Monthly Archives: June 2016

Revelations

Revelation 11:14-19

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Rev 11:

14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Now the second woe has passed and the 3rd woe is about to come with the sounding of the seventh trumpet and like the breaking of the seventh seal this trumpet will issue in the the vial judgments which will bring us to the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ. We see again the the elders and the saints praising God again but this time it is because He is and has begun fulfilling his promises to regain control over this earth and and create the new one .It will also be the time when everyone that did not accept Christ will face their final wrath and judgement from God ,again anther reason for all the praising. This begins with lightning, loud voices , thundering, a massive earthquake, and great hail. Remember Revelation is not written in chronological order so from here we are going to cover some more details of the tribulation period.

A Note from Hope

Mr. ‘Possum: A note from Hope

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Look what we found on the porch last night! It likes to eat the cat food. Mom says to leave it alone and let it do the job God gave it to do- she says it eats bugs and other pests, so she’s glad to feed it and keep it around.
Sometimes people laugh at how ugly they think ‘possums are, but Mom says it’s not nice to make fun of how someone looks, or how they talk, or dress. Just because they aren’t like us, it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love them and can’t use them.
Mom says she saw on Facebook where someone said “don’t judge someone just because they sin different than you.” I think that’s a pretty good thing to remember. We all make mistakes and we need to lift each other up, not try to tear each other down.
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But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” I Samuel 16:7

Revelations

Revelations 11:9-13

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Revelation 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Now that the two witnesses are dead it is televised all over the world while the bodies lay in the streets for three and a half days and no cares to see that they are buried. In fact they take this time to celebrate by giving gifts rejoicing over the torment from the two witnesses coming to an end. Then the Lord steps in again and enters life back into their bodies and they stand to their feet causing great fear to come upon the people.Then God calls them home to heaven and causes a great earthquake to happen killing one tenth of the people and a remnant were so frightened they gave glory to God. It is just amazing how it takes unbelievable destruction and miraculous things to happen to get people to realize who God is, but is it any different from today we are seeing destruction and miracles every day and people are turning to every thing but God.

Revelations

Revelation 11:4-8

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Revelation 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
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.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
 
These two men are the two witnesses that will preach the message of God, understand that while these two preach all the news media will be focused on them so the message is going around the world. By the hand of God theses two cannot be destroyed during the first 3 and 1/2 years and they can and will destroy anyone who tries to stop them. Homeland security will not have a chance against them.They will have the power to perform miracles of all kinds, stop the rain , turn the water to blood , and bring plagues upon the people who refuse the Gospel. Only when thy have finished their testimony will God allow Satan to take their life and their bodies will lay in the streets for 3 days. Now it is important to remember that the 144000 are also preaching. The two witnesses focus on God’s people, the Jews, even though it is broadcasted worldwide and the 144000 are Jews and are preaching to reach anyone and everyone. Everyone has their idea of who the two witnesses are but as for me me I believe it is Enoch and Elijah because neither man ever died and have been with God since they left this earth preparing for this time.
Revelations

Revelation 11:1-3

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Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
 
As chapter 11 begins John is ask to measure the temple and them that worship there in but measure not the outer court for this is given to the gentiles that will have control for 42 months or 3 and 1/2 years, the second half of the tribulation.These first two verses set the stage for the second half the tribulation but as we go to verse 3 the two witnesses are introduced to prophesy for 3 and 1/2 years, which is in the first part of the tribulation.
Something to Think About...

The Ark of the Covenant

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3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; Hebrews 9
I’m sure most of us have seen “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – Indiana Jones has to save the ark of  the covenant from the Nazis.  They think that tremendous power can be found by opening it…  If you’ve seen the movie, you know the awful, awesome power that comes out when the ark is opened. Indie and his friend turn their faces away because they know it’s the power of God and as humans, they aren’t worthy to look upon it – and that’s what saves their lives. The Nazis who try to use God’s power for the wrong things end up as dust, after they quickly age, die and  disintegrate.
Have you ever thought about what items were found in the ark? It truly does hold the power of God- but not in the way the movies portray it.

