Worshipping the Image of the Beast
Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.
The famous story in Daniel about the king and the religious image he created has much deeper meaning than is widely taught. This story tells us Satan’s strategy to create a false god and religion and get people to bow down to it. He has been widely successful just as the Bible predicts.
Daniel 3:10 You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image.
The true church is the body of Christ and it is composed of the true and faithful believers of the Lord Jesus. These are those that fear God and obey His commandments; being led by the Spirit of God. Man made church, all its congregations, denominations, buildings, schools and doctrines and traditions is not the true church. There are many members of the true church, the true Bride of Christ, sitting in these “churches” but church is not THE CHURCH. In fact, what most call church today has become an idol, a false system of worship called “church” but that which really leads one to a different Jesus and teaches a different gospel. Most people in these churches worship the church they sit in and not the true Jesus.
The majority of Christians, the “many” Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:22 and 28:5; have bought into the doctrine that teaches them they do not need to die to themselves to follow Christ. They are taught salvation is an event or a virtual cake walk that has no cost of discipleship or that even requires ANY effort except saying some words “I believe” with your lips. There is nothing spoken of about repentance, turning from sin and getting a new heart and loving God with all of it. They are taught that a covenant is a one-sided deal instead of two walking together. They believe obedience to the gospel is optional and grace is blanket forgiveness of sin. The love they know is carnal, fleshly and demonic as it has seeking the approval of men, showing partiality and selfish ambition all over it. The Jesus they know is an idol, one that shares his glory with them and allows them to be adulterers and harlots and stay married to their flesh while being married to him. These are the false jesus’s, the LORD told us would come in His name saying “I am the Christ” and deceive many into following false doctrines and the traditions of men. It seems nobody or very few see this truth. Do you? Spiritual blindness and deafness has overtaken those in the church. We should not be surprised however as this is exactly what the Scriptures tell us would be the case in the end times.
In the end times, God promised He would bring revelation to those walking in covenant with Him. God is calling people out of the Babylon church and into a true relationship with Him that will be evidenced by obedience to the gospel. The Lord told Peter, He would build His church and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it. God is building His Church but yet many are building their own church with worldly wisdom and fleshly effort that is not of God. We are told God’s Church will be a remnant and that man’s church will be a great assembly, called Babylon.
Revelation 18:2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
As the angel of God proclaims, the apostate church of the end times will be a great dwelling place of demons and will put its members into prison and bondage to the powers of darkness. The truth is sobering and yet very few see what is really happening. The church today has totally fallen away. Sure there are remnants of the true church assembling together but there are few given the professing quantity of christians and churches. The false churches are real easy to spot based on Scripture. They do not teach the fear of God, they do not teach on God’s judgment and they do not teach the need to deny ourselves and die to our flesh. Instead they focus on church marketing, growing the number of congregants, building bigger buildings and promoting what God can do to serve those members.
False shepherds have painted an image of a broad and easy road that leads to salvation. Many are holding onto a false security about their salvation and are unwittingly following after doctrines of demons. But they are blind to the truth but God is indeed calling up watchman as His coming has been delayed, but time indeed grows short.
APOSTASY SAYS FLESH DOES NOT HAVE TO DIE
I recently wrote about double minded harlots. This is what the apostate church has created. This is the doctrine that says we can have it both ways and serve two Lords; Ourselves and Jesus. This is adultery and we are told to not be deceived about this lie scores of times in the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament. These are the verses I have highlighted in my blog as I was awakened to this truth by God. The demons in the churches are liars, they work for Satan and they are leading Shepherds and Sheep away from the truth and into the pit.
