrically opposed to one another.

Psalms 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity

If God loves EVERYONE, then who are these that He hates? Notice it doesn’t say “hated”, past tense. He hates (present tense) ALL workers of iniquity. Iniquity is sin, so God hates everyone that works sin. If you sin, then you are a worker of sin and God hates you. That’s just the unpleasant truth.

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Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

If you “worketh abomination” (not “worked” past-tense as with “loved”) or “maketh a lie” (not “made” but if you are capable of “making a lie”) then you will never get into Heaven.

What is an “abomination” exactly, you ask? Good question, glad you asked.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

There are seven (7) things listed here that are abomination to the Lord. Ever been proud? Ever lied? Of course you have. Then the other five really don’t matter do they? YOU worketh abomination even if you only do one of them. And if you are anything like most humans you do more than one of these abominations on a regular basis.

Psalms 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

So, I ask again, if God loves EVERYONE, then exactly who are these that God hates?

13. The Lord knowingly sacrifices the wicked in order to save a remnant of humanity.

God hates the wicked, as you just learned. But, the wicked have a special purpose in God’s plan. They are the sacrifice that the Lord had to knowingly make in order for Him to have a small number of humans with which to share eternity.

You probably had to read that last sentence a couple of times to be sure you got it. If you think it said that God knew, even before He created the species of man, that He would have to sacrifice most of His creation in a Lake of Fire for all of eternity, then you read it correctly. These verses give you the picture. It isn’t a pretty picture, but it is the truth.

Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Job 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 

Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 

1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 

Let’s see, so the wicked (unregenerate, unsaved, naturally-born human sinners are the wicked) were “made” for the day of evil, “reserved” to the day of destruction, “brought forth” to the day of wrath, “vessels” of wrath “fitted” to destruction, whereunto they “were appointed”. That sums it up.

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But, you say, as you recoil in horror, that just doesn’t make sense. God is a god of love and He just wouldn’t do that. Listen, my friend, God isn’t interested in what you think. He doesn’t care what you believe. He’s not going to take your advice. He doesn’t care if you feel He is wrong. He doesn’t care what you’ve heard all your life or what lies some minister has told you.

Just the other day someone told me that he couldn’t respect a God that would put someone into Hell for eternity. (We’ve all heard that garbage.) Then he proceeded to comment that he himself wouldn’t even do that to Adolf Hitler. Of course you wouldn’t, I replied, you’re just like him. You are capable of the same atrocities he committed. You may not have DONE them but you COULD. And anyone that COULD do those atrocities is an evil person that will never be welcome in God’s home or privileged to enjoy God’s things. And EVERYTHING that exists ANYWHERE is God’s things. So, your father, the devil, created a place for you and all of his other wicked, God-mocking followers. It is called the Lake of Fire and it will be your eternal home. No matter what you think.

Listen closely, dear reader; God is God – and you are not. You don’t understand Him at all. You can’t fathom eternity past or future. You can’t even see past today. If you think you can, then tell me, what is going to happen tomorrow? The best weathermen in the world can’t predict with certainty whether or not it will rain tomorrow, much less in two weeks, or a year; God can. The best sports analysts in the world can’t tell you who is going to win tomorrow’s game; God can – even though He doesn’t care anything about sports. What stock will you buy today because some broker guarantees it will be worth 10,000 times its current price in one year? Good luck, don’t gamble everything! You, dear reader, have absolutely no idea whether or not you will die tomorrow; the best you have is a guess. God knows the exact moment of your death.

The Bible says God made some to honor and some to dishonor. The maker has the right to decide which.

Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Some will scream, that’s not right, that’s not fair! God, however, already knew some would feel that way because He wrote:

Romans 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

God used Pharaoh, whose kingdom God destroyed, for the same purpose – to show His power.

Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

God didn’t care what Pharaoh thought, and He doesn’t care what you think either. Are you going to rebuke God, correct Him or stop Him? I don’t think so.

Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

God knows “the end” right from the very “beginning”.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

How does He know that? He IS the beginning – and also the end!

Revelation 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

So, if God NOW knows that the wicked vessels of wrath fitted to destruction will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire…

Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

… then He knew that fact even before He created Adam. He knew “the end” from “the beginning”.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Philippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Hebrews 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

God knew that the wicked would be a sacrifice: It’s impossible that He did not know that. The Bible clearly says they are a sacrifice.

“The day of the Lord” is a day of wrath and vengeance (Lots about the day of the Lord in chapter 8).

Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: … 6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. …8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

The sacrifice of the day of the Lord includes the Lake of Fire.

Zephaniah 1:7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

Ezekiel 39:17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

God makes this sacrifice for the remnant, the small portion (the few) of humanity that will not be part of this sacrifice.

Isaiah 10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

This “remnant” is also called the “election” and also includes, not just Israel, but also gentiles.

Romans 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. 27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

Romans 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 

Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 

BECAUSE the nation of Israel (the leaders) rejected and killed their King, their Messiah, their Saviour, NOW He has ALSO become the Saviour to the whole world, including all of the (hated, despised) gentiles. This “election” (which includes Jews FIRST and THEN Gentiles) is according to grace (not works) and is AVAILABLE to everyone, not just the remnant.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [gentile].

Romans 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

God gets no pleasure from the large part of humanity that will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

Ezekiel 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

It is not His WILL that they perish in the Lake of Fire. Those humans will simply choose it themselves.

2 Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

But, ultimately, everything that has ever been created by God was created for His pleasure.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

The elect, the small portion of humanity to which the Lord will give eternity, are for His eternal pleasure. This is the “remnant” of humanity.

Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

God wanted some children – just like humans want children. But, He didn’t want wicked children. On the contrary He wanted perfect children. And that’s exactly what He will get.

Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

In eternity, the children of God will do nothing but righteousness. That’s impossible now in this life.

1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

God created a FREE race. It was imperative to Him they be completely free. It is His nature.

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

They were completely free to disobey God if they so chose. God did not stop them, or limit them. They were free to do as they pleased. They freely did wrong, even though God warned them, and they died. So, in order to get the righteous (perfect) children He wanted, The Lord had to sacrifice many. The most important of those sacrifices was the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son.

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

John 3:16 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.

What is a sacrifice? It is a thing that is given/killed/destroyed in order to save another thing from being destroyed. To illustrate, I think of King Kong, the giant ape of movie fame. The villagers dwelling on his island would routinely offer a “sacrifice” to this huge, powerful ape so that He wouldn’t destroy all of them and their village. King Kong routinely accepted their sacrifices, sparing the village and its occupants from any harm. Finally, they offered the beautiful, blond maiden whom King Kong not only accepted but with whom he was particularly pleased. Once he received this particular sacrifice he no longer required any other sacrifices of the villagers ever again. It appeased him. It placated him. It soothed him and calmed him. It was good enough: Forever. The Bible says the sacrifice of Christ Jesus did the same thing. It “propitiated” God.

Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood…

1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Just like those villagers needed a sacrifice to appease King Kong, mankind can’t come to God without a sacrifice. A man MUST have a sacrifice to come before God. He absolutely MUST.

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Without a sacrifice men cannot approach unto God. Many think they can; all other religions in fact. What sacrifice do they bring? They think they can bring “themselves”. They think their “sacrificial good life” (Buddhist monks) or their “sacrificial death” (Muslim terrorists) can appease God. They will stand before God without a sacrifice (other than themselves). God will NOT accept them without a sacrifice. And not just any sacrifice. It must be an acceptable sacrifice – on God’s terms. It must honor God.

Isaiah 43:23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices.

The sacrifices of the lost honor only themselves!

Any sacrifice must be acceptable to GOD or the person bringing the sacrifice will be rejected.

Genesis 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?

Notice that not just Cain’s offering but also (“and” it says in verse 5) Cain himself was not accepted (rejected). If your offering is rejected you will be rejected also.

Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

If your sacrifice/offering is ACCEPTED, then, and only then, will the sacrifice bring ATONEMENT.

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

The Old Testament system of sacrifices pictures it like this.

Leviticus 1:4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Nobody came into the holy place or the most holy place (where the mercy seat was and where God dwelt) without a sacrifice.

Exodus 26:30 And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount. [VERY specific design parameters] 31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: 32 And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. 33 And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place [the first, where all of the priests could go WITH A SACRIFICE] and the most holy [the second, where ONLY the High Priest could go – NEVER WITHOUT A SACRIFICE].

If they tried – they died.

Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother [the High Priest], that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. [If Aaron didn’t want to die… 3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. … he had better bring a sacrifice!]

There is NO CHANCE FOR MERCY (getting to the mercy seat) without a sacrifice! You’ll die trying.

Hebrews 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle [vail, room], accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second [vail, room] went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself [he HAD to have a sacrifice to go into the second or most holy place – or die], and for the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all [the second!] was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

This was the problem. The sacrifices in the Old Testament were only for that time and were a mere PICTURE of the true sacrifices and therefore could not make anyone PERFECT. And for God to have those PERFECT children, the sacrifice had to not only BE PERFECT, but also MAKE THEM PERFECT. It turns out that this is EXACTLY what the SACRIFICE of Jesus Christ did.

Hebrews 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first [room, holy place], that he may establish the second [room, the most holy]. Here is our CONTEXT… 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering [sacrifice] of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same [Old Covenant] sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. … 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest [the second, holiest of all] by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Jesus was offered ONCE for ALL and then the sacrifice CEASED to be offered!! Why? Because the COMERS (US!) were made PERFECT!! God was perfectly appeased and we were made perfect.

Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Those priests IDENTIFIED with the animal by laying their hands on it. In other words, they were saying THIS IS ME. This should have been my fate. This is what I deserve. Please don’t give it to me. Take this animal (sacrifice) instead.

Leviticus 1:4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

This sacrifice was ACCEPTED in the place of the priest – who really deserved the animal’s fate!

Leviticus 1:5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

The sacrifice was killed by slitting its throat and the blood was completely removed – as would be a dead man’s.

Leviticus 1:7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

The sacrifice, with whom the priest identified, was then given its fate - put into the fire to be burned.

Leviticus 1:8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Notice, “burn all”. The “burnt sacrifice” or “burnt offering” was completely burned on the altar. Nothing was saved. There was nothing remaining and no remnant at all saved from the fire of a “burnt offering”. It was all entirely burned. This is a picture of the sacrifice that God makes of the lost in the Lake of Fire. Upon their death, they will lose their life (blood) and be burned in the Lake of Fire for eternity. These sacrificial animals are a reminder to God that the priest (symbolic of the saved remnant) is only given access to God at the expense of the mass of humanity that will spend eternity in the fire.

Interestingly, The Bible says…

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

That “dividing asunder” is very interesting since the soul and the spirit are likely divided asunder at the moment of salvation. There isn’t a lot in The Bible about this dividing asunder, but there is this…

Leviticus 1:17 And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

The burnt sacrifice, if it was a fowl, was not to be “divided asunder”. Those fowls could either be doves or pigeons. If you know anything about doves in The Bible, you know that the Holy Spirit descended like a DOVE upon Christ (Luke 3:22). Noah sent forth a DOVE from the ark (Genesis 8:8-12).

These fowls, representing the soul/spirit are NOT divided asunder. The fact that they are NOT divided asunder is representative of a lost person. These lost don’t get saved and go to eternal fire.

The burnt offering was a continual offering. The fire was continual and was NEVER to go out. Just like the Lake of Fire!

Exodus 29:42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

Leviticus 6:12 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

Do you know of any other “fire” that will “never go out”?

Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Notice the very last phrase of Leviticus 1:9 which says “of a sweet savour unto the LORD”. Why would a burning animal, not to be used for food at all, smell like a sweet savour to The Lord God? Does the Lord just like burning innocent animals? Of course not. It is because God is reminded of the sacrifice He made to secure a very small remnant of humanity, represented by the person WILLINGLY making the sacrifice in his own place. God WILLINGLY made/makes the sacrifice. He’s not going to change His mind and save the lost from the fire at the last minute. The wicked will be turned into Hell. It is written and will happen exactly as it is written – to the jot and to the tittle.

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Now, of course, Jesus is the only sacrifice we need. NOW, Jesus is our sacrifice, or more perfectly Jesus WAS our sacrifice. NOW we can enter boldly to the throne of grace – we NO LONGER need a sacrifice because we are PERFECT!

Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

It is this particular sacrifice by which the elect agree with God and enter into a covenant. Without a SACRIFICE that PROPITIATES God there is no covenant. Man MUST come to God with a sacrifice.

Psalm 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

It is God’s WILL that everyone enter this covenant through this perfect sacrifice.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is … longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But, He knew all would not repent. So…

Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

Nothing is saved of the “burnt offering”. Of the other kinds of offerings and sacrifices, yes, there is a remnant saved; but not of the burnt offerings. The Wicked, the imperfect, the sinners, will BURN FOREVER. God knew their “end” from the very beginning and this loss of MOST of humanity was acceptable to Him in order for Him to have His pleasure. He did all He could, giving them every chance – He even became His own sacrifice!

Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

God, for His own reason (“by reason of him”), made mankind “subject to vanity” (or sinfulness), BUT ALSO “subjected the same in hope”. Yes, God made the human race knowing we would sin, given the opportunity, but He also made it SIMPLE for the ENTIRE human race to bring an accepted sacrifice.

But, to many, those many that reject the sacrifice of God Himself, it isn’t good enough.

Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 

Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

The wicked (unsaved) are fitted and appointed to eternal destruction and wrath from the very moment of their origin. They will receive no pity, have no escape and have no excuse.

14. Finally, you can’t truly love someone you have never even known.

This is the last thing God will say to each lying, lost human being that ever lived, right before He has them cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity.

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

How can you truly LOVE someone you don’t even know? How about the fact that you NEVER knew them? You can’t, and you know it. Neither you, nor Jesus, would throw a person into the Lake of Fire that you knew and loved. The Lord does know those that are his.

2 Timothy 2:19 …The Lord knoweth them that are his.

It would be best, my friend, if you make very sure God knows you. Then God will also love you.

Satan’s Lie!       Satan’s greatest and most effective lie; Smile, God loves you. Don’t be ridiculous, Satan says, of course a ‘God of love’ has to love everyone.

Bible Truth!       God does not love everyone. There is not one single verse in The Bible that says God loves a natural man. God hates ALL workers of iniquity. God hates you, His enemy, and is angry with you every day. He is not willing that any should perish. You must repent or perish; for you are condemned already.

So What?       If you truly think God loves you as you are, therefore you have no real fear of His judgment, then you are exactly where Satan wants you.

What should I do?       Realize that God is not just a giant kiss. God hates; He hates the liar just as much as the Muslim terrorist. He is always honest and His Word is always trustworthy. God will judge you along with every human in this world, and anyone that is found guilty of telling even one single lie will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity – except those with a perfect sacrifice.

Lie Number 5 - Blood

Surely you, dear reader, know the story of Adam and Eve. Adam was the first human created, out of the dust of the Earth by God. Eve was his wife, created by God from Adam’s rib. They were given dominion over the animals and placed in a garden that God planted eastward in Eden.

Everything was perfect. There was no death, suffering, pain, sickness, disease, fighting, unrest, pollution, unhappiness, unholiness or any discontent of any kind in this new creation. Adam (and possibly Eve) literally fellowshipped directly with God in the Garden. Adam and Eve were given unending life by God; they were created to live forever. Their bodies were perfect and would never be hurt or suffer sickness or illness or violence of any kind. There was no such thing as sickness. There was simply no such thing as pain or fatigue or discomfort or injury or illness. There would never be anger or violence. These things did not exist.

Adam and Eve were given permission to freely eat of any tree or fruit of the Garden. Nothing was forbidden to them. Nothing was locked or fenced or guarded or hidden. God didn’t set a watch, have guard dogs or have some elaborate alarm system. Adam and Eve had complete freedom to choose what to eat.

God however, had warned them about the fruit of one particular tree. This fruit, God said, was not good for them. He told them simply that if they were to eat from this particular tree, called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die that day.

It is uncertain for how long they went without eating the fruit of that tree, because the serpent (Satan) was very determined to see them eat of it. Eventually, the serpent beguiled Eve and she ate of the fruit. She then gave to her husband, who was not deceived, and he also ate.

Their first realization was that they were naked, and they covered their nakedness. Their first fallen-human emotion was shame. By covering their nakedness they admitted that they were ashamed. Their second newly-discovered emotion, after trying to deal with the shame, was fear. Adam and Eve hid from God because they were afraid. For the first time in their entire lives they experienced fear.

Shame and fear are likely the two strongest emotions that humans possess. God did not put them in man. There was no shame and no fear in God’s creation.

As I write this, I think of a young man I just saw the other day as I was walking with my gorgeous wife. The young man looked about 14 or 15 years old and didn’t strike me as incredibly athletic, massively strong, or overly intimidating. But, he did have on a shirt which read, “No Fear”. So I immediately changed sides to protect my wife from him because I knew if he had no fear he must be Leviathan!

The Bible says of Leviathan,

Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

The entirety of Job 41 is about Leviathan. You can read about how terrible he is for yourself by reading Job 41, but here is how it ends:

Job 41:33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.

So I know upon the Earth there is not another being made without fear. We can all thank the serpent for that fear. Fear is a very human emotion. Any human that says they have no fear is simply a liar. Just wait, they will be very afraid when they meet the Lord.

Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus had to deal with and overcome the two original fallen-human emotions in order to complete His mission. He had to overcome fear and shame. And He did!

So, why does this matter? Where did this fear and shame come from so quickly after the eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

You probably think it doesn’t really matter but that’s exactly what Satan hopes you think. Something went terribly wrong at the moment of the eating of that fruit. Everything changed. Everything was different. Everything changed for the worse. Everything was different and it was all bad.

Now consider that when Eve took her first bite of that perfect, plump, unbelievably-juicy apple, in the garden, you know, that apple probably tasted quite good at first, wouldn’t you think? Maybe it was a dark red apple or maybe a granny-smith or possibly even a yellow apple. Yellow apples are my favorite. The Bible says the fruit was pleasant to the eyes and good for food, right?

That was cruel of me. That was horrible of me. It was completely terrible, but you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, do you? I shouldn’t have done that. I’m bad. I lied. I’m a liar, just like you and every other human on this planet, so I lied. And since I was born a liar, it is kind of hard to stop completely, you know? So I lied.

But, what exactly, did I lie about? You didn’t catch that, did you? Likely not. You know why? Because you have been told this same lie for your entire life so now you don’t even recognize it as a lie. That’s the thing about a lie; if you tell it loud enough and long enough and often enough the people will believe it! You, dear reader, still have no idea what I lied about, do you?

Dear reader, Eve didn’t eat an apple. The fruit of the tree of which she ate was not an apple. The tree was not an apple tree. Satan wants you to believe it was an apple because that has drawn humanity away from Bible Truth for thousands of years.

You say, “now I know you’re crazy. What have you been smoking, man, you’ve lost your marbles!” I can understand your reluctance. This is a little bit shocking, but you will need to see it through if you want to know why Satan has been telling this lie for millennia.

Now, as you may already know, although some don’t, The Bible does not explicitly name the particular kind of fruit. There is no Bible verse that says, “it was an apple” or “it was a pear”, or any other fruit. So, one can decide that it could have been any kind of fruit at all, and you are perfectly free to decide that. But, have you searched the Scriptures daily whether that is so? I have. I believe that The Bible does reveal the particular fruit, but we will have to dig for it, as one would dig for hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:4-5). As with valuable treasure, God’s wisdom is often hidden; not found out in the open, above the surface (Colossians 2:3, 1 Corinthians 2:7). Let’s start digging.

1. The First Miracle; Jesus turns water into wine.

Let’s start off with a celebration. Surely you would consider a wedding and reception a celebration. There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and Jesus and his disciples were invited. There, Jesus turned water into wine. It was His first miracle.

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John 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

Now, according to the record, at some point during the reception they ran out of wine.

John 2:3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

Whether this wine was alcoholic or not doesn’t really matter. Some might not like that statement but they’re just arguing over small potatoes. Satan wants us to argue about whether or not it was alcoholic so we will entirely miss the real point.

Mary asked Jesus to provide some wine for the reception since they had run out.

John 2:7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

That was some incredible wine! Undoubtedly the best wine that has ever been made in the history of this planet! Who do you think could make better? Some Italian guy named Luigi? I don’t think so! That’s crazy, huh? How can someone instantaneously turn plain water into the best wine ever made on this planet? No planting, no watering, no picking, no stomping, no bottling, no waiting! That’s very cool. But, that isn’t the real significance of this miracle at all. The real significance was that it was the first miracle Jesus ever performed on this planet. The very first one!

John 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Of course none of us are God, and none of us will ever be God, but I want you to think with me for just a moment. If you were God, and you became a man and came to Earth, and you intended to do miracles in order to prove to the people that you were God and to manifest your glory, wouldn’t you think the very first miracle you would ever do would be monumentally significant? I would! You never get a second chance to make a first impression, right?

If I was God, and I am certainly not, I think I would have done something to really wow the people, you know, something epic, unforgettable, heroic, something Earth-shattering. Jesus raised the dead. He walked on water. He healed the disabled and the infirmed. He fed thousands of people with a little boy’s lunch.

He could have flown if He had so chosen! He could have done many impossible things to impress His creation but He didn’t choose anything we would recognize as epic and Earth-shattering. He chose to simply supply some wine for a small local wedding.

Do you ever wonder why that was the very first miracle Jesus ever performed? I did, for a long time. Why that? I mean, what was the significance of that? What did that mean? What a waste, really, I mistakenly thought, of the first miracle. It seemed no more than a parlor trick. Did He do it to just humbly show His compassion for man? Maybe it was a mistake? Maybe it happened out of sequence and Jesus was just too kind to let it go and so the plan for His epic, first-ever miracle got fouled up? No, I don’t think God works that way, my friend. My God is way ahead of some random wedding that is going to run out of wine!

2. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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God is so far ahead of our thinking there is no way to really illustrate it, but I am going to try to help you understand.

Have you ever played chess? Chess is a great game (or sport, whichever you prefer). I have played some, but I’m really just a below-average amateur. There are some folks that are really good at chess. Bobby Fischer was so good, even at 21 years old, that he played 50 grandmasters (the highest level in chess) in 50 different matches, all at the same time. He walked from board to board as each of his opponents sat and studied their individual board. He won 47, drew (tied) 2, and lost 1.

What made Fischer, whom many consider the greatest chess player in history, so good? First of all he had a reported IQ of 187. That’s very high. Anything over about 160 is considered “genius”. The thing that makes a winning chess player is being able to think a few moves ahead. The average player can see about 3 or so moves ahead. Most Grandmasters about 10 or so. The best players in history maybe 20. Bobby Fischer claimed at times he could see 40 moves ahead. That is simply incredible.

So, let’s say the greatest mind in human chess history can think 40 moves ahead. God’s thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts that 40 moves would be nothing to God.

Lucifer was the crowning glory of God’s angelic creation. Lucifer was not “the archangel” as many erringly teach, but rather a cherub.

Ezekiel 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

He was perfect. Until he sinned.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

He is (still) so powerful that even the great archangel Michael would not rebuke him but deferred to the Lord.

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

He was almost certainly the most beautiful and the wisest of God’s angelic-spiritual creation.

Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: …

It is this type of wisdom that is described here in Daniel.

Daniel 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, …

It is certain that the wisdom of Lucifer (Satan) will be used by this king because he understands dark sentences but “not by his own power”. Craft = witchcraft/demonic power, and practice = to practice that craft, in case you are wondering.

So we have “understanding” and “wisdom”. These are very significant things from highly intelligent beings.

Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

We hear and see all kinds of things about “666”! Just the number itself scares most people aware of its significance, when they hear it or see it. But does anyone on this planet know what that really means? Of course not. I have seen plenty of conjecture and guesses, most of which have already been proven false. Not one person on this planet knows the answer for sure. I certainly don’t. Neither does Bobby Fischer. I am quite sure neither does Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel) whose IQ is said to be 180. But, I guarantee you that Satan does. He knows exactly what “666” means.

So, let’s say that Bobby Fischer can think 40 moves ahead. I would like to postulate that, comparatively, Satan can think a million moves ahead. You talk about no contest. Satan would crush Bobby Fischer like King Kong crushing an ice cream cone on a hot summer sidewalk. Splat! There would be nothing left. There probably wouldn’t be even a speck of cream to lick up.

God however, comparatively, can think a godzillion (like that word? I just made it up. It’s more than a bazillion, even more than infinity!) moves ahead. Satan, although he is so proud and so determined, has no chance of outplaying God. Not one little tiny infinitesimal chance. There is not one move that Satan can ever make that God did not foresee before time began and before Lucifer, the covering cherub, was ever created.

Keep that in mind as we go through these things. God planned before The Creation the exact moment His Son would be born on this planet. And He not only knew about that wedding in Cana, He planned that first miracle. It was perfect in every way.

God, the Almighty, came up with something powerful, something highly significant and symbolic to begin the ministry of Jesus with the perfect miracle that perfectly presented His power, His purpose and His compassion. The first miracle did all of that!

If you think that the God of The Bible, The Holy One that spoke the Heavens and the Earth into existence, didn’t have a very significant purpose and reason for His Only begotten Son’s first ever miracle on this planet, then you simply don’t know my God at all. If you think that the turning of water into wine was insignificant or random then you are exactly where Satan wants you.

3. Shed blood is the object of God’s redemption plan.

Blood is what makes atonement for the soul.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

But, not the blood in your veins, the blood on the altar. And if it is on the altar then it isn’t in your veins. It is SHED blood that makes atonement for the soul.

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Shed blood spared the first-born Jews the fate of the Egyptian first-borns.

Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 … the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. … 13 … and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Once a year, the high priest went into the holiest place of the temple, alone (anyone else entering would have died instantly), not without shed blood! No shed blood, he doesn’t go in.

Hebrews 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

There is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, period.

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

So, Jesus came and shed His blood for the sins of mankind.

Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own [shed] blood.

He could not have washed us by just having blood. He had to shed that blood and die per God’s redemption plan.

Before we move on, one point. Let’s agree about “shed blood”. Shed blood is blood that has been extracted from something that used to be alive. The shedding of blood creates death, every time. To lose (shed) one’s blood and thus DIE, is the most significant part of God’s redemption plan to LIVE eternally. Doesn’t that seem a bit counter-intuitive to you?

4. Jesus shed blood - and water.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

This was so important, that God made sure it was verified right in the next verse…

35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

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Now, I remember the answers I was given in Bible College. Well, when the heart breaks water comes out and that just means his heart was broken. Or, because He was tortured, as He was dying water formed around His heart and that’s what came out. Hogwash. Look, if you die of a broken heart and someone pierces your side with a spear, blood is the only thing that is going to run out of your body. If you are beaten and left for dead, barely a drop of water, maybe a tear or some urine, is coming out of your body. Certainly no remarkable amount of water is coming out. Please don’t try this experiment with your friend, or your enemy or your dog. Just take my word for this one!

What came out of Jesus was not a tiny trickle of water from some little heart-sack or a tear for mankind, this was a gush of water, equal in amount to the blood that came out. The soldiers and others watching remarked specifically on the water, so it was certainly in a very significant amount or it would not have even been noticed. And it must have seemed very strange to them to see water coming out of this dead body when only blood came out of every other dead body they had ever crucified (even with torture). No, that water was very significant and important or it would not have been specifically mentioned, and then confirmed, in Scripture.

5. So, what’s with the water? Water is a key witness.

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Many Christians are familiar with 1 John 5:7, but what about the next verse, 1 John 5:8? Ever wonder why it is there? I believe it is every bit as significant.

1 John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

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That which bears record in heaven is the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost. If the record of something is to be true and believed in heaven, it is verified and validated by those three beings.

That which bears record in earth is the Spirit, the blood AND the water. That water is an essential element FOR THE RECORD of what happens on the earth. If the record on earth is going to be true then the water is one of only three elements (that “agree in one”) to VERIFY or CONFIRM THE RECORD! This water is drastically more important than most believers understand.

1 John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood….

Not by water only? In other words, Jesus COULD have come by water only and had zero blood in His veins! Water, the water that He also shed, COULD have acted exclusively as His “blood”. The life of the flesh is in the blood but Jesus didn’t NEED blood to sustain His life. He had water that would have, by itself, sustained His life. But, He had to ALSO have blood in order to be “like us” and thus to be an acceptable sacrifice.

6. Jesus had to have blood.

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

7. Jesus’ blood is not like your blood. Jesus’ blood is precious.

1 Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Of course it was precious. But why was it precious? Ever ask that question? You think maybe it was special just because it was in Jesus’ body? Jesus is indeed precious, but His blood, in and of itself, is also called precious.

8. Jesus’ blood is not like your blood. It is His own blood. It is God’s blood.

Jesus’ blood is not like our blood. It is “His own blood”. Not just because it was in His body but because HE made it. God himself made Jesus’ blood. Remember this because it is very important.

Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

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Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Jesus had to die outside of the gate (of heaven) and then be alive enough to bring in His own blood into the gate! He didn’t have someone else bring in His blood, He brought it in Himself!

Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

9. Jesus’ blood is in the holy place of the temple in heaven.

Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

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Hebrews 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

10. No other blood will be in heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

There will be absolutely NO HUMAN BLOOD in heaven. The ONLY blood in heaven will be the blood of Jesus on the mercy seat.

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Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

Jesus had flesh and bones after His resurrection, but not blood! He didn’t need it anymore except to put it on the mercy seat in heaven!

11. Jesus also shed some kind of water. The water functioned in His body just like the blood.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

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Why would Jesus have water in His veins?

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Jesus offered living water. That is not the same stuff found on this planet!

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

That “living water” SHALL flow from the belly (inner parts) of those that belong to Christ. This is a future promise directly from the mouth of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

That Rock, out of which came life-giving water to the Israelites in the desert, was Jesus Christ. So, I think it is fair to say that Jesus Himself also has water within Himself (the Rock) that He will give to those that thirst. Well, we are in luck because it turns out He does!

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

This “living water” is the water that gives “everlasting life”! People have been talking about and searching for “the fountain of youth” for many years. This is it!

12. Jesus died of His own free will.

Jesus didn’t die because He couldn’t stay alive. He wasn’t trying his best to “survive for as long as He could” as is the rest of humanity. He would have lived forever. But, if He had lived forever, He would have been completely alone!

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John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [His crucifixion and resurrection] 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

He died on purpose. He allowed it to happen. So He could have many brethren [much fruit!].

John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

But, if He didn’t purposely lay down His life he would have lived forever.

13. Why is shed blood the offering for sin? Because sin is in your blood.

Shed blood is the offering for sin because sin is in the blood! Sin is in your blood; you can’t escape it and you are powerless to fight it. The very thing that gives you life is the thing that also gives you sin! Unless you get rid of your blood you will never get rid of your sin. It has to be shed!

Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

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The reason you continue to strive against sin is because of your blood. Sin is in your blood. Sin is in the blood of all humanity. Your blood is the source of your sin. If you do NOT “resist [sin] unto blood” then you are striving against sin. So the only way to NOT be striving against sin is to resist sin unto blood. In other words, to resist sin so much that it literally costs you your blood, and therefore also your life on this planet.

Think I’m wrong? Try this then, I dare you. Decide that you will be completely honest in every situation for the rest of your life and then do it! Don’t stretch the truth, don’t lie by omission and don’t hold back the truth (little white lies) so you don’t “hurt somebody’s feelings”. Just tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (which comes from The Bible) for every moment of the rest of your life to everyone that you speak with. That’s what Jesus did. And look what it got Him; SHUNNED, HATED and DEAD! I guarantee you the same will happen to you. Blood must be shed for sin because sin is in the blood! As long as you have your blood, you will have your sin. You can’t separate the two. Your sin is in your blood. Let’s see this in the Book.

We need to be cleansed from our sins.

Leviticus 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

God promised to cleanse us from our sins.

Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me;

God sent Jesus to cleanse us from our sins. Very specifically, it is His blood that cleanses us.

1 John 1:7 … the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

His blood cleans us of SIN, yes, but what part of us does it clean? God promised to clean our BLOOD!

Joel 3:21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

Ironically, it is blood that cleans blood. Jesus’ blood cleans our blood - therefore that is how Jesus’ blood cleans our sin; by cleaning our blood!

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Notice that this verse says almost all things are purged WITH blood, not by blood. It is WITH the purging of the blood that almost all things are purged. In other words, when the blood is purged, almost all things (sin included) are purged WITH it. When the blood goes out, they go out.

Here is some other support for the doctrine.

Numbers 35:33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

The land is defiled and “polluted” with blood. How can it be cleansed from this defiled and polluted blood? ONLY by blood!!

The phrase “sin offering” is in The Bible 118 times. A sin offering is an offering that is performed in order to (temporarily in the OT) cover sin in the eyes of God.

Leviticus 6:25 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering:

Leviticus 6:30 And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.

If an offering is made for SIN then the blood has to be drained before it is a worthy sin offering. In other words, the sin has to be removed (via the blood) before it can be offered FOR SIN!

It is interesting that after the blood is drained, the sin offering can be eaten by the priests. But, if the blood is NOT fully drained before coming into the holy place it is unworthy to be eaten. If it is unworthy to be eaten (taken in), IT IS BURNED IN THE FIRE. Sounds like another fire you may have heard of, called the Lake of Fire. Any carcass with filthy blood that tries to enter (be taken into) the holy place will be burned in the fire.

Why does the blood always have to come out EVERY TIME there is a “sin offering”? Because the only way to get sin out is to get the blood out. And why would taking the blood out remove the sin? Because the sin is in the blood!

You read previously in this book, if you are reading through the stop signs, about the “dividing asunder” of soul and spirit by the Word of God. When one is saved his soul and spirit are separated from his flesh. The Bible calls this the “circumcision made without hands”.

Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

In this process the sinful flesh is separated from the soul/spirit. The Holy Spirit performs this act at the moment of salvation and “seals” the separation until the body is resurrected.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Hence, it is this act which prevents sinful flesh (which continues to sin after one is saved) from spreading that sin to (contaminating) the soul/spirit (which cannot sin after one is saved). Your FLESH will continue to sin as long as it contains blood. If you die with your bloody flesh still attached to your soul/spirit then you will remain filthy and sinful for eternity. There is much more on this in chapter 10.

14. All humans have the same exact problem; blood.

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth…

God made sure we are all identical in the ways that are considered part of being human. One of those ways is that we all have the same blood running in our veins. Nobody’s blood is any better than anyone else’s. Nobody has a bloodline that is not tainted with sin. Except Jesus.

15. Satan is the source of our sin.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This is what God said after the fall of man. You see, because of the fall, there was now a huge problem. Eve and her offspring (her seed), all of them, were now Satan’s offspring (thy seed). Each human born would be of Satan’s seed, a product of Satan’s, born of him, by him and to be like him – liars created by the father of liars!

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The problem was that from that moment forward all of Eve’s children, all of mankind, HER SEED, would be SATAN’S SEED also! So, effectively they belonged to Satan, owed their life to Satan, and thus Satan had stolen the entire human race from its Creator! But, God promised that He would fix the problem. God promised that He would somehow use the seed of the woman to DIVIDE (put enmity between) the human race. He would divide the human race between Satan (to whom it now belonged in its entirety) and Himself. That “seed” was the Lord Jesus Christ. That promise was kept through Abraham.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman which puts enmity (makes enemies) between the seed of Satan (lost part of the seed of the woman) and the seed of woman that becomes the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ (saved part of the seed of the woman).

So, Satan’s “seed” is what has been passed from human to human down through the centuries.

1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

16. Adam and Eve would have lived forever.

They would have lived forever because they were created directly by God, pure and without sin.

Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God told the man in Genesis 2:17 that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would die. So, unless he ate of that particular tree he would have never died. What do you think kept Adam and Eve alive? They had human bodies, they weren’t spirits.

17. Adam and Eve were created with living water in their veins.

There was liquid in their bodies giving them everlasting life when they were created but it sure wasn’t blood.

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Hebrews 10:22 calls this “pure water”. Adam and Eve, since they were pure, had this pure water keeping them alive and not this blood (we have now) that needs to be shed.

All blood except Jesus’ blood is the blood of a dead man.

Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

What is the difference between the “blood of a dead man” and the blood of an alive man? The difference between your blood and Jesus’ blood. The difference between the blood of Jesus Christ and the blood of every other man that has ever existed on this planet. That’s a big difference.

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul;

Adam was a living soul. And when “the blood of a dead man” entered in Revelation 16:3, every living soul died! So when blood entered Adam he became as a dead man.

Let’s attack the thing this way. Jesus was the 2nd man. If Jesus, the SECOND man, had water in His veins, and we know He did, then the FIRST man had water in His veins also. In fact he had to. Why?

The Bible says so.

1 John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 

Why does The Bible say “not by water only”? It sure isn’t a coincidence nor is it meaningless. You see, technically, Jesus could have come by water only. The reason it is mentioned is because the first man came “by water only”. Adam’s water was changed into blood (Jesus’ first miracle) by the fruit. Jesus didn’t eat that fruit, however, He could not be a valid sacrifice unless He had blood to shed. So, unlike the first man, who came “by water only”, the second man couldn’t have come “by water only” but must also have had blood, like the brethren He came to save. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. (Hebrews 9:22)

18. Water is God’s product.

The second verse in the entire Bible speaks about an abundance of water. Water existed before this current Earth existed.

Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

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The Earth was without form and void. It was without shape and it was empty. In other words the “elements” (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, zinc, etc.) that make up this Earth were scattered all over the place with no discernable pattern (without form) and with no occupants (void). Jeremiah reiterates this.

Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

But, God was there, and a whole lot of water! The only tangible (as we understand it) substance available at all was water. Anything else that may have existed at this time was mixed into the water or under the water.

You see, water is God’s creation. God is the maker and inventor of water. It is His personal resource and building block. Every living thing on this planet requires it – without it we die. Man was made mostly from it and then “the breath of life” (spirit) was inserted. The water and the spirit combined to make human life. This “breath” likely put the “living water” into Adam’s veins. It is certain that Jesus has water in His veins and, like the rest of humanity, had a body made of mostly water.

Have you ever wondered why science-falsely-so-called is sending probes all over our solar system looking for water? Well, that’s why. At least they have figured out that “water” is absolutely essential to life. But, if they would have just read their Bible they could have saved a bunch of time and money. Although, how would they get rich and powerful by believing The Bible instead of science-falsely-so-called?

19. Water is very significant in Creation.

The word “water”(s) occurs 714 times in The Bible or an average of about 11 times per book and about once every 2 chapters (1,189 chapters). However, in Genesis alone the word appears 67 times. Genesis chapter 1 (all about Creation) alone contains the word 11 times. Only Leviticus chapter 15 (ceremonial washing) and Ezekiel chapter 47 (about the future Earth) contain the word “water”(s) more often. Genesis chapters 6-8 (all about the flood) contain the word 19 times. Water is a very big part of God’s overall plan and a big deal in understanding the Creation of mankind and this current Earth.

20. The water mentioned in Genesis 1 is called The Deep.

The body of water first mentioned in Genesis 1:2 is called “the deep”. God moved upon the face of the waters known as the deep.

Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

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This is before Adam, this is before the sun, this is before the stars and this is before there was anything physical as we know it in this entire universe. There was this body of water that The Bible calls the deep. “The deep” is in The Bible 27 times, and although not all 27 occurrences are speaking directly of this specific body of water in particular, all of them probably speak of it in at least an indirect way. An example is this verse:

Daniel 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

Although some might argue this is not a reference to this body of water, but rather a phrase describing how God reveals both “deep things” and “secret things”, it doesn’t really say “deep things” now does it? It could refer directly to the deep as the large body of water AND to how He reveals His secret things. It does say, “He revealeth the deep”. And His Word does reveal “the deep” (see Genesis 1:2 for starters)! In The Book there is quite a bit about this body of water and a whole lot about water in general.

21. Water is good. Too much water is bad.

This isn’t too difficult to figure out. We all need water to drink but when hurricane Katrina ravages the entire city of New Orleans, Louisiana that’s too much water. It’s great to have plenty of water to drink. Drought stricken regions of the world welcome almost any source of water. But, nobody on this planet wants it to rain for 40 days and 40 nights consecutively – that’s too much water. As you probably already know the Earth experienced just such a worldwide flood a few thousand years ago. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights over the entire planet. This water came, not just in the form of rain but also from the “windows of heaven” which were “opened” and “the fountains of the great deep” that were “broken up”. Let’s see that in The Book.

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

You see, my friend, this flood was not just the result of 40 days and nights of rain. There were two other events that happened. The windows of heaven were opened. The fountains of the great deep were broken up.

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Psalm 104:5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. 6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. 8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. 9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

The waters of “the deep” are what flooded the Earth. There was water “under the Earth” that was “broken UP” and the water “above the Earth” that came DOWN. God promised never to flood the entire Earth again. He placed the rainbow in the sky as a symbol and a reminder of that promise.

Genesis 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

22. The Creation of this Earth and this Universe occurred under the deep (under water).

Before God made the Heaven and the Earth there was a huge body of water called “the deep”. God split this body of water into two separate pieces – one very large and one relatively very small. In order to separate the very large mass of the deep from the very small piece of the deep God made a giant hole in between them. This giant hole is what we call space. The Bible calls it the “firmament”.

Genesis 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

God made a “firmament”. This firmament is where you and I live. The birds fly in the firmament. The sun and moon are in the firmament. As Michael Jordan jumps to dunk the basketball he is in the firmament. EVERYTHING you can see, touch or feel from one millimeter above the water level of the Earth out as far as this universe goes is “the firmament”. You breathe the firmament.

Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

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How can we picture this? Try not to think in terms of a flat surface. It helps to think of it as a circle or more technically a sphere. Some think the firmament is in the shape of a pyramid, and although I am not certain, I am not convinced that is so. But, I do know the Earth is a sphere, so until I am convinced otherwise I will stick with the sphere as the shape of the universe as well.

The deep is likely shaped like the molten sea in Solomon’s Temple. In the Temple that Solomon built, for which God gave him very exacting plans, there was a molten sea made of pure brass.

2 Chronicles 4:2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. …4 …the sea was set above upon them, … 5 … the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, … and it received and held three thousand baths.

This was a giant bowl made of solid brass that was in the Temple designed by God Himself. It was roughly about 15 feet in diameter and the sides about 7½ feet high. It held water and was called the “sea”. That this brass sea represents something much more significant in the eternal realm is certain; everything in the Temple did. This sea is spherical, full of water and has a flat surface (face) on top. This sea is a representation of the deep of Genesis 1:2 (which also defines the “face” of a body of water).

In order to understand how God divided the waters to create the firmament, try to imagine you have a giant bowl (like a goldfish bowl) in your back yard, say 10 feet in diameter (distance across) and 5 feet high on the sides. Fill this giant bowl full with water and you have “the deep”. Our bowl is, of course, vastly smaller than the actual deep, which is much larger than our entire universe. On the top (face) of the water in this bowl, God is moving. (Didn’t Jesus walk on water?)

Now, God says, He put a “firmament in the midst of the waters”. This “firmament” is an expanse of “space”. We send rockets into outer “space”. We breathe inner “space”. God made “space” in the water. So, to represent this space, we take a ball, say 2 feet in diameter, filled with air. We take this ball and we shove it down into the midst (middle) of the deep (bowl). The deep will converge all around this ball, air in the middle and water completely surrounding. Unfortunately for you, in order to get the ball to stay in place you are going to have to hold it there. You’re going to need to be strong and hang tough for us here so we can get this picture. This represents the firmament in the midst of the waters. The firmament is our universe. The air-filled ball is our universe (not our planet, our entire universe) suspended in the midst (middle) of the deep waters. If science-falsely-so-called could ever get to the edge of our vast universe (the air, or non-water if you will), they would find water, frozen water, awaiting them. I’m told it’s pretty cold in “space” if you haven’t heard. However, just to watch the professing-wise make fools out of themselves (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools), God has actually hidden the deep from their sight. Even if science-falsely-so-called ever made a telescope powerful enough, they still won’t see it!

Job 38:30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

All of this, however, still does not create a perfect picture of the Creation yet. Notice God said this firmament (space) would specifically “divide the waters from the waters”. But, in our bowl there is no division of the waters from the waters. All the water is together surrounding the air-filled ball. When God stuck His ball of “space” down into the middle of the bowl of water, He left a small little bit of that water to be in the very middle of that air-filled ball.

To picture this, and I’m not exactly sure how we would accomplish this in your backyard, especially with you holding the air ball in place, we are going to fill a very small ball with the water from the bowl. Then we are going to (magically) take that very small ball and insert it into the middle of the air-filled ball so it hovers there right in the middle of the air-filled ball (which is right in the middle of the water in the bowl). We are going to need your neighbor to hold that one for us because your hands are already full. What we see now is a very small ball of water (Earth) in the middle of a much larger ball of air (firmament, space) which is suspended in the much larger bowl of water (the deep). The tiny water-filled ball is the water “under” the firmament. The firmament is the air-filled ball. It “divides” the water inside of it (the tiny ball) from the water surrounding it. The water surrounding it is the water “above” the firmament. So, you have three parts to this thing now: Small water inside (below) the firmament and huge water outside (above) the firmament (3rd part being the firmament itself). Can you picture that? I hope you can. The following illustration is how I picture it.

The “firmament” becomes the abode of the sun, the moon, the stars and everything we see in “space”. The firmament is where the birds fly. The sun, moon and stars however don’t need a place to “land”. The bird is going to need a place to “land”. That place is the tiny ball of water in the middle of the firmament – the tiny ball of ALL WATER is planet Earth. At this early stage of Creation the Earth was completely made 100% of water from the deep – there was nothing hard or tangible other than water. But now, land, ho!

Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven… [there are 3 heavens]. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven [under the firmament] be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. [God made a place for the birds to “land” called “LAND”!] 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

I am not going to go into it much, because it really isn’t relevant to our discussion here, but I do want to mention it so you are familiar with it for later in the book. The Earth likely also had a small circle of water (also part of “the deep”) surrounding it, separating “inner space” from “outer space”. This would be roughly around where our satellites now orbit. This is how the Bible words it:

2 Peter 3:5 …by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

The Earth (now almost all land, I don’t believe there were vast bodies of water like our oceans at that time; the “seas” were much smaller) then, was “out of the water” (sticking up out of the water that we now call oceans, which, at that time, were the part of the deep buried under the firmament - and also under the land), and yet still “in the water” (a covering of water over the Earth’s inner space).

Psalms 136:6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters:…

There are two big truths to get from all of this. One, the Earth is the exact center of the firmament (universe) according to the creation story in Genesis. Look at your backyard – there is no other way to understand this. Science-falsely-so-called is, unsurprisingly again, just simply wrong. Two, WATER is God’s product. It is the basic ingredient He uses to “make stuff”. Adam’s body was made of dust, as many know, but also of water.

Genesis 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

It wasn’t dry dust, it was wet dust. Water and dirt mixed make clay.

Job 33:6 Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Lastly, and this little discovery I received from my rocket scientist son, it seems the ratio of the size of the firmament to the size of the deep is given by the supposed “discrepancy” or “contradiction” found in the contents of the molten sea in the Temple.

1 Kings 7:26 And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.

2 Chronicles 4:5 And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.

It seems these two descriptions of the molten sea don’t match exactly. There are four characteristics mentioned. Three of them match exactly. 1) It was a hand breath thick. 2) The brim was like the brim of a cup. 3) It was decorated with flowers of lilies. However the fourth part of the description seems to be a contradiction: it isn’t. 1 Kings says it contained 2000 baths of water. 2 Chronicles says it held 3000 baths of water. (A “bath” is a unit of measure, like we would use gallons or liters. A scriptural bath was about 6 gallons.) At issue is 2000 vs. 3000 baths. Which was it? As we have stated before, The Bible is exacting. The solution is that the molten sea “held” 3000 baths. It was capable of holding (“receiving”) 3000 baths, however it was only filled (“contained”) with 2000 baths of water. If it was capable of holding 3000 baths but contained only 2000, that means 1000 baths of it was left empty. Equating this to our scriptural understanding of the universe we see that the empty space in the sea was 1/3 of the size of the entire sea and thus half of the size of the mass of water. So, the size of the deep (water) is twice the size of the firmament (non-water). See the prior illustration for a picture of this. The Bible is never wrong and there are no real contradictions – only traps for prideful, arrogant, and ungodly men.

23. The Creation of mankind occurred under the deep (under water).

Since the very moment of creation man has basically existed “in/under the water”. He existed between the water below him and the water above him. In a very real way, mankind was created under water. Not like drowning and not exactly like a fish but very significantly man was created under water. What water? The water surrounding our universe that The Bible calls the deep. This water is still over our heads now.

Psalm 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. 

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It is significant to note that while we were NOT separated from GOD until after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, we WERE separated from God’s Home/Throne. How do we know that? Well, obviously first, consider that we were created with a huge mass of water existing between the Lord God’s Home and our home. Not only is this water over our heads but it serves the purpose of SEPARATING us from the throne of God, His abode, the place where His Spirit resides, from which He rules all of His creation. Someone will say, “now, wait just a cotton-picking minute! You’re gonna hafta back that up with the Book!” Alright, if you’re gonna cry about it, I will.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

There are two births required for a “man” to “see the kingdom of God”. If one only has ONE birth, the first one, one “cannot see” God’s Kingdom. I believe Adam (and Eve) had only one birth – at least that I can find scripturally. Adam was truly “born of the water”, being a product of “clay” formed by mixing “dust” with the water of the “deep”. And this is exactly what the first birth is; birth in/of water. Just as Adam, we are all products of water in our first birth.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That water birth alone? That water birth alone will NOT allow us into the kingdom of God. The Bible says both, “cannot ENTER INTO the kingdom of God” and “cannot SEE the kingdom of God”. This is the spot Adam was in. Adam was NOT born again.

24. The Creation was done with man already in a state of separation from Heaven.

During the time Adam and Eve spent SINLESS in the Garden of Eden they walked and talked with God. But, ALL of that walking and talking occurred in the garden, hence ON THE EARTH. The Lord God came DOWN under the deep (water) to fellowship with Adam in Adam’s home. Adam NEVER went UP above the water to fellowship with God in God’s Home!

Of course Adam didn’t go to Heaven, you may think, that would have been impossible for a human. Really? Are you sure? Were you there? You know exactly what was possible and not possible for Adam as he was originally created? Wow, you know way more than me then! So let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you are correct and Adam was incapable of going up to God’s Home/Throne. So, the logical question would be, why? Why would God create a species with whom He intended to fellowship and NOT give that species access to His Home? If you created a living organism, gave it life (good luck with that), called it very good and loved it, would you not give it access to your home? Of course you would. You created your children and they have access to your home, and, despite what you may like to think, they are far from “very good”. Adam was sinless and pure, not knowing good and evil. So, why wasn’t he welcome in God’s Home? Because Adam WOULD sin – and God KNEW it would happen.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,…

It wasn’t the fact that Adam HAD sinned (he hadn’t), it wasn’t even really the fact that he WOULD sin, but in reality it was the fact that he COULD sin. It wasn’t impossible for Adam to sin (or Eve). This topic of impossibility of sin will be further discussed in chapter 10.

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And when Adam did sin, God banished him from the garden and from the tree of life UNTIL HIS DEATH. God no longer came DOWN to fellowship with him.

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 

Adam, upon his eventual death, even then, did not go up to Heaven – but rather continued to be UNDER the deep (water). Adam went to a place called “death”.

Job 30:23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

2 Samuel 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Before the resurrection of Christ ALL of those that died went DOWN to DEATH. All were “banished” after their physical death – but not all of them forever. Some went to the HELL part/side of death (a place). Some went to the PARADISE part/side of death (the place) also called Abraham’s Bosom. In between the two sides of death was a great gulf that not one person was able to cross.

Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

NOBODY went to Heaven after dying. Moses is a possible exception but that is another discussion. NOBODY else that died went UP to Heaven to be with The Lord before the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was the means God “devised” and those in paradise were taken to Heaven during Jesus’ resurrection.

Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Zephaniah 2:7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.

Zephaniah 3:20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Isaiah 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

The “spirits” of the Old Testament deceased were in “prison”. Satan never intended to let them out.

Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! … 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 … that opened not the house of his prisoners?

But the Lord had another idea for His elect.

Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

Note that this all occurred either BEFORE or DURING the resurrection of Jesus. AFTER the resurrection those that die IN CHRIST will NEVER SEE DEATH!

John 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Oh, he/she will still DIE, but he/she will NOT SEE DEATH. How? They will not go to death (the place) upon dying (in the flesh) but instead will immediately ascend (in spirit) to be with the Lord Jesus in Heaven.

So, where is paradise? Well, it WAS in the center of the Earth. Jesus, before His death on the cross, said to the penitent thief that they would be together in “paradise” on that very same day!

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Remember, that although Jesus did ascend into Heaven, He FIRST descended into the Earth.

Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Jesus didn’t ascend into Heaven on the very DAY that He was crucified. He couldn’t have because He told Mary three days after His crucifixion (the day of His bodily resurrection) that He had not YET ascended.

John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father:

So, on the DAY of His death, both Jesus and the thief DESCENDED into the lower parts of the Earth. This MUST be paradise or Jesus is a liar. Now, when Jesus did ASCEND, he took those that were “captive” in the center of the Earth to Heaven with Him.

Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Joseph in prison (Genesis 39 and 40) is a beautiful picture of this. Joseph “preaches” and “prophesies” to two of the Pharaoh’s servants (the chief butler and the chief baker) that were in the prison with him. Both had dreams and Joseph interpreted the dreams for them. In three days (Jesus’ time in prison) one of them was let out of prison (representing the saved) and one was killed (representing the unsaved). This is exactly what happened when Jesus led “captivity” out of the prison house. Some left with Jesus, the rest will never make it out alive.

So, paradise was moved from under the Earth to up in Heaven. Paul went to paradise. He went UP.

2 Corinthians 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Paradise is now with God in His Home.

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

When saved men die now, they go up into paradise, to be with The Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Once a Christian’s spirit leaves his body (becomes absent), it goes to be immediately with the Lord. This was NOT true of the Old Testament Saints as you have seen. NOW we have access to the Home/Throne of God - Heaven! And this access is granted through Jesus Christ and Him alone.

25. Sin already existed before the creation of mankind.

Sin didn’t originate when Eve and then Adam ate the fruit. Sin existed long before that. Sin originated with Lucifer, also known as the devil. This is important: sin existed BEFORE the creation of mankind in Genesis.

Lucifer (Satan now) committed the first sin. You will learn exactly what that first sin was in chapter 9. And, if you think you already know what that sin was, well, I’ll go out on a limb here and say you don’t. But, the point is that SIN EXISTED. It had already reared its ugly head – and in God’s house no less! God just simply wouldn’t allow that to happen again.

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1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. … 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 

Anyone that sins, anyone that “committeth sin”, is of the devil. So, my dear friend, you and I are (or at least were) “of the devil”. So is everyone else on this planet. And if we are “of the devil” then it is certain that he came first or we could not, by definition, be “of” him. You are “of your father” (your worldly, fleshly, physical, genetic father, whether you like it or not) on this planet because you are born of him. You owe your life to him. You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Well, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your father Satan, either. You are his child (“children of the devil”) by natural birth. Every person on this planet that has ever existed, except Jesus, has been a child of the devil. How do we know that? We know that because we have all committed sin – at least once. That’s all it takes. Like father, like son. It’s just that plain and simple.

26. God created mankind knowing that the entire species would sin and thus die.

Mankind was SEPARATED from going to Heaven from the very moment of Creation by an expanse of water. You might well say by a firmament also, but the water was there first. So, why was the water there? Well, first of all realize that man didn’t really NEED to go to Heaven at that time. Man was going to live forever so what need did man have of an afterlife? Man had no need for anything “after death” because he was never going to die, no matter what he did – as long as he heeded one, tiny, little, simple word of advice. He didn’t. And that’s exactly why man was created under water. Because he could sin, and was going to sin, God SEPARATED man from His Home so that man’s sin couldn’t and wouldn’t happen in God’s House!

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What did God use to separate between man’s home and God’s Home? Water! This “water of separation” was there because of sin!

Numbers 19:9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

Numbers 19:13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

Numbers 19:20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

Unless the water of separation purifies you, you are unclean! You, as unclean, would defile God’s Home.

Numbers 31:23 Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

It is incredibly illuminating that fire and water are mentioned together like this in Numbers 31:23. The book of Job is an incredible wealth of information about very deep and amazing things. One of those things is this:

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Hmmmm. Think about that for a moment. This will make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. Where were you formed? Well, Adam and Eve were FORMED UNDER THE WATERS. And we INHABIT under the water even to this day. So, then, were we “dead things” from the beginning of our creation? I don’t think it is fair to say that Adam and Eve were actually dead upon their creation. But I think it is very fair to say that they were destined to die from the very moment of their creation. God knew they would eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and die. He knew it. And if He knew it then it might as well have been already done.

Romans 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

The context of our passage in Job 26:5 also contains some other very remarkable information.

Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. 7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. 8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. 9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. 10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. 12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. 13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? 

There is a tremendous amount of impressive doctrine in that entire passage, much of it very deep and ominous. Every bit of it, take note, has to do with His ways in creation and His design of eternal things. This is the context of Job 26:5 which I will repeat here.

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

When God formed mankind, He expected them all to die. They were, in a very real way, already dead. God, since He knows the future already, and is never wrong or mistaken, can act upon that future, or speak about that future, as if it already exists – because He KNOWS it will exist. In God’s mind mankind wasn’t just going to die - mankind was already dead. THAT is why man was formed under the waters.

God KNEW that Jesus would need to be a sacrifice from before the creation of mankind – it was “foreordained”, but not “manifest” (revealed) until a perfect moment in time!

1 Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,

Since it was written in God’s Word, it was not only absolutely going to happen, dear reader, it was already “finished” from the foundation of the world!

Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Jesus was literally, FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, the firstborn from the dead!

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

27. The First Death is In/Under Water (the deep).

That’s kind of a weird statement. Let’s help you understand it this way. Most Christians will get this one with no help. Where is the SECOND death?

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The SECOND death is in FIRE. So, if the second death is in fire, where is the FIRST death? You probably never actually thought about it that way, huh? The FIRST death is in/under WATER (the deep). When you die you will end up under the water. This is more than simple to understand now that you realize you are already under the water! When your body goes down into the Earth it will go under the water. When a lost soul goes to hell it will be under the water.

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You’re probably still thinking this is kind of weird but there are similarities between the two deaths and also many Bible examples of the first death.

Here are a few similarities.

Proverbs 30:16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:

Psalm 66:12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

Isaiah 30:14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

You will be baptized with water AND with fire.

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

This devil tried to kill this man’s son in both fire and water.

Matthew 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

Here are some Bible examples. The first is Noah’s flood. When God wiped out the entire human race (except for 8 people) He did it with the waters of a flood.

Genesis 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

God could have chosen many ways to wipe out the population. He didn’t. He chose water.

Moses, the main Old Testament prophet of Israel was drawn out of the water, and even given his name because he was drawn out of the water.

Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

Jonah was in the deep, under the WATER (protected) for three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

Notice that Jonah cried “out of the belly of HELL”. And notice that this hell is UNDER THE WATER! When a human goes to Hell he/she is still UNDER THE WATER! This is also a picture of Jesus in the center of the Earth for three days and three nights. Jesus said so Himself.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

This is prophecy of Jesus spoken by David.

2 Samuel 22:14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. … 16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. 17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;

The “foundation” of the world, as you have learned, is much (many) waters. Jesus was taken up out of those waters. Even His Baptism was a picture of this.

Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

If a man is to make it to Heaven to be with the Lord someday, like Jesus, he is going to have to come up out of the water (the 1st death) alive, without dying. THIS is exactly what baptism pictures.

Acts 8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip,

When they were come up out of the water THEN the spirit caught Philip away. When you are baptized, you are immersed in, put under, some object. I know many conservative churches teach that baptism means “immersion”, but, this is only half of the baptism. If you were left there (immersed) you would not live very long. I have heard ancient stories of lengthy “baptisms” after which the baptized subject was never seen alive again. He never came up out of the water.

Why do you think all of this baptizing happens in water? Do you think it is just a mere coincidence? Is it meaningless? Nothing, dear reader, is meaningless when God does it! Baptism is a picture of a man surviving the first death (in the water of the deep). Hence, baptism not only incorporates being immersed in (picture of DYING) in a substance but also emerging out of it WITH your life. Baptism is a picture of the complete cycle of birth/living (created/living in water and under water) to death (in water and under water) to new life (out of the water). Baptism pictures a human being originally PLACED under (in) the water and then being DEAD in that water. After emerging from out of the water, the subject has defeated that death and is alive having passed the test of baptism by water. So, the point is that baptism ALWAYS includes coming out the other side of the substance with your life. If you go under the water and don’t come out of the water with your life then you weren’t baptized in the water – you simply died under the water. Baptism MUST, by every definition and every instance in The Bible, include the “raised up” to “walk in newness of life” part.

The nation of Israel was “baptized” when they went through the waters of the Red Sea without dying!

1 Corinthians 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

The nation of Egypt on the other hand was not so lucky. They weren’t baptized at all. Oh, make no mistake, they were immersed. But they never came up again. They drowned in the water and will never come up out of the water – until they go into the fire!

The entire human race was “baptized” unto Noah through the waters of the flood without dying. If you are alive today, you exist (survived the flood) because of Noah’s survival.

1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

What FIGURE of baptism is this talking about? The figure of a man surviving the waters of the deep and coming out on the other side alive – as did Noah. As did Jesus. And, as will you – if you are saved.

Baptism represents DEATH IN THE WATER and yet coming up out of the water alive! This is what happens to a Christian. HE will die ONCE – in/under water. He will come out alive hence will not have to face the second death but will live forever!

Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead (the water) by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

What happened to the unclean swine when the legion of devils entered them? They perished in the waters!

Matthew 8:32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

What did Jesus walk on? Water! What did Peter begin to sink down into? Water!

Where does the Lord God sit? Upon the FLOOD (of waters)!

Psalm 29:10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.

What was David asking to be saved from? The waters!

Psalm 69:1 To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. … 14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up,

To what is the second coming of Jesus likened? A worldwide flood!

Matthew 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Remember the story Jesus told of the “wise man” versus the “foolish man”? The wise man (who obeyed Jesus’s sayings) founded his house on the rock (Jesus) and that’s what saved him. But, what was he saved from? The waters of a flood! What did the foolish man (who decided not to obey Jesus) perish in? The waters of a flood!

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Jesus told Peter and Andrew that he would make them FISHERS OF MEN. A fisherman catches fish. A fisher of men catches men. Where are fish caught? In the water! What happens to them when they are caught? They are brought up out of the water! In order for a man to be saved he must be brought up out of the water – just like a fish. So, the fish is a proper representation of a man because they are both living under the water!

Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

To what is the kingdom of heaven likened?

Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

One last example and I will put this subject to bed. Men are the SALT of the Earth.

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Whatever does that mean? You’ve probably before heard a few different unlearned explanations that some unlearned people made up by their own private interpretations. The truth is that salt ALWAYS comes up out of the water. Salt is a product of the water. A well-known secular publication, which publication wouldn’t know Bible doctrine if it was tattooed inside its own front page, had this to say about salt:

“Salt comes from dead, dried-up seas or living ones. It can bubble to the surface as brine or crop out in the form of salt licks and shallow caverns. Below the skin of the earth it lies in white veins, some of them thousands of feet deep. It can be evaporated from salt "pans," boiled down from brine, or mined, as it often is today, from shafts extending half a mile down.”

The truth is that even salt mined from under the Earth is from dead, long ago dried-up seas. The water may be gone now but without that water there would have been no salt. Salt ALWAYS comes out of the water. Hence, men are the salt of the Earth because we have come up out of the water – at least for now. But, The Bible goes on to give this warning:

Luke 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

Mark 9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Coming out of the water is good. We were born of the water and we were “very good” at one time.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  … 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 

But, if salt doesn’t keep its “savour” (its salty property, its “saltness”) then it will just be trampled underfoot onto the Earth and run off right back into/under the water of the deep. The “salt” has to stay “salty”, as it was when it came up out of the water, or it is no good and it will be thrown away, trampled and eventually returned to the deep.

God made a permanent and everlasting covenant with David and his sons to give them the kingdom of Israel. This covenant is a covenant of SALT!

2 Chronicles 13:5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Why do you think the speech of a Christian should be always “seasoned with salt”?

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Everything you SAY to people should be for the purpose and cause of salvation in Christ – which is a covenant that is in force forever! If a Christian’s speech isn’t sprinkled with the everlasting covenant of salvation, what good is it? It is no good. It isn’t good just to praise someone and always speak positive as some false prophets would have you believe. This just gives them a false “God loves you and would never hurt you” impression and will send them to the Lake of Fire for eternity. The salvation message is only positive for those that accept it. The salvation message is doom and destruction for those that reject it. But, they still need to be given the message. And if a Christian isn’t giving out the life-giving (salted) message of salvation – he might as well just shut his mouth.

Remember Lot’s wife? Why did she become a pillar of salt? Especially if salt is good?

Genesis 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Let’s just say she was the kind of salt that had lost its saltness!

Deuteronomy 29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

In Israel we find the lowest point on Earth, a body of water called the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is never called that in The Bible but always the Salt Sea. It is so salty that nothing can live in/under the water (hence, Dead Sea). Life, any real life, beyond microscopic organisms, cannot survive in the water. Only the SALT that comes out of the water is any good.

Dear reader, make no mistake. The first death is in/under the water of the Deep. The second death is in/under the fire of the Lake of Fire. You may not realize the importance of this doctrine right now, but I assure you it is extremely foundational to understanding some important Bible doctrines.

28. But, Adam and Eve died with blood (not water) in their veins.

Like every other human being that died on this planet.

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,

From the very first human to die (Abel) to today’s most recent death, they all die with blood, just as Adam did.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Ezekiel 18:13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

29. Blood keeps you alive.

Your blood is designed to keep you alive. Your life is in your blood, so if you drain your blood, even if your heart and brain are perfect, you will die.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood:

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Leviticus 17:14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.

30. Satan seems to love blood.

He should, he made it. If you understand anything about satanic or cultic ritual, you understand that an important part of their ritual is the drinking of blood. The suggestion in their ritual is their love of blood and the power and life it gives. If you follow culture it is hard to miss the place that vampires have in human lore. Did/do they really exist? I’m not certain, but it is possible that the legend is somewhat based on the concept that the drinking of blood sustains life. And in vampires, the drinking of human blood sustains their “immortality”. Scripturally of course, this is complete nonsense, but that never stopped Satan before, so why should he not have his people imagine that blood has the power to sustain life forever? That was his belief from the very beginning.

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

31. God forbids the “eating” of any blood.

Leviticus 17:12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

We know, of course, that one doesn’t eat blood but rather must drink it. But, The Bible carefully says not to “eat” blood. I wonder why it is worded that way? We will find out later.

32. God associates the drinking of blood closely with witchcraft.

Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

33. The drinking of the blood of Jesus, however, the Word deems necessary to life.

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

That “life in you” would be spiritual, eternal life.

John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

34. Blood is killing you.

So, let’s ask this question: if your life is sustained by your blood, why are you going to die? You are going to die BECAUSE OF YOUR BLOOD!

The job of your blood is your life; to keep you alive. That is its purpose and function. It is what delivers oxygen and nutrients to your body. It feeds your vital organs all the way to your extremities.

So, if the job of your blood is to keep you alive, then why are you going to die? You are going to die because your blood is not very good at its job!! Blood, human blood, is an inferior product. It keeps us alive for only a very limited amount of time.

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Do you realize that men used to routinely live to be over 900 years old? It was nothing. Think about how much knowledge and experience you would have if you had been alive for the past 900 years? But, unfortunately, you are not going to live even close to that long. You may get a smidgen over 100 years, but no more. The average life expectancy in the United States as of this writing is about 78 years. The problem is your blood.

Your blood allows you to age very quickly. Once past your 30s you are past your prime. Your blood is why you age. If it were perfectly doing its job you wouldn’t age at all. The blood would perfectly deliver the nutrients and essentials to your body and it wouldn’t age.

Your blood allows you to get sick. Our blood is supposed to keep us healthy but instead we get sick, and sometimes we die from being sick. Sickness isn’t fun, and nobody likes to be sick, but it is part of being human. It is part of having blood. Our blood allows our arteries to get clogged and we die. It allows our skin to shrivel, our knees to buckle, our eyes to dim and our minds to forget.

Your blood allows you to get hurt. You shouldn’t get hurt. Adam and Eve didn’t get hurt.

Your blood allows you to get tired. You shouldn’t get tired. Adam and Eve didn’t get tired.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Do you know anyone who can do that? Me either. Even Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest human as of this writing, can only run about 200 meters without slowing down significantly. But running full-speed for 200 miles (not meters) without slowing or getting winded will be possible someday! But not now, not with blood. Blood cannot keep up with the needs of your body when working hard.

Blood is a deficient product. It doesn’t work very well and it certainly doesn’t perform well at doing its primary job of keeping us alive, now does it?

35. Your blood will kill you in one day.

God told Adam and Eve they would die in the very “day” when they ate the fruit.

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

And they did! You may say, wait just a minute now, Adam lived past that day; he did not die that day! Sure he did. Just as God say he would. Physically, not just “spiritually” as you may have been taught.

First things first: God said Adam would “die”, not that God would kill him. If God had killed him, and make no mistake, Adam deserved to die, God would have been called an unjust murderer. It had to be “proven” that God spoke the absolute truth and that Adam (man) would die - simply from eating that fruit – in the same day that he ate it!

Interestingly, since God made time, He gets to define it. And importantly, we are told not to be ignorant of it.

2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So, when God speaks of one day, He could mean a 24 hour day or He could mean 1000 years.

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Interesting choice, 1000 years.

Genesis 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

Adam lived 930 years and died. Nobody killed Adam, especially not God, he simply died of natural causes. He was just incapable of living any longer. But 930 years is less than one day, 1000 years, in God’s language!

After the death of Adam God did eventually kill mankind. There was this massive flood you may have heard about. It killed all of mankind except eight people.

Interestingly God chose a very specific time to kill mankind. He waited until His pronouncement of man’s death by natural means had been proven conclusively.

Genesis 5:8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. … 5:11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. … 14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. … 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

Methuselah lived 969 years! That is actual years, can you imagine? Those living today, as of this writing, would have already been over 200 years old in the year 1347! Do you know what happened in 1347-1351 A.D.? The “black death” (a.k.a. the bubonic plague) swept through Europe and killed at least 25 million people. Hmmm, maybe you wouldn’t have lived to 900.

Methuselah was the oldest man that ever lived. He had a son whose name was Lamech. I’m sure Methuselah loved Lamech as much as we all love our own children. Methuselah had the horrible fate of being the first parent to naturally outlive his children. He had to watch his son die “before his time” as we say. We are all fond of saying “no parent should have to endure the death of their child.” It seems there is Bible Truth backing this up!

Genesis 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. Genesis 5:26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years,

So, Methuselah lived (782-777) seven years after the death of his son. He also lived a total of (969-777) 192 years longer than his son. But, Lamech lived significantly fewer years than any man coming before him in the genealogy. At 777, he was probably still considered “in his prime”. This indicates that the sin nature was already starting to reduce the lifespan of man. So, even Methuselah, the oldest man to ever live, couldn’t make it to 1000 years, but died at 969. After this, only one other person ever lived to be over 900. That person was Noah; yes the same Noah of the ark fame.

So, since it now had been proven conclusively that by nature nobody could naturally live past 1000 years, just as God had said, He would now be justified in killing them all (sinners), since it was proven that they were all going to die eventually anyway! The people that died in the flood may have died a little sooner than they otherwise would have, but they were going to live less than one day anyway!

Methuselah was 187 years old when Lamech was born and 369 years old when Noah (his grandson) was born. Methuselah was 869 when Noah was called to build the ark according to The Bible genealogy. Noah worked on the ark for 120 years.

Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Then the rain started. Therefore Methuselah, the oldest man to ever live and die by natural causes (within one day, 1000 years, just as God promised), died a mere 20 years before God flooded the entire Earth. Noah’s father and grandfather both died before the Earth was flooded, so there was no remaining seed in the genealogy of Noah left alive when the flood began. All of his seed was either already dead or on that ark. That’s some timing, huh? This is what we would call the “longsuffering” of God.

1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

What impeccable timing. God was waiting to be proven right. No descendent of Adam has ever lived longer than one day. Blood simply will not allow it – and The Lord of the universe knew it.

36. The blood has to be completely drained from any sacrifice.

Leviticus 5:9 And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.

The blood of any sacrifice was completely drained and if necessary to completely remove it, even wrung out.

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Jesus’ Blood was completely drained out of Jesus. That’s why His side had to be pierced.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

37. Then the sacrifice was flayed and washed with WATER to cleanse all traces of the blood.

Leviticus 1:6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

Leviticus 1:13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Jesus’ blood flowed out and then water flushed everything out. Remember it was “blood and [then] water”.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Not water and then blood, blood and then water! The blood emptied first and the water flushed it clean. There absolutely was not a trace of blood left in his body. He shed it all.

