Search n For The Truth

OUTLINE OF REVELATION

bernie — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:09:05 +0000

REVELATION 1;1-3:22 SEVEN CHURCHES

Revelation 1:1-7=Prophecies for the church age: verse one

Seven existing churches

Foretold by Jesus Christ to the apostle John: verses 4 and 5

Promise to the church: verse 7: Jude 14

Revelation 1:8-20=Jesus Christ identified

The writer identified as John

The seven churches identified

Teachings for the present and the future: verse 19

Revelation 2:1-7=Ephesus

Second generation Christianity: 95AD

Lost their first love

Doctrinally correct

Revelation 2:8-11=Smyrna

A pure church; scattered persecution: 100AD

Revelation 2:12-17=Pergamus

General persecution; a faithful church: 250AD

False doctrine and immoral lifestyle entering in

Revelation 2:18-29=Thyatira

Beginning of the Roman Catholic Church: 400AD

Many good works; many goodly people

Increase in sinful acts: no repentance

Increase in false teaching: justified

Revelation 3:1-6=Sardis

The Reformation: 1500AD

A dead church

“Will come as a thief”

“Even in Sardis”

Revelation 3:7-13=Philadelphia

Worldwide missionary movement: 1800AD

Sound in life and doctrine

Revelation 3:14-22=Laodicea

Wealthy but lukewarm: Today

High opinion of self

Jesus turns from the church to the individual

NOTE: All that is said of the Risen Lord in chapter one has a direct relationship to the message to each church. The book of Revelation is to the church although much has to do with Israel and the world: see1:4.

REVELATION 4:1-5:14 VISIONS OF HEAVEN

Revelation 4:1-5=John called into heaven

“After this”: the church age

“Hereafter”: after the church age

The throne of God

The twenty-four elders

The seven lamps

Revelation 4:6-11

The sea of glass: seeing past and future

“eyes before and behind”

The four beasts

Exodus 35:6=four colors

Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah=four branches

Four gospels

Worship of the One upon the throne

Revelation 5:1-14

The Lamb opens the book

Isaiah 61:1 and 2; Luke 4:17-20

The seven spirits of God: verse 6 and chapter 4:5

Zechariah 4:10

The elders

Represent Israel and the church

All worship the Lamb

The beasts, the elders, the angels, all creatures

Note: no time element in these two chapters

REVELATION 6 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT BEGINS

Revelation 6:1-11: Five seals opened

First seal=The anti-Christ conquers one-fourth of the earth: verse 8

The Western world=Europe and America

Second seal=Conquest results in war

Third seal=War results in famine

Inflation in both necessities and luxuries

Fourth seal=Death from sword and famine

Multitudes enter hell

Restraint on beasts removed: Genesis 9:2

Fifth seal=Souls under the altar

Conquest of the Western world: less than three months

The number of the saints about to be completed

Revelation 6:12-17: Sixth seal opened

BEGINNING OF THE SEVEN YEAR PERIOD: Daniel 9:27

Acts 2:19 and 20

The rapture of the church: Luke 17:28-30

REVELATION 7:1-11:19 THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEVEN YEAR PERIOD

Daniel 9:27 “in the midst of the week”

Revelation 7:1-8=After these things

The church has been taken up

The anti-christ has conquered a fourth of the earth

144,000 Israelites sealed (12,000 from each tribe)

Revelation 7:9-17=After this

The church in heaven: Isaiah 66:18

Verses 11 and 12: praise to God and welcome to the church

Verse 14: Matthew 24:9; Revelation 17:6

For the redeemed church; everlasting joy

Revelation 8:1-5=The seventh seal

The prayers of the saints

Luke 18:6-8; Revelation 5:8

Revelation 8:6-13=Four angels sound

The first angel sounds

One third of trees burnt up

All green grass burnt up

The second angel sounds

The third part of the sea becomes blood

The third angel sounds

A star falls from heaven

One third of rivers and streams become bitter

The fourth angel sounds

One third of sun, moon and stars darkened

One third of day and night dark

Last verse

Three trumpets foretell three coming woes

Revelation 9:1-12=The first woe

The fifth angel sounds

The plague of locusts: supernatural creatures

The sealed protected: verse 4; Revelation 7:3

Abaddon their leader

Revelation 9:12-21=The second woe

The sixth angel sounds and looses the four angels

The horsemen; natural men??