Revelation 17:2-6 There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5This title was written on her forehead:
MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT: THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
Babylon is clearly the fallen church. The allegory of a woman and a mother clearly represents the church. This can be readily proven by reading Lamentations, Jeremiah 50-51, Isaiah 5, all future prohecies about the destruction of God’s Holy people and their assemblies. We are the daughters spoken in this prophetic books. This great church of large numbers gives birth to prostitutes or harlots. These are people who commit spiritual adultery and walk double minded. This in turn feeds unbelief as non believers look at the body of professing christians, doing the same things they do, not being really separated except for where they go Sunday morning; and these non believers say God does not exists.
While the great falling away began centuries ago with the Catholic Church and the Vatican, it did not end there. The Catholic church literally killed the saints with the sword, but the apostate Protestant church of today is killing them spiritually by putting them on the broad road that leads to destruction. Ezekiel tells us the blood of the lost will be on the hands of the false shepherds and watchman who cause this or fail to warn others. False shepherds are not led by God’s Spirit instead they follow traditions of men taught in a school. These false teachers are instructing the sheep to have a form of godliness yet deny the power of Jesus to change and transform lives in a walk of holiness. I have tried to balance not judging with the call of God to speak up and warn others about this deception. I am beginning to really understand what Jesus meant when He said “few there be shall find the narrow gate to heaven”. I judge doctrines and not the hearts of any man as I am working out my own salvation with fear and trembling.
If we do not die to self, we cannot follow Jesus and are therefore not His disciple. Jesus said a kernel of wheat (true sheep) must fall to the ground and die if it is to bear life and fruit. That is what He did for us and what He demands we do for Him. That is true covenant my friends. If we do not kill our old man, mortifying the deeds of the flesh, we are under the law and the wrath of God abides upon us. Only when we die to self are we released from the law which means we are walking by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit. If we do not die, the law continues to have dominion over us and we will endure wrath. Jesus did not come to abolish the law so do not be deceived. We are under grace and not the law IF we put to death our flesh and walk in the Spirit of the living God. It does not matter how many words we say with our mouth about Jesus being our Lord, actions speak louder than words.
Galatians 2:19-20 For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Unfortunately the sugar laden, cotton candy gospel of most churches tells us all we need to do is say a prayer one time, invite Jesus into our hearts or just come to their church to be saved. This is not the gospel. Salvation is not an event, it is a road that leads to life and we must endure to the end to be saved. There is no formula of doing X, Y and Z and then you are saved taught in the Scriptures. It is a walk of holiness that begins and ends with true faith but we must overcome and finish the race to receive the prize. I am astonished at how deeply asleep God’s people have become and how the basic truths of the gospel remain hidden to their hearts. This is the work of the powers of darkness that everyone ignores or believes does not exist. We best get into the fight.
False Prophet and the Image
The false prophet as foretold in Revelation 13 is the fallen away church itself and the “religion” it teaches and people worship.
Revelation 13:11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.
The false prophet beast looks good, it looks and sounds godly. That is what the two horns of a lamb indicate. People will be drawn to it because they believe it represents the true God. But alas, it speaks like a dragon. The dragon indicates Satan and we know the father of lies is a liar and deceiver of the first degree. Deceivers use the word of God just like Satan did to tempt Jesus, but they pervert the Word, do violence to it and create another gospel and a false Jesus. This is where we are my friends. 99% of Christians, only God knows are worshipping another Jesus and following a false gospel. The god of this age has blinded them to the truth and God allows this since He does not have their whole heart.
People have been deceived into acting religious and serving a man made church system and believe that is godliness. Both of Paul’s letters to Timothy warn about this deception and how it would be in the last days. I have shown this verse a lot because it defines where this world is today my friends. Let’s wake up.
2 Timothy 3:1-4 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
This describes people that are “religious” but do not really know God. They have a form of godliness, yes they are religious, but they deny Christ by denying His power to transform them into the new creation we must become to be His sheep.