38. Then the sacrifice is burned.

Leviticus 1:13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Then the remaining carcass was purified by burning in fire.

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Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

Jesus’ soul was not left in Hell, although I believe He went. Some may dispute that, but if He didn’t, where did He get these keys?

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

39. Blood has to be removed from the sacrifice before the blood kills it (it dies) by natural causes.

Leviticus 1:13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

The blood has to be removed BEFORE the blood has the chance to kill by natural means. In other words, to be an acceptable sacrifice the sacrifice’s life has to be taken by other than natural means (which death the blood causes).

In order for a “sacrifice” to be acceptable to God it had to be made before the sacrifice had the opportunity to live out its life here on Earth. Its life had to be “cut off”. Its opportunity to live had to be forfeited. The “lifeblood” of this life had to be given up in the prime of life. Why? Because that’s what happened to Adam. His life was “cut off” at the tender age of 930, which compared to living forever is less than a drop of water in the ocean.

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Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

Jesus was killed at the probable age of about 33 according to many scholars that have tried to calculate it. I’m not much for taking “the scholars” word on just about anything but on this one I will concur; until I am shown conflicting Bible evidence. Jesus was certainly just a young lamb without blemish.

John 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Jesus was crucified about three or so years after this statement by John the Baptist. That’s not a very long ministry, but it wasn’t supposed to be.

Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Think about this: Adam, the “first man” that God created, died at 930 years old; not even a day old (1,000 years) in God’s time. But, 930 years is a LOT longer than the “second man” lived. The second man was “cut off” in the prime of His life at only 33 years of age (or thereabouts)! God’s beloved, only begotten Son, in whom He was well pleased, lived only about 33 years. In God’s time (1000 year day) this is less than one hour! How sad would you be if your only son was born and he was beautiful, but something terrible happened and he was dropped on his head by a nurse, and died just 50 minutes after being born? That would be utterly heartbreaking, as I’m sure it was.

40. Why does God (and The Bible) seem so obsessed with blood? Because our blood is polluted!

Ezekiel 16:6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. … 9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

That’s the truth. Your blood is polluted. It must be jettisoned completely to the last drop and you must be throughly washed to be clean. If so you “LIVE”, if not, you die.

41. How did our blood get polluted? Satan polluted it. Blood is Satan’s product.

Blood is simply polluted WATER! Blood is Satan’s attempt to mimic God’s life-giving WATER with his own imitation, life-giving BLOOD. Why is The Bible so “bloody”, as the Bible-haters always like to say? Blood has polluted the entire human race. Blood is an inferior product. God does not make inferior products. God does not make products that don’t work, fail or cause problems. God is perfect and His products are perfect; until somebody messes with them. Satan made your blood. Of course, he needed to “use” God’s water as the building block to do it, and so Satan turned water into blood! Satan gave it to humanity to keep humans alive after God told them they would die. You are kept alive by a product of Satan. That’s why it is so abhorrent to God. That is why blood must be jettisoned in order to be with the Lord. Jesus’ blood is different than ours. It is God-made! His is God’s product! Yours is not! Jesus’ blood is not polluted. Yours is!

42. We got our blood from a seed. A seed which grew into a tree.

If Satan made our blood, how did we get it? We got it from a “seed”! We got it from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God caused the tree to “grow” from what was “planted” in the garden. Things that are planted and grow are called seeds. God didn’t plant this seed. It was Satan’s seed! You already know that Satan has a seed. Satan planted it! It grew into a tree with the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.

Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit, the living water running through their veins changed into blood. Water changed into blood – starting to sound familiar?

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At the end of day 6 of creation God said every thing he created was very good. I don’t think the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would count as “very good”, so I am quite sure it was not there. God did not make that tree.

Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

This was after the initial 6 days of creation. The “garden eastward in Eden” was not “planted” until after the 7th day during which God rested. All of the trees and plants that were to be created by God and be “very good” were already created during the 6 days. Now, He simply planted some seeds from those in the Garden.

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

If you read carefully you will realize that The Bible does NOT say God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil there, or that He created the tree, but rather it only says that He caused it to grow. You may ask, if God didn’t plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil, how did it get there?

Matthew 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I believe that (probably at night, “while men slept”) Satan crept in and planted a seed of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nobody saw him, although God knew exactly what he was doing and allowed it, because I believe Satan did it from underneath the ground and not from above it.

Ezekiel 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

The word “nether”, meaning lower or lower place, only appears in the Word 15 times. Now, isn’t it kind of peculiar, since that is where Satan was cast down to, the pit, that in the 15 times “nether” is mentioned that “the trees of Eden” appears in the same verse 3 times? And these verses are making clear references to things that happened very long ago.

Ezekiel 31:18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth:

I believe that’s the place from where Satan crept in and planted the seed from which that tree grew. It was Satan’s tree, not God’s. But God knew what Satan was doing, allowed it to grow, and had a magnificent plan to fix things up when things went wrong. As always, Satan played right into God’s hand.

The disciples asked for some clarification of the Scripture quoted above.

Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

I am saying that Satan planted the tree and also that at the moment they ate of it they were irreconcilably changed. They received blood.

43. The serpent didn’t intentionally lie when he said, “ye shall not surely die”.

Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

I don’t believe the serpent intended for that to be a lie. I think Satan really believed this. He is a liar, yes, and “the father of it”, but he was proud even before he was a liar. He said proudly, confidently, “You’re not gonna die. That’s just God trying to scare you away from what else this tree can give you; things that you’re gonna love.”

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You see, Satan knew that the eating of the fruit of the tree would cause their living water to change into Satan’s substitute (blood), that was his design and purpose, but Satan figured his blood was every bit as good as God’s water – only better. It turned out he was wrong. God knew however, exactly what was going to happen and knew Satan’s lousy product wouldn’t work as advertised. Sounds like some products you’ve bought in the past, huh? Like father, like children!

Recall, if you will, that we saw The Bible refer to the “eating” of blood. Adam and Eve “ate” the fruit that produced their blood. Technically, they ATE BLOOD! How’s that for accuracy in the Scriptures?!

44. The juice of the grape is called blood. This is of course where we get wine.

Deuteronomy 32:14 … thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

The blood of the grape becomes wine.

Genesis 49:11 … he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

45. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a grape. A RED grape.

Wine is, of course, made from grapes. Blood is a product of grapes, as is wine. Blood and wine are very similar in Bible terms. Our blood, Satan’s product, came from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of that tree was a red grape, not an apple. That red grape turned our living water into red blood. The eating of that grape changed the pure, living water in the veins of Adam and Eve into Satan’s imitation, red blood, in humanity. Blood and wine come from the exact same fruit! The juice of the grape, according to the Word of God is blood! The fruit was a red grape.

46. Grapes grow on vine trees.

Grapes grow on “vine trees” according to The Bible.

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Numbers 6:3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

Ezekiel 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? … 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

47. Red Dragon. Red Sea. Red Wine. Red Sin. = Red Blood.

Satan is a dragon.

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan…

Satan is a RED dragon.

Revelation 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon…

Blood is RED, as if you didn’t know that already.

2 Kings 3:22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:

Wine is RED.

Proverbs 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup…

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That RED dragon, Satan, is in the Sea (most likely a RED Sea).

Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Now, this is not the sea like the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. No, those things are a tiny drop of water compared to this Sea. It is on the outer edges of our universe. If astronomers ever get to the edge of our universe (they won’t) they will find there is a huge body of water that The Bible calls the “Sea” or the “Deep”. This is where Satan, the red dragon resides. It is between this universe and the 3rd heaven, the abode of Almighty God.

That Sea, the Deep, is probably RED, at least when/where Satan is around. I say probably, because it is a bit of an insinuation, so take that or leave it as you may, but here is the connection.

Job 41:18 By his neesings a light doth shine, … 19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. ... 31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot…

Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Fire is usually RED at its lowest temperature.

In order to be “saved” God’s people Israel traveled through a RED Sea.

Exodus 14:21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Exodus 15:4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

In order for ALL of God’s people to be “saved” they will have to travel through a type of red water (water turned red, remember the Nile river turning red?), or specifically water turned into red blood. They will have to get through this ‘blood sea’ of bloody humanity and make it through to the other side alive.

And when Israel passed through the Red Sea they were fleeing from Egypt, a Bible type of the world. (I’m really not much for “types” most of the time, so do with this as you want.)

Jesus, after His resurrection, ascended (the only man to do so, see Proverbs 30:4 and John 3:13) to Heaven from Earth. In order to do that He likely had to part and go through that RED Sea. So will you someday (hopefully).

How did the Israelites pass through that RED Sea? The same way all of God’s people will pass through: by FAITH!

Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

Finally, your “sins” are RED.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Why do you think your “sins”, which no human being can physically see, are RED? Do you think it is just some randomly selected color, like some guy buying a red corvette? And even though we can’t, do you realize that God can actually “see” sins? Of course He can. He certainly seems to know what color they are. And it is quite sure they are RED. I can’t imagine that isn’t because RED sin is in RED blood from a RED grape made by a RED dragon in a RED sea. And this RED blood is the life of all flesh.

Do you see a connection here? I do.

48. Satan changed water (living water) into wine (blood). So did Jesus.

Adam and Eve should have physically died that 24-hour day, but they didn’t. They had a savior, a new father, and a new liquid that kept them alive past that 24 hour day. But they would still eventually die OF NATURAL CAUSES due to the fact that their new “life-blood” was inferior and was killing them from the moment they were changed. God said they would die, not that God would kill them. God did not kill them. Satan did!

The first miracle of Jesus was to show the heavens and all creation that He could have easily made blood. He could easily do what Satan did in turning water into wine (blood). Only Jesus’ blood was far superior. How good was that wine He made at the wedding?! That blood was what flowed in the veins of Jesus. God’s blood is what is on the mercy seat in heaven.

49. Jesus’ clothing is dipped in blood when He returns to conquer the Earth.

Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

BLOOD is something that Jesus is very upset about. He will dip His clothes in it to remind Himself and everyone else exactly what we are fighting about; blood! Why is God so upset about blood? It stole and killed His creation. He had to sacrifice His precious Son to get it back. Jesus Himself had to die, to shed blood because of blood!

50. The Lord will take final vengeance on mankind and man’s love of blood and its maker.

Revelation 14:10 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:

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Revelation 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

The vine of the earth is what contains the grapes to be trodden in the press. That would be humanity. What comes out of the great winepress of the wrath of God? Blood!

Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

God is going to crush the blood out of the bloody human race.

51. The human blood will run like a river.

Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

A horse’s bridle is, let’s estimate, 5 feet high. A furlong is roughly 1/8 of a mile, so the distance here is about 200 miles. I have read much that says it will be a river of blood 5 feet deep and 200 miles long.

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But, what if that is not accurate? I don’t think it is; I happen to think it is waaaay too small.

The phrase “by the space of” in the verse is hard to define exactly because it appears in the entire Bible only 5 other times and each time it refers to a unit of time instead of distance. So, it could be width or length. I believe in this case it is width.

This “trodding” happens “without the city”. What does that mean? And what city? I won’t go into the proof here because it is really not relevant to the topic but I believe it is a real “city” just like the Bible says. And there is really only one city around which God places almost all of the real important end-times Bible events; Jerusalem. For the sake of argument, let’s say I am right. So, if this “trodding” happens “without [outside] the city”, how much of the Earth does this “trodding” cover? Well, I would say the ENTIRE remainder of the Earth lies outside of the city limits of Jerusalem. When Jesus returns He will instantaneously slaughter every man, woman and child that has taken the mark of the beast. That will be a LOT of people! But, that won’t be all. Let’s ask this question. Where is all of the blood that has been shed by dead men in the entire history of mankind? It’s in the Earth. Here are the first two mentions of blood and earth together in The Bible.

Genesis 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

Deuteronomy 12:16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

The Earth opens her mouth to swallow our blood. The blood of mankind is in the Earth somewhere. Where else would it be? Do you think it has just disappeared? Nope, it is still there. God will hold those shedding the blood accountable for it. Hence, God must have the evidence. It hasn’t just disappeared, as much as some folks might wish that it would!

Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Notice upon whom the shed blood comes. It comes upon the people that deserve it. It will come upon those of a certain (“this”) “generation”. A generation in the Bible is not necessarily a period of time but a birth sequence. The great-grandfather is of one “generation”, the grandfather of a different generation, the father of a third and the son of a fourth generation. Together these make what the Bible calls “generationS”. The only time The Bible calls people of multiple generations a single generation is when speaking of the future elect.

Psalm 14:5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.

Psalm 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

The wicked are not inclusively called a generation – only the elect. Hence, if “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth” shall “come upon this generation”, the very generation to whom Jesus is speaking in context, and it hasn’t happened yet, that means it WILL happen. And the only way it CAN happen is if it happens to THAT PARTICULAR GENERATION posthumously (since they are all already dead). And, if that particular generation is already dead then they are in Hell right now. So, if the blood of those that have died is to literally “come upon them” as the literal Bible literally says, then it will have to come upon them while they are in Hell. Lo and behold, this is exactly what is going to happen!

Blood, like wine, will be pressed into the cup of God’s wrath.

Revelation 14:10 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:

It will be both, blood and fire and brimstone!

Revelation 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

It will be poured out WITHOUT MIXTURE. It will be the pure blood of dead men.

Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

The mountains melt into the sea – the blood does that!

Isaiah 34:3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

Psalm 46:2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Ezekiel 32:6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. [thy blood]

Ezekiel 21:32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it

The water becomes blood! And there is fire in the hail, just like Exodus!

The Earth, which just had all of its water turned to blood will have it expelled.

Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. ...6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

This will be part of the eternal punishment of the wicked.

Ezekiel 38:22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

Joel 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

Not ON the Earth, my friend, IN the Earth!

Psalm 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. 

This CUP of God’s wrath, containing the blood of mankind, will rain down on the wicked in Hell.

Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Acts 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads;

Their OWN BLOOD will rain down on their own heads.

Blood is poured out at bottom of altar of earth. This is a picture of the blood being poured out into the bottom of the Earth. The altar represents the Earth.

Exodus 20:24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen:

Leviticus 4:18 …shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering,…

Leviticus 4:25 …shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.

Leviticus 4:30 …shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.

Leviticus 5:9 …the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 8:15 …and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar…

Leviticus 9:9 …and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:

It is poured out like water.

Ezekiel 26:19  For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee; 

Hosea 5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

How will it our out like water? Maybe like rain? Go figure. But if it rains LIKE water, how come there is no water in the pit? It becomes blood – again, just like in Exodus.

Psalm 69:2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

Isaiah 49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood,

Revelation 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Zephaniah 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

The Earth will then be WATERLESS since all of the water will be turned into blood. The Lord will give new living water to the waterless Earth. FIRST He turns the rivers and springs DRY! This water turned to blood and was expelled from the Earth into Hell. That’s why it is so dry!

Psalm 107:33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;

THEN (2 verses later) The Lord turns those dry places into watered places!

Psalm 107:35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

This new water is all living water!

Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Isaiah 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Zechariah 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

The water on this Earth will be gone, REPLACED by living water.

When Jesus returns He will restore the Earth to a pre-flood-like state. You will read much more about this in chapter 8 so I won’t repeat all the proof texts now. In order to do this, the nasty polluted blood that has infected and cursed the Earth will need to be cleansed. And it will be!

Also, the Earth that now “covers the slain” will no longer cover them at some point. This means they will be exposed to the surface of the Earth. It is at this spot, where they are exposed, that I believe the 200 mile-wide river of blood will empty into Hell.

So, if blood from literally 99% of every human that has ever existed on this planet (including those that died in the flood) begins to eject simultaneously from out of the mouth of the Earth, it is going to have to run off somewhere! This will form a river of blood 5 feet deep and 200 miles WIDE! Now, that’s a river of blood! Some serious blood is gonna flow out of the winepress! Where will it all go? It will run straight down into Hell – right where it belongs!

52. God’s day of vengeance is very focused on blood.

Isaiah 26:21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

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The blood of the dead is in the Earth. It will be “disclosed” and will form part of that 200 mile river also. The mountains will “melt”. This huge river of blood will waste entire mountains! Don’t go swimming in that!

Isaiah 34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. 2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. 7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

God is plenty mad about the blood.

53. Fittingly, lost mankind will be given blood to drink.

God will give fallen humanity exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, what they deserve.

Jeremiah 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Revelation 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

God’s judgment is ALWAYS completely just and righteous. You get EXACTLY what you deserve. To be “worthy” of something means you “deserve” it.

Deuteronomy 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

This guy did the wrong thing and deserved death and he got exactly what he deserved. Remember “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth”? Make fun all you want but that is God. Men will get blood to drink (not water) and that is EXACTLY what we deserve!

54. Saved mankind will be given living water to drink.

But, there is good news for the few. Once all the blood is finally purged and the spilling of human blood avenged, the “few” will live forever with living water inside them!

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Ezekiel 16:8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. 9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Revelation 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Revelation 22:17 is almost the last verse in entire Bible. This is the last notable thing written in the entire Bible except the stern warning in the next few verses to not add to or take away from the Word of God and the final ending.

Saved mankind will never die again.

Satan’s Lie!       Adam and Eve ate an apple.

Bible Truth!       Adam and Eve ate a grape.

So what?       Man’s knowledge of the grape, and its role in giving man blood, exposes Satan for his inept effort to mimic God and his ultimate guilt in the ruin and death of God’s Creation, the universe, planet Earth and all mankind. It explains why God doesn’t just step up and fix everything. It explains why innocent children have to die horrible deaths. It clarifies exactly why human beings are the children of their father, Satan. It opens human eyes to the reality of the blood that keeps their flesh alive and why it must be shed at all costs.

What should I do?       Understand that your blood is not from God. It is Satan’s polluted product and it is ungodly and deficient. It is the root of all human emotion, lust, desire, pleasure and especially sin. What we love now as humans, in this life with Satan’s blood, is a far cry from what God has for us in the next life, without blood. We will have and do things that right now, in this bloody state, are impossible for us to even imagine. Try to realize, that everything here on this planet, no matter how pleasurable and desired, is exactly what Paul counted it as; dung. What we call “life”, is in reality “death” because of this product called blood.

Lie Number 6 - Fight

There are things Christians say, they kind of parrot them, but don’t really give them a lot of thought sometimes. Here’s one – “The Bible says a lot of things I don’t like but that doesn’t mean I don’t have to do them.” Tell me – what does The Bible say that you don’t like? Well, these next two lies are going to be more difficult to hear than any of them.

You are not going to want to hear these. You are not going to want to believe these. You are not going to want to do these. You are not going to like these. You have been warned.

I’m sure you have your own favorite movies, unless you are a movie-hater, or holier than me, then you obviously don’t. Many of my favorite movies are in the action genre. I, like most humans, enjoy a good fight. My second-favorite movie of all time is The Matrix. You talk about awesome action fighting to go with a great movie. Some of the best fighting ever on the big screen is in that movie. I love Batman Begins and Marvel’s The Avengers. I grew up jumping off the steps with a cape (towel my mom clipped on) on my back to fight crime! You probably know those movies, of course, but do you know the movie, Equilibrium? That is an awesome fight movie too. In each of those movies the hero fights for what is good and right. We root for our heroes. Our heroes fight against evil and overcome by sheer strength, teamwork and force of will. Our heroes fight for the good of the human race to remove evil threats and preserve humanity.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has become a phenomenon in the world. It’s a little too aggressive and violent for everyone, but essentially men and women train to fight, with few rules, in hopes of becoming a world champion, or at least making a lot of money in the process. People pay good money to watch the best of them fight. Many red-blooded adult males have paid hard-earned money to watch pay-per-view telecasts of Ronda Rousey fights; and most of them lasted less than a minute!

Men have fought for glory for thousands of years. David beat the giant Goliath. The Prince fought and slew the fire-breathing dragon for the Princess. The gladiators fought in the Coliseum in Rome. Civilizations have risen and fallen because of war. The Catholics fight the Muslims and the Muslims fight the Jews. The Germans fought with the English and the French. The Germans didn’t really fight with the Jews, they just killed them. The Americans fought each other. They may fight each other again if things don’t change in America. The Sunnis fight the Shiites and North Korea fights South Korea.

1. Humans fight.

Men fight over everything. They fight over power, land, women, toys, games and especially money. Want to break up a good friendship? Involve money. They fight over whether each is right or wrong. They fight over religion. They fight over politics. They fight because someone is offended. They fight just to see who can win the fight! Humans fight, that’s just what we do.

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James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

We fight, according to The Bible, because it is ingrained in us.

2. Humans murder other humans.

Cain killed his own brother, Abel, for no reason other than jealousy and pride. Now, of course, we humans do that every day.

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There is not a day that goes by without murder in this world. Recent records indicate that well over one thousand people are murdered in this world each and every day! You might think, with our huge current world population, I read it has reached almost 8 billion, that a thousand murders a day isn’t all that bad. One murder a day is all that bad! The hard-to-swallow fact is that we are a race of murderers. We fight, we kill, we murder.

3. God flooded the Earth a few thousand years ago because it was filled with “violence”.

Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

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Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines “violence” as – “Physical force; strength of action or motion; unjust force; crimes of all kinds.” Fighting is considered physical violence.

4. Violence is still all over the human race.

Psalms 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

This is a stinging rebuke of humanity. We already learned about pride. Violence is all over the human race like white on rice, like cold on ice, like dots on dice. There is no separating humans and violence. It is who we are.

Proverbs 4:17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

Humans drink violence just like they drink wine. They love it and cherish it. It is comforting to them. It drunkens us, and makes us feel better. And wine, as we now know, is kin to blood. Our blood makes us violent.

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I had heard and read several versions of this through the years and had never been completely sure exactly what the true version was, so I checked. According to Wikipedia.org, “The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories is a 2004 book by Christopher Booker, a Jungian-influenced analysis of stories and their psychological meaning. Booker worked on the book for 34 years.” The author concluded, after 34 years of research, analysis and writing, that there are only seven basic book/play/movie/story plots and every book/play/movie/story ever told/made or to be told/made fits into one of the seven categories. These plots are simply recycled again and again in novels, movies, plays and operas. The categories that the book defines, again, according to Wikipedia.org (I didn’t read the book), are as follows: 1.Overcoming the Monster, 2.Rags to Riches, 3.The Quest, 4.Voyage and Return, 5.Rebirth, 6.Comedy and 7.Tragedy.

After 34 years he was able to narrow it down to as few as seven plots – but no fewer. Thinking a little bit like a writer myself (duh), and because I have studied the most important literary work on this planet, I can do him a bit better. People sometimes ask me how long it took me to write this book you are reading. I don’t hesitate for an instant and reply, “a lifetime”. It makes perfect sense to me that Mr. Booker must have started with many more than seven plots and over the years slowly whittled it down to seven. I however, believe I can narrow it down to just two (2) plots. Here is what they are: 1. Fight and Win. 2. Fight and Lose. The only variation in plot is what the fight is for or over. It can be a fight for survival, existence, life, species, love, country, planet, religion, right, wrong, good, evil, belief, honor, family, fame, property, fortune, contest, game, conquest, pride, money, revenge or really anything else that you can think of. But, there is ALWAYS a fight. There is ALWAYS a struggle. The greater the struggle, the more passionate we humans are about the plot. The plot either ends in a win or a loss. The endings can be mixed, of course (tragedy probably by definition ends in loss), with some winning and some losing. But, as I said, there is always, always, always a fight. It is simply what we do and who we are. Even movies about religion, love, giving and kindness are about fighting. To the victor go the spoils. That is the mantra of the human race.

5. God hates anyone that loves violence.

Psalms 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

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Humans love violence. We love the fights, the crashes, the wrecks, the disasters, the crimes, the arguing. Just look at the news and you’ll know I’m right. News is all about one thing, the same thing everything else on this planet is about. Know what that is? Money. If people don’t watch the news the broadcasters don’t make money, the employees don’t get paid and the advertisers find another show on which to spend their advertising money. So the news has become as sensational as possible in order to increase viewership. If there is a great fight you can be sure it will make the news!

So, how do we reconcile #4 and #5 above? We conclude, as we did earlier in the book, that God does NOT love the unregenerate human race. In fact, God hates them and their violence.

6. Jesus did no violence.

Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

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Jesus was/is the perfect man. Any violence by Jesus would have been sin. But, what does this verse actually say? It says that Jesus died, just like the wicked and just like the wealthy. You see, the wicked and the wealthy do everything in their power to SURVIVE in this life. Just like every other human, they fight to extend their life for as long as possible. Jesus could have done the same thing. If he had decided to lie (as if He needed to!) or to strive (fight) by violence to save his own flesh, as any other red-blooded human in his position would have done, he could have extended His own life considerably. He didn’t, because He refused to sin to extend His own life in the flesh. He refused to strive (fight) to defend His reputation even though every other human on this planet would have done so had they been innocent.

Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

You say, wait, I know pacifists that won’t do any violence! Even so, they still have deceit in their mouth. They still are “proud” of their supposed non-violence. And, in all honesty, their abhorrence of violence is simply a show that they think will hopefully allow them to be acceptable to God or to whomever or whatever they believe is the “higher power”. It is a smokescreen to fool others into thinking they are different, above or better than other humans. That is a scriptural impossibility.

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

7. Jesus did not strive.

Matthew 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: … 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

Jesus never strove. He didn’t argue or contend or contest. He didn’t even strive (fight) for what is right! He simply told the truth and moved on.

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Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines “strive” as - “To contend; to contest; to struggle in opposition to another; to be in contention or dispute;”

To strive is to fight, either physically or non-physically. This includes arguing or fighting verbally and legally over worldly things – like money. I know very few people that would not fight for the right amount of money. Jesus NEVER strove. Jesus never strove even to save His own flesh. He didn’t strive to overthrow the oppressive Roman Government of His day. He wasn’t in the streets protesting and trumpeting and screaming about injustice. He wasn’t fighting the government in any way. He could have easily done that. But there was no striving at all.

8. We should follow in Jesus’ steps.

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Violence is sin. Fighting is sin. Arguing is sin. Striving is sin. Whether you are right or wrong in the situation!!! He is our example and He did not fight, strive or do any violence. As Christians, we have no business in the streets protesting or in the pulpits talking about taxes or politics. Jesus didn’t.

9. We are to walk as Jesus walked.

Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

I hear so often “what would Jesus do?” You find that on most everything Christian. It is well meaning, but The Bible disagrees with it. How could you possibly KNOW what Jesus would DO? The Pharisees and the Sadducees tried to trip him up many times. Could you have possibly known what Jesus would do and have answered those questions the way Jesus did? Of course not, none of us could have. So, if you wouldn’t have known what He would have done then, how would you possibly know what He would do now, when presented with an equally difficult situation? So, really, we have absolutely no idea what Jesus would do. It is all conjecture and guessing. But, we do know what Jesus DID! And that should be our focus.

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And we should DO, not what we THINK Jesus would do, but rather, what Jesus DID. DID Jesus involve himself in politics or state government or church government in any way? You can say, well I think he would involve Himself today. Look around at what’s happening. Somebody has to do something! Well, the people of His day felt the exact same way. They begged Him to get involved.

Luke 20:22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?

Matthew 27:11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. … 14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

But He did not get involved in politics at all! Not even to comment on it! A Christian has no place there either.

1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

The Bible says we should live our lives as He DID (or didn’t), not as we THINK He would.

10. Rather than fight or strive we should allow ourselves to be defrauded.

1 Corinthians 6:7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

You may not like that but it is the truth. It isn’t hard to understand, is it? No, it is hard to do! And almost every person I know would rather “fight for what’s right” than allow themselves to be defrauded! That is not what Jesus did!

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Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

11. But, wasn’t Jesus on a uniquely special mission? Yes, and we have the same mission.

Of course He was on a special mission. His mission can be defined succinctly as this – to save as many of the human race as possible from certain eternal death and punishment, in order to have eternal fellowship with them. There was absolutely no other reason for Him to become flesh.

John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, …, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus was born to do God’s will. Weren’t you?

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1 Peter 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Hebrews 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

God’s will was for Jesus to save as many people as possible. Isn’t that God’s will for you?

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Have you done that with your life, dear reader? Have you gone into all the world? Have you preached the gospel to every creature? Why not? You can read can’t you?

John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

The Father sent Jesus to die so many might be saved. As Jesus’ Father sent Him, well, dear reader, Jesus, your Saviour, is sending you. How are you doing on that assigned task? Maybe you had no idea it was assigned?

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen;

Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Jesus was to fulfill God’s will by willingly dying for the cause. Isn’t it God’s will for you to willingly die for the cause?

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The PERFECT will of God in your life is NOT for you to buy a certain new house or buy a certain new car or get a certain new job or pursue a certain new member of the opposite sex. God’s PERFECT (you do want His perfect will, don’t you?) will is for you to present your body a LIVING SACRIFICE. Not to put a bullet in your head or hang a noose around your neck, but to DIE to yourself and become His servant, just as Jesus Christ did! How is that going for you? Not very well for the most part, huh?

1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

2 Corinthians 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

Is “death” working in you – or are you working on your “life”? If you work on your life then your life gets better. If you die, you work in others’ lives and they get eternal “life” as you get “death”.

Romans 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

God’s will for us is to willingly lay down our lives, literally if necessary, for our friends (those include the unsaved).

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Peter didn’t understand that initially. He thought he did, but he didn’t.

John 13:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Jesus’ mission was to live a human life without sin and in the prime of His life willingly die at the hands of men without trying to save His own flesh, in order to save as many OTHER people as possible. He was the PERFECT HUMAN. He is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of how to live on this planet! We are to be like Him.

I realize that Jesus is God in human flesh and that He is the lamb slain for the salvation of the world; and you and I are not. I realize we can never be perfect, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be our goal to live as much as possible like the PERFECT MAN. We should stay as far away from disobedience to Our Lord as we possibly can. That is what God wants from each of us. He was well pleased with Jesus. Will God be well pleased with you? He won’t if you are striving and fighting and arguing. Even if you are “fighting for what (you think) is right”. God hates violence and fighting. Dear reader, it is not what WOULD Jesus do, but what DID Jesus do!

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

12. The Apostle Paul fought, but only spiritually, by faith.

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

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1 Corinthians 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

There is no record of Paul ever fighting in the flesh or, as it says, “beating the air”. However, even if there was, Paul was NOT perfect as was the Lord Jesus. The “air” is particularly interesting. More about this in chapter 9.

13. The fighting is almost all in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we are taught not to fight in the flesh.

The words “fight”, “fought” or their derivatives appear in The Bible 176 times. However, only 15 of those are in the New Testament. A couple of those are listed in #12 above. Hence, 92% of the fighting happens in the Old Testament. Not one of the New Testament verses directs humans to fight or argue in the flesh. There is a very important reason this is true.

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2 Timothy 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

14. The wars are almost all in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we are taught not to war in the flesh.

The words “war” or “wars” appear in The Bible 240 times. However, only 19 of those are in the New Testament. Hence, 93% of the war appears in the Old Testament. Eight of those in the New Testament are in Revelation where final war is made “in righteousness” by Jesus. Not one of the New Testament verses left (4%) directs humans to war in the flesh. There is a very important reason this is true.

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Here are just a few examples.

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Revelation 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

15. Why? Because Jesus is the promised SEED that would bruise Satan’s head.

Jesus, in His flesh, was not in the Old Testament at all. Jesus, in His flesh, IS the New Testament!

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Satan was warned.

16. God promised that the promised SEED would pass through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David.

Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

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Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

1 Chronicles 17:11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. (spoken to David)

17. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. His children carried the promised SEED.

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel:…

Satan now knew that the very seed that God said would bruise his head, was now promised to come through the nation of Israel, most specifically the seed of David. All Satan had to do was wipe them out and God’s promised seed would be impossible.

18. Satan tried to wipe out Israel (the Jews), and thereby wipe out God’s promised SEED.

Satan tried by using Egypt.

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Exodus 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. 10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. 11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

The Egyptian army had come to slaughter the Jews. God fought for them. The entire army of Egypt that pursued them drowned.

Exodus 14:27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. … 30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

The Lord had protected His, yet unborn, seed.

Satan tried as Israel was journeying to and while Israel inhabited the Promised Land.

Joshua 11:18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

There is war, much directed by God Himself, all over the Old Testament. David and all the Kings of Israel had almost constant war.

After Israel was removed from their land for disobedience to God, Satan tried in Persia.

Esther 3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

But God used Esther to save the seed again.

Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;) 2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people. …. 5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

19. So, to secure His promise to the world, God had to protect the SEED of the Jews (Israel).

Genesis 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Forever is quite a long promise. If each and every one of the promises of the seed are not kept to the letter then God is a liar.

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Ezekiel 20:5 … Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;

Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, …

Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

2 Chronicles 20:7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

Psalms 18:50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

20. The promised (and protected) SEED of the Jews (Jesus) was finally born, at the perfect time, lived and was ready to die.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

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Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

21. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane waiting to be taken away to his torture and death.

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

22. Jesus told His apostles to get swords.

Luke 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. 37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Since Jesus had just told them to get swords, Peter assumed it was to fight. You probably would assume the same thing. But, you would be wrong, as Peter was about to discover.

But, does Jesus tell them to fight, or does He tell them to get swords now? Instead of assuming, as Peter was very good at doing, why not just take Jesus at what He said, instead of what you assume He said? Most times that a human assumes what God is thinking it turns out they are wrong. Jesus wasn’t telling them to “get swords” in order to fight, but He did have a specific purpose.

23. Peter cut off the ear of one of those in the band coming to take Jesus.

John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.

The servant's name was Malchus.

24. Jesus restored the ear of Malchus and rebuked Peter.

Luke 22:51 And Jesus… touched his ear, and healed him.

John 18:11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: …

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Matthew 26:51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Jesus had MORE THAN 12 LEGIONS OF ANGELS at His command. All Jesus had to do was ask: a single word, a mere thought, a fleeting glance, a blink of His eye, a nod of His head and the most powerful army in existence would have been there in less than an instant. But, He didn’t. He said, “Put up again thy sword into his place.” It is not time to fight. It is time to die.

What did Jesus mean when He said, “ALL they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”? I think we can agree that NOT everyone that has ever taken up a sword has died by a sword, right? There are plenty of veterans of plenty of wars that have survived those wars and died by natural causes. But, Jesus certainly couldn’t lie. So, what did He mean?

First of all notice that He didn’t say all that have “taken” the sword. David took the sword of

Goliath, yet David did not die by the sword.

1 Samuel 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

1 Kings 2:10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 

The TIME of which Jesus spoke was not of the past, present and future but of the prophetic future. This is the companion verse to our text.

Revelation 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Notice that this is “the patience and the faith of the saints”. This is where we put our faith and we must be patient that it is truth. The “patience and faith of the saints” is only mentioned one other time in all of Scripture.

Revelation 14:10 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: 11 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. 12 Here is the patience of the saints…

The rider on the red horse had “power to take peace from the earth”.

Revelation 6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

How does he do this? Well, there “was given unto him a great sword”. And, how did HE use this sword? Well, technically HE didn’t! You see, he has the sword but with it “THEY”, do you see that, “they”, “should kill one another”. In other words, the rider on the red horse has the sword, but the people of the earth actually kill one another with it (symbolically). And so,

Revelation 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

One doesn’t have to “kill with the sword” physically to be credited with, and punished for, killing with the sword! How will they be punished? Jesus will kill them ALL with His sword!

Revelation 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

This is absolutely true during this time of the end, which is the same time about which Jesus speaks. However, there is also more scriptural evidence that The Lord assigns the sword to killers, symbolically, by association. David did not physically take a sword and kill Uriah the husband of Bathsheeba. But, since he had a part in having him killed, God assigns the responsibility to him.

2 Samuel 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

The Lord assigns the killing of His prophets to the children of Israel; He assigns it to them as a nation!

1 Kings 19:10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

I’m sure that only a very select few actually slew the prophets with the sword. I’m also quite sure that only a very select few actually ordered and/or presided over the slaying of the prophets with the sword. However, God blames ALL of the children of Israel, except those who specifically did not participate in it or support it in any way.

1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 

But, except for these seven thousand, God charges ALL of the others. He also has a significant beef with all of the nations of the world.

Jeremiah 25:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

It seems they, all the nations (gentiles, non-Jews) of the world have a tiny problem with God’s people, Israel, that they have solved with “the force of the sword”.

Ezekiel 35:5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: 

Who will be “killed with the sword” in prophecy? The nations!

Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:

The PEOPLE of the nations have “taken the sword” according to the scriptural definition and they will perish with the sword. This is a very interesting phrase “perish with the sword”. Who are them that will “perish”? Those that are not saved, of course.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The phrase, if you will note carefully, is perish “with” the sword. So, they will perish “with the sword”, WHEN the sword perishes. When will the sword perish? First, God will cause the world to go to war against itself, His people and His returning Son. God will cause them to prepare for this war by beating their plows into swords. The nations of the world will be so ready for war they will divert money from food production to war products. I’d say that is already reality.

Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. 

It will be a very short and very one-sided war.

Isaiah 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

So much of humanity will be slaughtered that a man will be as RARE as a wedge of fine gold! God will rebuke the nations, but then the exact opposite will occur. Now, humans will “beat their swords into plowshares”!

Micah 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

After this time, the nations will NEVER learn war again – the sword will perish, and “with the sword”, the wicked will perish also!

Hosea 2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

25. Jesus knew they had only two swords and that was not “enough” for the apostles to fight off a “great multitude”.

Jesus certainly could have fought. He could have called 12 legions of angels. Why did He rebuke Peter after Jesus had just told them to get swords?

Matthew 26:47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

How are two swords “enough” to fight (humanly speaking) a “great multitude with swords and staves”? They aren’t. So why did Jesus say it was “enough” if He has no intention of them being used to save Him?

26. But, He said, it is enough – not enough swords, but enough fighting!

Luke 22:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Notice Jesus didn’t say “they are enough” but rather “IT is enough”. Jesus always said exactly what He intended to say and exactly what He meant.

27. The apostles asked Jesus if they should use their swords before they did it.

Apparently Peter (as was his style) didn’t wait for an answer.

Luke 22:49 When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? 50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

28. Jesus answered after the sword was used.

Luke 22:51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

29. Jesus stopped the carnal fighting in The Bible.

Jesus said two things about fighting or contending or warring for the cause.

First, He said “It is enough”. In other words, ‘that is enough fighting’. The time for fighting is done. The seed has been protected and is ready to die. There is no longer a need to protect the promised seed.

Second, He said “suffer ye thus far”. In other words fighting was allowed until right now (thus far/this far) but no longer. The reason why there was so much fighting in the Old Testament was because God had to protect the lineage of the Promised Seed or Jesus would never have been born to become the Saviour of Israel and all mankind.

30. The SEED had now fulfilled its purpose! Protection is no longer needed. There is now absolutely no more reason to fight.

The promise has been completely fulfilled and will no longer need to be protected. Satan cannot stop this now because it is completely finished. The promised SEED had fulfilled the mission.

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But, now that He has completed His mission, Jesus says,

John 19:30, “… It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

There was a time for God’s people to fight. God promised a SEED. God promised that seed through Abraham and David. That seed was Jesus. That SEED was the most critical part of God’s plan to save mankind. If Satan could have wiped out the seed, God’s promise would have been unfulfilled and God would have been a liar and a sinner. God can’t lie and can’t sin.

So, God protected the SEED by protecting the nation of Israel. If Israel had perished there would have been no salvation for mankind. God had to protect the prophesied SEED (Jesus) before He was born so that He would be born and save mankind.

Now, the fight was finished. The promise had been fulfilled. There is now no longer a need to fight. We are now to be like Christ.

Jesus said something else that seals the deal shut.

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

The word “suffereth” means “allows”. Jesus is saying that until now, the time of Jesus, the kingdom of heaven was ALLOWED violence to protect and ensure the kingdom itself. And God absolutely did promote violence to protect the seed so the kingdom could be taken. But Jesus finally said, “’suffer’ (the same root word as “suffereth”) ye thus far”! The violence is no longer needed or allowed.

Some may reason that Israel still needs to fight. If they don’t, they will simply be annihilated by the Muslims! Correct, but Christians are not Israel. If Israel believed as Christians believe, they would have absolutely no need to fight!

31. Jesus did not fight. He never fought. He never touched man, woman or child on this planet in a threatening or non-loving way.

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

32. We should never strive or fight or argue.

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

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Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. 2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

33. Our war is not in the flesh.

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

That won’t need an explanation. It says don’t war after the flesh. That’s not hard to understand is it? It might be hard to believe but it isn’t hard to understand. Christians, real Christians, have never been the cause or the leaders of any war in the history of mankind. Real Christians have never fought for civil issues or politics or money and taxation in this satanic world.

34. Christian weapons are not carnal (of the world).

2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

This is how we are supposed to fight; in the spirit! YES, we are to fight – but spiritually. We are ONLY to fight and strive in the spirit.

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Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

35. The duty of the New Testament Christian is to take up the cross and die, willingly, as did Jesus.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Jesus didn’t fight to stay off of the cross. He allowed himself to be taken there without a fight.

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Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Luke 6:29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.

36. What about other examples of fighting?

Some Christians love to claim that we are to “earnestly contend for the faith”! They say this with their chests pushed out and their noses held high. Most that quote the phrase actually have no idea where it is found in The Bible. We are supposed to “fight for what is right”, they say, and add that “nobody wants to fight anymore”. They don’t give much Scripture to back up their rhetoric (typical), but just say it loud enough, long enough and often enough and the people believe it. Why wouldn’t they? The people are born to fight. It’s in their blood. Satan smiles.

Christian WARRIORS are NOT to waste their time fighting for the things of this life!

2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, you can’t just rip passages out of context that disagree with a Bible full of doctrine and call it “rightly dividing the word of truth”. If you WANT to keep fighting, then by all means keep fighting. You are free in Christ to do whatever you want. But, don’t run around saying Jude (or God) told you to do it, because he didn’t.

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If you really want the truth from the Scriptures, you need to see this in the Book. If not, jump to the next numbered subject and continue your fighting.

Still here? Okay, from the beginning then…

Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

This provides us with Jude’s purpose in writing his letter. The purpose is “to write unto you of the common salvation”. Dear reader, this letter is about SALVATION. There is a COMMON salvation to us all. We are saved by only one salvation. There aren’t two. There aren’t three. This is the salvation that was “once delivered unto the saints”. There is salvation by grace alone through faith alone that Jesus provided with His sacrifice for us. There is no other way to Heaven. This common salvation (common to all saved people) is described in The Bible. Any doctrine that goes against this COMMON SALVATION once delivered to the saints is blasphemy. This is the purpose of his letter. It is important to keep this in mind as you read down through this section.

Jude then goes through a diatribe about these people who teach against our delivered faith by denying the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

To deny the Lord Jesus Christ is blasphemy (to differ on a dress code or a standard or a pet doctrine is NOT blasphemy – nor is it heresy). Blasphemy is scripturally defined (Matthew 12::31, Matthew 26:65, Mark 3:29, Luke 22:65, John 10:33-36, Acts 18:6, Acts 26:11, James 2:7, Revelation 16:9-11) as something that will cause the believer in it to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Works salvation is blasphemy. Salvation in Allah is blasphemy. Wearing blue jeans to church is NOT blasphemy no matter how much you may hate it – it will not cause the wearer of blue jeans to go to Hell.

Jude spends most of his very short (25 verses) letter identifying these people. Here are some shortened excerpts of the entire book of Jude to prove our point.

Jude 1:5 … the Lord, … destroyed them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, … he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness … 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, … are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 … these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, … 9 Yet Michael the archangel, … durst not bring against him a railing accusation, … 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: …, as brute beasts, … they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have … ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, … clouds they are without water, …; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; …, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. 14 … Behold, the Lord cometh … 15 To execute judgment upon … all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, … 18… mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

I hope you enjoyed that; I know I did. It was the content of most of Jude’s letter – all except the final six verses. However, it wasn’t about you, me, us, or the elect at all. As I said it is all a rant describing those “ungodly men” who commit blasphemy by “denying the Lord Jesus Christ” and the “common salvation” in Him. He ferociously lays them out! So, as yet, even though Jude has mentioned that we are to “earnestly contend for the faith”, he hasn’t mentioned it at all since, except to say this:

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 

It seems that Michael was supposed to “earnestly contend” with the devil in this situation, which is why Jude brings it up. So, HOW does the mighty archangel “earnestly contend” against this powerful, ungodly, blasphemous being? Does he thrust him through with his sword? Does he use karate and jiu-jitsu skills to pummel him and put him in a submission hold? Does he call him names and spit in his face? Does he threaten to kick his family out of Heaven? On the contrary, he isn’t even supposed to bring a railing accusation. He simply says, “The Lord rebuke thee”, and moves on. Receiving this as our ONLY example of “earnestly contending” so far, we then come to this final part of the letter. Remember that, as of yet, other than a broad statement that we are to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints”, the church has been given no direction in that area at all in this passage. Well, that changes right at this point. Now Jude tells us believers EXACTLY how we are supposed to earnestly contend with these ungodly blasphemers. Are we to conquer their homes and cities? Are we to arrest them? Are we to beat them to a pulp? Are we to shout them down and write pamphlets exposing their blasphemy? Are we to argue them to shame? Well, let’s see.

Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, … (notice that Jude finally transitions from them (the ungodly he has been railing on for most of this letter) to us (the saved to whom he has written this letter))

…building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 

So, how exactly are we to “earnestly contend for the faith”? We are to earnestly contend for the faith by:

1) BUILDING UP OUR FAITH

2) PRAYING in the Holy Ghost

3) KEEPING OURSELVES in the love of God

4) LOOKING for MERCY unto ETERNAL LIFE

5) HAVING COMPASSION on some

6) SAVING some OTHERS

Maybe I am missing something, you tell me, but I don’t see any carnal fighting in there, do you? I don’t think you do either, my friend, because it just isn’t there. If you honestly want to earnestly contend for the faith, as The Bible tells you to, then you have six things you can do; but fighting and arguing and defending simply aren’t on the list. I assure you that just as the Archangel Michael knew, The Lord can defend Himself and doesn’t need your help. The Lord has a job for us. It is the same job He had for His only begotten Son. Die IN THIS LIFE – so that others might live FOREVER.

The entire purpose of “earnestly contending” for anything, is what exactly? The entire purpose of earnestly contending is to WIN. You don’t earnestly contend in order to lose. So, if we are to earnestly contend for the faith, what are we to WIN? We are to win converts. We are to win souls. If you are earnestly contending for the faith and you are not winning converts, then what in the world are you winning? Maybe vanity?

So, the question becomes, why then did the disciples dispute and argue and reason?

The answer is, really, right here in Jude where we have been.

Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 

Remember that Jude is telling us how to deal with ungodly blasphemers. Our job as Christians is to win as many people to Christ as we possibly can. This is the SOLE purpose of our disputing with men. This is the purpose of earnestly contending. We don’t dispute to defend God or Bible Doctrine or Bible Principles or Bible Beliefs or Bible anything, EXCEPT as it pertains to winning someone to Christ. There is no other purpose. But, once someone becomes stuck in their ungodly blasphemy, they take on a different character. They don’t want to be saved. They aren’t asking legitimate questions. The Bible has this to say:

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

We are to avoid contention and striving about the law. We are to avoid foolish questions. Why are we to avoid them? Because they are both “UNPROFITABLE” and “VAIN”.

I know firsthand how unprofitable they are. I honestly can’t think of a single time I (or someone I have been out with) have ever argued with someone and then eventually seen them come around at the end of the argument and get saved. So, then where is the profit? I had a good friend many years ago with whom I used to go out street preaching and soul winning. This friend was very good with his Bible. He was a veritable King James apologist. And he loved to dispute The Bible with anyone giving him an opening. I listened to many conversations between him and the unsaved, the heretical, blasphemers, agnostics, atheists and cultists. I do not recall any of them getting saved. I don’t say that to hurt him, it’s just the truth. Where is the profit in that? Some may assume, possibly correctly, that this influence may have caused a few of them to become saved at a later time. In my humble opinion this must fall into Jude’s first category of people. Jude 1:22 says, “on some have compassion”. We need to be compassionate to the lost.

What is compassion? “Compassion..” is in The Bible 43 times. It is defined as having pity on others by doing something to help them when they have need. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary supports this definition by saying, “A suffering with another; painful sympathy; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity”. The Bible support is as follows:

Matthew 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Mark 8:2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:

Mark 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

On whom are we to have compassion as Christians? Well, let’s ask this question. On whom was the Lord Jesus to have compassion?

Hebrews 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

Some are ignorant. Almost everyone I speak with when I am out is ignorant of Bible Truth. Some are out of the way. Almost everyone on this planet is out of the way. We are to have compassion on them. How do we do that? We are to be neighborly and offer them help, just as did the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37).

Luke 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

We are to have compassion on our neighbors, those we pass as we journey, by offering them help. While they may not need help in this world right now, they almost certainly need help getting to the right place in the next world. This is the help we offer. We have compassion on them. They may not get saved but we have made a difference. How can we make a difference? Let’s not do like the hypocrites do and come up with a private interpretation to fit our modern definition of a word. Let’s let The Bible define its own words. “Difference” is only in the Book 13 times.

Here is the first mention…

Exodus 11:7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

That’s exactly what this difference is; a difference between those people God accepts and those people God rejects. Our job is to have enough compassion for them to teach them that! When my friend would jump around his Bible for an hour it never seemed to get to that. And if it did they always seemed to be frustrated and tired and just walk away. This is the second mention…

Leviticus 10:10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

How does God expect us to “make a difference”?

Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

We can TEACH them what they need to understand about Bible salvation. All the doctrine in the world is not going to convince them. And even when they learn the truth, the difference between the holy and the profane (there is no in-between), they still may not submit to it and get saved.

Most Christians are scared to death of Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. They don’t know how to speak with them or what to do with them. They believe correctly that they are cultists, but only because that’s what they have been told, not because they understand why. Hence, to talk with a cultist is unnerving. They have their own doctrines, bibles and beliefs, making it difficult to know how to reach them. The reason most Christians don’t want to speak with JWs and Mormons is because they are unprepared to MAKE A DIFFERENCE! How do you make a difference between what The Bible preaches and what they believe? This is the key to having COMPASSION on them. If you have nothing to offer, how are you possibly going to make a difference?

I have a friend that is a devout, practicing Jehovah’s Witness. He is lost and will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire but he is my friend. If he needs something and I can provide it, I do, without hesitation. I met him while we worked at the same job. I saw him bow his head and pray over his lunch one day and I asked him why. He told me that he was a Jehovah’s Witness. Not only was he a Jehovah’s Witness but he was a second generation Witness and had since raised his own family in the strictness of the religion. I asked him if we could sit and talk one day after work. He agreed. I told him I would give him an hour to teach me why I should be a JW instead of a Christian. After that if he would give me just 15 minutes (I only needed 5 but thought he might have questions) to tell him why he should be a Christian instead of a JW. I gave him time to prepare and when the day came, I listened for an hour and asked intelligent questions. Finally I asked him what would happen to a person like me, who was not a JW, when I die? He said because I was a good moral person with a good reputation and was living godly according to The Bible that I would be okay even though I was not a JW. When he was done (he went over an hour but that was fine) he had shown me no difference whatsoever. What problem was it for me to not be a JW? What real difference would it have made for me to become a JW? Really, none, although I wouldn’t get some privileges, maybe, in the next life because I wasn’t in the Kingdom Hall.

Then it was my turn. I took my 5 minutes. When I was done and asked him if he wanted to get saved he said, “I know this will disappoint you but I can’t do as you want me to. However, I have learned something from you and I won’t forget it. Thank you.” He didn’t get saved. It was too bad. He’s a nice guy, a good friend and a very generous and decent human being. He finally looked at me and said, “We don’t worship the same god”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Dear reader, THAT is making a difference. I had compassion on him and made a difference, even though he didn’t get saved.

Why don’t they get saved? There is NO FEAR! My JW friend has been taught that there is no Hell or place of fiery punishment – there is only an unconscious end of life for the wicked. I showed him something to fear but his background caused him to reject the truth. I never have to witness to him again. I don’t have to throttle, belittle or dispute his beliefs. He has been shown the difference so that he understood. Anything after that is UNPROFITABLE and VAIN, unless he asks. If he asks then I should have an answer for The Bible says:

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

BUT

Titus 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Once they become blasphemous and argumentative and unlearned and foolish we are TO AVOID THEM AND TURN AWAY! This is consistent with the New Testament.

2 Timothy 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

What is a foolish question? A foolish question is one which is asked, not to get an actual answer, but one that is meant to blaspheme the Lord (Psalm 74:18, Job 2:9-10), to belittle you (Psalm 74:22) to destroy someone or something (Proverbs 10:14, Proverbs 14:1) or that is asked without humility (Proverbs 14:3). In other words, this question is not really meant to obtain an answer, but rather to try to confuse you, mock your Lord and belittle what you believe. Kindly and courteously say goodbye, and walk away (Proverbs 14:7). They can ask God when they meet Him.

What is an unlearned       question? An unlearned question is asked in ignorance (Acts 4:13), without even the simplest knowledge of God and His Word (1Corinthians 14:16) or about the subject in question (2Peter 3:16). This particular kind of unlearned question is one which, as with the foolish question, is not meant to be answered. This person thinks they know something, but really don’t (Romans 1:22). If they are truly unlearned and really seeking the truth, then the question should be answered. Otherwise, recognize this question for what it is; a request to get lost, and say goodbye as you walk away.

It is not wrong to answer and discuss and MAKE A DIFFERENCE. But, if you are no longer making a difference (scripturally, for their salvation) then it is time to move on. If you truly CAN make a difference then the Lord will put another in your path. And some will get saved. If NONE are getting saved, you are making no difference. Paul plucked fruit wherever he went. Do you?

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

1 Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Romans 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

A few more quick examples. You will notice that in each case the subject is SALVATION IN CHRIST and the DIFFERENCE between the holy and the profane and the clean and the unclean. Can you make that difference, dear reader? Paul could. When he no longer could, he moved on!

Acts 9:29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. 30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

Acts 15:2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. … 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, [a difference] that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. 4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

Acts 17:22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. … Acts 17:32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33 So Paul departed from among them.

Acts 19:8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. 9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

37. Christians are to contend spiritually to convert sinners.

So, then, how exactly are Christian supposed to handle these kind of confrontational situations?

Paul was interested in one thing when he had all of these confrontations: the truth of Salvation In Christ. When Paul went into the synagogue or onto Mars Hill he had only one purpose; to win converts to the faith once delivered to the saints. Once they mocked and prevented and decided they didn’t want to discuss Scriptural Truth then Paul moved on every time.

What do we do? The same thing. Go everywhere and preach the gospel of salvation to every creature. If they argue and mock and prevent and ask foolish or unlearned questions then it’s time to go. There are plenty of others who would LOVE to hear the truth of the gospel and instead we are wasting time arguing with hardened fools, which is unprofitable and vain.

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1 Timothy 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

If they ask LEGITIMATE questions or show a real interest in learning then we should have an answer for every man that asks us OF THE SALVATION WE HAVE IN US!

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

There is a huuuuge difference between answering questions for someone that is interested and someone who is only a mocker or a fool. How do you know the difference? You’ll know.

Proverbs 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

Proverbs 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

When they are truly looking for the truth and need an answer, give them one. When the fools are mocking and preventing, just walk away. Have the wisdom to know the difference. Sometimes the realization happens very suddenly. When you realize you are wasting time with a mocker or a heretick, reject them and walk away. Very politely thank them for their time and walk away.

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself. 

Once you realize you are dealing with a subverted sinner condemning himself, please, don’t fight and argue and waste the time God would have you spend with someone else. Politely and graciously bow out and move on. Go win someone else to Christ. I promise you there is someone else that does want to hear. Go find them and lead them to Christ.

But arguing and fighting about anything else, is a waste of your time. It is unprofitable (you will NOT be rewarded by God for it and nobody will get saved – this is what UNPROFITABLE means!) and vain (pride and vanity, to win an argument). This is never godly. Politics, civil issues and money – leave them for the world to argue over and go win the thirsty to Christ. That’s what Jesus did.

The fighting on this planet by unregenerate men has never stopped and it never will; until Jesus returns. But God’s people are done fighting in the flesh. It is finished. Our fight is not with carnal weapons for the things of the flesh. Our fight is with spiritual weapons for the souls of men.

Satan’s Lie!       God wants you to stand up and fight for what is right.

Bible Truth!       God doesn’t want you to stand up and fight in this life at all, except with the spiritual weapons He has provided.

So what?       If you fight in the flesh, for anything in this world, you are fighting against God.

What should I do?       Quit fighting. Quit arguing. Quit suing. Quit manipulating. Quit the hatred. Quit the jealousy. Quit the violence. Quit striving. Quit trying to prove you are right. Quit fighting to be first. Quit fighting and striving for what you want. Quit looking for revenge. Quit living for this world. Especially quit fighting against your own brothers and sisters in Christ; allow yourself to be defrauded, even if you are “right”. Because the last thing you want to be is “dead-right”.

Lie Number 7 - Win

One of my very good friends drag races motorcycles. For the purpose of making drag racing available to as many racers as possible and still making it competitive, drag racing has instituted the concept of the “dial-in”. Each racer “dials-in” a time for the quarter-mile and while racing, each entrant cannot record a time faster than they dialed-in. For instance, if you dial-in a time of 11.45 seconds and you finish the quarter-mile in 11.44 seconds, you lose, regardless of whether you cross the finish line first or not. This is called “breaking out”. Breaking out is bad.

I had travelled 700 miles to hang out with and watch my friend race for the weekend. He had an awesome racing weekend; his bike was running consistently, and he, the best motorcycle rider I have ever ridden with, was on top of his game. He had propelled himself all the way into the finals. He dialed a 10.90 for his final run. His final competitor had dialed a 9.92. Thus, my friend, according to the time they each dialed, received a green light approximately 1 second before his competitor; in actuality it was exactly a .98 second head start (10.90-9.92). That’s how it works in order to make the motorcycles as completely even as possible. My friend catches a good light, runs a clean race and thunders down the track running a 10.78 second quarter-mile. Wonderful time for him. He crossed the finish line first. But, he lost the race. He was very disappointed but, as I said, that’s how it works. He realized that if he had simply released the throttle for a moment to slow down slightly he would have crossed the finish line behind the other bike and actually won the race. But he was so focused on beating the other bike across the finish line that it actually caused him to lose. Receiving 2nd place out of about 40 competitors was quite an accomplishment but he knew he could have had 1st. Who receives a silver medal and doesn’t contemplate how close he was to receiving gold? As we spoke about the race I used the opportunity to teach a lesson that he (and you) will hopefully never forget. Sometimes, you have to lose to win.

I am not anyone’s hero. I am a man. I am less than the dust of the Earth and less than a worm in God’s sight. A worm has never risen up against God and the dust has never spit in His face. I am a vile hopeless sinner. If Paul was the chief sinner, I’m in line right behind him. I am nothing. I am worthless to God - without Christ. I have absolutely nothing to offer God – without Christ. I am a selfish, ruthless, lying, covetous, murdering, whoremongering worm.

But there is one thing I am not. I am not a LOSER! I am a WINNER! And that, dear reader, is precisely why I am not a hero – because I am a WINNER.

Have you ever heard the saying, “show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser”? I was a very poor loser. I embarrassed my parents on the athletic field on many occasions. If I struck out in baseball, which fortunately for my parents didn’t happen too often, I went berserk. I threw the bat, my helmet, screamed, fussed, kicked the backstop and made a complete donkey of myself – and my parents. All the other parents either laughed or cringed. Most cringed. Mine cringed.

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When my children grew to the age where we could play board games together we had some great times – as long as I won. There were some times when that game board and everything on it would go flying across the room and slam against the wall, pieces and tokens flying everywhere. I just walked out leaving the kids to pick it up. And if you have ever played “Risk” you know that game can have a lot of pieces on the board!

Our family used to spend time with another large family on Sunday afternoons after church. Bruce, the father of the other family and my friend, and I played Risk almost every Sunday. I remember one particular Sunday when I had the gall to actually attack him at an early point in the game causing him an early exit. He spent the entire rest of the afternoon sulking in the bathroom and even his wife couldn’t coax him out. He didn’t like to lose either.

I was young, not yet a pastor, and I was asked to speak at a sports awards banquet for a Christian School. I accepted and took it very seriously. I worked hard to make my words funny and engaging yet all geared to make only one point. That point was, “Play impeccably fair. Never cheat. But play to win. Always play to win.” I lived it. I believed it. I preached it.

I love to win, don’t you? I am a lifelong fan of the Washington Redskins football team. My children (7 of them) each learned ALL of the words to “Hail to the Redskins” probably before they could count to ten. There is nothing sweeter for a Redskins fan than to put a real hurtin’ on those hated Dallas Cowboys and, like, crush their hopes for the playoffs and send them home crying. “Beat ‘em, Swamp ‘em, Touchdown, let the points soar”, we would sing! Go Redskins!

I hate to lose, don’t you? I remember a particularly awful Thanksgiving Day as a youth. Oh, it wasn’t the food; that was delicious! It wasn’t the company; it was all close family and was wonderful. It wasn’t even the weather as I believe it was a gorgeous Thanksgiving Day. Even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter because I was inside. For there, on one of our five TV channels, the Redskins were beating the Cowboys by 13 points late in the game. The Cowboys had little chance to come back and even less when we crushed their starting quarterback under 700 pounds of Redskin beef, he was too injured to continue, and the unknown backup had to replace him. Redskin Nation was singing, smelling blood and enjoying a simply delightful Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the previously unknown (oh, we know him now), backup quarterback threw two perfect long-bomb passes for touchdowns and the Cowboys won by a single point in a stunning comeback. Ruined my Thanksgiving. Ruined my entire week! May have ruined my whole month. Man that was a tough loss.

We humans play all kinds of sports and games in leagues and clubs. We play cornhole, cards, horseshoes, badminton, volleyball and even have three-legged races at our summer gatherings. The object of them all is to win.

Our heroes are winners, not losers. We love the greatest of men and women; the biggest, strongest, fastest, smartest, fiercest, most beautiful of us.

The Bible puts it this way:

Jude 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Some humans just have an “advantage” over others. Either they are born with a great voice or great intelligence or great athleticism or great beauty or great ability in a certain area. We “admire” them because of their “advantage”. I believe the reader can deduce from the context of the verse that it is not considered a good thing to admire another human being because of “advantage”.

Michael Phelps, maybe the greatest swimmer in modern history (except for Tarzan of course) immediately comes to mind. I have personally heard Michael Phelps say he is not the hardest working swimmer on the planet. There are plenty of other humans that were great swimmers in their own right who worked harder than Michael Phelps. But they were never able to achieve what he did. He had a tremendous “advantage”. He was born 6’4” with the wingspan of an albatross, hands the size of small boats and built-in flippers for feet. I’m actually kind of surprised the guy can function out of the water since he was so obviously gifted to function in it.

It is quite modernistic and popular to believe, “you can do anything you want if you work hard enough to achieve it”. That’s just a sweet little white satanic lie we tell our children to motivate them to dream big, work hard and never give up – the world’s formula for success. I am 5’9” tall. Larry Bird is 6’9” tall. That is quite an “advantage” when it comes to basketball. If Larry and I were to have worked equally hard, he would still have been in the NBA and I would still have not. Even if I had worked twice as hard, which would have been pretty near impossible if you know anything about Larry Bird, he just had too much of a natural advantage.

We admire Michael Jordan and LeBron James. We admire Peyton Manning and Joe Montana. We admire Pele’ and Messi. We admire Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. We flock to the championship games, sometimes paying incredible amounts of money just to watch. Do we like the guys that win championships or the guys that lose almost every game? You know the answer. We “enshrine” the winners into a “hall of fame” so their greatness can be hailed for many years and not be forgotten. The losers are already forgotten. Unless they are so haplessly inept that we remember their bungling with laughable fondness.

We love beautiful movie stars like Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Tom Cruise and Will Smith – all winners at their trade and we love them. We love Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie, and Marilyn Monroe; all beautiful and all wealthy winners. We love them. We flock to their movies to laugh and to cry and to be inspired.

We love musicians like Beyoncé, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley to name just a few. We flock to their concerts and buy their music. We hang posters of them on our walls. My mom was a particularly big fan of Elvis, whose face was on plates, coins, and many other things in our home. They entertain us during halftime at the Super Bowl. We clamor for just a glimpse of our favorite “stars”.

We love the winners of TV reality shows like Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Survivor or even “The Biggest Loser” which was a contest to see which severely overweight person could lose the most weight in a set amount of time. Think, they could win by losing! Jared Fogle lost a ton of weight and became a spokesperson for the Subway restaurant chain. What a great role model for those overweight. Eat subway and lose hundreds of pounds! That went great until he was convicted of child pornography. It was downhill from there. On the bright side, prison is a great place to keep off weight! We ALL loved him as a winner. But not now; now he is considered a gigantic loser.

What about the successful in business? We admire them too, even if it is a jealous admiration. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Walt Disney, Donald Trump. Those who have won in Politics, the Clintons and the Bushes. Those who have won in popularity, the Kim Kardashians, the Paris Hiltons and the Oprah Winfreys. We love to read the gossip columns and see what they are doing.

We admire the powerful. We would love to be powerful. Of course, we would do something different with it if we had it, but just give us the chance!

The point, dear reader, is that this world loves to win and people “admire” a winner. Nobody admires a complete loser, unless it is to see them try to get up and become a winner! The Bible rightly says we have “men's persons in admiration because of advantage”.

Interestingly, the word “admiration” appears only one other time in the entire Word of God. Would you like to see it?

Revelation 17:3 So he carried me [John, the Apostle and the recipient of the Revelation] away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

John, the Apostle that Jesus loved, saw a beautiful, gorgeously appointed, very wealthy and powerful woman.

Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

This was not a nice godly woman. She was the mother of Whores and Abominations in the sight of God. Certainly not a woman to be “admired” by an Apostle of Jesus!

Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

She was powerful and had killed many men. She was a magnificent, gorgeous, powerful warrior-princess. John knew she was a whore, full of abominations and a cold-blooded killer, yet, he still “greatly admired” her. Wow. The crazy thing is that is exactly the kind of woman that most men fantasize about; gorgeous, wealthy, glamorous, powerful and bad! We men fantasize about them all the time in our movies, our books, our dreams and our workplaces. Show men a woman like that and they are in lust. Pretty sad excuses for men we are, huh? But we admire her because of her, you guessed it, “advantage”.

1. Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh.

The Jews of His day tried many times to stone Him for just that claim.

In the unlikely case that you have lived under a rock your whole life, Jesus is the only unique human that ever lived.

John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

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Now, I don’t know about you but if someone tells me they are “equal with” the almighty God I am going to scoff and laugh at them until they prove it. Good luck proving it.

John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: …

John 10:30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

You can choose to believe Jesus was not God if you want. You can choose to claim The Bible is written by men and that it has been corrupted and therefore we don’t really know what to believe. But, you cannot rightly claim that The Bible does NOT say that Jesus claimed to be God. It certainly does. He certainly did.

Now, think about that claim for a moment. Jesus is certainly not the only person in history to make that claim, plenty of others have. David Koresh and Jim Jones come immediately to mind. Perhaps the most infamous is Charles Manson. And these are only recent, well-known claimants. There are numerous others, and all have one thing in common: most people think they are very scary and completely nuts! The truth of the matter is that if any person makes the sincere claim that he/she is the One True God that created this planet, this solar system and everything in it and on it, then he/she is either completely insane or he/she actually is God. There really is no middle ground. No truly sane human being believes he/she created the universe, the earth and all the people in it. So, in very stark contrast, Jesus was either God, or He was a total loon, an off-his-rocker, nutty fruitcake.

The answer to that question each human is left to discover for themselves. I can’t answer for you, but I can tell you my answer. I am convinced that Jesus is exactly who He says He is: The One True God of the universe having taken human flesh and become a human being. And, if you don’t believe Jesus is God, you MUST also think He is a liar, because nobody can make that claim, except God, and not be a liar. David Koresh lied. Jim Jones lied. Charles Manson lied. Jesus is God. And it is impossible for God to lie.

Not only that, but all those men listed above were each responsible for the death of human life; they are all murderers. Jesus claimed to be God but unlike those men listed above, didn’t kill a single person: follower or non-follower.

2. Jesus did things no other human being has ever come close to doing.

Jesus showed many signs and miracles to prove His deity. They are recorded for all the world to read, yea all of God’s Creation to read. He called the dead back to life. He healed many sick and dying with just a touch, yea even with just a thought. He restored the limbs of the infirmed. He walked on water without tricks or Hollywood special effects. He calmed a raging sea storm with three words. He fed 5,000 men, not counting women and children, with a small boy’s lunch. He easily (without a 24-hour exorcism session including holy water and ceramic crosses) cast out devils from those visibly and frighteningly possessed even as those devils testified that Jesus was the Son of The Most High God. He disappeared and walked straight through angry mobs of people trying to kill Him. The Bible says He did much more than that…

John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Okay, you probably knew all of that, what’s my point, you say? Well, since Jesus is God, and was God while walking on this planet, He could have done anything. ANYTHING!

3. Nothing was impossible for Jesus.

He could have been Superman. In fact, he could have effortlessly made the fictional Superman look like a complete punk, flicking him like the proverbial pea with the flick of His eyelash. He could have flown around preventing every disaster, preventing every accident, preventing every injury, solving every problem, getting every cat out of every tree, catching every person that slipped in their shower, stopping every bit of the world’s crime and injustice and then created complete world peace. Right? Do you not think He could have done that? Of course He could have.

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He could have been the greatest inventor in the history of mankind. He could have invented the helicopter to transport Himself and the Apostles from one place to the next, instead of walking. What a great boost to the effectiveness of His ministry, right? He could have reached many more people in 3½ years! This would have required fuel, which he also could have invented. He could have invented the television, the computer, the air conditioner, the car, the gun, the airplane, and the stained-glass window – even peanut butter. He could have invented the internet, if Al Gore hadn’t beaten Him to it. He could have given mankind time travel or human transporters like those in Star Trek. You say, wait, the technology of Jesus’ time wouldn’t have supported that kind of advanced technology. Do you really think that would or could have stopped Almighty God? Of course not.

He could have been the greatest athlete in the history of mankind. He could have easily outrun, outfought, outplayed and outfoxed any man in the history of this planet. He could have beaten the current World Champions in any sport, by himself, 100-0, if He had so wanted.

Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

He could have been the most brilliant mind in the history of the planet. He could have been responsible for medical discoveries way before their time. Penicillin could have saved a lot of people over the centuries since Jesus walked this planet. Telescopes; who needs a telescope when you created the very things men are trying desperately to see? Simply make a spaceship and fly them out there! He could have EASILY done all of this without any doubt. Do you think there has ever been a single thought that came into the mind of any person in the entire history of mankind that God had not already known? Of course not. God gave man his mind and his ability to think creatively.

4. Instead, Jesus made himself of no reputation.

Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, …

If you or I claimed to be “equal with God” it absolutely would be “robbery”. But it was not for Jesus. It was the truth. Dear reader, Jesus is far superior to every human ever born here or that will ever be born here, and could have been ANYTHING He had wanted to be on this planet. He had a HUGE advantage. But, He wasn’t anything like we expect a great man to be. He did not excel at anything other than truthfulness, kindness, knowledge of the Word of God and performance of miracles to prove that He was indeed the Jewish Messiah. I mean, what else is he known for? He sure didn’t “change humanity for the better”.

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He didn’t bring world peace (This is sometimes used by unbelievers to denigrate him, but that wasn’t His purpose). He didn’t help the world, at all really, except for a few chosen local people for whom He performed miracles. Life expectancy didn’t go up. Children didn’t all miraculously live to their ripe full age after Jesus. Some mothers still devastatingly lose their young innocent children. Accidents still happen, vicious criminals still live on and religion is the most divisive thing on this planet. So what did He really do? Nothing! He didn’t make a name for himself on this planet for accomplishing anything like that of those considered the “greatest” humans of history.

Henry Ford invented the automobile – Jesus could have done that 2000 years ago.

The Wright Brothers invented the flying machine – Jesus could have.

Thomas Edison is considered by many to be the greatest modern inventor. He invented the light bulb, phonograph and movie camera – Jesus could have.

Ben Franklin discovered electricity – Jesus made electricity.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a great conqueror – Jesus could have conquered all – and will in the future.

Charles Babbage is considered the father of computers – Jesus would consider a computer completely unnecessary.

William Shakespeare wrote famous literature the world loves – Jesus wrote a single Book the world hates.

Galileo developed the telescope and the compass – Jesus made the North, South, East, and West for as far as the universe extends.

But Jesus chose, willingly and happily, to do none of these things. He chose to not improve human life on this planet AT ALL. Except for in the spiritual sense, mankind was absolutely no better off after Jesus left this planet than it was before he inhabited it. That is historical fact.