All in Asia? (centered around the Euphrates River)

The horses; symbolic of armored vehicles??

Verses 21 and 22: repented not

Compare with 6:16: increasing rebellion

Revelation 10:1-7=The great angel

The end of the age: I John 2:18

Watch for the sound of the seventh angel

(see verse 7 and Revelation 11:15)

Revelation 10:8-11=The little book

Sweet to my taste but creates antagonism when preached

Revelation 11:1 and 2=Measuring the temple

Leave out the court

The mosque still there at this time??

Revelation 11:3-6=The two witnesses

Prophecy for three and one-half years: verses 3 and 7

The olive trees: Zechariah 4:11

Moses?: water into blood=Matthew 17:3

Elijah: drought=I Kings 17:1; Malachi 4:5

Revelation 11:7-14=Killed by the anti-christ: Revelation 17:8

Seen by all the world; the world rejoices

Ascend into heaven; the world mourns

End of the first three and one-half years

REVELATION 11:15-14:12 THE GREAT TRIBULATION

Malachi 4:5; Matthew24:21

Second three and one-half years of seven year period

Revelation 11:15-19=The seventh angel sounds

The heavenly hosts praise God

God is bringing history to a close: Revelation 10:6; I John 2:18

He will judge the wicked and the righteous

Verse 19: The great tribulation ushered in

Revelation 12:1-5=The woman brings forth a child

The child protected by God

The woman is Israel: Genesis 37:9

Verse 2: Romans 9:5

The Rod Of Christ: Psalm 72:4; Revelation 2:27

Revelation 12:6-11=The woman flees into the wilderness

“prepared of God”: Psalm 60:9

Divinely protected and fed

Revelation 12:12-17=Victory in heaven but woe on earth

The third woe: verse 12

Revelation 13:1-10=The anti-christ

The Mediterranean Sea: Daniel 7:2

The Beast: Verse 1 and 4; Revelation 12:3; 17:3

Verse 2: Daniel 7:4-6

Verse 7: Daniel 7:21

Patience and faith of the saints: II Thessalonians1:6-10

Revelation 13:11-18-the beast out of the earth

The earth; picture of anti-God religion

Genesis 4:3-5; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 11:4; John 3:31

Acts like Christ but speaks the words of Satan

Performs miracles: Matthew 24:24

The number 666 (7 is the number of perfection)

Tries again and again to be like God but fails

Isaiah 14:14

Revelation 14:1-5=The 144,000 now in heaven

“Redeemed from the earth”

“Redeemed from among men”

Revelation 14:6-12=Three angels

The first preaches the everlasting gospel

Warning of judgment

The second foretells the fall of Babylon

The third tells of the punishment of those who worship the beast

Verse 12: The patience of the saints

REVELATION 14:13-18:14 THE LAST 75 DAYS

Daniel 12:11 and 12

Matthew 24:22

Revelation 14:13-16=The harvest of the earth

Mark 4:26-29

Revelation 14:17-20=The winepress

Isaiah 63:3 and 4

Revelation 15:1-4=Tribulation saints; victorious over the beast

Verse 1: “filled up” or about to be finished

Verse 2: “mingled with fire”: Revelation 4:6

Judgment has fallen

The song of Moses and the Lamb

Both Testaments; the same message of salvation from sin

Revelation 15:5-8=The seven last plagues

Revelation 16:1-11=The first five angels pour out their vials

The first vial poured out

Terrible sores on those who have the mark

The second vial poured out

The sea turns to blood

The third vial poured out

The rivers and fountains turn to blood

The fourth vial poured out

Men scorched by the sun

The fifth vial poured out

Darkness over the kingdom of the beast

Compare verses 9 and 11 with Revelation 6:15-17

Ever increasing rebellion

The sixth vial poured out

Preparation for Armageddon:

Euphrates dried up

Way of the kings of the east opened up

The demons gather the armies of earth

The seventh vial poured out

Judgments intensify; nearing the end: “It us done”

Greatest earthquake ever and greatest hail ever

Revelation 17=The fall of the church of Rome (MYSTERY BABYLON)

1-3=The Roman Catholic church ruled over the kings

“upon many waters”

“seated on the beast”

4-6=Wealth, corruption, murder

9-7=The mystery of the beast and the woman

The beast

Was: The Roman Empire

Is not: The empire fell

Yet is: The church of Rome

The woman: Rome built on seven hills

10-11=Seven kings which oppressed Israel

The eighth; anti-God philosophy

Always latent

12-18=The kings destroy the church

Revelation 18= The fall of the world system; economic and political

1-3=”After these things”; verse 1

After the fall off the church of Rome

The anti-God wealth of the merchants

4-7=God’s people to separate themselves

I John 2:15-17

God will destroy the world system

The world expects no end to it’s system

8-11=Kings and merchants work together

And will mourn together

12-16=”and souls of men”

Wealth of all things without limit or compassion

17-20=All destroyed in a short time

“One hour”: verses 10, 14, 17 and 20

21-23=Destroyed permanently

“no more at all” verses 21, 22, 22, 23 and 23

24=All violent deaths done by the anti-God world

Compare with Revelation 17:6

Charged with the death of many of the saints

REVELATION 19 THE SECOND COMING

Verses 1-6=The worship of all those in heaven

Verses 2 and3: Revelation 17; MYSTERY BABYLON

Verses 7-9=Marriage of the Lamb

Verses 10-16=King of kings and Lord of lords

On a white horse followed by the armies of heaven: Jude 14 and 15

Vesture dipped in blood: Isaiah 63:1-4

Verses 17-21=The coming of Christ to earth

Zechariah 14: The scene from earth’s perspective

Anti-christ’s army destroyed

The beast and the false prophet cast into the lake of fire

REVELATION 20 THE THOUSAND YEARS

Verses 1-6=Satan is bound: Isaiah 25:7; Isaiah 11:6-12

The first resurrection

The rest raised after the thousand years

Verses 7-10=Earth’s final battle

Verses 11-15=The Great White Throne judgment

Judged by that written in the books: Luke 12:2

REVELATION 21:1-22:21 THE AGES OF ETERNITY

Revelation 21:1-5=New Heavens and New Earth

The holy city comes down

God dwells with men

No more death or sorrow

All “true and faithful”

Revelation 21:6-8=The over comers enter in

Hebrews 11:9, 10, 16

“Over comer” found seven times in Revelation 2 and 3

Unbelievers condemned to the lake of fire

Revelation 21:9-21= The holy city

A beautiful city

Verse 12: Israel opened the door for the church

Verse 14: The foundation: Acts 2:43; Ephesians 2:19-22

An immense city: 4-square; I Kings 6:20

Revelation 21:22-27=The Light of that world

Psalm 36:9; John 8:12

Land of endless day

Capital of the universe

Revelation 22:1-8=The Throne of God with men

The river and the tree

A boulevard??

The tree of life; transplanted from Eden

Food for life and energy

“Sent His angel”: Revelation 1:1

The same angel throughout

Verse 6: Revelation 1:4 and 11

Revelation 22:8-15=Make up your mind quickly

Verse 10: time will soon end: Daniel 12:9

Reward to those who do His commandments

Revelation 22:16-21=I Am coming

The Spirit invites

The bride (the church) invites

Do you feel a need? Then come

Do you feel no need? Come anyway

Do not add or detract one word from this book1

GOD REMEMBERED ABRAHAM

bernie — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:57:32 +0000

In Genesis 19:29 we read that “God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt”. As I wrote in the THE SALT OF THE COVENANT Lot had no claim on God for his protection. After all, Sodom was his personal choice. The reason God saved Lot from the destruction of Sodom was only because “God remembered Abraham”.