This work of deception is assigned to the false prophet of Revelation 13. This prophet, which is really apostate harlot churches is to install another Jesus and another gospel and get the people deceived into worshipping this lie. Jesus foretold this in the Olivet Discourse Matthew 24:11 many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Isn’t this what the fallen away churches and many ministries of today are doing? They teach doctrines that do not conform us to godliness and hence they teach another gospel and another Jesus. I recently wrote about this deception and the immense success it has had as Jesus predicted. The False Prophet’s job is to deceive people into worshipping the first beast who is the antichrist.
Rev 13:12 The False Prophet exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast
Worshipping is a religious exercise and this evil work will be going on in and around the fallen away churches. Christians are not going to purposefully worship the beast. They will only be tricked or deceived into doing it. That is the apostasy and it is beginning to be revealed. John gave us more information about how the false prophet pulls off this deception on the masses.
Revelation 13:14-15 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
This false image of God is really the antichrist and comes to life as an imitation of the living God and speaks via false teachings and all kinds of false voices that can even come disguised as dreams, prophetic visions and the like. Many churches of today, especially the huge emerging ones are really synagogues of Satan. They use “marketing science”, audio visual technology and swelling words of vanity to create emotional experiences that appeal to the deceitfulness of man and our sin. People think they are worshipping the LORD but in many cases they are worshipping the beast which is the antithesis of Christ – the spirit of antichrist. These spirits in turn report to the dragon, who is Satan himself. A great number of tares are being planted that look like the real deal but do not know the Lord, they just practice religion for gain and the approval of man. Church has their heart instead of the living God.
Yet God is good and He alone saves and He even saves people sitting in these Babylon churches. Praise God for that! Yet our great commission was to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to OBEY ALL HE HAS COMMANDED. It wasn’t getting them to go to church. Church was designed to be the means to an end but has become the end goal of modern evangelism. Jesus told us we die to self or else we will die. That is what the LORD meant when He gave us this truth.
Luke 17:33 Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it
This truth remains a riddle to most church goers. They simply do not understand and they are blinded by the powers of darkness. He told us we had to love Him more than anything to be worthy of Him; even our very families. He told us we could not look back and cling to the world and be saved. The demons have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. The lie says we can have it both ways, live like the world pursuing the lusts of our flesh and still be in the will of God. God sends a delusion upon those who believe this lie because they do not love the truth to be saved.
I believe another deception exists regarding the abomination of desolation. This abomination to God is already standing in the temple of God. Jesus is the “HE” in the Bible that abolished the sacrifices 2000 years ago. It is not some future man coming, it is done. The antichrist are spirits, false Gods and false Jesus’ installed in the apostate churches. These have become idols in the hearts of God’s people, just like in Moses’s time. It has just not yet been revealed to very many people but a day is coming soon when this will be revealed. Everyone is looking for some political leader to come deceive us, yet the deceiver has been in our midst for centuries and has lulled us to sleep. This type of error happened before when Jesus came. The Jews were looking for a political savior not a spiritual one. The Apostle John told us to watch out and that the enemy was already infiltrating the church unnoticed.
1 John 4:1-3 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
For some reason God has shown this to me before many others are seeing it. I do not boast about this as indeed I have been burdened by this revelation. I fear that I might somehow be deceived and have sought His guidance on what to do with the truth that has been given to me. Don’t believe me on this but do believe your Bibles that reveal this truth. Pray for wisdom and the eyes to see the truth.
Awakening The Sheep
I am searching hard for truth and if you have studied the Word and have read other people’s viewpoints about the Book of Revelation, there is obvious confusion and disagreement on what is truth. While I don’t claim to have it all figured out, the one thing I am confident in saying is that most of the theories and common understandings about the antichrist, the beast, the false prophet, the mark of the beast and even the period of tribulation are dead wrong. My understanding is that much of what John foretold has already come upon the earth, we just missed it because we were sleeping. I say this because of a couple parables of Jesus where He told us everyone would be sleeping as the deception gets planted in the church. The Wheat & Tares and Ten Virgins are the parables I will quickly highlight.
