Summary of Bible references on the Rapture
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Another goal is to transfer consciousness between bodies! What is this "immortality", is this what the book of Revelation refers to as people longing to die and can't?
Revelation 9:6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
Imagine if Hitler or Stalin had these tools? The power, the brains, the ability to control the masses!
Revelation 9:6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
Imagine if Hitler or Stalin had these tools? The power, the brains, the ability to control the masses!
"Our universe is but a shadow of a larger reality" Scientific American, June 2005
23 minutes into the Expectations of the Antichrist -- Session 4 -- Chuck Missler
This is not a speculation, it is a conclusion based on the observations we have seen.
Colossians 2:17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
23 minutes into the Expectations of the Antichrist -- Session 4 -- Chuck Missler
This is not a speculation, it is a conclusion based on the observations we have seen.
Colossians 2:17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Transhumanism is building a "temple" to reach beyond themselves, just like the Tower of Babel.
God draws a line in the sand, He won't allow them to do anything that they imagine to do. If you are still wondering if we are at the last days the transhumanism movement is this line over which they cannot cross.
We are facing "the advent of the hybrids". Genesis 6 is all about the Hybridization of humans with Angels.
Daniel talks about them, saying "they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men" -- the advent of the Hybrids in human civilization.
As the days of Noah were so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
God draws a line in the sand, He won't allow them to do anything that they imagine to do. If you are still wondering if we are at the last days the transhumanism movement is this line over which they cannot cross.
We are facing "the advent of the hybrids". Genesis 6 is all about the Hybridization of humans with Angels.
Daniel talks about them, saying "they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men" -- the advent of the Hybrids in human civilization.
As the days of Noah were so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
Revelation 5:13-14 Jesus, head over all to the church
13 And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard I saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever. 14 And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.
Giving Jesus the book was equated to giving Him blessing, honor, glory and dominion. Not only does the book have seven seals but the blessings of the covenant God made with man have seven categories of blessing. I believe that if we look at these seven seals in the next few chapters we will be able to understand many mysteries. We can understand the mystery of God, the great mystery of Christ and the church, and also answer the questions that have plagued us throughout human history “why?” Why war? Why famine? Why plague? Why martyrs?
Believers will know the Lord as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. They know that His sacrifice on the cross redeemed them, it paid the price for their sins, and the Lord’s blood washes them and makes them white as snow. But, it is Jesus' victory over sin and death that made Him worthy to open the book. The world thinks that His death was weakness and it was foolishness. If that is true then it was the weakness of God and the foolishness of God, and the weakness of God is stronger than men, the foolishness of God is wiser than men.
So then, what do we learn about this book that Jesus was given when He ascended to the throne?
13 And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard I saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever. 14 And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.
Giving Jesus the book was equated to giving Him blessing, honor, glory and dominion. Not only does the book have seven seals but the blessings of the covenant God made with man have seven categories of blessing. I believe that if we look at these seven seals in the next few chapters we will be able to understand many mysteries. We can understand the mystery of God, the great mystery of Christ and the church, and also answer the questions that have plagued us throughout human history “why?” Why war? Why famine? Why plague? Why martyrs?
Believers will know the Lord as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. They know that His sacrifice on the cross redeemed them, it paid the price for their sins, and the Lord’s blood washes them and makes them white as snow. But, it is Jesus' victory over sin and death that made Him worthy to open the book. The world thinks that His death was weakness and it was foolishness. If that is true then it was the weakness of God and the foolishness of God, and the weakness of God is stronger than men, the foolishness of God is wiser than men.
So then, what do we learn about this book that Jesus was given when He ascended to the throne?
- He received it when He ascended. So until that time the seven seals were sealed.
- The seven seals indicate that it is a legal document bequeathing something to Him from God. Psalm 2 would indicate that at least one of the things given to Him was the nations.
- The book is comprehensive, there is no room for additions, just like John says at the end of the Book of Revelation which is also the conclusion to the New Testament.
- It is also illegal to take anything out of this document since it is a legal document.
- Many, many people have tried to open this book but none were worthy. The first and most important criteria to opening this book is that God would determine that you are worthy.
- John also felt powerless to open this book and weeped for the implications that had for humanity. This book answers questions that are essential for the survival of man. This is not simply inferred from John weeping but even more from the seals that are subsequently opened. We will look at those in the next chapter.