We are told in Luke 18:28-32 that another day is coming of which Sodom is just a picture. There will be a world wide catastrophic event when many are taken out at the rapture. Now as Lot was saved from the destruction of Sodom, only because of Abraham, does it then not follow that there will be some taken out at the outpouring of wrath on the world because we are friends of Christ (John 15:14) and God remembers us? Three times in Scripture we are told that Abraham was a friend of God. One will do much for his friends.

Does that then work both ways? Lot’s wife would have felt quite safe because her husband, according to II Peter 2:8 was a righteous man. But she died in the overthrow. Luke 18:32 is very important here: “Remember Lot’s wife”. The angels certainly wanted to do their best for Lot. They even sent him out to talk to the rest of his family but they refused and died in the overthrow.

There is something similar in Mark 2:1-12. Here four men are carrying a sick man on a pallet to be healed. They encounter a problem; there is such a packed crowd that they can’t get to Jesus whom they trust can heal the man. So they climb up on the roof, remove some of the tiles and let the man down right at Jesus feet. He was truly impressed by their faith.

There were three things needed here on the part of the four:

1-They must have a personal knowledge of Christ and bring the man to the right person. (I think that some people supposedly saved today have not met the Christ of the Bible but a christ of someone’s imagination). Remember, Jesus said there would be many false christs who would deceive many.

2-They must themselves believe that Jesus was able to help the man.

3-They must somehow know that Jesus would not be angry because they interrupted His teaching.

“He seeing their faith”: this can have many applications.

THE SALT OF THE COVENANT

bernie — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:54:49 +0000

In Leviticus 2:13 God tells the Israelites that they are never to bring an offering to Him without salt. Now the people of Israel, living at that time and place would understand the reasoning behind that. By eating together they would indicate a friendship, but if they took salt together or if you ate salt in someone’s house it was more of a covenant. You committed yourself to the other’s welfare. We read in II Chronicles 13:5 that God had made with David a covenant of salt.

Remember the old story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves? They discover that Ali Baba is the one who has found and taken their gold and jewels. The leader of the forty thieves comes to Ali Baba’s house. He is invited to stay for dinner, but claims that the doctor told him he was not to eat salt for health reasons. This arouses the suspicions of Marjana, the slave girl who kills the leader of the thieves and with the help of the other slaves eliminates the forty thieves , too.

There is a similar story in Genesis 18. Here three men come to Abraham. One is the LORD Himself and two angels although at first Abraham does not recognize them as such. He sees three men and invites them to stay for a meal. Abraham runs to the herd, picks out the best calf he can find, has Sarah get her women to work on the breads and puts a fine meal before them. We also read that Abraham stands by and watches them as they eat. As the host it was his duty to see that they would eat unhindered. When someone came into your home he came under your protection. We see another example of the Divine Humility. The God of Infinite Power places Himself under Abraham’s protection.

Now as far as commitment was concerned perhaps the most important part of the meal was the salt. He would be a thoughtless host who did not set a small container of salt within easy reach. Job, in chapter 6:6 raises the question: “Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt”? On the other hand, it would be an insult on the part of the guest not to sprinkle the salt on his food. Ali Baba’s slave girl did right in being suspicious of the guest who did not take the salt.

Is it possible that there is really an obligation on God’s part? It would seem so. From there the LORD and the two angels left to destroy Sodom. What would be Abraham’s greatest interest there? It would be the fact that his nephew Lot was in Sodom. We see in Genesis 19:29 that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out before He destroyed the city. After all, He had no particular obligation to Lot. We see that the LORD Himself went back to heaven and sent the two angels on to Sodom to execute His plan there. It’s not hard to imagine that he left very specific instructions with the two angels to get Lot out of the city in time.