Matthew 13:25-26 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
Of course we know the weeds/tares look like wheat but are not wheat. Jesus goes on to say God will allow the weeds to grow along side the wheat until the very end. In another end time parable, the Ten Virgins Jesus also shows us that the sheep will be asleep. In fact Jesus said EVERYONE, both the wise and the foolish virgins would be sleeping.
Matthew 25: Parable of Ten Virgins
Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.2“Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5“Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they ALL got drowsy and began to sleep.
God told us the prophecy of the end times would be revealed before the end and I believe that is happening now. The parable of the Virgins continues and God says a shout will go out that awakens everyone to come out to meet Him.
“But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7“Then ALL those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
The time of this happening is said to be at “midnight”. That is simply a type or reference to the darkest part of the day, a time of very great spiritual darkness in the end times. Look at the sorry state of our world and morality today. Despite all the churches and the growth of sheer numbers of Christians, lawlessness abounds. Can it get any darker? Spiritual midnight is fast approaching and when it does God is going to reveal the antichrist that ALREADY sits exalted in “church” and in the hearts of many. I pray people will have the eyes to see and the ears to hear when this happens.
Abomination of Desolation
Matthew 24:15 Therefore when you SEE the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), …………….
Jesus goes on to tell us a series of cascading events to culminate in His return once the abomination is revealed. It is not yet revealed but the day and hour is coming when all hell will break loose from a worldly perspective. But those in Christ will be at peace despite all this trouble. I wrote about that recently HERE. While everyone else seems to be thinking about a new temple that will be built in Jerusalem. I see this temple and the abomination happening in the spiritual sense. God is spirit and lives in His children. We are the temple of the living God.
Ephesians 2:21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
1 Cor 3:9 you are God’s field, God’s building
One of the great end time events that will signal the season of the end is the abomination of desolation spoken about in Daniel and by Jesus in the gospels in Matthew 24, Luke 21 and in Mark. We are told the abomination of desolation will sit inside the temple of God exalting itself as God. Well there is no physical temple of God anymore. We are the temple, so rather than looking for an abomination inside a building we should be looking for one inside of our hearts which is God’s temple. There may well be a third temple built or other events but they are just going to be distractions to what is happening in the spiritual. These events if they happen will just serve to bring delusion upon people blinded by the enemy. The temple of God is being made desolate RIGHT NOW in many Christians who are on the wrong road following the wrong spirit.
1 Cor 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
The oppression of Christians by the powers of darkness does not have to be. If we truly submit to God and resist the devil, the devil will flee. But if we ignore the devil or think there is no devil or that we don’t have to worry about the war, we will be overcome. We have to get into the war. But God did not leave us to our own devices. Jesus gave us ALL His authority and power IF we walk being led by His Spirit.
Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
That is a promise from Jesus, IF we walk in covenant relationship with Him. This is not the place to get into this, but the reason the church and most Christians have no power today is that they are not walking in covenant. They have not overcome sin in their lives. I am not saying they will be sinless but they certainly will not be practicing sin and their hearts will be pure before God.
God has equipped us to do battle and overcome but the false gospel tells us there is no war to be fought. People live in ignorance and are being destroyed from lack of knowledge. Religion as widely practiced is not of God, it is an abomination and it is bringing about desolation of God’s people. The Word of God will slice through the powers of darkness and that is why it is essential that we study ALL scripture and not just the sugary piece parts.
The worship given to these false Christ’s (unclean spirits) has fulfilled one of the roles of the false prophet, which is to create the fallen away church and get all to worship the image of their boss. Awaken O’Sleeper, the judgment of God comes quickly and there is little time left to get oil into our lamps. We are told what to do when we hear this voice.
Revelation 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues
I love the brethren and long for fellowship now that I have been released from the prison that kept me in bondage my whole life. I am following what I believe is the call of God to proclaim the truth as has been revealed to me. It is a message that does not please flesh and it goes against the thoughts of virtually everyone else. I have been caught in a battle to speak out in full truth or to hold back and try to remain in good standing with the world. I have chosen to speak out as God gives me more and more confidence, always aware of the snare of spiritual pride.
Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death
If we get the real Jesus in our hearts, His Holy Spirit, the Comforter comes and will free us from the prison most of us have been put in by modern religion. If anyone sees it differently and can make a case in the Word of God and not the teachings of men; please bring forth correction and rebuke. I would love to hear it as I am only seeking the truth. I want to be in the will of God and pray that all of us will be enlightened with truth and led by the Holy Spirit.
Good pm all,
This is 24/7
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
I tried a sabbath day, my house felt the strain of putting of the Rest of our Lord everyday.
We fulfill the law IN CHRIST. He is the rest that remains for the people of God. Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness. We establish the law being led by the Spirit as the law is spiritual. We don’t even lust in our hearts, we don’t hate and we don’t work, we are led by the shepherd the living God who abides inside of us. That is the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God. The law is good and the law is holy if one uses it properly. It was there to bring us to the seed promised to Abraham. That seed has come. Halleleujah!
I respect all who choose to strictly observe the Saturday Sabbath as it indeed is a good thing and God blesses all that we do to honor and seek Him with a pure heart. But we must not judge our brothers on this matter anymore. Love fulfills the whole law.
Romans 14:5-10 - One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Anyone who thinks that the Sabbath is done away with is being decieved. Its the only commandment which contains Gods Authorship of creation in Exodus 20:
8“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
If scripture is to be consistent then how do we reconcile Hebrews 4:9 & Colossians 2:16? Easy if we have the Holy Spirit to guide us – Its telling us not to let any man pass judgement on us for keeping New Moon Days, Sabbath Days, or eating only certain foods on certain days, or if we drink wine on some of those days. God instituted these things as shadows/representations of things to come and we are to keep them as a reminder that He is the Creator of all things.
Its all about worship. If Satan can steal the worship due to God, then he has won the spiritual battle being fought over our souls. If we ignore Gods commandments, then we worship Satan by default. Thats how deception works – its subtle, warm, inviting, and once it captivates the soul, then the sin becomes complete and we are transformed into slaves of darkness.
Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Dont be deceived into believing that the Sabbath has been done away with, changed, or accomplished. There is ample evidence the Apostles and Disciples kept the Sabbath after Christs ressurection, just like they kept the Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, & Pentecost. Let us therefore follow their example.
May God Bless all those who hear His Words and Obey!
@Bill Johnson,Very well explained brother. Jesus is our sabbath and our rest ,anyone looking to keep an old testament sabbath or new moon has not understood the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. I was one who tried to keep these traditions thinking that I was in obedience to God, but all I felt is emptiness and unfulfilment.
Please excuse my error in the last post, it was the 15th day of the 1st month on the lunar calender.
My apologies
Bill
A day of the week is the shadow, and Jesus Christ is the real substance. Stay focused on the substance and forget the shadow, there is nothing in the creation that man can add to Jesus to improve on HIS Divinity. Its all about absorbing the substance of Jesus Christ into the temple of God with in us. Their is no evening or morning of the 7th day , it is eternity. Christ in you, is eternity in the heavenlys NOW. Who has quicked us and translated us in the kingdom of HIS dear Son. My kingdom is NOT of this world; said Jesus. Mans calenders are of this world and mean not, the Lunar Hebrew calender, which was off by a day in accordance with the Pharasees came to a close on the 1st day of 15th the month or the last passover, and never to be again. This is the day that Jesus died, it was the High Sabbath, He then became the Sabbath rest Himself, for all who seek to enter into His rest. Them that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. When seated in the heavenlys thier are no calenders or time, its just eternal sabbath rest in Christ.