- In order to open the book Jesus had to overcome. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David’s wisdom and power. Jesus had to defeat sin and death in order to open this book.
- All of mankind is referred to as the first Adam. According to the Bible the first Adam became a living soul. All of our civilization is an expression of this living soul. Song, dance, religion, history, science, and all the books in the library are an expression of man who became a living soul. The last Adam, Jesus, became a life giving Spirit. This is the key difference between Jesus and all those who came before Him. This could be the key criteria that makes Him worthy and all those prior sages not worthy to open this book.
- The Lion is the lamb that was sacrificed on the cross to redeem us and save us from our sins. His power and wisdom is of God (seven indicating God + Creature). The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. The world considers the cross of Christ to be the weakness of God and the foolishness of God. So then, the weakness of God is stronger than man, and the foolishness of God is wiser than man.
- The Lord has sent His rhema word throughout all the Earth, this is how He has carried out His ministry and built up His church.
- Jesus “takes the book” from God, similar to His word “the violent take the kingdom by force”. The crucifixion of Jesus was extremely violent. Sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh were all crucified.
- He has redeemed men from every nation and built them up to be a kingdom of priests to our God. And these people reign with Him on the earth. This is also what makes Him worthy to open this book.
- The Lord has seven eyes, just as there are seven golden lampstands. One reason that He is able to open these seals is that there are people in every tribe and nation that are walking according to the Lord's leading and who witness the things necessary to open up these seals.
- The Lord has seven horns. Horns indicate power and judgment. Again, there are seven lampstands, there are people of every tribe and nation that are walking according to the Lord's leading and are in a position to exercise power and judgement over the ruler of this age. This is another reason why He is able to open these seals.
- These seals began to be opened immediately after the Lord ascended to the throne.
The Inquisition
Everyone was required to inform against heretics
Anyone suspect was liable to torture, without knowing the name of his accuser
The proceedings were secret
The inquistor pronounced sentence and the victim was turned over to civil authorities to be imprisoned for life or to be burned.
The victim's property was confiscated and divided between the church and the state.
Revelation 2:21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
Matthew 24:4-8 birth pains
Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
There is a wonderful correlation between the "birth pains" described by Jesus and the four horses of the apocalypse. See that no one deceives you, that would be the white horse. It is easy to use this to justify the "antichrist" theory of the white horse, but without the gospel how do you keep from being deceived? Wars and rumors of wars would be the red horse. Famines would be the black horse, and earthquakes are often associated with plagues like dysentery. But the Lord describes them as "birth pains". Birth pains become more and more frequent and if you look at human history this is what you see. There were great wars every 150 or 250 years at the beginning of this age, but now we have had two world wars, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, two Gulf wars, and a war in Afghanistan all in the space of a hundred years. We have had a couple of very big pandemics throughout the last two thousand years, but in just the last 100 years we have had the Spanish Flu, AIDS, Sars, Swine Flu, Covid19, and now the Delta variant. The birth pains are getting closer and closer together.
Birth pains are associated with giving birth and the birth will be to the man child who is to rule the nations. These four horses reveal that the worldly system is corrupt. The rulers are liars who manipulate the people into going and fighting wars for them. They are incompetent causing famines and having unclean living conditions that lead to epidemics.
We are learning this because of the seven eyes of the Lord and we are dealing with these liars and murderers because of the seven horns of the Lord.
For example we now know that Fauci was involved in financing the gain of function research at the Wuhan lab which created Covid19, that he then lied and manipulated the entire world to reject the lab leak theory until it could no longer be denied, he lied about treatments that would have made the pandemic less severe and easier to treat, he pushed for a complete shutdown which was contrary to the scientific consensus on the best way to deal with a pandemic. We also know that he is a Free Mason and that they think the solution to the world's ills is to reduce population from 7.5 billion to 500 million. They think that pandemics and wars and abortion are three ways to move towards that goal, but the best and most effective way would be to sterilize billions of people under the guise of a life saving vaccine.
We now see that the Democrats are pushing to nationalize the police. Think about that the same people who pushed to defund the police and in whose cities you have the worst crime want to be the ones who run the police for the entire country.