When the angels came to Sodom it was Lot himself who took them into his house. Now they were also obligated to Lot. We see that they then made every effort to get not only Lot but also his sons-in-law out. In the end, as Lot was lingering, one took his and his wife’s hand and the other the hands of the daughters and took them out of the city by force. The rest didn’t want to come. Lot, as a good host tried to protect his guests but failed. Fortunately, the two angels had a back-up plan. In Judges 13 there is a case where the LORD would not eat with someone. We do not read of anything that God had against him, but for some reason did not place Himself under obligation. Abraham was His friend: James 2:23. For ourselves see John 15:14 and Revelation 3:20.

SHOWED HIM A TREE

bernie — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:07:05 +0000

Moses had just brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. They walk into the wilderness of Shur and find there is no water. They keep going and find water at Marah, The water is bitter and the Israelites are in serious trouble. Two million people and nothing to drink. It is no wonder that they panic and complain to Moses. Moses in turn calls on God for help. We read in this passage that God shows Moses a tree. Moses throws the tree into the water, they were healed and good to drink. This is in Exodus 15.

The waters are a picture of the restless nations. See particularly Isaiah 17:12. The tree is a picture of the cross. Wherever the gospel of salvation through faith in the blood of the cross has come hospitals, clinics, schools and churches have sprung up. By the year 400 AD the Bible had been translated into 500 languages. Then the Catholic Church squelched this work (and the true teaching of the cross) and insisted that the Bible must be only in Latin.

Earle Cairns, in his book: “Christianity Through The Centuries”; in pages 395 and on tells of the improvements for the poor in England which greatly influenced America in the 18^th Century. Latourette, one of the greatest Christian historians of the 19^th century called the years of 1792 (when William Carey went to India) to 1914 “The Great Century”. During that time Protestantism became a world wide religion with the message of the cross and changed things for the better around the world.

God showed them the tree.

Your Grandpa

THOU SHALT TELL MY FATHER

bernie — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:27:37 +0000

Joseph’s brothers have sold Joseph to the Midianites. The Midianites were on their way to Egypt. They lie to their father, making him believe that a wild beast has killed him. Twenty two years have gone by and now they are in Egypt to buy food because of the famine. They do not recognize Joseph but he does recognize them. After testing them to see if their character had changed, he makes himself known to them and assures them of his heartfelt forgiveness.

The brothers are sent back with all the good things of Egypt, wagons for their wives and little ones and the news for Jacob. There was no doubt much discussion on just how they would break the news to their father, especially the part of Joseph being sold into slavery. Joseph, knowing how delighted Jacob would be just to know that his son was still alive added this wonderful bit of news; “Thou shalt tell my father of all my glory in Egypt”. Will we ever have an opportunity like this? Perhaps so. Remember that Egypt is a picture or symbol of the world. We read in Psalm 72:8: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth”.

We must keep in mind that the redeemed will “ever be with the Lord”. Will there not be some who will be especially commissioned; to whom He will say, “Thou shalt tell My Father of all My glory in Egypt”? This could be a few or a multitude.

THE WISDOM OF THE JUST

bernie — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:24:02 +0000

THE WISDOM OF THE JUST

PROVERBS 11:3: “THE INTEGRITY OF THE UPRIGHT SHALL GUIDE THEM”.

It is certainly true that the Word of God is our guide, as we see in many places in the Scripture. We are told in Proverbs 3:6: “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths”. The important point here is that we not only are to hear or read the Bible but also that we carefully “observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”: Matthew 28:20. God not only wants me to be a student of the Bible but he wants to see the Bible change me into being a righteous person; the kind of person He has in mind.

Proverbs 2:1-7 brings this out. It begins by encouraging me to search the Scriptures with the same eagerness that I would have if I were digging for hid treasure. I am assured that if I will do so He will give me wisdom and understanding. But here is the point. I do not automatically gain wisdom and understanding because I work so hard for it. It is just that God promises that if I study His Word diligently He will give to me His wisdom. Everything is based on faith in the statements and promises of God. Because I believe God I obey His commands to study His Word. Because I believe God I trust Him to fulfill His promises: “For the LORD giveth wisdom”. The rest of the verse tells us where wisdom can be found: “out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding”. The one, given the gift of righteousness knows in each situation the right thing to do. Therefore: “The integrity of the upright shall guide them”. I must always keep in mind that everything I have or ever will have is God’s gift to me, earned by the blood and death of Christ.