God does not go by the calenders of man, and everthing ended with the flesh Israel at the cross, that ship sailed 2000 uears ago. As the kingdom was then translated at the cross, along with the recepient of the promise., (potter and the clay Jere.) . Lev 23 speaks of the feast days, and the sabbath was one of the feast days, Jesus is NOW the sabbath, the baptizm, all of the feast days, the King, the High Priest, the one time sacrafice for all, He is EVERYTHING magnified IN ONE. This is one reason the yoke is light, the new moon sabbaths were a heavy yoke.
Everything in the Ot were mere shadows pointing to the real substance in the person of Jesus Christ.
Peace be with all
Bill
Let no man therefore jugde you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, of of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come: but the body is of Christ. Colossians 2:16-17
Hello Steve…………………..dont forget that prosperity gospel of man………….tis a lie of the DEVIL.
Let us learn to be content ………and not be covetous. Be content with such things as you have.
And remember the yoke is easy……………..if we walk in Christ………………..God does not author confusion. Too many teachers do that. Yet if they teach truth…………..Praise God………….for this is needful for the body to be edified. Be blessed Steve.
The commandments of God were summed into (2) Laws; Love God only with all your heart & mind & Love your neighbour as yourself. So if we truly love God then He is our only God and we will live an examplary life by living according to the power given as being created in His image. So in summary its all about worship of our Creator. How do we show that worship? Simply by obeying Him only. Obedience is the key to understanding the whole mystery of scriptures. If we dont obey Him then we are disobedient. We cannot reason away our own disobedicence, without creating lies. Satan is the Father of lies, so when we create a lie, we are giving our worship to Satan by default. In fact any form of disobedience is Satan worship. Which is why God says choose today whom you will serve, God or Man. There is no inbetween because serving our own thoughts is really giving our worship to Satan.
So how exactly does Satan manage to deceive all the nations into worshipping the beast and its image? How does Satan go to deceive the very elect? It must be a very powerful lie, right? Daniel 7:25 tells us that the deception has already occured by changing the Appointed times (Holy Days) and the Laws. This was first accomplished by the establishment of the Roman Calendar through Julius Caeser, then it being ratified by Pope Gregory in 1582. By changing the Creators Calendar, Satan has deceived the whole world into giving him our worship. Its why God tells us to REMEMBER MY SABBATHS, KEEP MY HOLY DAYS – they will be a sign of obedience by observing the Creators Calendar. Its impossible to keep Gods Commandments using the Roman Calendar because God has appointed the moon to show His times of worship as shown in Psalm 89:37 it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah. So it is quite clear that the moon is the Creators faithful witness to His seasons is the moon which is further supported by Genesis 1:14.
So even if Christians believe they are keeping Gods Sabbath by keeping Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, then they are being deceived simply because these days NEVER appear in any of the original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic Texts. Ezekiel 46:1-3 clearly states that New Moon Days & Sabbath Days are times for worship, but not the 6 working days. So even those commited Christians who declare that they worship god every day, are also being deceived by the same spirit of disobedience. Isaiah 66:23 proves that after the new heaven and earth are created, still we will worship God on New Moon Days & Sabbath Days, but these can only be found by following the Creators Calendar. There is plenty of evidence if we really want to look – Psalm 81:3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
Thus its how the whole world is currently being deceived right now, even the very elect, by simply following Satans calendar which was originally instigated by Rome in 45BC, and ratified by Roman Pope Gregory in 1582 AD. By using this calendar we unwittingly give our worship to Satan instead of the Creator. Which is the very reason why Christ told us in Matthew 7:22-23 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ So even though we prophesy, exorcise demons, and perform miracles, we are still are breaking Gods Laws!
In addressing the passage of scripture in Revelation, that no man may buy or sell without the mark of the beast, I believe that we should take a very close look at what idea is being alluded to in it.
Now, the popular notion abroad concerning the idea lends to the vision of some future era when some computer implant, or other visible manifestation, equated with the ‘mark of the beast’, must be openly displayed so as to qualify one’s participation in the acts of buying and selling.