We have also learned that the leaders are pushing their agenda under the guise of "climate change". It is hard to deny the horrific forest fires in California, the only problem is that 80% of California's water goes to agriculture which is growing extremely water intensive crops. Surely this has played a major role in the "drought" and ironically as the forests burn big agriculture stands to gain more land that they can use for farms.
Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
There is a wonderful correlation between the "birth pains" described by Jesus and the four horses of the apocalypse. See that no one deceives you, that would be the white horse. It is easy to use this to justify the "antichrist" theory of the white horse, but without the gospel how do you keep from being deceived? Wars and rumors of wars would be the red horse. Famines would be the black horse, and earthquakes are often associated with plagues like dysentery. But the Lord describes them as "birth pains". Birth pains become more and more frequent and if you look at human history this is what you see. There were great wars every 150 or 250 years at the beginning of this age, but now we have had two world wars, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, two Gulf wars, and a war in Afghanistan all in the space of a hundred years. We have had a couple of very big pandemics throughout the last two thousand years, but in just the last 100 years we have had the Spanish Flu, AIDS, Sars, Swine Flu, Covid19, and now the Delta variant. The birth pains are getting closer and closer together.
Birth pains are associated with giving birth and the birth will be to the man child who is to rule the nations. These four horses reveal that the worldly system is corrupt. The rulers are liars who manipulate the people into going and fighting wars for them. They are incompetent causing famines and having unclean living conditions that lead to epidemics.
We are learning this because of the seven eyes of the Lord and we are dealing with these liars and murderers because of the seven horns of the Lord.
For example we now know that Fauci was involved in financing the gain of function research at the Wuhan lab which created Covid19, that he then lied and manipulated the entire world to reject the lab leak theory until it could no longer be denied, he lied about treatments that would have made the pandemic less severe and easier to treat, he pushed for a complete shutdown which was contrary to the scientific consensus on the best way to deal with a pandemic. We also know that he is a Free Mason and that they think the solution to the world's ills is to reduce population from 7.5 billion to 500 million. They think that pandemics and wars and abortion are three ways to move towards that goal, but the best and most effective way would be to sterilize billions of people under the guise of a life saving vaccine.
We now see that the Democrats are pushing to nationalize the police. Think about that the same people who pushed to defund the police and in whose cities you have the worst crime want to be the ones who run the police for the entire country.
We have also learned that the leaders are pushing their agenda under the guise of "climate change". It is hard to deny the horrific forest fires in California, the only problem is that 80% of California's water goes to agriculture which is growing extremely water intensive crops. Surely this has played a major role in the "drought" and ironically as the forests burn big agriculture stands to gain more land that they can use for farms.
Chuck Missler does a scholarly job on FreeMasons
They believe in a supreme being. James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Code words for FreeMasons
"The angel that rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm"
"Shock and Awe"
"Mother of all bombs" = MOAB
"A fire in the minds of men"
"Novus ordo seclorum: New World Order"
11 represents a dark vision
22 vision combined with action
33 vision + action = accomplishment
For example, 11 years to the date of Bush's New World Order speech and 11 years before 2012 on Sept 11, 2001 Flight 11 crashed into the Twin Towers whose appearance side by side not only formed Masonic-like pillared gateway and architecturally depicted the number 11. Flight 11 hit the twin towers first and had 11 crew members. New York was the 11th state added to the union and New York City has 11 letters.
The coming world leader is going to be "Nimrod II"
In Genesis we learn of the "seed of the serpent", then we learn of angels mingling themselves with man and having children, and then in Daniel we learn of "they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men". Is this coming world leader genetically related to Nimrod?
Satan has a seed just as the woman has a seed and it is at enmity with Jesus Christ.
Joel
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
7 They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
10 Before them the earth shakes,
the heavens tremble,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?
These locusts have a king. Are they like the pandemic? Yes. Are they like the economic shutdown? Yes. Are they like an ancient army? Yes. Are they like the thieves in Arabian nights? yes. But they have a king, this is where we are at right now. We are talking about demons.
In Genesis we learn of the "seed of the serpent", then we learn of angels mingling themselves with man and having children, and then in Daniel we learn of "they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men". Is this coming world leader genetically related to Nimrod?
Satan has a seed just as the woman has a seed and it is at enmity with Jesus Christ.
Joel
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
7 They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
10 Before them the earth shakes,
the heavens tremble,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?