5. Jesus Lost. Jesus was a colossal loser.

Face the facts. Jesus lost. He lost at life. He was a loser as far as humanity judges humans. He was tragically killed in the very prime of His life by His own people simply because He said He was their Messiah. He didn’t live a rich life, a long posh life, a wealthy life. He could have. He could have been the richest man to ever live, but He wasn’t. He was poor. Jesus said He didn’t even have a place to lay his head.

Matthew 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

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He didn’t lead great protests against the unfair tyrannical government and ruling class of his day, like say, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. He wouldn’t even speak against the oppressive Roman government. He didn’t run for governor or president. He did not involve Himself whatsoever in the politics or political arena of His day. He wouldn’t even let them MAKE Him king.

John 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

If a group of people wanted to make you their king, which is quite a desirous position, you’d be jumping up and down with joy. He went to be alone. He flatly refused the glory of men in this world.

He was beyond brilliant. Actually, beyond brilliant doesn’t begin to describe Him. The greatest minds and scholars of His day were completely in awe of Him when he was only 12 years old. They would have been in awe of Him at 2 years old if they had known Him then!

Luke 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. … 46 … they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees found out many times just how far above them Jesus was. They tried to trick Him. They tried to trap Him. They asked Him impossible questions – to which He gave them incredible answers. They tried to catch Him in His words. They couldn’t. So they lied about Him and turned the people against Him. They couldn’t have done that unless He allowed it.

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

But, He lost. They won.

The Jewish leaders railroaded Him on false, unproven accusations. He could have easily refuted them. They unjustly dragged Him in front of their ruling court. He could have won the case and gone free if He had tried even a little. He didn’t. He lost. They won.

Jesus was mocked, tortured and crucified in the very prime of His life. As humans we don’t consider people who are mocked, tortured and crucified to be winners. We may call them strong-willed or even martyrs, but we do not call them winners. We may feel it unfortunate and unfair, but they still lost. It was unfortunate (that it had to happen at all) and unfair (Jesus did not deserve it) but Jesus lost.

John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

The very people He came to save turned and stabbed Him in the back. He lost. Pilate was going to let Jesus go free.

Luke 23:22 And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.

But, the very people He had come to save would have none of that.

Luke 23:23 And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. 24 And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.

While God in the flesh was killed at the request and to the delight of the people He had created, a murderer was released instead.

Luke 23:25 And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

The murderer won. Jesus lost.

6. Jesus didn’t lose because He couldn’t win; Jesus chose to lose.

He could have called more than twelve legions of angels to help Him win this fight but He didn’t. He lost.

Matthew 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

7. Jesus said His followers should not fight (to win).

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Why would his servants not fight? Because His kingdom was NOT of this world at that time! At that time, if His kingdom were OF THIS WORLD (which He clearly said it wasn’t) then His servants would have fought. But they were told to stand down – to let Him lose – to let Him die.

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Why should his servants not fight? Because since His kingdom was not then of the world, Nothing has really changed, His kingdom is still not of this world. His servants are told to stand down – to lose. We are His servants. This is the same world that Jesus lived in. Jesus’ kingdom is not now of this world. Therefore His servants should not fight. There is no reason for a Christian to fight to win.

8. Jesus’ kingdom is not now on this planet.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

We all have flesh and blood. So we are not in the kingdom of God.

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Galatians 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

There are plenty of people on this planet doing those things. They can’t be in the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

There are plenty of those on this planet.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

There are billions of people on this planet NOT born again. They cannot see the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not now on this planet.

Luke 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; 30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus promised that would happen in the kingdom. That isn’t happening now, so the kingdom is not here and not now.

9. Jesus did not come to make life easier or better for humanity on this current planet.

That sounds crazy, I know, but it is absolutely true. Jesus said it himself, exactly like this:

John 10:10 … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Now there are those that are familiar with this verse of Scripture. They refer to it admirably but never really take the time to analyze it and understand it. Here is what it does NOT say: “I have come to make your life on this planet as wonderful, cushy and as enjoyable as possible”.

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Jesus could have been the greatest philanthropist that ever lived. He could have fed the entire poor population of the planet, given them all proper housing, proper medicine, proper education, proper clothing and anything else they needed to live a long, prosperous and healthy life. He could have given of himself to help every community, prevented the crime, settled the neighborly disputes, kept the streets clean and safe, and given children awesome places to play and learn in order to ultimately reach their greatest potential. No child should be left behind, right? He could have ended homelessness and poverty forever. But He didn’t. He did nothing of the sort, not even close.

But, some may say, I don’t understand, doesn’t the verse say He came to give us abundant life? Glad you asked, let’s take a closer look. The first thing this verse says is,

John 10:10 … I am come that they might have life.

Now, that’s a bit curious if you think about it. Why would Jesus come to give “life” to someone that already had “life”? Sounds like a complete waste of time to me. I mean, humans, the ones to whom He came to give life, were already alive, right? Well, if they already had “life” then Jesus had no reason to come. But, “Jesus had no reason to come” is completely untenable, scripturally, as you would surely agree. So, let’s approach this logically here. If Jesus said that He came to give men “life”, then He told the absolute truth, as He is incapable of not telling the absolute truth. The absolute truth is that if He came to give someone “life”, then they could not possibly have already had “life”. That is the truth. We, the humans born on this planet 2000 years ago and those born on this planet today, do not naturally have “life”. “What? That is absurd”, you say, “of course we have life”! Well, we may have what we call life, but not what Jesus calls life. You see, our “life” ALWAYS ends in death. Each moment you are alive you are one moment closer to death. In actuality you are “dying” not “living”! And not just dying, but you are going to die “in the day” as God said, Genesis 2:17 … in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Consider that for a moment. What if you found out tomorrow morning that you were living your last day on Earth? What would you do? You’d better plan and choose very carefully because one day is not very long at all! You couldn’t like, tour Europe for instance. So if your “one day” on Earth would seem quick to you, imagine what your “one day” on Earth seems like to the Lord. If one day is one thousand years, then 78 years is 7.8% of a day. And 7.8% of a 24-hour day is equivalent to about 1.8 hours or about an hour and 50 minutes! Imagine having less than 2 hours to live. Not one hour and 50 minutes LEFT to live, but one hour and 50 minutes TOTAL to live - your whole life! If one of your friends had a child and it lived for only 2 hours that would be heart-breaking. Satan would encourage us to blame that on God, and many would do exactly that, when in reality Satan is the culprit. Our lives are so quick to God that He says about them,

James 4:14… For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Our entire lives to God seem like less than 2 hours!

So, sadly and truly, in God’s eyes, you were born in the morning and you will not live out the day, just like that little baby. That’s not life, that’s death. Human “life” is in reality “death”, and not life at all, since technically we are just counting down the time until we die, striving to survive as long as possible until the moment of our death. Jesus came so that would not be true. He came to give you eternal “life”, real “life”, that does NOT end in death. He came that we might have life. We don’t have it naturally.

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

The truth is the natural man has no life in him. So, listen carefully; the “life” about which Jesus spoke in this verse CANNOT be the life you and I are living right now. The life you are living right now is no different whatsoever, excepting technology, from the life humans lived on this planet during the time Jesus walked on this planet. The life you are living in the flesh ends in death. Eternal life, the “life” about which Jesus spoke, does not end in death. Jesus came that we might have life. LIFE and DEATH are polar opposites. We think, because we are so used to this human “life”, that part of life is death. This is NOT scripturally true. Death is death. Life is life. They aren’t linked. You have either one or the other – not both! And until we meet Jesus and enter that eternal life, we do not live life - the one life about which He speaks in John 10:10. So, understand, before we move on that the “life” to which Jesus is referring is not the life in the flesh that humans on this planet are living. Jesus is referring to eternal life. Jesus came so we might have life and not ever see death!

John 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Continuing on with our analysis of the next half of the verse we find Jesus saying,

John 10:10 … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

There are people that use this to teach that Jesus expects us to have this “abundant life” in our fleshly life on this planet. This is completely impossible. If Jesus is talking about “life” (eternal life) in the first part of the verse then you can be absolutely certain that when He says “it” in the second part He is referring right back to the same “life” (eternal life) in the first part! Jesus didn’t come to give us “life more abundantly” in this body, but rather in the eternal body to come!

I can hear you now, “but, how can life be ‘more abundant’ in Heaven? Isn’t Heaven the same wonderful place for everyone?” Is it a wonderful place for everyone, yes! Is it the same for everyone, no!

In Heaven, God is going to reward humans for their service to Him while they were in this life on this planet. Some will definitely get more than others. Some will receive an “abundance” because they served Him, and others will live in Heaven without any “abundance” because they wasted their lives and/or took their “abundance” here. I suppose you want to see that in the Book? Good, here we go.

Matthew 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Luke 8:18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Luke 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. … 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

Notice when we are judged we will receive the reward of talents and pounds (money, precious stones, valuables) and of cities (property ownership). Some will have more valuables and own more properties than others. They will also be given positions of authority and/or a seat near the Lord at the table. This “seat” near the Lord is probably also symbolic of the proximity of our rewarded “property” to the center of the new universe, called the “new earth”, where Jesus will abide.

Mark 10:42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

Some will be chiefs. Some will be servants.

Matthew 25:23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Some will be rulers. Some will be ruled.

You may not think that is in line with the character of God but remember that Satan has been lying to you about the character of God for a very long time. It is absolutely in the character of God to highly reward those that deserve it and to give no reward to those that don’t. Let’s put it in a way you will understand. In heaven, everyone doesn’t get a participation trophy. Satan gives participation trophies to give men self-esteem, so they will feel pride and feel special. God gives trophies to those that earn them.

Luke 22:28 Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. 29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;

Luke 14:8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Let’s just say there is an awful lot of reward for those that will serve Him. And a tremendous loss for those that don’t.

1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Of the saved will be those “saved” that will suffer tremendous loss of their “abundance”.

10. Jesus came for two reasons; for us to have eternal life and for us to have more abundant eternal life.

So, in summary, Jesus came for two reasons. First, He came that you might have eternal life. And second, He came that you might have eternal life more abundantly. Jesus did not come to make your life here on Earth better. He came to make your eternal life better [more abundant].

11. Christians are to obtain an abundant “eternal” life.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

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This young man went away sad. Jesus told him he had to sell what he had and give to the poor. But, why should this make a wealthy man, a man of great possessions, sad? I mean, Bill Gates gives a billion dollars to charity, and doesn’t bat an eyelid. The world celebrates this and builds monuments to his greatness. So, why wouldn’t this wealthy man give of some of his great possessions to help the poor and needy? Because Jesus wasn’t telling him to give SOME of his possessions to the poor. He was telling him to sell ALL of his possessions and not only give to the poor, but to BE poor! That will make almost any man go away sorrowful. But, it is certainly easier for a poor man than a rich one!

Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Many hear Matthew 6:20 and proudly proclaim, yes, I am storing up my treasures in heaven. Most are ignorant, willingly or unwillingly, of the preceding verse.

Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

God doesn’t just say to lay up your treasures in Heaven. He says just as importantly to NOT lay up your treasures on Earth. Many people that think they are laying up their treasures in Heaven are also laying up their treasures on Earth. That just can’t be so. You will not lay treasure up in both places. If your treasure is here, it is not there. If it is there, it is NOT here. Remember,

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.

If you have great treasure here you will not have great treasure there. Want to have true eternal riches that you will never lose? Go, sell everything that you have and give to the poor. And The Lord Jesus Christ has PROMISED you will have treasure in heaven. Maybe you think that is impossible because you simply have too much to lose and that Jesus’ Word is just not good enough for you. Funny, there was another guy that thought the same thing…

Matthew 19: 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Will you also go away?

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? … 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? … O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We have completely disregarded this message and sought the world’s wealth, stature, prestige, honor and praise. We have sought all of the wrong things. Satan smiles his big evil smile and gleefully heaps more wealth, more praise, more accolades and more of this world’s good into the laps of this deceived and unhappy race. This is not what God desires.

Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

The dream of most humans on this entire planet is to be rich and have need of nothing. Those folks that think they are rich? They are actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. And they have no idea.

I know there are many out there teaching differently. I have no desire to argue this point as it is a waste of my time. The Bible is truth. We will all be judged by the Truth in eternity and I am perfectly fine with that.

12. God does not want us to come in first place, God does not want us to win.

Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

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My ravishing wife and I have recently been watching the U.S. Olympic Trials on television. One of the very few nonspiritual things on this planet I actually enjoy, is doing almost anything with the love of my earthly life. But enough of that, back to the subject. Shamefully, yet understandably, everyone whose dream it is to go to the Olympics doesn’t get to go. In many events only two participants are chosen to go to the Olympics, no more, under any circumstances. I’m sure you can imagine, if you have not personally witnessed, the heartbreak of a young man or woman whose dream of going to the Olympics has been shattered by .01 seconds. One one-hundredth of a second! I would think that is about the blink of an eye. That is what separates some young athletes from either utter elation or utter anguish. The time it takes to blink your eye can be the difference between hugging your family in tears of joy and hugging your family in tears of sadness. How is that possible? How can anything that takes the blink of an eye, and doesn’t involve the taking of human life, possibly cause this? I’m glad you asked. It’s because we are conditioned, yea we are utterly consumed, with winning. Not winning at all costs necessarily, but just WINNING! Losing is not fun. Winning is fun and prideful and honorable; and profitable I might add.

But, this verse doesn’t say those that come in second will be first. It doesn’t say that third place gets to go to the Olympics. It says the one that comes in LAST shall be first. And the one that comes in first shall be LAST! Imagine the U.S. Olympic Team taking the worst and slowest participant for each event and honoring them. And taking the fastest, best person in the United States at that particular event and sending him/her home packing? That is humanly absurd, but that is EXACTLY what Jesus said. Jesus didn’t say the guy that wins needs to thump his chest and point in the air to give God glory because God gave him the power and the talent and the “advantage” to win. He says nothing of the kind. You want to give God the glory? Then don’t take it yourself! You have your reward. Instead, lose. Let others win. Let your worst enemy win. And be overjoyed for them just as you would be for yourself. That is what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. Remember, sometimes, you have to lose to win.

13. Prefer that others are honored and not yourself.

Winning is about a couple of things. It is first and foremost about pride. The same “pride” we get, not from the God of Heaven but from the god of this world: Lucifer. Pride, as you remember, is never, ever a positive attribute in a human being. Winning is all about pride. How many times have you participated in a competition where the only thing you were playing for was “pride”? It is also about honor. Humans want to be honored, to be respected, and to be admired by their fellow men. Jesus wanted none of that and received none of that. He was a loser on this planet. He never honored himself, but He will be honored for the rest of eternity.

Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Which would you prefer?

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another…

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The Word of God says we should PREFER that another is honored rather than ourselves. If we had that attitude, which really only comes from godliness, we wouldn’t be crying in anguish when we lost, we’d be crying in anguish when we won! Dear reader, if you honor yourself, if the world honors you, then God does not and will not. Jesus was not honored in this life. Jesus is honored in the next. Where do you want to be honored?

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Does the word “nothing” really mean nothing? As in absolutely nothing? You bet your sweet place in Heaven it does! Let nothing, absolutely nothing be done through strife. Don’t strive and fight and push for anything. That is not what your granpappy taught you, but it is what The Bible is teaching you. The question is, will you believe the Word of God or your lyin’ granpappy? Don’t get all offended; I had a lyin’ granpappy too! In fact, I am a lyin’ granpappy! As of this writing, eight adorable grandkids – all boys.

But the Word doesn’t stop there. Let nothing be done through vainglory, it says. Again, “nothing”! But what is vainglory? Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines it as, “Exclusive vanity excited by one's own performances; empty pride”. Wow. So the Word of God is saying let nothing, and I don’t need to repeat it but will for effect, nothing, be done for vanity through our own performance. And then it relates back to the fundamental reason we attempt to excite ourselves and our fellow humans by our own performance; pride. Like I said, The Bible isn’t hard to understand, it is hard to believe. These are not the truths your granpappy taught his family. These are the truths the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching His family.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

And then, to top it all off, God says to esteem other people better than ourselves. Instead of competing to esteem ourselves better than our competition, we are to simply esteem them better than us. Esteem is defined (Webster’s 1828) as, “To prize; to set a high value on”. We should value or prize others better and more important than ourselves. That doesn’t sound like striving to win a contest to me. That sounds like we should hope they get the prize. We should hope their kids are esteemed. We should hope their kids get the honor and the praise. To not only esteem them, but to prefer that they get the honor and the glory instead of getting it ourselves. We are not to strive, or fight to win. We are to be low or last. Jesus was low and last.

Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Want to be great in the next world? Serve and minister.

Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. 26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

And we are instructed to be just like Him.

Want to be a chief here? Then you will be a servant there. Where would you rather be chief?

14. God expects us to humble ourselves, not lift ourselves up.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Let’s just agree that winning is not humbling yourself.

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Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

15. We should want the things of others.

Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Obviously that doesn’t mean to look on them with envy, jealousy or lust. That would be coveting and would be sin. It means to want for others to get the things humans want, and not yourself. That’s what Jesus DID and what we are told to DO. Jesus didn’t care about Himself and His humanistic needs. He cared about the needs of others. That’s what it truly means to “love your neighbor”. We are to want others to succeed and not ourselves. We are to want others to prosper rather than ourselves. We are to want others to win and be excited and have the glory and the honor and the praise, rather than to have it for ourselves or our families.

16. We are expected to want others to be wealthy instead of ourselves.

1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

That’s an easy one for the criminals and gangsters of the world. They’re always seeking someone else’s wealth, either by theft or extortion! But that’s not what God is saying here, now is it? Kinda rough news, huh? It isn’t hard to understand. It is hard to believe; and even harder to do. The Bible clearly says to not SEEK our own wealth! Jesus sure didn’t. We are to seek for others to be wealthy.

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Imagine giving away the winning lottery ticket and asking nothing in return? Jesus did just that! This is the only instructive New Testament verse concerning wealth. The wealthy are considered the winners in this world. “He who dies with the most toys wins”, the world teaches its own. What a terrible lie straight from the pit of Hell! Stop trying to win.

We can be joint-heirs with the wealthiest, most powerful being there is. We can inherit everything with Him.

Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…

Or we can have our wealth here. You will NOT have it in both places. Where would you like to be wealthy? Here for 100 years, or there for eternity?

17. We must choose; God or wealth.

You can pursue either God or wealth. You simply cannot pursue both. The Bible says this would be impossible.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

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The 1828 Webster’s defines mammon as, “Riches; wealth”. Which one do you pursue? Which one do you serve? Don’t even think it can be both. I cannot be both. If it is wealth, it isn’t God. And if you are pursuing wealth then The Bible says you hate God. That’s difficult to hear, but it is the truth. The world will not accept it. Will you accept it and love God?

18. We are expected to suffer.

What DID Jesus do? He suffered.

Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected …

We are to suffer in our service to Him.

Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

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It was prophesied that He would suffer. We are “not only to believe on him”, but to suffer on His behalf! What does it mean to do something on His “behalf”? It means to do it for Him in His place!!

Exodus 27:21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Aaron and his sons did things “on the behalf” of the children of Israel. They did it because they could, and the other folks couldn’t. We are asked to do the same for Christ in this time of His physical absence.

Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

The Apostles were only too happy to suffer.

Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

19. If we suffer now, we will reign with Christ.

2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:…

If one does not suffer one will not reign.

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Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

We are joint heirs IF and only IF we suffer here. Suffer now, for a brief moment.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

And reign with Christ for eternity.

Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

20. You may not want to reign, but God wants you to reign.

Maybe you don’t want to “reign”. Maybe you’re content with simply being, as we earthlings like to call it, middle-class, in Heaven. Maybe you’re content to take your ease in this life and then take whatever Heaven offers in the next. Maybe you think of it as being humble or not being greedy. Maybe you even think of it as godly that you don’t really care if you are wealthy and reigning, as long as you make it to Heaven, that’s good enough for you. Sounds reasonable, but in actuality that is the very root of the problem. You see, you are acting on what you want, acting on “your will”. And you have likely been doing that for your entire life. You see, GOD’S WILL is for you to suffer as did His Son! And if He wants you to suffer then He also wants you to reign. People often ask me, “how do I find God’s will in my life”? Here it is.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

You were created for God’s pleasure. And He will do His pleasure, whether you like it or not.

Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Those adopted into Jesus have done the good pleasure of God’s will.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

We are supposed to WILL and to do His pleasure.

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

God takes pleasure in all of these in your life. Maybe you don’t now. Learn to. It is His pleasure.

2 Corinthians 11:30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

Paul knew there was glory in infirmities. These things are part of God’s will for your life.

Hebrews 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

He chastens us for OUR profit. His will is for us to profit. Why? That we might partake!

John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

This does not just say God is longsuffering (patient) with the unsaved and waiting for them to have the chance to get saved. It also speaks to the saved, who are so lazy, fearful and unconcerned, that the Lord must tarry in order to give those few Christians WILLING to do the pleasure of His will (not willing that ANY should perish), and endure suffering for the salvation of precious souls, the extended time needed to accomplish what should have been accomplished in a much shorter period of time. Many hands make light work, they say.

Lastly, God is a “rewarder”. He has rewarded and will reward Jesus incredibly for His suffering. He wants to do the same for you.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:

God’s will is for you to suffer in this life for the Truth, the gospel, giving up your own life for it (as did Jesus), and then to reign with His Son Jesus Christ in the next. God wants you to have life, and to have it more abundantly. Your God wants the best for you and knows what is best for you. Do you want your will or God’s?

You see, and you may want to close your ears so you don’t have to hear this, you don’t want “God’s will”. You want YOUR WILL and you want God to approve it. What do I mean? “God, should I buy this house/car? Should I take this job? Should I marry this person?” NONE of that is God’s will for your life. God doesn’t care about any of that petty stuff. You do!

Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Jesus didn’t have a house or a car. Jesus didn’t need a new job with better pay. Jesus didn’t get married. Jesus wasn’t thinking about tomorrow. Jesus wasn’t focused on any of those things, like you are. He was focused on the ministry. HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! The kingdom of God. Period. What are you focused on?

21. With simply food and clothing we are to be content.

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. …8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Jesus had those. The world talks about the three life essentials as “food, clothing and shelter”. God doesn’t even include shelter! He says if we have food to eat and clothes to put on our back, and NOTHING else, we are to be perfectly content in this life. Jesus was.

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1 Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

It seems every Christian, yea every person, on this planet thinks that “gain” is godliness. In other words “supposing” that “gain” means God is blessing them. This just isn’t so. The world’s wealth is “supposed gain”. Being content with food, raiment and godliness is “great gain”.

22. Jesus could have been anything he wanted to be.

Isn’t it modern philosophy that we teach our kids that they can do “anything”? They can be anything. They can accomplish anything. Just believe and work hard enough and you can do anything! Right, isn’t that what we teach? What a lie. There are tremendous limits on what we can be. We can be human, we can live a human life for as long and as prosperously as possible and then, we ALL die.

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You think I am wrong? Okay, I’ll bite. Let’s say your 5 year-old says I want to jump off the roof and fly. He believes it with all his heart. Are you going to let him jump? I didn’t think so. So he works his whole life trying to jump off the roof and fly. Is he ever going to accomplish that? You say, well, we don’t know until we try, do we? Uh, sorry, I know. The answer is, he is not!

Some say, well he could invent something that would enable him to do that. Sure, they are called jetpacks and that isn’t really jumping off the roof and flying now is it? And you didn’t really want to open the “invention” box with me, but since you did.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

Psalms 106:29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.

I think you see my point. Jesus certainly didn’t need inventions.

23. But Jesus quit.

He gave up. By the World’s definition He was a quitter. He quit on this life; in the very prime of His life. When He faced that “crossroads of life” He decided to not fight. That is the very definition of a loser. Don’t we all try to teach our children to “never quit”, “never give up”? Aren’t we all supposed to abide by the old adage, “you only fail once you give up and quit trying”? Well then, why did Jesus quit trying? Why did He simply “give up” and “stop fighting”?

John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

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John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,…

No man took Jesus’ life. He laid it down; of His own free will and volition. He could have easily saved His life on this planet but He willingly allowed mankind to drain His blood, even though He absolutely did not deserve it. One says, yeah, well He also knew He was going to take His life up again! Well, don’t you? Maybe you’re not quite so sure? That may be your problem, “O ye of little faith”, but it wasn’t His.

24. Jesus lost. And with that loss came great glory and honor.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

We can reign with Him. But not if we win here. Sometimes, you have to lose to win. And my brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to lose to win!

25. The Bible does not tell us to win in this world.

The word “win”, or any derivative of it, is only in The Bible 3 times. Not one has anything to do with God saying a Christian should strive to win anything in this life.

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This is one of them and is the way the world wins. They fight and conquer. Vanquish their opponent.

2 Chronicles 32:1 … Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.

Sennacherib was rich and powerful and a real winner. He wanted new cities for his own wealth and power. What happened to Sennacherib? Glad you asked…

2 Chronicles 32:21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.

Not a great ending, huh?

These are the only other two (2) occurrences of “win”.

Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

We are supposed to WIN SOULS. If you are smart, that is what you will spend your life doing. If you are not so smart, you will spend your life doing anything else. We are to WIN souls.

Here is the only “win” in the New Testament. Notice Paul’s understanding of wins and losses.

Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss [does he count the “win” or the “loss”?] for [“for” what? What could he possibly hope to gain by a “loss”?] the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things [He LOST everything. How would you feel, think about it, if you lost “all things” right now in your life? You’d be devastated I would guess. But that is because…], and do count them but dung, [That’s because you have not counted them ALL dung. Poop. You lose dung most every day and you don’t get upset about that! In fact, you roll it up in a diaper and throw it in a newfangled contraption that shrink-wraps it so you don’t have to see it, smell it or even think about it at all. Do you count your “things” like that? Why in this world would anyone WANT to do that???...] that I may win Christ,

That is what we are supposed to “win”: Christ! Everything else should be counted “loss”.

26. We are not supposed to “glory in men”.

1 Corinthians 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men.

As we have been wont to say, this verse is not at all hard to understand. You understand it perfectly. It is hard to believe – and to perform.

Romans 7:18 …but how to perform that which is good I find not.

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Matthew 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Luke 2:14  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

1 Thessalonians 2:6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others,

Revelation 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Are YOU giving glory to men, dear reader? Are you rooting for the beautiful warrior princess? The strongest, biggest, fastest, smartest, most organized, exciting, beautiful, articulate, most athletic of us? The winners in the games of mere men? This is all just a satanic smokescreen to keep you busy and focused on anything but serving Christ.

God isn’t interested in games. The word “game” or a derivative does not appear in The Bible even once. Someone says, but “race” is in there! Yes, it is. Are you sure you want to see it? You might want to excuse yourself and go to the kitchen for a snack here so you don’t have to read this; just skip right over it to the next point. Still here? Not hungry? Well, at least I warned you.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

You are in a race, dear Christian. There is a great “cloud of witnesses” (spectators). All of the saints and angels in Heaven are rooting for you. They are watching you. So Run!

Why in the world would you carry extra “weight” in a race? “Lay aside every weight”, my friend. Put it down. It is slowing you down in your race. This world’s good is heavy. Ever move a baby grand piano? I have. Well, not by myself. There were two of us. Let’s just say we didn’t RUN very fast while we carried that weight. What weight are you trying to run with, dear Christian? Get rid of it.

You can be beset in this race too. Like the old story of the tortoise and the hare. That old hare got cocky and thought he could divert into some fun and relaxation. Dear Christian, there is sin in your life (mine too) that “so easily besets us”. You can’t run while you are in bed sinning. You can’t run when you can’t even walk straight. You can’t run when you are being detained for wrongdoing.

And “run with patience”. I remember some years ago a woman won the Boston Marathon – 26.2 miles of torture. Her name was Rosie Ruiz. It was later discovered that she cheated as she had taken the subway and burst out of the crowd a half mile from the finish to break the tape and claim the victory. Her jubilation was short lived as she was quickly stripped of the title and exposed in front of the world. Her name is now synonymous with cheating. You can’t cheat. Remember, all the spectators are watching.

This race is “set before us”. How do we get there? How do we endure to the end?

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

LOOK TO JESUS! Don’t look at the world. Don’t be weighted down. Don’t get beset so easily. Don’t cheat. If you fall down, get up, keep running. It won’t be easy. It is torturous at times. If you are to win this race you will “endure the cross” and “despise the shame” just as your Saviour did. How do we continue? How do we get up every day? How do we run when we are tired and hurt and eventually old? We remember that God has joy set at the end – for us! The witnesses are cheering. They are urging us on. Our glorious rest is waiting at the end, when we sit down with God in His throne.

Will you repent and give to God the glory alone?

Jeremiah 9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. 

1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Ecclesiasts 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. 

There is no room in the life of a mature Christian for a second god. In whom are you glorying?

27. True happiness and joy come from losing in this life.

Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Matthew 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

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Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Paul had great joy. Do you, dear reader, have great joy? Lose your life – and find it!

28. Now or eternity? You will NOT get a reward in both places.

Just to be perfectly clear, not one person will be rewarded in both places, here and in Heaven. It just will not happen. Even Jesus was not rewarded in both places. The question is, dear reader, where do you want your reward?

Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Jesus was very clear and said it numerous times; if you do things before men and get a reward for it here, you will not get it there.

Matthew 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

If you get the glory of men – you have your reward.

29. The winning we are to do in this world is winning people to Christ.

Once you leave this life, winning people to Christ will NEVER be possible again for all of eternity. What is the value of one soul? The Bible says the angels in heaven rejoice every time a sinner repents (Luke 15:10). Other than that only the birth of Jesus and the Revelation show angels with joy. Angels don’t rejoice when we win the national championship. Angels don’t rejoice when we get that big promotion to partner. Angels don’t rejoice when we graduate with a Doctorate in Divinity. Angels don’t rejoice when we get a new house or a new car. Angels don’t rejoice when we become successful in our own business. Angels don’t even rejoice when our precious children are born. They only rejoice when someone’s name is written in The Lamb’s Book of Life.

Luke 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

We are supposed to be living to WIN CHRIST and WIN SOULS. That’s it for the winning we are supposed to do in this life!

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There are very few things about which I, personally, regretfully look back and say, “I taught my family completely wrong in this area”, but this is one. I taught my family to WIN in this world. To obtain. To conquer. To vanquish your opponent. To rip his heart out. I was wrong. We are not supposed to win in this world. We are supposed to LOSE.

I am trying to change that with my grandchildren but it isn’t easy; it is such a part of natural, fallen humanity. My oldest grandson, Cooley, is almost six years old. His Aunt Bethany, my 24-year-old daughter, and he were swimming in the pool and decided to have a swimming race across the pool and back. The race, of course, ended with Bethany, a former lifeguard, beating him badly. Cooley was so upset, he stormed out of the pool, ripped off his goggles, threw them as far as he could and loudly screamed, “don’t you know Aunt Bethany, God really wants us to lose?!” Like I said, not easy.

Jesus LOST. He could have been considered by all of humanity the greatest man ever born on this planet. Do you realize with his power and his knowledge and his benevolence how much good He could have done on this planet? He died having done nothing of consequence to most of the world. He left no children. He invented nothing. He left the world no better off than when he entered it. What are we taught to live for today? Make the world a better place for the next generation. Take care of humanity. Work and sacrifice and live so that humanity IN THIS WORLD can benefit!

Is that “What would Jesus Do”???? Is that “What DID Jesus Do”????

I began by saying that I was such a poor loser. Now, I love to lose. Truly! It is so liberating. It makes other people feel so good when they win. And I would rather win them to Christ than beat them in anything else. And when you would rather lose, for what do you need to fight? I have no need to fight; The Lord will always take care of me. There is no pressure from the world to lose. There is no great push from the world to lose. Losing is a whole lot easier than winning. So I am very happy to lose at anything at any time. Try it; you’ll see what I mean. This time, you have to lose to win.

Satan’s Lie!       Win or you are a loser.

Bible Truth!       Lose and you are a winner.

So what?       If you think God is glorified because you win a contest, or a game, or an event and you “give God the glory”, maybe by banging your fist on your heart and then pointing up, well, my friend, you are very wrong. Jesus was the biggest loser that ever lived. He could have been so great. Talk about not living up to your potential! He could have won everything. But, He didn’t. If you are focused on winning, then you are exactly where Satan wants you. We should do exactly what Jesus did. Truly, we have to lose to win.

What should I do?       Lose. Realize that since Jesus lost, and He is our perfect example, you too should lose. Try it and see just how liberating it truly is in every area of your life. Want others to win and be esteemed and get glory and be promoted and honored – instead of you. You will never regret it. And God will honor you for all of eternity.

Lie Number 8 - Peace

Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, we didn’t have the luxury of a gazillion television channels. We had maybe 5 different channels to watch. We actually had about double that but only because we lived right in the middle between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. We could receive the network stations (ABC, NBC, CBS) for both Washington and Baltimore but they almost always had the same show on anyway, so it rarely made any difference. Practically speaking we had 5 or so channels. With only 5 channels and nothing remotely resembling a recording device, if something was coming on that you wanted to see, you had better not miss it. If you did miss it then you usually had to wait a whole year before it came on again. TV was very different back then.

My parents, especially my Mom, enjoyed watching the Miss America beauty pageant. My Dad may have secretly enjoyed it more (I think a lot of Dad’s did) but he never let that be known. It came only once a year but it was one of our favorite television events. And most men watched because, well, there was no internet and if you wanted some soft-porn you could enjoy with the family, it was a great family choice. I remember watching many times as a family. We would have lively disagreements about whom we each thought was prettiest and whom we thought should win. In my opinion, the prettiest girl never seemed to win. I found it odd (really) and it used to keep me up at night (not really) until I finally figured it out!

At some point in the pageant they always had an “interview competition” or whatever they called it. They always deemed this “all important” so the girls were always quite nervous. The girls, typically only the final ten or so of them, would go onstage one at a time and the MC would ask them a question or two that they were to answer as eloquently as possible. Most were quite elegant. Some failed miserably.

Of course, I was quite young then and it was a “few” years ago so I don’t remember many of the questions exactly, but I definitely remember the number one answer. You probably do too. It has become quite the running joke.

The interviews went somewhat like this. The MC would ask, “If you are crowned Miss America what will be the highest priority of your year-long reign”? The contestants would all look decidedly pensive for just a moment and then, “Well, Bert, that’s a very interesting question but one that I feel completely comfortable answering. I would have to say my highest priority would be World Peace”. “World Peace”, if we heard that answer once it seemed we heard it a hundred times. And every time, the audience immediately rose, let out a collective “awwwwwww” and held a standing ovation for 20 seconds. Some even cried, although they may have been the parents of the contestants. It was really the only answer you could give if you wanted to have any chance of winning the pageant. It appeared you could answer almost any question they might possibly ask with it. I began to believe they purposely formed the questions that way! Those beautiful ladies, it seemed, rehearsed just that one wonderful, incredible, irrefutable answer. “I would say, [slight pause here for effect] World Peace”.

As I write this, America, currently the most powerful nation on this planet, although maybe not for long if something doesn’t change rather quickly, is in the midst of a nasty and divisive presidential election campaign. The two campaigns divide on many things but if one is to uncover the very heart of the division it could be summed up like this. On the one side is the “Make America Great Again” campaign that believes loosely what is termed an “isolationist” policy which would put America first in an attempt to restore America to its former economic and military power and greatness. The other side of the campaign supports a much more “globalist” philosophy in which the United States becomes more intertwined with the entire world economy and assimilates into the impending world government as just another country. The very real goal of this campaign is, you guessed it, “world peace”.

I believe it is fair to say that even the “Make America Great Again” campaign desires world peace. I mean c’mon, doesn’t everyone really want world peace? The campaigns may approach some things very differently, but both would readily admit that world peace is an admirable goal. Donald Trump, current Republican Presidential Nominee and author of “The Art of the Deal”, the best-selling business book of all time according to Mr. Trump, readily admits that peace in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Arab world is the toughest deal to make on this planet. He also insists it would be the crown jewel of his deal-making skills to create a peace-treaty between the two sides. Opposition to world peace on any level is commonly viewed as lunacy and hatred toward mankind. Who in their right mind doesn’t want world peace? Men may disagree on the conditions of peace but not on the necessity of peace. The entire world is clamoring for world peace. How to achieve that is the nagging question.

As of this writing ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Sham), or as our current President likes to call it ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant), a group of Muslims that believe the Koran literally, is terrorizing the western world. The “civilized” world calls them “radical” but in truth they are not radical at all, just true believers of the Koran. Every person that claims to believe in Islam and the Koran should be doing exactly what they are doing. For this is the exact same Koran which the rest of the Muslim world flat refuses to believe literally. Why? Because rather than believe their own sacred book, which calls for war with all infidels (anyone not literalist-Muslim), they would rather have world peace. That may seem outlandish but it is really no different from Christianity. Most people that call themselves Christians flat refuse to believe The Bible literally and instead, just as their “peaceful Muslim brothers”, beg, plead and clamor for world peace.

Many thousands around the world are dying by Islamic suicide bombs and suicide missions intent on killing as many men, women and children as possible of the infidel population. The infidel world is tired and weary and looking for any way to stop this division and finally create world peace. I believe that mankind will accomplish that goal and may well accomplish it very shortly.

1. The Bible guarantees world peace.

God’s Word is very clear that there will be world peace someday.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem The Bible records a heavenly host as saying:

Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

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The book of Isaiah speaks of just that world peace.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, …

2. But Jesus didn’t come 2000 years ago to bring world peace or any peace at all on Earth.

When this child was born and grew to be a man, He said:

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

…and…

Luke 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

The one thing every human wants and the whole world clamors for; and He didn’t even come to bring it! In fact, He came to bring the exact opposite; division.

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What? How can The Bible say in one place He came to bring peace, and then in another place say that He didn’t? Here we have what The Bible-hating educated “scholars” love to call a “contradiction”. Oh, how the educated love to use that word against The Bible. They love to scoff with great pride and their pompous noses stuck in the air, “The Bible is full of contradictions”. Can’t you just hear them in their low, important-sounding pompous voices? Sounds somewhat like hot air escaping from a large dying balloon. Like I said before, if you tell a lie long enough and loud enough and often enough the people will believe it.

Let me be perfectly clear – there are no “contradictions” in The Bible. There are certainly things that God has presented as contradictions so that He can confound the wisdom of this world and make the highly-educated sound more foolish than the least educated person on the planet.

1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

God said of them…

Matthew 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. …13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. … 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

God is not going to heal them. But, then again, they don’t believe there is a God so He certainly wouldn’t need to “heal” someone as bright, special and enlightened as them.

Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

This is exactly who the smart, educated Bible-haters are. “Professors”! Do not listen to them. They are truly the blind leading the blind. They are both going to fall into the pit.

The Lord is a godzillion (My new word. More than a bazillion.) light years ahead of them, but they are just too prideful and willingly ignorant to admit it.

When people throw that laughable accusation at me, “The Bible is full of contradictions”, which happens on occasion, I simply offer them my Bible and say, “I’d love to see one of those would you mind pointing one out for me, please”? That very quickly wraps that up in The Bible’s favor. I did actually have someone point one out to me once. I was quite surprised, not at the supposed contradiction that the man pointed out, but that he knew anything at all about the topic. Most people parrot the phrase, “The Bible is full of contradictions, everyone knows that”, without having any idea what they are talking about. This guy actually had one to point out. He quickly flipped to…

Numbers 25:9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand,

…and then to…

1 Corinthians 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

“So, how many died”, he smirked, “twenty-three thousand or twenty-four thousand”? I didn’t hesitate at all. “Twenty-four thousand”, I answered. “So one of those is wrong then wouldn’t you say”, he replied. I said, “yes, I admit one is wrong. But the one that is wrong is you”. You see The Bible is EXACTING and perfect. God said in TOTAL 24,000 died in the plague but 23,000 died “in one day”. A total of 1000 more people died but not in that 24-hour period. I explained that to him and then asked if he had any other “contradictions” he wanted to show me. He didn’t. Well, this isn’t a contradiction either. It’s just the truth. But, how? “I’m confused”, some may say. “If the angels said Jesus came to bring peace on Earth then how can Jesus say He didn’t come to bring peace on Earth?”

Well, just like in the case of the 23,000 vs. 24,000 we have to fully understand before we run off half-baked yelling, “Contradiction! I found another contradiction!” It’s actually easy when you understand. Jesus is coming twice. And these two “comings” are radically different.

He came the first time as a lamb, all sweet and cuddly and loving. He didn’t come to fight anyone. He came to die – to save a remnant of the human race. This first time has happened. He already came the first time. But, as He said, He didn’t “come” to bring peace on Earth! Not this time!

He is coming a second time, this time not so sweet and cuddly; He is coming as a lion. He is coming with His clothes dipped in blood and a fierce double-edged sword in His mouth. He is coming to fight against bloody mankind. He is coming to kill a majority of the human race. This second time He comes, He is coming to bring peace. Here is The Bible to back all of that up.

3. Jesus came 2000 years ago as a lamb, all sweet and cuddly and loving.

Acts 8:32…He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

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He didn’t come to fight anyone.

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

He came to die - for a remnant of the human race.

Mark 9:31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

This time has already happened. It is past. He came the first time.

He said that He didn’t “come” to bring peace on Earth! Not this time!

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

4. He is coming a second time, this time not so sweet and cuddly, He is coming as a lion.

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

That starts the “Day of the Lord”. He is coming with His clothes dipped in blood and a fierce sword in His mouth. He is coming to fight against the all of the Gentile (non-Jewish) nations on this planet.

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Look at this description of “the Day of the Lord” from the pen of Isaiah the great prophet.

Isaiah 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

The Lord has weapons the world has never even thought of!

Isaiah 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

The day of the Lord “comes” as DESTRUCTION, not love and peace, as Satan has been teaching!

v7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: v8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

We will have much more on the “woman that travaileth” later, but “hearts melting” and “faces as flames”? That doesn’t sound very loving and peaceful.

v9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Uhh, yeah, that sums it up pretty well.

And just in case you think this is NOT talking about the “last days” or the “latter days” or the “end times” as they are called:

v10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Joel puts it this way:

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Amos essentially asks the question to mankind; do you think the day of the Lord is a good thing for you? He answers with, you are wrong!

Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

Running from a lion and run smack into a bear. Finally escape and feel safe in your house, lean on the wall to rest and a cobra bites you. There is no escape from the day of the Lord.

That is going to happen LITERALLY just as it is described. It hasn’t happened yet, that is quite obvious. Oh, but rest assured, it will!

Isaiah 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; … 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; ...

What does this mean that a man is “more precious than fine gold”? Fine gold is rare. It means there won’t be many men left. Why not? Because…

Isaiah 13:15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; …. 16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

No mercy. No mercy whatsoever. Get yourself right with God before your time comes. He offers mercy now. There will be no mercy then.

Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

He is coming to kill a majority of the human race. It will be rare to find a man still alive.

5. He will clean this world up, and then there will be an incredible world peace.

After Jesus kills every warrior (yes, even the beautiful warrior-princesses) and most of the people on this planet, He will establish a 1000-year Kingdom on Earth. That Kingdom will create and sustain world peace for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

There will be no fighting, no war and no need for security. Leviticus 26:6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

Nobody will “lock” anything because nobody (in their right mind) will steal anything.

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Funny thing, just a short time ago one of my children had a birthday party at the house. She turned 22, my daughter, and we cooked out, played games, swam in the pool and had a great time. It so happened that the next day her older brother couldn’t find his wallet. We weren’t too concerned because that isn’t very unusual for him. But, he looked all over the house, the yard and the cars all day and couldn’t find it. Just as he had given up hope and had resigned himself that he needed to start making calls and replacing everything in his wallet, there was a knock at the door. A stranger happened to find the wallet in the gutter on the side of the road about 100 feet from our driveway and returned it. Everything was there - except the cash.

Listen, in our house, you, and I mean you, dear reader, could leave $10,000 dollars on the counter and not touch it for a year and nobody in our house/family would take it, because it doesn’t belong to them. They might inquire about it (wouldn’t you?) but they wouldn’t touch it. However, as soon as we introduce strangers into the mix we have problems. We are so trusting of one another that we are not used to locking things or hiding things from anyone. There’s simply no need.

At this particular party we served steak on the grill and opened our home as we often do. One of the guests of our home decided our generosity wasn’t enough and that he needed more than what we were offering. He wasn’t caught. He got away free and clear. There was no proof and no evidence other than circumstantial evidence. This is normal for the younger generation of today. Many of them grow up stealing, even though some of their families are quite wealthy. They just enjoy the thrill of it and the satisfaction of not getting caught.

This is a revision 1.1 update. A little over one year after this young man (mid 20s) stole from our home he was found dead of an apparent heroin overdose. I’m not going to say that this was justice or judgment but I will say that this is not the first time someone has treated our family with blatant ungodliness and been found dead shortly afterward. Vengeance is truly the Lord’s. He exacts it on His terms and there is nothing anyone in this universe can do to stop Him. Stand still and He will fight for you. End of revision 1.1 update.

In this coming 1000-year Kingdom of Jesus, these kinds of ungodly things will simply not happen. Not one door will be locked because not one penny will be stolen – without severe consequences.

Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:

Jesus will have all the evidence and all the authority He needs to execute immediate judgement upon humanity during that time. After a few people try it and feel that “rod of iron” there won’t be many more that try it.

Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. 18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

In that day, there will be no need for locks and alarms and guns. There IS a need for the world to have them now! There will be no NEED then!

6. So, then World Peace is a good thing, right?

Sure, as long as it is THIS world peace! You see, there will be a separate attempt at world peace. This will happen, according to The Bible, just before the 1000-year Kingdom.

7. World Peace sure sounds admirable.

Jeremiah 23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

The will all say peace, peace, you will have peace. No evil will come upon you. God says you will have peace.

Jeremiah 23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

Do not listen to them.

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There is a problem with the preachers and the prophets of today. They speak a vision out of their own heart. They may think they mean well, of course, but they are just wrong. They say “The Lord is a God of peace and wants us all to work together to bring peace to this planet.” That is not backed up by Bible Scripture. That makes it a lie.

The problem is that the heart of man is desperately wicked, regardless of what men may think.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Our hearts are desperate to do wickedness. Who can know it? None of us. Only the Word of God can guide us past our “heart”.

So the prophets and preachers are “heartbroken” for the world and they let their heart guide them into a grave mistake.

Jeremiah 23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? 19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

Jeremiah 4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

But why would the Lord intentionally deceive people? 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is one of the most ominous chapters in the entire Bible. Here is a sample…

2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

The whole world will believe the huge lie of “world peace”. Why? Because GOD HIMSELF will send them strong delusion so they will believe it! As I said, no mercy then. You think the truth is hard to find now? At that time it will be virtually impossible.

8. There will be no peace. There is no peace to the wicked.

Understand that there is NO PEACE to the wicked!

Isaiah 48:22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

And the whole world lieth in wickedness,

1 John 5:19 … the whole world lieth in wickedness.

Hence, there will be no peace in this current wicked world.

9. The world simply does not believe that.

The world that hates the Truth and hates The Bible thinks itself better than described therein and can achieve world peace no matter what The Bible says. Satan is very happy to oblige.

Jeremiah 6:14 … saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Humanity is already clamoring for “peace, peace” – when there is no peace. Again, The Bible is very clear, there is NO PEACE to the wicked humanity of this planet.

10. Even looking for peace is trouble.

Jeremiah 8:15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

The world is warned in the Word of God that looking for peace will only bring trouble. Do not look for peace, my friend. Look for truth – and peace will follow!

11. World peace was tried once before. It didn’t work then either.

Genesis 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

Not too long after the flood the new humanity that had grown from the eight people that got off the ark decided that they were going to be great together. Everyone spoke the same language and had the same dialect. Everyone perfectly understood everyone else on this entire planet.

Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

They wanted One World Peace.

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God, for His own reasons and according to His perfect understanding, knew that since they were all together and they were building a tower to reach unto heaven, that they were doing something, or maybe even some things, that were dangerous and/or unacceptable. There is really not much Scripture describing exactly what the problem was and whether the “heaven” of verse 4 is actually the same heaven where God dwells. Personally, though I can’t say this for sure, I don’t think the tower was going to be tall enough to extend all the way past the end of the universe. I don’t know but there is the whole physics thing and the oxygen in space thing and the cold in space thing, so I don’t think it was going to physically reach unto heaven. But, I do believe it was going to somehow “reach unto heaven” as the Word says. Since it wasn’t height it was either some form of physical communication device (sound waves or whatever) or it was a way to intensify spiritual communication – like telepathy or astral projection. Whatever it was, God understood this as such a threat that He came down to Earth Himself to see exactly what was going on.

Genesis 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

God decides that whatever they were planning was ungodly and must be stopped. If you could “imagine” their plan, it wouldn’t be good.

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

“Imagination” was one of the big reasons why God flooded the Earth. But even after the flood He still said this:

Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; …

Imagination is always wicked in man. I realize we are taught to encourage imagination in our children but The Bible is very clear, EVERY time imagination is mentioned it is evil. So if the One World “Babel” society was imagining something, you can rest assured it was evil.

12. To stop it God confounded the language of the world.

Genesis 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

They all suddenly spoke so differently that they could not communicate well enough to finish their tower, or even to continue to live together for that matter. So they scattered.

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Nobody knows exactly how many languages God (called “us” in Genesis 11:7 for those of you counting) divided the people into, but I’m sure it was more than two or three. It was almost certainly many. Maybe each family had a language. I actually think that it is quite likely that each small family was given a different language and/or dialect. It is possible that grandparents could not speak to nor understand their grandchildren. Parents with young children were most likely not separated from their children, those children being too young to care for themselves. But it is possible that every adult family, in which I include only the husband/father, wife/mother and young children, was given a different language and/or dialect. It certainly could have included the grandparents but there is no scripture to confirm. Either way, that would explain the original “trees” of language, of which some estimate there are 20 or so, and the many current dialects (the many offshoots of those trees) the number of which are sometimes estimated at 6,000 or so. The point is that The Bible description of God confounding the languages of the world is completely defendable and believable no matter what anyone says. God did confound the language of the world and He did it for the reasons described in Genesis 11.

13. There is coming another attempt at world peace.

Daniel, the prophet, was given end times prophecy which is basically the Old Testament equivalent of the book of Revelation. In prophesying about the coming world peace, Daniel wrote:

Daniel 11:21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

A great leader is coming. He will be vile but he won’t win a war to come into power, he will come in peaceably, by flattering the people with his tongue. He will be a silver-tongued orator; much like the former American President named Obama. But this coming man will be 1000 times better (or worse depending on your perspective). He will be a silver-tongued demon from the pit of hell.

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Daniel 11:23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: ... 24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches:...

Again, a deceitful man enters peaceably. Very interestingly, look at how this man of “peace” will win over the common man to his cause. He will “enter peaceably” “upon the fattest places”. He will likely be voted in, how else would one enter peaceably? He will enter peaceably on “the fattest places”, or the wealthy places. What will he do with the “prey, and spoil, and riches” from taking over the fattest places? He will “scatter” it “among them”. This certainly sounds like redistribution of wealth. This is almost certainly a description of socialism or communism. This is Satan’s plan to submit the people to his rule. Consider yourself warned.

14. The world will be in a time of peace in the “latter time”.

Daniel 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, … and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

This guy will be incredibly satanic. He has a fierce countenance (look or appearance) and is mighty in power. But not his own power, satanic power! He will understand “dark sentences”. That is not worldly understanding. He will “destroy many”. How will he destroy many? “By peace” The Bible clearly says. Not by war or by strength, but by peace!

15. Then that “world peace” will be suddenly and violently taken.

Revelation 6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

In order to “take peace” there has to be “peace” to take! The Earth will have a very temporary peace. It will end very abruptly. But then it will be too late.

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How bad will it be? After the Red Horse is finished, this guy comes along:

Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

25% of the world’s population is going to die during this time. At the current estimated world population of 8 billion people that would work out to 2 billion (not million) people dead. In 1931 there was a flood in China. It is estimated that as many as 4 million people died, and it is considered the greatest natural disaster in recorded history. 4 million people is a lot of people. But, it is only about 1/5th of 1 percent of 2 billion. There will be unprecedented death and horror on this planet. The animals (“beasts of the earth”) are going to be coming out of the woods and out of the jungles and attacking men like they’ve gone crazy. I saw a movie made about this once. It wasn’t based on The Bible at all. I’m not even sure the author knew it was from a Bible prophecy, but it will happen. And it will be terrible. They will be running from a lion and they will run into a bear! The Bible is literal. This time is coming.

16. When will this time be?

This is a logical question and Jesus’ disciples asked it of Him as well.

Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The Bible reiterates in Mark 13 and Luke 21.

17. Be careful not to be deceived.

Remember from Daniel that a “deceitful” man is coming and from Thessalonians that God will send “strong delusion”. With all that deceit and delusion, here is the warning from our Saviour.

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

And remember also that many of the “prophets” are liars, either on purpose or in naivety. The Bible is the Truth. Anything else is a lie.

18. The first deception: wars and rumors of wars.

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:

Oh my goodness, head for the hills! I have heard from the time my Daddy used to beat my rear-end with a leather belt, “wars and rumours of wars!” “People”, the false prophets say, “when you see wars and rumours of wars look for his coming. We are having more wars and more fighting so it is getting closer. We have had two great world wars already so you know we are close”! Hogwash. Do not be deceived by these prophetic liars. (In fairness, some may be deceived themselves and may be lying in ignorance. That is no excuse. I just hope they wake up.) Just look at the entire verse, Matthew 24:6 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.

Be NOT troubled. Don’t even worry. As long as we are hearing about “wars and rumours of wars” we are in good shape. There is no need to worry at all The Bible says, “the end is not yet.”

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Do you realize how many wars there have been in recorded history? Do you think war has ever been completely absent from this planet? The NY Times seems to think that there have been 268 years of peace in the last 3,400 years. First, let me state that the NY Times is no more reliable than The Satanic Bible and just as sinister. I have no idea where they got their information because as far as I can deduce there was nobody on the Earth today that was alive 3,400 years ago that we can ask. One reason they may show some years without “war” is that they qualify the definition of war as a conflict where at least 1,000 people die. I know there were wars in The Bible where fewer than 1,000 people died so would they not count? My point is that we have had war on this planet for as long as anyone can recall, and it has never stopped. It never truly will, until Jesus stops it completely. Don’t lose one second of your life worrying about “wars and rumours of wars”.

19. More deception: famines, pestilences and earthquakes in divers places.

Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Oh no, not the dreaded famines and pestilences; not the feared earthquakes in many places! Jesus said in verse 6 not to worry about wars, but now this stuff? In reality, verse 7 is just a continuation of verse 6 and still the end is not yet. Don’t worry about any of this at all. It is normal and it will happen from the beginning to the end.

Luke 21:9 …, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

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I have read many books about the “end times” from many different authors and from many different perspectives. It seems they all want to try to show some kind of historical rise in the earthquake activity and the occurrence of natural disasters. They try to manipulate data to show any sort of recent uptick, but we all know what you can do with statistics. Statistics are like politicians, given the right persuasion they’ll say anything you want. Jesus was very clear that these things must come to pass, they must happen. He was also very clear, the end is not yet. Do not give these things a second thought as it pertains to the coming return of Jesus.

20. They aren’t signs of this time, even so, they are not insignificant.

Jesus mentioned all these things for a reason and though they do not signify the “end”, they do signify the beginning!

Matthew 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

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What does that mean? What is “the beginning of sorrows”? In fact, what are “sorrows”? And when is the beginning? Thank you for asking.

Jeremiah 13:21 shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

Jeremiah 49:24 … anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

Isaiah 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: …

Hosea 13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: …

Sorrows are the labor pains of a woman giving birth. “The beginning of sorrows” is the very beginning of that labor. But, not the end! This is THE BEGINNING. But, the beginning of what?

21. The Earth is dying.

Have you possibly ever heard of global warming or climate change? Thought you might. Well, it is real. I know that sounds positively traitorous coming from a Bible believer, but it’s the truth. There are people preaching that climate change is the single greatest danger facing mankind and that we must rally together to defeat it. This is a lie. It is part of the same deception as “wars and rumours of wars” and “famines and pestilences”. It is satanic deception designed to pronounce doom and gloom on mankind (blaming God of course) when in reality it is only the sign of a new beginning.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

The whole of creation, the Earth included, is dying. There is pain and suffering and death not just for humans but for ALL of the creation.

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v23 And not only they, but ourselves also, … waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

We humans are waiting to be reborn. We know for sure we are going to die in this life, so it is the redemption, rebirth and new life we await. The Earth is likewise waiting for a rebirth.

22. It is our fault (with some help).

The preachers and scientists warning about the imminent danger of climate change are blaming modern man for the problem. They say we need to clean up the planet, that our “overcrowding” and modern inventions polluting the planet are the problem. That is satanic garbage and you may deposit it in the nearest landfill. Modern man has nothing to do with it. Ancient man however, has everything to do with it.

Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou … hast eaten of the tree, … cursed is the ground for thy sake;

Because of the sin of mankind, thanks to father Satan, the ground is cursed - and with it, the entire Earth is cursed!

Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, … 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed … 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth,…

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Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: … and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner:

Just like humans are going to die because of sin, the Earth is going to die also because of human sin.

Isaiah 24:19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. … it shall fall, and not rise again.

“Not rise again” is something I will not deal with fully at this time because it doesn’t really matter to our conclusion, but suffice it to say that the Earth will eventually perish completely and God will create an entirely new Earth and new Heavens.

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

God will completely destroy these old heavens and this old Earth.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord … in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Science says matter can neither be created nor destroyed. I believe they are wrong. The Bible says the “elements shall melt with fervent heat”. Are you familiar at all with the periodic table of the elements? If you’ve ever learned anything about chemistry you are. Element 1 is hydrogen. Element 2 is helium. Element 6 is carbon. Element 8 is oxygen. Silver is number 47. Gold is number 79. There are 94 naturally occurring elements in the table. They will all melt and be no more. Silver and gold melting doesn’t seem unusual at all. But, oxygen will melt. Helium will melt. Hydrogen will melt. They will all melt. Everything will melt. There will be NOTHING left in the entire universe. That is impossible, science (falsely-so-called) will scoff. Well, The Bible says:

Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

“No place” for them? Where in the world is “no place”? You ought to know, you’ve been there! We all have. Remember when you were young and your mom said, “where were you this afternoon?” And you said, wait for it, “nowhere”. And when you got kind of lost and you looked around and exclaimed, “we’re in the middle of nowhere!” Well, if you asked all these elements where they went, they would give the same reply, “no place”. They are going to be in the middle of nowhere; lost, nowhere to be found! If God says you can’t find a place for something in the entirety of existence, where do you think it will go? I would say that would be called the middle of nowhere – likely in the Lake of Fire. Scoff if you want. Just don’t bet the mortgage; or your soul.

But, before that…

23. Climate change is the result of the Earth dying.

I met a man a while ago who was very interested in the subject of Biblical geology. He knew much more about this particular subject than I, so I listened intently to learn as much as I possibly could. I didn’t retain a whole lot, but what I did retain I will share here. He said that the “wobble” (I am told by my rocket-scientist son that the technical term is “nutation”) of the Earth is getting worse and that this increased wobble is what is causing these climate changes. He said a lot more than that, but this particular item caused my ears to tingle and my mind to race to this verse…

Isaiah 24:19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,…

The Earth is “utterly broken down”. That’s not an opinion, dear reader, that is Bible Truth.

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What happens when your car has broken down or when your washing machine has broken down? How would you like your plane to “utterly break down” while you’re at 30,000 feet? Well, your planet is broken. Not breaking down, that could possibly be fixed. And not just broken down. No, your planet is “utterly broken down”, done, and out of order. If your plane utterly breaks down at 30,000 feet, what happens? Let’s agree you’re in some serious trouble! You suddenly find yourself hurtling toward Earth and a terrifying crash-landing. Not a place you want to be. It might take a little while to get all the way down and actually crash. It might even feel like forever, but it’s coming. Our planet is already utterly broken down and it is coming in for a crash-landing. It might take a little longer but the inevitable end is coming. Men may think they can fix it or stop it but ask yourself this: If your plane is utterly broken down and hurtling toward its doom, are you counting on some man to somehow find a way to save you, or are you going to spend your remaining time getting right with God? Better spend the time getting yourself right with God. No man is coming. He already came. And He didn’t fix your plane - or your planet. He offered to take you off.

Science-falsely-so-called (1 Tim. 6:20) has known about the earth’s wobble for a hundred years or so. The Bible has known about it for several thousand! The Earth is wobbling like a drunkard, reeling to and fro. Not enough that you and I would ever notice of course, but just enough to create havoc. It wasn’t designed like this; the wobble is the fault of sinful man, not God. It is part of the curse that came directly from sin and which we have learned comes directly from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That is why Satan is so afraid of the truth spilling out into the public. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, the world is going to be able to do to combat “climate change” no matter who gets elected President and no matter how much money and technology are thrown at the problem. Unless science-falsely-so-called can stop the wobble and fix the “utterly broken down” Earth, which it can’t I assure you, there is nothing that can be done except to deal with the inescapable hurtling and brace for the coming crash-landing. The political push to fix climate change is simply a satanic cover-up for the reality of Bible Truth. Satan irrevocably destroyed our planet – OUR planet! And he wants to destroy you with it. Do not be deceived. Get off the plane. You have been warned.

24. The problems of climate change are all a result of the curse.

The curse caused the Earth to utterly break down, begin growing old and start hurtling toward its death, just like you and me. As we age things go wrong. We get sick, hurt, fall apart, have pain and die. The Earth is going through the same thing. It is sick, hurt, falling apart and dying. That’s why:

Matthew 24:7 … there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Famine, pestilence, earthquake and all natural disasters are the result of the curse. Nothing in man’s power can fix it. Don’t ask why God allows small children to be killed in hurricanes, because He has nothing to do with it. We, with the help of our father Satan, did it to our own children.

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Famine is a result of the curse. Famine is caused by, duh, a lack of food. The ground was cursed and now produces food only with considerable work. Before sin there was no work required.

Genesis 3:17 … cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.

Interesting that The Bible says “in sorrow”. In sorrow, because the earth was dying from that moment.

There is another, separate curse but definitely related. This curse was enacted because of the first murder in human history. Cain killed his own brother, Abel, and therefore God proclaimed an additional part of the curse…

Genesis 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth,... 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength;

Pestilence is a result of the curse. Pestilence is sickness, plague or disease. God did not design man to get sick. There was no such thing as a plague or a disease. Remember that when they were in Eden everything was very good.

I find pollution a very interesting problem. Humans are trying to limit and deal with pollution, however there is no chance that mankind can ever stop polluting. What was the first pollution ever on this planet? Well, first it was blood; water was polluted and turned into blood. And now, not to be vulgar, but when do you think mankind began to expel human waste? Do you think there was any human waste in Eden? Of course not. There was no pollution until our blood was polluted. Do you think they had a landfill in Eden? Do you think Adam had to go behind a tree or dig a hole and cover it? Not even a little chance. It seems incomprehensible that “poop” happened before the polluted blood took over and started creating pollution (waste). Polluted blood causing pollution, go figure? It was all downhill from there. This human waste has been ruining our planet from the beginning of sin. That alone is enough to eventually cause sickness, plague and disease.

Earthquakes and all other natural disasters are a result of the curse. The satanic plan is to focus the world’s attention on fixing climate change in order to “save the planet”. That is impossible. The idea that somehow man is responsible for the demise of this planet is a satanic lie of the greatest magnitude. Satan caused this, ALL of it. He has no desire to fix it at all, only to divert man’s attention so he can subtilly (he is very good at subtilty, see the serpent in Genesis 3) subject mankind to his rule while they blindly struggle to save a planet that is completely doomed and for which the history of that doom has been already written in advance.

The Earth was already dying but the flood sped up the process considerably.

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

I will not venture into this area because it is long and isn’t necessary for our topic. The Earth is utterly broken down as you have already learned. That combined with the “fountains of the great deep” being “broken up” is going to cause all kinds of problems. Think about the irony of that for a moment. The Earth is broken DOWN and the fountains of the great deep are broken UP. When those two things collide, well, you talk about a train wreck! We call those train wrecks natural disasters.

25. God is eventually going to repair this Earth.

He will fix all of those problems and more, for a while, a thousand years to be precise. He may just blow and fix the wobble with His breath, and then fix the tilt of the Earth with a flick of an eyelash. The Bible is unclear how it will be done, but The Bible is very clear that it will be done! Then, after 1,000 years He will destroy it all and make a new and better (perfect) Earth that isn’t utterly broken down and will never be destroyed. However, before that and during this period of 1,000 years…

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

A lion and a fatted calf will be best friends. A pack of wolves will play tag with the sheep. The animals will eat straw and grass - and not each other. Likewise humans will not eat meat either.

Isaiah 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,…

The little boys and girls will go out and play without fear. They will play games with cobras and grab the tails of rattlesnakes. They will swim with sharks and waterski with whales.

Not one creature will eat, fight or hurt another creature in this entire Kingdom. That sounds like a pretty nice world to me! I’m going to befriend a Bengal Tiger!

This is going to be a tremendous time for everyone still alive on planet Earth.

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Isaiah 65:19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Nobody will ever cry or weep or be upset about anything. A person that happens to die at 100 years old will be considered a mere child! Nobody will work for a tyrant or have their wages cut or be taken advantage of. We will build our own houses and grow our own food. Our houses will not age and our crops will require little effort.

Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

No more war. No more Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. No more fighter jets and no more tanks. People will completely forget about the concept of war. This is what all of the “peaceniks” want now, but it can never happen on this planet until Jesus returns. Never has, never will!

Joel 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk,…

Wine will drop off the vine and run down the mountains like rivers. The milk will flow down the hills. Just grab a glass and have some. Make mine chocolate, please!

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Poverty, what’s that? Nothing will cost a cent! Everything will be incredibly valuable yet absolutely free! There will be no need for money. There will be no need to pay for anything. In Satan’s world, everything you acquire must be paid for – he will make sure of it. In God’s world everything and anything is completely free.

Isaiah 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

The mountains will sing and the trees will clap along in rhythm: a mountain-range/valley chorus! How awesome is that? Think that’s impossible? Think again! The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.

Isaiah 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree:…

No more thorns and briers. I hate those things anyway, don’t you? Roses without thorns, fields without briers and picking berries without getting pricked. You will walk in bare feet and nothing will hurt your feet.

Isaiah 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

No surgery needed. No glasses and no hearing aids. The blind will see for the first time in their lives. You know what the deaf will hear? They will hear the mountains singing and the trees clapping.

Isaiah 35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

The crippled will run and leap and dance like a young deer. Those that have never spoken one word will sing a new song.

Isaiah 40:31 … they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

We will run full speed and never get tired no matter how far we run!

Isaiah 32:4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

Those that are not as intelligently gifted now will then be gifted with tremendous knowledge! Nobody will stutter or stammer or be at a loss for words.

Isaiah 32:5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

Right now, there are people running around our planet calling themselves “liberals”. However they aren’t really liberal at all. They may have the world fooled but they don’t have God fooled. They are “vile” and selfish and wouldn’t know liberalism if it bit them on the nose. Most people don’t realize that “liberal” is not a bad word, scripturally – it is what all of us should be! The vile persons of the world have stolen the word “liberal” from the people of God and God is going to take it from them and give it back to its rightful owners!

Isaiah 35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water:….

Bottled water? Where we’re going, we don’t need bottled water. This water will taste incredible, be free and clean and as plentiful as the sand on the seashore. No more rations or droughts. Have you ever swum in a natural hot spring in the middle of a snowy winter? I have. It is awesome!

This is going to be a time of peace and prosperity like the world has never imagined. The utopia the peaceniks want? This is much more than they can imagine.

26. But, before that there must be an absolutely terrible time.

Before God remakes this planet into that awesome place there must be a terrible time on this planet. The Bible calls this Great Tribulation. It will be the most cruel and wicked period of time in human history.

Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

The time of Jacob’s trouble is synonymous with Great Tribulation. They are the same thing by different names.

Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

This period of time will make the Holocaust look like a Disney World picnic. It will be utterly horrifying. If God doesn’t shorten that time (He will) there won’t be one survivor.

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Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

How were these that have come out of Great Tribulation killed?

Revelation 20:4 … I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands…

That’s certainly not hard to understand is it? And contrary to what most Bible-hating scholars would hypothesize (to hypothesize means you don’t know what you are talking about for sure so you guess), that is not “figurative” speech. This world is going to chop off the heads of Bible-believers. Be a part of the world’s system of peace - or die. Worship Satan or die! Pretty simple, huh? That’s not a hypothesis; that is Bible Truth.

As a very short aside, I find it quite interesting that these tribulation saints will be killed by “beheading”. Beheading, isn’t that a little barbaric for this modern peace-loving world? Where would we possibly find beheadings in the world today? Maybe with the Islamic believers? Yes, I think maybe you are right! It seems likely to me that Islam will be beheading God’s people at the direction of the whole world during this time! A very chilling prospect, no?

How is the world going to identify those dissenters or catch them?

Mark 13:12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

Their own families are going to turn them in!

John 16:2 …yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

The world will eventually get tired of turning believers in to the authorities; that will take too long. They will start killing them, without jury, without judge, without cause. Not that it would matter because it will be illegal to be a believer anyway. Those that kill believers or turn them in will sincerely think they are doing the right thing with God. Brother will turn in brother, sister will turn in sister and children will turn in their parents – or just kill them. Satan is seriously messing with this world’s head. Some may say, no way, that will never happen! Think what you will but you’d better hope you’re not here to find out exactly how wrong you are.

Luke 23:29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

In other words, people are going to wish they had never been born. When they see what happens to their beloved children they will wish they had never had children.

There are many more things that will be more horrible than your imagination will allow, but suffice it to say that it will get so bad that…

Revelation 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Isaiah 2:19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD,…

They are going to leave their McMansions and their guarded fortresses and their moated palaces and head into the caves and dens of the mountains. You say, that’s too hard to believe.

Revelation 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

When this happens, a man could jump from the Eifel Tower and land heart-first on a bed of Ginsu knives and he would not die. It would hurt a whole lot, but he wouldn’t die. Death, as an escape, even by suicide, will be unavailable. So they will run and hide in the rocks and caves and beg to die. Does that not sound horrible to you?

27. This terrible time will happen very suddenly.

To see a woman that you love in the middle of hard labor is not an easy thing. For many years men stayed in the waiting room or outside the house while the ladies (midwives) handled the labor and delivery. That’s because, as I said, seeing your queen (your wife is your queen, and should be treated as such at every moment and in every situation) in that much agony is seriously strenuous. My first child, Joshua, had my wife in labor for almost 24 hours. At some point, though, she had an epidural injection that effectively removed the pain of labor. She told the anesthesiologist that she loved him.

With my second child, Jacob, born 18 months later, it was completely different. Jacob was born less than half an hour after my wife said to me, “honey, my water just broke”. I thought, because of the way things went with our first child, that we had about 20 hours before we even needed to think about heading to the hospital. Boy was I wrong. I flew (about an inch off the ground) to the hospital at 100 miles an hour. My second son was born as I was parking the car and hurrying to carry my first son up to the delivery room. No epidural this time; just didn’t have time to get one. Of my seven children he was the only one I didn’t see born. It just happened so fast. Boom, it was over! That’s exactly how this is going to happen. No warning. Too late. Game over. No escape.

Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

The world is NOT going to see this coming, just like my second child. It is going to happen too fast for anyone to do anything about it.

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Luke 17:22 And he said unto the disciples, … 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Nothing noticeable is going to happen to preclude this event that will alarm the people to its coming. People are going to be preoccupied with living their normal lives. Nothing will seem out of the ordinary at all. It was that way before Noah’s flood and only eight people didn’t drown.

Luke 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

It was that way before God rained fire and brimstone down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, his wife and his two daughters were dragged out by angels. The rest of the cities’ population all died. They didn’t know what hit them until it was too late.

Luke 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Satan is setting a diabolical trap. Once the snare strikes it will be too late, like a bear stepping into a bear trap. Unless he chews off his own leg, he is stuck.

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

It will happen as a lightning strike. Have you ever seen a man dodge a lightning strike? Me neither.

Revelation 3:3 …, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

It will happen like a thief breaking into a home. If the homeowner had known when he was coming, he would have had either the police or a gun waiting. The world will have time for neither.

28. There will be almost no warning at all!

You’re pregnant. You know that. Pregnancy takes nine months and is a little uncomfortable. Then, all the sudden, boom!

Isaiah 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: …

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

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The Bible speaks of “the abomination of desolation” in Daniel and in the gospels.