Each item in the ark was there for a reason:

  • Manna was the heavenly food that God provided the Israelites while they traveled through the wilderness.  It was the perfect food; and there was always enough- the people were told to gather only what they could use in a day- anything more would be full of worms if they kept it overnight. On the day before the Sabbath, they were told to gather two days’ worth of manna- and what was kept for the Sabbath did NOT ruin. God made sure they didn’t have to work for their food on the Sabbath.  Manna represents God’s provision for us.
  • Aaron’s rod was also in the ark- this is the rod that flowered in the presence of the Pharaoh’s magicians; it also turned into a snake and ate the magicians’ rods when they too turned into snakes. The rod represents God’s leadership for us.
  • The tablets that the ten commandments were written on were also put in the ark- these are the laws that God gave to Moses for the Israelites to follow. These laws are how perfect people would behave in a perfect world – anyone who could always follow those rules and never mess up were worthy to enter Heaven. Of course we know that there is no one worthy to enter Heaven on their own goodness, other than Jesus – and that’s why the ten commandments are so important – to show us that we can’t do it on our own. We all have to have a savior who is worthy.  The tablets represent God’s law and how it convicts us and points us to Jesus and the salvation He offers.

Please –  consider the sacrifice that Jesus has made for you; if you were the only person who needed salvation, He would still have died – just for you. Know that Jesus loves you as you are; but He doesn’t want to leave you that way. He loves you enough to want to help you be the person you can be- the person He’s designed you to be.

Revelations

Revelation 10: 8-11

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8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
 
As chapter 10 concludes we see the angel that is standing on the sea and the earth once again with the little book, God’s word. The voice tells John to take the book and the angel gives it to him and tells him to eat it. It says it will be as sweet as honey in the mouth but bitter in the belly. This is symbolic of reading the word of God and the message of salvation be the good part, the eating of the word, and the destruction that has to come at the end for God to regain His creation. The angel also tell John now he has to prophesy again which we will now go back to the beginning of the tribulation talking about the personages of the first 3and1/2 years which will then bring us to the final judgements of God.
Something to Think About...

Thoughts on Fathers Day

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We had a guest preacher in church this morning. Bro. Terry Hester talked to us about what men should do; they need to quit acting like women, they need to quit acting like monsters and they need to quit acting like children – they need to act like MEN.

That got me to thinking about what a good man really is; what a good husband really is. The Bible shows us exactly what standards we should expect of our menfolk.

  • Jesus was willing to die for the ones He loved – men should be ready to protect their families and exchange their lives for the ones they love.
  • Jesus was a good leader- He didn’t ask any of His followers to do anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself – He didn’t force anyone to follow Him, He just loved folks and showed them the right way; they chose to follow Him because they knew they could trust Him no matter what; good men are good leaders to their families, their co-workers and their communities (I’m not saying women can’t be good leaders too; this is simply about good men do and how they act).
  • Jesus always forgave those around Him- He never threw someone’s past in their face to remind them how bad they had been; He looked at today and beyond. Good men will also move past the past and look forward to encourage the ones following them to be better tomorrow than they were yesterday.
  • Jesus loved His family (all of us) unconditionally- good men will also love their wives, children and other family members, regardless of how they act, how they dress, how they speak, how they look or any other choice they make.
Revelations

Revelation 9:16-21

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Revelation 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in t…he vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

As the woe continues we find that the number of the army is 200 million and this is not a regular army but a demonic army under the rule of the four angles. You know they are not a regular army because they had the head of lion and they killed with what came from their mouth. Fire , smoke, and brimstone is what helped killed the ones here but also their tales did torment them. It is believed that even some died from the site of these beast . After every thing that has happened to this point man still refuses to repent of their idolatrous worship, murders, sorceries, fornication, or thefts. Even though people can see today that these same things are keeping people from God and from repentance they still will not make a decision to do anything about it which is bringing us ever closer to the day this all begins to happen.