This notion, borne of the words chosen by the translators of our English versions, conjure up an idea that may not be the same as that one which is conveyed in the original Greek.
There are specific words in Greek for our English equivalent of “buy” and “sell”. These are ‘Poleo’ (in Greek, phn.) for to sell, and ‘Onemai’ (in Greek, phn.) to buy.
Both of these words have been used in Scripture (N.T.) to indicate buying and selling. What is more, they have been accurately translated as such. (e.g. Matt. 18: 44, 46. Matt. 10: 29)
When we approach the passage in Revelation 13: 17; which says that no one may ‘buy or sell, save he that had the mark etc.” we find that in the original manuscripts neither the Greek word for ‘buy’ or for ‘sell’ is indicated.
The Greek word in verse 17 of Revelatrion 13 is one word, not two, and it is ‘Agorazo’ (in Greek, phn.) This word does not actually indicate definitive buying, or selling.
It means literally “to be in the ‘Agora’ “. (in Greek, phn.)
We must then conclude that because ‘buying’ and ‘selling’, have different words than this, ‘Agorazo’ in the Greek language, and have been assigned the words ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ accurately by the translators of our English versions; that, Agorazo must indicate something more, less, or other than mere buying and selling.
‘Agorazo’ means to “be in the Agora”. It indicates to freely attend it, and have free use of it. The ‘Agora’ is “the market place”.
However, if one is unable to ‘Agorazo’ save he have the mark of the beast, he will not only be restricted from buying and selling, but from even window shopping, for he will not be permitted ‘in the Agora’.
The “Agora” or market place, beside being a literal marketplace, is also indicative of the most defining instance of merely being ‘out and about, in public’. It may well also indicate public life, and “business as usual” in ‘the world order’.
The passage we are attending to in Revelation 13: 17, says that no man “might” appear in the Agora, ‘the market place’. We have a more clear notion of the idea these words indicate, when we define the word that the translators have rendered ‘might’.
‘Dunamai’ (in Greek, phn.) which is the Greek word in the manuscripts, to which the translators have assigned the word ‘might’ in the passage, has a very specific Greek definition.
It means, ‘I can’, as opposed to ‘I can not’. It pertains to the qualifying circumstances of both the physical and moral sphere, and as depending on the disposition of mind, and the nature of external circumstances.
The sense of these ideas should now be becoming self evident to the discerning Christian. The moral and ethical climate surrounding even the most mundane of everyday circumstances, once benign, are taking on a more precarious aura continually.
The general degeneracy of society, on a wholesale level, is reaching that point where the obvious observation would be that the ‘Christian’ does not belong.
One might reflect upon how many affronts to Christian truth he or she might be assaulted with merely by an innocent trip to the mall to do some shopping. The ‘casino and brothel’ aspect of much of societal intercourse, displays an interplay of energies and ideas, that one with a ‘Christian’ disposition of mind, which is a qualifier indicated by the use of the word ‘dunamai’ would find offensive.
To return ‘unstained by the world’ from even short excursions of necessity into it’s apparatus will become an impossible feat. The ‘market place’ will become so wicked, that only the wicked will find it attend able.
Perhaps it is so even now, and has yet to be fully comprehended. Could this passage indicate a world so Godless in all it’s aspects, and a climate so immoral, that a Christian of conscience could no more merely go out for a walk, than he could venture into a brothel to relax? Is the time upon us when one may not ‘dunamai’ in the ‘agora’ without submitting to the spirit of it?
If not, we have witness from the highest of authorities that it soon will be.
It should be understood that these ideas co-ordinate with all that has been said in the previous comment concerning the ‘character mark’ of a ‘spirited display’ of a ‘beast image’; and should be comprehended in compliment with it.
You have discovered many valid applications of Scripture to the continuity of your walk with Christ; and which are founded on the very central aspect of Paul’s revelations concerning the “old” and “new” natures.