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

When this happens, and I am not saying I fully “understand” as verse 15 says, there is no time left.

v16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

When this “abomination of desolation” happens there is no time to pack. Don’t grab your clothes or anything else in your house, just run. Run for your life. If you go back into the house you will be caught. Let me say that there are a few theories on exactly what the abomination of desolation is. I am not going to elaborate on what I believe, because it is a difficult proof and requires some conjecture. It isn’t perfectly, at my very limited level of knowledge, spelled out in Scripture and isn’t essential to our discourse. Let’s just say that whatever it is, it is very bad and it indicates that it is time to flee for your life.

29. A very bad man is coming to usher in this “world peace”.

If you see the “abomination of desolation” it is really too late. Great tribulation has begun and you will endure it. There are many things we have learned that must happen to begin this process. There is a man coming to this planet, a very bad man. A very powerful man, as we have learned, but a very sinful man.

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2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

A man of sin is coming to rule this planet for a short time. He will act like he is God. He won’t be. He will be the “son of perdition”. “Perdition” is a place of death. It is either Hell itself, in Hell, or something very similar to Hell. This man will be the offspring of this place. He will enslave humanity but they will be blind to it. He will kill anyone that will not worship him.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, … v15 And he had power to … cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

The world will worship Satan in human form. They will be only too glad to cooperate and have world peace rather than be slain by beheading. This is what is coming.

30. The alarm is sounding but the world isn’t listening.

DAAAANT!-DAAAANT!-DAAAANT!-DAAAANT!-DAAAANT!-DAAAANT! Wake up! The alarm is blaring!

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 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.

Here is your alarm. Not the “wars and rumours of wars” and “famines, pestilences and earthquakes”, those are the deception, the hypnosis. On the contrary, when they say, “peace and safety, relax, everything is fine - we have everything under control - trust us - we will keep you safe - just hit snooze and go back to sleep”, WAKE UP! It is time to worry.

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1 Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

Satan is the most masterful liar that will ever exist. He makes Hillary Clinton look like a girl scout on truth serum hooked to a lie detector. He is hypnotizing the world right now. “You are getting sleepy”, he says, “sleepy”, as his pocket-watch swings slowly back and forth before the eyes of the whole world. World peace is a lie of the greatest magnitude, with the most wicked intentions imaginable, straight from the mind of the most brilliant liar ever to speak.

The world is clamoring for world peace. Peace is coming. The world is begging to live in safety, in lieu of rampant crime and terrorism. Safety is coming. My advice is, head for the hills. Get outta town by sundown. Get right with God now. This world is a train wreck heading right for “world peace”. THEN “sudden destruction” will come upon them as a woman waking up in hard labor with no epidural in sight. They will not escape. The coming world peace is the worst thing that will ever happen in the history of this planet.

Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

The very bad man will be so powerful that nobody would dare make war with him. But, even if they dared, nobody will want to. They will worship him as a god.

This world has become so wicked, I would venture that it is akin to the wickedness found in Sodom and Gomorrah before God’s judgment fell. Lot tried to warn them but they thought it was a joke. Even the people that trusted him the most on this planet thought he was mad.

Genesis 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

Maybe you think this is a joke also. Maybe you think this is a made-up conspiracy theory. Sodom and Gomorrah did too.

Even though they have a warning, the people of the world won’t heed it. They think it is ridiculous to even consider that this could ever happen. This is called a trap.

31. Are we close? What are the real barriers to world peace?

As I see it, and I am not God so I don’t know everything, the barriers to world peace are as follows: Distance, Language and Religion.

Distance – God scattered humanity all over the world at Babel to thwart world peace.

Language – God confused the world’s languages at Babel to thwart world peace.

Religion – Difference in religion is probably the greatest barrier to peace on this planet. Israel and the Arab world cannot achieve peace.

These problems are all being solved right now in this world.

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Distance:

Jet flight is bringing people much closer. One can be anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. Trains and cars are faster and more widely available than ever. I can travel from my home to the closest major city in about 20 minutes. Not that long ago that trip took a whole day. I can travel many states away from my home in one day.

Even if you can’t “be there”, the internet and advanced graphical interfacing makes it seem as if you are. Skype (Dick Tracy-inspired visual communication) and iphone’s FaceTime are already widely used and completely free. A person without a cellphone (really just a personal GPS locating device that the beast will use to find you when he wants you) is considered uncivilized or dirt poor. The Bible says the problem of distance will be fixed to prepare for world peace.

Daniel 12:4 ...to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Language:

The language barrier is a big deal. It is a big deal to God and it is a big deal to the world peace movement. God confounded a universal world language at Babel and men could no longer work together to accomplish what they “imagined to do”. Satan has been trying to regroup ever since. Now, computers and their language programming have become very sophisticated. Star Trek had the “universal translator”. Humans (fictionally, I must state) traveled the universe and spoke to any alien race by using this universal translating device. Technology has begun to catch up to science fiction. Not in traveling by spaceship to some distant galaxy where two-headed Curmucks greet us in peace, but in the language translation department. I have read of a “smart earpiece” that can translate language in real-time and relay the translation directly into the ear of the wearer. That would completely eliminate any language barrier on this planet – or at least the “important” languages (you know, the languages the lovely U.N. deems vitally important to world peace). This newest technology will at launch support English, Spanish, French and Italian, with additional languages available 'soon after', including 'East Asian, Hindi, Semitic, Arabic, Slavic, and African.'

The chief envisioning officer of Microsoft UK recently said (in 2016) that in the next five years, advanced technology will allow people of different nationalities to sit down and freely converse with just a smartphone between them, instantly translating their language in real-time. The Bible knew this would happen.

Daniel 12:4 ...to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

That very bad man is described as:

2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders…

The very bad man is coming with satanic “signs”. Satan always tries to copy God. Biblical “tongues” are “signs”.

1 Corinthians 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign…

How do “tongues” work?

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,… v8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

You speak in your own tongue. The hearer hears in his own native tongue. Nothing to learn whatsoever. Just like magic, language problem solved.

One way or another, the language barrier is quickly going to disappear. That seems awesome, until you realize for what reason our language was originally confounded, and by whom.

Religion:

The biggest barrier here is that the nation of Israel is utterly despised by the Muslim world. Jews are despised by much of the non-Muslim world also, but Muslims have a particularly negative opinion of Jews. In a recent Olympic Judo bout an Israeli beat an Egyptian. After the match the Egyptian refused to shake his hand. I wonder if the Egyptian would have shaken his hand if he himself had won? The militant Muslim country of Iran is now firing missiles with “Israel must be wiped out” written, in Hebrew, on them. I wonder to whom that message is written? The Ayatollah Khamenei (supreme leader of Iran and a Muslim cleric) preaches “death to America” which is commonly called “the Great Satan” by the Muslim world because of U.S. support of Israel.

The reason there has been no workable treaty between Israel and the Arab world is because the Arab world refuses to negotiate. Even if they did negotiate, Israel could not trust them to keep their end of the bargain. Inflexibly believing that Israel has “no right to exist” they have vowed to “drive Israel into the (Mediterranean) sea” and their Holy Koran (I say “holy” in jest) allows for a Muslim to lie to an infidel (spelled J-E-W) in order to defeat them.

This is the one conflict the world really needs to solve to create world peace. Without solving this conflict world peace simply cannot happen. Every non-Muslim leader in the civilized world is looking for a way to solve it. I believe it will be solved, temporarily of course, by the very bad man in order to open the door for world peace. If a man rises peaceably to power that is absolutely the most brilliant man on the planet, incredibly handsome, innocuously charming, exceedingly engaging and finds a solution to this problem, the world will bow to his greatness. Remember that “son of perdition”?

Revelation 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Enter the Beast.

32. Global Warming (Climate Change) is the rallying cry to usher in World Peace.

The barriers to world peace are being systematically resolved. But, the world needs a rallying cry, a common cause we can ALL believe in! Enter “climate change”. Save the planet! Conserve the World’s resources! We ALL have to live on “mother earth”! Think Globally - Act Locally!

Think I’m wrong? Think I’m making this up? Satan is a master deceiver. Jesus warned us not to be deceived. What did Jesus say would be the deception? He said it would be “famines, pestilences and earthquakes”. Sound like modern climate change doctrine to you? It sure does to me!

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The world is dealing with the terrible scourge of fundamental Islam right now. Their terrorists are wreaking havoc the world over with bombings, torture, mass killings, kidnappings, hijackings, beheadings and/or many other creative forms of terrorism just about every single day. There is a huge disagreement between the more conservative-leaning folks and the more liberal-leaning folks about which is the greater threat to the world, Islamic terrorism or climate change. The conservatives believe hands down it is the terrorism. The liberals believe that as bad as terrorism might be right now, climate change is an even bigger threat. Not to downplay the absolute plague of terrorist Islam but The liberals are almost certainly right (for once) on this one.

Global Warming (climate change) is supposed to be “scientific truth”. I haven’t studied the science-falsely-so-called side of it, so I will just take their word for this one. Not because I trust them at all, nope, not one little bit, but BECAUSE The Bible says so! Climate change will rally the world together for world peace!

This is more a theory I have than something I can back up 100% scripturally (even though I will give you lots of Scripture), but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Proverbs 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.

If you didn’t know, Hell is beneath us. Hell is in the middle of planet Earth, so whether you are in America, China or Antarctica it is always “beneath” you.

There are plenty of people that don’t believe in Hell. The Bible is very clear that it exists, but if one doesn’t believe the Bible then one isn’t likely to believe in Hell. However, it is a veritable certainty all will believe in it someday soon. The Bible says it this way.

2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

In case you haven’t been paying attention the scoffers are here already.

2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Those scoffers (scientists-falsely-so-called) tend to think they know everything. Of course, they only know everything on that particular day, because tomorrow they will have changed their minds, and will be absolutely sure about the change to the belief about which they were absolutely certain yesterday. Hope you got that. One of their problems is they want to talk about “billions of years ago” like they were there. Uh, they weren’t. But they assume (do I have to spell ass-u-me for you?) that since some recent “experiment” of theirs indicates some currently “provable” theory, that they can simply calculate backwards and tell us dummies exactly what happened 6 billion years ago. Again, they weren’t there. But God was. And He says their mistake is that they assume that everything happening now is the exact same way everything has been happening for billions of years. Now, I wasn’t there either. But, if you are going to give me a choice between believing the perfect Word of God and believing some “brilliant” scientist who is wrong twice a day every day (they call these “experiments” and “theories”), well, give me The Bible every time. The Bible never “experiments”; it just knows the answer every time.

2 Peter 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

The Bible calls them “willingly ignorant”. That means they are dumb on purpose. Professing themselves wise, they became fools. “The heavens were of old”, ”BY THE WORD OF GOD”, the Bible says. What does that mean? It means God did it and they just refuse to believe it because they don’t want to answer to holiness; but they will anyway. And since they think there was this “big bang” (there was, but it was the thunder of God’s voice; 2 Samuel 22:14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.) that exploded to form everything existing in this incredibly vast universe from a single dot much smaller than the period in this sentence, they think it has taken billions of years for that to have happened. Who thinks up garbage like that? Oh, right, Darwin, sorry. If the foundation is messed up, the house will crumble!

Psalms 102:25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth:

2 Peter 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

They are dumb on purpose about Noah’s flood. They refuse to acknowledge the changes that this cataclysmic event brought about. Everyone before the flood lived at least 750 years. We live 75, one tenth the life-span. But, modern science pats itself on the back for its great “discoveries” (the Bible never “discovers” anything new) that have increased our life-spans by 20-30 years. Now we can live until we are so old and feeble that we can’t even get up out of bed during the day; how delightful. In fact, many can’t even remember they are supposed to get out of bed.

2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

And since they are dumb on purpose about creation, and dumb on purpose about the flood, they are certainly dumb on purpose about the coming FIRE! They can’t even predict the weather when it’s already raining! I have many times gone online to check the weather and seen 0% chance of rain, hopped on my motorcycle and arrived at my destination soaking wet. Never trust a human to predict the future! The Bible says there is a very large FIRE coming to the Earth.

Luke 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Not only is it coming, it IS ALREADY kindled! That means the fire is already started, it is already burning. You just can’t see it yet… or can you?

Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

This fire kindled in the lowest Hell. Yes, Hell has “levels”. Going down anyone? The fire started at the BOTTOM and is moving UP. This KINDLING (the real fire hasn’t really taken off yet) is just the very beginning. Kindling is the stuff at the bottom of the fire that really gets the fire going. Right now this fire is just “kindling”.

This “kindling” shall “consume the earth” as it “increases”. So as this “kindling” grows (increases) it shall consume the Earth. Not only does it consume the Earth but it also sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

Now, check this out:

Isaiah 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

This is rather curious, don’t you think? Hell “from beneath” is “moved to meet thee” when you go there? When a lost man dies, his soul goes DOWN into Hell.

Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,...

So, if the lost man is going “down” and Hell “beneath” him is moving to meet him as he is coming down, which way is Hell moving? Up, right? Right.

Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure…

Hell is getting larger. It is growing. It is growing “without measure”. What does that mean? The Earth is a circle. Hell is inside of a circle. As Hell enlarges itself it would seem it is growing in an immeasurable circle (opened her mouth (circle), without measure (immeasurable)). Why is it immeasurable? Well, can YOU measure a circle? Are you sure? Ever heard of Pi? Can you rattle off the exact value of Pi for me, please? I’ll stop and give you a moment. Pause for effect here. …

So, we can’t accurately measure a circle can we? This “kindling” down under the Earth is “burning” and moving “up”.

Isaiah 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

The “dead” in Hell are “stirred up”. That’s kind of an odd thing to say, wouldn’t you agree? When you stir something, what is it that you stir? Isn’t it a liquid of some kind usually? I stir my chocolate powder into my white milk to make it chocolatey! There is some kind of a substance (let’s call it a liquid) that is getting stirred and as it is stirred it is stirring the dead. So, the dead are in the substance (liquid). This liquid is the kindling of Hell.

Funny thing, Hell is in the middle of the Earth. What does science-falsely-so-called teach us is in the middle of the Earth? Don’t they believe a molten liquid is in the middle of the Earth? Yes they do. Wait, they may just be right for once! Yay, science! Man, that’s now one for the liberals and one for science. We’re going to lose count!

Proverbs 27:20 Hell and destruction are never full.

Hell is never full. It just keeps expanding as the entrants to it increase in number. 150,000 people die every day. Souls have weight. It may not be much, but there was a researcher from Haverhill, Massachusetts named Duncan MacDougall who was able to demonstrate this conclusively. Mr. MacDougall and a small team of researchers placed dying people on very sensitive scales. At the moment of death in the patients an immediate change in weight was recorded. He concluded that since their weight lowered ever so slightly at the moment of their death, their souls had to have weight. And where there is weight, my friend, there is mass. Mr. MacDougall claimed that the weight of a soul averages about ¾ of an ounce.

Let’s call it an ounce for the sake of making this a much easier calculation. So, let’s say 150,000 ounces are poured into Hell’s liquid each day. 150,000 ounces at 16 ounces per pound come to 9,375 pounds per day. That comes to about 3.5 million pounds each year. That’s a lot of “ice” in your drink.

One more piece of the puzzle: The souls in Hell are the stubble for this great coming fire.

Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble:

That not enough for you? Try these:

Isaiah 9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

Isaiah 33:12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

There is coming a fire so great that:

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

There is eventually going to be an explosion that literally disintegrates the whole universe, the Earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies, the black holes, the everything. And listen up, for that very fire is kindling right now in the center of this planet we live on! And the souls of the dead are the stubble.

Why is this universal fire starting right in the center of planet Earth? Well, good question. This will be an unimaginable explosion. It will make the world’s entire nuclear arsenal look like a single wet match in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. If it was your job to destroy the entire universe with a single unimaginable explosion, wouldn’t you put the explosion in the very center of the entire universe? Of course you would, so would I. So, it turns out, would God.

I am not going to prove this here, it is simply not the forum (chapter 5 had a little of it), but suffice it to say that the Bible is VERY CLEAR that the Earth is the center of the entire universe. Of this there is no doubt. Scoff if you want. When has science-falsely-so-called ever been right about something, anything, any little thing at all, and the Bible wrong? Never! Well, they are wrong about this one too.

So, now that we have all of the Bible information we need, I am going to tell you my theory. As I said, this is just a theory, but one that seems awfully difficult to ignore.

The kindling of a coming unimaginable fire is burning in Hell. Hell is beneath our feet, inside the Earth. The fire is slowly growing, and as it grows it is expanding up toward us. It increases in size as it expands outward and upward in the Earth, growing as it fills up with its stubble, the souls of the dead. It fills so quickly that it is constantly moving up, ever so slightly, like adding ice to a glass of water (although there is no ice and no water in Hell).

If you add enough ice to the glass of water, what happens? It overflows. I think Hell overflows some of its kindling liquid. I think this kindling liquid, as it overflows, sets on fire the base of the mountains on planet Earth. And, as it overflows and sets on fire the base of the mountains it consumes the Earth.

Dear reader, I believe you and I have seen the kindling of this coming unimaginable fire. It is lava coming out of the tops of the volcanoes. As Hell fills, the liquid moves up to meet the people thrown down and as it fills, and has to expand, it overflows. It is squeezing through the cracks and crevices working its way to the Earth’s surface to relieve the pressure of all this new stubble-generated heat. It finds a path of least resistance, kind of like boiling, pressurized water does, and explodes in a volcanic eruption. Welcome to your vision of what the dead endure in Hell right now. And the smoke that pours out of the top of a volcano? It rises.

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,

Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever:

I’m sure there are plenty of science-falsely-so-called scoffers rolling their beady little spectacled eyes right now. My response? Scoff all you want. Hell from beneath is rising up to meet you at your soon coming.

So, last thing, and this relates back to the topic at hand. As the fire in Hell increases its size and has more kindling and stubble it gets HOTTER. How do you heat a fire? You put on more fuel!

Isaiah 9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

Ezekiel 15:4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; Ezekiel_15:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 21:32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire;

Daniel 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

Dear reader, if you want a hotter fire, add more fuel to the fire. The fire in Hell has over 9000 pounds of fresh fuel delivered every day!

As Hell gets hotter and CLOSER to the surface of the Earth, guess what? The surface of the Earth is getting hotter too! Enter, “global warming”!

Just a little theory I thought you might enjoy. Hope you did.

33. There is nothing that will change any of this.

Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Take heed. The great world peace is coming. And Death and Hell are right behind.

Satan’s Lie!       The coming World Peace is God’s will for the Human Race.

Bible Truth!       The coming World Peace is Satan’s will for the Human Race.

So what?       If you are in support of, or desirous of, the coming World Peace then you are right where Satan wants you.

What should I do?       Quit supporting or believing the lie of World Peace. It is a satanic deception and a humanly impossible task. Get off of the World Peace train wreck. See all of the world’s rhetoric and clamoring for a utopian World Peace for exactly what it is: Satan’s evil attempt to conquer and enslave all humanity to himself and to kill any human that stands in his way. There is no peace to the wicked.

Lie Number 9 - Devices

Do you believe this world is getting better? If you listen to the average person this is exactly their way of thinking. I mean, why wouldn’t you think that? The people of the world, especially in America, Europe, Japan and other similarly civilized nations, live in luxury. They live in comfort. They live in a state of ease. In fact, there is so much ease that it is popular now to actually exercise in one’s free-time, mostly to keep from getting “fat”.

Oh my, dreaded fat! My oldest grandson said to me, “Papi, why are you fat?” I replied, “because I have put my trust in the Lord.” He said, “well I don’t want to be fat!” So I asked him, “do you not want God to bless you?” He is only six so he didn’t know quite what to say. I explained to him that to be “fat” in the Bible is ALWAYS a good thing and that God loves the fat and promises to make those that serve Him fat. Thin, when referring to any living thing, is a bad word in the Bible.

Proverbs 28:25 … he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.

Skinny” isn’t in the Bible at all and please feel free to look up “thin” if you don’t believe me. But the world, in its clamor to win, and succeed, and revel in the pride of “looking good” for as long as possible, has lied to us all and told us that “thin is in”. The Bible disagrees. Should we believe the Bible-hating Hollywood “stars” or The Bible? Should we believe the Bible-hating “experts” or The Bible? I simply chose to believe The Bible.

And it is a VERY good thing I did. I want to illustrate how serious God is about honoring His Word. I had a very serious accident a year prior to this writing. The doctor who literally saved my life told my wife this: ‘Let me tell you’, he said (paraphrased but very close), ‘what saved your husband’s life. His rather large stomach saved his life’. You see, sometimes I am ridiculed and made fun of because I look a little bit like I am pregnant. Sometimes people tease me, good-naturedly mostly, and actually ask me if I am pregnant. It doesn’t bother me a bit, not even a little bit. It USED to, but once I finally understood The Bible in this area, about 6 months BEFORE my accident, I told my wife: “I am done losing weight or trying to lose weight so I can look good and acceptable to please the world. I am going to live my life for The Lord the way The Bible says is ‘good’ and ‘acceptable’. I will not waste one more moment on weight loss or exercise.” And I didn’t. Dear reader, it literally saved my life. My fat protected my most vital organs from harm in the accident. Had I been skinny or thin I would be dead. Period.

1 Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

Why waste my time on something with so little profit? Because the “experts” tell me to? Of course they do. They work for Satan. Why wouldn’t they want us wasting our time? I’m sure you’ve learned enough about these Bible-scoffing experts by now to realize the correct path to take when they give their expert advice on how to live – do the exact opposite. I simply took it.

In fact, as I type this, I am lying in a hospital bed in Baltimore, MD with my gem of a wife sitting right beside me, spending the night in a chair to be with me. God blessed me with the most incredible woman in this world. I am lying here because I just had one of my kidneys removed earlier today. It’s a little involved, but suffice it to say that my severely damaged (in the accident a year ago) right kidney has been wreaking havoc on my blood pressure. I forgot to take a dose of my medicine one night a few months ago. I was supposed to take my dose at 3pm. 7 hours later, at 10pm I realized I had forgotten. It is the only time I have forgotten a dose since I left the hospital a year ago. Before I swallowed my missed dose I took my blood pressure. It read 222 over 112. God strike me dead if that is not the truth.

Removing that kidney, medically called a “Goldblatt kidney”, it is believed will solve my BP problems. I had very minor BP issues before my accident; basically I was in the “borderline high” category, a little high but still (barely) in the “normal” category – nothing even close to 222/112! After my operation today the doctor, an excellent surgeon and the Division Head of the Department of Urology at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, went to tell my wife, in the surgery waiting room, the results of the operation. He gushed, according to her, and said (in paraphrase as best she can recall), ‘your husband’s operation went very well. I wasn’t sure I could do it laparoscopically because of all his internal scar tissue, and he had a lot but, well, your husband has a good portion of belly fat. This fat allowed me to have much more room to work than I would have had if your husband had been thin. Everything went perfectly and I am very pleased.” Dear reader, God’s Word is ALWAYS right and the world is ALWAYS wrong. Mark that one in pen.

Update: Hi, I am returning here to this section to update it with new details. The doctor came into my room this morning, two days after the surgery, to check on me directly for the first time since the surgery. He said it was perhaps the smoothest and easiest kidney removal he had ever done. He said he couldn’t have been more pleased with the way the surgery went. The doctor that assisted him in the operating room said it was “amazing” and he had never seen a quicker, easier, more successful kidney removal in his career. I may feel like I got shot, but my blood pressure is 117/62. Quite a change, huh?

The Bible says,

Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat.

Yes, “liberal”! Liberal is not the dirty word in The Bible that the conservatives make it out to be either, not once! Search The Scriptures whether that is so. I say all of this not to justify myself for being fat, I truly don’t care what anyone thinks about my fat, except for The Lord and my queen, but to try to help my grandson (and now you) begin to see the incredible extent of the satanic deception in this world. The truth is that almost anything this world thinks is “good” and “admirable” is an abomination to God! Don’t believe me? Read this:

Luke 16:15 …that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

That is not at all hard to understand is it? The principle is that if the world is pushing it, then it is Satan pushing it, since he is the god of this world. That may be hard to swallow, but again, the truth isn’t easy to accept when your eyes are first opened.

Mankind has invented and discovered many things that have made life on this planet more pleasant and more enjoyable. We have cars. Few people over the age of 16 walk anywhere in America! Those over the age of 5 ride bicycles and then give those up when they graduate to four wheels and an engine. We have trucks, trains, planes and ships. We have rockets that put satellites in the sky and take men to our moon. Jesus walked where He went.

We have air conditioning. In the summer when it is 119 degrees in Arizona, the people living there are very thankful for air conditioning! Some will go so far as to say that it “saves lives” because without it people would die of heatstroke when it gets too hot outside. What a gift from God is this air conditioning!

I ran out of gas one time when I was younger. I had been nervous because I was on ‘E’ for quite a while and just as I was approaching the gas station the car conked out and I coasted right up to the pump. Whew, that was a close one. There was another time though, when I wasn’t as lucky. I was young enough then that at the time it was highly uncommon to have a phone in your car, much less a personal phone that one carried all the time. I didn’t have a cellphone. I had to walk a mile or so to find a house to make a call. It was dark. I could have been beaten, raped or killed; how dangerous!

We are so much safer and better protected now with our wondrous cellphones. These wondrous devices all sprouted from the telegraph machine. The world’s first-ever message sent by commercial telegraph, by inventor Samuel Morse, was “what hath God wrought?” How good is God, huh, to give us such wonderful things in this life?

A hundred years ago, if you got seriously sick, well, you were very likely, barring a major miracle, going to die. The medical field was antiquated. Now we have many modern antibiotics and non-invasive surgical procedures. God has given us doctors, machines and medicines and has enabled us to heal ourselves of many of the diseases with which men are afflicted. Research has healed many, created vaccines, stopped plagues and kept millions healthy. We can thank the Great Physician for that!

Televisions and radios are awesome devices! We have giant 3D movie theaters and virtual reality games that can simulate very realistic gameplay. The future looks very bright for our young “gamers”. We can relax and sing and dance and play and be entertained in incredible ways. Some wealthier folks can actually enjoy private movie theaters inside their palatial homes. There is air conditioning to keep the movie-goers cool and refrigeration to keep their beer and soda cold. We wouldn’t want those to get warm! We have ovens and stoves in and on which we cook our food, without having to kindle any fire, and automatic timers to make sure it doesn’t burn. If that isn’t fast enough for you, stick it in the microwave. Voila, almost instant popcorn.

We have smoke detectors, security systems and 911 to keep us safe and secure. We have police, fire and medical first responders. We have volunteers that show up anywhere in the world when disaster or crisis strikes to lend a hand and help those in need. Donate $10 to the cause via your credit card at the push of a button.

We don’t even have to live near water. We just turn a knob or flip a switch and poof, instant water! It is filtered, clean and certified drinkable. And HOT too, if desired, for that warm, comfortable shower on that cold morning. Water automatically fills our back-saving, time-saving washing machines. Water is God’s thing, remember?

We have light in our homes at night. No need to go to bed at dark, just flip the switch and light up an entire room with virtual daylight! Who needs the moon, we have streetlights and flashlights. God is light, right?

Computers and the internet have revolutionized the world. You can find just about anything online – even The Bible! Buy, sell, shop, educate, play, meet, share; do whatever, online. Do calculations in seconds that used to take months. Calculate incredible things, like a rocket trajectory to Pluto so we can find proof of alien life, which would be impossible without computers. Computers fly spaceships and planes, operate trains, drive cars and do almost anything now so that humans can just relax and enjoy life. PRINT an actual functioning car with a 3D printer! George Jetson’s entire job is to simply push one large button a day. That’s the life! Isn’t God just wonderful!?

Don’t know where you are or how to get where you’re going? Easy now, settle down, no need to worry. Just turn on your GPS and follow the turn-by-turn directions. And if you happen to accidentally take a wrong turn it will automatically re-route you to the newest and fastest way to get there. It will even guide you around those dreaded traffic jams! Sweet! Running out of gas? You needn’t worry; exact directions to the nearest fueling depot is just a button-push away. Or maybe what you actually need is a place to plug-in your fully electric car?

None of this would be possible without fossil fuels and electricity. Thank God for those discoveries.

We have guns and missiles and tanks and even star-wars missile defense systems. How awesome is that? Thank God that He is on our side in these wars. God works in mysterious ways, huh?

I could go on and on as you no doubt suspect. What I am going to do now, though, is make a statement that I will spend the rest of this chapter backing up with Bible Scripture.

ALL of these things I mentioned are ungodly devices, approved and perpetrated with the help of, and under the guidance of, Satan, the god of this world. None of these things are from The Lord.

What? You’re going to want to see that in the Book? I hoped you would say that.

1. No, I am not crazy.

I figured I’d just get that one out of the way right up front.

2. Do you think you can fly?

So you, dear reader, actually think human beings can fly, huh? Yes, I am talking to you. Oh, I’m sorry, am I misquoting you? But aren’t you the one who teaches your kids, ‘you can do anything you put your mind to’? So, can we humans really fly? “Sure”, you say, “I just flew to St. Louis last week!” Of course you did. Many of your fellow earth-bound humans have experienced the same thing. Some were likely on the same “flight”. But, you didn’t really fly. You couldn’t just jump off of the roof of the Empire State Building and start flapping. You can’t fly no matter how strongly you believe and no matter how hard you try. Another billion years of science-falsely-so-called’s beloved “evolution” couldn’t make man fly.

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What about using a jetpack or something? “Surely that counts”, someone says. Of course it does. You’d better just hope it doesn’t malfunction mid-flight. That’s the same issue with airplanes. I knew a Pastor that flew his own plane. He died when his plane crashed a few years ago. Not to be crass, just honest: he couldn’t fly either.

You see, the ONLY way man can fly is either by mounting a very large bird (there isn’t a large enough bird on this planet) or by using a DEVICE. Any time a man has flown in this world, besides “falling with style” as Woody from “Toy Story” would say, he absolutely, positively and without discussion needed a DEVICE.

3. A device is an invention or discovery, of something that God did not put on this planet in the original creation.

A device is something that is made or discovered, that God did not put on this planet naturally, which gives you an advantage to help you be better or to solve a problem. A device is something you create from naturally occurring substances. By naturally occurring, I mean God-created elements available naturally when God made this universe.

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Where did I get this definition? You had to ask? From the Bible, of course.

First Bible mention of a “device”.

2 Chronicles 2:14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

To “find out” is to “discover” something or “understand” something.

Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

In order to make that graven image, man needs a device.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

A device is something tangible that helps you do work or gives you an advantage of some kind.

2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Devices are used to gain an advantage.

4. What does a device do? It gives you an advantage.

A device is something that does work for you, makes things easier, makes things BETTER, or keeps you longer in this life. A device gives one an advantage. Listen closely: God doesn’t EVER have to make His things BETTER. If He did, He wouldn’t be much of an Almighty God. God makes things PERFECT. God doesn’t need for things to get better or easier. He SPEAKS and universes expand. He SPEAKS and worlds flood. He SPEAKS and He can do anything He wants. Does it get any easier or any better than that? God made man PERFECT. We messed it up. This world is dying and it is our fault; and we can thank our father Satan for his assistance. God’s worlds don’t need “better”. Satan’s world, this world you and I live in, is utterly broken down. God has no reason at all to make our lives here, in this “death” (not life) better. Everything in this universe is utterly broken down and will simply be destroyed. As long as Satan is the god of this world, The Lord will NOT be making it better. And since Satan is the god of this world RIGHT NOW, why would God be interested in making Satan’s world better? It will not get better until Satan is locked in the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

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But, God does tell man how it can be better. Here you are. Take your pick.

Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Mark 9:45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Mark 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

God does have some “better” things than those that are here. Take your pick.

Philippians 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Hebrews 7:22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

Hebrews 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Hebrews 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

I’m just saying that God isn’t interested AT ALL in making your life here more cushy, pleasurable and easy. He isn’t interested in you living a wonderful life of luxury. It will be “better” in the next life – not in this one. You and I are to die in this life. Take up our cross and follow Jesus into death. That’s “better” to the Lord.

5. A device gives a profit.

A device gives an advantage. That advantage produces a profit or gain.

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Job 35:3 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

Luke 9:25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Romans 3:1 What advantage [favored position] then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

6. Man’s devices are from his imagination.

Devices are “created” from the “imagination”. “Imagination” is not a bad thing. Man’s “imaginations”, however, are a very bad thing.

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Psalms 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

Psalms 21:11 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

7. Man’s imagination is always wicked.

“Imagine”, or one of its derivatives, is in the Bible 36 times. EVERY time, I repeat EVERY TIME, it is evil and wicked. The Bible does not have one good thing to say about imagination, not one. These are the first two mentions of it in the Bible. It never gets any better. Man never gets any better.

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;…

I realize the world encourages humanity to use imagination to make our world better. The Bible tells a completely different story. Believe what you want. But, search the Scriptures daily whether it is so. What will you do with the truth?

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As I said, it doesn’t get better, it is only getting worse. WORSE than when God proclaimed man’s imagination only evil after the flood (in Genesis 8:21).

Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

They became vain in their imaginations. Their heart was already foolish. This made it dark. This means man’s imagination “exalts itself against the knowledge of God”. In essence, imagination claims to make man “better” than the “knowledge of God” (The Bible) ever could. That is not good, my friend.

The only way to fix it is to “cast down” imaginations. Put them away. Believe the truth.

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Imagination always exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That can never be a good thing.

Psalms 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

Why do the people imagine a vain thing? Because they don’t want the truth.

Man imagines all kinds of completely ridiculous and impossible things. All one has to do is watch a movie, read a book, or listen to the “experts”. They all imagine the same dung. They imagine a world without consequence and without God in which man is the hero saving the world, or the galaxy, from extinction by means of the dreaded disaster, virus, criminal, war or alien invasion. Why do they imagine a vain thing? They just don’t want God to get involved with their pride in humanity.

8. Therefore, man’s devices are always wicked.

Every instance of the word “device” or “devices” in the Bible that has to do with an invention of man is called wicked or evil. There is not even one exception.

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Psalms 21:11 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

Proverbs 12:2 A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

Proverbs 14:17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

Man’s devices are always against the Lord. Always. ALWAYS. That’s just Bible truth.

Proverbs 19:21 There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

Devices are contrary to the counsel of God’s Word.

9. Man’s “devices” are his inventions.

Well, inventions are man’s devices. So, what are man’s inventions? I’m not even going to waste your time listing man’s numerous inventions; you know exactly what they are from the “better mouse trap” to the “flux capacitor”. Pretty much everything in this modern world. They are all “devices” or “inventions” of man’s “imagination”.

Argue if you want. You may not like it. It may be shocking. It may not make any ‘worldly’ sense. But, it is Bible Truth.

10. Human “inventions” actually make God angry.

We are so proud of our human inventions. We love them. God does not.

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The word “inventions” only occurs five times in Scripture, just so you don’t think I am picking and choosing what I want to show you.

Psalms 106:29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions…

Psalms 106:39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. 40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people,

11. God made man perfect without the need for inventions. Sin caused man to seek for inventions.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

Every invention ever conceived on this planet was imagined to somehow make our life in sin more tolerable and pleasant. To our Creator there is nothing pleasant or even tolerable about this life of sin for which He had to allow His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased to be tortured by human inventions (crown of thorns, whip) and murdered by man’s cruel invention called crucifixion.

12. Human inventions provoke God’s vengeance.

Psalms 99:8 Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.

Needless to reiterate if you are paying attention but the witty inventions of which mankind is so proud are all bad.

Proverbs 8:12 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

There is your fifth and final occurrence of “inventions”. God knows the truth about our ingenious inventions. He knows what they are and what man’s intentions regarding them are, and He does not approve.

Numbers 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Be sure God will get His vengeance on all of man’s inventions and their inventors.

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In my opinion, the most ill-advised statement in human history is this one:

Matthew 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

This statement was made by the Jewish people that were begging Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor presiding over the fate of Jesus, to crucify Jesus, even though Pilate had proclaimed him innocent and had moved to let him go. So the human race had its Creator-in-the-flesh heinously tortured and cruelly murdered. The Jews, the race of Jesus and the very people which He had come to save (Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel), were so jealous and so intent on seeing their Messiah and Saviour tortured and killed that they placed the blame for His blood on, not only themselves, but their own children.

Do you not think God heard that? Do you not think God will hold them to their every word? Do you not think God will take vengeance? God has allowed the Jewish race (the promised seed of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David) to be hated and treated cruelly by almost the entire world since that time. Rome mercilessly destroyed Jerusalem, God’s Temple included, only a few years after this statement. The Jews were removed from their homeland and ran for their lives, scattering all over the world to be treated cruelly (hmmm?) in almost every place they went and by almost every person they met.

Then they met Adolph Hitler. They are soon to meet a very bad man that will make Adolph Hitler seem like a Cub Scout’s pet kitten. This very bad man will attempt to annihilate the Jewish race. Only the sudden return of their Messiah, the same one they had tortured and murdered, will prevent their complete annihilation.

What is the point to that, you ask? I’m not sure the vengeance upon the inventors of inventions will be much more tolerable. Think about the last 100 or so years. The “inventions” have been coming to us, and at us, faster than we can keep up. As soon as you buy “the next big thing” it is obsolete and there is a next “bigger thing” that the world says you need. I realize that this may sound impossible for you to believe, but it is not impossible for you to understand. God said it. You read it. Believe it - or partake in it.

13. God didn’t direct us or desire us to create our modern society.

I think you are smart enough to get that from The Scripture we have seen. You may not like it but you got it.

14. Satan oversees the construction (destruction) of our wonderful modern society.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

My son-in-law told me that his intelligent yet unsaved father often said that everything in this world is designed to distract humans from the fact that they are going to die. When I heard that, it surprised me that an unsaved man would have this kind of insight. He is mostly right. However, being an unsaved man he stopped short of the whole truth. Not only is everything in this world designed to distract man from the fact that he is going to die but it is also designed to distract man from the FACT that after he dies, he is going to spend eternity in unimaginable torture in a Lake of Fire. These inventions of man are the devices used for this purpose. These devices are used to blind the minds of humanity from the truth.

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The purpose of these inventions (devices) is to make man comfortable. To make man seem powerful and in command of this life. To make this life seem wonderful. To make this life relaxing. To make this life enjoyable. To make this life easier. Relax, everything is fine, our devices tell us. Look at all these awesome devices we now have that make life grand. We are so much better off than mankind has ever been in its history – you know the 6 million year history since we crawled out of the water as a giant crayfish. So relax, take a nap in your hammock – you have this! Man’s devices are designed to blind men and put them to sleep, oblivious to the fact that they are going to die, maybe even today, and then spend eternity wishing they had never been born.

15. Satan is the god of this world.

Everything of worldly value in this world is his to distribute. He will gladly give mankind anything necessary in order to secure man’s worship – and to insure man does not become discontented and wake up to his quickly approaching eternal destiny. Satan hates to see men get saved and miss his eternal doom. It’s all designed to keep you reasonably comfortable, and asleep.

16. Satan used this cool modern device-filled world to tempt Jesus.

Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

The modern kingdoms of THIS world are delivered unto Satan. He can give all of it and the power it brings to whomever he wants. This world is not The Lord’s right now. It is Satan’s. Satan is the god of THIS world. Until that changes, and it will, everything is delivered to him.

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Recognize that Jesus didn’t answer Satan by saying, “that’s not yours to give. It hasn’t been delivered to you.” On the contrary Jesus didn’t dispute Satan’s claim at all.

Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

There is a lot of doctrine in Luke 4:5-6. The devil took him up into a high mountain. Was this mountain on Earth? Here is the companion verse from Matthew and it calls this mountain an “exceeding high” mountain.

Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain…

Interestingly, being always exacting, The Bible doesn’t call this mountain exceedingLY high but “exceeding high”. This mountain wasn’t “the highest mountain in the world” like Mount Everest or something. Mount Everest is almost 30,000 feet high and I’m sure it has a wonderful view when the weather is clear but there is no way one can see “all the kingdoms of the world” from there. No, this mountain EXCEEDED high. It was EXCEEDING high. No, this was not a mountain on this Earth. It was this mount:

Isaiah 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.

This mountain is up in heaven. Satan has access to it.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

This great city descending hasn’t happened yet as far as “time” is concerned but John sure SAW it happening! In this mountain “time” has no relevance. You can see any point in time from here!

And, this mountain has a VERY special view.

Psalms 48:2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

This mountain is beautiful “for situation”. It is beautiful in many ways for sure, but it is beautiful in this verse because it can view the “whole earth”.

Lucifer took Jesus here and showed Jesus a very precise set of kingdoms at a very precise time. You see, there is no “time” in the third heaven, where this mountain is. And the very special view that this mountain offered was to look down on time. Lucifer showed Jesus this moment of time:

Revelation 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

These ten kings will be, at this precise time (for one hour), kings over the whole earth under the beast. And where does the beast get his power? From the dragon of course!

Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

It seems that Satan was offering Jesus the position that will be occupied by the Beast. Can you believe the audacity of this dragon?

A few more connections for you. You see, this “moment of time” in Luke 4:5 was not just a moment OF time but also a moment IN time, a certain moment in time. The phrase “in a moment” is in The Bible 11 times. The first 9 are in the OT and ALL have to do with sudden destruction. The other two are Luke 4:5 and 1 Corinthians 15:52 which both deal with end-time events, which are, of course, ALL concerned with sudden destruction. Combining sudden destruction, end-time events, and “time”?

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

This “time” is undoubtedly a very well documented moment in time and these things are all connected.

17. Satan has devices of his own.

2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Man has his devices. Satan has his devices.

18. Satan uses his devices to gain an advantage on us.

2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Advantage, according to Webster’s 1828 dictionary - 1. Any state, condition, or circumstance, favorable to success, prosperity, interest, or reputation. 2. Benefit; gain; profit.

Satan’s devices are used by him to gain a favored position on us, to give him a leg up, to get the better of us. And since Satan is the greatest liar in the history of everything (being the father of all liars will do that for you) man will not even see it coming. And we haven’t. He has blinded our minds with his devices.

19. The Bible says we are NOT ignorant of Satan’s devices.

2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Paul said we are NOT ignorant of Satan’s devices. So then tell me, dear reader, what exactly are Satan’s devices? I’ll wait. Not really too sure, are you? This is really the only verse in the Bible that directly references Satan’s devices.

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Here are two that indirectly reference them by being a reference to the devices of satanically-inspired humans.

Daniel 11:24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. 25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.

These devices are quite obviously some highly advanced form of military weaponry that the enemy will be powerless against.

20. So then, what are Satan’s devices?

Well, since we obviously struggle with defining them, maybe in a way we ARE “ignorant” of his devices?

Some would say that lying, cheating, stealing, murder, etc. are all Satan’s devices. Well, the truth is that The Bible doesn’t define “devices” like that. Satan has purposely led many folks to believe that, in order to deceive them. Deceit is what he does best, right? In The Bible, scripturally-defined devices are always inventions or physical/temporal things, not crimes or sins. While Satan surely uses lying, cheating, stealing and murder better than anyone, these aren’t his devices. So, I ask again, what are Satan’s devices?

21. The Bible is NEVER wrong.

Listen, if the Bible says we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices then we are NOT ignorant of Satan’s devices. However, it sure SEEMS like we are indeed ignorant of his devices, does it not? I mean, if we can’t name them, how can we possibly NOT be ignorant of them? It seems paradoxical - but it’s not. Let me explain.

Consider these thoughts. Maybe Satan’s devices are hiding in plain sight. Maybe you know perfectly well of Satan’s devices. Maybe you are not ignorant of them at all. Maybe you know much of them and about them. Maybe they are commonplace and very well known in our world. But maybe, just maybe, you never even considered that these THINGS were his devices! This is exactly why we are NOT ignorant of his devices.

22. You and I know very well what Satan’s devices are.

We use Satan’s devices all the time – we just never realized it. That is just how powerfully brilliant is this liar, liar who will be in the Lake of Fire. This guy is THE master liar. You have been familiar with his devices for a long time. You are ignorant of NONE of them. You simply never considered them Satan’s devices. It is time to reconsider. Let’s find out what they are.

23. Man’s devices use Satan’s devices.

Satan provides the tools for men to produce devices.

24. Man’s most important discovery is, arguably, fire.

I would say that many people believe fire to be mankind’s most important discovery. It is important to note that fire is not an invention but occurs naturally. Where did fire come from? How was it discovered? It is purported by Greek mythology that Prometheus stole fire from the gods and then gave it to man. Some Indian cultures believe an animal brought fire to man after stealing it from an evil being. Science-falsely-so-called can’t agree, of course, like always. NOW they have new ‘evidence’ that ‘suggests’ that fire was used 350,000 years ago in some cave in Israel. Typical for God-denying, Bible-hating, evolution-loving, humanistic man, The Bible plays no part in their purely scientific world. Well, let’s try to forget they exist, for now. Forgetting they exist will be much easier when we forget permanently, after they are finally cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. But for now, give it your best shot.

25. The four elements of the earth: earth, air, water and fire.

Do you know what are considered the four (4) elements of the earth? You may not unless you are into spirituality or any kind of earth worship or pagan religion. I hope you are not! The four elements of the earth are those things which supposedly comprise everything on this planet. These four things are earth, air, water and fire. These four things are deemed equally, but differently, important to our existence. Earth (seems redundant I know but I didn’t make it up), air, water and fire are the four elements of the Earth.

26. Which of these was not present in the original creation? Fire!

Let’s see.

Earth was there: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Water was there: Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Air was there: Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air…

But, where was fire? Fire was not in Eden.

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Eden had no need for fire. Adam and Eve were in complete paradise and perfection. I think it is safe to say they never felt cold and needed heat. I think it is safe to say, since there was no death, there were no steaks or chickens to cook. The fruits and foods provided for them were all from the plants and there is no mention of cooking anything, so it is certain there was no need for fire there. There was no need for sacrifice so no need for fire there. There was no danger whatsoever so there was no need for fire as a protection. The newly created, stunningly brilliant moon and stars lit up the night as you and I have never seen, so there was no need for fire for extra light. Dear reader, there was simply no need for fire in God’s original creation on earth. There was no fire in this perfect world. Fire came AFTER the fall of mankind. And I’m sure you can recall exactly who is responsible for engineering the fall of mankind – enter the serpent, our new father, and the new god of this world, Satan.

27. God FINISHED His work.

Everything that this Earth and the human race on it were going to get from GOD, they got in the six days in which God “worked”. After that, He rested, because His WORK was done! Finished completely. And it was very good. It was perfect. Do you think anything, even one thing could have been any better? Of course not. Everything was finished and perfect. There was no need for anything else.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

28. When does fire show up?

The first mention of the word “fire” is not until:

Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven.

This is an interesting place for God to start His first earthly fire, huh? This is the first time GOD starts a fire in The Bible, and it is the first mention of the word “fire”, but it is not the first fire mentioned in the Scriptures. The first fire mentioned in the Scriptures is just after Noah’s flood:

Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Noah can’t have a burnt offering without fire.

29. Noah’s offering is not the first offering; it is just the first burnt offering.

Abel’s offering is first mentioned.

Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Interestingly, God had RESPECT unto Abel’s offering, even though it was not a burnt offering. God did NOT respect Cain’s offering.

Genesis 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.

The point is that God requires offerings to be performed correctly or they are not accepted. God accepted the NON-burnt offering of Abel BECAUSE there was no way to burn it yet. There was no fire until after the flood of Noah.

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A very good friend of mine wondered about this, asking, “how did they eat then if they couldn’t cook their meat? I would have starved to death rather than eat raw meat!” Let’s just say this friend is not exactly a vegetarian. The truth is they had no business eating meat. The Lord did NOT allow humankind to eat the meat of animals until AFTER the flood.

Before the flood, God said:

Genesis 6:21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them [the animals].

After the flood, God said:

Genesis 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb [see Genesis 1:29] have I given you all things.

Before that, since the very beginning of his creation, mankind was expected to be vegetarian! If man DID eat the meat of animals (after leaving Eden) he ate it raw and against the command of The Lord. Why this huge change between before and after the flood? There was no fire on this planet to cook with before the flood! Oh, and there is also the doctrine of devils (1 Timothy 4:1-3) but that is a different subject.

30. Fire was “discovered” by man because it was triggered by a huge storm.

The flood was not JUST a “flood”. It was a MASSIVE storm, the first storm ever on planet earth. This massive storm was unimaginable – still is unimaginable today. This massive storm sent lightning to this planet for the first time ever. Man had knowledge of and access to fire from that moment. Of course the science-falsely-so-called crowd will laugh and scoff and ridicule us for being stupid and ignorant enough to believe The Bible over their precious archaeology, which is also science-falsely-so-called. Like I said, forget them. They weren’t there. God was! And He graciously recorded it for the remnant of humanity brave enough to believe His Word.

Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

They are fools of the highest magnitude. Do not give these pompous “experts” a second thought. They are ALWAYS wrong when they disagree with The Bible.

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This storm was so violent that it actually created both the “tilt” and the “wobble” that we now have in this “utterly broken down” earth. This storm killed everyone. Everyone! Not “hundreds dead and thousands without power”, dear reader, not even “hundreds of thousands dead”. Everyone - dead. Can you even wrap your head around that? Not some guy from The Weather Channel reporting from inside the storm saying he can hardly stand because the wind is so strong. Everyone in the world dead, EVERYONE IN THE WORLD DEAD, except for the eight people on a small unsinkable boat that God designed and which took Noah 120 years to build by hand, while all the soon-to-be-dead mockers and scoffers laughed him to scorn. He who laughs last laughs loudest. And we will laugh, and they will melt, for all eternity!

Science-falsely-so-called is currently discussing the addition of a new category of hurricane, a category 6 hurricane, which would be a hurricane containing sustained winds over 175-180 miles per hour. These self-proclaimed “experts” believe that global warming is the fault of modern humanity and that this global warming is causing the increase in the severity of major storms. Dear reader, even if they had need for a category 50 hurricane, Noah’s worldwide flood would make a category 50 hurricane look like a 5-year-old’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Even a category 50 would be only a localized storm - and maybe it would kill millions. But, everyone in the entire world, my friend? That is unfathomable.

So, they will scoff, where is your precious Bible doctrine for this? Well, let’s quickly refresh our memory about what we presented in chapter 5 of this book. Remember that there is a huge amount of water over our heads.

2 Peter 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Before the worldwide flood it had never rained on the Earth:

Genesis 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

These was no need for rain. And, more importantly, God had not “caused it to rain”. However, at the time of the flood, God said He would “cause it to rain” for the first time.

Genesis 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

Genesis 2:5 and Genesis 7:4 (presented just above) are the first two mentions of the word “rain” in The Bible. And, they both involve God using the phrase “cause it to rain”.

When God finally decided to “cause it to rain” and the worldwide flood occurred the Bible says:

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

That water (“the great deep”) that the Earth was sitting “in”? Well, that thing had “windows” and God “opened” them up! The water above the Earth came pouring down to flood the entire planet. As you know, everything that breathed air died, except that which was on that ark.

Genesis 8:2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

The “rain” came out of “the windows of heaven” when they were opened. God poured the deep onto the earth.

Isaiah 24:18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open

Some scoff, oh come on, man, you can’t be serious. Oh, but I am! But, but, that’s impossible, they stammer. Sure, it’s impossible for you. It’s also impossible for you to walk on water but that didn’t stop The Lord – and it never will. That which is impossible with men is POSSIBLE with God!

I’d like to open these windows for you, if you’ll permit me – try not to mind the breeze.

First, do you know that windows can be difficult to see? Even the windows of men can be difficult to see. I remember when I was a boy, younger than ten I believe, and we were helping my grandparents move out of their apartment. My Dad was going in and out of the ground-floor apartment constantly – just grabbing something and taking it out to the truck and coming back in to get more stuff to take out to the truck. All of this time the sliding glass door leading out of the apartment, through which he had been walking in and out constantly, was left open. He came in, picked up another box and while carrying it out of the apartment walked straight through that sliding glass door. Someone, unbeknownst to him, had shut the door; nobody ever confessed to the crime. Wasn’t me! But, the reason he walked right through that glass door (and had to go to the hospital) was because he couldn’t see it. It was clean and clear and practically invisible to him. After that, many people starting putting stickers on their sliding glass doors (windows) so this wouldn’t happen. Let’s just postulate that God isn’t putting stickers on His windows so that man can identify them. They are invisible to you and me.

Second, Jesus is a door. Well, more specifically, Jesus is THE door.

John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door:

Unless you literally believe literally the Bible literally you may not believe this. Dear reader, I didn’t say this. I didn’t write this. Jesus Himself said it. Jesus Himself wrote it. (Man was simply the pen God used – just like you use a pen to write – the pen is nothing but an instrument). Do you believe that Jesus said what The Bible says He said? You see, Jesus probably wouldn’t LOOK like a door to you. He probably wouldn’t LOOK like a door to me. But to someone with the spiritual eyes to see it, Jesus IS a door! The Bible is exacting and if it says Jesus is a door, then Jesus IS a door. He is a door whether a scoffing, non-literal-Bible-believing scholar wants to argue about it or not.

What’s my point? These “windows of heaven” may not be exactly what you think a window to be. Maybe they are very loooooong invisible windows that reach down from the deep and through the firmament all the way down to the Earth’s upper atmosphere? Is that impossible with God? Someone comments that it would take light-years for water to go that far. Maybe in your world and by your understanding. Maybe these windows have an opening at the top of the universe and a matching opening at the bottom of the universe (just above Earth) but nothing in between. Maybe anything going through one side of these windows then teleports to the other side of the window in a very small amount of time. Is that possible with God?

Isaiah 48:13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

Can you take one hand, dear reader, open it and have your thumb be on one end of the entire universe and your pinky reach to the other end? I didn’t think so. God can. God can palm the entire universe like a basketball player can palm a basketball! What seems so incredibly huge to you (and to science-falsely-so-called) is only a hand’s breadth to God. How long would it take water poured from a cup to fall the distance that your hand can span? Not very long, huh?

I’d like you to think for a moment. Think of something, dear reader if you can, that is impossible for God to do. I’ll pause to give you a moment. Got it? Was the thing that you just thought of that God can’t “get water from the outer edge of our universe down to this planet in a very relatively short or even instantaneous slice of time”? Of course it wasn’t. I’m not saying it HAD to be the particular way I just described – just that it could. I’m simply saying that God doesn’t think inside the box of puny humanity, my friend. God thinks waaaaaay out of our box and if His Word says it happened then it definitely happened.

You know what they say, when it rains it pours! And it poured.

Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

Notice that the face of “the deep” is frozen.

Job 38:30 …the face of the deep is frozen.

John saw the deep during his revelation.

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

This “sea of glass” that John describes is almost certainly “the face of the deep”.

Something VERY interesting about this sea – it was mingled with FIRE!

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire…

And, symbolically, they are standing on this sea, which is mingled with fire, which means they are standing OVER the beast, and OVER his image, etc., according to the verse. In this “sea” is THE DRAGON, as you have learned. In this SEA (“the deep”) the dragon makes “FIRE”!!!

Job 41:19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. 20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. 21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.

When the deep was broken up and the windows of heaven opened, this “fire” came “raining” down also, with the water of the deep. The Bible says that “sparks of fire leap out”. It doesn’t say “lightning” but it’s pretty close. However, since it doesn’t say “lightning” specifically, we will need to attack it this way to convince the scoffers.

As you know, Lucifer (the dragon, Satan), was not the archangel as many believe, but a “cherub”.

Ezekiel 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Ezekiel 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

Ezekiel saw these “living creatures” that he knows are called “cherubims” (plural of cherub). The thing he first and foremost notices and writes about them is their incredibly close association with fire and lightning.

Satan was a cherub and therefore was already intimately connected to fire and lightning. The dragon, now in the deep, also intimately connected with the power of leaping sparks and fire, was in the deep when God opened the windows. A lot of the deep came to the Earth, along with fire and lightning included.

Maybe that’s not good enough for some scoffers. My response? Do you happen to know which verse is the exact middle verse in the entire Bible? It would take you a while to count both ways and meet in the middle so I’ll help you out here:

Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

The scoffers weren’t there. God was. He wrote it down.

31. Fire comes for the first time to planet Earth.

There was no fire on this planet before the flood. You probably don’t see this coming but, again, there was NO FIRE on planet Earth before the flood. You are probably thinking, okay stupid, I heard you the first several times I read it. But, did you consider this, dear reader? Not only was there no fire ON planet Earth but this means there was also no fire IN planet Earth. Whoa, slow that horse on down there, mister, you done gone and gotten yourself outta control! If you think I am saying that the hot, liquid, molten, fiery core of the Earth and the place The Bible calls Hell were not in the center of the Earth before the flood, then you are correct. That is exactly what I am saying. I believe you’re gonna need to see that in the Book.

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As you already learned, in Genesis 1:2 there was God, darkness and water – no earth, no sun, no moon, no stars and no space (oh, and no fire). God divided the water from the water with a firmament. The water under the firmament became the Earth.

Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Please notice, dear reader, that in the Biblical description of the creation of planet Earth there is plenty of water, it is all gathered up together into one place, but there is no fire. This gathering together OF THE WATERS is UNDER the dry land. Do you see any fire under there anywhere? Do you think it magically appeared and God just forgot to mention it? Where would it have been; in the middle of all of that water? If it was there, why was it not mentioned? It was not mentioned because it wasn’t there. There was water. There was no fire. The center of the Earth was ALL WATER!

Alright, smarty-pants, some fiendishly intelligent devil’s advocate might interject, then just how did the fire get in the middle of the Earth where all of this water used to be, huh? We know it is there now, even The Bible says Hell’s fire is in the center of the Earth! Well, my fiendishly intelligent friend, it came with the storm of the flood. Hmmmmm, let me get this straight, mister smarty-pants, you are saying that there was this huge ball of water that was the middle of the Earth and that somehow it disappeared and turned into fire? Um, yep, that’s about what I’m saying.

When the fire came onto this planet in the storm, it didn’t just go down ONTO the planet – it actually went down INTO the planet. Remember that the fountains of the great deep were opened UP.

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up,…

The fountains (waters) of the deep came UP because they were BROKEN. As they were broken up through the Earth, the entire foundation of the Earth was changed.

Psalm 82:5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

Let’s park for just a moment – I’ll stick a quarter in the meter for us. Do you realize what The Bible just revealed to us? ALL of the foundations of the Earth are out of course. Not some, dear reader, ALL! They are ALL messed up. They are NOT as they were designed. They have ALL been changed. They are NOT as they were created. However, some “know not” this truth. And, since they know not this truth they are unable to “understand” and “walk on in darkness”. Second Peter says it this way:

2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

What an incredible passage of Scripture. The condensed version of it says:

1) Know this first. If you are going to understand the Earth, you must understand this first.

2) Scoffers say that all things continue exactly as they were from the original beginning of existence (the big bang). Other than the aging effects of “billions of years” of time, nothing has changed.

3) They are ignorant.

4) The Earth was originally made by God, formed out of water and still in the water.

5) There was a huge world-wide flood (storm) which changed the original Earth so much that it “perished”.

6) Now, the Earth is “kept in store” (kept working, kept functioning, kept ready) by “FIRE”, reserved (having a reservation) for the day of judgment by fire.

The entire foundation of the Earth has been changed, dear reader. It has gone from water to fire.

Our meter is empty (we only put in a quarter) so we move on.

Psalm 18:15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

The very “foundations of the world were DISCOVERED”, according to the verse. The very foundations of the world were uncovered. The very foundations of the world were exposed – they could have been seen, at the time they were uncovered, by the naked eye. Imagine the view from the space station if the very foundations of this world were suddenly exposed and uncovered. Well, they were.

2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. … 14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. 15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. 16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered,

As these foundations of the world (W-A-T-E-R) were uncovered, the fountains were broken up and opened the Earth’s hard surface so that not only could something go up from under the surface, but something could also go down under the surface. What went down? Some fire. Lightning.

The scoffers scoff, and laugh and mock. A little lightning, you say? In that amount of water, you say? Now, son, let me assure you that the laws of physics say blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada.

The fact is that lightning and fire rained down during the flood (and don’t forget brimstone).

Jeremiah 51:16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Psalm 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured:

The fire devoured. Something was “devoured” when the Earth shook and the foundations were shaken. But, what did the fire devour? There was a massive amount of water. The massive amount of water of the flood is what destroyed (devoured) the face of the world, not the fire.

But we do know that this fire came down and “devoured”. What EXACTLY DID this fire DEVOUR when it was kindled? It wasn’t the surface of the world and its people, the water did that, so what was it?

Amos 7:4 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

Wow. Did you see that? Of course you did. The fire ATE UP PART OF THE DEEP!!!! This fire came down while the very foundations of the Earth were exposed by this incredible storm and went down into the Earth and LITERALLY (The Bible is literal folks) ate up or licked up part of the deep and replaced it with fire and stubble and brimstone and melted stuff.

Jeremiah 51:16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Notice that there are “vapours” that ascend from the Earth. Why would this be? How about when water and fire mix? If fire boils the water then the water is converted into steam or vapor and eventually disappears!

Funny, because that is exactly what The Bible says happened.

Isaiah 64:2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil,

But, is fire powerful enough to lick up that much water in that short of an amount of time? Tell you what let’s visit the prophet Elijah and you can tell me this time…

1 Kings 18:33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. … 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

What do you think, dear reader? Is it possible that fire can lick up water in an instant?

The Earth’s core, which contained only water, is now filled with fire – ever since the flood.

32. Hot and cold come to planet Earth.

I’m going to discuss this subject more in chapter 10 but will give you a short precursor here.

Originally, the Earth didn’t have winter, spring, summer and fall like it does now. It just had beautiful, gorgeous, perfect weather and temperature. You’re probably thinking something like 84 degrees and sunny, but this may not necessarily have been the case.

This verse is in The Bible AFTER the flood.

Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

After the flood there became what we call “seasons”; seedtime and harvest, summer and winter and cold and heat – but not before. The words harvest, cold and heat are not in The Bible before this. There was no rain, as you have learned, until the flood, so there was no rainy season and no former and latter rains for a later harvest. There was a continual harvest compared to the way it is now. There were no storms, no clouds, no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no bad weather at all. It was very close to perfect.

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But, wait, a Sadducee calls out, what about this verse in Genesis chapter 1?

Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Aha, we gotcha, you lying slime ball, the Sadducee exclaims, there were seasons right from the beginning! Listen, Mr. Sadducee, sir, I am a lying slime ball, as you say, and I certainly don’t know everything, so there are certainly things about which I am wrong now, and will be wrong again in the future. However, Mr. Sadducee, sir, The Bible is never wrong, and if you care to listen for a moment I will help you understand what it says.

The words “season” and “seasons” are in The Bible a total of 68 times, and each time they occur they are referring to a period of time (except the few times they refer to food being seasoned). These periods of time are not equal and they are not specific. And they NEVER refer directly and explicitly to the seasons we now experience called winter, spring, summer and fall. Let’s see just a few examples. For the rest, Mr. Sadducee, sir, you can search the scriptures daily to see if these things are so.

This is the second occurrence of “season..” in The Bible.

Genesis 40:4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

Summer, you think, or winter maybe?

Joshua 24:7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

Which season do we have that lasts 40 years? That’s how long Israel dwelt in the wilderness. As a side note, nothing really to do with seasons, I’d just like to point out that Joshua 24:7 is one of the most amazing verses I have ever understood in The Bible (and I’m sure I still don’t understand all of it!). In the short season that I have left to live on this planet I can only hope to experience a few more verses that have been opened to me as has been Joshua 24:7. My dear reader, search the Scriptures daily, for in them - is everything.

Job 30:17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

Winter, spring, summer and night?

Job 38:32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?

Winter, spring, summer and Mazzaroth?

Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

In which of the four (4) seasons should we speak a good word?

The truth is that God appointed the moon for seasons – for timing.

Psalm 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons:

The moon doesn’t dictate whether it is winter, spring, summer or fall, but it does dictate day and night. When God uses the word “season” He is speaking about a period of time. And this period of time is not a specific 91-day period of weather.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season [not just the weather or the harvest], and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

So, my dear Sadducee, sir, as you can see The Bible defines itself and one simply cannot apply his own modern definitions to Bible words – The Bible must be allowed to define itself. This is almost certainly why you are so ‘sad you see’.

In Genesis 1 and all the way through the beginning of the first-ever rain, there were no weather seasons as a modernist would define them. The weather was perfect, and the same, every day. Nobody had to jump onto the internet to see if the weather forecaster was giving out the daily horoscope to prognosticate whether (pun intended) it was going to rain on their parade or the kids would need jackets at the bus stop. Cain should have been a weatherman instead of a murderer and he would have NEVER been wrong.

Adam and Eve were naked before the fall and they never needed coats. It didn’t get cold so why would one need a coat? Their little toes didn’t get cold, like ours do, so they had no need of socks or shoes. But it wouldn’t have mattered even if the temperature had gotten cold (just maybe it was cold naturally, I’m not sure) because no matter what temperature it was THEY wouldn’t have gotten cold - nor hot. They were cold-water-blooded. And water is COLD according to Scripture (and according to your shower when the hot water heater goes out). Especially living water!

Jeremiah 18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

Proverbs 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

What kind of water does a thirsty SOUL want? Why, living water of course!

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

WATER is naturally COLD. Living water is cold. A thirsty SOUL wants that cold water! Adam and Eve had LIVING WATER in their veins. They were COLD WATERED (blooded). But once they ate that fruit (grape) and their water became BLOOD they became WARM BLOODED. BLOOD IS WARM and you are WARM BLOODED because of Satan’s product.

Once water turned to blood it SLOWLY deteriorated. There were immediate changes - ask Adam, whose eyes were immediately opened. But some changes took a while. We live to 80 or so now. They lived to 930 or so then. They didn’t get old, sick, infected, deteriorate and die nearly so quickly. These things happened gradually. And living to 900+ was commonplace and average before the flood.

It wasn’t until AFTER the flood that the lifespan of mankind really began its decline. After the flood things on this planet changed drastically. Storms and rain were now a reality. Violent wind was now a reality. Tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, blizzards, ice and floods are all possible now, as are heatwaves, rainstorms and droughts. The “hot” and “cold” temperature extremes show up. The world is permanently changed. Men are thus living shorter and shorter lives. And to live those ever shortening lives men fight to stay “warm”, which heretofore in history was never a problem, on this utterly broken down, relatively uninhabitable planet.

33. Next thing you know man is using fire against God.

This is the very next thing, after Noah’s burnt sacrifices, that is recorded as burning:

Genesis 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

It isn’t long after the first fire shows up that it is used in a device, the tower of Babel, against The Lord. That’s man and his devices. And Satan is right there driving them.

34. So, how does this become Satan’s device? Because it came from his bosom.

First off, this storm was caused by Satan. It is the result of the fall of man and that is attributed in its entirety to Satan. There is no denying that. There would be no fire (from the storm) on this planet except for Satan causing it to be here. God’s work was DONE in six days but now it was ruined. There were no storms in Eden. There were no storms at all on this entire planet.

God sent this fire onto the Earth to begin the ultimate destruction of this planet. This fire will eventually “consume the earth with her increase”.

Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

To kindle a fire is to start it. God was angry, He flooded the Earth and destroyed almost the entire race, and SET ON FIRE THE FOUNDATIONS of the mountains. Well, the foundations of the mountains are the foundations of the Earth. God set them on fire. They weren’t on fire from the beginning. The foundations of Zion have been devoured also.

Lamentations 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

This fire – will burn FOREVER!

Jeremiah 17:4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

However, from where exactly did God get this fire that was sent for the purpose of destroying the Earth? He took it right from the middle of Satan himself.

Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

Ezekiel 28 is discussed and defended later in this chapter but for now, just know that Ezekiel 28 is written about Lucifer/Satan/Leviathan/The Serpent/The Dragon. And The Lord took this fire right from the middle of him. I’d say that makes it his. And where will Satan be devoured? In the Lake of FIRE of course!!

35. Man’s newly discovered fire functions only one way: it consumes, it devours.

NO fire is described in The Bible AT ALL until after this flood. Now, there is this “newly discovered” fire; it consumes, it devours. This is the only thing it does. This fire consumes everything it touches. I realize that “fire” has been an important element of the civilization of mankind, but fire has harmed many people in many different situations. It is always destructive. Something is ALWAYS destroyed/consumed when this fire burns.

36. The Lord God is also a consuming fire.

Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

37. But, God is ALSO a fire that does not consume.

Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

The Lord’s fire is NOT the same fire we have on this planet. The fire on this planet ONLY consumes - just like its creator, Satan.

38. God did not allow fire to be kindled on the Sabbath.

Exodus 35:3 Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

Why was this so? Do you think there was some random reason? There is nothing random with God. God’s day of rest was AFTER the perfect creation which included no fire.

39. God killed the sons of Aaron for using “strange” fire.

Aaron was the High Priest of Israel and the brother of Moses, the God-called Jewish deliverer. Why God would kill Aaron’s sons in an instant is difficult to comprehend. They must have done something incredibly bad. Well, it turns out they did. They used the wrong “fire”.

Leviticus 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.

So, what is “strange fire”? It is fire that is NOT God’s fire. It is different fire. God is fire. Satan moves to copycat God in many ways. He created his own version of God’s living water that we call blood. Blood is a lousy product compared to God’s. Satan’s fire is the same lousy product when compared to God’s fire. It is “strange” fire.

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So, how can a Bible believer define “STRANGE fire”? Here are the first and second mentions of the word “strange” in the Book.

Genesis 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: … 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

A “strange” god is a god that is not of God. A god that THE GOD didn’t give you. Like a “STRANGEr”.

Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

“Strange” flesh is flesh that you weren’t given. Female flesh was GIVEN by God to male flesh. Male flesh was not GIVEN to male flesh, therefore it is “strange”.

Job 31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

2 Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power

So, what is their STRANGE punishment of destruction? Why, the Lake of FIRE, of course! Why is that so STRANGE? It doesn’t seem to be strange. It seems pretty understandable to me.

Numbers 26:61 And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.

So, if this fire was ON THE EARTH, how exactly was it strange? God GAVE them special fire for service in the tabernacle/temple. The fire God gave them was straight from His altar in Heaven.

2 Chronicles 7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire [THE fire, not ‘a’ fire, or even just ‘fire’, but THE FIRE] came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

And this FIRE that God GAVE (“came down”) from Heaven? It was NEVER supposed to go out and was to be used exclusively in God’s service by the priests. It was available to Nadab and Abihu, but they decided not to use it.

Ezekiel 10:2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims,…

Revelation 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar,…

Why? Why is the STRANGE punishment of the wicked a FIRE prepared specifically for the Devil and his crew?

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Exodus 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Satan will “burn” in his own FIRE. STRANGE FIRE. NOT the fire that God gave. Different fire.

STRANGE FIRE is fire that is NOT GIVEN by God. It is not God’s fire. It is different fire. God is fire.

Satan moves to copycat God in many ways. He created his own version of God’s living water that we call blood. Blood is a lousy product compared to God’s. Satan’s fire is the same lousy product when compared to God’s fire. It is “STRANGE” fire.

40. Satan’s strange fire is also called devouring fire.

Isaiah 29:6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

This is NOT God’s fire.

41. You already know that Satan devours!

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

He devours because that is ALL he can do. His power/energy is unclean, impure and unholy. It ALWAYS ends in death. This is the energy in our universe now - the ONLY energy in our universe. Just like Satan ruined our living water by turning it into blood (unclean) he ruined our POWER by turning it unclean. There IS “life” in our blood but there is also DEATH. That is why WE are dying, even though we LOOK like we have life (we don’t). That is why everything in this universe is now dying. But, God did not make it this way. It is not God’s fault everything is dying. And the ONLY thing He came to save is a FEW people from this miserable planet who will be BRAVE enough and COURAGEOUS enough to stand against Satan’s power.

42. Satan will be punished for his role in the fall of mankind.

Leviticus 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.

Satan is the murderer of the entire human race. God will hold him perfectly accountable. God’s JUSTICE will be executed on Satan.

43. In God’s Justice, the punishment ALWAYS PERFECTLY fits the crime.

Exodus 21:23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

It doesn’t really get any clearer than that, does it? Notice especially “burning for burning”. I realize that in this fallen, sinful, godless society justice is rarely executed. God always executes justice – PERFECT justice.

44. This applies very specifically to devices.

Proverbs 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

Psalms 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Very specifically the punishment will exactly fit the crime.

45. How EXACTLY will Satan be punished?

He will be “taken in his own device”, of course, just like The Bible says. This is exactly what God’s Word says and it cannot be broken.

Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Satan will be punished forever in a Lake of Fire prepared specifically for him. Why do you think God made Satan’s eternal punishment “fire”? An eye for an eye - because the punishment ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS PERFECTLY fits the crime.

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Satan will be placed in his own device, fire, for all eternity, just as Scripture promises.