These locusts have a king. Are they like the pandemic? Yes. Are they like the economic shutdown? Yes. Are they like an ancient army? Yes. Are they like the thieves in Arabian nights? yes. But they have a king, this is where we are at right now. We are talking about demons.
When he opened the Abyss
Revelation 9:
9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
In the Bible the term star does not refer to a large ball of gas that is generating light from a fusion reaction taking place, it refers to any astronomical body that gives off light. So comets, meteors, even planets can be considered "stars". The vatican has invested in one of the most sophisticated and powerful telescopes in the world so that they can see this approaching cluster of dust, rocks, and planets.
2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
Locusts with the power of scorpions! Think about that! Locusts come on you in such incredible numbers you get overwhelmed, imagine being overwhelmed with thousands of flying scorpions coming down on the Earth!
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
I have heard that this description sounds similar to a neutron bomb. A neutron bomb will leave buildings and other things standing while wiping out life. However, for those who do not die from the initial blast the radiation poisoning will be like what is described here (you can see the special on Chernobyl, they show what it is like to die from radiation poisoning). This description also aligns very well with very many dreams. When the asteroid hits the earth smoke goes up and missiles from Russia are fired at the US at the same time.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
Revelation 9:
9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
In the Bible the term star does not refer to a large ball of gas that is generating light from a fusion reaction taking place, it refers to any astronomical body that gives off light. So comets, meteors, even planets can be considered "stars". The vatican has invested in one of the most sophisticated and powerful telescopes in the world so that they can see this approaching cluster of dust, rocks, and planets.
2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
Locusts with the power of scorpions! Think about that! Locusts come on you in such incredible numbers you get overwhelmed, imagine being overwhelmed with thousands of flying scorpions coming down on the Earth!
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
I have heard that this description sounds similar to a neutron bomb. A neutron bomb will leave buildings and other things standing while wiping out life. However, for those who do not die from the initial blast the radiation poisoning will be like what is described here (you can see the special on Chernobyl, they show what it is like to die from radiation poisoning). This description also aligns very well with very many dreams. When the asteroid hits the earth smoke goes up and missiles from Russia are fired at the US at the same time.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
What is our calling?
I'm of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure.
I'm finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colourless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labour by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.
*African Missionary note from a young man that was going to be killed if he didn't deny Christ. quoted by Chuck Missler in Expectations of the Antichrist -- Session 6
I'm of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure.
I'm finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colourless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labour by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.
*African Missionary note from a young man that was going to be killed if he didn't deny Christ. quoted by Chuck Missler in Expectations of the Antichrist -- Session 6
What we are seeing today, is it satanic or simply negligence, or is it both?
Yes, it is both. Look at the church how negligent they have been to tolerate Jezebel who kills Naboth claiming he was a heretic all to steal his vineyard just like the inquisition did for 500 years. They allow Balaam the false prophet to teach the believers to commit fornication and worship idols. Now there are those who do know the deep things of Satan and they will be judged accordingly, but there are also many who don't. Like you said they may be negligent in their walk with the Lord. There are others in the church who only pretend to be believers, having a name that they live and yet are dead, fully assured that their names are written in the book of life and yet not aware that if they do not repent their names will be blotted out. There are others boasting about how rich and prosperous they are while they order Jesus around not even aware that He is outside of the church knocking for them to open the door for Him.
Meanwhile there are some believers, not a lot, and certainly not the strong ones, who are standing at the door, holding it closed on the enemy while at the same time keeping the door open for people to repent and receive the Lord regardless of how hard the evil one tries to shut that door.
Yes, it is both. Look at the church how negligent they have been to tolerate Jezebel who kills Naboth claiming he was a heretic all to steal his vineyard just like the inquisition did for 500 years. They allow Balaam the false prophet to teach the believers to commit fornication and worship idols. Now there are those who do know the deep things of Satan and they will be judged accordingly, but there are also many who don't. Like you said they may be negligent in their walk with the Lord. There are others in the church who only pretend to be believers, having a name that they live and yet are dead, fully assured that their names are written in the book of life and yet not aware that if they do not repent their names will be blotted out. There are others boasting about how rich and prosperous they are while they order Jesus around not even aware that He is outside of the church knocking for them to open the door for Him.