Having also studied with a view to these sort of applications, I can attest to the disconcerting aspect of seeming contradiction which might arise viewing the “Spiritual Application” of a given concept, in contrast, or in comparison, to it’s literal manifestation.
It is often a most difficult exercise to reconcile those “spiritual applications” with natural phenomena.
The greatest contrast for us, is that which exists between these two natures, the “old”, and the “new”. Yet very few have applied the concepts of the image of the beast, and the mark of the beast, as representative of the conflict between these two natures; the image of the beast being that which is portrayed by the fallen old nature, and it’s ‘spirited displays’ as marks of character.
Yet, in studying the descriptions given in Revelation, and referring back to their original Greek ideas, this conflict between those who are ‘character marked’ by ‘spirited displays’ of their ‘beast likeness’; and, those who are apprehended by the ‘new man’ in Christ, can be clearly seen, and thus, the admonitions in revelation can be understood not only as ‘spiritual application’, but as true and literal interpretation as well.
http://timutele.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/the-image-of-the-beast/
Interestingly, the word ‘image’ as describing man’s likeness to God, as being created so in Genesis I; has within it’s definition the aspect of being enabled to render and receive worship. Thus, in conjunction to the mark, and the image of the beast, it should be understood that those who worship the beast, do so by worshiping it’s manifestation in each other. It should be also understood that the ‘Charagma’ (in Greek) or ‘mark of beast character’ is transmitted ‘Ina Dosin Autos’ (in Greek) or as we might say, they give it back and forth, to and from, each other. (or ‘one another’)
Exemplary of this phenomena to some degree might be the often alluded to ‘secret handshakes’ of fraternal societies, and more so, the ‘cryptic’ hand signals flashed among murderous rapper ‘gang bangers’ indicating ‘ like-mindedness’. The Nazi salute, with the Hiel Hitler declaration accompanying, may also be a historical example in ‘type’ of this descriptive.
The ‘hoo ra’ expletive given by military members signaling compliance, and spirited obedience to any order given, is another example. There are many of these examples of ‘spirited displays’ of ‘beast likeness’ all around us, in this fallen world order, which we in Christ have been ‘called out of’.
Concluding then that we may observe such manifestations across many venues, we might also think of examples in ‘meme’ or animation, borne along by emulation, and capturing the unsuspecting in the so called ‘churches’ as well.
The end of these spirrited displays is to bring one into obedience under the ‘spirit’ which is energizing the phenomina.
In the study of biblical numerology (one by which false conclusions are possible if undue emphasis is layed upon them as guides in interpretation) many recognise ’6′ as being the number of man, for he was created on the sixth day.
That ‘man’ is also described, when lacking the Christ nature, as ‘the old man’. In contrast to those who are partakers of the Christ nature, and we see legions of those who are without.
That this throng guided by the ‘spirit of this age’ should degenerate to the worship ‘of man, in man, by man, (coincidently 666) is portrayed by the image, the mark, and the worship of ‘the beast’.
Ray, Press into the WORD with a pure heart and God will show you all you need to know. I am stunned, astonished, burdened by the truth as I now see. The system of religion is the beast. Rev 13:11 it has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. Satan and his minions are deceivers and they deceive by lying. A flood is coming to sweep the wicked away and it is a flood of lies. It is like in the day of Noah except the flood is not a physical flood. The Lord showed me this in Daniel 9:26, about the flood that I had never seen before to confirm that the flood is here. The church is already surrounded by the armies. it is not russia, it is the powers of darkness. I encourage you to go read Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 50 and 51, Lamentations, Ezekeil 13, 34 to see how all of this was prophesied. It is going to get very lonely for those standing on the truth. Only part of the holy stump will be saved, very few, only a remnant. So says the Word of God. Thanks for visiting and I encourage you to get ready, time is short.
Great piece. I’d like to hear a sermon like that!