Ezekiel 28:18 … therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

46. Fire is Satan’s device.

Man has used fire to create many devices. Satan uses fire to make man’s life on this Satan-destroyed planet more comfortable. “But, that makes no sense”, someone says. “Satan hates mankind and does not want to see his life more comfortable here. Satan wants to hurt man not make man feel better”. Fire was our source of light when it was dark. Fire was our source of warmth when it was cold. Fire was our way to cook our food. Fire has been used to forge modern tools and weaponry. Fire is used for sterilization. All of that attributed to the ability of man to survive the elements of this cruel world.

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Satan is a master deceiver. Satan could sell a heater to a snowman. Satan desperately wants to hide from mankind his role in our fallen condition and our remarkably created but now utterly broken down planet. Satan tricks man into blaming God for all of the problems in this miserable life. Satan is doing his best to deflect the truth by giving man devices that will enable him to endure, and even enjoy, his life in this world of death. “Of course”, Satan lies, “man should realize he has to accept some degree of pain and suffering in life. I mean, that’s life, right”? WRONG! That is a lie from the pit of Hell and it is simply Satan doing everything he can to keep up the facade. When man wakes up, this creates a problem for Satan’s plan. Keeping man comfortable and asleep is his plan. As long as man is reasonably comfortable in this life, he will not realize he is heading for an unimaginable disaster. And maybe, just maybe, the maniacal Satan can secure man’s worship after he completely smears the name of our Creator, by blaming God for everything that is really the fault of Satan.

47. Men just want to SURVIVE for as long as possible in this life.

Fire was an incredible contribution to the survival and “evolution” of the human race. Ultimately, survival is number 1. Just stay alive to enjoy life as long as possible. We already went over this, but, again, Satan uses this to his advantage. That’s exactly what his devices are for – to get an advantage over humanity. He has used his devices very well.

Mankind’s primary life-goal is simply to survive – just don’t die. Man’s primary instinct is to survive. Anything you have to do to avoid death.

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We have popular “reality” television shows based on surviving called “survivor” and “naked and afraid” where two people are literally dropped off in the wild, completely naked and alone. Their goal? Survive!

We lift our “cancer survivors” to hero level. Our 9-11 survivors and war survivors are called heroes. EVERYTHING boils down to one word – SURVIVE! That is the most important thing. In fact science-falsely-so-called’s evolutionistic mantra is “survival of the fittest”! In their (blind, closed, unenlightened) eyes we are ALL just fighting to survive. This is just where their jailor Satan wants them; comfortable and asleep.

NOW, our jailor has extended this dishonest treachery even beyond personal survival to the survival of our species. Our most “brilliant” modern minds (experts) assure us there MUST be alien races existing in this vast universe. Satan has given us a massive onslaught of alien-based evidence (fiction), books, movies and shows. The idea is the aliens (or bad guys) want the extinction of the human race and we are going to have to fight to, wait for it… survive.

48. Satan does just enough “good” for mankind to avoid a mutiny.

Satan has ALL of mankind (except for a “few”) captured and subjected to him in prison. He does whatever he wants with them according to his own will and at his own whim.

2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Now if someone is held captive against their will, their mind is constantly probing for a way to escape. But, if they don’t know they are captive, well, they have no reason to escape, do they?

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Satan holds them ALL captive, that’s Bible Truth, but not cruelly and openly. He doesn’t just torture and torment them every day – that will come soon enough. On the contrary they have many privileges in their cushy jail cells. They have 100-inch HDTV screens in their cells. How many captives get those? They didn’t get those in Vietnam I’ll tell you that! They have all the modern conveniences.

They are well fed with superb food. They have steak and potatoes, McDonald’s and even caviar if they want it. They are allowed all the recreation time they want. Exercising the body so they can “look good” in prison is an important part of the cover. They can have promiscuous sex and party all night if they want. All the jailor asks is please take a cab back to your cell. Music? They can have the raunchiest music they can imagine. They have internet porn and access to free condoms if they want them. Hookers aren’t free, they will cost you a little, I mean, they have to earn a living too, right?

Which reminds me, the best thing about this prison is that the prisoners actually PAY the jailor to let them stay. And if anything goes wrong, VDs, drunk-driving, murder, rape, incest, drugs, mental disorders, well, simply blame the benevolent Creator. Satan is the master. He is such a great liar that even when I attempt to wake up the prisoners and take them out of prison and offer them God’s eternity of unbelievable health, wealth and happiness, they hate me, tell me I’m nuts and laugh me to scorn. Satan is fine with them doing ANYTHING - as long as they don’t wake up and realize they are in prison. As long as they are relaxed, comfortable and having fun they won’t want to leave.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

49. Satan cannot afford for his captives to wake up.

Ephesians 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

You see, if ANYONE wakes up there is the possibility of escape – and that Satan just cannot allow. The Bible says when they wake up is when they get saved from the dead. This process is illustrated as getting light while sitting in the darkness on death row.

Luke 1:79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Mankind is in Satan’s prison. Mankind is just too blind and asleep to see it. It is a prison they can’t even understand; until Jesus sheds LIGHT on the subject. And THAT, Satan can just not have.

Isaiah 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Satan will do everything and anything necessary to keep men locked up. He has done a masterful job of keeping them from even knowing they are in prison so they don’t have any thought of getting out. Escape from Satan’s prison is extremely difficult.

50. Fire is only the beginning.

It was a necessarily thorough but eye-popping proof to expose fire as Satan’s device. One can’t just make outlandish statements and then not support them with Scripture. There are more devices to expose. Now that we have established a valid and understandable groundwork I will try to be as brief as possible with the others. So, let’s get right to it.

51. Electricity is Satan’s device.

Electricity is certainly the most important modern discovery driving this new 21st century world in which we live. Mankind’s recent incredibly rapid advancements in the area of modern electrical devices would be impossible without, of course, electricity. It is often rumored that Ben Franklin discovered electricity in a LIGHTNING storm. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. But, it has been a mad rush of electronic invention since that time. Thomas Edison is credited with the first incandescent filament light bulb. The incandescent bulb was the first practical bulb, since it would light for hours on end. New York City had electric streetlamps in 1882.

52. Electricity is everywhere. Electricity does everything.

Electricity makes so much possible in our modern world. There is simply no way I could list all the different devices that utilize electricity. What an incredible number of devices that must be. Our current modern society is built on the back of electricity. Try and name some modern device that does NOT require electricity to operate. Not very easy, huh? Everything is electric from TVs to cars to computers to hair-dryers to refrigerators to smoke detectors.

53. Electricity provides light.

Light bulbs were the first great, and almost certainly the greatest, practical application for electricity. So, in a very real sense, electricity has taken over from fire. Fire no longer gives modern man his light; electricity does. Would you like to see that in the Book? Here it is:

Ezekiel 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

Revelation 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

This is the path The Bible specifies. Fire first, then lightning. Lightning FOLLOWS fire. Um, coincidence? Don’t think it for one moment. We used fire. Now we have graduated to electricity. The Bible is incredible, my friend.

And if you think this fire we used was a gift from God? Go ahead, walk in that. You shall lie down in sorrow.

Isaiah 50:11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

54. God is light.

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light…

There you are, many are led to believe. God gave us light. There is no light but His.

55. Yes, God gave man light.

Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

56. God’s light needs no other light.

Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

In Eden there was no need for ARTIFICIAL light as the moon was as bright as the sun is now and evening (night) wasn’t dark at all. FALLEN man needed fire and then “candles” for many years to “light” his way, but in Eden he did not. Now, of course, man has something even better; electric lighting! Electric lighting is so much more convenient – and safer.

57. God’s light is always free.

Is your light free, dear reader? Or do you PAY for it, like I do and everyone else that has artificial light on this planet does? Satan has light. It is never free. What do you think that light could possibly be?

58. Electricity creates artificial light.

Many people naively (because they refuse to believe and/or study The Bible) believe that God has provided for man in order for man to be happier, healthier and wealthier. God did NOT give man electricity. Satan did. There was no artificial light in Eden. God’s work was done. There will be no need for artificial light at all for all of eternity.

Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

59. Satan as lightning - falls from heaven.

Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Satan falls “as lightning”. Don’t you find that interesting? Didn’t lightning come down in a storm?

Why do you think he fell as “lightning” fell? First, consider why he “fell”. He fell because he was being punished. And, what did we just learn about punishment? It ALWAYS perfectly fits the crime.

60. Satan appears as an angel of LIGHT.

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Do you think The Bible is wrong here? Do you think The Bible says this flippantly or simply as a sidebar or as the cool answer to some trivia question? Do you not think this is an unbelievably significant piece of truth? Let’s break this down for a moment.

One – “no marvel”. This is going to blow your mind. It is going to be so unbelievable that you will marvel that it could even possibly be true, much less be exactly true!

Two – “Satan himself is transformed”. Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, Leviathan, the Serpent, the Dragon, Beelzebub, you know, that guy: He can TRANSFORM!!! Listen, if you saw him as he actually is you would not survive the encounter. (read more about that after the stop sign if you like)

Three – “into an angel”. So, to you, WHEN he appears, and he WILL appear, Satan himself will look and act like a beautiful, kind, wonderful, loving angel of God. You will think he is awesome. You will pridefully believe God has given you some very special revelation. Do you seriously think you will be able to tell the difference? You will be so completely fooled that you will not even consider for an instant that just maybe he is not who he claims to be.

Four – “of light”. An angel is a messenger/helper to man. And Satan’s deceitful message to man is “light”. He will seem to give man awesome things like wisdom, knowledge, hope, joy, peace, love, etc. ALL under the disguise of LIGHT. LIGHT will make all of these things possible. This “angel” will use “light” to fool the world.

You think you are going to recognize him? You have no chance. The ONLY chance of exposure for this “transformed angel of light” is the Word of God. That’s why he wants it destroyed so badly. It is mankind’s ONLY hope against Satan’s power and deceit. Yet everyone is so busy enjoying the “light” they spend no time studying the Word. Satan smiles and gives man new shows, juicier news, better violence and spicier fantasy. Everything our polluted blood can desire.

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Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? 2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? 4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? 5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? 7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

The answer to ALL of these questions is a big, fat NOT A CHANCE IN A GODZILLION. In fact:

Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

To have even the slightest hope that you could even have any communication whatsoever with Satan is more than a joke – it is simply vanity. If you were to even SEE him, did you get that? If you were to simply try to catch a quick glimpse of him, say by peeking around a hidden corner, not touch him, speak with him, argue with him, challenge him or fight with him – just CATCH A GLIMPSE of him – he is so beyond-your-imagination powerful, that you would be immediately cast down like a bolt of lightning from a category 5000 hurricane.

Job 41:10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

There is not one human that would dare mess with him. And that is why he instead appears to men as an angel of light.

61. Satan has BLINDED the minds of the entire lost world.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

If you were going to BLIND someone, how would you do it? Maybe you would put them in the DARK? It doesn’t seem to me that putting them in the dark would do it. Let’s say someone was literally placed in complete darkness for some years and never shown light. If it is totally dark and this person is exposed to just a slight sliver of light, it is going to be very noticeable. That is certainly not what Satan wants for his prisoners. Let’s say this person in the dark is, after 5 years, let out into the light. When this person opens their eyes I believe that would be quite painful. It’s painful when your spouse turns on the light at 3am without warning you, so I’m sure after 5 years it would be very painful and be difficult to adjust. But eventually they would adjust. I don’t think simply sitting in the dark would “blind” a person.

What could, and has, blinded people is incessant, unrelenting exposure to bright light. I read of Native Indian tortures where captured enemies have been blinded by placing them facing the sun, with their eyelids sewn open. THAT will blind you.

When a solar eclipse is visible you had better not stare at it with the naked eye. This will blind you – even the “experts” agree on that. This is EXACTLY what Satan has done, and is doing! But, the light is so “wonderful” and “beautiful” and “hot” and “sexy”, we just can’t look away, and so we are blinded by this ANGEL OF LIGHT! The lost are not blinded to the light of the gospel by darkness; on the contrary, they are blinded by light – specifically the angel of light.

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Some would say, “doesn’t The Bible say the whole world lieth in darkness? It doesn’t say the world is lying in the wrong kind of light.” Actually, The Bible doesn’t say the whole world lieth in darkness - it says the whole world lieth in wickedness!

1 John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

The world is blind IN DARKNESS.

Deuteronomy 28:29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness…

Their EYES are blinded by God Himself.

Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 

John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

But, their MINDS are blinded by Satan.

2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

The two verses above are the only two times in the Word of God that “mind” (or a derivative) and “blind” (or a derivative) are mentioned in the same verse.

How does Satan blind the “mind”? First, he used a vail. He hides the truth behind something covering the truth. What does Satan use to cover up the truth? Lies, of course!

It is very interesting that 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 mentions an “image”. The Bible says they are BLINDED so the IMAGE of God should not shine unto them. The Bible says Satan has plans for them to see, not NOTHING, not NO IMAGE AT ALL, but rather a vastly different image. He has a vail.

Revelation 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, …15…and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Satan has another image for mankind. A very deceitful one. What do you think you see when you watch your television? Do you think you see reality? Even “reality television” is not reality. Television is nothing but a fast-flickering series of images, created by light, separated by areas of darkness. These images on your television set (and computer/internet) are images of light, sent by an angel of light, to blind mankind’s mind from the true light, by focusing man’s mind on other images (a covering vail), evil images, containing darkness.

Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The “light” of the human body is the eye. If that “eye be evil” (watches evil, looks for evil, likes eye candy) “the body is full of darkness”. How does that darkness get into the body? Through the eye! What does modern artificial light have in it? Darkness. And it is getting in through the eye.

God finishes the blindness by turning off their mind.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

62. Artificial light has darkness.

God’s light is pure. Satan’s light (“angel of light”) is not. Again, the theme of Satan is often to copy or mimic God’s things. Just like blood and fire, artificial light is a copycat product of Satan. Satan graciously gave man his own version (device) of light – to blind them to the true light.

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

In God’s LIGHT there is NO DARKNESS AT ALL. It is pure, perfect light.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Would you consider artificial light a “good gift”? I think most of humanity certainly would. It helps makes us quite a bit more comfortable and safe. It simply must be a gift from God, right?

Well, if it IS a good gift then it is from above. But, what if it is NOT a good gift? What if it is NOT from above? A “good gift” that is “from above” and “cometh down FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS” could have no variableness and no darkness.

God’s perfect light produces no shadows. There is no “variableness” or variance. Turning the light does not make any shadows. It is PURE light.

Impure light has DARKNESS in it.

Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Pure light (from above, from The Father) does not have darkness in it.

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Someone is certainly going to search the Scriptures and find “shadow” or “shadows”. They are in The Bible 84 times, and on more than one occasion they are directly linked to God. So, God creates “shadows”, some will invariably say. Let’s do a quick examination of God’s shadows.

This is the first mention of “shadow”.

Genesis 19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

To point out what may be obvious, roofs do not always make shadows. Sometimes, when it is cloudy, there is no shadow. In fact, as I look outside of my window right now there are no shadows at all. The mention of the shadow in this verse, then, is more closely related to the protection of being under someone’s roof, than it is of being untouched by the rays of the sun. There are several of the other occurrences of “shadow” that support this definition. This is the 2nd mention of “shadow” in Scripture.

Judges 9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

This is directly related to God’s protection:

Psalms 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

Psalms 57:1 … for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

So, when you read this next verse, you may rest assured that it is talking about the safety and protection of God. He is not blocking out light. He is blocking out evil and hurt and wickedness and violence, not light.

Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

God’s hand doesn’t shadow from light, but from hurt.

Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

63. The light or electricity of this world contains MUCH darkness.

I can just start with television. Darkness is all over that “light”. And this is the same “light” that gives us computers and the internet (much darkness).

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Why would there be ANY darkness in God’s light? There absolutely could not!

64. Every electronic or electrical device on this planet is a device that man created using Satan’s devices called “light” and “electricity”.

Every device and invention ever imagined and created on this planet are ALL evil. You may not like this but The Bible is very clear. Wake up. Think about how far electronic devices have taken man away from his Creator? These devices have done nothing but make us more comfortable and more “at home” on this dying planet.

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Mankind is much further from God today than we were in 1882 when N.Y. City got their first streetlights. Satan calls these “advances in technology” and slanders those people who believe The Bible by calling them stupid, irrelevant and a detriment to the “progress” of humanity.

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Do I think Christians can sometimes use these devices to serve the Lord? Yes. I even used a computer (electricity) with an electronic Bible to write this book, and a printer to print this book. BUT, the vast majority of the time it is used to subject man, to blind and enslave him. I’m not saying they have never been used to win people to Christ; they have. But the majority of the people have been blinded, especially those that think they are getting truth from the false prophets preaching another gospel on the devices of light.

65. The sinister end-game purpose of all of these devices is world peace.

Electricity, LIGHT, will be the downfall of mankind. It will subjugate man to the most evil man ever to live on this planet.

66. During the time of great tribulation the Beast will be worshipped.

The Beast, seed of Satan himself, will be worshipped by the whole world. They will not just worship HIM, though. Far more telling, is that they will worship his IMAGE!

What do you think you see when you watch TV or a video on the internet? You don’t see a person, you see AN IMAGE of the person. This image is made purely of electronic (artificial) LIGHT. This is a Bible warning to those that will listen.

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Just so you know how serious this is, there is a LOT of warning about his IMAGE.

Revelation 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Revelation 14:9 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,

Revelation 14:11 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.

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Revelation 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

67. Air waves are Satan’s devices.

I won’t spend long on this one. Any kind of waves that run through the air are Satan’s devices. This makes your cellphone, which is one of man’s devices, completely dependent on Satan and his power. Our groundwork makes this one easy to understand.

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

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The Bible exposing “the power of the air” in writings thousands of years old is beyond amazing. God knew about your cellphone thousands of years ago. Well, I’m sure He knew before that, but He recorded it for our benefit thousands of years ago. Science-falsely-so-called didn’t even know the Earth was round at that time, much less that communication would be available through matching 3-inch by 5-inch boxes, held by two individuals separated by virtually any distance from one end of the planet to the other. We communicate like this, without giving it a second thought, every day. We access almost any kind of information instantaneously on demand just by using a wireless device. Check the weather. Get directions. Order dinner. Find a hotel. Locate an old friend. Find out the latest gossip about our favorite stars. Hear the latest lies the “news” is selling. Watch a movie. Call your kids. Call your mom. Call 911. Play a game when you’re bored. Find a job. Get an education. Change your career. What time is it? What’s the score of the game? Find a date. Find a spouse. Find a kidnapper. Buy anything, virtually anything, and have it delivered right to your door – the very next day if you want. Return it if it isn’t exactly what you expected.

This is all possible ONLY by “the power of the air”. And The Bible tells us that Satan is the PRINCE of the power of the air. All of our “wireless” technology is thanks to him.

68. The sinister purpose of the power of the air is to set the course of this world.

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

God revealed to us, thousands of years ago, the COURSE of this world. He said the world’s course would be set according to “the power of the air”. If you think our new wireless devices aren’t setting the “course of this world”, well, you just aren’t paying attention or are completely out of touch with current events. You are either not listening, or refusing to listen. Either way, God will consider you working with “the children of disobedience”. The “course” that this wireless world is on ends in human enslavement under Satan’s sinister plan to dominate the whole world.

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Wireless devices are everywhere. The world loves them. We love them so much that we are willing, not just willing but merrily willing, to carry a personal GPS locating device on our person at all times. We actually pay with our own hard-earned money to carry one for the government. This device can be used to listen to your private conversations and locate you quickly and efficiently should the government ever need to find you for any reason. You had better hope they never need to find you for any reason.

69. Electricity is also a power of the air.

Interestingly, electricity is also a “power” of the “air”. Though it was always true (lightning) it has become increasingly true now, as the world goes “green” to try to “save the planet”. Windmills make power (electricity) from the movement of “air”. Lightning is made by the movement of “air” when it collides. This is all part of the power of Satan and is the very thing on the back of which our society has been built.

70. Power.

Which brings us to POWER. Power is what all of this is about. Fire is power. Ever heard of “firepower”? Light is power. Electricity is power. We get it from the power company. Humans crave power. It has been said that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Power is the most widely desirable thing in this world. And, in this world, my friend, what gives a man power? If you are going to be truly powerful in this world, you are going to have to be one of two things. Either you are going to be a recipient of the power of this world through Satan or you are going to receive power from God. It won’t be both. It is impossible to have both power from God and power from Satan. Don’t believe me?

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

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If a man becomes excessively wealthy, like a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or George Soros then they always use it to wield power. What good is wealth, they say, if it doesn’t come with the ability to affect things the way I want them or the way I think they should be? Be honest with yourself, if you were incredibly wealthy, not just very well off but multi-billionaire wealthy, wouldn’t you try to influence what you could? Of course you would. You already do it now in your limited capacity, you just don’t have the resources of George Soros or the Koch brothers. Donald Trump is a great example of just this. He became wealthy and didn’t personally like the way American government was headed. He wanted the POWER of the Presidency to change it. The power of the Presidency does not come without money. MONEY runs this world. MONEY is the power of this world.

71. God has tremendous POWER.

Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power,…

Psalms 66:7 He ruleth by his power for ever; …

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God’s “understanding” is infinite. This means he understands everything. You and I on the other hand have very limited “understanding”. Understanding is the key to knowledge. You can only gain knowledge if you have understanding first.

Let’ say for instance you or I were to pick up an issue of “The New England Journal of Medicine”, one of the most well respected medical journals in the world. If we were to read our issue from cover to cover we would get very little knowledge. An elite doctor, on the other hand, might gain tremendous knowledge by reading the exact same issue. Why would this be so? Because the elite doctor has quite a bit more “understanding” of the subject than we do. Without understanding, what we are reading seems a little like gibberish as the very complicated material doesn’t make sense to us. That is why some people read some things in The Bible and they are not able to make sense of them, while to others of deeper “understanding” those same things make perfect sense. You see, The Bible teaches us that knowledge has to be understood to be gained.

Proverbs 19:25 …reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

You can offer a bunch of knowledge to a pupil but if he has no understanding then it will not be retained. An example is when your math teacher put the solution to that tough problem on the board and you said, “huh?” People have to UNDERSTAND to retain knowledge.

The “knowledge” one can retain from a reading is based on his “understanding” of the subject. And the understanding of the subject comes from years of the accumulation of the knowledge that happened to be available to the student AT THE TIME it was studied based on the current level of understanding. You can only get understanding as far as you have knowledge. And your knowledge can only increase when your understanding has increased. Your understanding grows as you accumulate knowledge. You can see how these two are inexorably linked. So, if God’s “understanding” is infinite, his knowledge must be, by definition, infinite also.

The Bible has some very “deep” knowledge in it.

Daniel 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things…

Let’s say you read a Bible passage. Let’s say that passage, passage “X”, has a depth, on God’s measuring stick, of 100. God understands all 100 of course. When you read it for the first time you will not pick up 100, that’s for sure. Let’s say you only pick up 2 your first time through. As you continue to pick up 2s in other passages throughout your reading of The Bible your knowledge will increase by picking up those 2s. At some point, as the 2s add up, your understanding will increase. The next time you read passage “X” you may now pick up 5 or 10 instead of only the 2 you picked up last time. As you continue to study the other passages in other places your knowledge now increases at your 5-10 level of understanding. As you continue to read and study you will get deeper and deeper knowledge and understanding to the point when someday, maybe, just maybe, God will allow you to pick up (understand) all 100 of the knowledge available in passage “X”. The Bible puts it like this:

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

It doesn’t come all at once. One must:

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Without study and a deeper level of overall understanding, you can only understand so much of the knowledge within individual passages. And if you understand only a little you can be more easily fooled, by the master liar, and you may end up ASHAMED. Don’t want to be ashamed? Study the Word of God.

Want to know God’s will for your life? UNDERSTAND The Bible at a deep level, and God’s will for your life will be easily understood.

Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

72. In fact, ALL power originates from God.

Psalms 62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

POWER belongs to God. It is His. Power/energy, the thing that gives us “life”, the ability to move and think, is the property of God. It is uniquely His. There is NO power or energy that exists that did not originate from God. If something has power or energy it came originally from God. No other being has power or energy of their own.

1 Chronicles 29:11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power… 12 … in thine hand is power and might…

There is NO power that does not come from God. He is ALL power and ALL energy.

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God…

73. Power or energy is GIVEN by God.

God GIVES power/energy to whomsoever He will and in whatsoever amount He will. Nobody steals it. Nobody takes it from Him.

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Power is given by God. The people to whom God gives “power” The Bible calls “powers”. Some are “higher” than others according as God has given to each a level of “power”.

74. Jesus acknowledged this several times.

Matthew 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. … 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

Jesus also gave “power”.

Matthew 10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

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Jesus gives the saved the “power” to become the children of God.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Pilate’s “power” over Jesus was “given” to him.

John 19:10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

75. ALL power is given to Jesus.

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Jesus is the ONLY being to whom The Father has given ALL POWER. There is no other being that can make this claim. There is nothing that Jesus could not do with His unlimited power.

76. Power is equated to brightness.

The “brighter” you are the more powerful you are. Brightness is power.

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This is the first mention of “brightness” in The Bible.

2 Samuel 22:13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.

This is a vision of the brightness of God, and His brightness didn’t just affect the sight, no, it was energy/power emanating from Him that ignited fire like lighter fluid and a match!

We don’t expect that just because something is bright that it exudes the kind of energy to start fires, but what about lasers? They are very bright and powerful lights that contain high concentrations of energy. In The Bible, “brightness” reveals a level of “power”.

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Even if you ask the science-falsely-so-called crowd they will tell you that our bright sun has a lot of POWER. And the brightest stars in our sky are many times brighter and more powerful than our sun.

Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

Jesus will DESTROY with brightness/light. That seems pretty powerful to me.

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

77. Satan has mighty power.

Daniel 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

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Satan was given the “power” of death.

Hebrews 2:14 …that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Satan can “give” his power too.

Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. …4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

78. Satan received power from God.

Lucifer (Satan) was given tremendous power by God when he was created. He was, and I say this with 99% certainty, the most “powerful” (power full) being God ever created. I say 99% because I believe that is what I read from the Scriptures, but I don’t know that there is a single passage that says exactly this. There may have been another creature or creatures created AFTER Satan that are now more powerful. But, at the time of his creation he was the brightest.

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Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. … 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. … 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Satan was made beautiful, wise and with great understanding. However, his heart was lifted up in pride because of his beauty, his place (covering cherub) and his brightness (power). God said he was “perfect” until iniquity was found out and he had sinned. Therefore God will destroy him in the Lake of Fire. But, before this he was probably the wisest, most powerful, and most beautiful being God had created.

79. Lucifer wanted more power than what God had given him.

Remember that he said:

Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

God gave Satan lots of power. It just wasn’t enough for him. He wanted more. But, nobody had ever done anything like that. How could it be accomplished? How could you get more power than what God had given you if God is the source of ALL power? Good question, huh? Lucifer figured it out.

80. There are two ways to get power: from God or from Satan.

1.) The power God gives. God’s power.

2.) The power Satan gives. Satan’s power.

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Not hard to understand. I suppose you are going to need to see that in the Book. We’ve already seen the power God gives.

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, …

Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

Luke 22:53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

Satan’s power is evil and darkness. And Satan’s power involves pride.

Leviticus 26:19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth

81. Lucifer was PERFECT until he sinned.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

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Lucifer, it is said right here, committed “iniquity”, not “sin”. Now, in some sense that is splitting hairs, because obviously Satan has committed sin but, let’s take just a moment to explore “sin” vs. “iniquity”. “Sin” or some kind of derivative is in The Bible just over 700 times. “Iniquity” or some kind of derivative is in The Bible a little over 300 times.

That is a rather large selection so I won’t bore you (too much) with specifics other than to say “sin” is broader than “iniquity” just based on the fact that it appears more often and in more situations in Scripture. It is not a simple task to explain the exact difference between sin and iniquity as they are so closely connected in Scripture and the words can actually be interchanged in many cases and not change the general “meaning” of the verse. That said, however, we have learned that The Bible is EXACTING and uses the perfect word in the English language in every place, every time. So I want to hone in on the difference for you. This will help us understand EXACTLY what Lucifer did when iniquity was found in him, not just what he did in general. And THIS is critical in getting to the bottom of things.

A few quick observations that will help us understand the slight difference between sin and iniquity.

One can commit sin. One can commit iniquity. Check.

One can be in sin. One can be in iniquity. Check.

One can sin. One cannot iniquity. Sin can be a noun or a verb. Iniquity is NOT a verb. It cannot be used as a verb. It is ONLY a noun. That is very significant.

One can be a sinner. There is no such thing as an “iniquitor”. So obviously we are starting to uncover some real differences.

Here is another BIG difference.

Leviticus 4:27 And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance…

Scripturally you can sin through ignorance. The Bible speaks of this several times. However, The Bible NEVER says one can commit iniquity through ignorance. In fact, the words “iniquity” and “ignorance” or “ignorant” never appear in the same Bible verse.

Very similarly one can “work” iniquity. You cannot “work” sin. Iniquity is a WORK.

Psalms 141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Here is the final piece and I think the key to understanding iniquity vs. sin.

Leviticus 19:7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

To eat it on the 3rd day is sin. If someone actually DOES eat it on the 3rd day then it is iniquity.

Job 31:11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

Sin is the transgression of the law. The exact phrase “sin is” appears in The Bible 11 times. Only one of those defines sin and this is exactly what it says:

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

To break the law is to sin.

The iniquity of that breaking of the law is the actual CRIME committed. Not just that David committed adultery, that is the sin, but that David committed adultery with Bathsheba at an exact time and in a certain place; that is the iniquity of his sin.

You sinned if you broke God’s law. The iniquity of that sin is the CRIME you actually committed. To cement this final piece:

Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

We end up with this. Iniquity is a specific work. It is the specific crime that was committed. It was committed on purpose. Since iniquity is never ignorant the iniquity includes the intent to do the crime.

82. The root of ALL evil is the love of money.

Listen closely, this is a BIG deal. God is telling us EXACTLY what is the root of ALL evil. Not just some evil. Not just most evil. ALL EVIL. Wouldn’t you think that would be a very big deal? You should!

The problem is that we have taken the answer for granted. Many folks that elsewise know very little about The Bible know the answer to the question: what is the root of all evil? Some get it incorrect by saying it is “money”. The Bible says:

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil:…

The LOVE OF MONEY is the root of every little bit of evil from the beginning of existence unto the end of eternity, without exception. ALL is very specifically, ALL, without leaving out anything at all. There is not one single evil that can be done for which the ROOT of it is NOT “the love of money”.

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Have you ever wondered how, exactly, this is so? I have. I used to wonder how this could be true for ALL sins.

One can understand how bank robbers, thieves, embezzlers and con artists are motivated by the love of money. One can even understand how a murderer, seeking insurance policy payouts or the contents of a will, could be motivated by the love of money. Even a kidnapper holds people for ransom.

But, how exactly is a child molester motivated by the love of money? How is a serial killer motivated by the love of money? How is a terrorist bomber or sniper motivated by the love of money? How is a serial rapist motivated by the love of money? How is a compulsive liar motivated by the love of money in EVERY case? How about an adulterer in the midst of a heated affair? Is it ALWAYS true this adulterer is motivated by the love of money? How about homosexuality and lesbianism? Are they motivated by the love of money? My friend, all of that is just not possible. So, what is the answer?

83. What was Satan’s very first sin?

There had to be a very first sin, right? The very first time Lucifer did something wrong that was against God’s rules.

Did he murder someone as his first sin? Did he tell a lie for his first sin? This is what most people would guess. Or “pride” they might say.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Obviously he wasn’t a murderer from his inception. From his creation he was perfect.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

So how can these not be contradictory? The Bible says he was a murderer “from the beginning” but isn’t specific as to the beginning of what exactly? Well, I propose since it couldn’t be from HIS (Satan’s) beginning it had to be from “THE” beginning, just like it says.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

From THE beginning of the creation described in Genesis, Satan was a murderer. So, he was already a murderer from that time, but that does NOT mean his FIRST sin was murder, just that one of his many sins, including lying, was murder.

84. Tyrus, Satan’s dominion.

I believe the prince/king of Tyrus spoken of in Ezekiel 28 is a direct reference to Satan. I believe there was an actual place called Tyrus of which Lucifer was the king and the prince.

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This is the Prince of Tyrus reference:

Ezekiel 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Daniel had an experience with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. Daniel had been praying to the Lord for understanding.

Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

Daniel had to wait three weeks for an answer from the Lord.

Daniel 10:2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

When the answer finally came, the ANGEL (not man) bringing the message explained the delay of three weeks.

Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

The prince of the kingdom of Persia (spiritual being) withstood the angel (spiritual being) that was to deliver the information to Daniel. In the spiritual realm the angel/messenger sent to Daniel was not strong enough to break through the “principality” of “Persia” which was guarded by the “prince of the kingdom of Persia”. Michael, the archangel, came to help, and with his help the angel/messenger was finally able to break through. These princes and kings mentioned are ALL spiritual/angelic beings. They were principalities with a dominion. Satan’s dominion was called Tyrus.

85. The king/prince of Tyrus is Satan.

Lucifer is really the only possible king/prince of Tyrus.

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Quite a few reasons to believe this are given here in his description.

Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created.

1) Full of wisdom.

2) Perfect in beauty.

3) Was in the Garden of Eden.

4) Had built-in tabrets and pipes.

5) Covered with every precious stone.

6) Perfectly created.

It is simply impossible that this describes any man to ever exist on this planet except Adam, since he was the only man ever in the Garden of Eden. Adam, however, did not have built-in tabrets and pipes and wasn’t covered with anything (he was naked, remember) much less every precious stone. No, this is certainly a description of Lucifer - one of our very few and very precious descriptions.

Wait, how can he be both the king and the prince at the same time? Well, Jesus is both at the same time. He is the “Prince of princes” and the “King of kings”!

Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. 

Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

86. God’s stuff is free!

God is so great and so good. In His perfect world, everything is free to all. He charges for NOTHING. There was no cost for anything to Adam and Eve. There is not one thing, not a single one, He has ever created that was intended to be sold. With The Lord God Almighty EVERYTHING IS FREE! I hope you got that - everything and anything in His entire realm is absolutely free!

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I am going to nail this to the wall. There is no doubt, absolutely no doubt, that this is absolutely true.

God didn’t charge Adam and Eve for ANYTHING. They paid for absolutely NOTHING! Everything was completely without cost and 100% FREE!

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Jesus freely gave power to the Apostles. He commanded them to give it freely also.

Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Simon of Samaria thought he could purchase the FREELY given power of God.

Acts 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

Matthew 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

The children are ALWAYS free. Do your kids pay when they go to the fridge? Mine don’t. Mine can have ANYTHING they want. They can wipe me clean out if they want. They are FREE in my house and they always will be. You can ask my kids if I have ever taken money from them for any reason and they will tell you the answer is no. My family is that important to me. Can you even imagine how important God’s family is to Him? EVERYTHING you and I can ever imagine, and EVERYTHING we can’t, will be absolutely FREE and without cost when we are living with Our Heavenly Father. You can have as much as you want (it will never run out) as often as you want (it will be there forever) and at any time you want it (there will be no time). This is THE TRUTH!

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

We are justified FREELY. We OWE NOTHING. There is no cost to us.

Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

He will FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS. It could not possibly get any clearer than that. Dear reader, if God gave us His Only Begotten Son for FREE, for what might He possibly charge us? He will NEVER charge us for anything!

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

It is just as if it is ours. We will INHERIT EVERYTHING with Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Everything above is FREE.

Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

LIFE, true life, is ALWAYS FREE.

Revelation 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

God “gives” away free. Satan “charges” a price.

87. Lucifer’s first Sin was selling something that should have been FREE!

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Ezekiel 28:3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding…

Remember Lucifer was full of wisdom. By his wisdom and his understanding…

Ezekiel 28:4 …thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

Satan BECAME incredibly rich. Think about it; on this planet, this is how people become rich. They invent something or design something or provide something. They do this because they have enough wisdom and have enough understanding to make or do something new and/or desirable to other men. Then they sell it to you. Or they simply force you to buy it. This is how humans become incredibly rich. Knowledge is power, the world is fond of saying. And with vast knowledge one can accumulate great power. This great power is in the form of great wealth.

Ezekiel 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

Notice, please, HOW Satan INCREASED HIS RICHES. The Bible says he became rich “by thy traffick”. The word “traffick” in The Bible ALWAYS involves the buying and selling of merchandise. Here is the first mention:

Genesis 42:34 And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

Here is the second mention:

1 Kings 10:15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants…

Trafficking in The Bible ALWAYS involves the buying and selling of “merchandise”.

So, knowing this, here is the crux of the matter.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

PERFECT TILL “iniquity” was found in him! “Iniquity” is the CRIME committed. Notice it doesn’t say “sin” but rather “iniquity”. We are about to see the SPECIFIC CRIME of Satan’s first sin!

Ezekiel 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

This iniquity (crime) involved “merchandise”; a multitude of merchandise!

Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth…

Notice that there were a “multitude of iniquities”. This tells us that there were many crimes that were committed. But, it also tells us which was the VERY FIRST ONE! The multitude of iniquities were each one caused “BY THE INIQUITY OF THY TRAFFICK”! Listen closely. ALL of the iniquities that Satan committed, and there were many, were the result of ONE SINGLE INITIAL INIQUITY. Satan TRAFFICKED MERCHANDISE that was always supposed to be FREE. And he got great wealth by doing so.

Many folks think (if you ask them, try it, I did) that Satan’s first sin was PRIDE, but no, this is not true. Notice the progression in this verse:

Ezekiel 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

Notice that Lucifer’s heart is lifted up AFTER (“because of”) he becomes rich, which happens AFTER he sells some thing(s) that should have been free, in order to become rich. This is “the love of money”, which as you know is the absolute ROOT of all evil. It began right here with Satan selling something that should have always been completely free.

88. What was he selling?

Well, it could have been about anything I guess. It could have been anything because everything was free – just like it always is in God’s house!

The Bible does not say explicitly what it was. At least not that I have uncovered yet.

Satan had POWER to imagine and invent (still does). Man has this power also (inventions) but Satan’s power to do so is indescribably greater. I’m sure Lucifer had many cool inventions like, say fire, and light? What, you say, they already had light? Sure, but it was God’s light. Satan made a different light. Think I’m wrong or reaching? Remember that Satan is cast out of heaven as “lightning”. Do you think that maybe selling some form of “light” and/or “fire” was his crime? He will spend eternity in a Lake of “fire”. He did fall from Heaven as “lightning”. Hmmm, go figure, huh? I believe he was selling many things but most prominently things involving “fire” and “light”. The punishment ALWAYS fits the crime PERFECTLY.

89. Light-based devices are not new.

You are probably under the impression that electrical (light based) devices are new. Televisions are new. Computers are new. Lighting is new. Cellphones are new. Listen, these things are NOT NEW! You say, “what, now you have really flipped your lid. These things are unique to our modern world!” Really? Are you quite sure? Well, then how come The Bible says this:

Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

And this:

Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

And you thought this verse couldn’t possibly be true. If it is UNDER THIS SUN it is NOT a new thing. That is clear. And since there were no electronic devices in the history of this planet then it MUST be that they had a history BEFORE this planet.

All of these modern electrical devices were around before in some form. They got Satan in a lot of trouble for SELLING THEM. Guess what he is now SELLING to us? Those same light-based devices that he used to sin for the very first time! You have been warned.

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I watched a program on the light-based television device in my home that presented evidence of light bulbs and batteries being used many thousands of years ago on this planet. And the creators of this program very likely neither believe nor understand the Scriptures, so they are unbiased in their presentation of this evidence (at least this time, due to their ignorance of the significance of the subject).

90. Satan’s merchandise always has a price.

Just to remind you that Satan’s merchandise always has a cost.

91. The world economy is the device of Satan.

The “economic system” of God is one where everything is absolutely free. There is never a charge or a price.

The “economic system” of Satan is one where everything has a price, and you will pay that price if you want anything.

Which world economic system do you think we have on this planet? You already know the answer.

So, Satan, who was rebuked as profane in heaven for his economic system involving merchandise and the accumulation of wealth (money), has now come to earth to set up the exact same economic system! That is why everything has a price. We live on Satan’s blood, breathe his air and (unknowingly) participate directly in his invented economy. How is that for a clear understanding of why Satan is “the god of this world”!? You and I live, work, play and pay in an economy that is purely the design and creation of Satan. God has absolutely nothing to do with it at all. God created a completely FREE economy. Satan changed it to a PAY (free market) economy.

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God pictured much of what we have learned in this beautiful Bible story. Do you remember this story, dear reader?

Matthew 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. 

Did you get all of that? That is some very cool stuff, huh? Maybe that was a little too fast for some of you, so let’s read it again only slower this time.

Matthew 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 

1) This involves money – Satan’s invention, monetary system and economy.

2) Some man wanted to be paid by another man.

Matthew 17:25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

3) Parents don’t charge their own children. Kings don’t charge their own children. They charge their subjects/strangers.

4) The children are free. Jesus is God’s child and is thus free. God’s children are all free.

Matthew 17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. 

5) Even so, Jesus commands Peter to pay the man with money.

6) TO GET THE MONEY…

7) Jesus sends Peter to “the sea”. This pictures the deep.

8) He tells him to cast in a hook; to go fishing. This pictures the following hook.

9) He tells him to bring up the fish he first hooks. This pictures Leviathan.

Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? 2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose?

Leviathan being an aquatic creature (a sea dragon) is classified with the fish.

Ezekiel 29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. 

10) He instructs him to open the fish’s mouth. The fish is basically powerless to resist, as will be Leviathan. Jesus tells him to take what he is about to take right out of the fish’s mouth. Where do you think the phrase came from, “straight from the fish’s mouth”? This pictures something taken from out of the very mouth (being) of Satan.

11) What he finds in his mouth is a piece of money. This pictures Satan as the creator and provider of money on this planet. If it is money then it belongs to Satan.

12) He is to take the money provided by God straight from Satan’s mouth and pay the man what he says is owed. This pictures that when God’s Only Begotten Son has a need, especially when that “need” is unjustly placed upon Him, God can provide it by snatching it straight out of Satan’s mouth. As will He do for all of His Righteous children.

All of the Bible stories are more meaningful than meets the temporal eye. They all have great spiritual significance. We just need the spiritual eyes to see it.

92. Never sell what God freely gives you. Never sell anything in God’s House.

This is EXACTLY why this book will NEVER be sold for even one penny as long as I have any say in it. I would advise you the same way, with whatever God has freely given to you.

Lucifer was freely given many astonishing gifts from The Lord. Lucifer was very special. BUT, he didn’t give God the glory for those things that The Lord had FREELY GIVEN to him – he took the glory for himself. How did he do this? What went wrong? What did he do? What triggered this whole mess? Lucifer started SELLING the things that God had given him. He sold them to others that had not been created with Lucifer’s “advantages”. He SOLD them to others so that he could become a god to them and rule over them. And what makes one more powerful than another in Satan’s (and our) world? Money.

Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Luke 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

These pages may not be blank, I used “the brain God gave me”, but they would be completely filled with pride, vanity and lies were it not for God revealing these things to men. The only truth in this book is the Truth God’s Word put in it.

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John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 

Do you realize that this is the ONLY time in His entire Biblically-recorded life that Jesus does anything like this? He drives the thieves out of the temple, pours out their money, and overthrows their tables. This seems very out of character for Jesus. Why did He do it?

John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

Jesus was incredibly passionate (zeal) about this. Something very impassioned and something very personal had “eaten Him up”.

Some try to label this as violence, and thus sin, because they hate The Bible and want to accuse The Bible of contradiction – not to mention accuse the Lord Jesus Christ of sin! Where does this come from?

Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

The Bible specifically says Jesus did no violence and no sin, so what’s the problem? The problem is people want to believe their own selves and not The Word of God. The “private interpretation” that Jesus did violence here, is simply a worldly-educated, Bible-hating, God-denying-man’s lie. “Violence” is in The Word 57 times, “violent” 10 times. Each time these are the actions of a man, they involve direct physical contact against men. There is not one exception. So, violence by man, scripturally, must be physically committed by contact with and against men; those men must be touched and harmed physically. This simply did not happen.

He made a scourge but it never says he touched them with it: only that he drove them out. If you want to assume that Jesus hit some of them with the scourge then go ahead; but assume at your own risk. He touched the tables, and the chairs, and whatever it was that they kept their money in. But it never says He touched the people. That would have been violence. There is not a single place in Scripture that speaks of Jesus laying hands on any person in a harmful way. Every time He touched someone, something good happened!

So, why this time? Why this reaction? Something must have really gotten to Him to make Him do something like this. Something really ate Him up. Want to see what caused the lone Biblical manifestation of this incredible “zeal”? Thought you might.

John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 

“Merchandise”! The same thing that was Lucifer’s ORIGINAL SIN! Lucifer had originally made God’s house a house of merchandise. These thieves were trafficking merchandise, just like Lucifer, and that brought out that zeal in The Lord! Want some more proof? I thought you might. Here is the OT quote that the disciples remembered.

Psalms 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

This passage is prophetic of the Lord Jesus and thus it is Him speaking it. And He is speaking to the owner of “thine house”. Do you know who is the owner of thine house? It is God Himself. Jesus is speaking directly to His Father. Notice, please, what He says next; “the reproaches of them that reproached thee”. This is referring to some event in the past where God was reproached in the same exact way as these people were reproaching the Temple – trafficking merchandise! These thieves were doing the exact same thing that had started it all! No wonder Jesus was so zealous! How incredible is that?! The Bible is an incredible Book with fascinating information available nowhere else on this planet.

To show the incredible importance of this passage I did a little research on the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). As you know, the gospels tell the story of the earthly life of Jesus. Each tells it in a slightly different way and with slightly different information. God has His reasons for this. The gospels do harmonize. There are some things that are only in one of the gospel books. There are some things in only two. Some are in three. There are only a very select few that are in all four gospels. I found a list of those things on a Bible website. They are ALL very important scriptural events as you will see.

1) Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist: Mt. 3:1-17; Mk. 1:1-11; Lk. 3:1-22; Jn. 1:15-34.

2) Jesus Feeding the 5000 Men: Mt. 14:13-21; Mk. 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17; Jn. 6:1-15.

3) Peter's Profession of Jesus as The Son of God: Mt. 16:13-19; Mk. 8:27-29; Lk. 9:18-20; Jn. 6:66-71.

4) Mary Anointing Jesus for Burial: Mt. 26:6-13; Mk. 14:3-9; Lk. 7:36-50; Jn. 12:1-11.

5) Jesus’ Prophetic Ride into Jerusalem: Mt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-10; Lk. 19:29-44; Jn. 12:12-19.

6) The Last Supper: Mt. 26:17-30; Mk. 14:12-26; Lk. 22:7-23; Jn. 13:1-35.

7) Gethsemane Betrayal into the Hands of Men: Mt. 26:36-56; Mk. 14:32-52 Lk. 22:40-53; Jn. 18:1.

8) Jesus’ Trials: Mt. 26:57-27:31; Mk. 14:43-15:20; Lk. 22:47-23:37; Jn. 18:2-19:3.

9) The Crucifixion: Mt. 27:32-56; Mk. 15:21-41; Lk. 23:26-56; Jn. 19:1-37.

10) The Burial: Mt. 27:57-28:15; Mk. 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn. 19:38-42.

11) The Resurrection: Mt. 28:1-10; Mk. 16:1-11; Lk. 24:1-12; Jn. 20:1-18.

Nobody would deny the staggering importance of the events listed. What an incredible list. I was disappointed by the fact however, that the creator of the list left out an event from this list that also appears in all four gospel stories. The event we are discussing here, the story of Jesus zealous in the Temple! It appears in Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45-46, and John 2:14-15. As important as the eleven listed events are, the 12th is equally important and belongs on the list. Are there 11 apostles? No, there are 12. Did Israel father 11 sons? No, there are 12. Are there 11 tribes of Israel? No, there are 12. Does the molten sea in the temple sit on the backs of 11 oxen? No, there are 12. Are there 11 months in the year? No, there are 12. Is the altar 11 cubits long and 11 cubits wide? No, it is 12 each way. Will the apostles sit on 11 thrones? No, they will sit on 12. Are 11 thousand servants sealed of each of the 11 tribes? No, 12 thousand of each of 12 tribes are sealed. Does the woman clothed with the sun have a crown of 11 stars? No, it is 12. Are there 11 pearly gates into New Jerusalem? No, there are 12. Are there 11 foundations under the Wall of New Jerusalem? No, there are 12. Does New Jerusalem measure 11 thousand furlongs in each direction? No, it is 12. Does the tree of life bear 11 different fruits? No, it is 12. In fact, there were only 11 apostles for a short while. God considered the number incomplete and added a 12th! Jacob thought he only had 11 sons for a while. But it turned out he still had 12!

The story of Jesus cleansing the Temple is a monumentally significant event and is the 12th event to the list. I hope you will be more noble than those in Thessalonica and search the Scriptures daily whether these things are so.

93. The love of money IS the ROOT of all evil.

It all started with Satan selling something that was supposed to be absolutely free. He wanted more wealth and power than God had GIVEN him. He loved “money” and did things he ought not, to get more. This was the FIRST EVER SIN. This was THE ROOT of ALL SIN. This is exactly why “the love of money” is the ROOT of all evil. So, even the rapist, even though he knows it not, was first given the desire to rape by Satan’s love of money.

94. Power is energy.

“Power” is in The Bible 272 times. “Energy” is not in there even once. This seems a little odd until one considers that the word “energy” was not in the vocabulary used at the time this was written. It just wasn’t part of the language – but power was. “Energy” and “power” are pretty much the same things. I realize that, using today’s vocabulary, science-falsely-so-called has defined these slightly differently. Power is basically energy used over time. For our purposes then, since TIME is not involved at all in God’s realm, power and energy ARE the same thing. “Energy” is not in The Bible at all so we will learn what we can about energy and power from the word “power”.

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is a help here. Webster’s 1828 definition for “power”: - 3. Force; strength; energy.

Webster’s 1828 definition for “energy”: - 1. Internal or inherent power; the power of operating.

I might say, “I really need to cut the grass today but I just don’t have the energy to do it.” The word energy that you or I would use in that sentence today would not have been used in The Bible – The Bible would use the word power instead, but the meaning would be exactly the same.

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It seems pretty clear we are thinking the way we should be. Just to be sure though, here is the first mention of the word “power” in the Word of God.

Genesis 31:6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

This isn’t talking about the power of God or the power of Satan or even “power” at all as we would define it today. If someone today were to make this statement he would likely use the word “energy” or “might” here instead of power. He might say something like: “Serving him took every bit of energy I had. I gave 110 percent. I am tired.” Energy and power are quite interchangeable here, especially since the Bible NEVER uses the word energy.

I want to show you a few other Bible verses that equate “power” with our modern idea of “energy”.

Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

In other words, of the things God creates, not one will ever fail (lose energy, break down, or die).

Psalms 79:11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die.

He gives those about to give up and die, “energy”.

Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

He gives “energy” to the “faint”. Those that have their strength depleted he giveth “energy”.

1 Samuel 30:4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

We wouldn’t say it like that today, we would say, “they wept so much that they had no energy left to weep”.

95. Energy makes the world go.

The world is after “energy”. It wants “renewable energy” so that it NEVER runs out. Energy is such a BIG deal in our world today. Everything we do involves the expending of energy. We spend our personal energy and we grow tired and old. If we had GOD’S energy it would never deplete. So, we do not have God’s unlimited energy. We have Satan’s corrupted (limited) energy. Satan corrupts.

Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness…

He corrupted everything.

Genesis 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

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It is difficult to overstate the importance of the role “energy” plays in our world today. Everyone is looking for more energy. Everyone wants to get “pumped up”. We exercise, spend energy, in order to increase our energy. Energy feels great! We want “energy” at our parties. We want energy at our concerts. We want energy in our employees and co-workers. We want energy in our students. We want energy in our athletes. We want energy in our student-athletes! We want energy in our coaches. We want energy in our entertainment, our music, sports, comedy, drama and especially our violence.

We hire people to “pump us up” or to “pump up our group”. We want to see people excited. This is done by creating energy. You see, energy is a finite commodity in humanity. We run out, we die. If you want to sell someone something, or get them to pay you for something, you have to get them “excited” enough about it to be willing to part with their money in order to obtain it.

People drink energy drinks, chew energy gum, eat energy foods, and basically do just about anything that will give them more energy. It is critical if you want to gain an advantage on your opponent or your competition. The winner is often described as he/she that “wanted it more”. They competed with more energy or more passion.

96. God worked for six days then rested. No more work was ever required.

God created the universe and set it in motion. It was perfect and would have NEVER slowed down by even one one-trillionth of a second over a span of a godzillion years. There is absolutely NO LOSS OF ENERGY with God. God is pure energy. Humanity is looking for renewable energy. God doesn’t make renewable energy. His energy is unlimited, pure, unending and will never diminish. We are going to die because we are losing energy. Satan’s little “experiment” with man has resulted in the death of EVERYTHING in this universe. If that had never happened our Sun would not be dying. Our children would not be dying. Nothing/nobody would ever even get hurt, tired or ill, much less die.

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Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

This is the FINAL verse in the entire Bible containing both the words “clean” and “unclean”. And God is promising that His people WILL be taught the difference between the holy and the profane. There is no in-between. Something is either holy or it is profane. They WILL understand the difference between clean and unclean. There is no in-between. Something is either clean or it is unclean. This PROMISE was fulfilled. The Bible says about the birth of Jesus,

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest [this is that perfect power/energy] shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

The power of the Highest makes things perfect and clean and holy and pure. Any other “power” is corrupt and is dying from the moment it is placed into motion. And EVERYTHING on this planet is dying from the very instant it is placed into motion. The Lord Jesus Christ IS the fountain of life and the perpetual motion machine. He is perfect POWER and perfect ENERGY.

97. God’s power is PERFECT energy. It is ETERNAL energy.

God’s ENERGY/POWER never depletes, never diminishes and never dies. God’s energy is literally the perpetual motion machine that mathematics and science-falsely-so-called have determined by experimentation and calculation is impossible. I suppose you want to see that in the Book?

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

“Eternal” means it goes on for eternity or forever. God’s POWER is ETERNAL POWER. God’s energy is ETERNAL ENERGY. It will never diminish at all.

1 Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

“Everlasting” means it lasts forever. God’s POWER is ETERNAL POWER. God’s energy is ETERNAL ENERGY. It will never diminish at all.

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Of course a perpetual motion machine is impossible in this universe! The 2nd law of Thermodynamics has taught us that EVERYTHING tends toward decay. Things don’t stay perfect. Things can’t stay perfect. Things don’t stay new. Things can’t stay new. Things don’t stay clean and pure. Things can’t stay clean and pure. Science-falsely-so-called has this one correct. But, because they have refused the truth of The Bible, they can’t understand that this entire universe is DYING. You are dying. Your mom is dying. Your son is dying. Your cat is dying. Your house is dying. Your car is dying. Our sun is dying. The stars are dying. The moon is dying. Earth is dying. EVERYTHING in this universe is dying. It is falling apart. So, how does it ever make sense that by experimenting on things that are dying and falling apart you could ever come up with something that does NOT die? If you breed 2 cats, my friend, you are not going to get a fish. The Bible says it this way:

Leviticus 10:10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.

There is a difference between that which is dead and that which is living. Death makes you unclean.

Leviticus 22:4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him.

So, since EVERYTHING in this universe is dying, EVERYTHING in this universe is unclean. And, as we said in the prior paragraph, you simply cannot get a clean (living) thing out of an unclean (dead) one.

Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

Hence, scientific experiments on dead things can never yield life. It is absolutely and completely impossible. But, even worse, your conclusions will ALL be completely wrong because of the refusal to control the conditions of the experiment.

John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

God LIT men and they had life. This “energy” would never decrease for any reason. EXCEPT if they were to “die”! And that is exactly what Adam and Eve did, die!

Isaiah 60:19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

God’s LIGHT, powered by God’s energy, will NEVER go out.

Psalms 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

God’s LIFE, never dies.

98. Satan’s energy, like everything else of Satan’s, is finite.

Listen, I call it Satan’s energy, but in reality we know all energy is ultimately from God. He is the originator of all power and all energy. When I call it Satan’s energy I am referring to God’s energy that has been corrupted, perverted and basically destroyed (like blood destroyed living water). It is DYING. God LIT this universe and it would have never depleted – ever. Lucifer’s meddling however has destroyed everything. Now, he is trying to recover. He is trying to fix all of his mistakes. Satan’s stuff ALL dies. Just like everything, now, on this dying planet, and everything in this dying universe. Satan is very powerful. But all his power can offer is eventual draining and eventual death. He can’t stop the inevitable. Completely “renewable energy” on this planet or in this universe is unattainable.

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

This planet, everything on it and every person in it is powered by corrupted energy and will thus die.

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I happened to pick up the November 2, 2015 issue of “Time” magazine. I don’t often read “Time”, it’s so world-peace-loving and so God-hating, but the cover caught my attention in a waiting room. The cover read, “Unlimited Energy. For Everyone. Forever. FUSION. It might actually work this time.” The article was about the current state of the development of nuclear fusion energy reactors.

Nuclear fusion is different from nuclear fission. The nuclear reactors at Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island that had meltdowns were fission reactors. The basic difference is simple. Fission reactors split atoms. Fusion reactors merge atoms. Fission reactors can melt down, as we all know, and also produce nuclear waste. Fusion reactors do not melt down (at least theoretically according to physics) and do not produce nuclear waste. Men are very excited about this.

A few things I found very interesting in the article. The old saying about fusion energy is that, “it is 30 years away and it will always be 30 years away”, because all attempts to create it have so far failed miserably. Now, however, physicists seem to think it will actually happen. It seemed funny to me though, that when asked, a prominent physicist said, “I think it will happen this time, but I would say not until the 2040s”. Interestingly, that is 30 years away!!

Speaking about the astronomical costs ($20 billion for a single reactor), the article speculated about the practical applications of the technology. The truth is that the power companies will be unwilling to get involved at all until they can turn a profit. This “unlimited energy, for everyone, forever” will NOT be free. Sounds like Satan’s economy to me.

Bill Gates, yes, that Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, is investing heavily in these new technologies, not necessarily to make money (he says – he has enough I guess?), but rather, because this world is using so much non-renewable energy, and causing so much climate change through our use of dirty energy, that we are now in very dire straits and we need nothing short of an “energy miracle” (his exact words). Satan can produce miracles.

They call this energy “unlimited”, but that isn’t truly the case. The fusion energy reactor replicates, according to the article, the reaction that happens in our sun and in the stars. While there are many of these stars, trillions and trillions, EVENTUALLY they will ALL die. They are all dying, because of Satan’s arrogant meddling, and therefore can never produce eternal energy. God’s energy is eternal. You would be wise to choose the eternal energy, rather than the “forever” energy of man (that isn’t really forever).

99. Dying energy is Satan’s device.

This is also a rallying cry for world peace: Save the planet. Get renewable energy now! Don’t be fooled. You will deplete and die. Mankind will never fix death. Better get prepared for that before your energy runs out… with your blood.

100. Other devices of Satan – all that is in the world.

If I spoke the phrase to you “ALL that is in the world”, what would that mean to you? Would you not understand what I meant? Of course you would. I would mean everything (ALL of it) in the world. Listen, this is an incredibly important passage of Scripture.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

In reality, it is all of Satan. It might be originally FROM the Father God but it is not now OF the Father God. It WAS of Him but now it is OF Satan. Satan has corrupted everything.

101. Satan’s devices are all used to keep the mind of man focused on this corrupted world.

This life is so short compared to eternity. Satan just wants man to “live” THIS corrupt life in THIS corrupt world. He uses everything to do just that!

102. Medical advances are Satan’s devices.

Satan’s Lie! God is the “great physician” so he heals us when we get sick. Man has to do his part to get better but God heals. Again, this is so typical of humanity. Take something at face value because our granpappy told us it was true and not to search the Scriptures whether or not it is so. Do you know that the phrase “great physician” is not in The Bible even once? Not at all. The words “great” and “physician” never even appear in the same verse, much less together. They only appear in the same chapter twice – and they have absolutely no correlation either time. There is no mention of the “great physician” as we define it.

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The only references to God’s purposes and a physician involve the spirit.

Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus said, in paraphrase, I didn’t come to heal the physically sick, I came to heal the spiritually sick. This is exactly why Satan wants to sell the world on his fabricated worldly “interpretation” of the Scriptures – that God wants to heal the physically sick in this world. Even when Jesus DID heal the sick He did it only to prove His identity, nothing more.

Jesus didn’t have a doctorate; neither did Elijah, Peter or Paul. They never used a scalpel or issued a prescription. Never opened hospitals or started ambulance services. When God healed it was instantaneous and required no “recovery time”. When man heals it is over time and usually with considerable recovery time and numerous potential side effects.

Do our bodies heal themselves naturally, yes. But, they were designed to heal themselves so perfectly that they would have never even needed healing. And they will never need it again. Men routinely lived to over 900 years old without modern medicine. Now we live to 80 with it. You tell me why this modern “medicine” is so wonderful? It has raised life expectancy from 50 to 80 in the last century, yes. When do you think we will reach 900 again or conquer death? And you think God is involved with this? Think again. It’s all part of the plan to give the prisoners hope in this world.

It may be “precious” to us when our loved ones live, when the doctors save our loved ones, but it is precious to God when His loved ones die.

Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

NOT THE “LIFE” OF HIS SAINTS! The Bible NEVER says the “life” of His “saints” is precious. Do you not understand that? Does that not make sense to you? Of course it does, you just don’t want to believe it. So, let’s extrapolate. A “saint” of the Lord is sick and dying. He lives! Is that precious to God? While it may be precious to YOU, and it may be precious to HIS FAMILY, and it may be precious to HIS CHURCH, and it may be precious to HIS DOCTORS, it is NOT precious to the Lord. Now, oh my goodness, let’s say people pray and pray and claim and weep and cry and beg and fast and HE DIES anyway. In case you weren’t paying attention this happens ALL the time every day! Everyone is devastated. They say, how can God allow this to happen? Why doesn’t God stop all this unnecessary death, they say? But God, according to The Bible, is very happy because one of His saints has died. This is PRECIOUS in His sight.

So, if it isn’t precious for His SAINTS to live, and they die constantly every day in spite of prayer and fasting and modern medicine, do you think He participates AT ALL in the saving of the life of the LOST man? You may not like this and you may not agree with it, but would you search the Scriptures daily whether it is so?

Does the Bible tell us to trust the doctors and medicines to save us?

Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

These passages are considered old fashioned and obsolete. Doesn’t surprise me, so is the entire rest of The Bible. There is a REASON that Christians get sick. God Himself is doing it, or at least allowing it!

I will give you the Scripture here but only elaborate a little. You will get it on your own; I won’t have to preach much.

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Your body is the temple of God.

1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

If you defile that temple (your body) God will destroy your flesh. This is why Christians get weak, sick, hurt, experience tragedy and die.

1 Corinthians 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

If they get their sin right with God He may heal. If not, all the medicine in this world won’t help. They have DEFILED THE TEMPLE OF GOD. I’m not sure exactly how; each individual has their personal relationship with God and their own temple of God; there are quite a few ways to defile it. But I know where this began. And I know which sin is the worst for your body.

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Your body is His Temple! Don’t defile HIS TEMPLE with fornication. Flee fornication. Get as far away as you can just as fast as you can. Get the fornication right with God, dear reader. Your life in the flesh and your health depend on it.

103. Combustion devices are Satan’s devices.

Combustion propulsion devices bring the world closer together – for world peace of course. Satan is all too happy to provide his devices. Combustion devices are controlled explosions. God didn’t plan to use explosions at all in His newly minted world. We humans LOVE a good explosion – as long as we are not in them! We can thank Satan for all explosions.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

104. Nuclear devices are Satan’s devices.

Nuclear devices are our ultimate form of “power”. They are so powerful and so destructive that most people fear them immensely. When a nuclear facility “melts down” you can feel just how destructive nuclear power is. I am told that even though it is kept relatively quiet, Chernobyl is a real problem, as the core is still melting its way down into the Earth and humankind is not currently equipped to stop it. What do you think will happen when it reaches the fountains of the deep and gets in the world’s water supply?

Nuclear bombs are the ultimate weapons. They changed the course of human history in World War II. They continue to be considered the ultimate threat on this planet. The civilized world lives in fear that the uncivilized terrorists will get their hands on a nuclear bomb someday. Nuclear devices are also controlled explosions. Thank you Satan for giving such awesome power to man.

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I believe, one way or another, nuclear weapons will be used again. Is that just my opinion? Kind of, but based on this:

Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

Bitter water is poisoned water. Blood, as we know, is poisoned water. Whatever these things are that fall, they poison vast areas of this planet, especially the water. Do you think it is possible that these are some sort of nuclear devices? I am not sure. Of course, nobody is, but I think it is possible, maybe even probable.

Revelation 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain.

It is very possible that all of these things are the result of nuclear explosions and fallout. I can’t say that for sure, but I wouldn’t bet the farm against it either. Mankind will be taken in its own devices after all. But, even if these prophecies aren’t of nuclear devices, there is one other place that seems to point succinctly to the use of nuclear weaponry during the end times:

Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

I’m not sure how else this might happen, it could be something supernatural or some invention we have yet to discover. But it sure looks to me like the use of the same nuclear devices existing on this planet right now.

105. Aliens are Satan’s devices.

Almost every invention in this world is a wicked device from man’s imagination made possible by one of Satan’s devices that he has so graciously provided for his children. I won’t bore you or draw this out any longer, but before we conclude I want to bring up one more thing - ALIENS.

Let me emphatically state that there are no extraterrestrials or physical alien life forms in this entire universe. None. About this there is absolutely no doubt.

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Here’s why.

1. Aliens exist. They are angels and devils. But they are NOT temporal beings that can die like men.

2. God made man in His image. If God is the ONLY source of life-creating power in this universe, and He is, then what kind of a species or a life-form could be greater than the one God made IN HIS VERY OWN IMAGE? Uh, try, none!

3. All the suns and moons and planets and stars in the entirety of creation were not there until AFTER the Earth. The Earth, the very center of this universe, had grass and trees ALREADY before the first star in the heavens was ever placed. (Genesis 1:12,16)

4. So it is IMPOSSIBLE that some “alien civilization” could exist in outer space that was older and more intelligent than mankind.

5. Satan pushes alien life to confuse men into thinking they are just some random life-form when in reality they are God’s crowning glory. Man is so important to God that HE BECAME A MAN. Why would God want to actually become a creature that was weak, puny and insignificant compared to some magnificently intelligent space alien? Uh, try, He wouldn’t.

6. Satan pushes alien life because it denies The Bible, the complete sovereignty of The Lord and the incredibly special place mankind has in the eternal plan of God as the wives of both Himself (Jews) and His Only Begotten Son (Christians).

7. Satan pushes alien life because aliens are going to come to Earth and he wants man ready to receive the aliens when that happens.

Psalms 147:4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

The stars have NAMES. Jesus is a star.

Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Stars are angels.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches...

Stars are devils.

Jude 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

All of the following will happen during Great Tribulation.

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Mark 13:25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

Daniel 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

Revelation 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Satan’s devils will COME TO THE EARTH. Notice it is “untimely” – it is not a good thing.

Revelation 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

The world will believe the aliens have finally come just as science(fiction)-falsely-so-called had predicted.

106. Devices are always to seek a profit.

Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Men are wise to do evil. They have these awesome devices but they can’t be for the purpose of good because they have no knowledge to do good. You may think they serve some greater good but you would be wrong. It is always for the money. It is always for profit. It is always evil.

Remember one of the first things we learned about “devices” is that they bring a “profit”. We also learned that Satan “trafficked” his devices to become wealthy. That means there is always a COST to use someone’s device. Want a car? Pay the price. Want it all? Pay the price. This is Satan’s economy, he invented it, and EVERYTHING has a price in this world. Everything in this world is Satan’s. He is the god of this world. All the cool devices and inventions are courtesy of him.

There is ALWAYS a price for a device. For man’s devices the price is money. For Satan’s devices the price is eternal souls. I would say Satan’s “prices” are extremely high.

It is virtually impossible to live in this modern world and not utilize Satan’s devices. They are everywhere. Just remember, there is ALWAYS a price to pay. Be sure you understand the PRICE of using his devices, whichever ones you decide to use, and be sure you are ready to pay that price. He is the inconceivably powerful god of this world, and completely ruthless, sparing nothing and no one. He WILL come around to collect what is rightfully his. His price is the souls of men – and women and children. If you owe him, just be sure you are ready to pay up when he does.

107. Profit (money) is Satan’s real power.

Satan had God’s power, given to him. He wanted more. He got more power, not from God, but rather from wealth. He became rich and thereby became more powerful. Satan gives men power. Satan gives men money. Little money is little power. Much money is much power. The power of money is the power of Satan.

Satan’s Lie!       God gave us all of these wonderful modern devices to help us make this planet a better place for mankind.

Bible Truth!       Satan gave us all of these wonderful modern devices to bring about his fake world peace and to steal our souls.

So what?       Do not be deceived. The world is Satan’s and it is an invisible prison.

What should I do?       Ignore the world’s cares, pleasures and profit. Get your head out of this world and out of Satan’s world economy, an economy based squarely on the love of money. The souls of humanity are the true cost of this economy and Satan always comes to collect. Maybe the soul he comes to collect will be yours – or the person dearest in the world to you. How much money is that eternal soul worth?

Lie Number 10 – Believe (Part 1)

Of all the chapters in this book this is by far the most important. If you were only going to read one chapter in this book, this would be, without any hesitation and without any doubt, the one I would recommend. There is nothing conceived, imagined, created, fabricated or otherwise known in this entire universe more valuable to you than your own soul. The Bible says,

Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

What if you were Supreme Ruler of the world and could have at any time, everything and anything a human could possibly want? If you said, “off with his head”, it was off with his head. If you said, “I want that gorgeous Russian”, you got the gorgeous Russian. If you said, “I want the island of Bermuda”, it was all yours. Let’s say you lived 100 years just like that on planet Earth. Pretty nice life, huh? But what if after that, you had to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire? Would that be worth it? That’s the question you need to take very seriously, dear reader. No matter what you ever have done or ever will do in this life, what if you lose your eternal soul? I assure you it will not be worth it for one moment in eternity. Some may say, oh, I’ll worry about that when the time comes. I want to tell you two stories.

This book was very close to never being written. Just about a year ago, as I write this, I was on my way to work on a Monday morning. It was a beautiful August morning, warm but not yet hot, not a cloud in the sky, and there was not a bit of traffic on the road. The road seemed oddly deserted but that didn’t bother me one bit. I was on my beautiful 2000 Honda CBR1100XX titanium motorcycle. All was right in the world and I was enjoying my ride to work immensely.

A large box truck pulled out of a driveway several hundred yards in front of me into the right lane in which I was traveling. He didn’t cut me off, but I figured, being a large truck, that he wouldn’t get up to speed very quickly so I moved over to the left lane to let him in – not that I had much choice, right? No harm, no foul, nothing wrong. As I said, the road was completely deserted except for me and now this truck. As I gained ground on the truck it seemed odd to me that it wasn’t accelerating very quickly at all. I was a little confused because he had been mildly aggressive in pulling out into the right lane in which I had been traveling. As I reached the rear of the truck I just saw him begin to turn right, just turning on his signal now, and I thought to myself, oh, that explains why he didn’t accelerate. The truck had pulled out of one driveway and immediately wanted to turn right back into the very next driveway. Weird, but now I understand, I thought. Just as I was about to go past the truck a car darted out from the same driveway the truck was turning into.

I never saw the silver Chevy Camaro until this moment, never knew he was there. The truck had blocked my ability to see this car from the time the truck pulled out into the right lane until this moment; the angle of sight it blocked was perfect the entire time. The truck had also blocked the Camaro from seeing me; he never knew I was there. By the time I was able to see the Camaro he was literally five feet directly in front of me, perpendicular across my entire lane and I was going 45 miles per hour. I had been riding motorcycles on the street for over 30 years and had never had an accident. I was a very accomplished rider with hundreds of thousands of miles on motorcycles. I rode in every season and in every kind of weather. I had, in my riding history, avoided several situations that almost caused me to have an accident. This time though, I didn’t even have time to apply the brakes. It was completely the Camaro driver’s fault, I had the absolute right of way and he never should have pulled out blindly like that; but what difference did that make now? The last thing I remember was being five feet from the car and thinking “this is gonna hurt”.

I woke up three weeks later in ICU. I was in the hospital for eight weeks. My wife tells me that the doctors didn’t think I was going to live. They told her I shouldn’t have lived. They wouldn’t even tell her if I was going to live or not for almost three weeks. They saved my life. One of the ER trauma nurses told my wife, “honey, there was definitely an angel over this one’s bed”. Now whether an angel was over my bed or not I can’t say. What I can say is that I was a whisker from leaving this planet but, when I woke up that beautiful August morning and hopped aboard my beautiful bike, I had no idea it was my last day (almost) on Earth. Trust me, it happens in an instant.