Meanwhile there are some believers, not a lot, and certainly not the strong ones, who are standing at the door, holding it closed on the enemy while at the same time keeping the door open for people to repent and receive the Lord regardless of how hard the evil one tries to shut that door.
Luke 5:17-26 -- Your unforgiveness has paralyzed you
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
So there is something quite interesting about this story, it says that Jesus saw “their faith”. This refers to the men who carried in this paralyzed man and lowered him down, yet the Lord said to the paralyzed man “friend, your sins are forgiven”. Everyone thinks that we are healed by faith and if you aren’t healed then your faith is not strong enough. But in this story there is no indication that the paralyzed man had any faith, yet he was healed. This is what the false prophets do, they tell you to be healed and if you aren’t then it is because your faith wasn’t great enough. No doubt there are going to be many believers who have already gone through this, they have already tried to speak for Jesus, they just can’t do it. They have bought into the lie that their faith is not strong enough. I can picture this paralyzed man not wanting to go before Jesus. He is going to tell me to rise and walk, I can’t do it, then He is going to say “O ye of little faith” and I will be shamed in front of everyone. He was probably very upset with the two who were taking him to Jesus against his will. Those two were obviously desperate, it is a lot of work to take care of a paralyzed man. Especially a whiny one saying “I can’t do it, I can’t walk by faith, I’ve tried”. But Jesus didn’t tell him to walk by faith, rather He said “your sins are forgiven”. Then He said something that really gives the whole story away. “Which is easier”. If you know Jesus you know that He doesn’t need to worry about which is easier, that word wasn’t for Him it was for the paralyzed man. Which is easier to say “your sins are forgiven” or to say “rise and walk”? The paralyzed man was saying that it was too hard for him to rise and walk, but can you at least say “Your sins are forgiven?” You probably just cussed out those two people, why not start with them and say “I forgive you”? That is a powerful gospel message. If you have tried and failed to preach the gospel and it is just too hard for you, then I suggest you start with “I forgive you”. It is very possible that your unforgiveness has made it impossible for anyone to receive a word you say.
Right now we have a situation where everyone is offended by everything and everyone. Would you like to rise up and walk? The easiest thing to do is to say to others your sins are forgiven. Has anyone offended you, sinned against you? Tell them their sins are forgiven and you will begin to walk in the Lord.
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
So there is something quite interesting about this story, it says that Jesus saw “their faith”. This refers to the men who carried in this paralyzed man and lowered him down, yet the Lord said to the paralyzed man “friend, your sins are forgiven”. Everyone thinks that we are healed by faith and if you aren’t healed then your faith is not strong enough. But in this story there is no indication that the paralyzed man had any faith, yet he was healed. This is what the false prophets do, they tell you to be healed and if you aren’t then it is because your faith wasn’t great enough. No doubt there are going to be many believers who have already gone through this, they have already tried to speak for Jesus, they just can’t do it. They have bought into the lie that their faith is not strong enough. I can picture this paralyzed man not wanting to go before Jesus. He is going to tell me to rise and walk, I can’t do it, then He is going to say “O ye of little faith” and I will be shamed in front of everyone. He was probably very upset with the two who were taking him to Jesus against his will. Those two were obviously desperate, it is a lot of work to take care of a paralyzed man. Especially a whiny one saying “I can’t do it, I can’t walk by faith, I’ve tried”. But Jesus didn’t tell him to walk by faith, rather He said “your sins are forgiven”. Then He said something that really gives the whole story away. “Which is easier”. If you know Jesus you know that He doesn’t need to worry about which is easier, that word wasn’t for Him it was for the paralyzed man. Which is easier to say “your sins are forgiven” or to say “rise and walk”? The paralyzed man was saying that it was too hard for him to rise and walk, but can you at least say “Your sins are forgiven?” You probably just cussed out those two people, why not start with them and say “I forgive you”? That is a powerful gospel message. If you have tried and failed to preach the gospel and it is just too hard for you, then I suggest you start with “I forgive you”. It is very possible that your unforgiveness has made it impossible for anyone to receive a word you say.
Right now we have a situation where everyone is offended by everything and everyone. Would you like to rise up and walk? The easiest thing to do is to say to others your sins are forgiven. Has anyone offended you, sinned against you? Tell them their sins are forgiven and you will begin to walk in the Lord.