THE BOOK OF WISDOM

Proverbs 30:4 raises a different type of question. In Proverbs Two we are told what we must do to please God, in Proverbs Thirty the man is really asking: “Who is this God”? Can you imagine One coming to the man and telling him: “I Am the One Who created all this? Not only that, here is a book which tells you how you are to live successfully. Here I will quote the entire verse: “ Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and what is His Sons Name, if thou canst tell”?

God created the first man and the first woman, placed them in a beautiful garden and freely gave them all they needed. Although they sinned against Him, He took on Himself the punishment for their sin and grants them all that is needed not only for this life but also for the endless life to come. And all this, too, is free

HE NAMED THE PLACE BETHEL

bernie — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:50:33 +0000

Jacob, fleeing from his brother Esau, whom he had badly cheated, was running to his uncle Laban. That night, sleeping in the open he had a dream. In that dream Jacob saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven and angels going up and down the ladder. The LORD stood at the top of the ladder and promised to take care of Jacob and bring him back to the promised land.

The picture here is that God has provided for man a way from earth to heaven. But Jacob, waking up sees something else. To him this is a dreadful place. As he says: “How dreadful is this place; this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”. Jacob met God. He found it to be a fearful thing. He was face to face with One Who had all power in His hands, including Jacob. We find in the Bible that it is the unbeliever who does not fear God. Jacob calls the place Bethel which means “house of God”.

Twenty years later Jacob returned to the promised land. God told him to take his family and to dwell in the area of Bethel. It was there he had the dream and met God. It was the “dreadful” place. Jacob lived here with his family for a number of years. Then he moved out of the area.

It was after Jacob’s family moved out of Bethel that Jacob’s oldest son, Reuben, fell into a very serious sin. And not only Reuben but Judah, too. When in Bethel God appeared again to Jacob and he was richly blessed. When he left the place of Bethel his sons caused him no end of problems.

Remember, Bethel was the “dreadful” place. Once they moved away from Bethel there was the sense of being where God was not. They lost the fear of God. Fear is often a very good thing. An absence of fear can be destructive for an individual or a society. Has this not happened when we removed the ten commandments from our schools?

WISE OF THE WORLD

bernie — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:32:31 +0000

The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1:20: “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world”? In verse 22 of the same chapter we read “the Greeks seek after wisdom”. There is an example of this in Acts 17:21: “For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing”. The wisdom of the Greeks was based entirely on theory with no experimentation. (To do any experimenting would prove themselves to be part of the working class and that just wouldn’t do).

For example: the theory that if you had two objects of the same size the heavier one would fall faster was developed by the Greeks. When this was proven wrong by Galileo the Catholic leaders were so upset he had to back down or they would kill him. He dropped a brick and a piece of would of the same size from the top of the tower of Pisa. (It must have been leaning a little then already). Anyway, in direct defiance of the Catholic hierarchy, they fell at the same speed. The same was true of the doctrine of the bread and wine being changed into the body and blood of Christ in the mass. The Greeks taught that a substance changed into another substance would still look like the original. This, too, was debunked by science, but too late. The Catholic Church was stuck with it.

With Proverbs particularly and the qualifications for the church elder in the New Testament we see the opposite. To both the Old Testament Jew and to the Christian it is a much more practical, hands on thing.

Not all the wisdom of this world is impractical but it does lean in that direction. Think of just three areas and we see the same mind set. One is Karl Marx and his theory of communism and socialism. Marx was very careful never to look at historical or other evidence. He simply stated as a fact that the western democracies would rise up in revolt. The only popular revolts were against communism itself because of it’s obvious failure and oppressive nature, mostly in eastern Europe. Yet the liberals and college professors still push socialism which is nothing other than a twin cousin of communism.

The second is psychotherapy or psychology, now although 200 years old simply does not cure anyone but does destroy millions.