About ten years ago I was on my way in to work one Monday morning. The irony strikes me as I write this that it was also a Monday. I got into the elevator from the parking garage and there just happened to be one other person on the elevator. I knew the man because we worked together. He was a commercial real estate broker and was very good at his job. He made more deals and more money for the company than any other broker we had. He probably made, on commission, an average of about 6-10 million dollars a year. He was young, well respected, had a great job, a large bank account, a gorgeous home, a beautiful wife and beautiful children. His life was charmed by worldly standards.

As we met on the elevator and exchanged ‘good morning, how are you’s, he said, “Ugh, it’s Monday, I hate Mondays”. We smiled, got off the elevator and went our separate ways. That was the last thing I ever heard him say. I never saw him alive again. Tuesday morning his wife could not wake him from sleep so she called 911. On Wednesday I saw the family devastated over the decision to ‘pull the plug’ on his life support because the doctors said he had no brain activity and no chance at recovery. It turned out he had contracted bacterial spinal meningitis.

On Monday morning he had woken up feeling ill with flu-like symptoms. Thinking, as many normal hard-working people would, that it was just a common flu and he needed to just get up, go to work and push through it, that’s what he did. That explains his “I hate Mondays” comment on the elevator. It was not the flu but he had little chance to know that. The doctors told his wife that if he had gotten to the hospital within 24 hours of the first symptom they possibly could have saved him, but after 24 hours it was completely hopeless. How was he supposed to know it wasn’t just a routine flu? The symptoms are virtually the same, really, as any flu. Do you, dear reader, go immediately to the hospital to get checked for bacterial spinal meningitis upon your first flu symptom? I didn’t think so. The only good news is that he never had to endure another one of those hated Mondays ever again. Will you? Dear reader, you are simply not going to know when it is your day to die. Over 150,000 people will die today. Most have no idea today is their last day on Earth.

Chapter 10 is concerned with the final destination of your eternal soul. It just might be the most important human-authored thing you ever read.

1. “I prayed the prayer already, so I am okay”

You prayed ‘a’ prayer. I have spoken with many people that had prayed ‘a’ prayer. Did you pray a Bible salvation prayer? Are you sure? Or have you been deceived by a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

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Joel Osteen is one of the most well-known “preachers” (emphasis because The Bile doesn’t consider him a “preacher”) in the United States. The ministry of Joel Osteen (and “many” other well-known “preachers” in this world) has “many” followers but contradicts almost everything you have read and will read in this book. He is wealthy, famous and preaches a gospel of positive confession, prosperity, health and self-esteem to many. I am poor, unknown and preach a gospel of salvation, sacrifice and dying for Christ to few. We are not both right.

Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

“Many”, it says, “many”. Who will be “deceived”? The “few” will not be deceived but rather the “many”!

I worked with a man a few years ago. We didn’t have a personal relationship but a friendly working relationship. One time this man’s car broke down and needed repair. While it was in the shop he asked me if I would bring him to work and back for a couple of days and I agreed. On the way home one day the subject of Joel Osteen came up. He said, “I love Joel Osteen”. I asked him how many times he had listened to Joel and he assured me he “loved listening to Joel” and had done it many times. I asked him why he liked Joel and he said it was because of the positive, uplifting and non-judgmental messages. He said Joel had helped him in his life. I asked him what was the most important or memorable thing he had ever learned from Joel. He replied with, “just staying positive no matter what happens”. I then asked him the zinger. Has Joel explained to you exactly how to go to heaven when you die? He said no. I asked if he knew for sure he would go to heaven when he died. He said he did not. This man loved Joel Osteen but was as lost as a wallet dropped from a cruise ship into the Arctic Ocean.

Luke 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

I don’t have anything personal against Joel Osteen, but if my co-worker had listened to him many times and yet had no idea if he was going to heaven or not, well then, Mr. Osteen is going to have a lot to answer for when he stands before The Lord.

Joel wrote a book entitled, “The Power of I Am”. Even the title makes my skin crawl. On page 271 at the very end of the book he tells the reader to pray this prayer and I quote, “Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins, I ask you to come into my heart, I make you my Lord and Savior”.

The many will say, “that is a salvation prayer! Joel is telling people how to go to heaven!” I disagree. That may seem on initial examination ridiculous and harsh. What could possibly be wrong with that? Umm, only, EVERYTHING! I am going to teach you why I say that. I want to break Mr. Osteen’s entire prayer down into seven parts. “Lord Jesus (1), I repent (2) of my sins (3), I ask you to come into (4) my heart (5), I make you (6) my Lord and Savior (7)”.

At the end of chapter 10 I promise to explain in detail each of those seven (7) parts and why I believe they are inadequate for scriptural salvation. Suffice it to say for now that The Bible says,

Matthew 7:14 …narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

THE WAY is narrow and FEW find it. Maybe you knew that. Sure, but did you know that the very next verse tells us exactly WHY many don’t find it?

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

BEWARE of false prophets! The false prophets look sweet and innocent. They look like the Lord’s sheep. They sound like the Lord’s sheep. But, The Bible says, they are ravening wolves. Do you think The Bible says this inaccurately? Do you think it was written only for those living 2,000 years ago and there are no more false prophets today? Do you think The Bible is unfairly harsh? The Bible is the Word of God. It contains the words of life. The false prophets bring nothing but death. The Bible is very clear; Beware!

Ezekiel 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Ask yourself this question, dear reader. If you put ravening wolves and sheep together, what happens? The wolves ravage the sheep, right? They fill their bellies with the sheep. The ravening wolves EAT the sheep. They don’t teach them, or nurture them, or comfort them; they feed on them! The false prophets are feeding on their flocks! They enrich and extend their own lives AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LIVES OF THE SHEEP! They take the LIFE from the sheep. Is this not correct? Of course it is. WAKE UP! The wolves in sheep’s clothing are stealing the life of the “many”! What “life” are the false prophets stealing from the “many”?

Do you still remember why did Jesus came?

John 10:10 The thief [false prophet] cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

They “kill” them. They “destroy” them. They “steal” their ETERNAL LIFE! And for those that are lucky enough to escape that fate they steal their ABUNDANT LIFE! The false prophets take the “abundant life” of the sheep to enrich their own life on this planet. They get fat here on Earth and the sheep get dead. They are rich and live extravagantly. Hooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwlll! They are the proud survivors (the sheep don’t survive). The wolves will pay later, but for now, they are living the life. Your life! You have been warned.

2. “I grew up in church, so I am okay”.

Nobody becomes a Christian by default even if they are brought up in church. Not one person on this planet, and I mean not one, has “always been a Christian”. There is “repentance” and a “conversion” process that is absolutely essential to becoming a Christian and no person on this planet has that at their birth. Nobody is a Christian just because they are born into a Christian home and spend their entire life in church – it just is not Biblically possible.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Let me tell you something; it is scripturally uncommon for God to say the exact same thing twice in a row like Luke 13:3 and 5. When He does, you’d best listen very carefully and take it very seriously.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

It is absolutely essential that a person repents. I simply cannot emphasize that fact strongly enough. Jesus said it twice in a row just to make sure we got it! There is no becoming a Christian without repentance. There is no path to Heaven without repentance. God COMMANDS all men everywhere to repent. That is not a request. It is a command and cannot be overstated.

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Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…

Without “repenting” you cannot be converted. And without “converting” you cannot be a Christian. That’s why, “I’ve been a Christian my whole life” is never a good answer. Without repentance (CHANGE) and conversion (REBIRTH) one can never be a Christian.

Many say, “Joel’s prayer includes repentance”. I disagree. Much more on that later.

Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they … should be converted, and I should heal them.

Psalms 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

James 5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

No repentance = No conversion. No conversion = No Christian.

3. “I believe in Jesus, so I am okay”.

Maybe you are thinking, “I’m perfectly fine, I already believe in Jesus”. Maybe you do. Just because you believe Jesus existed and believe His story that does not make you a Christian. Now, I’m sure you are going to want to see The Bible scripture for this one because you are probably incredulous that I would make this outlandish claim. The Bible says,

James 2:19 …the devils also believe, and tremble.

There is a big difference, a huge difference, in the ways one can “believe in Jesus”. One sincerely believes that Jesus existed, lived, shed his blood, died and rose again as written in The Bible. The devils sincerely believe that. They tremble. Another believes in The Bible RECORD of Jesus for salvation. There is a stark contrast. One will go to Heaven. One will spend eternity in a Lake of Fire. Be very careful, dear reader, to be sure what you believe. Do you even really understand the contrast? Your eternal soul hangs in the balance. Don’t believe me? The Bible says,

1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved…unless ye have believed in vain.

You can believe in Jesus IN VAIN! You can “believe in Jesus” all you want but it could do you absolutely no good and then you would go to Hell and spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. You don’t want that. I don’t want that. God doesn’t want that.

4. The very next moment after you die God is going to take your soul.

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Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee…

Not in 10 days. Not in 10 minutes. Not in 10,000 years. THIS NIGHT, said Jesus, tonight! The man would die that night and his soul would be immediately required.

5. What are you going to do when God takes your soul?

Job 27:8 For what is the hope… when God taketh away his soul?

What is your plan when God takes your soul? Do you even have a plan? You’d better get one because it is going to happen very suddenly.

6. You have an appointment with death.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die…

Just like you have a doctor’s appointment or a dentist’s appointment, only this is an appointment with death, and you have no idea when it is. You will keep it, whether you want to or not.

7. Then God will judge you.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

You are going to keep your appointment with death and then God is going to judge you. You are going to stand before the Almighty God of All.

8. Question 1: Can you explain to me your need for righteousness?

Ponder that question. Answer it honestly in your own heart, with God listening. God knows the thoughts of your heart. Can you explain to me YOUR NEED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS? You are likely scratching your head right now, thinking, “I don’t even really understand the question, much less have a ready answer”. It’s a tough question huh? It’s okay if you don’t know the answer right now, BUT, remember, that when first asked you did NOT know the answer. God surely knows if you know the answer.

Maybe you do have an answer. I will go out on a limb here and say it is most likely the wrong answer. Don’t forget the answer you have right now. God certainly won’t.

9. Question 2: If you decided right now to become a serial killer and lived the rest of your life as a serial killer, torturing and killing many, and then died, could that possibly hurt your chances of going to heaven?

Of course, dear reader, you would never do that, but what if you did? Ponder that question. God is still listening. He knows exactly what you are thinking. Would you be in any danger of going to Hell? Is there any chance at all you would miss Heaven? You know your answers. God knows your answers. Remember them well. We will analyze them later.

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Some will surely hedge on their answer. “Well, if I asked forgiveness, then I’d be okay”.

What if, after committing the final murder of your killing spree, you turned to walk away and a bus hit you and killed you instantly, BEFORE you had any chance to ask for forgiveness? Would you be in danger of missing Heaven then? Remember your answer, dear reader. God will.

10. God is ABLE to destroy your soul in Hell.

Matthew 10:28 …but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

If there is such a place as Hell, and The Bible is very clear there is, and the Almighty God decides, for whatever reason, to throw you in, what are you really going to be able to do about it? Nothing I assure you, not one thing. So you should fear Him because He is ABLE to cast your soul into Hell. I don’t want that. I know God doesn’t want that. I can’t believe you want that.

11. What will you offer God to keep your soul out of Hell?

Mark 8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

What will you offer God to keep your soul out of Hell? Will you offer Him money? Will you offer Him the whole world? Even if you had it, which you don’t, it still wouldn’t be enough. God is going to take your soul. What will you offer God to get it back?

12. No amount of Money or Religion will be accepted.

1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

No matter how much money you have and no matter how much religion you practice it will never be accepted.

13. The ONLY thing God will accept is the blood of Jesus.

1 Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

14. This is EXACTLY how it is going to go at the Final Judgment of Mankind.

John 12:48 …the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

The words that Jesus spoke will be used at the Judgment. So, what words did Jesus speak?

15. Many will say “Lord, Lord”!

JESUS SAID, Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,…

That the Lord of this Judgment is Jesus is proven right here. “Many will say to ME in that day”. Jesus is talking. They are talking to Jesus (ME).

Here we have the “many”. As you will see these guys keep popping up. You may think it a coincidence; think again. At their judgement the “many” will call Jesus their “Lord”. “Lord, Lord,” they will plead. These are not atheists. These are not Bible-haters. These are not Satanists. These are not Neo-Nazis or Muslims. None of those people call Jesus their “Lord”. People that think they are Christians call Jesus their “Lord”. These “many” are people that say Jesus is their “Lord and Saviour”. These are people that “believe in Jesus” and call Him their “Lord and Saviour”. These “many” that believe Jesus is their Lord and Saviour are going to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

You are probably totally freaking out right now. Calm down and ask yourself this; in whom do these “many” really believe? They can’t believe in Jesus if they are still believing (even a little) in themselves. If you are going to “believe in Jesus” then believe in Him – AND NOTHING ELSE! It is either Jesus or yourself. There is absolutely no “and”.’ There can be absolutely no “and”. ALL Jesus or NOT Jesus at all! These are the only two choices. There is no in-between. I suppose you’re going to need to see that in the Book.

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2 Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

These people are described as having “knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, but their end is not good. They had, at least at one time, “escaped the pollutions of the world” through that knowledge. So who are these people? They “know” (knowledge of) their “Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” and have at some point decided to live a clean (“escaped pollutions”) life, most assuredly “for Him”. You know, they stopped smoking and drinking and cussing and cheating on their spouse and started reading their Bible and going to church. Maybe they even taught Sunday School, sang in the choir or led the youth group.

So, think with me here. At “the beginning” they had to be lost – everybody is lost at the beginning, right? And the lost absolutely go to the Lake of Fire, right? So, if their “end” is even “worse” what can they be but still lost and headed to the Lake of Fire?

Here is the truth smack in your face. I just hope you can handle it. Everyone brags that they can handle the truth - until God smacks them right in the face with it! You see, the truth is these “many” KNOW JESUS AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOUR and now live a better life, in the service of Jesus, according to that knowledge. But is that enough? Is that what God requires? We are going to answer that question very shortly.

As a quick note, some might say, “these people simply messed up and lost their salvation”. That, as you will find out as you continue in chapter 10, is simply impossible.

On a secondary note, a Muslim would never use the word Lord, but would always and exclusively call god “Allah”. The ‘world-peace’rs would have you believe that “Allah” is just a generic word in their language for “God” and thus we all worship the same God. Ask them what is God’s name though and they have no answer, just “Allah”. It is like their god doesn’t have a name. A god with no name? A nameless god? Is he too embarrassed to give his name? Not much of a god to me.

God’s name is NOT Allah. So either their god has no name as they seem to insinuate, or his name is Allah. Either way he is not the same God I worship.

My God has a name! God’s name is not “God”! “God” is a word that describes who He is.

Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

“The Lord” is His name. If you call Him God, you are indeed correct but you aren’t calling Him by His name. If you call Him “the man upstairs”, you might want to reconsider that bit of disrespect.

What if you assured me that you knew some certain person, and then I asked you his name and you couldn’t tell me? Or what if you told me his name was “George” and really his name was “Mike”? Either way, I’d know you don’t really know that guy if you don’t even know his name! And if you don’t know my God’s name then you don’t know my God!

The Lord is jealous about His HOLY name.

Ezekiel 39:25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I … be jealous for my holy name;

In fact, His very name is “Jealous”!

Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

So go ahead and think that one can call god Allah if he wants but that has already been tried by others.

Leviticus 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Calling God anything but His NAME is profaning His name. It is blasphemy to call Him by some other name. He says don’t profane my name – my name is “The LORD”. “Allah” profanes the name of the Almighty God. “The man upstairs”, well, that’s just a disrespectful lack of reverence.

Deuteronomy 28:58 …fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;

His NAME is THE LORD and it is a glorious and fearful name!

Elijah had similar issues with people that were calling god by some other name(s). Elijah said,

1 Kings 18:24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God…

The LORD answered to HIS NAME by fire. The gods of any other names never answered by a single syllable. Neither will Allah. If we all worship the same God with just a different name, then why didn’t God answer to any of the other names upon which these men called. Because those aren’t His names and they never will be.

However, as magnificent and glorious as God’s name is, and as jealous as He is about His name, there is another name that is above EVERY name!

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

That is certainly not Allah and there will be no Muslim calling Jesus “Lord”. You’d better know His correct name! And The Lord Jesus Christ better know you.

16. Many will claim to have done wonderful works in Jesus’ name.

We continue with the judgment of the “many”. God knows exactly what the “many” are going to say at their judgement. It is already recorded.

Matthew 7:22 …Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Remember that the “many” call Him “Lord, Lord”. Now, by this, we know they call him, not just Lord, but “their personal” Lord.

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You see, they prophesy (preach) IN HIS NAME. In order to prophesy (preach) in a God’s NAME wouldn’t you think you would have to know His NAME and to claim Him as Lord and Saviour? I would. The “many” cast out devils (spiritual warfare) IN HIS NAME. In order to cast out devils (spiritual warfare) in a God’s NAME wouldn’t you think you would have to know His NAME and claim Him as Lord and Saviour? I would. Finally they do “many” (hmmm?) wonderful works (even miracles) IN HIS NAME. In order to do many wonderful works (including miracles) in a God’s NAME wouldn’t you think you would have to know His NAME and claim Him as Lord and Saviour? I would. These people know exactly who this Judge is and consider Him, not just ‘a Lord’, not even ‘the Lord’, but their PERSONAL Lord.

It is interesting to note that “wonderful works” is only in the New Testament twice. The first one is the verse above that we have been analyzing. The second one defines one of those “wonderful works” for us.

Acts 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Biblical tongues (from Acts chapter 2) are considered a “wonderful work”. “Tongues” are widely spoken throughout many churches all over the world – Christian, Catholic and non-Christian alike. They will all ask, “have we not in thy name done many wonderful works”?

17. These are people that call Jesus their “Lord and Saviour”.

So, let’s be perfectly honest with ourselves here. I have spoken with many people that have done good (wonderful) “works” in God’s name. And if you ask them politely they will tell you that name, from their own lips. They say they do it for “my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. I almost never, and I purposely say almost even though at this writing I can’t think of a single time, hear “my Lord Jesus Christ” without hearing the complete “my Lord AND SAVIOUR Jesus Christ”. It is a commonly parroted phrase you hear from churchgoers, is it not?

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You hear it from athletes after they win the trophy (and the money), thump their chest and point up. “I want to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. If you consider Jesus your “Lord” then you almost certainly consider Him your “Saviour” too! Is that not the truth?

I find it very interesting that the Word of God specifically says they will say “Lord, Lord” and not just “Lord” once. I don’t ever hear people say, “He is my Lord, Lord” or even “He is my Lord and Lord”. I hear them say “He is my Lord and Saviour” ALL THE TIME! “Lord, Lord” is very possibly synonymous with “Lord and Saviour”. I am not saying I can prove this particular connection scripturally but I am saying I find it very interesting in light of all the other evidence here.

18. How will Jesus reply to the “many” (who believe Jesus is their Lord and Savior)?

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them…

Jesus, right here, in the very next verse, in His very own words, tells us exactly what He is going to say to them (the many who call Jesus their Lord and Saviour).

19. …I never knew you.

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:…

Let’s do a quick review. ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD these people call Jesus their Lord and Saviour. They prophesied (preached) in Jesus’ name. They cast out demons (waged spiritual warfare) in Jesus’ name. They did many wonderful works (miraculous works, even speaking in tongues) in Jesus’ name. And now at their judgment Jesus tells them “I never knew you”.

Can you say, wow!? How is this possible? How can this be?

Dear reader, I am not making this stuff up. You have read it for yourself. If you think I am using “my own interpretation” or “taking this out of context”, by all means believe whatever you want. Bury your head in the sand. You can take that up with your “Lord and Saviour” when you stand before Him.

I am not trying to hurt you. I want absolutely nothing from you. But these verses are saying very clearly that it doesn’t matter one little, teeny, tiny bit if someone “knows Jesus as their Lord and Saviour”. The Bible CLEARLY SAYS by THE MOUTH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF that there will be MANY people that will “know” Him and claim Him as their Lord and Saviour BUT, and this is the key, Jesus - does – not - know - them!

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How is this possible? How can someone know Jesus and give their life to Jesus and even do many wonderful works in His name and yet have Jesus say, at the end of it all, that He never knew them? This is unfortunately where MANY churchgoers are today. Jesus simply does not know them. And they are ignorant of that FACT. The question is: how does one tell the difference? That is why this chapter is the most important chapter in this book.

Interestingly, in your understanding of Almighty God, what does God know? He knows everything, right? Well, then, how does He NOT know these people?

There are two (2) Bible definitions for “know”. One means to “have knowledge of” and that is the type of “know” these “many” people have of Jesus. They “know who He is”. This is the definition given in the very first mention of “know” in The Bible.

Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked…

Adam and Eve “had knowledge of” the fact that they were naked.

The second definition is completely different.

Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain,…

Adam had known Eve (knew who she was, according to the first definition) for many years. But now he “knows” her by intercourse. He knows her by an act that “joins” them and makes them “one” flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

If a man “knows” a woman by intercourse those two are “joined” into “one flesh”. The very next verse equates that with a joining that happens in the spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

It is this act of “joining” or becoming “one” that Jesus refers to when He says “I never KNEW you”. In other words, we never became one spirit.

Dear reader, knowing Jesus is not the same as Jesus knowing you. And Jesus knowing you is what is going to make all the difference. Does Jesus know you? You’d better be sure. You don’t want to be one of the “many”. He does not know the “many”.

20. …Depart from me.

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me…

I simply cannot imagine the horror of this instant for someone that thought they knew Jesus. To be begging and pleading, “but Lord, Lord, please, Lord. I served you. I gave my life to you”. Crying the worst cry a human can possibly cry; completely distraught and broken beyond consolation. And Jesus won’t even care. “Depart from me” He will simply say. And it will be over. The Lake of Fire for all eternity beckons.

21. …Ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This sentence (Matthew 7:23) is the LAST THING Jesus will ever say to each of the “many”. Do you want this to be the last thing Almighty God says to you?

Iniquity, if you don’t know, is virtually synonymous with sin. Jesus is telling them that they are sinners, but even more than that He is telling them that they “work” sin (iniquity). “Works” are very important and that is why Jesus brings them up now. The “many” are WORKING. And everything they “work” is iniquity.

Remember the phrase “ye that work iniquity”. We will see it again.

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I want you to notice something critical and intense concerning the very last phrase God will ever say to the “many”. As we have mentioned previously EVERY WORD of God is absolutely pure and perfect. Every word in The Bible is the PERFECT word in the English language in every instance in which any word is used in The Bible. In other words, there is not a better, more descriptive, more fitting or more perfect word in that place, than the one God chose to put there. There is no improving on it or making it easier to understand. Just believe what it says and you will be on the right track.

Referring to the “many” God calls them “ye that work iniquity”. Notice the word “work”. There is not a better word or derivative of a word in the entire English language that could better illustrate the plight of the “many”.

First and most simply they “work”. If you are counting on your “work” in any way, shape or form to either secure or insure your salvation than you are a “work”er. And since everything you “work” is sin, you are a worker of iniquity. There are plenty of supposed “Christians” in the world that believe they can lose their salvation. And if you boil their belief down to the bottom of the kettle you will find they believe they can lose their salvation based on their “works”; what they do. If they don’t maintain “good works” (by the things they either do or don’t do) they believe they will be in danger of Hell. They have absolutely no idea how exactly right they are.

Since they cannot “maintain good works” (nobody can) but they are trying to “maintain good works” to keep their salvation, they are self-admittedly “work”ing for their salvation. Listen to me very carefully, dear reader. If “your work” is active in any way to help get your salvation or to help keep your salvation, you are “work”ing for your salvation. And since “your work” can be nothing but iniquity, you are one of the “many” Jesus calls “ye that work iniquity”.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

WORKS have no part whatsoever in the Scriptural New Testament plan of salvation EXCEPT for the WORKS of Jesus.

John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: …4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Dear reader, are you trusting in “your unfinished work” or in “His finished work”? You’d better make a decision. It can’t be both.

Secondly and most ominously, notice that the word The Bible uses and the word that Jesus spake on this planet, is the perfect, exacting word “work”. He did not use the word “worked”. “Worked” would be incorrect. “Worked” would be satanic deception of the greatest magnitude. “Worked” would be the lie of the century. It is not that these “many” “worked” iniquity. It is not that they did some bad things while they were alive. It is not that they are being left out of Heaven simply because they DID some bad things. On the contrary they are still working iniquity! The word “work” is present tense.

These “many” were not only were sinners while they walked on this Earth, they are STILL SINNERS as they stand at their judgement. Thus, they have never been converted! They THOUGHT they knew Jesus but Jesus never “knew” them! I suppose you want to see that in the Book?

During the 1000 year reign of Christ on this Earth, one hundred percent of the people on this planet during that time will “know” Jesus. The Bible is very clear that during this time it will be impossible to NOT know Jesus – everyone will know Him.

Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

During this current church age we can teach people about Jesus, because there are some that do not know Him. But, during the Millennium there will be no more teaching about Jesus because ALL will KNOW Him. Won’t that be great? Everyone will just “know Jesus”! How wonderful! It even says Jesus will “forgive their iniquity” and “remember their sin no more”. Pretty sweet for humanity, huh?

Something is very puzzling though. Even though EVERYONE ON THIS ENTIRE PLANET WILL KNOW JESUS, the following still occurs:

Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

How can this happen? How is this possible? These people KNEW Jesus. We KNOW that they KNEW Jesus because The Bible says it was impossible for them NOT to have known Jesus. So how could this happen? How could fire come down from Heaven and devour those that KNOW JESUS??

Some may be quick to point out that they “lost their salvation”. Dear friend, one cannot lose salvation. But one CAN KNOW JESUS and still be lost. You see, dear reader, the real question we need to ask ourselves is not, “do I know Jesus”, but rather we need to ask ourselves, “does Jesus know me”. This is the key to our salvation in Christ: Does Jesus know me?

There are modern day false prophets that “lord it over” their congregations by telling them that if they aren’t good or don’t live right or don’t keep coming to their church and bringing their MONEY that they will lose their salvation. These false prophets are,

2 Peter 3:16 … they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.

These false prophets are just filling their own bellies with the fat of their flocks. Their people follow THEM, not Jesus. How can I say that? Here is one of the Scriptures they “wrest unto their own destruction” in order to show their flock that they can lose their salvation if they don’t live right.

2 Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The false prophets teach them that if they turn back into the world they lose their salvation and are like a dog returning to eat his vomit or a pig returning to wallow in the mud. This is a partial truth, which makes it a very dangerous outright LIE.

Verse 20 we already dealt with earlier so I won’t reiterate here. Verse 21 is just another way of saying the same thing – that these people have a “knowledge” but no conversion. Here they “know” the “way of righteousness” (we will deal with this later) but turn from it. Now this may not apply to these “many” because their false prophets are so blind and so corrupt that they likely don’t have any knowledge of “the way of righteousness” and never have, which frankly is even worse. Do you, dear reader, know what The Bible means by “the way of righteousness”? Probably not now, but you will learn later in this book.

So, to continue to verse 22 it is very obvious that this is a continuation of the people that “know” something but have never been converted. That they have NEVER EVER BEEN CONVERTED is obvious just from verse 22. Understand that the “kicker” for the false prophets is that the “dog” returns to his vomit and the “sow” to her mire. This is how they falsely teach that if the Christian returns to the things of the world that he used to do (his vomit/his mud), and starts doing them (vomit/mud) again, he can lose his salvation. I think that is a pretty fair analysis of the way the false prophets teach it, yes?

But, what they fail to teach (because they fail to study to understand) is this truth. The “dog” is returning to his vomit, that’s the truth. But, the important question is, why is he still a “dog”? Listen closely, if you are still a “dog” you have NEVER been converted. A “dog” will of course return to his vomit because he is still a dog, began as a dog and has always been a dog. And, dear reader, you do NOT want to be a “dog”. Look at this picture of the eternity of mankind in Revelation 22 (the last chapter in The Bible).

Revelation 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

The “dogs” are “without” (outside of Heaven) and will never get into heaven, just like their brethren the sorcerers and murderers and ALL LIARS. Are you still a “dog”, dear reader? You’d better be sure, because once you die there is no second chance.

Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still…

If you are a “dog” (unjust, filthy liar) now, you will be a “dog” when you stand before Jesus and will be a “dog” in the Lake of Fire for all eternity; unless you get converted. There is not one single verse in the Bible that speaks highly of dogs.

The “sow” is even easier. Is there anyone that doesn’t know that the Jews (and even the Muslims) don’t eat pig? I’m sure there are a few, but not many, that know anything about The Bible. The sow (pig) is considered unclean in every respect in The Bible. The word “sow” is in The Bible 37 times, however, 2 Peter 2:22, our text above, is the ONLY case where sow means “pig” and not to “sow” seed into the ground. The word The Bible uses in every other case to refer to these animals is “swine”. You already know about dogs - and swine are just like them!

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Isaiah 66:3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

If one is still a dog or a swine, dear reader, they do not belong to The Lord and they never have. Unless they get converted to a NEW CREATURE they are lost. As long as this dog and/or this swine remain unchanged (what they ARE, not what they DO) they will be destroyed because they “have chosen their own ways” (their works). This sow was “washed”, cleaned up real nice and stayed away from the mire for a while. They are in a whole bunch of churches Eventually, they all return to what they are. There is not one single verse in the Bible that speaks highly of swine.

22. Why will God do this?

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

23. YOU have sinned.

Everyone on this planet is in the exact same situation. There are so many people on this planet that simply think they are “better” than some other people on this planet. They look down their nose at others and think, “that person is beneath me. I would NEVER do the things that person has done. I am better than that person. They deserve God’s wrath way more than I do”. But our attitude should be “I am no better than anyone else on this planet. I am no better than the worst Muslim terrorist or worst serial killer that has ever lived. I deserve to go to Hell every bit as much as the worst person on this planet.” If that is not your attitude then you just don’t understand who you are. That is the root of the problem. YOU have sinned just like everyone else on this planet. And you have come short of God’s expectations.

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That is one thing (of many) that is so awesome about God’s salvation plan – it is no respecter of persons. Can you imagine Barack Obama standing before Jesus and proudly saying, “I was the President of the United States of America”! That might get you some respect in this world, even some pomp and circumstance, some red carpet and paparazzi, but do you think God is going to care one bit? Do you think God is going to roll out the red carpet for him? What about Michael Jordan, “God I was the best basketball player to ever live. I won six NBA championships!” God might say, “what is basketball and what is the NBA”? Michael Phelps could say, “I was the greatest Olympian to ever live.” What are the Olympics to God? Bill Gates may say, “I changed the world for the better and I gave billions of dollars to charity.” What are dollars and computers to God? No matter what any person has ever accomplished in the history of planet Earth he/she is in the same boat with God that all the rest of us poor peons are in; completely and desperately lost!

24. You will be found GUILTY.

Romans 3:19 … every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Everyone thinks, is taught to think, that God is going to weigh their “good” works against their “bad” works in some kind of heavenly balance. If their “good” works weigh a little more, well, then they go to Heaven. If their “bad” works weigh a little more, well, then they go to Hell. That is just not going to happen. It doesn’t happen like that in court here on Earth and it will not happen in God’s court either.

You will be charged with “being a sinner” (a “dog” if you will) and put on trial. You will be found either “guilty” or “innocent”. There is no in-between. You are either a dog or not. The evidence will be presented, the mouths will be silenced and the “many” will be found GUILTY of being sinners; they “work iniquity”.

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The concept of guilt vs. innocence is very important. Let’s illustrate.

Let’s say Mr. John Doe is in his house watching TV. There is a knock at his door and he gets up to answer. Upon opening he finds two police officers standing there and one of them says, “good evening. Are you Mr. John Doe?” Mr. Doe says, “yes”. “Well, Mr. John Doe”, the officer continues, “we have heard reports in the neighborhood of you being a pretty good person. We’ve heard how your neighbor couldn’t pay his rent and you stepped up and paid it. We’ve heard how you help your friend’s elderly mom take out her garbage every week. We heard how that little boy was running into the street to get his ball and you dove to grab him just before a school bus flew by, saving the boy’s life. Mr. Doe, we’ve heard you’re a pretty good guy, so what we’re going to do is arrest you. We are going to cuff you, take you downtown, fingerprint you, book you and throw you in jail. Then, you’ll get a lawyer and we’ll get a lawyer and you’ll go on trial to see if you are really that good or not. If you are that good, then you will go free, but if you aren’t that good, then you will suffer the consequences and go to prison.” Let’s just agree that this scenario is ridiculous, okay? This just isn’t going to happen.

But, here is what can happen. “Are you Mr. John Doe?”, the police officer asks. “Yes”. “Well, Mr. Doe, you are under arrest. You see, there was a murder last night about two blocks from here. There are two eyewitnesses and they helped us draw a composite sketch and (holding up the sketch) as you can see it looks just like you. You are hereby under arrest on the charge of murder. You will be booked and face trial for it.”

Now at that trial, the judge and jury aren’t going to care if you took out trash, paid your neighbor’s rent or saved the life of some small child. They aren’t going to care if you are a “good” person. The judge and jury are going to determine one thing and one thing only; are you guilty or innocent of the charge against you. If you are innocent you will go free. If you are guilty you will pay the sentence. This is exactly how it will go in God’s court. You will be charged with being a sinner, a dog. If you are innocent you will go free and spend eternity in Heaven. If you are guilty of being a dog you will pay the sentence. It is that simple and there is no other recourse.

25. You will be found GUILTY OF ALL.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Those found guilty will not be found guilty of just the things they did. “I never killed anyone”, is a phrase I hear from people all the time. Remember God is not saying they DID (past tense) work iniquity. He is saying they WORK (present tense) iniquity. God is saying that they were born a sinner (dog) and have been a sinner (dog) their whole life and are still a sinner (dog) at their judgment. And ALL DOGS, no matter what ‘breed’ they are, will be sentenced to be “without” the kingdom with all the other dogs. There is no “good” place for the “better” dogs. You are either a dog or you are not.

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A sinner (dog) simply cannot be allowed into Heaven. There was a movie when my kids were young that was titled “All Dogs Go to Heaven”. It was an animated children’s movie. Although I never personally saw it I assume it presented dogs as “good” dogs and hence they were allowed into Heaven. This is just one of the many slick ways Satan hypnotizes mankind into thinking everything is going to be okay. Just be a “good doggie” and you will be fine. Who could throw a cute little doggie into Hell? Nothing could be further from the truth. You see, the truth is ALL dogs go to Hell – without exception.

Here is the thing; my God has promised me (and a “few” others) that I will live forever in a place with no sin, no pain, no sorrow and no death. I fully expect Him to keep His promise. In fact, I believe it is impossible for Him not to keep that promise. But, if sin gets in that place (New Heaven and New Earth), even one little white lie, the whole place will be ruined and everything will die; just like what happened to this universe. God will never allow that to happen.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Sin is like an extreme virus. It spreads and destroys everything and everyone it touches. God can never let sin enter into that new realm. In fact, God can never even take the chance that sin COULD EVER enter into that realm. It will be entirely, utterly, absolutely, and categorically IMPOSSIBLE for sin or a sinner to get into this new universe. Let’s illustrate.

You, dear reader, are the avowed head of your household in a time on Earth when a horrible plague has hit the whole world. This plague is so deadly that from the moment you contract it you will be dead in 24 hours (one day). It is a slow agonizing death and there is no remedy and no cure. It is so highly contagious that if you are in the same house or even breathe the same air as someone who has the virus you will catch it; guaranteed. You, as the head of your family, have gathered your entire family and your best friends into your home. You have prepared your house meticulously and everything is perfectly sealed and secured. Everyone in your house is completely safe. There is plenty of food and water for a very long stay to wait out the plague. Here is the situation: You have PROMISED to keep your entire house safe from this plague – that’s why they all came to your house! You made a promise.

You and your household are gathered in the house together, speechless and horrified, as you watch the worldwide television coverage of this plague. Hundreds of millions of people are dying agonizing deaths all over the world. As you anxiously stare in horror at the worldwide carnage on TV, you are startled by a loud knock on your locked and sealed front door. You slowly approach the door and speak through the door, “who’s there?” “It’s Mike, your next door neighbor. I’m in desperate need of some help. I’m not feeling well, may I come in please?”

What do you do? How are you going to answer your neighbor Mike? Are you going to break your promise to your dearest friends and family? “Mike”, you might say, “I need to ask you an important question. Do you happen to have that plague?” Mike hesitates but finally says, “yes, I do but I desperately need help. Please let me in. God says you are supposed to love your neighbor and I am your neighbor.” What do you do? Are you going to let him in?

Let’s be perfectly honest here and say this is not an enviable situation. It stinks. But the answer is a given. You simply cannot open the door and let your neighbor in because if you do you will kill your dearest friends and family; the very loved ones that you promised to protect! You say, “Mike, as much as I would like to, I cannot let you in. If you can get help and get cured of that plague I will gladly let you in. You are going to have to stay without.” This is the same answer God will give every human that has the plague of sin. The difference is that God has offered the cure freely to all, but “many” refuse until it is too late. The cure is offered while you live. Once you die there is no cure.

But, you may ask, how can God find someone guilty of something they never did? How can God justly sentence someone as a murderer if that person truly never murdered anyone? That’s a good question. Here is your answer.

1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

What does this verse say? Does it say that whosoever hateth his brother has murdered his brother? No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t say he “murdered” him, it says he “is a murderer”. The really operative word, the one you really need to focus on in the sentence, is a really tiny and seemingly insignificant word. It is a word that appears in the Bible many thousands of times. That word is “is”. God is not saying that he murdered anyone. God is not saying he DID anything of the kind. God is not telling us what he DID. God is telling us what he IS. If you CAN hate your brother, that is a sign. It is proof. It is proof of what you are. If you CAN hate your brother then you CAN also murder. If it is not impossible for you to hate your brother, then it is also not impossible for you to murder your brother. Simply put, it is not impossible for any human being that ever existed to commit murder. The ONLY exception is Jesus. It is categorically impossible for Jesus to hate His brother and thus categorically impossible for Jesus to commit murder. Therefore, Jesus is not a murderer because He is simply not capable of committing murder. You on the other hand, are capable of committing murder. Probably you never have. But you COULD. And God knows that, it is PROVEN by the simple fact that you CAN hate your brother.

God’s character will not allow Him to live and fellowship for eternity with anyone that He could not fully trust would never commit an act of hate or murder. And with unsaved humans, He can never trust that. It’s not just that in Heaven hate and murder won’t be allowed (like it is on Earth). This is what “the law” does, and The Bible says by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). Hence, there will be no knowledge of sin in Heaven, therefore it follows scripturally that there must be no law in Heaven.

It is NOT that in Heaven hate and murder will be against the law, and punishable with some harsh sentence. The sentences have already been handed out at that point, and the men justly receiving them are already in the Lake of Fire for eternity. The truth is that in Heaven hate and murder will be impossible. And anyone for whom they are even remotely possible will be left out with the dogs to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

26. THE SENTENCE IS DEATH.

2 Corinthians 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves…

The big problem with being GUILTY is that the sentence is death; it’s the only sentence The Bible gives. The sentence will be “death” but, so what, you already died, right? Since sentencing will happen AFTER your judgement, which happens AFTER your appointment with death, you are already dead, right? So, what does “the sentence of death” mean if you’re already dead? Why should the threat of “death” scare anyone at the judgment considering they are already dead! Here’s why…

27. THE SECOND DEATH in the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Death (physical death) cast into the Lake of Fire is the second (spiritual) death. The “many” will die again. This is the eternal death of their souls. The Lake of Fire is a horrible place. A detailed description follows later in this chapter. You, dear reader, do not want to go there. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that is worth spending eternity there, especially nothing on this broken down Satan-run planet.

28. This has, so far, been all bad news.

And when it’s bad news from God it’s really bad news! God’s Word is written in Heaven, can never be broken and it says,

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…

What are wages? Wages are something you earn. For what do men earn “wages”? Men earn wages for THEIR WORK! The “many” have earned death in the Lake of Fire for “their work”. Remember what they work? Iniquity (sin)! God is just simply going to pay them what He promised.

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If you had a job and the boss agreed to pay you certain wages but then when it came time to pay you what you had earned the boss changed his mind and decided not to pay you the promised wages, or paid you less than the agreed wages? Well, you’d be pretty upset about it, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. And your boss would be a liar and a cheat. Almighty God is neither a liar nor a cheat. You will get exactly what you earn for your work, not a penny more and not a mite less; or God is not God.

Luke 12:58 When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

29. BUT, God has a free gift for you.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

BUT, now we get to the good news. The good news is there is a simple (for us) way out. God has a free gift for us. If something is free you don’t have to pay for it.

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Romans 5:15 … the free gift. … the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Jesus paid for it. He is offering it to every human being on this planet. He is offering it right now to the “many”. Here are the many again! Unfortunately a free gift isn’t good enough for the “many”. No, they are too good and too proud to accept something free. They insist on paying for it themselves. So they “work”. I hope you are not “working”, dear reader, but we are about to find out. The Bible says,

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

See that? If it is grace that saves a person then it has nothing to do with work. If it is work then it has nothing to do with grace. It is impossible for it to be “both”. Which is it for you?

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

30. Remember this question: Can you explain to me your need for Righteousness?

I’m sure you remember your answer: or would your non-answer be more fitting?

It is most likely you had no answer for that question. Even if you did muster some form of an answer, you were likely groping without really knowing the answer. But, that’s okay. Give me a minute and you will have caught it in time. You will know the answer shortly because God is about to give you the answer to that very question. What is your need for righteousness?

31. What is the Record?

Romans 10:2 For I bear them record…

A record is a writing or a telling of evidence, hopefully the truth. In God’s Word, a record is definitely the Truth. Paul is basically saying, ‘I am writing this record of their beliefs for evidence’.

Paul is explaining and pronouncing judgment on the problem of unbelief.

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The first question is who is “them” in this verse? “Them” is the nation of Israel according to the preceding verse;

Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Now, of course, Paul was a Jew and wanted nothing more than to see his kinfolk and fellow Israelites come to a saving knowledge of the truth. After a long and arduous struggle trying to reach the Jews, Paul finally gave up and said,

Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. [“Gentiles” are all people that are not Jewish].

The Jews just were not responding to the message. And Paul understood EXACTLY why; “I bear them record”. And, he goes on to say just two verses later that, not only them but,

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

So, Paul applies this same formula to EVERYONE. If Gentiles are going to believe and be saved, they are going to have to get RIGHT the same exact things that all of Israel had gotten WRONG. His goal is the same for “Israel” as it is for “every one”; “that they might be SAVED.” This is written, not just to Jews of Paul’s day but for EVERYONE, including you and I, dear reader.

Don’t agree? Still thinking maybe this was only written to Israel? Well, if that’s true we’re all in real trouble, for just a few verses down from this, definitely IN CONTEXT, we find,

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

So, if you are willing to forego our current study text then you also must forego one of the clearest, most essential salvation verses in the entire Bible in Romans 10:9-10. I don’t know about you, but that is NOT something I am willing to concede. Romans 10:9-10 is as much a part of New Testament salvation as any two verses in the entire Bible. And our current study verses are right in this context. Romans 10, written to Christians, ABSOLUTELY and without even one shred of doubt applies directly to New Testament Christianity and specifically to New Testament salvation. In verse 1 Paul says “that they might be saved.” That is the goal; that people, all people, get saved. In Romans 10:2-3, Paul is about to tell us (bear record) why the “many”, Israel included, have salvation all wrong.

32. They have a zeal of God.

Romans 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God…

So, the first thing we notice about the “record” of these people that need to be “saved” is that these people have a “zeal of God”. They have a great passion for God, for the things of God and for serving God. They have a tremendous zeal. They are passionate about God; about knowing him and serving him. That’s a great thing to have and I truly wish more Christians had it! In spite of this, however, they have a serious problem. That “zeal” translates into WORK. They are zealous in working hard to please God, or their god, whichever it might be.

33. But not with knowledge.

Romans 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

For the “record”, they are zealous and fanatical, running around happily “living for God”, working very hard, giving of their time and money and talent to serve God. But they have no idea what they are doing. They are doing it without knowledge and without understanding. Something is missing, but what? We already know they have,

2 Peter 2:20 … the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…

So what is missing? What knowledge do they not have? Let’s find out.

34. They (and you) are IGNORANT of something.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of…

Here’s the root of the problem, and it is a serious problem. There is something about which they are completely ignorant. It is likely you are completely ignorant of it also. Ignorant doesn’t mean one is “dumb” or “stupid” it just means they have never been taught. I’m personally ignorant about many things. It’s not that they don’t “know” because they aren’t intelligent enough to know, or that they don’t “know” because it is too difficult for them to understand. It’s not a swipe at anyone’s personal intelligence; the fault lies with the false prophets. They have failed to believe and teach the truth and have left their followers ignorant. What is missing? What is lacking in their knowledge? Of what are they ignorant?

35. IGNORANT of “God’s Righteousness”.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness…

God has just answered the question; “Can you explain to me your need for righteousness”? The answer is simply - YOU NEED GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS! If someone were to ask me that question I wouldn’t hesitate for an instant. The “many” do not know the answer when asked this simple question because they are “ignorant” of “God’s Righteousness”.

Dear reader, you and you alone know whether you were ignorant of God’s Righteousness before God just revealed it to you. If you were ignorant of God’s Righteousness you have a real problem.

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The Bible defines “ignorant” for us so we can fully understand the concept. This is the very first occurrence of “ignorant” in The Bible.

Psalms 73:22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Let’s say you have a pet cat or a pet rabbit. You are leaving to go buy pet food because you are currently out of food for your pet. After that, you have to stop at your sister’s house and pick up some laundry on the way home but you will be back shortly after that. Now, let’s say you explain all of that to your cat or your rabbit as you are on your way out the door. You shut the door and drive off. What did your pet hear? What did your pet understand? Your pet understood exactly the same amount you did when I asked you “can you tell me about your need for righteousness”; absolutely nothing!

If you are taking a test and the professor never gave you a direct answer to a question and you really don’t understand the subject well enough to know the answer then you will struggle greatly with the question, just as you likely did with this question. But, now that you know the answer is “I need God’s Righteousness”, let’s try the test question again. Can you explain to me your need for righteousness? You almost certainly found the question quite understandable and the answer very easy – now that you know. You, dear reader, are no longer “ignorant of God’s Righteousness”.

36. What is “God’s Righteousness”? It is Jesus’ works – not yours!

That’s a great question and I am so glad you asked. What is the righteousness of God? It is absolute perfection. Having never sinned even once. Never lied once. Can you say that? Never taken anything that didn’t belong to you, even once. Never disobeyed your parents, even once. Never ran a stop sign, even once. Never had a moment of envy or jealousy of another, even once. Never committed fornication, even once. Can you say all of that? Jesus can. God’s Righteousness is JESUS’ WORKS – without your works.

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Dear reader, do you think your works are included in God’s Righteousness? Do you think it is even remotely possible that God considers your works part of His Own Righteousness? Of course you don’t, as that would be completely absurd. So then God’s Righteousness, which is complete perfection, by logical definition, cannot include the works of any man – any man other than the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if you were to include any man’s works except for those of Jesus, it would no longer be God’s Righteousness, huh? What would it be? It would be MAN’S Righteousness. And man’s righteousness, is nothing but sin, disobedience and unrighteousness.

37. God’s Righteousness includes the IMPOSSIBILITY OF SIN.

God’s Righteousness is JESUS’ PERFECT WORKS. But, it also goes deeper than that (if there can be deeper than that). God’s Righteousness is the “impossibility of sin”.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.

Jesus “knew” no sin. It was impossible for Him to “know” sin and thus to do sin.

Here is a question for you, dear reader. Is it absolutely impossible for you to lie? Is it completely and absolutely impossible for you to lie? It must be, or you will never be allowed into Heaven.

It is impossible for me to overstate the importance of this concept. If you CAN sin, not if you DO sin or if you DID sin, but if you CAN sin then you will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

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Every member of the human race makes many decisions in this area every day. If your alarm clock goes off on Monday morning at 6am because you need to get up and be at work by 7am, but you decide to turn it off and not get up, you will be late. Upon waking up late and rushing to work and still arriving an hour late, you have a choice when your boss walks over and asks you why you were late. You can lie or tell the truth. There is no in-between and there is no other option as far as God is concerned. Truth is 100% truth with no deception whatsoever and anything else, any slight deviation or omission whatsoever, is a lie. Every human in this situation has a choice. Now, maybe you figure you are going to “do right” that day and tell the truth. Maybe you do that quite often. But, is it IMPOSSIBLE for you to lie in that situation? Of course not, we humans do it all the time. Mankind is a race of liars! It is who we are. It is in our nature to lie. Lying is in our blood. We get it from our father, Satan.

And, as hard as this may be to believe, it is not IMPOSSIBLE for you to commit murder either. Some prideful folks may indignantly say, “I would never!” Well, never – that’d be an awfully long time if we were in eternity. You see the operative word in “I would never” is not “never” but “would”. The problem is not if you “would”. The problem is that you “COULD”! And God simply cannot take that chance at all no matter what.

It isn’t impossible for you to lie. Maybe you don’t lie often. Maybe you can lie right now and say you never lie! BUT, is it IMPOSSIBLE for you to lie, really? Of course not. You could VERY easily roll one off of your tongue right now. How long was that fish? How fast were you going? How many people were in your church last Sunday morning? How much do you weigh? How much money do you make? How much do you give to charity? How does that dress really look on her?

It isn’t even impossible for you to murder someone; to kill someone that doesn’t deserve to die. Let’s say the most important person in the world to you is kidnapped by a serial killer. The serial killer then kidnaps you. While the killer has you both, he gives you the option of either personally killing an innocent 100-year-old woman (he has also kidnapped) by a single gunshot to the head, or watching your most-beloved-person be tortured and killed in front of your eyes. You have ten seconds to decide. 10…9…8…7… Is it IMPOSSIBLE for you to murder an innocent person then?

So, maybe you get all self-righteous on me and say, “I still wouldn’t do it!” You see, dear friend, that doesn’t matter at all. You COULD. You have to CHOOSE not to. God will NOT allow you to make that choice in Heaven. What if ten trillion years from now, you, or any other human for that matter, made the wrong choice? Everything would be ruined. God simply cannot and will not allow that.

Unless it is completely IMPOSSIBLE for a person to lie, that person will never be allowed entrance to heaven. You see, it is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie.

Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie…

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

A lie can never enter into the new heaven and the new earth. Unless it is impossible for you to lie you cannot go to Heaven. That is 100% Truth.

Revelation 21:10 And he … shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

This is an incredible eternal city, too beautiful to be adequately described within our intellect. It will be the eternal home of the Bride of Christ, the Church. The fact is…

Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie…

If you can “make a lie”, and we can all do that marvelously well, you will never enter that city. In fact, you will never even see it. You will be “without” with the “dogs”.

But, you ask, how can it be totally impossible for a man to lie? We are not God, so that is impossible. Sure, but Jesus is God! And He can’t lie! We can be “like him”!

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

In order to be admitted to Heaven a person will need to “prove” in God’s court that it is impossible for him/her to sin. Now, in order to “prove” that, God will examine your entire life looking for sin. Will God find any sin whatsoever in your life? Of course He will!

So, instead of having God examine YOUR life for sin (YOUR righteousness), wouldn’t you have a better chance if God instead examined Jesus’ life for sin (God’s Righteousness)? Instead of having God examine YOUR WORKS (YOUR righteousness), wouldn’t you have a better chance if God instead examined JESUS’ WORKS (Jesus’ Righteousness)?

Your life will never hold up under examination. Jesus’ life will always hold up under any examination. When you stand before God whose life will be examined, yours or Jesus’? When you stand before God at your judgment, calling Jesus your Lord and Saviour, whose WORKS is God going to be examining? Is God going to be looking at YOUR works or is He going to be looking at Jesus’ works? Better get it right with God.

God is not going to look at BOTH your works and Jesus’ works. It will be one or the other.

2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Romans 11:6 And if by grace [Jesus’ works], then is it no more of works [your works]: otherwise grace [Jesus’ works] is no more grace [Jesus’ works]. But if it be of works [your works], then is it no more grace [Jesus’ works]: otherwise work [your work] is no more work [your work].

In a nutshell this says that you are either trusting in YOUR WORKS or JESUS’ WORKS. It is impossible to trust in both. If you are trusting in YOUR WORKS AT ALL then you do NOT have JESUS’ WORKS – you have ONLY your own. In whose works are you trusting, dear reader? You’d better get it figured out - and quickly!

There is only ONE WAY a person can ever achieve the “impossibility of sin”. Jesus offers it freely, but each person must decide whether to submit to it or not.

The Bible says it like this;

Romans 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

God will make it IMPOSSIBLE for you to sin. You will not have to make a CHOICE not to sin (like we all do now), it will be completely IMPOSSIBLE for you to even consider sin as an option. You will not even understand HOW to lie. And if you can’t even understand HOW to lie, if you can’t even conceive of a lie, then you certainly can’t “make a lie” can you?

You see, the problem is we humans are “tempted” to lie. We don’t lie every time but we are tempted. We can be “tempted” to sin. Sometimes we choose not to, but get us in a really tight situation? That’s when we lie.

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

EVERY man can indeed be tempted, EVERY man! Jesus, God in the flesh, cannot ever be tempted, no matter the tight situation.

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

But, God doesn’t “tempt” man.

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

But, The Bible says Jesus was “tempted”! Is this another one of those dreaded contradictions? Stop jumping to that conclusion without all of the facts! (just kidding) But seriously, read on, my friend, read on.

Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Satan is “the tempter”. He tempted Eve in Eden and she was drawn away by her own lust and enticed. If you hadn’t eaten in 40 days and you had the power to save your life by turning rocks into bread, you would. You would do what you could to ‘save your own life’, and Satan knows it. Satan, “the tempter”, tried that little doozy on Jesus. He “tempted” Jesus. In other words, he offered something enticing to Jesus. But, unlike Eve, it was impossible for Jesus to be “tempted” by the “temptation” made to Him by “the tempter”. So, unlike Eve, who COULD be tempted (enticed), Jesus could NOT be tempted (enticed) with a Satanic offer of dung and death, and instead, unlike Eve, correctly quoted and obeyed the Word of God. It was IMPOSSIBLE that He wouldn’t obey, unlike Eve (and Adam who also disobeyed). Jesus answered the tempter with,

Matthew 4:4 …It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

THAT is God’s Righteousness – the impossibility of sin. It is this impossibility of sin that is so important. To get to heaven, one must not have any “conscience of sins” or “dead works”. You see, the problem with the Old Testament sacrifices under the law was exactly that, they could not purge the conscience and take away “the knowledge of good and evil” that we got from the seed of that tree. Let’s see that in the Book.

This is the 1st mention of “conscience” in The Bible.

John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Notice that it is your conscience which convicts you: it lets you know when you have done wrong. The Bible also says that your conscience lets you know if you have offended God or men.

Acts 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

How does our conscience do that? Our conscience bears witness of the LAW written in our hearts.

Romans 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Notice that this is talking about UNSAVED Gentiles! These unsaved natural men “by nature” have a “LAW written in their hearts”. This is very important. This is NOT the same as God’s law (“my laws” Hebrews 10:16) that God writes onto the new hearts of the saved.

Let’s ask, and then answer, a few questions you might have.

What LAW is this?

Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. … 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

This LAW in the unsaved is “the law of sin”, which ALL have. Even the apostle Paul wrote that the “law of sin” was in his flesh. And, if “the law of sin” was still in Paul’s flesh after everything he had learned and considering his relationship with The Lord, then it is still in every man born on this planet. The “law written in their hearts” is “the law of sin”. This “law of sin” is also called the “law of sin and death”.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Where did they get this “LAW” of sin and death written in their hearts?

1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin;…

You know what “death” is, sort of. But, at the very least, you know exactly where “death” came from, where it originated, where it all started. It all started with “the sting”.

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;

“Death” came from eating of the forbidden fruit. Death came at that moment. That was the “sting” of death; that first moment it hit – like being stung by a wasp. You know that moment most likely. It hurts. It’s when the venom is injected into the victim. That STING, the thing that injected the venom (DEATH) into humanity, was SIN! THE STING IS “SIN”, according to the Word of God. So, if the sting is sin, then that thing that injected death into humanity, the thing that started it all was SIN.

We know that the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened at the moment of that sting.

Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened

What does that mean? Let’s let Lucifer explain.

Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Remember that Jesus “knew no sin”? Well, now, the human race KNEW (had knowledge of) sin!

So, the sting that gave us death was “the knowledge of good and evil” that we got from eating of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. That’s not too hard to figure out.

This sting of death (sin) is where human eyes were “opened” and we got the “knowledge” of sin. This is when the law of sin and death was written on our hearts.

Most importantly, what does this LAW written in our hearts do?

Romans 3:20 … for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The “knowledge of sin” we received when “sin” stung us was written in our hearts as the “knowledge of good and evil”. This is when the “law of sin and death” (sin stung us and we died) was written on our hearts.

By LAW is the KNOWLEDGE of sin. When this happened our “eyes were opened” and we knew right from wrong. We knew sin. This is when our “conscience” took over, bearing witness of the LAW NOW WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS to “convict” us of sin.

Romans 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

This conscience (knowledge) of sin is the problem. It is what caused Adam and Eve to cover themselves with fig leaves, and even to hide from God. This, of course, can never happen in heaven – even if we happen to be naked! Adam and Eve were naked before the fall but not convicted of it by their conscience. Why not? Because they didn’t have a conscience! So, Jesus will need to purge our “conscience”! And, in so doing, will take away the “knowledge of good and evil”.

Hebrews 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

One day, the saved will have no more conscience of sins.

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Once we know “righteousness” (true righteousness, God’s righteousness) God writes HIS LAW in our hearts.

Isaiah 51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law;

He will get rid of our “evil conscience”, which is what we inherited, by nature, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Hebrews 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

God is going to destroy this creation into which sin and death have slithered themselves. He is going to build a new creation into which not one single sin and not one single death will ever slither! Could you GUARANTEE that for 1 year you would NEVER EVER lie, or be anything less than 100% completely honest? 10 years?? 1000 years??? Eternity???? Of course not. Even if you MADE that guarantee, it’d be like ISIS guaranteeing they would behave at an Israeli Presidential Ball. It would be best, in my humble opinion, not to invite them. They just can’t be fully trusted. God could never trust you because The Bible says EVERY MAN is a liar and eventually you will lie. You make the DECISION to lie or not to lie every day. Jesus NEVER had to make that decision. You see, it isn’t that Jesus “resisted” lying or that He was perfect at “resisting” the urge to lie that we all get. He NEVER GOT that thought or that urge or that temptation to lie. It is “impossible” for Him to lie. It wasn’t that He thought better of it. It wasn’t that He thought it was wrong and told the truth instead. It was IMPOSSIBLE. He couldn’t even consider it. It was never a decision. He never had to “resist” it once. You “resist” sin every day! If you have to “resist” sin you will never be allowed entrance to God’s Heaven; never.

38. After death, the human state of righteousness is unchangeable.

The Bible says it this way:

Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

In words a 5-year-old can understand, if you can sin at the moment of your death on this planet then you will be able to sin for the rest of eternity. If you die with the ability to sin then you will have that ability forever. If you CAN sin when you die then you CAN Sin forever. If you die a sinner – you will remain a sinner for eternity. If you die a dog – you will remain a dog for eternity. If you die filthy – you will remain filthy for eternity. You can change NOTHING after your death. Everything is set and unchangeable. This is why the many “work iniquity”. They are in that state forever.

However, if you die righteous and holy (as did Jesus), which can only be had in God’s Righteousness, you will be righteous and holy forever. This is the only way to a righteous and holy Heaven.

39. The “Many” are working on THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness…

Here we have the second piece of the puzzle. The “many” are going to try to establish “their own righteousness”. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means they are WORKING to be righteous or to do righteous things in order to please God in some way and thus help get them to Heaven. If a person is WORKING in any way to either earn or maintain his entrance into Heaven they are trying to “establish their own righteousness”.

I asked you near the beginning of this chapter what would happen if you became a serial killer and then God judged you. I asked you if you would you be in any danger of going to Hell. I asked you if there was any chance at all you would miss Heaven. Do you remember your answer? Of course you do. Even if you don’t, I assure you God does.

If your answer was anything, ANYTHING, other than “there is absolutely no chance whatsoever I would miss heaven and there is absolutely no danger at all I would go to Hell”, then you are in trouble. You are not going to Heaven for the simple reason that you are “trusting in your own righteousness”. You are still trusting in YOUR WORKS.

Killing someone is a work. If you do it then that is YOUR WORK. But, even if you kill a thousand times, Jesus NEVER did it, nor could He possibly ever do it. That is JESUS’ WORK. So YOUR WORK is the possibility of killing people (iniquity) and JESUS’ WORK is the impossibility of killing anyone, ever (righteousness). For which one of those would you rather stand trial?

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Even if you only trust in your own righteousness (your works) just a tiny bit you are still trusting in your own righteousness. You are WORKING, even a little bit, to earn your way into Heaven. Why? Because you are trusting in your own works; your personal righteousness. You are trusting that your personal life will somehow be “good” enough to please God and have Him grant you entrance into Heaven based, even ever so slightly, on something you have done (or have not done). You lived better than someone else and deserve Heaven more than them because you lived better, you pleased God more. They did way more bad things than you did. You were pretty stinking good compared to them! Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

If you have not “ceased from your own works” then this explains why you are still “working iniquity” and have not found rest in your own salvation. You think that you need to believe in Jesus, ask him into your heart, give your life to Him and LIVE A DECENTLY GOOD LIFE for Him, never committing any of the really bad sins. So, as long as you don’t actually become a serial killer, then you should be fine. Have you ever heard the word “abomination”? You’d better hold on to your hat.

Anyone that WORKETH (not worked, past tense but still “working”) abomination will never be allowed into Heaven! Never, never, not ever, forever, not ever, never, never, never. Never.

Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Those that “worketh abomination” are NOT in the Lamb’s book of life! Never! What is an abomination then, because we’d better stay away from those, huh? Homosexuality is an abomination to God. In fact, it is the very first thing in The Bible that the Lord says “is abomination”. The act of homosexuality is abomination.

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

I know there is a big push today to establish equal rights for the “LGBTQXYZ” (whatever) community. I don’t care one lick if they have the same rights as I, a straight person, have. They can have more rights than me for all I care. They are people and I care for their souls as much as I do for any other soul. In fact, as I write this I just led a homosexual man to Christ only two days ago. I wish homosexuals no ill will. However, that does not change the Word of God one bit. I am not going to lay out a whole defense of my position of homosexuality, because frankly I don’t care what you believe. They should have all the rights to which they are legally entitled under the laws of the country in which they reside. I only care what The Bible says and it says it is an abomination. And The Bible will NEVER say any differently.

About homosexuality some will say, I would NEVER! Well, that is good. I hope you do never. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people that do this abomination. And, in spite of what you may want to believe and in spite of what you may have been taught, homosexuality does not preclude someone from going to Heaven even if they DO it.

Cross-dressing is an abomination to God.

Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Some would say, I would NEVER. Of course not. But there are those that DO, and DOING that does not discount them from being able to go to Heaven.

Murder is abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 … hands that shed innocent blood,

Some will definitely say, I would NEVER! Well, let’s hope not. But some have. And DOING murder does not preclude them from entrance into Heaven.

A quick aside: Do you recognize the name David Berkowitz? You may recognize him by his other name: the Son of Sam Killer. During a year in New York City during 1976-1977 the Son of Sam terrorized New York City killing six and wounding seven others. He terrorized several others who were at the scenes of his rampages who were left shaken but unharmed physically. He was caught and sentenced to six consecutive 25-years to life sentences. He has been incarcerated since his capture in 1977. Although I can’t say 100% for certain without actually speaking with the man personally and hearing his testimony, I believe from what I have read and heard that this serial killer is a brother in Christ and we will spend eternity together in Heaven. Impossible, you say? Only a person of little understanding would say that.

Adultery is an abomination to The Lord.

Ezekiel 22:11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife;

Did you know that one? These people, the homosexuals, the cross-dressers, the adulterers and the murderers are all considered the lowest in society by the “many”. (Although recently adultery is considered quite normal and acceptable in this wicked world we now inhabit.) The “many” think to themselves, I would never do those things and I cannot believe that God would let ‘those’ kind of people into Heaven with a pretty decent person like myself. I’ve never killed anybody or cheated on my spouse or done those wicked homosexual acts. Those people are beneath me. I am better than them and deserve to go to Heaven way before people like that.

Pride is an abomination to the Lord. You may have picked that one up from chapter two of this book.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: … A proud look,

In fact, pride is such an abomination that the Lord calls it abomination twice in the same chapter!

Proverbs 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD:

Interestingly, pride is considered a great and honorable thing in our society. It is abomination to God. Have you ever been proud? Then you are abomination to God. Just like that murderer you look down your nose at.

You aren’t going to want to hear this but…

Lying is abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ... a lying tongue,

In fact, lying is such an abomination that the Lord calls it abomination three (3) separate times!

Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: … 19 A false witness that speaketh lies,

Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD:

God hates lying. God abhors lying. To God, the liar is no different from the murderer. The liar is no different from the homosexual.

Let’s take Son of Sam, whom I believe to be a brother in Christ. He killed six people and is serving six life sentences for it. That is one life sentence for each of the abominations he committed. I think that is about as fair and just as it gets in this wicked world.

Let me just say that I HATE life sentences. The murderer gives multiple people “death” and in exchange the justice system gives the murderer “life”? Does that sound fair to you? Somehow that doesn’t seem just to me. The Bible says that not only was the death penalty to be enacted in Israel for murder, but that to NOT give the death penalty defiles the land where the murder occurred. As the United States and the World soften their stance on criminal punishment, the Earth becomes more and more defiled. I suppose you want to see that in the Book?

Numbers 35:31 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. 32 And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. 34 Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

I believe The Bible. I believe that “life sentences” for convicted murderers are polluting and defiling our land. Back to the subject we go. Son of Sam gets a life sentence (it should have been death) for each of the abominations he committed. What if you got “Hell” for each abomination you commit? How many abominations have you committed, dear reader? How many times do you think you have been “proud”? Quite a number, probably. How many lies do you think you have told over your lifetime, dear reader? I’m not sure we could count. Maybe, very conservatively, we could say one lie per week for your life? I’m sure it is more. It is in my life, and I am considered by most that know me to be an extremely honest person. So, let’s say you are 33 years old (Jesus’ age at His death). 33 years multiplied by 52 weeks equals 1,716 lies. If you averaged only one lie per week for your life (we both know it is more than that) then you have committed many more than 1,000 abominations JUST FOR YOUR LIES. Now if Mr. Berkowitz only committed six abominations and you want to unconditionally condemn serial killers to Hell because of what THEY DID, then you have absolutely no chance at all by what YOU DID. When you see it from God’s perspective it looks a little different, doesn’t it?

YOU and I are JUST AS GUILTY as Son of Sam. None of us can stand before God and claim OUR WORKS. The Son of Sam is claiming JESUS’ WORKS. If he was to claim his own works he would surely spend eternity in the Lake of Fire – so would you. Whose works are you claiming?

You see, this sums up the entirety of this problem…

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Mankind truly believes, naturally, that the things mankind prizes as highly esteemed, or highly valued, are great things; things like money and power and position and rank and success and popularity and victory. These things are ABOMINATION to God. WE are abomination to God – unless it is impossible for us to sin. Our supposed personal righteousness coupled with our refraining from participation in select abominations makes absolutely no difference to God whatsoever. No matter how hard we try, every work we do, or don’t do, is an abomination to God – because WE are an abomination to God. And if we think not – then we will wallow in that pride for all eternity in a Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, together with all the other workers of iniquity.

40. You will claim one or the other; not both.

There are two (2) kinds of righteousness. There is ‘your righteousness’ (YOUR WORKS) and there is ‘God’s Righteousness’ (JESUS’ WORKS). You will claim one or the other at your judgment. It will be impossible to claim both. And anyone that claims “their own righteousness” will go to the Lake of Fire. It’s going to be very difficult for the “many” to claim God’s Righteousness when they are totally ignorant of it – just like you most likely were until God revealed it to you.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

God requires each person to “submit themselves unto the righteousness of God”. As the verse says, so God requires. If you SUBMIT to the “Righteousness of God” you are FULLY DEPENDENT on it and it alone. If you aren’t fully dependent on it, then you haven’t SUBMITTED to it at all.

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What I am about to say may seem arrogant. Let me state unequivocally that this is not my intent and that I am no different or less deserving of the Lake of Fire than any other human being that has ever existed on this planet. I absolutely deserve to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire and I know it. I deserve it as much as Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Ted Bundy and even your father, Satan himself. I absolutely believe it without any hesitation. I am simply going to illustrate for you the difference between trusting in my own righteousness and trusting in God’s Righteousness. I am not trusting in my righteousness at all - I am fully and completely dependent on God’s Righteousness for my entrance into Heaven.

It is this complete submission to God’s Righteousness that makes the following assertion possible. If I decided right now, as you read this, to exit my home with two automatic firearms and a boatload of ammunition, go into the nearest elementary school, rape, torture and brutally murder 500 elementary school children, record it all, broadcast it to the world on a live internet feed, and then turn the gun on myself and commit suicide, I would still, without any doubt whatsoever, go to Heaven.

What is your reaction to that? Do you think I am nuts? If so, that is because you do not understand what it means to trust in God’s Righteousness and not your own works. You have not understood that some men have,

Romans 10:3... submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

You see, dear reader, I have “submitted myself unto the righteousness of God” (Jesus’ works) as the verse says, and as God requires. That means I am trusting EXCLUSIVELY in, and have SUBMITTED fully to, Jesus’ works and not in any way, shape or form am I trusting in or counting on my own works. I am not trusting in “my own righteousness” in even a remotely slight way. If I was trusting in “my own righteousness” and went into that school and did those things I would surely go to Hell. In fact, I would surely go to Hell if I was trusting in my own righteousness and did NOT go into that school and kill those children – I have committed plenty of other abominations.

You see, whether I go into that school or don’t go into that school makes absolutely no difference and has absolutely no bearing at all on whether or not I go to Heaven. This is because I am not trusting in my righteousness (my works) at all. Not at all. Not one little, tiny bit. So the “things I do” don’t matter one bit because I am not trusting in them. I am not trusting in the fact that I never went in and killed those children. I am trusting in the fact that Jesus never went in and killed those children! Do you see the difference? I am trusting in God’s Righteousness and He didn’t do any of those things. He never went into a school and killed children. In fact, He never committed any sin of any kind and is totally innocent of sin. I’m not. So instead of claiming my own innocence (righteousness), which would get me the Lake of Fire, I am claiming Christ’s innocence (righteousness), which will get me Heaven. This, dear reader, is what it means to “submit” to God’s Righteousness.

To submit means to “put yourself under the power and authority of someone or something”. The 1st Bible mention of submit verifies this definition:

Genesis 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

So, are you putting yourself under (submitting to) your power (your righteousness) or God’s power (God’s Righteousness)? It is one or the other, not both. I hope you make the right choice.

41. Your Final Exam.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness…

We have already examined at length and in depth each part of this verse. However, there is one word we have not touched yet and that is the little, insignificant, unnecessary, unimportant word “and”. I say that in jest because I want to emphasize that EVERY word in The Bible is absolutely pure, perfect, necessary and without error. The “AND” is a very big deal. You see, this passage is a Bible salvation litmus test. A litmus test is a test to determine if something is acceptable. There are two parts to, or questions on, this test, your Final Exam. That is why there is an “and” here. As I said, the “and” is a big deal. We will consider three possible outcomes of this two-question Final Exam.

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This is how God is going to determine, at your judgment, if you have “submitted yourself unto the righteousness of God” or not. Remember you are going to be judged by EVERY WORD in The Book. God is so gracious, so very gracious, that He gives us, not only the questions on our final exam, but also the correct answers! How’s that for an easy test from a cool teacher! Nobody should ever fail this test. But, they will. They have refused to study for themselves, instead counting on the “false prophets” to give them the answers. Sadly, the only answers coming from the “false prophets” are “God loves us all” (a lie from the pit of Hell), “we are all God’s children” (a lie from the pit of Hell), all you need to do is “turn from your sins” (a lie from the pit of Hell) and “believe in Jesus” (a lie from the pit of Hell) and you will be fine (a lie from the pit of Hell). That’s why God calls them “wolves in sheep’s clothing”; it sounds good, but all of it is a lie and will cost you your (eternal) life. So let’s see God’s “final exam”.

The first question is, were you ignorant of God’s Righteousness? Only you and God know the answer.

AND

The second question is, were you going about to establish your own righteousness? Only you and God know the answer.

42. Possibility 1. Both questions “yes”. You are lost.

Your answer to BOTH of the questions is YES.

If you were (1) “ignorant of God’s Righteousness” AND (2) “going about to establish your own righteousness”, then you have definitely failed your final exam. You are lost and will absolutely spend eternity in the Lake of Fire no matter what you believe nor how strongly you believe it. Why? Because of YOUR answers, The Bible clearly concludes, as will God at your judgment, that “you have not submitted yourself to the righteousness of God”. You better get right with God.

43. Possibility 2. Second question “yes”. You are an anomaly.

Your answer to only the SECOND question is YES.

If you were (2) “going about to establish your own righteousness” BUT NOT “ignorant of God’s Righteousness”, then you are an anomaly. An anomaly is something strange, unusual or difficult to classify. I have never met someone like this. In fact, I have met very few people that knew about “God’s Righteousness” when I asked them about their need for righteousness. Some may later say, “I had heard of it but really didn’t understand it”. Hindsight is 20-20 they say. It is easy to pass the test once you are given the answers. The problem is you didn’t know the answer when you took the test. That is still “ignorance” so you need to revise your answer and refer back to possibility 1. If you are still here, however, you are admittedly still “going about to establish your own righteousness” (WORKS) and thus you are NOT trusting fully in (submitting to) God’s. You are most likely lost. You may have “known” about God’s Righteousness but you don’t have it and certainly by your own admission haven’t submitted to it. I would recommend you take the rest of this chapter very seriously – your soul is on the line.

44. Possibility 3. First question “yes”. You are a babe in Christ.

Your answer to only the FIRST question is YES.

If you were (1) “ignorant of God’s Righteousness” BUT (2) NOT “going about to establish your own righteousness” (you are trusting in Jesus’ works alone), then you are likely (although not definitely) saved, but simply a babe in Christ, having not grown much at all since your salvation moment. This I have seen a vast number of times. Why do I say you are likely saved? Because obviously, assuming you answered honestly, you aren’t trusting in “your works” at all. And if you aren’t trusting in your works AT ALL then you are likely (and hopefully) trusting fully in Christ. However, being “ignorant of God’s Righteousness” is a serious error, serious enough that you have never understood the “meat” of the Word of God but have spent your life sucking only the milk with the babies. You were born again but have remained a mere baby in Christ for the entire time since. That may offend some of you that think you are “mature” Christians just because you got saved many years ago, and have been teaching Sunday School for years.

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Don’t get mad at me; take it up with your God. I suppose you want to see that in the Book?

Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

This isn’t hard to understand; they ought to be teachers (they’ve been saved long enough that they should be able to teach) but they can’t teach. Why? Because they have need to be taught themselves. They should be eating strong meat (strong doctrine), but they can’t stomach it. They can only drink milk from a bottle like little babies. Is that not an honest assessment of the text? Of course it is. That is EXACTLY what this passage says. You are probably agreeable thus far. But, let’s see EXACTLY WHY they are in that newborn-baby state.

Hebrews 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

They are in this state for a reason: they are unskillful in “THE WORD OF righteousness”. What WORD are they unskillful in? The word “righteousness”! They don’t have the necessary understanding of The Bible word “righteousness”. They can’t differentiate between God’s Righteousness and their own righteousness. That is a very sad state because The Bible clearly says this is one of “the first principles of the oracles of God”! It is the foundation of Bible salvation. It is the foundation of Bible Christianity. And they are ignorant of it.

There are those that would argue that “the word of righteousness” is simply another way of saying “the word of God” and blow this off. This is simply a denial of Bible Truth and is done only at your own peril. You see, if that were true, why didn’t God just say that? And why didn’t He capitalize the word righteousness in the verse? Certainly if you replace the word “righteousness” in the verse with the word “God” it would be capitalized. God didn’t do any of that, again, because God used THE MOST PERFECT WORD in the entire English language in that spot and the word He used is “righteousness”.

The exact phrase “word of God” appears in The Bible 49 times. “God” is capitalized EVERY time! If this verse would have said “word of God” then it would have been an even 50. Do you think God messed up? Do you think God allowed His Word to be messed up? Do you think there is a better word that God should have used here to make it more clear to us dumb readers? I don’t. I think He said “word of righteousness” because that’s exactly what He meant. Would you like to guess how many times the exact phrase “word of righteousness” appears in the entire Bible? One. This is it. If this was meant to describe the entire Bible as does the phrase “word of God” why didn’t God ever use it again in another place to verify that for us?

Let me show you a couple of similar verses that the false prophets love to quote, so they can rid you and your wallet of your hard-earned money.

2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Nobody says that is simply “the word of God”. That has to do specifically with “reconciliation”.

2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy…

Is the “word of prophecy” the entire “word of God”? You could make a case for it, maybe, but once again this is the most perfect word (“prophecy”) because it is the most descriptive and best word in the English language. The reason it says “word of prophecy” instead of “word of God” is because God wanted us to know something a little deeper and more exacting than just saying the entire “word of God”. These things have very specific meanings and very specific reasons for deviation.

Hebrews 13:22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.

Paul is “exhorting” them. That’s pretty plain.

Lastly, the phrase “word of” appears 359 times in The Bible. Almost all of them explicitly say “the word of God” or “the word of The LORD”. There are only a handful that deviate. This is not a mistake or an oversight – it is intentional and purposeful.

If one is deficient in his understanding of the word “righteousness”, specifically pertaining to the “first principles” of The Bible, then he is a baby Christian. To be ignorant of “God’s Righteousness” is to lack clear understanding of the very foundation of New Testament Salvation – and that is the very definition of a baby Christian.

But, some may say, “whatever, who cares”!? Well, you should care very deeply. This is a BIG reason why our churches are falling apart. It is a BIG reason why the lost do not want any part of our churches and shun them like the plague. You see, since the false prophets don’t even understand salvation, they certainly can’t teach it. So, the world is completely disillusioned and thinks (rightly in many cases) that the church of Jesus is no different from any (falsely) moralistic social hall. And, unfortunately the world is right. The testimony of our churches is simply awful and some of the most lying, godless, envious, jealous, prideful, holier-than-thou people I have ever known have been “church” people. The world has a better testimony in their wicked social halls than Christians do in their churches. This ought not be so, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Want to know why it is so? Well, take a look at what Jesus (through Paul) has to say about it.

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

That is an absolutely stinging rebuke on the church. All of our churches are full of divisions, envying and strife. If you don’t think this is so, then you are willingly ignorant and completely blind. The only thing that could possibly happen to fix it would be a revival of Bible preaching. The problem is, you can’t preach what you don’t understand.

How can a change happen? Grab hold of God’s Righteousness. Start to build upon that understanding and you will start to grow and mature as a Christian. Don’t, and stay a baby. It’s really pretty simple.

45. You must submit to God’s Righteousness.

SUBMIT to it. However, there is a catch. We will get to the “catch” soon.

46. Jesus was/is completely sinless.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus was completely sinless. Notice that The Bible isn’t saying He “did” no sin (it says that elsewhere) but rather that He “knew” no sin. He had no intimate knowledge of sin. It wasn’t that Jesus just fought hard against sin and refused to succumb to it. It was IMPOSSIBLE for Him to sin. He is God and it is impossible for God to sin. So Jesus has the “impossibility of sin”. God was well pleased with His Son.

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“Well pleased” appears only nine times in the whole Bible. Eight of those are in the New Testament and six of those are God saying that He is “well pleased” with His Son. Of the two remaining in the New Testament one is in the negative (God not well pleased) and the last one has to do with God being well pleased about us “doing good” as a sacrifice to God. That only leaves one remaining in the entire Bible.

This final time, the only remaining occurrence, is the only time “well pleased” appears in the entire Old Testament. It is included in a prophetic passage that says God will be “well pleased” with the future Son of God coming to planet Earth. All of Isaiah chapter 42 is prophetic and we begin with the context to prove our point:

Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Here is the New Testament PROOF that this is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ:

Matthew 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

Uh, dear reader, it just doesn’t get any clearer than that, does it? If you don’t think that is prophecy of Jesus, then you don’t believe your Bible at all.

On to our point. The single occurrence of “well pleased” in the entire Old Testament, the only one, is in the context of this prophetic chapter and speaks of God being well pleased with His coming Son. Would you like to see it? Okay fine, twist my pinky finger.

Isaiah 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

Wow! Double wow! So the ONLY time God says He is “well pleased” in the entire Old Testament is in speaking, not just of His Son, but specifically of His Righteousness! That, dear reader, is simply incredible. Do you not think God’s Righteousness is a big deal? You’d better.

47. Jesus became sin on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus became sin on the cross. Of course, that’s the part people know. You talk to professing Christians the world over and they almost all know this. It’s true and it is very important. However, this is not the end product.

48. Jesus became our sin for a reason. So we could receive the Righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus didn’t JUST take our sin. He took our sin for a very important reason. He emptied us of our sin, removed it completely. But once emptied of our sin, what do we have left? Most would say, “well, he took my sin away. The good stuff was still left.” Uh, what good stuff? You think there was good stuff in you? You are wrong. Once Jesus empties the sin of a new believer, that new believer is completely empty. He has nothing left! The only thing in us is sin, so if you remove that we are completely empty; just an empty shell! We are worthless in that state, but there is a reason we have to be emptied, cleaned and washed. It is so Jesus can put into us His Righteousness! He can’t just take our sin. It has to be replaced with God’s Righteousness. That’s the part most professing Christians don’t know.

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You do not want to be an empty shell. God would be cruel to leave us as empty shells. Here’s why…

Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

If a devil finds you “empty” then you are fair game! He is going to find some friends and invite himself into a clean home. You don’t want to be that home.

49. Are you “in Him”?

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The two little words at the end of the verse are “in him”. You may be apt to think that since the majority of this verse contains so much critical doctrine that this last little addition is mostly just added verbiage. Think again. The concept of being “in Christ” is one of the most important concepts in the entire New Testament. Suffice it to say that every human being is either “in Christ” or not. There is no in-between. Nobody is halfway in Christ or partway in Christ. You are either in or out. You can only get God’s Righteousness by being “in Christ”. Being “in Christ” is the most important place you can ever be “in”. If you are not “in Christ” you will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Are you “in Christ”?

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“In Christ” is in The Bible 78 times. They are ALL in the New Testament and they ALL have to do with EXACTLY the same concept. Here are just a couple of examples.

Colossians 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

1 Timothy 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

And here is the one to really cement the concept:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Only humans that are “in Christ” are new creatures. What is this “new creature” those “in Christ” become? The best way to explain it to you so you will understand is that the new creature is no longer a “dog”. In Christ you are a new creature. Outside of Christ and you are still a dog.

50. Jesus is Almighty God.

Jesus is God in the flesh. Almighty God became a man, took a human body and lived on this planet. Of this there is no doubt. One just has to simply believe The Bible. The Bible cannot say it any clearer than this:

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

My friend, it just doesn’t get any clearer. If you can understand English this is “without controversy”.

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At one point during The Bible story of Moses, God asks Moses to go back to Egypt. Moses responds by asking God for His NAME so he can tell the nation of Israel who was sending him to them. God thus reveals His name to Moses.

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

While Jesus is walking on the Earth He claims that exact same name!

John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Abraham lived about 2,000 years before Jesus was born. Were you around 2,000 years before you were born? I didn’t think so. Jesus was.

51. Believe this or spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

I simply cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to believe that Jesus is The One True Almighty God. Not “a” god or some kind of a lesser god or even just the son of God but THE ALMIGHTY GOD. The reason it is so important that you believe Jesus is God is because The Bible says it is! Jesus said,

John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

If you don’t believe that Jesus is “I Am”, the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe and mankind, you will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. If you don’t know Jesus as Almighty God then you just don’t know Jesus. And if you don’t know Jesus then He definitely doesn’t know you.

Even if you believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus it won’t matter unless you also believe that Jesus is the ONLY God, the One True God. That is simply Bible Truth.

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Some satanic unbelievers might argue that Jesus wasn’t saying He was God. Well, if He wasn’t, the people He was speaking to were too stupid to know it! They wanted to stone Him for claiming that He was God!

John 8:59 Then took they up stones to cast at him:…

That this is the EXACT reason they wanted to stone Him is a given. Read,

John 10:30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

The only people that don’t believe this are people who simply don’t want to believe it, because they don’t want to believe The Bible.

There is so much more that can be said about this topic; of course whole books have been written on just this one topic. It is not my intention to exhaust it here. Choose what you believe wisely.

I had the opportunity a number of years ago to visit a husband, at the request of his wife whom I had recently led to Christ. I went through the plan of salvation with him and when I was done, he said, “I want to get saved.” Usually that is something I am only too glad to hear. This time was different. I replied, “you can’t.” He was shocked, “why not?”, he asked incredulously. “Because you don’t believe Jesus is the only, one, true God”, I said. He agreed that my statement was true and I left the home with him still lost.

I could have easily “prayed a prayer” with him but it would have been worthless. It is that important. The good news is that about two weeks later he came forward after church and said, “I want to get saved.” “We talked about that”, I replied in front of the entire congregation, “you can’t. You don’t believe Jesus is God.” He emphatically replied, “I do now!” That was an awesome moment and he has been a saved man since that day.

That man is saved now and bound for glory. Think of the cruelty I would have inflicted on him if I had “prayed a prayer” with him and left him thinking he was saved even though it was impossible for him to be saved! He would have stood before Jesus at his judgment and said, “Lord, Lord. I prayed a prayer and asked you to save me.” “I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity” would have been God’s reply. Dear reader, this is no different than the prayer the “many” have prayed. It is worthless and they don’t even know it. Satan is very satisfied with that outcome.

52. You can’t give away something that you don’t own.

I can’t give you God’s house or God’s chair, because they aren’t mine to give. If Jesus is not God He has no authority or right to give away God’s stuff. If Jesus is not God then He can’t give anyone God’s Righteousness. Jesus is Almighty God so He CAN give you something that belongs to God. Buddha can’t. Muhammed can’t. Vishnu can’t. The Pope can’t. Moses can’t. The Dalai Lama can’t. Mother Theresa can’t. The President of the U.S. can’t. Your prophet can’t. Only Jesus can give you God’s Righteousness.

53. The catch.

Remember I mentioned that there is a “catch”? This is the catch. You cannot just ‘ask for God’s Righteousness’. If you could, technically Satan could ‘ask for God’s Righteousness’. And he could, but it wouldn’t work. There is something that is REQUIRED of you BEFORE you can ask for God’s Righteousness.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

A person MUST repent before God will ever hear them or hear any prayer they ever pray. God COMMANDS ALL MEN to repent. That is not an optional request. Any person that does not “repent” will perish.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

You can’t truly believe until you repent.

Mark 1:15 … repent ye, and believe the gospel.

As we said before no repentance = no conversion. It is still true.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…

One MUST REPENT before it is even remotely possible for him/her to get saved.

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I have many times heard lost people say, “I pray all the time”. What a complete waste of their time. They’d be better off just going out to make some money and use it to party in this life. It is the only enjoyment they will ever get for all eternity. God has never, and will never, hear the “prayer” of the lost. The ONLY prayer He will ever hear from the lost person is, “help, save me”. And I don’t mean save me from financial disaster or save me from criminal prosecution or save me from cancer or save me from some heartache. No, I mean save me from certain Hell. Sometimes I tell people that and they get quite mad at me. How dare I say that God doesn’t hear THEIR prayer! THEY are important. THEY are somebody. Who am I to say God doesn’t hear THEM? I am just the messenger. GOD says He doesn’t hear them. I suppose you want to see that in the Book?

John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Psalms 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

I think that’s enough. “But”, they say, “God has answered many of my prayers in the past”. Has He? Just because something good happens to you, this is proof that God answered your prayer? Your Mom survived cancer because God answered your prayer? Puh-lease!

1 Samuel 6:9 … but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that … time and chance happeneth to them all.

Your Mom has cancer? She has a CHANCE to survive. You need a new job? There is a CHANCE you will get one. You hit the lottery? There is always that CHANCE if you play. There is always a CHANCE with man. Man lives by CHANCE. “There is a 70% chance it is going to rain tomorrow.” God doesn’t ever do chance. With God there is never a “chance”: it is either yes or no, period.

“But, I saw the miracle. The doctors said she had no chance to live.” Well, you can go on believing that it was THE LORD if you want, but it wasn’t. God’s ear is NOT open to the prayer of the wicked. The only prayer God will ever hear from the wicked is, again, “help, save me from Hell.” And if you did get a miracle and it wasn’t just chance, well, you are not going to like this at all.

Satan is the god of this world, the god of the lost.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not…

John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

What will Satan use to blind their minds?

2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;

What in the world do you think “deceivableness of unrighteousness” is? It is UNrighteousness that is deceivably disguised to look like righteousness – A LOT like righteousness!

I realize this may come as a bit of a shock but WAKE UP people! Satan is a master liar and a master deceiver. You think you can pick up on Satan’s lies? You can’t tell if your spouse is lying. You can’t tell when your kids are lying. You can’t tell when your mechanic is lying. You can’t even tell when CNN is lying (well, maybe them since it is ALL THE TIME)! And you think you are going to just recognize Satan’s lies? You’d better stick your nose in The Bible then and never take it out! Because Satan, that guy can lie better than any creature in eternal history.

Satan is going to heal (signs) give gifts (power) and produce miracles (wonders) in order to DECEIVE (lie to) the people so they will perish. He has control over this whole world (see Matthew 4:8-9 for proof) and will give them whatever they desire here, just so they will not wake up and see the truth before it is too late. He will gladly give them “stuff” here just to secure their worship, by making him (Satan) their god, while the whole time they are foolishly thinking that THE LORD is their God. Who is their god? The one who cured their Mom, healed their child, gave them the new house and the new Mercedes is their god. As to the fact that they think it was the Lord who did it? Satan laughs maniacally.

I am not saying that the Almighty God cannot do miracles, of course He can. I’m saying He speaks to the lost in other ways. I am going to quote a little bit of Job 33, but not all. If you really want to get a sense of how God gets hold of men then read all of Job 33. Here is a little sample:

Job 33:23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:

God sends a messenger.

Job 33:24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

IF someone gets saved, THEN God is gracious to him.

Job 33:26 He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.

God hears and gives favor to the saved, His children, those with His Righteousness. He also disciplines them. He doesn’t do those things for the children of Satan. Satan takes care of his own children. Beware.

54. Repent!

You’ve probably heard the word “repent” before, right? That word strikes fear into the lost world. Most people think it means to “turn from your sin”, to stop smoking and drinking and cussing and start going to church, right? But it doesn’t. It actually means to “sincerely change your mind”. God is commanding you to “change your mind”.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

God is commanding you to change your mind from Satan’s lies to God’s Word. You need to sincerely and completely change your mind FROM, “MY OWN good WORKS or MY OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS can help me get to heaven, helped, of course, by believing in Jesus”. You need to sincerely and completely change your mind TO, “I was wrong. My works are ALL dead and worthless. I NEED JESUS’ WORKS. I CAN sin and am completely filthy, unrighteous and entirely worthless to God. As of now I will go to Hell. I need GOD’s RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jesus’ works)”. THAT is Bible repentance. Repent or perish.

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But many still want to argue that repent means to “turn from your sin”. That’s what they’ve heard all their lives from their false prophets.

Acts 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

“Repent” is separate and different from “turn” as you can read right here. But, if you want to keep believing that repent means to turn from your sin, then go ahead. But, if that is true, then God Himself is a sinner. You can’t “turn from your sin” unless you have some sin, right? Well, then you just made God a sinner.

Genesis 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Almighty God is the first being to ever “repent” in The Bible. Do you think God “turned from His sin”? That’s blasphemy from the pit of Hell, is it not?

This false definition of “repent” that you have heard your whole life is from the false prophets and from the pit of Hell. But that seems so crazy. Doesn’t God want us to stop sinning and give our lives to Him? Nope!

2 Peter 2:1 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.

This is a “damnable heresy”, because believing this “heresy” will “damn” people to Hell. God does NOT want the lost to “turn from their sin”. He wants them to “change their mind”. What does “privily” mean in that verse? What does it mean they “privily bring in damnable heresies”?

The word “privily” means to do something in private. Do you know how many times the word “private” is in The Bible? Exactly one. Would you like to see it? Okay, since you asked nicely.

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

These “false prophets” and “false teachers” have put their own “private interpretation” on the word “repent”. They do it so they can control your life. This lie will bring upon you swift destruction as damnable heresies always do. The false prophets really only want two things from you. One, they want your money. Try not giving them your money and see what happens. Two, they want your allegiance. Your allegiance should be to one, and one ONLY, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the Apostle Paul said,

1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Paul was honest enough to say that following Christ is more important. If Paul was to quit following Christ then he expected the people to follow Christ and not Paul. Follow me AS I follow Christ. If you are being taught heresy by your teacher then you need to follow Christ AWAY from that false teacher. Warn him first and allow him to repent, but if he doesn’t then get out.

So, let’s see what The Bible really says about repentance.

Exodus 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

The Lord God REPENTED of that which He THOUGHT! He changed His mind!

1 Samuel 15:35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

What did The Lord DO in 1 Samuel 15:35? “He repented”, someone wryly says. Tell me, my wry friend, if you can, what God DID when He “repented”? Did something change? What ACT did He perform? What THING did He do? What TURN did He make? What CHANGED here? The truth, is that there was NO act, there was NO turn, there was NO thing. The ONLY thing that changed, was God’s MIND! He clearly REPENTED by simply changing His mind and NOTHING else! To “REPENT” is simply to change your mind. End of story.

Exodus 13:17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent [change their mind, not “turn from their sin”] when they see war, and [then] they [do something] return to Egypt:

God’s people were following Him; they were doing His will. So, since they weren’t “sinning”, how could they turn from their sin in this case? How could “going back to Egypt” possibly be “turning from their sin”? It couldn’t, is the answer. God was trying to ensure that they didn’t get scared and “change their minds” about following Him.

Get this: you can repent from something GOOD! Bet you didn’t see that coming.

Jeremiah 18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

But doesn’t The Bible say God can’t repent? Well, if it does someone will need to show me that. What we do know is that it says,

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent…

God isn’t saying that He can’t repent. He is saying it is never necessary that He repent, as it is with mankind. There is never a time when God needs to or must repent - but He may decide to at His own discretion.

In fact, God has repented so many times He is tired of repenting!

Jeremiah 15:6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD…therefore will I…destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

And, God doesn’t expect man to just change his mind, man could change his mind to anything, but God commands man specifically to change his mind to “acknowledge the truth”!

2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

It is simple. You cannot believe without repentance. You may think you can but The Bible is very clear that it is impossible. It may seem easy, but remember that “many” believe in Jesus. “Many” may “believe” but it will be “in vain” without true repentance!

Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

Have you believed in vain, dear reader? I hope not. But, if you have, you have come to the right place. God is about to show you “the way of Righteousness”. The question is, will you repent so you CAN believe Him?

55. Are we to repent from our “sins”?

We MUST repent. The Bible is very clear and we are absolutely certain of that.

However, now the question is – FROM WHAT must we repent? This is a HUGE issue and in my humble opinion (based on Bible Truth which you are about to see) the reason “many” people that claim to be “saved” or have “asked Jesus into their heart” or have “given their life to Jesus” are completely lost and will be rejected by “their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” at their judgment with “I never knew you”. That is an incredible shame. And it all comes from an incredible lie from the pit of Hell. That lie is that we need to “repent of our sins”. Yes, you read that correctly.

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“Many” of the modern “preachers” and “teachers” have taught the “many” in their massive congregations for “many” years that they need to “repent of their sins”. Is this not a correct statement? I believe it is accurate. Have you, dear reader, not heard that people need to “repent of their sins”? Maybe you even repented of your sins?

Always beware of the “many”. You do not want to be with the “many”, you want to be with the “few”. You see, the Truth from The Word of God is very different. God does not want us to repent of our sins. Maybe you don’t believe this. Maybe you just can’t believe this. That’s because it is, for us humans, very difficult to admit we have been deceived – but we have. I’m not going to set the record straight. I’m going to show you THE RECORD. It’s YOUR job to set it straight. Let’s see the Truth from the Book.

56. Repent of your “works”, not your “sins”!

What do the “many” say to Jesus at their judgment? Do they not say, “have we not … done many wonderful WORKS”! That’s EXACTLY, word for word, what they say! There is only one reason they would say that, and that’s because they ignorantly think THEIR WORKS mean something to God. You see, they are trusting, in an even ever so slight way, in THEIR WORKS. They think, maybe even just a little, that THEIR WORKS can somehow ultimately determine (or prove) whether or not they should go to Heaven. This is an absolute falsehood and a lie from the pit of Hell. YOUR WORKS have absolutely NOTHING, as I have said before unapologetically, NOTHING, to do with whether a person goes to Heaven. You must repent of any trust at all in your own works.

As we saw, it makes no difference at all what you have done (your righteousness / your works) - if you are trusting in what Jesus has done (God’s Righteousness / Jesus’ works). But, if you are NOT FULLY trusting in what Jesus has done (maybe because you were ignorant), then you are MOSTLY trusting in what Jesus has done, and also trusting somewhat in what YOU have done. That is Satan’s recipe to trick you into “praying a prayer” when you weren’t ready and deceiving you into thinking you are okay with Jesus when you are not. WAKE UP! The wolves in sheep’s clothing are stealing your life! WAKE UP, before it is too late.

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I suppose you need to see that in the Book? Okay, remember, you asked for it.

Repenting of our “sins” is kind of redundant and worthless, don’t you think? I mean, we are supposed to “sincerely change our mind” about our “sins”? Who doesn’t know their “sins” are wrong? Who is really dumb enough to think that when they cheat or lie or steal or commit adultery or murder that it is not wrong? We all know it is wrong. We know God is unhappy with that stuff. I have never met someone that told me that all of that stuff was perfectly right and fine with God. So, how can we “change our mind” about our sins being wrong? Not much to change, huh?

Hence Satan tricks us into thinking that God wants us to stop doing that stuff, and if we will be sincerely sorry for doing that stuff and then stop doing MOST of that stuff (you’ll never stop dong ALL of it and you very well know it), then God will be “well pleased” with us. What a huge lie.

This error comes from the satanically inspired belief that to “repent” means to “turn from your sins” which, as we have shown, is scripturally impossible. God can’t turn from His sins. If you believe to “repent of your sins” means to “turn from your sins”, “clean up your life” and “give your life to Jesus” then it makes perfect sense. But, again, this is impossible according to The Bible.

The word “repent” and its derivatives (repents, repentance, etc.) appear in The Bible 104 times. That’s a decent number from which to formulate a doctrine. Let’s dig in.

We have already determined what it means to “repent”. Now, we want to know specifically FROM what do we need to repent. Do we need to “repent of our sins” or “repent from our sins”? The answer is a resounding no!

First, let’s see what we repent FOR. In other words, what do we hope to achieve by repenting? Why do we do it, exactly?

The exact phrase “repent for” appears in The Bible zero (0) times. That does us no good.

The exact phrase “repentance for” appears in The Bible two (2) times. That does us some good. Both times are virtually identical so I will quote one.

Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

I am not going to get into the baptism of John. That is not the objective of this book. Even so, the ONLY two times in The Bible that we find out what human repentance is FOR, it becomes clear it is FOR the remission of sins. If your sins are not remitted then you are in trouble. In a very interesting way The Bible perfectly defines “remit” for us. The word only appears in The Bible once so don’t blink or you’ll miss it (like the proverbial town with only one stoplight).

John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

So “remit” is the exact opposite of “retain”. To retain something is to keep it. Trust me, you do NOT want to keep your sins. To remit something is to get rid of it. And you definitely want to get rid of your sins!

The purpose of repentance is to get your sins GONE (remitted)! You don’t want to hold on to them at all. You want to remit them like a hot potato! Acts 3:19 gives us a complete picture of this.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

You REPENT so you can BE CONVERTED so that your SINS MAY BE BLOTTED OUT (gotten rid of). That’s WHY we must repent. That is what we repent FOR. No repent=no conversion=no remission of sins. It’s a wonderful process but repentance MUST come first!

So, now we know WHY we must repent, but not yet from WHAT we must repent.

The exact phrase “repent from” appears in The Bible zero (0) times. That does us no good.

The exact phrase “repent of” appears in The Bible five (5) times. This helps, but three (3) of these are in the Old Testament and are references to God repenting. That doesn’t really help much. That leaves two (2) in the New Testament and they occur right together.

Revelation 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

Here God gives us something to work with. First, we see “repent of her fornication”. Fornication is sin, of that there is no doubt. Well, it seems in the world there is doubt. Everyone on this planet seems to be heavily into fornication. This verse could be classified as “repent of her sin” of fornication. Aha, you say! See, it is repent of your sins! Yes, it is. BUT, and this is a VERY big but, it is much more than that.

The fornication that is referenced here is not physical fornication but spiritual fornication. You can see that from verse 20 which directly precedes it:

Revelation 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

So, while this spiritual fornication is sin, it is much more than that as it is a merging with union (fornication is a union) with evil spirits. It involves much more that a single sin – the entire person is corrupted. Everything they do is sin. Even when they sacrifice to The Lord it is sin.

Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination:

In verse 22 we see “repent of their deeds”. Hmmm, that is curious, no? Why would she repent of her “deeds”? Does that mean repent of her “sins”? Well, if it did, why didn’t God just say that? Because the most perfect word in the entire English language that God could have possibly chosen is “deeds”. Deeds, my friend, are not just sins. There are good deeds and bad deeds. Here is proof from the Book.

Ezra 9:13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds…

Nehemiah 6:19 Also they reported his good deeds before me…

There is much more evidence, but these should suffice. Hence “deeds” are BOTH good and bad. God is saying she needs to repent of her bad deeds (fornication) but also of her good deeds or “deeds” in general. Don’t believe it? Read on.

The exact phrase “repentance of” appears in The Bible zero (0) times. That does us no good.

The exact phrase “repentance from” appears in The Bible one (1) time and one time only. And this completely backs up the verse about “deeds” in Revelation 2. It says,

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.

This verse is completely filled with awesome doctrine. Let’s park right here for a few paragraphs.

First, notice this is one of the “principles of the doctrine of Christ”; just as “the word of righteousness” was one of the “first principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12). Both of these verses are describing concepts that are the very “foundation”, the very basis, the very basics of the doctrine of salvation in Jesus Christ. If you want to understand salvation in Jesus Christ you must understand these foundations. Otherwise, you are probably lost, since you have no idea what it takes or what it means to be saved.

These are the only two verses in the entire Bible that use the word “principles”; the ONLY two! And they both are talking about the very foundation of the oracles (words or wisdom) of God and the doctrine of Christ! Is there anything else really more important to our salvation than those?

The “principle of the doctrine of Christ” in Hebrews 6:1 is “repentance from dead works” which is the FOUNDATION, which occurs BEFORE “faith toward God”. You cannot have “faith toward God” according to The Bible, without the FOUNDATION of “repentance from dead works”. I hope you are paying attention, dear reader, because the very foundation of your salvation in Christ or your eternity in the Lake of Fire rests right here!

The foundation you need to have is repentance FROM DEAD WORKS. Now, why doesn’t this say “repentance from sins”? For the same good reason as all the other words people don’t like; because this is the most articulate and perfect description of what we need to repent FROM in the entire English language. We MUST REPENT FROM DEAD WORKS or we can’t believe and we can’t be saved. That is the bottom rung, the foundation of Biblical salvation. Anything that disagrees with this is a lie from the pit of Hell.

You were probably told you needed to “repent of your sins” when you got saved. I was. But that isn’t true. The number of supposed Christians that have “repented of their sins” and “given their life to God” is staggering. They think God wants them to “turn from” their SINS. How does one “turn from his sins”? He stops committing them, right? Or at least TRYING not to commit them, right? Well, God doesn’t want you to turn from your sins. He wants you to “turn from your works”. If one “turns from his sins” by not doing sins, how would you think one “turns from his works”? Well, you’d have to stop doing them, right? Or at least TRYING not to do them, right? Trying to do “works in order to either get to heaven or keep your place in heaven” is EXACTLY that from which God expects us to REPENT! We are to turn from our WORKS!! We are to change our mind about our WORKS!!

Before we comment further, I’d like to show you some “deeds”.

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit [when you get saved] do mortify the deeds of the body [dead works], ye shall live [as in eternal life, live!]

This happens IMMEDIATELY UPON SALVATION, not over a lifetime! To “mortify the deeds of the body” is not something you accomplish by living better. On the contrary, it is something that happens immediately when you repent from dead works and get saved! You have effectively “killed” the “deeds” (works) of your body!

You see, God doesn’t “command” us to “repent from” “bad works” (sins); that isn’t the required repentance. God doesn’t “command” us to “repent from” the “bad things we do” (sins) that displease God; that isn’t the required repentance. God doesn’t “command” us to “repent from” our “sins”; that isn’t the required repentance. He expects much more than that. The REQUIRED REPENTANCE is from “WORKS”: ALL works! You don’t have to stop doing SINS. You have to stop doing WORKS!!!!!

Before one gets saved he/she has “works” and “deeds”; some “good”, some bad; some sins, some not. If one repents only of their “sins” what happens with all the other “works” and “deeds” they did in their life?

REPENT means to “CHANGE” your mind completely. To know who you are. Not that you did some sinful things. Rather, that EVERYTHING you ever did was sin and everything you could ever do, without Christ, is sin! That is a world of difference. Understand that, when you read your Bible – that was sin. You might have thought it was good but, really, it was sin. Remember, “there is none that doeth good, no not one.” So, how could you have done a “good” work or a “good” deed? It was impossible. And if you have repented only from your “sins” and not from ALL of your “works”, then you have not repented in the way God requires. Thus, whether you “believe” or not, you will go to the Lake of Fire. Whether you “asked Jesus into your heart” or not, you will go to the Lake of Fire.

When you gave a million dollars to the church – that was sin. All those times you told the truth – that was sin. You think God was happy when you told the truth? Nope. He wanted you to ALWAYS tell the truth but you didn’t do it. You are nothing but sin. That is understanding who you are. You are ALL SIN.

You must REPENT of ALL YOUR WORKS, not just your supposed “sins” or the “bad stuff” you did. If you only repent of your “sins” or your “bad works” then you never knew who you were and thus you never truly repented. You repented to come to the knowledge of “the Truth”. And without “the Truth”, how could you possibly get saved?

ALL of your works were dead! Even the “good” ones were dead. Tell me one of your “works” that was alive or good? I’ll give you a moment to ponder. Time’s up. You can’t! So, one MUST repent, not from sin or from doing bad works or bad things, but from WORKS in general. Your works mean NOTHING to the salvation of your soul. And if you still think they do, then you have NOT done the foundational repentance from “dead works” that is required for salvation. And if you have not repented from “dead works” (all works), you simply cannot believe – God’s Word says it is impossible! And you cannot possibly be saved, because THAT is the foundation of Bible salvation – and MUST come before “faith toward God”.

If you haven’t repented of your DEAD WORKS then here is YOUR ‘salvation’.

Romans 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth [FULLY] on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

What does it mean the reward of him that worketh “is ... reckoned … of debt”? It means if you are “working” for your salvation in any way, that you must think you DESERVE it in some fashion or on some level – that God owes it to you because you were pretty good. Maybe just because you “lived good enough” to keep your salvation. I meet a lot of folks that will tell me they deserve Hell but will also say they deserve Heaven more than some other person that has done really bad stuff. You can’t have it both ways I’m afraid.

You want God’s grace? Quit working. You want God’s Righteousness? Repent of your works.

Lie Number 10 – Believe (Part 2)

57. Repent of yourself.

You must totally change your mind about YOURSELF to truly repent. If you think you are any good to God at all, then you have not repented. If you think you are worth more to God than a serial killer, then you are wrong. Son of Sam has likely done more for The Lord than you will ever do in this lifetime! If you think you are any better than a Muslim terrorist, then you are deluded. You are nothing, worthless to God. Jesus is the ONLY human ever to do completely right and please God well with His entire life. To “Repent” is to completely change your mind about YOU! And you can’t do that until you understand who you are. You (and I) are the scum of the Earth.

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I witnessed to a guy recently that sincerely believed he was a Christian. He and his son (who was not present) had both believed in Jesus, had asked Jesus into their hearts and attended church regularly. He answered both questions (the same questions I asked you) incorrectly (to be a saved man). But, he simply could not understand that.

1) He said if he became a serial killer that he could not go to heaven.

2) I told him that he was saying he was “better” than a serial killer. He disagreed vehemently and accused me of putting words in his mouth.

3) So I asked him if a serial killer could go to heaven. He said no.

4) I asked him if he was going to heaven and he said yes – except if he became a serial killer.

5) So, I asked, if you aren’t better than a serial killer NOW, why would it matter if you became an actual serial killer? You would be no worse, right? No, I would be worse, he exclaimed. A serial killer can’t go to heaven.

You are getting the picture, I hope. This man was very confused. He had not repented of his works or of himself. But he sure was confident that he knew Jesus. Sadly, I don’t believe Jesus knows him.

Here is a picture of you (and me).

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

And, just in case you think that is not us, well, Jesus has that covered too.

Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

This is how Jesus explained exactly what I am talking about here. This is the context of where Jesus twice told us to repent or perish. Let’s discover exactly why Jesus said this when He said it.

Some came to Jesus and told him of the horrible fate of some people that the Roman government had killed and then desecrated their very names. The people telling this to Jesus’ were looking for Him to react to the extreme horror of the death of the people who, in their opinions, deserved this fate. The people telling him this were lofty in thinking they were better than these “Galilaeans”.

Luke 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Jesus knew what they were thinking and basically said, ‘you think they got what they deserved and you won’t? You think they were treated horribly and you won’t be? You think they deserved this but you are better than them and thus you don’t deserve this. Think again’, said Jesus.

Luke 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

You think you are BETTER than them? You think they are worse than you and that they suffered a fate you think they deserved and you don’t? Think again, said Jesus.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

In other words, you don’t deserve any better treatment. “LIKEWISE” will you be treated EXCEPT you repent. Then, Jesus brings up another horrible, they-got-what-they-deserved, incident.

Luke 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

In other words, you think they “got what they deserved” and you don’t deserve the exact same thing? You think YOU are any better than those horrible sinners? Then you are WRONG, says Jesus!

Jesus repeats himself to let them (and us) know EXACTLY how important this is.

Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

You must understand EXACTLY who you are BEFORE you can believe. If you think you are better and more deserving of eternal life than any other person on this planet, including Muslim terrorists and serial killers, then you have never repented of who you are. You think you’re ok. You think you’re not too bad. You think there are certainly worse people than you on this planet. You have never repented and thus will suffer the same fate as EVERY ONE of them – eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire. Consider yourself warned.

58. How can the many “believe in vain”? They never truly repented!

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel … 2 By which also ye are saved, …, unless ye have believed in vain.

That is how one can “believe in vain”. They never truly repented. Repentance from your “works” not your “sins” is what God accepts. “Repentance from dead works” MUST come before “faith toward God”.

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These are the “many”. They have “repented of their SINS” and “prayed a prayer asking Jesus to come into their heart.” They have sincerely believed in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. But they are LOST and will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity. If you disagree then please ask yourself, who are the “many” that claim Him as “Lord, Lord”, “know” Him, and have done “many wonderful works IN HIS NAME”? That’s a tough question, huh? Better get on the right side of that answer before it is too late. Don’t let your PRIDE send you to the Lake of Fire for eternity. Humble yourself and submit to the Word of God. This may be your last chance.

59. How do the many “DENY Jesus Christ”? In works!

“Many” say, no way, I have claimed Him! I would never deny Him! This is one of the verses most often recited about the subject:

Matthew 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

This is supposed, by the “many”, to mean if you don’t verbally claim Him then you are denying Him. And since the “many” dance and sing and whoop and holler and praise for hours on end they can’t possibly be denying Him. Well, The Bible disagrees. What exactly does The Bible say about someone that “professes” to know God or claims to know Him? They may profess Him and claim Him but EXACTLY HOW does The Bible say they “deny Him”?

Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

So, as you can see they deny Him “in works”. Whenever I have heard people mention this verse it is always “interpreted” (do NOT interpret, never interpret, just READ as is and study to understand) in this way: You can claim to be a Christian but if you aren’t walking the walk and doing the works you are denying Him. This is a false interpretation from the false prophets.

Remember the importance of being “in Christ”? We mentioned this earlier and remarked that The Bible is very clear that you are either “in Christ” or you are not. And if you are not “in Christ” then you are lost and going to the Lake of Fire. That has not changed.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

There is no in-between. So, if you are NOT “in Christ”, what are you in? If you are NOT “in Christ”, then you are “IN WORKS”. And if you are “in works” then you have only your own righteousness because you have not submitted unto God’s Righteousness. You have denied Christ because you are trusting in your own righteousness and are thus “in works”, certainly not “in Christ”. You have DENIED CHRIST by not being IN CHRIST but rather IN WORKS! You can’t be both “in Christ” AND “in works” at the same time. As we saw earlier it is one or the other; grace (in Christ) or works (in works).

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A man can never have his own “private interpretation” of God’s Word and be correct. Man has to let the Word speak for itself. So, let’s first see what the Word does NOT say. The verse does not say they deny him by “doing” or “not doing” anything. It does not say they “commit abomination” - it does say they “ARE abominable”. It does not say they “do disobedient things” – it does say they “ARE disobedient”. It does not say they “don’t do good works” - it does say they “ARE REPROBATE unto EVERY good work”.

Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and [being] disobedient, and [being] unto every good work reprobate.

Did you get that? It says they deny Him, not BY works but “IN works”. The Bible is exacting. If God meant to say “by works” He would have simply used the word “by” instead of the word “in”. He would have used the word “through” or “with” or “by doing” or “performing” or any other word in the English language. But He didn’t. He used the word “in” because that is the most perfect word in the English language to be used in that exact spot in the Word of God. There isn’t a better word in English that could go there. They don’t deny Him “by their works”, on the contrary, they deny Him because they are still “in their works”!

Dear reader, this verse isn’t at all about what these people DO (as you have deceptively been taught); it is about who these people ARE! The “many” are so wrapped up in their own “works” they can’t see the forest for the trees. Works are DEAD!

Do you know how many times the phrase “in works” appears in the Bible? One, and this is it! You’d better listen up and get ahold of this. These people PROFESSING to know God (i.e. Jesus - you can’t know God without knowing Jesus) are “IN WORKS” and not “in Christ”. They deny Him by “BEING” (BEING The Bible says, BEING, BEING!) abominable, not by doing abominable things. Everything they do is abominable by default because they themselves are abominable “workers”. They, by “BEING” disobedient, by default can’t obey even once. They ARE disobedient because they have not God’s Righteousness and are hence living their entire lives in disobedience. Satan has lied to them and they have happily and ignorantly believed it. They are “ignorant” of “God’s Righteousness”, are they not?

Lastly, they ARE “unto every good work reprobate”. Not unto SOME good works reprobate but unto EVERY good work! Think of any good work at all. Let’s say giving to charity. They can’t give to charity and consider it a “good work” because they are reprobate to EVERY good work. There are plenty of good works to be done – but they cannot do them; not once, no how, no way. They are REPROBATE from EVERY good work. Are you getting this?

So, what does “reprobate” mean exactly, you are probably wondering? Alright then, let’s find out. The words “reprobate” and “reprobates” are in The Bible a combined seven times. The first mention gives us a good start.

Jeremiah 6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

These people are “reprobate” because they are “rejected” by the LORD. To be “reprobate” means to be totally rejected by the Lord.

The second verse I want to bring up is particularly damning.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Paul says that you are a “reprobate” if Jesus Christ is not in you. And Jesus Christ is NOT in you if you are not “in Christ” but rather “in works”. In fact, Paul says, examine yourselves, prove your own selves, whether you be IN THE FAITH or not.

Hence, we must conclude that to be “reprobate unto every good work” is to have all of your works REJECTED by God and to be OUT of the faith. This is exactly where the false prophets have left their followers; reprobate unto EVERY good work and LOST, outside of Christ – and they don’t even realize it. All because they are still “in their works”.

To further prove our point, let’s take as an example a Christian greater than any Christian living on this planet today; Simon Peter. Peter infamously denied The Lord Jesus three times.

Luke 22:61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Peter was guilty of denying the Lord three times. Understandably, he wept bitterly. So, if we are going to take this verse at the interpretation of the false prophets, Peter can’t possibly be in Heaven! Jesus said very plainly,

Matthew 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Well, didn’t Peter deny Him before men? Of course he did. Does that mean Peter isn’t in Heaven? Of course it doesn’t. Peter will be sitting on one of 12 thrones judging the nation of Israel for eternity.

Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, … ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

You see, you can’t “lose your salvation” for “denying Him” as the false prophets teach. You can’t “lose your salvation” at all, unless you never had it to begin with. Denying Christ has nothing to do with making a huge mistake, as Peter did, by displaying cowardice in the face of extreme persecution. That is simply a “work” – no other way to look at it. Peter didn’t think he would display cowardice. In fact he proudly proclaimed that he wouldn’t!

Mark 14:29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. 31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

Peter said, even if I have to die with you, rest assured I will not deny you! Not only Peter, but ALL of the Apostles said it! They all failed. They all “denied” Him. And yet they will ALL sit on 12 thrones judging Israel. The point, dear reader, is that this verse simply cannot mean that if we show cowardice in the face of persecution that we have denied Christ and will hence not be saved.

So, what does it mean? Well, certainly denying Christ at any time at all is a horrible mistake – there is no argument about that. But, unfortunately we have all done it at some time in our Christian walk. The Bible says,

2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

This verse is not talking about salvation but about rewards. If we SUFFER THE PERSECUTION we will be rewarded and will reign with Him. Our reign/kingdom/area of rule, which is part of our REWARD in eternity, is based on our sacrifice and suffering of persecution here in this life. If we suffer the persecution then we will reign! If we refuse to suffer the persecution (deny Him as Peter did) then we will not reign. The more we suffer the greater He will reward us. The more we deny Him (refuse to suffer) the more rewards He will deny us. This is ALL based on the REWARD of the Christian and not on the salvation of the Christian. It is as simple as that.

60. Will you deny yourself or deny Jesus?

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

2 Timothy 2:12 …if we deny him, he also will deny us:

You have a choice. Deny yourself or deny Jesus. There is no in-between. Choose wisely.

61. God just gave you repentance to the Truth.

You didn’t have it before – you were ignorant. You now understand.

2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

God just caused you to completely understand.

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You cannot “repent” to acknowledge the truth if you don’t understand the truth. This is when the light bulb comes on. This is when you understand. God has now given you a very good understanding of what you need to do. Now it is up to you to decide to keep your mind changed to the Truth. Let’s see that in the Book.

Matthew 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

I’m just going to analyze this briefly for you. Some hear the word and “understandeth it not”. Sometimes, we witness to folks and they just don’t get it. I’ve seen that happen to a few people to whom I have witnessed over the years. The gospel just made no impression on them. The devil quickly snatches the Word out of their heart and they never get saved.

Some, though, DO understand. They hear and receive the Word with joy. The Word is “sown” (Matthew 13:18, this is the parable of the “sower”) in his heart. It is put into or onto his heart. “Yet”, the Bible says, “hath he not root in himself”. Notice what The Bible does NOT say. The Bible does not say he has a bad root or a short root or a poor root or a tiny root. He has NO ROOT. The reason he has no root is because the seed (Word) is sown onto “stony places”. If you sow grass seed onto stone it’s not going to get a root. It needs some fertile ground. This person received the Word that was sown, understood it, was glad to hear it, but it never penetrated his stony heart. We will see more about this later in the chapter, but to explain quickly, your heart is made of stone. Only a repentant heart will become fertile ground. One can hear and understand, but never repent.

The “righteous”, on the other hand, ALWAYS have a root!

Proverbs 12:3 A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

What is this root? Jesus is the root!

Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

That is why, even though you may have the truth, you may not have a root. One must do two things with this Truth to be saved.

62. (1) Confess the Lord Jesus.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Confess verbally who Jesus is – The Almighty, All-Powerful God Himself.

THIS is repentance about Jesus. It is required that you change your mind about Jesus and believe He is the Almighty God.

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It is very different today for us in the United States than it was for Paul in the Roman Empire. What do I mean?

I have knocked on many doors and offered many people Christ. If I say, “I’d like to tell you about Jesus”, they all pretty much say the same thing: “I already know about Jesus”. And for the most part they do. Try knocking on a door where someone has absolutely no clue about Jesus and no working knowledge at all of His life, death, burial and resurrection. You’ll likely hit the jackpot at the MGM Casino in Las Vegas first!

When Paul knocked on a door and the tenant answered, Paul probably said something similar to, “I’d like to tell you about Jesus.” These people, said “who? Who is this Jesus of which you speak? I have never heard of Him.” The reaction of the lost today is not this way at all.

For Paul’s lost to “repent” about “Jesus” just required knowledge of the “death, burial, and resurrection” of Christ. They had never heard of it and needed to “change their mind” and believe what Paul revealed to them about Jesus.

It is a little more complicated today. People grow up knowing about Jesus. They grow up knowing He died for their sins. They grow up never really “REPENTING” (i.e. changing their minds). They simply believe the same thing they have always believed, unless they were brought up outside of Church somehow.

Let’s take Muslims. They believe Jesus is a great prophet; not as great as Muhammed but 2nd or 3rd in line. They believe Jesus is going to come back and save the Muslims in a great battle in the end times. So, if you tell them about Jesus, and I have, even they know the basics of His story. And some know it better than most Christians! But that isn’t repentance TO THE TRUTH. The truth is that Jesus is God, and only He can give you God’s righteousness.

63. (2) Believe unto Righteousness.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

You see, we must “believe” to become righteous, not “work” to become righteous.

You must believe the dead, buried, risen Jesus (God in the flesh) will GIVE YOU God’s Righteousness through His shed blood, if you will submit to it. It’s your only way to Heaven.

THIS is repentance about yourself. You must believe who you are – filthy, wicked and completely incapable of any righteousness whatsoever. This is what the “many” have NOT done. They still think they are pretty good folks and God will accept them as long as they keep asking for forgiveness when they sin. Even if they got that forgiveness, which I believe they don’t, it wouldn’t be enough because they still have not repented from their supposed “good” (but really “dead”) works.

64. The alternative is Hell and the Lake of Fire.

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We are going to show you the Truth, the RECORD, witnessed by The Father, The Word and The Holy Ghost AND by the Water, the Spirit and the Blood.

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

All six of them agree with the Truth of this RECORD. These are six (6) witnesses. They are not wrong.

1Jn 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

Let’s take a look at this record of truth.

1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

Notice he that “believeth on” the Son of God vs. he that “believeth not God”. If you don’t believe God about “the record” then you have called God a liar. So exactly what is this all-important “RECORD”?

1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

It doesn’t get any simpler than that and there are no works involved anywhere near this record. Do you have Christ or not? That’s all that is going to matter!

And get this: THIS RECORD is the entire reason The Bible was written! So that you may KNOW that you have eternal life; not hope that you have it! And if “your works” have ANYTHING to do with it you can NEVER KNOW for sure – you might mess up!

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

The true believer believes this RECORD and KNOWS he has eternal life. The one that ‘believes’ but does not ‘know’, does NOT believe THE RECORD as written. He has called God a liar, and we know God doesn’t lie. And believe me when I tell you that He is not very happy with people that call Him a liar.

65. If you think Hell doesn’t exist or is “here on earth”. You are wrong!

The word “Hell” is in The Bible 54 times. The concept of Hell is in there many more times if you count the references that describe it but don’t name it. Jesus said many times it is absolutely real.

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Abraham was dead long before this. This “certain rich man” was certainly not on Earth when he lifted up his eyes!

66. If you think God would not throw his children into Hell. You are wrong!

2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell,

If God didn’t spare the angels (called “sons of God” several times in the books of Genesis and Job) that sinned, well, He will cast you down too – without a moment of hesitation. Why would He care? He doesn’t even know you!

67. If you think since God is love that He loves you. You are wrong!

We already reviewed this in an earlier chapter. There is not one verse in The Bible that says God loves you. Not a single one.

Psalms 5:5 …thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

God hates the lost – that is far different from loving them all. If you are lost (a WORKer of iniquity, counting on your works) He hates you too.

68. If you think since God is merciful that he will pity or pardon you. You are wrong!

Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

There will be no pity, no mercy and no remorse. There will be fury and indifference.

69. If you think you can deal with this when you get there. You are wrong!

Luke 16:26 …between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Think you can get across that “great gulf” if you end up on the “wrong side” of the eternal ‘tracks’? Think again. You cannot pass.

70. God will mock you, humiliate you and laugh you to scorn in front of the entire universe.

Psalms 59:8 But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

Proverbs 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

Psalms 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

There will be mocking, laughter, harassment and humiliation at your judgment. It will all be pointed directly at you. Begging, “but, Lord, Lord”, is not going to help.

71. Hell and the Lake of Fire. Worse than you can possibly imagine.

Eternity in the Lake of Fire will be more horrible than you can possibly imagine. People joke about Hell. They joke that things they go through on Earth are like going through Hell. “It was Hell”, they say. “My life was Hell” or “it was hot as Hell”. They have no idea. I am very sincere when I say I don’t wish the real Hell on my worst enemy.

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Hell and the Lake of Fire are quite indescribable – but I am going to try. I encourage you to “search the Scriptures daily whether these things are so”.

Why do the people imagine a vain thing? ... against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.(Psalm 2:1-3) Some people actually think Hell is a joke or they can somehow avoid it or stop it from happening. The LORD … cometh to judge the earth (Psalm 98:9) Have you ever been in front of the judge in court? This will be much worse. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. (Psalm 2:4)

At your judgment God is going to laugh at you in front of the whole universe. He is going to mock you and deride you unmercifully. When He is done and you are thoroughly embarrassed, ashamed, afraid and completely humbled, then He will get mad. God is not afraid of you even a little bit. he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. (Deuteronomy 7:9) Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and

the rocks are thrown down by him. (Nahum 1:6) You will be stripped completely naked. Hell is naked before him, (Job 26:6) Your hands and feet will be securely tied with everlasting chains. They will never come off. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, (Matthew 22:13) in everlasting chains (Jude 1:6). By the angels you will be bound and cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15) It will burn your entire body.

You will cry and beg for it to stop. It never will. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:13) Have mercy on me, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:24) Your tongue will literally be on fire. And the tongue is set on fire of hell. (James 3:6) The pain will be more intense than anything you can imagine... the pains of hell gat hold upon me: (Psalm 116:3) The Bible uses the word “anguish” to describe the pain. But unto them that do not obey the truth, Tribulation and anguish. (Romans 2:8) The intense pain will never get easier. You will never, not for one moment get any rest or respite from it. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night (Revelation 14:11). This torture and pain will never end. Never... and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10) In a trillion years it will be as if it had just begun. You will be tortured for every moment of the rest of eternity. You will never even sense time passing.

Time will end. And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, that there should be time no longer: (Revelation 10:6). It will be as if you are in suspended animation, on fire, in anguish and without any rest. Your energy will slowly drain until you are completely exhausted. It will never end. You will experience everlasting fire (Matthew 18:8), eternal damnation (Mark 3:29), eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:2), everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2) everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), and you will be punished with everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9) suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7) You may think to escape but there will be no chance for that. Don’t forget you are still bound hand and foot… the snares of death prevented me. (Psalm 18:5)

It will be completely dark. A darkness like you have never experienced. You will never again see anything... to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. (Jude 1:13) It will be such a darkness that you will actually feel it... to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever (2 Peter 2:17), even darkness which may be felt. (Exodus 10:21). The pain and anguish will be so bad you will thrash around and try to bite yourself to relieve the pain, he shall gnash with his teeth. (Psalm 112:10) They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. (Isaiah 9:20) You will never be comfortable or satisfied for even a moment. You will have intense cravings and desires. You will want with tremendous desire, but you will never obtain. Imagine having intense heroin withdrawal forever. It will be worse. Imagine having the worst hunger pangs ever, forever. You may try to eat your own body just to try to get a little relief. It won’t help. You will be constantly thirstier than if you were dying in the desert and will never have even one drop of water. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. (Luke 6:25)… that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; (Luke 16:24)

You will long for just a single moment of comfort. It will never come. You will never experience comfort, relief, pleasure or satisfaction again... his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied (Habakkuk 2:5) the desire of the wicked shall perish. (Psalm 112:10) You will be eternally confused. Your brain just won’t work right... their everlasting confusion (Jeremiah 20:11). You will be eternally ashamed. I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, (Jeremiah 23:40). You will experience fear that you can’t even begin to comprehend. Think of the scariest movie you’ve ever seen and multiply that times a godzillion. You will be terrified beyond your wildest nightmares - all the time... they are utterly consumed with terrors. (Psalm 73:19)

Why will you be so terrified? It will be pitch black and completely silent, the wicked shall be silent in darkness (1 Samuel 2:9). You will not hear it coming, and you will not see it coming, but you will always fear that it is coming. A huge, ferocious, torturous being will come by randomly and whip you mercilessly and stomp on your head... when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. (Isaiah 28:18) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen 3:15) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. (Rom 16:20) And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. (Luke 12:47-48)

At some point the intense sorrow will begin. You will realize it is never going to end and the sorrow will overwhelm you. The sorrows of hell compassed me about (Psalm 18:5). You will weep, and cry, and scream, and beg, but nobody will ever hear you. And you will never hear anyone else. You will finally give up and suffer anguish, alone, in complete silence, and in complete darkness... the wicked shall be silent in darkness (1 Samuel 2:9). Forever. You will think on your past; especially your loved ones. You will never know their fate. For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. (Luke 16:28) Any of them in Heaven will never think of you again. Their memory of you will be erased, the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17)

In the course of burning for eternity you will not “burn up”, but instead the wicked shall melt away. (Psalm 112:10) You will melt down to your very core. The core of who you are. You are not going to like what you find... to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not (Mark 9:44). You are a worm. That’s all that will be left of you. You will try to squirm around to get more comfortable but it will be so slippery you will be unable to get any traction at all. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places (Psalm 73:18). This will be your final state and you will remain in this state for all of eternity. You will melt down to a worm, a maggot, on the bottom of a lake burning with fire. You will be constantly in unimaginable anguish, with never a moment of rest, and never a moment of respite. It will never let up and it will never get any easier. You will never have any hope and there will never be any change.

Those that are with the Lord shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. (Isaiah 66:24) The saved shall be abhorred at you. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:14) For a fire is kindled in mine anger (Deuteronomy 32:22),… he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. (Proverbs 8:36) They must, to choose this eternity over God’s Paradise.

This is the second death. Do you love death? Or are you ready to repent of your righteousness [your works] and accept God’s Righteousness?

72. The lost will literally spend eternity wishing they had never been born!

The Lake of Fire will be so horrible that each person there will, for eternity, wish he had never been born. (Mark 14:21)

All the good times in this life – they won’t matter. All the fast living, partying and sexual pleasure – they won’t matter at all. All the fun and laughter with family and friends; the lavish vacations – worthless. Money and power? A complete waste of time. Every person in the Lake of Fire will wish they had never been born no matter how great and wonderful their life on Earth.

73. But, the thing that will haunt them most? The chance they had to miss it.

The exact moment they heard from God and rejected the Truth. Their last chance to avoid the Lake of Fire. That memory will haunt them for all eternity.

74. So, the most important question of your life is: Do you want God’s Righteousness?

Or will you die trusting in your own righteousness? Your choice. Make the right one.

If you are going to continue trusting in your own righteousness then so be it. Goodbye. Enjoy the Lake of Fire.

75. If you want God’s Righteousness you must ask for it.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You need to call on the Lord. The only way I know to call on the Lord is to pray.

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Some may say, “I have called before.” Maybe so, but you dialed the wrong number! You didn’t know what number you were supposed to dial and the false prophets slipped you the number to Hell. Satan gladly took your call.

76. You must “submit yourself“ to God’s Righteousness.

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

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This is why you dialed the wrong number. You must submit YOURSELF to God’s Righteousness. You must “submit” completely to God’s Righteousness. You must “submit” completely to God’s works. If you are still trusting at all in your righteousness or your works you have NOT completely submitted unto God’s Righteousness. In fact, if that is the case, you really haven’t submitted at all. That is just a fact. You have been warned.

77. A Real Salvation Prayer.

If you will repeat this prayer to the Lord God, and sincerely mean it, He has promised to hear it…

Dear Lord, I repent of my works … they are abomination … I believe Jesus is the One True Almighty God … I believe Jesus died for me and rose again … I deserve the Lake of Fire … But, Lord, I don’t want that … I submit completely to the Righteousness of God and Jesus’ works … through the Blood of Jesus … so I will have the impossibility of sin … Thank you, Lord Jesus … for saving me right now … Amen.

If you prayed that to The Lord and you truly meant it, then your eternity just changed forever! I can’t wait to meet you in eternity!

78. If you prayed A Real Salvation Prayer and meant it.

You have the impossibility of Sin.

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Your spirit is 100% perfect and cannot sin.

Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

No matter what your flesh does.

Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.

You have God’s Righteousness.

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 

You can never lose it.

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Even if you become a serial killer! Why? Because Jesus is not a serial killer!

1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Years from now, someone may ask, “are you going to go to Heaven when you die?”

Now you can answer, “ABSOLUTELY”!

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:

1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 

“How can you say that?” they may ask.

“Because I have God’s Righteousness. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to go to Hell!”

Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him …6… God imputeth righteousness without works

1John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

79. Mr. Osteen’s false salvation prayer.

I promised to explain my objection to Mr. Osteen’s (and many false prophets’) ‘salvation’ prayer.

Remember that we broke it down into seven parts. “Lord Jesus (1), I repent (2) of my sins (3), I ask you to come into (4) my heart (5), I make you (6) my Lord and Savior (7)”.

This is a prayer from the pit of Hell. If you are counting on a prayer like this to get you to Heaven then you are going to be eternally disappointed.

80. Lord Jesus (worthless piece of prayer #1)

You now realize that calling Jesus “Lord, Lord” is exactly what the “many” will do. It means nothing from an unrepentant heart, as you have now learned.

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The question is, who is your Saviour? The many quickly say, “Jesus, of course”. Really? Are you sure? Consider these three verses of Scripture.

One: Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

There is only ONE name by which you can be saved. There is only ONE Saviour. There is not another NAME in the entire universe whereby you can be saved! Many will proudly say, “I already know that. Tell me something I don’t know”. Ok, I will. What is YOUR NAME, dear reader? Is it Tom, Rich, Mike, Susan, Mary or Jill? Well, you can’t be saved by those names. You cannot be saved by your name, by your works, or by anything you do. Your NAME is irrelevant in your salvation. It isn’t both names. Is it your name or is it His name? Is Jesus your Saviour or are you?

Two: 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Jesus is the ONLY mediator between God and man. Do you think you can wriggle yourself in there? If you are a “participant” in your own salvation then you are also a mediator. Are you a mediator? I don’t think Jesus takes the sharing of His rightly earned position very lightly. You can’t share in the mediation of your salvation. Is He the mediator of your salvation or is it you?

Three: Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Is it grace or is it works for you, dear reader? It isn’t both; that is impossible as the Word clearly says. So, if you are including works, then you do NOT have any grace; NONE! It can’t be both. There is no mixing. The Bible says,

2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Who is your Saviour? There can be only one. Are you your savior, or is Jesus your Saviour? Better choose wisely; your eternal soul rests on your choice.

81. I repent (worthless piece of prayer #2)

We thoroughly rehearsed this already so no need to repeat myself here. You already know the Truth about repentance.

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Repenting is not “turning your life around” or “turning away from your sin” or “starting to live for Jesus” or even “giving my life to Christ”. God doesn’t want your life to turn around. He doesn’t want you to stop doing bad things and start doing good things. That is completely impossible; you can’t do either one. You can’t stop doing bad things. You can’t start doing good things. So then, why would God ask you to do something that is impossible for you to do? And if you don’t understand that then you have been lied to and can’t possibly repent.

Repenting is not “being sorry”. Repentance is a PLACE (“place of repentance” Hebrews 12:17) to where sorrow can lead you.

2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance:

You have to GET to a PLACE of repentance in order to repent. It’s like getting to the gas station to get gas. You aren’t going to get much gas on the side of the road halfway to the gas station. Sorrow (I am sorry for my sins, please forgive me, I am going to give my life to you) is on the road to repentance but it leaves you on the side of the road with no gas.

You see, these things are ALL in the FLESH. True repentance is NOT in the flesh at all. It is in the spirit. If you think repentance involves your flesh changing then you are wrong. “Many” decide to “try Jesus” because their PHYSICAL life here on this planet is in shambles and they want to improve it. So they “commit their life to Christ” in the hope that God will “bless” them and get them out of any mess they have made of this life. Does that sound about right to you? When these people “repent”, they mean that they are sorry about their failures and they intend to turn around and do better with their life. THAT is NOT repentance! That is a deception that will send them to Hell. Once again for clarity: We are not supposed to repent FROM our sins and TO living for Jesus. We are supposed to repent FROM works and TO acknowledgement and belief of the truth (the Record).

Just a few days ago I saw a bumper sticker on a car that read, “Try Jesus”. How does one “try Jesus”? You simply CANNOT “try Jesus”. It is impossible to ‘stick your toe in the water’ and see if it is warm and fuzzy. It isn’t like trying liver and onions or scrapple and then deciding whether you like it or not. How do you get ‘part of the way’ saved? How do you “try” getting saved without actually getting saved? How do you “try” the indwelling of The Holy Spirit without actually experiencing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? How do you “try” being “in Christ” without actually being “in Christ”? Of course, the answer is you CANNOT. There is no trying Jesus. There is no such thing as partially saved.

Think about it this way; even when someone truly does get saved, is their FLESH any different? Is their FLESH any different at all? Do they have any PHYSICAL changes at all? Not one little bit! A cross doesn’t show up on their chest (unless they get a cool cross “tat” to cement their salvation). In fact, if you saw a saved person standing right next to an unsaved person waiting to cross an intersection you would not be able to tell one from the other. The changes we undergo in the salvation process do NOT involve the FLESH at all. NOT AT ALL! It is ALL in the Spirit.

This is the problem with the modern world’s “try Jesus” movement. It isn’t trying Jesus at all. That’s impossible! It is really about trying out the social halls that have been created out of what used to be churches. Try the music. Try the fellowship. Try the “love”. If you need friends, try us. If you need help with food or clothing or shelter in this life, try us. You need counseling, try us. We have degrees from all the major institutions of higher learning. You see, this is ALL in the flesh. The music is all for the feelings of the flesh. The “preaching”, of which there is almost NONE, is all stories and feel-good anecdotes that make people feel good and lift their spirits, in order to boost their self-esteem to historically record levels. This is not Bible preaching. But, try it, and see if your LIFE HERE is not better. If it is, stay in church. If it isn’t, then you “tried Jesus” and it didn’t work for you. Maybe then go try Hinduism and Buddhism and Islam. Maybe they are more your style.

This is the state of the “church” today. It is all about making your life here better. This “repentance” is supposedly to “turn your life (here) around”. It is supposedly to “give your life to Jesus”. The people are told that if they start living better, that this is true “repentance”. So they “try” it and they are no happier than when they started. They are then disillusioned and bitter, leaving the “church” they “tried” in droves because of broken promises, empty rhetoric and powerless worldly lives. True Bible salvation is not designed to make you rich in the flesh. It is designed to make you rich in the spirit.

Does a saved person not still sin in the flesh? Of course they do. Salvation, initially, is ALL in the spirit. The flesh part comes later, as in after-physical-death later. And if you are doing the “fleshly” part now, you are putting the cart before the proverbial horse. Making changes, or promising to make changes, or being sorry for things done, IN YOUR FLESH is not repentance. If you are living cleaner and dressing better and doing less crystal meth along with clapping in church and telling others you “found Jesus”, and you think that means you repented, then you are seriously deluded. You are just playing church with the many.

True repentance is changing your mind (not your flesh) about two things. The first one is changing your mind about Jesus. Many have professed that. Many “believe in Jesus”. This puts them on the road. But, they run out of gas at number two. Number two is changing your mind about yourself. The problem is they get sorry for their sins. They feel bad for the stuff they’ve done wrong or are currently doing wrong. They use this to fix their life here on Earth and make it all better.

I have news for you. The TRUE Christian life is not easy at all. Just ask the Apostles. They were all jailed and/or tortured and/or killed; every single one of them! Do you consider that the “easy life” or a “better life”? If you think you are going to “turn your life around” and “do something for God” or some similar thing, then you don’t understand how truly wicked and worthless to God you really are. Remember chapter 5? You are polluted. You are a poisoned tree. And The Bible says,

Luke 6:43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

You are that corrupt tree – God doesn’t want your fruit. Why would God want poisoned fruit? Would you? To truly repent about yourself means to repent of your “works” because everything you do produces corrupt, poison, polluted fruit.

Some have repented from (changed) their disbelief in Jesus. Few have repented from (changed) their belief in themselves. True repentance involves both.

Maybe you know who Jesus is - but do you know who you are? That makes a world of difference.

Read this very carefully and take it very seriously, dear reader. If you are trusting in your works even the tiniest bit then you are lost. You have believed in vain. Repent of your dead works before it is too late.

I realize this section was “preachy”. Don’t take it personally. Your eternity is on the line here. Hopefully, we will reminisce about it together in Heaven someday.

82. of my sins (worthless piece of prayer #3)

Repenting of your sins is completely worthless. It is not repentance at all. And no repentance = no conversion, as you have now learned.

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Listen, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have repented from your “works” and yet still be “working”. That’s like saying you repent of drinking whiskey but you still love it, still crave it and still drink it all the time. All I can say about that is REPENT! Repenting of your “works” is the only acceptable repentance. I HATE my works! They are evil and wicked and vain. I have nothing to offer God according to my works in the flesh. The Apostle Paul said it this way:

Romans 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Paul knew exactly what he was talking about. Repenting of your “sins” still leaves your “good works” unrepented.

Listen, if you “turn from your sins”, what have you done? You stop doing SINS, right?

So, in order for you to “turn from your works”, you need to stop doing WORKS. You must stop WORKING – or perish.

83. I ask you to come into (worthless piece of prayer #4)

The Bible never says to “ask Jesus into” your heart. Did you get that? The truth is Jesus absolutely CANNOT come into your heart. Don’t freak out, please, until you see the evidence.

The verse to which the false prophets refer to support this erroneous belief is,

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

They say this means Jesus is “standing at the door of your heart and knocking”, and if you simply “ask Him to”, He will “come in and abide with you forever”. This is very typical of the way the false prophets play fast and loose with the Words of God. The verse DOES actually say that “Jesus stands at the door”. This is just about the only thing the false prophets get right.

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Truthfully, as you can surely read for yourself, “asking Jesus to come in” to anything is not at all what this verse says. What it says is “hear my voice” and “open the door”. Suppose you are home alone and there is a “knock at the door”. You say, “who’s there?” “Jesus”, comes the answer. Wow, you think, awesome. So, you yell, “come in”.

Is that really what you would do if Jesus was really standing at your door? Not me. I would get up and run to the door and throw it open! The Bible says in Revelation 3:20 that we should “OPEN THE DOOR”, not sit there lazily and apathetically and “ask Jesus to come in” or “invite Jesus in”. The Bible NEVER says Jesus will OPEN THE DOOR even if He is invited in; it says YOU must open the door! You can think I am nit-picking if you want, but I am simply telling you EXACTLY what the Bible says. Do you think Satan knows EXACTLY what The Bible says? You can bet the farm he does! And Satan knows it NEVER says to “ask Jesus into your heart”. What it does say is that Jesus will NOT open the door! “What”, the “many” cry incredulously, “that is not true”!

You know, I may be a liar, but the Bible never lies. Please carefully note that the words “open” and “door” appear in The Bible collectively 325 times. However, they only appear in the same verse six times. The only applicable verse of the six is this one:

Luke 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, [here’s “Lord, Lord” again!] open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not [here’s “I never knew you” again!] whence ye are:

The lesson from this verse is that if you expect Jesus to open the door himself simply because you TELL Him to and call him “Lord, Lord”, well, you might want to reconsider that.

Be very careful if you have “asked Jesus in”. The Bible does not say to do that. You are going to have to pull yourself away from your TV, get up off your big comfy couch and open the door yourself. You want to know what I think walked in that door when you invited it in?

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door...

If you never repented from your works, but only your sins (doest not well) then sin is exactly what is at your door because it surely isn’t Jesus.

The last thing I want to point out about this pet verse of the false prophets is EXACTLY what Jesus is coming in to do if you “open the door”. The false prophets are lying to you. They say Jesus will come and abide in you and/or take up residence in your heart. Dear reader, do not be deceived, this verse does NOT say any such thing. You can’t play with the Words of God; you can’t add to them or take away from them. They say EXACTLY what they mean and they mean EXACTLY what they say.