Third, there is the theory of evolution; false but carefully guarded from any test.

Compare these untried theories with the true science of someone like Einstein. Every time he analyzed any new theory in his mind he put it to one or more tests to prove it true or false. God has given to each one the gift of reason: and to different people different abilities and interests. But all thought (where it all begins) must first pass the test of Scripture and then the test of experimentation.

Those of you who saw the film EXPELLED heard one man say that the Bible can be made to fit science. That sounds good but it’s not true. Science must always be made to fit the Bible. The Bible is always true, science sometimes.

ELIMINATION OF CHRISTMAS

bernie — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:04:04 +0000

It should not surprise us too greatly that there are a group of people who want Christmas replaced with some other name such as Happy Holiday or whatever (just so the name of God isn’t in it). The atheist is not satisfied to believe what he does, he has a restless need for everyone else to believe as he does. There are two reasons for this.

The first reason is that the atheist is afraid that he might be wrong. If he were honest with himself he would admit to that. For one thing he knows he is going to die. Hebrews 2:15 tells us that Jesus came to earth to “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”.

This is the good news of Christmas.

Spending all their lives trying to squelch this feeling; they somehow feel that by convincing others they will feel more sure of themselves and their opinion. According to II Thessalonians 2:11 and other places they can and will finally come to the horrible place where they actually believe the lie. They have crossed a line and cannot return. Meanwhile, Christmas is a reminder of something or Someone that must be gotten rid of.

The second reason is the entire issue of good and evil. Why does the atheist not give up? Neither good or evil has a tendency to give in to the other. It’s a matter of principle. Good lives to give. Evil lives to take. On the one hand you have God, the Ultimate Good Who gave His only Son so that “in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”: Ephesians 2:7.

On the other hand there is Satan, the ultimate personification of evil Without realizing it the atheist, so proud of being his own man (or woman as the case may be) is a tool of Satan. There us a good example of this in Daniel 10:20. A mighty warrior angel tells Daniel that he (the angel) is in combat with one of Satan’s hosts. He explains that Persia will be replaced by a king of Greece. In fact, so well was this prophecy laid out that the high priest of Israel read it to Alexander, telling him it spoke of him. Alexander thought he was his own man, but actually he was a pawn in a cosmic chess game. At 33 years of age he was thrown off the board. So was the king of Persia whom Alexander replaced, as the angel told Daniel would happen. Either I knowingly serve God or I unknowingly serve Satan. Now the more one is filled with the Spirit of God the more he will exude goodness. So also the more one is filled with a Satanic spirit the more he will exude evil. The psalmist says: “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God; corrupt are they”.

The good news for the Christian is the statement made by angels that first Christmas night: for unto you is born this day a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.

bernie — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:43:52 +0000

THE TINY BIPED

I happen to have a small book of poems written by CS Lewis. This was written before he became a Christian and generally the poems are depressing. This one, combined with some things I saw on the video: “Expelled” got me to thinking on a certain line. Some of the words of the poem are:

I lost my way in the pale starlight

And saw our planet, far and small

Through endless paths of nothing fall

A lonely pinprick spark of light

Upon the wide, enfolding night,

With leagues on leagues of stars above it,

And powdered dust of stars below-

Let’s say that you could possibly have a map of the universe which was a thousand miles long and a thousand miles wide or even if you had one that covered the entire North America you would not be able to find the solar system on this map. The entire solar system, large as it is, would be too small to be found on a map of this size. Now, the sun, although a million times bigger than the earth would still be a very small part of the solar system. The earth is, of course, very much smaller than the sun. On this tiny planet walks a two legged creature, billions of times smaller than this speck of a planet. It is hard to imagine that this little biped is so intelligent he knows for a fact that in these vast reaches of space there is no God. In fact, this tiny insect believes he has the most intelligent mind there is or ever has been in this entire cosmos.

If a man was a clever scientist, it’s possible that he could make a robot so advanced that it could, in turn, make other robots. After a few generations would not the robots question whether there was a man who made them? The same could be true of this little man. The problem is that this creator just might be God.