Revelation 3:20 … I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Jesus doesn’t come in to LIVE; He comes in to SUP! He doesn’t come to live; He comes to have a single meal. We have people over for dinner at our house very often. None of them stay to live here! The Bible is EXACTING. If this was actually Jesus coming into your heart to live with you forever then why doesn’t it just say that? Why doesn’t it just say that plainly here or anywhere else in the Bible? God is not trying to deceive you or confuse you; Satan is trying to deceive you! Satan is the author of confusion. Don’t be confused; just believe the Words of God.

Let’s see another door.

John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

That does not sound like “the door of my heart” to me. Does it to you? It sounds like Jesus is a door too. It says that to “be saved” you must “enter in” to “the door”. What does that mean, you ask? Well, don’t you have to be “in Christ” to be saved? At some point you have to “enter in” to Christ. That doesn’t sound like sitting on the couch and yelling, “oh, hi, Jesus. Come on in”. If you sit on the couch and yell… well, let’s see what that might be:

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

How do we enter in? Look at this:

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

“Many” will seek to enter in but WILL BE UNABLE!!! Not that they won’t, dear reader; but that they can’t! Not that they make a conscious decision to reject Jesus (won’t), but that they want to be saved, try to be saved and long to be saved, but they CAN’T be saved! They SHALL NOT BE ABLE!

Why could they not “enter in”? Because of unbelief, of course.

Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. … 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

But, “they believe”, many say. “How can you possibly say they don’t believe?” I’m not saying they don’t believe. THE BIBLE is saying they don’t believe.

We discussed this before but make no mistake about this: one must believe THE RECORD! “The record” occurs in The Bible only three (3) times. This first time is in John 1 and is John bearing record that he is personally not the Christ. That is significant but it is not relevant to this topic. The only other two occurrences of “the record” in the entire Bible are very relevant.

1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

This is serious doctrine, not for the faint of heart. Are you sure you really want to understand this? You may want to treat this as a stop sign and just cut your losses now and move on to the next topic.

If you are still here then let’s dig in. The first thing it says is, “He that believeth on the Son of God”. Well, what about him? The man that believes, truly believes, “hath the witness in himself”. What witness is in every man that truly believes?

1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

God “hath testified of his Son”. Where do you think this testimony resides? Do you think God is going to come to you in a dream and give you special testimony and special revelation? Do you think God is going to give you this testimony via some man dancing around screaming in some huge arena or via the National Geographic special on secrets from the Bible? Think again. God’s testimony of His Son is in the Word of God. If you get your testimony from ANY OTHER source it is suspect and cannot be trusted. The Bible alone can be trusted. It is the Word of God about His Son.

So, what is this witness that God has given us? We will see that in a moment. Next, 1 John 5:10 says, “he that believeth not God”. Now, notice it doesn’t say he doesn’t believe IN God, it says he doesn’t believe God. Listen, my friend, you can believe IN God but not believe God. And, if you don’t believe God then you, “hath made him a liar”. Even if you believe IN God and believe IN Jesus, if you don’t “believe God” then you are calling God a liar. I think you’d be better off calling your granpappy a liar than calling the Almighty God a liar. You say, “but, I would NEVER!” We shall see.

So, what are the many calling God a liar about? The Bible next says, “because he believeth not THE RECORD”. There is a record. A record of God about His Son. The Bible next says, “that God gave of his Son.” Do you believe this record? “Of course I believe the record”, you say. Are you sure?

Then, what is this record? God is gracious enough to tell us in the very next verses. Verse 11 says, “And this is the record,”. The record, the very record of God about His Son is about to be revealed. Remember that to NOT believe this record is to call God a liar. Do you believe the record?

The record in full is,

I John 5:11 And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Do you believe this, dear reader? THIS is God’s record of His Son. This is THE RECORD of God’s Son from the mouth of God Himself. Will you call Him a liar? Let’s see.

1) “God hath GIVEN to us eternal life”. It is a gift, a free gift. No payment at all required. Do you believe that?

2) “This life is in His Son”. Eternal life is IN CHRIST. It is not in works. It is IN His Son. Do you believe that?

3) “He that hath the Son hath life”. That’s not hard to understand at all, is it? If you have the Son, if Jesus is IN you, then you HAVE LIFE. You are not “striving for life”. You are not “trying to earn life”. You are not “trying to keep life”. YOU HAVE LIFE. And NOTHING will change that. Ever. Do you believe that?

4) “He that hath not the Son of God hath not life”. The only way a person does not have life is if they do not have Jesus in them. Not if they “are not serving Jesus”. Not if they “haven’t made Jesus the Lord of their life”. Not if they don’t go to church or commit some sin or say the wrong thing. They have not life for one reason and one reason alone: they have not the Son of God. Do you believe that?

And, why did God give us the record?

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Do you “KNOW” that you have eternal life, dear reader? If you are counting on your works, then you can’t possibly know. You could mess up tomorrow, or in 10 years. Someone that believes GOD, hence believes God’s Record of His Son, KNOWS that he has eternal life, simply because he has Jesus - and NOTHING else is required!

This is the complete record of God about His Son. Do you believe that?

Some false prophet screams that he believes one can go from a place of having the Son to not having the Son. This is impossible. I won’t defend this here because the entire rest of this book defends my position, except to say this: If you have Jesus then you have eternal LIFE. Jesus doesn’t give out any other kind of life other than ETERNAL life. If you have eternal life, then it is ETERNAL. If it is ETERNAL then it is ETERNAL. How can something die that is ETERNAL? It can’t. Once a man has eternal life, he plain and simple has ETERNAL LIFE. There simply is no dying after that.

84. my heart (worthless piece of prayer #5)

This worthless piece of prayer refers to the same verse,

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

The word “heart”, however, is not anywhere to be found. The words “heart” and “door” are in The Bible a combined 1023 times, in a combined 937 verses. Do you know how many times both words appear in the same verse? One, and that verse has absolutely nothing to do with asking Jesus into your heart’s door. You would think, wouldn’t you, that with 937 verses at least ONE would refer to asking Jesus into your heart? I mean, “many” people have “asked Jesus into their heart”, haven’t they? If it is so all-world-important wouldn’t you think there would be at least one verse backing it up? Nope, here is the only verse with both words:

Job 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door.

That doesn’t sound much like “asking Jesus to come in to the door of your heart” to me. Does it to you?

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I will make this relatively quick (no pun intended) and painless, but you need to understand some very important Bible doctrine about your “heart”. “Heart” is in The Bible 833 times. Needless to say it is a very important part of Bible doctrine. I certainly don’t intend to address all 833 of those in this forum, so I am going to overly simplify what I am about to present. AS ALWAYS, please, search the Scriptures daily whether these things are so!

Jesus is NOT in the flesh of anyone alive on this planet. Not in their brain, their eyes, their nose, not even their heart.

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:

I would certainly classify Jesus as a “good thing”, hence Jesus is not in the flesh; not even the Apostle Paul’s flesh.

When Jesus enters a human for salvation He enters the SPIRIT of that person, not the flesh. He makes the human spirit ALIVE again. The Bible uses the term “quicken”.

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.

The flesh means nothing. The SPIRIT of GOD comes in to our SPIRIT when we are saved.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

When that happens the spirit of a saved man is cleaned and made alive again. Instantaneously it is then separated from the flesh. The FLESH is left filthy, untouched, still sinful. Your SPIRIT is made perfect.

Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

The Bible calls this separation of the spirit and the flesh, “circumcision”.

Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Your flesh, which is still completely filthy and sinful, MUST be separated from the spirit which is now perfectly clean and completely sinless. Your spirit is “sealed” so that sin can never, ever touch your flesh again.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

This is why, when you die, your sinful flesh lies in a grave on this planet while your perfect spirit goes to Heaven to be with the Lord. The spirit of a saved person is perfect and sinless, the flesh however is untouched, unchanged and just as sinful as it was before the moment of salvation.

Now at some point, for Christians this will happen at the time we are “caught up” (raptured), your BODY will be raised, and, if you are saved, made incorruptible also (sinless, perfect).

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, … and the dead in Christ shall rise…

1 Corinthians 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption

But NOT until after the resurrection of the dead! Until then our flesh is sinful and cannot be allowed into Heaven. This process of bringing your body into perfection is also called “quickening” (i.e. making alive).

So, the SPIRIT of GOD (Christ) ALREADY dwells in your SPIRIT - but NOT NOW in your flesh!

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

So, we know Jesus doesn’t come into our “heart” because it is flesh. But, and I mentioned this already, briefly but emphatically; it isn’t just that Jesus does not come into your heart, it is that Jesus CANNOT come into your heart! That heart you think is made of pliable, soft flesh is actually, as far as God sees it, made of STONE!

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

The heart you have NOW is STONE. God can’t come into the stone heart that you have – it is stone cold closed. Saying, “come in”, when the door is solid stone and sealed shut is not going to let anyone in! God is going to have to give you a BRAND NEW HEART. So, asking God into THIS HEART in your current flesh, the stone one? That will do exactly no good. You might think I am being too stringent but if we ARE really and truly supposed to “ask Jesus into our hearts”, I think with 833 chances the Bible would plainly say that. It never says it once.

In fact, the words “ask” and “heart” appear in The Bible a combined 942 times. They never appear in the same verse; not once. That, dear reader, is simply Bible Truth. Be very careful playing with stuff you don’t understand. It could blow up in your face. Of course, since I have challenged you to search the Scriptures whether these things or so, someone will eventually find this:

2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts,…

…and start screaming bloody murder. But, you see, the “hearts” in this verse are the new spiritual hearts we receive. I’m sure you are going to want to see that in the Book so I won’t make you beg.

Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

See that? The circumcision is of the “heart”, “inwardly”, “IN THE SPIRIT”, and not in the letter. This new heart a saved man gets is right now in the spirit, not in the flesh. The old heart of STONE is in the letter (law, tables of stone); the NEW HEART is in the spirit. Here is that in the Book,

2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

So what does that mean? Well, remember the 10 Commandments? On what were they written? Tables of STONE. What is your current heart made of? STONE! You will GET a NEW HEART OF FLESH someday but not until the resurrection. You are promised this new fleshly heart by the fact that The Holy Spirit is already in your spirit and has made you a spiritual heart in there. The Law (tables and heart of stone) is the OLD (trusting in WORKS). GRACE (new fleshly heart in new flesh) is the NEW (righteousness without WORKS).

Jesus simply cannot come into your heart. Your “heart of stone” is closed. Your promised “new heart” of flesh has not yet arrived.

One last proof just in case you are still wavering. You will recall from earlier in this chapter that there are two definitions for the word “know”. One is to “have knowledge of the facts” and the other is to “become one with someone” either in the flesh or in the spirit. As you have now learned, to be saved you must be “in Christ” and “one in spirit” with the Lord. That means He must “know” you. And if He is to come into your heart (merge) then, of course, He would have to “know” your heart, right? That may be a bit difficult because the Bible says,

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

The Bible says quite emphatically that God can’t “know” your deceitful and desperately wicked heart.

85. I make you (worthless piece of prayer #6)

Let me get this straight: you are supposed to “make” the God of the universe something? You, puny you, are supposed to “make” the God of the universe do something? If you think you can “make” Jesus into something, or to do something, well, you have no clue about Jesus. This is blasphemy of the worst kind. Dear reader, not one person on this planet is going to “make” Jesus their “Lord and Saviour”. We are to “SUBMIT” to Jesus (the Righteousness of God), not command Him!

Jesus IS the Lord and Saviour. Whether He becomes YOUR Lord and Saviour will be according to HIS terms; not yours!

86. my Lord and Savior (worthless piece of prayer #7)

We talked at length about this. God doesn’t want you to MAKE Jesus your Lord and Saviour. He wants you to genuinely repent and believe. “Making” Jesus your Lord and Savior is nothing but WORKS salvation. This prayer is basically saying, “Jesus I give you my life. I will turn my own life around, do good, and follow you”. That is WORKS salvation. “Lord, Lord, have we not in thy name done many wonderful WORKS?” The answer? “I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity.”

And for those people that have MADE Jesus their Lord and Saviour, what happens to them if they quit “following” or quit “working”? Most believe they are in trouble. I believe they are in trouble too because, honestly, they were never out of trouble.

This entire prayer is worse than worthless. It makes the speaker feel saved but really just gives him false hope. Making you ‘feel saved’ when you aren’t is the calling card of Satan. It is a prayer from the pit of Hell and will end in heartbreak and the Lake of Fire.

87. Sin, Righteousness and Judgment to come is the true message.

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

This is the EXACT and COMPLETE message of The Holy Spirit (the Comforter). He will reprove (blame, charge) the world of:

Sin – Everyone is a sinner. Everything they do is sin. There is no “good” in anyone. But, the real sin is not believing on Jesus.

Righteousness – Your supposed righteousness is filthy rags. God’s Righteousness is available through the resurrection of Jesus. Submit to it.

Judgment – Judgment is coming. Without God’s Righteousness you will be found guilty of all and sentenced to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire – just like your father, the prince of this world.

88. Some “Hold the truth in unrighteousness”.

“But”, some say, “these folks you are calling false prophets teach many good things. They use The Bible just like you do”. Maybe you feel that way, but only because you are being deceived by the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Here is what the Bible has to say about them:

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

The difference is that they hold “the truth”, meaning they legitimately hold some truth or some truths. But, they hold the truth, or those truths, “in unrighteousness”. The false prophets “hold the truth in unrighteousness”.

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What does this mean?

The “many” have been tricked to believe this is not pointed at them. They don’t really understand it at all, you likely don’t either, so they make their own “private interpretation” that has no basis in Bible Truth at all. They believe to “hold the truth in unrighteousness” means to commit unrighteous acts while believing the truth. They point fingers at one another and argue over petty acts of unrighteousness. Listen, there is not one single person in the history of this planet (except Jesus) that has ever gone a single day (since the fall) without committing unrighteous acts. Each human is fully unrighteous; and our very life-blood is sin. This is true NO MATTER WHAT ONE BELIEVES! One can be the greatest believer on the planet (Paul for instance) or the greatest unbeliever on the planet (Hitler for instance). Paul (just ask him) and Hitler were both very good at committing unrighteous acts. So by the definition of the “many” false prophets, since Hitler didn’t believe at all (hold the truth), the Apostle Paul was the only one of those two who “held the truth in unrighteousness” because he both “held the truth” and committed unrighteous acts. This is, of course, an impossible definition of the phrase, as you will surely agree.

So, what does it really mean? Simply this: the “many” hold some truth (or truths), they have some truth(s), they understand some truth(s), they grasp some truth(s). But, they do all of that “in unrighteousness”. Huh?

Remember there are two kinds of righteousness: God’s Righteousness and Your righteousness. God’s Righteousness is truly “righteousness”. Your righteousness, as we have demonstrated, is really not “righteousness” at all. All of your works are “dead works”. All of “your righteousness” is as filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6 … all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…

So, if all of “your righteousness” is dead and filthy then it is really “unrighteousness”, right? If you are still truly unrepentant, and hence still trusting in your own righteousness, then you are “in unrighteousness”!

And, if you DO know some truth from the Bible (which you more than likely do) then you are “holding” that truth; you “grasp” it; you “understand” it; maybe you even “believe” it. BUT, you just might be holding (grasping) that truth “in unrighteousness” because you yourself are “in unrighteousness”. That is how one can “hold the truth in unrighteousness”. This is synonymous with “believing in vain”.

So, what, you might ask, are some of the truths one can hold “in unrighteousness”? Well, that’s not a difficult question to answer at all. The answer, however, is difficult to accept. The easy part is the truth. “Jesus died for your sins” is the truth. The “death, burial and resurrection of Christ” is the truth. The “virgin birth” is the truth. The “Bible is God’s Word” is the truth. “Jesus is God” is the truth. That “Hell exists” is the truth. “Abortion is murder” is the truth. The “Church is the Bride of Christ” is the truth. God “sent His Son to die on the cross” is the truth. I could go on for a long time as you can imagine. BUT, it is very possible to hold (believe, grasp) all of those truths I just mentioned, every single one of them, and yet spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. It is completely without doubt that there are “many” people that believe all of these truths (and more) in vain. It is absolutely the truth that the “many” hold all of these truths (and more) in unrighteousness. “Jesus is the Lord and Saviour of the world” is the truth. The “many” hold that truth “in unrighteousness”, so the “many” believe that truth “in vain”.

To let The Bible speak completely for itself here I would like to bring your focus to bear on three words: “unrighteousness”, “in” and “him”. As difficult as it may be to believe, there are only two (2) verses in the entire Bible that contain each of those three words. And, these two verses tell you everything you need to know about the lost false prophets. First, notice,

Psalms 92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Dear reader, there is NO unrighteousness “IN HIM”! If you hold the truth (Jesus is Lord and Saviour) “in unrighteousness” (your own righteousness) it proves that you are NOT “in Him”! If you think you still need to curb or limit “your unrighteousness” or uphold “your own righteousness” in order to get to heaven then you are still “in unrighteousness” and are not “in Him”. And if you are not “in Him” then, my friend, you are lost and will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. That is Bible Truth.

Secondly, and lastly in the entire Bible, note,

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

The false prophets are simply seeking their own glory and not the glory of The God of The Bible. If they were seeking the glory of The God of The Bible, they would have been given (by The Holy Spirit in the Word of God) revelation of their necessity of the righteousness of God and would not still be holding the truth in unrighteousness. Dear reader, these wolves in sheep’s clothing, these false prophets, these gainsayers, these modern day Balaams, are seeking only two things: your money and your soul. Better run, dear reader, before it is too late.

89. Ultimate deception of the false prophets. They preach a false gospel.

Just in case you think I am exaggerating about the false prophets or being too hard on them, I will show you just how deceptive they are. They are so deceitful and so deceptive that they are ALMOST good enough to deceive the brightest, most knowledgeable, most well-studied Bible believers alive on this planet. Their LIES are SO CLOSE to the truth that only those truly willing to believe God (The Bible) over all else will be able to discern it. Don’t think so?

Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs [tongues] and wonders [healings]; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The “very elect” are only mentioned this one time in scripture. A companion verse is again,

Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

The deception and the seduction of the false prophets is so sinister, that it could ALMOST deceive those who are DEFINITELY going to spend eternity with the Lord, His most precious people on this planet – the VERY ELECT! And even they will be ALMOST convinced! The “gospel” of the false prophets is “another gospel”, yet “not another” gospel.

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The “another gospel” is a FALSE gospel. This false gospel has all the elements of the true gospel but it is a counterfeit!

It has Jesus - but not the real Jesus.

It has a Father – but not the right father.

It has the Holy Spirit – but not the real Holy Spirit.

It has preaching – but not real preaching.       

It teaches receiving a spirit – but not receiving the True Spirit.

It seems like the gospel of Jesus Christ – but it isn’t!

See for yourself:

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

This is a gospel that LOOKS like the truth, SOUNDS like the truth, FEELS like the truth and MIMICS the truth – but it is a LIE from the pit of Hell. But, people bear it. Paul was shocked that anyone could be so naive to fall for it.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.

Which, Paul was quick to point out, is not another gospel but a perversion of the truth.

Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

And herein lies the deception, the confusion, the downfall of the “many”. The false prophets aren’t preaching another gospel, and yet they really are! They are teaching Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his death, burial, resurrection, etc. But the reason it sounds like Christianity, yet nobody is becoming a Christian (very elect), is because they are teaching a perverted version of the gospel of Christ. It is the gospel perverted, essentially becoming “another gospel”. The false prophets teach another gospel. It is the gospel of Christ CORRUPTED. And, the corruption is so sinister, yet so very subtle, so very clever, so ingenious and devious, that it takes a very keen spiritual eye to see the difference. It is a very cleverly disguised lie. And Paul said, “I fear” that you will fall for it. Think you are just going to easily pick up on the difference? Think again. Eve didn’t! And she was way godlier and closer to the Lord than we are! Want to see that in the Book?

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The gospel of Christ is SIMPLE! The “many”, however, cannot notice the difference. Why can’t they? Because they refuse to believe the plain truth of The Bible. You are either in Christ or in works. You either have Jesus or you don’t. It doesn’t get any easier than that for “simplicity”.

These are our false prophets. Dear reader, believe what you want. Do what you will. But The Bible will stand no matter what any of your “heroes” tell you. ALL men are liars. The Bible is the truth.

90. Ultimate devotion of the false prophets. Money. Your money.

The false prophets want your money. That’s all they really care about. They have nothing to offer you. Flee them.

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Here is how the Bible describes the greed of these false prophets.

Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

My dear friend, hate me if you want, but these false prophets of today only want your money. They are BLIND dogs. (Dogs are not saved if you recall). They are GREEDY dogs.

1 Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

They believe the gain of money is godliness. Withdraw thyself from them.

Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

They teach what they teach because they are greedy for your money. They are “gainsayers”. All they care about is their personal “gain” of that filthy green stuff. This is their only real devotion. They care nothing about truth or souls – just wealth. You have been warned.

I watched “The Word Network” one night in the hospital. They advertise themselves as “the largest African-American Religious Network in the world”. That’s quite the claim. I watched for seven (7) hours straight as person after person came on, one after another, each taking a half-hour timeslot, for their individual presentation “of the gospel”. In seven hours, I didn’t hear the gospel ONCE. Not once! One single person, one, made a brief 10-second “ask Jesus into your heart” plea. But, ALL of them begged for money. They asked you to “plant a seed” by sending anywhere between $100 and $1,000 to their “ministry” (credit cards readily accepted), and claimed that doing so would release God’s blessing on the giver and increase his/her worldly wealth exponentially. This is dung of the smelliest magnitude and they are ALL spewing it. EVERY SINGLE PERSON on this station for seven (7) straight hours BEGGED FOR MONEY. They are ALL blind, dumb, greedy, unsaved dogs. Run, don’t walk, to the nearest Bible-believing-church exit. Listen, as a rule, if they are asking for money – just leave.

91. Ultimate denouncement of the false prophets. They will get what they deserve.

Again, just in case you think I am being too hard on the false prophets, here is the ultimate reason to reject them outright. I am going to show you right now that the false prophets are preaching their unholy salvation doctrine for their master Satan. Be careful, I am giving you fair warning; you are about to read some very damning evidence.

2 Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

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This makes things very clear. “Many” will not want to believe it but here it is in black and white straight from the Almighty God Himself. “False apostles” are springing up all over the world. Satanic ministries from false prophets have sprung up all over the world and their leaders are now claiming to be the “apostles of Christ”. I can’t help but shake my head as I type this. Apostles? Not a chance in the universe. Your dear mother will hit the Powerball Lottery Jackpot WITHOUT PLAYING before even ONE of those false prophets will ever be an apostle! They are no more apostles than the Black Pope. The Bible clearly says they are Satan’s ministers.

This verse reveals three very damning things about these false ministers of Satan. It is these that make them easily identifiable. First, they are deceitful WORKERS. Wow! We now know exactly what that means! They are deceitfully “working” for Jesus by deceitfully teaching “works” for salvation. Second, they are “transformed as the ministers of righteousness”. They are NOT ministering the correct “righteousness” (spelled ‘God’s Righteousness’) but are Satan-controlled liars ministering their own righteousness. How does Satan control them? That’s an easy one; money! Third, notice what their “end” shall be: ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS! It is perfectly fitting (an eye for an eye) that their end should be according to THEIR WORKS because of the false WORKS salvation they preach directly from the pit of Hell. Get out, get away, get saved; judgment is coming.

92. Who are the “few”?

We have learned exactly who the “many” are but we haven’t learned much about the “few”. The “few” are those that are really saved. The “few” are those that are really going to live in Heaven forever. The “few” are those that have not been deceived by master-father-liar Satan and his false prophets. The few are those that have believed The Bible Record over anything and everything else. The “few” are the very small portion of those that call Jesus their “Lord and Saviour” for which Jesus actually IS their Lord and Saviour. The few are the ones that know Jesus AND Jesus knows them. They are actually born again and their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But, they aren’t “many”; they are only a “few”!

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This is the last point/section I will finish writing in chapter 10. It sat as an empty point/topic with some notes in it while I was finishing ALL of the other parts of this chapter. I saved it for last because I didn’t have a real good direction but only a thought that I would try to define the “few” scripturally. I periodically added notes to remind myself to study certain things when I got to this section. It turns out it is not an easy thing to define the “few” exactly.

The word “few” is in the Bible 65 times. That is a decent volume to work with normally but in my personal case it just wasn’t enough at this time. The Lord has been very good to me, even though I have been so very lousy to Him, and has opened many things to me in His Word.

I worded that prior sentence particularly carefully because it is always true. If you and I, dear reader, are going to learn anything about the Word of God, or from the Word of God, The Holy Spirit is going to open it to us.

1 Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

You and I will never pull a single truth out of the Word of God without The Holy Spirit giving it to us. You could never know God unless He opened up to you, just like someone can never know YOU unless you open yourself up to them, right? If you go to a “shrink” (don’t, you don’t need one, you need the Word) they will be of no help at all unless you open up and speak to the shrink. If you sit there silently as they ask question after question they will eventually give up having learned very little. This is what happened to me with this section.

1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Sometimes God chooses not to open certain things to certain people at a certain time. Everything is in His time and at His discretion. He simply ‘discretioned’ not to open this topic to me at this time. I searched and looked and dug and finally felt as if I was just banging my head against a stone wall. This topic was just not opening itself to me. That is fine. Perhaps He will open it to another, more deserving than me or more patient than me, at another time.

I usually end up receiving the most from God right when I NEED it; not before. I have to feel that I just didn’t need this right now so maybe you don’t either. This will be the only section in this book with two stop signs. I am putting one right here because, if you run this stop sign, you are getting much of my opinion, based on God’s Word, but not solely God’s Word. This is what I think, not just what I can prove in His Word.

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My opinion is that the “few” are very few.

As I said, “few” is in The Bible 65 times. “The few” is not in The Bible. This surprised me a little. “A few” is in the Word 25 times, or a little less than half of all occurrences. This is the first:

Genesis 24:55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

So from this we could deduce that “a few” is somewhere around 10. The problem is that this is not always the case. The second mention is much different:

Genesis 27:44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

This is part of the story of Jacob fleeing from Esau to his Uncle Laban to “tarry with him” for “a few” days. He “tarried with him” 20 years. That’s a fly in our ointment. So, we have anything from 10 days, all the way up to 20 years.

The rest of “a few” have no numbers. The most intriguing to me were the stories of the feeding of the multitudes with “a few” fishes. I was genuinely hopeful this would open some things up for me.

Matthew 15:34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

The Bible never discloses how many fishes they had, only that it was “a few”. Those “few” little fishes fed 4,000 men not counting women and children. Those “few” fishes fed a great multitude. That multitude is sort of called “many” but not exactly.

Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:

Really can’t use that; it just isn’t an honest assessment. The companion story in John does however call the people “many”. Unfortunately in that story they didn’t have “a few” fishes but exactly two. As you can see, where I thought I might find an answer here in these passages, I found none. I thought about,

Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

I hoped to determine that the difference between the “called” and the “chosen”, was the difference between being CALLED but not saved, and being CALLED and also saved (CHOSEN). This was simply not true.

So, what do I know? Not much! I know that this verse refers to the salvation of souls.

Matthew 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

At another place Jesus verified it with,

Luke 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

As I said after searching and digging I wasn’t able to find my answers. So, here is how I would formulate my OPINION outside of Bible Truth.

“Few” is in The Bible 65 times. “Many” is in The Bible 556 times. 65/556 = 11.6%. I do not THINK however that 11.6% of the people on this planet are saved. That is just too high a number to be a “few”.

I don’t know for sure the population of the world at the time of Noah’s flood but I do know exactly how many were SAVED; eight.

1 Peter 3:20 … in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

I can only surmise that eight people must have been a VERY small percentage of the world’s population at this time. Nobody living was there, so mathematicians can only take educated guesses, based on theories and calculations, at what the world’s population was at that time. I was very captivated by one particular estimate from a mathematician, which took into consideration Bible genealogy as presented in Genesis. Averages for lifespan, number of children, age at which first child born, death rate, etc. were all taken into consideration in this calculation. The author of this calculation (estimate) said specifically that he used what he considered to be “conservative” numbers to make his calculations and did not purposely inflate them at all.

Do you have any idea how many people he calculated as being alive on this planet at the time of the great worldwide flood? Think about it. Take a wild guess. Ready? Try ten trillion! Yes, you read that right, ten trillion! And people want to know where Cain got his wife? Boy did he have a lot to choose from! That number, ten trillion, is a little hard to digest at first, I agree, but remember they all lived to be 900, so who was dying? And they had multiple kids, not your one boy-one girl families of today in America. This is just an example of the number of children some had.

Judges 10:3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. 4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

Judges 12:8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

Judges 12:13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. 14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.

2 Chronicles 13:21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

Judges 8:30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

That’s a boatload of children! Imagine if they ALL lived to be 900 (they didn’t because this was long after the flood) as they did before the flood and then their children had many children! Before the flood, it was not odd for children to personally know their great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother. There is not one person alive on this planet that has ever personally known that person in their lineage.

I must assume then, since there are 9 people just in my family alone that I am fully convinced are SAVED, and since 8 of 10 trillion (.00000000008%) is much less than 9 of 8 billion (.00000011%) this is not a good measure of the current “few” to be saved. It is eye-opening to consider the possible population at the time of the flood and the fact that only eight were saved. Wow! But many more than 8 people on this current planet are saved.

Via a survey I read there are 2.2 billion people in the world today that are “called” Christians. Of course that includes those that the unsaved, unknowledgeable and unwise world calls “Christians” just because they profess to belong to a denomination that is essentially based on the story of Jesus and not Muhammed or Buddha. These people are NOT all saved; not by the hair of your chinny-chin-chin.

I read that in 1993 a survey determined that 10% of the world’s population considered itself born-again. The world population in 1993 was about 5.5 billion. By this measure we could deduce that 550 million people considered themselves born-again. In my OPINION, based on my study, there is no way that many people have truly repented and submitted to the righteousness of God even though they consider themselves born-again. I think most of these are trusting at least in part on their works and thus are part of the “many”. Why do I think that? Because those other un-born-again “Christians” of the 2.2 billion total “Christians” in the world (the 1.65 billion that consider themselves “Christian” but NOT “born again”), are not the ones “prophesying in His name”. They are not “casting out demons in His name” and they are not running around calling their false prophets the “apostles of Christ”. No, THOSE people are of the 550 million that consider themselves “born-again”. So, I think the “few” are a small percentage of the “many” people professing to be born-again.

A “few”, to me, in my OPINION, would be roughly either 10% or 1%. My mind can make a case for either one; it simply depends on the context. If there is an earthquake and 5,000 people die that could be a “few”. If the Earthquake is in Hong Kong, China, the most populous city in the world they might consider that a few casualties. If the earthquake is in the Australian Outback 5,000 deaths is probably not considered a few. So, I think “few” can be quite relative, which is why I tend to think in terms of a percentage. However, of this I am sure, the few is never many.

So with roughly 8 billion people in the world, 1% would equate to 80 million people. I could believe 80 million people in this world are actually saved. My gut says that is almost certainly too high to be a “few” but again, that’s just my opinion. My personal opinion is that 80 million is too high but, and this is the key, definitely not too low! 10% however would be 800 million people. That would mean 36% (8/22) of the people that this world calls “Christians”, are actually real, born-again, saved Christians. Not a snowball’s chance in the Lake of Fire. I’m not sure you can really make a good case for 36% ever being a few. You may WANT that to be the case or HOPE that would be the case or even NAIVELY believe that to be the case, but that is just not a “few”.

If we took 1% of the population of the United States this would translate into 350 million x 1%, or 3.5 million people. Now, I believe that there are probably more than 3.5 million actual born-again Christians in the United States of America but maybe not – I certainly haven’t met them all. And there are an awful lot of people I have met that claim to be saved but still trust in their own works. So, let’s say that in the United States the “few” are 10% (like I said I really believe it is less), because the gospel is so prevalent and widely accessible. Thus, if 35 million of the world’s 80 million Christians are in the U.S., that leaves about 45 million in the rest of the world. This would mean that almost ½ of the world’s born-again Christians are living in the U.S.A. I would think this is possibly about right.

If we look at this another way, a 2014 study says that 70% of the U.S. population claims to be “Christian”. 70% of 350 million is 245 million. If 10% of those are actually saved, born-again Christians that would be about 25 million. That isn’t too far off from 35 million but may be more accurate.

Either way, you must remember that in many other countries it is very hazardous to become a Christian. In China (1.5 billion people) you will either be killed or placed in a forced-labor camp prison. There are certainly way less than 1% there. In the middle-eastern Muslim countries (375 million people) you will be put out of your house, lose your family, lose your livelihood and then probably be killed. Again, surely less than 1% there. In the Hindu and Buddhist dominated countries of the Far East (800 million people) you may not be killed but you will be outcast. Not a large percentage there. As you can see this could make perfect sense.

However, I truly believe the number of the “few” is probably less. I could even be persuaded to believe there are only 3.5 million REAL Christians in the U.S. population. I have talked to “many” who tell me they “believe in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” BUT, by their own admission are still trusting in their works. Scripturally, you just can’t have it both ways. As I said, it is only my OPINION but one that may not be far off. The fact is there are “few” that will be “saved” of the “many” who say “Lord, Lord”. Make sure you are of the “few”.

93. Forgiveness is a once-only deal.

Some folks are a little mixed up (some are a LOT mixed up). Satan specializes in mixing people up.

These folks say that they are already saved but then they also believe they have to constantly “ask for forgiveness” each time they sin, of course mostly just for the BIG sins, in order to keep themselves safe from losing their souls. They don’t, for instance, repent and ask forgiveness each time they tell a lie or run a stop sign. It really doesn’t matter what they do – they’re cool - as long as they remember to ask to be forgiven for the big sins! If they don’t, well, then they would be in serious danger of Hell, depending on the severity of the crime. Thus, they are very careful to say they need to ask forgiveness for the big sins (which they hardly ever commit – I know this because I have asked them) so they don’t take the chance they might actually “lose their salvation” for their behavior coupled with not asking forgiveness. Dear reader, this is just satanic blasphemy.

I am going to repeat the title of this section so listen closely: Forgiveness is a once-only deal!

The truth is that if you are truly saved, born again, then you don’t need any more forgiveness in order to go to Heaven. If you have God’s Righteousness then you are already “FORGIVEN” (past tense).

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Let’s show you that in the Book.

Romans 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

One that is ALREADY FORGIVEN does not need to ask for forgiveness for anything – he/she is already forgiven. Like this guy that Jesus healed: Jesus told him that his sins are “forgiven” (past tense, done, completed).

Matthew 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

On the contrary, when Jesus was on the cross He prayed that His Father would “forgive” the sin of those crucifying Him.

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

He didn’t say they were “forgiven” even though He had the power to do so according to our story in Matthew 9.

We learn by merging the meanings of these two words (forgive and forgiven) that if you still need God to “forgive” you, then you haven’t already been “forgiven”. I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I’ve already been FORGIVEN!

Forgiveness, the kind we have been taught in modern Christianity by our false prophets, is actually only for the FLESH. In the SPIRIT, those that have submitted to God’s Righteousness have been ALREADY FORGIVEN. This is completely in the past tense. Already “forgiven” signifies that no more forgiveness is necessary. And this is absolutely true.

How would you feel if you had a friend that asked for forgiveness for something and you said, “you are forgiven”. But, that wasn’t good enough for your friend for some reason; your friend continued to constantly beg you for forgiveness. This would be annoying at the very least and if it continued for a long time it would border on insanity. “I have already FORGIVEN you ALL, my friend. Why do you keep asking me over and over again for something that is already done?” This is a great question, no?

If you have God’s Righteousness and are truly baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ…

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

… you have already been forgiven for everything and have no further need of forgiveness in order to go to Heaven when you die. In fact, your spirit, if you are saved, is ALREADY IN HEAVEN!

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ [past tense], (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together [past tense], and made us sit together in heavenly places [past tense] in Christ Jesus:

Do you really think God is going to kick your spirit out of Heaven and out of the Body of Christ every time you sin and don’t ask for forgiveness? And then when you finally do ask forgiveness (if you do) God will let you back in your seat? Of course not, that is ridiculous. Talk about musical chairs! My brothers and sisters in Christ, there is absolutely no further need to ask for forgiveness in order to get to Heaven IF you are ALREADY IN HEAVEN!

So, the question we must ask is, why are already saved Christians told to ask for forgiveness in the New Testament? There are only two (2) types of examples of Christians being told to ask for forgiveness in the New Testament.

First, Christians are to forgive others and ask others to forgive them.

Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Listen closely. Whatever wrongs someone has done to you, things for which they have asked you to forgive them, have been done to you in the FLESH. You have NEVER been wronged by anyone in the spirit. You have NEVER wronged anyone in the spirit. It has ALL been done in the FLESH.

Forgiveness is ALREADY GIVEN to the saved man’s SPIRIT. But, forgiveness is NOT already given for the saved man’s FLESH. The saved man’s spirit SIMPLY CANNOT SIN, as we have seen, so why in the world would something that CANNOT SIN have to ask for forgiveness or be forgiven over and over again? It wouldn’t and it doesn’t. The SEED by which we (our spirit) are born again is simply incorruptible by any means:

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Why would something that is born completely incorruptible need to ask for forgiveness? It doesn’t, of course.

The FLESH of the saved man on the other hand is still sinning constantly. Even the Apostle Paul understood this about himself:

Romans 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Paul said there was NOTHING, absolutely nothing, “good” in his flesh.

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:

Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

If that is true of Paul’s flesh, dear reader, it is true of the flesh of every other living Christian on this planet. Our flesh sins; our flesh is still sinful. When our FLESH sins, against others, we are to ask for their forgiveness in order to heal our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ - in the flesh. We can’t stop sinning. We can TRY to stop lying and fighting and blaming and accusing and hating and being jealous and envious and back-stabbing and vindictive. But we won’t. We can’t. So, we need to both ask forgiveness and grant forgiveness so that our flesh can get along with others even after someone does something dumb or awful. As Christians we are to forgive when asked – without exception. Just as our Father in Heaven has FORGIVEN (past tense) us – without exception!

Which brings us to the second type of forgiveness about which Christians are commanded to ask: Christians are to ask for God’s forgiveness for their sins. First, remember that in the spirit we are already forgiven permanently and thus there is no need to ask for further forgiveness in the spirit – this already happened at the moment of salvation and forever makes us PERFECT.

Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

You are PERFECTED (past tense) FOREVER (now and the future) because you are SANCTIFIED (past tense) by the SPIRIT, IN THE SPIRIT.

God has FORGIVEN us ALL trespasses (trespasses include even the things we don’t remember).

So, the forgiveness for which we are to now ask the Lord is ONLY for things done IN THE FLESH! We do sinful things in the flesh all the time. God knows this. He expects this. He allows this. When we do them we are to ask forgiveness from God for sinning against Him. But, why? Why ask if it doesn’t help our salvation? Because it helps us IN THE FLESH even though it helps us with nothing in the spirit.

So what does the New Testament say about a saved man asking for forgiveness from God?

Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

God’s forgiveness of us is conditioned on us forgiving others. So, if we don’t forgive someone then we won’t be forgiven either. This is absolutely true, just as The Bible says. However, recall please, that saved men are already forgiven. So, these would seem to contradict. But, they don’t. They harmonize perfectly.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If, The Bible says, IF we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us. If we don’t confess then we aren’t forgiven. This is absolutely true, just as The Bible says. This verse, dear reader, is talking about the salvation experience. Most Christians have been taught that this verse is part of an ongoing process of forgiveness that takes place all the time in the life of the Christian. This is not so. This passage, 1 John 1:1-10, is talking about a person getting saved. At the moment of salvation, if one thinks he/she hasn’t sinned or isn’t a sinner (thus in need of a Saviour) then one can’t be saved. Only if we “confess our sins”, not individually but collectively, then and only then, is He faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness, as 1 John 1:9 says. Now, think about that last sentence. Do you really think your FLESH has been CLEANSED of ALL unrighteousness? If that’s true then what about verse 10?

1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This isn’t talking about an individual sin – it is talking about sin in general. If we say that we have NOT sinned (ever, never) then “His word is not in us”. Dear reader, if His Word is not IN YOU then you are not born again and you do not have God’s Righteousness. You see, this is talking about the salvation process. If we confess being a sinner then we can repent and be FORGIVEN (past tense forever) and become a child of God.

Ephesians 1:7 is really the same thing, saying, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

“WE HAVE” forgiveness (already forgiven) through His blood. That’s how we get forgiveness upon getting saved. This is a one-time process.

All of the above is talking about what happens to our SPIRIT upon salvation – not what happens to our FLESH. Our flesh is still sinful and has never had Jesus’s blood applied to it. NEVER! Did you get that? Wake up. Your FLESH has NEVER had the blood of Jesus applied to it. If it did, it would be PERFECT. That’s what Jesus’ blood does – it makes you PERFECT. And, since our FLESH isn’t perfect, well, it couldn’t have been applied to our flesh now could it? The blood of Jesus has been applied to your SPIRIT in the SPIRIT realm. Your spirit is perfect and cannot sin.

Since Christians are already forgiven in the spirit, this leaves only one possible answer. Christians need forgiveness for things they do IN THE FLESH. And this is absolutely true. However, this has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with our salvation in the spirit NOW or our promised salvation in the flesh/body at the time of resurrection. Our body is hoping (waiting) for the resurrection in order to be made perfect.

Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

2 Corinthians 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

So, then why are we to ask for forgiveness for the things we do in the flesh? For these four (4) reasons – and they are ALL IN THE FLESH. I am not going to comment much, I think by now you understand the issue of FLESH vs. SPIRIT in the area of forgiveness, but will give you the highlighted Scripture that backs up our claims.

1) So your prayers will not be hindered.

They will be if you don’t get forgiveness in the flesh. Jesus taught us to pray (Matthew 6:9). Part of that prayer is asking forgiveness (Matt 6:12). This prayer was for things of this Earth (Matthew 6:10) and involved asking for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). If you don’t get forgiveness in the flesh for things done in the flesh then your prayers will be hindered.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit by not forgiving others! He won’t help your infirmities as you pray! Remember that if you don’t forgive your Father won’t forgive you (in the flesh). So if your Father doesn’t forgive you don’t expect the Holy Spirit to either!

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. … 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

2) So you will not be sick or will recover from sickness.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick [not from Hell but from physical death], and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Mark 2:9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

Jesus EQUATED forgiveness of sins directly with physical healing, essentially telling us that they are one and the same! By Jesus saying “they sins be forgiven” He is saying ‘you are physically healed’.

1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, …

3) So you will not die (physically) before you should.

1 Corinthians 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

How is the world condemned? Lot was NOT condemned with them. Will you be?

2 Peter 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

1 John 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

1 Samuel 2:25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

God puts humans at ROCK BOTTOM many times so that they will seek Him and have an opportunity to get saved. The destruction of the flesh may take some time – it doesn’t mean instant death. This destruction of the flesh, if the person isn’t saved, will hopefully (may) lead to salvation.

Acts 8:13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

Peter wasn’t saying Simon was lost. He was saying his FLESH better get right or PERISH IN THE FLESH.

Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

This was ALL IN THE FLESH and had nothing to do with salvation in the spirit.

4) So you can avoid tragedy in your life.

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

This torment is in the flesh. Even those of the great faith chapter were tormented in the FLESH.

Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

2 Corinthians 2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Amos 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

You see, RIGHT NOW there is a GREAT DIFFERENCE between us in the flesh and us in the spirit. Don’t forget that when you are applying the truth of the Word of God or you will get messed up.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

So, there are Bible reasons for a Christian to ask for forgiveness for things done in this life. But, asking forgiveness with the purpose of making sure one keeps his/her place secure in Heaven is blasphemy. We are already perfected, in Heaven and already forgiven - in the spirit. Your flesh is still sinful. That’s why it won’t go up to Heaven when you die. It will turn again to dust. Only your spirit will go to Heaven because it is already sinless, incapable of sin, perfect and already in Heaven!

Finally, constantly asking forgiveness for sins is a constant WORK. Like the constant sacrifices in the Old Testament (OT) that purified ONLY to the FLESH, it is something one thinks he/she must DO in order to keep their standing with God. This is basically OT works salvation that only affected the FLESH and could not make the people perfect. It is a lie from the pit of Hell. Jesus purifies our spirit, making it perfect and incapable of sin, something the OT sacrifices could never do.

94. Your last warning. Submit or perish.

I’m going to make this as short and to the point as possible. But, don’t let that fool you into making the mistake of thinking it is unimportant. I could easily make an entire chapter out of what I am about to say.

God has revealed to you the truth directly from The Bible about your personal status with THE Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. God just gave you the opportunity of a lifetime to get saved. If you want to be one of the “few” don’t waste this opportunity. If you do waste it, you will most likely never get another chance for the rest of eternity.

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Hebrews 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Because if you waste this opportunity you may never be able to find TRUE repentance ever again. That is Bible Truth.

As we iterated many times in this final chapter of Liar, Liar, Lake of Fire, “repentance” is an absolute requirement for Salvation according to The Bible. Repentance is the very foundation, the very first step to Salvation in Christ. If there is no repentance you might as well never move another millimeter toward salvation because it simply won’t mean a thing. “Repentance” is the reason you are given the opportunity to believe in Jesus. If you don’t “repent” there is no opportunity to believe in Jesus, none, absolute zero. God gave you that “change of mind” as you read His Word from His Book. He changed your mind completely about exactly who man is and what He expects of man in order to receive His free gift of Salvation. You can’t just waltz in and open a “gift” that simply doesn’t belong to you. And you can’t “invite Jesus in” if He isn’t even knocking on the door of your heart.

95. The Last Question. Will you be beaten with many stripes or few?

If you have rejected these Bible Truths and remain unrepentant still, the only question left for you is; will you be beaten with “many” stripes or only a “few”?

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Luke 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Consider this truth: the bad news for you is that NOW you KNOW The Lord’s will. Repent or you will be beaten with “many” stripes. You have been warned and you will be without excuse. Remember those that “hold the truth in unrighteousness”? Well, I will leave you to ponder their fate.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

That’s what we saw. This is what we have yet to see…

Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 … so that they are without excuse:

There is no excuse. God will accept no excuse. You have no excuse.

96. Cessation of the Matter: James 2. Nothing to worry about.

Of course there are the scoffers and false prophets that are going to point to James chapter 2. The false prophets love James 2 and have been using it to put money in their pockets for thousands of years. James chapter 2 is 100% believable and 100% accurate if you STUDY to understand what it SAYS – not what you want it to say (so you can line your pockets with the cash of your flock) or what you (ignorantly) think it says. In a nutshell James 2 does NOT say that you must have your good works to either obtain or to maintain your salvation. You may eliminate this matter from your mind and rest securely at ease that based on the ENTIRE Bible (including James 2) you are secure in Christ without your works, if you have truly repented and believed. If you want more than that, read on.

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I am not going to go into meticulous detail here in my exposition of James 2. If you don’t agree with my conclusions then by all means, please, I beg you, personally search the Scriptures whether these things are so. I just want to reassure those seduced and confused by a false prophetic “interpretation” of James 2 that an entire Bible’s worth of doctrine on salvation is not destroyed or confounded by James 2.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

There is a REWARD to the SAVED person for ENDURING TEMPTATION. Without going into it much, God will not forget even one time in which we have forsaken temptation for His cause. He will REWARD us for those times. James is talking about REWARDS, not loss (of salvation).

James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James uses the word “begat”, past tense, and does not use the on-going term “begetting”. James knew this salvation (“begat he us”) was a FINISHED work of God and NOT an ongoing process. You are either born again (begotten of God) or you are not. There is no process of our works that we go through that at the end finally produces a Christian. James knew this.

BUT, he says… oh no, you say, here comes the “but”! Yes, there is a “but”, but, it isn’t what you think.

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

This is, of course, what we are supposed to do. Why would we expect God to tell us anything else?

James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Analyzing this we clearly see that if one is a “hearer only” and not a doer of the word, then one has forgotten something. What EXACTLY has he forgotten? Has he forgotten Jesus? Has he forgotten who he “is”? NO, he has forgotten who he “WAS”! Well, who WAS he? He “WAS” lost, but now he is NOT. James doesn’t say he has forgotten who he currently IS but who he WAS, definitely proving this WAS a lost man but is NO LONGER a lost man. A NATURAL man, as he is born, coming from the womb, of the water is a LOST man. Now, think with me, if a man WAS something and is NO LONGER that same something, then he is different. If a man is to be DIFFERENT in this world from who he WAS, there is only ONE WAY for this to happen. He must get saved. He must get converted. He MUST be a new creature – or he is still the old creature - a dog! No matter what color his hair is or how nice his clothes are or how prestigious his position is. He is a natural born unsaved man. God will never see him any DIFFERENTLY, not one little bit. You are either saved (a new creature, the new man) or you are lost (the old creature, the old man).

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

So, this man James is talking about in James 1:23-24 IS SAVED (a new creature, a new man). It is impossible for him to be anything else. He can’t turn into a chicken or a bear or become a Kryptonian. This man is saved but he is simply not a doer of the Word. This is not only possible, my friend, it happens plenty.

James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

So, the man that IS SAVED (WAS lost) and is a “doer of the WORK”, “this man shall keep his salvation”? Is that what it SAYS? Of course it doesn’t; you can read. It says this man “shall be blessed in his deed”. There is no need to comment further but this definitely doesn’t say anything about losing your salvation at all. On the contrary it basically says you can’t, and that this is really all about blessing vs. non-blessing (i.e. rewards) for the saved man.

James 2:12 So [knowing this, don’t misunderstand] speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

SO, James says, understand you should do AS they that will be judged by the law of liberty. What is the law of liberty?

I will present four quick verses and comment very briefly. I think you are smart enough to get the rest from there.

1st mention in the whole Bible of “liberty”.

Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

2nd mention in the whole Bible of “liberty”.

Psalms 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

As Christians we are FREE to walk as we please. We are FREE to do anything we want. Why? Because we have been set FREE! We are FREE!! However, we should be very careful to not use that freedom to please our flesh but rather to be a “doer of the word” and not a hearer only. The word does not tell us to please our flesh.

So, we get to the meat of the issue quickly, but here we are.

James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

First of all, this is about the “profit” of the SAVED man, not of the man he “WAS”. Our “profit” is our reward. James is saying that there is no profit to someone who is saved (WAS lost, don’t forget that) but is doing nothing for the Lord. His “faith” won’t help him profit (“save him”). To confirm see this:

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Your PROFIT is your reward, not your salvation. Also note the phrase “save him” at the end of James 2:14. This isn’t talking about a salvation “save him”, this is talking about coming to his rescue IN THE FLESH – in the body and NOT in the spirit. Here are the only other two (2) occurrences of “save him” in the New Testament and BOTH of them are talking about someone coming to the rescue IN THE FLESH. They are not talking about a spiritual rescue or saving at all – just like James 2:14 isn’t.

Matthew 27:49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

I don’t think Elias was going to come and “save” Jesus spiritually. Elias wasn’t going to come and make sure Jesus didn’t lose his salvation. Do you? No, this was all about saving the flesh.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Notice the phrase “in the flesh”. The death Jesus was praying about was the crucifixion. He died that physical death. He wasn’t saved from it. The context following James 2:14 also supports this.

James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

This is talking about works IN THE FLESH (the body) being profitable. If you say you are a Christian and have some great swelling words for your brother but don’t help him (physically, in the flesh) in his time of need, what profit is there in that? What did he get out of that? NOTHING! But he is still a brother. He is still saved. As are both of these people on each end of the transaction (or non-transaction since he didn’t do anything). This is talking about PROFIT. This profit has nothing to do with whether you receive salvation or not. Just two quick verses to support that claim:

1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

1 Corinthians 14:6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

This is talking about PROFITING other Christian brothers and sisters by our ministries. This is not talking about profiting the unsaved, but the already saved. Listen, PROFIT is what you EARN when you WORK, just like James is saying. No work = no earned profit. But your salvation is not based on earned works at all and it is certainly not an EARNED PROFIT. You didn’t and can’t EARN your salvation. You can EARN profit in rewards for eternity but you simply CANNOT earn your salvation in any way. The PROFIT of salvation all goes to the one who EARNED it: that profit ALL goes to Jesus Christ. Your salvation was not earned by you but was given to you completely free and without cost.

Back to James: let’s take these next three occurrences of “works” in James together.

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Notice first the part every false prophet conveniently leaves out of this discussion of “faith without works is dead”. I agree that “faith without works is dead” but notice verse 17, please – the faith is still THERE, it is just ALONE! The faith isn’t GONE, it is still INTACT. It is just dead. This is very important. Notice it isn’t “lost” or “misplaced” or “left” or “gone away”. It’s still there – it’s just dead. It isn’t doing anything. It isn’t active. It is just sitting there dead. BUT, and this is monumentally important, it is still there – it is just ALONE. This man is winning nobody to Christ and will abide ALONE and bear no FRUIT for Christ. Wanna see that in the Book?

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

This man will have no “fruit” to bring to Heaven with him, thus abiding “alone”.

Titus 3:14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.

A Christian’s own works do not give life, but only life more abundantly. Our works are for bringing forth fruit. Now, in James 2:18, notice the phrase “a man may say”. This is what a “man” says, not God. This is about showing MEN, not about showing GOD. James is saying that this is a way MEN may have an idea whether or not someone is an actual believer.

1 Samuel 16:7 …man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Notice “show ME” and “show THEE”. Where is “show God”? It isn’t there! What “man” sees and what God “sees” are two entirely different things. What James is saying is that he is dealing with people who are CLAIMING to be saved but have absolutely no desire to serve God whatsoever. He isn’t saying they aren’t necessarily saved, he is saying there is NO PROFIT to them for living this way. He is saying, basically, if you are saved then you sure aren’t helping the cause of Christ, or yourselves, by the way you are living (walking).

James culminates this in verse 20 with the now famously parroted statement “faith without works is dead”. First of all, look to whom he says this, “o vain man”. This could , at times (there are many different men), refer to men that may have even believed in vain – we know those that believe in vain aren’t saved! Even if one is saved, and didn’t believe in vain, he may still be “vain”. If you happen to recall what vain means, it means “worthless”. Even though he may be saved “by faith alone” (which everyone must be) he is “worthless” to the cause of Christ and has no “profit”. We move on.

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Listen closely and carefully. In short, God told Abraham to do something. Abraham did it, but what he did (HIS WORK) was not counted for righteousness! ONLY the fact that he “believed God” (he BELIEVED GOD, not believed in God) was counted for righteousness and his works were NOT counted at all! THE FACT THAT HE BELIEVED GOD (remember the record?) WAS IMPUTED AND COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. In other words, when God ASKED Abraham to do something according to FAITH he had to DO IT or the faith meant nothing. EVEN IF (v23) all he was asked to do was believe God. It is given to us to not only BELIEVE GOD (not believe IN God) but to DO A WORK. What is that work? To REPENT, CONFESS and SUBMIT to God’s Righteousness. That is the only work of the saved man.

Paul, in Romans, backs up this analysis completely.

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Notice in James 2:21 the phrase “justified by works”. Either Abraham was “justified by works” or he was NOT “justified by works”, which is it? He may have been BEFORE MEN but He wasn’t before God. God ONLY counted his BELIEF for Righteousness, and not the work at all!

So, the really big question, the question that we all want answered is - are we as Christians justified by works? The really big answer, the answer that you are not expecting, is - of course we are! What, you exclaim incredulously? I thought this whole chapter was about us NOT being justified by works? What are you saying? Hold on … calm down … give me a chance here.

Abraham had to do the work, not just believe it. To SAY you believe something but not perform the fulfilling WORK is a lie. If you say you believe you can jump off the Empire State Building and fly, that’s great. But, if you never jump to prove it, then you are a liar and you never REALLY believed it anyway. This is not the same as being justified by our own works.

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Jesus Himself defined man’s only work in New Testament salvation.

John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

Now, think about the “work” that Abraham had to “do”. How prophetic was that?! He had to sacrifice his own son! Not his first son, Ishmael (Adam), who was in bondage anyway, but his rightful heir, Isaac (Jesus), who was the joy of his life. This is a picture of the WORK done by GOD and by his SON going willingly to the altar as the sacrifice God required, and believing that His Father would not leave His Soul in Hell! Abraham did NOTHING else but believe, and RAISE THE KNIFE to take a life!! That’s what men do, we raise knives, we take lives. God saves them, and that is the WORK. So, let’s see that work in the New Testament.

Jesus had works to finish.

John 5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do.

He finished all of his WORK with His death as the sacrifice on the altar!

John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Jesus did the WORK that God required. Now, all we have to do is BELIEVE IN THOSE WORKS and that “faith” in those works is COUNTED UNTO US FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS! Our works are scum. His works are perfect! And not only are they “finished”, they were ordained and “finished” from the foundation of the world!

1 Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Hebrews 4:3 … although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

You see, dear reader, we, Adam-like, Earth-based humans, are saved by GRACE ALONE. Jesus, the 2nd man, God in the flesh of mankind, was saved by WORKS ALONE! There was not one drop of grace available to Jesus for His salvation. He had to make it totally by His WORKS – or fail miserably by His WORKS. Of course, we know that His WORKS were perfect and that He well pleased His Father. This is exactly why the Bible says if it is works it is not grace (for Jesus) and if it is grace it is not works (for us). So, you see, it is either your works or Jesus’ works. As we keep saying, your choice.

Now, the last thing. What if our faith is “dead”? What does it mean to us if our “faith is dead”? First, let’s agree that the insinuation made by the false prophets is that our faith being “dead” means we have lost our salvation. This is a fair assessment of the insinuation, no? Good, I am going to make this short and brutish.

You see, you do not continue to be saved because you keep your faith alive. You are simply NOT KEPT BY YOUR FAITH. This is the grave error of the false prophets, purported by their master Satan to keep their delicious meal-tickets in fear, keep them in line and keep their filthy money flowing into their silk-lined pockets. There is not one Bible verse that says you are kept by your faith. Let’s examine a couple of “wannabes” and then we shall be done.

Before I run them, let me quickly emphasize (again) the importance of EVERY word in The Bible. Here you will notice the difference between the word “in” and the word “of”. If you substitute one for the other in the Word of God you will have LIES and not TRUTH. Pretty simple. Just believe what it SAYS, not what you want it to say.

1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

It is 100% God’s power that keeps us saved, not our puny power. That power, God’s power, is “through faith”. But, WHOSE FAITH? You think it is yours? Are you deluded? You seriously think that YOUR faith is going to keep you saved? Think again! Jesus said of all the Father had given Him He would lose nothing – not one little drop. And you think God is going to trust that PROMISE to your faith? Nothing could be further from the truth.

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

So, what is the truth? The truth is “of”. Huh?

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Notice, please, that in each verse the word directly following each occurrence of “the faith” is “OF”. The word is not “in”, the word is “of”. So, it is not OUR FAITH “IN” Jesus Christ by which we are “justified”. It is NOT OUR FAITH “IN” the Son of God by which we “live”.

Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

The promise is not BY FAITH “IN” Jesus Christ. We don’t have boldness BY THE FAITH “IN” Him. This is the problem. It is not faith IN Jesus that keeps us saved. It is the faith OF Jesus that keeps us saved. We do not keep ourselves saved by our personal faith in Jesus. Jesus keeps us saved according to HIS faith! His faith is unmoved and cannot be changed or lost. If we are kept by God’s power (and we are) then we are also kept by God’s (Jesus’) faith. This is why Jesus (God) is ABLE to keep that which has been committed unto Him. If we had to keep it we’d be in big trouble. It hasn’t been committed to us. It has, thankfully, been committed to Him! We mess up every day. Jesus keeping it is no problem. He never messes up. Now this:

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

God’s Righteousness, the one thing we really need and the only thing that really saves us, is only available by faith “OF” Jesus Christ, not by our faith “IN” Jesus Christ. It is the faith OF Jesus that keeps us saved. It is JESUS’ FAITH – not OUR FAITH IN Jesus. And Jesus can never lose faith, even if we do.

In conclusion then, even if YOUR FAITH is dead, Jesus’ faith can never waver and can never die. I leave you with this:

2 Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Satan’s Lie!       Just “believe in Jesus” and you will be fine.

Bible Truth!       “Many” that “believe in Jesus” will go to Hell.

So what?       Where will you spend eternity?

What should I do?       Repent of your works completely. You probably turned from your SINS. You must turn from your WORKS. Submit completely to God’s Righteousness (Jesus’ works) while you are still alive. Once you die your chance will end for all eternity.

Conclusion of the Whole Matter

I am not excited about the Bible facts presented in this book – I am heartbroken. I am not happy that there are so “many” that believe they are saved and are completely lost and unknowingly deceived by Satan – it is horrific. I realize there will be only “few” that will humble themselves and accept God’s Word over their immense pride. But these things are unchangeable. They are simply Bible Truth. Jesus says that “many” will say to him “Lord, Lord” and he will reply with “I never knew you”. My writing of this book will not change what Jesus said regarding the fate of the “many”. But maybe it will change the fate of a “few”. Maybe it will help to change your fate, dear reader.

I believe the Word of God so strongly and so absolutely, that I am more than willing to endure the shame, hatred, mocking and ridicule that are sure to come my way for writing this book and warning the lost for my God. The false prophets don’t take kindly to being exposed. The wolves will protect their precious meal-tickets and their own unwavering pride. Even so, I am fully persuaded that if this book wakes up only one person and adds just a single soul to the “few”, it is worth it all. My hope, my personal hope, is all in Christ and His Word. This world has nothing to offer me. You have nothing to offer me.

If I knew it was the only way that you, solely and individually you, dear reader, would miss Hell and the Lake of Fire, I would gladly volunteer to be killed in any manner conceivable. I realize you are probably scoffing and thinking, yeah right, sure you would, liar! Listen, I understand the value of your precious eternal soul and I also know that eternity in the Lake of Fire is absolutely, unfathomably horrible. Your soul is so much more important to me than my own life on this (currently) miserable planet. You see, I am completely convinced that, no matter what happens, no matter how I am killed and no matter what I could conceivably do wrong, every moment of eternal life with the Lord Jesus Christ will be a godzillion times more pleasurable than the greatest pleasure anyone has ever experienced in this world. So then, for me, to live is Christ, and to die… is gain! (Philippians 1:21)

There is a very special river waiting for those of us that will spend eternity with Jesus. It is a river, not of water or of wine or of anything you have ever imagined. God has a river of “pleasures”.

Psalms 36:8 … thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

I can’t wait to get my first taste of that river. I can’t wait to swim in that river. I can’t wait to stand, with my dearest family and [saved] friends from this life, under a beautiful waterfall created by that river. I want to explore that river. We can’t even imagine the things in it waiting for us! In this life there are things we would call “the pleasures of life”. I’m sure there are a number of things you could name that you would consider pleasurable in this life. But God’s pleasures are not from this life. These are not pleasures you have ever imagined. These are HIS pleasures. These are things that give even the Almighty God pleasure! Just like His thoughts and His ways are so far above ours, His pleasures certainly are too. Don’t you want to drink and play in that river? And it is certain that not even one being will ever urinate in that river. They will simply never need to. It will be pure. It will be perfect. That river will NEVER experience even one drop of any kind of pollutant. It will be just as pure in a trillion years as it will be the first day we see it.

I love to swim. I want to explore that river of pleasures. What would it be like to do a 105½ with 80 twists from a 10,000 meter springboard suspended in mid-air and dive into a river of pleasures and do it with no splash for a perfect 10.0!? Even if I missed the river and landed on a bed of razor-sharp diamond blades it wouldn’t matter – it will be impossible for me to get hurt.

Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain...

My beautiful niece is a diver – we can do it synchro!

No matter what happens there it will be impossible to get hurt. You could fall on your own sword and it wouldn’t hurt you at all!

Joel 2:8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

What will I find in a river of pleasures? I can stay under the water for as long as I want because it won’t hurt and I won’t have to breathe air to stay alive!

Revelation 21:4 … there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

What kind of animals will I find?

Psalms 29:6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

A swimming unicorn, maybe? Riding a blue whale? Having a talking great white shark for a swimming buddy to go exploring with? I can’t even imagine and neither can you!

What extraordinary beauty will I find in that river? What kind of passageways and where will they lead? I can go anywhere - there will be no fear so there is nothing to be afraid of. I won’t even understand what fear is! Now that I think about it, I know EXACTLY what I will find; pleasures! And I can’t wait to find them! Wanna come with?

I don’t know if I love to fly yet, because well, I haven’t really tried it. It hurts too much to try that and fail right now. But, in eternity, I can’t wait! Car, who needs a car? I’ll run faster than a Jet-fueled dragster. Plane, who needs a plane when you can fly! I think I’m gonna absolutely love flying! Have you ever seen a human “mount up with wings as eagles”? Me neither, but The Bible says it will happen so you know what that means? It will! My oldest son is a helicopter pilot. I’m gonna get him to show me all the awesome moves! Can’t wait to fly the universe with him!

I hate to run. I don’t mind playing sports and running while playing, but running for the sake of running, well, that’s for Kenyans. It’s always been just too much work for my taste. In Heaven, I’m gonna run like the wind and never get tired, never slow down, never even breathe hard! It will NEVER feel like work.

Isaiah 40:31 … they shall run, and not be weary;

I’m not sure how fast I will be, but I assure you it will be abundantly faster than I am right now! 26 miles is a marathon? Hah! I’ll do that backwards on one leg in less than 10 seconds! So will you – I hope.

May I tell you about my house? Oh, man, what a place! Jesus said;

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions...

I will have a place there! Have you read about that place?

Revelation 21:9 …Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

Revelation 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

This eternal city is 1500 miles long and 1500 miles wide. That’s a big city – half the size of the United States of America! But, it is also 1500 miles UP! Want to know how high that is? The U.S. Space Shuttles orbited at about 200 miles altitude. The International Space Station is about 250 miles up. This city, New Jerusalem will rise up 1,500 miles above the Earth! I’m thinking there’s a pool on the top. Now that’s a room with a view! And beautiful? You have never even imagined anything this beautiful.

Revelation 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious…

Just the “light” coming off of that city is more beautiful than any laser, light, fireworks show you can imagine. This place is going to be incredible. And it will never get old. It will be BRAND NEW every day. It will never get dirty or old or broken or unsatisfying.

Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Matthew 6:20 … in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.

Everything, including us, will be INCORRUPTIBLE in Heaven! Nothing will ever break down or need repair.

1 Peter 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.

The saved are joint-heirs with Christ! I can’t even begin to understand the extensive inheritance Jesus deserves.

God will create a brand new heavens and a brand new earth; one not utterly broken down! And in that new, eternally expanding universe we will dwell; we will travel and explore and enjoy!

2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Those that are God’s Righteousness will dwell there. Everyone there will be completely righteous. We will travel the universe at, minimally, the speed of light.

Ezekiel 1:14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning,

And possibly at the speed of thought! We will not need spacesuits or rocketships. We will be given “space” as a reward. What you create in that space or do with your space will be entirely up to you. Have you ever moved a mountain like a woman moves a couch in her living-room trying to get it just right? You will! Simply speak, like Christ, and things will leap into existence. You will create your own “world”. There will be different levels of power.

Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me…

Some may have 10 galaxies and some may have 1. Some may have 10 solar systems and some may have none. Some may have 10 planets and some may have none. Some may have 10 countries and some may have none. Some may have 10 cities and some will have none. Your “dominion” (remember Adam was given “dominion”) will be your eternal reward for your service to Jesus during this lifetime. The current constellations have tremendous meaning. I’m not exactly sure but I think they are named because they are someone’s dominion! I think the “bands of Orion” actually belong to a being named Orion! How would you like your own constellation? Count me in!

Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

We will be given “power” as a reward. Jesus gave his apostles “power”;

Matthew 10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

As you learned in chapter 9 (if you read it) ALL power is God’s and comes from God, but God GIVES power in varying degrees to whomever He chooses. Jesus was given ALL power;

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Some will be rewarded with astounding power. Some will have limited power. The Bible says,

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

That verse describes two DIFFERENT levels of power (brightness, light). Your power reward will be given you individually in a perfectly measured amount based on your life of sacrifice in obedience to the Word of God, especially in the area of winning souls. You will never be given any more or any less power than that for eternity. Best live for Jesus now, my friend. This is the ONLY chance you will ever get.

I am going to take heavenly vacations with my earthly wife (we won’t be married to each other there but will know each other) to galaxies trillions of light years away. I want to see what those people have created! I want to see where they have put their mountains! I want to see what pleasures they have designed – ALL WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST!

1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

I don’t have to worry about being away from home or locking my door or getting home to feed my flying, talking, sapphire-colored pet tiger. We can just enjoy the universe for eternity!

What will I eat? Hmmmm. I don’t know about you but I’m thinking ANYTHING I WANT!

Psalms 78:25 Man did eat angels' food…

This is, as you may well know, a reference to “manna”. Manna is described in the Bible as,

Exodus 16:31 … Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

The Bible describes it like some sort of sweet cookies. When you think about it, although that sounds great, it doesn’t sound so great for breakfast, lunch and dinner EVERY DAY for forty years! You could not eat your absolute favorite food in the world for each and every meal over the span of forty years – or for eternity for that matter. The Talmud (Book of recorded Jewish Tradition) says that this “manna” could taste like anything the eater wanted it to taste like. If they wanted steak, it was steak. If they wanted corn, they tasted corn. If they wanted strawberries, they tasted them. That would take a very long time to get tired of. And no wasted time cooking – and then no wasted time cleaning! That’s the life!

There will be fruit of which we have never even conceived.

Revelation 22:2 …the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month:

I assume this is for dessert! Yumm!

Every once in a while we will all be called home to celebrate together – a big, happy, unbelievable family reunion!

Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

You may say, that’s too often. I’m not sure exactly how long the cycles are but one day is 1000 years with the Lord. A month could be thirty thousand years! Enjoy your vacation. There is no time in this universe.

We will bring back gifts to our Lord.

Revelation 21:24 …the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. …26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

The nations will be those, non-Jewish, populating the universe. They will return, bringing their gifts with them! The Jews will have dominion over the new Earth.

Dear reader, this is comparatively only a light scratch on the surface of the Deep when compared to the things we will actually experience in Heaven. We will be completely satisfied by the pleasures of God for all eternity!

Psalms 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house!

So what should you do about this?

1 – Heaven with Jesus is a godzillion times better than eternity in the Lake of Fire. Carefully and prayerfully read chapter 10 if you have not. Submit to God’s Righteousness before it is too late.

2 – PREACH!

Now you know the Truth. Preach it. Sound the alarm! Shout it from the housetops.

Colossians 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

You can either teach or you can preach. You can’t PREACH without warning. If there is NO WARNING then it is teaching and not preaching. What’s the big problem with that?

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

It is IMPOSSIBLE to believe in Jesus without a “preacher”; not a “teacher”!

If all you do is teach you cannot win folks to Christ and you cannot please God. PREACH the Truth. Warn whomever you can, wherever you can! Do it now, before it is too late.

The “many” are “asleep”. They are captured by Satan at his will!

2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The Devil is walking around this planet as a lion, seeking to devour his prey.

1 Peter 5:8… the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

The “prey” are asleep under the watchful eyes of the false prophets. Don’t believe that?

Ezekiel 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things.

The false prophets, following the lead of their master (Satan), have stolen the souls of the people and all of their wealth.

It is ALMOST too late. World Peace is quickly becoming a real possibility. This simply could not happen without the world slumbering away while it happens.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

The Bible also says this cannot happen without a “falling away” happening first.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 … that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

This is EXACTLY what has happened. The “many” have “fallen away” from the truth. Their “teachers” have refused to “preach”! The have given the flocks, the ones they are fleecing of their money, only cunningly devised fables. But sadly, the flocks love it. Their ears are scratched and they are comfortable sleeping. Please don’t wake us, they plead.

2 Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…

The idea behind a “watch” is for one person to remain awake while the others sleep. “Many” are asleep. “Few” are awake. This is OUR WATCH, dear reader. On our “watch”, while we are awake and everyone else is asleep, our job is to warn the sleeping when the enemy is dangerously close. Well, that time is now. Sound the alarm! Wake up the sleeping! They may get mad. Nobody likes to be awoken suddenly when they are resting comfortably.

Amos 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion,

We are behind enemy lines, dear reader. The lost and blinded humanity in Satan’s luxury prison are going to be mad when they are awoken. They may get violent. They may hate your guts. They hated Jesus first. But, the price of just one soul is worth all the suffering you can endure in this world. Praise the Lord! Keep pulling the alarm! The FIRE is coming and once it hits, there is NO escape! May God richly reward you for warning the “many”.

I led a woman to Christ a short time before this writing. She was a complete stranger to me. I am thanked often for winning folks to Christ, but every once in a while it is very special. She had barely finished her short salvation prayer when she broke into weeping and leapt toward me, tears streaming down her face, arms open and hugged me tight. She whispered, “thank you so much for coming by”.

Ezekiel 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

THE END

(Or maybe this is just the beginning!)