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Saturday, August 24, 2013

True and false conversion

This so succinctly summed up my views on true and false conversion, that I had to post it.

 "You do not need to be cured. You need to be slain."  


 Not sure who to give credit to for the quote, when I looked it up on google, I got a bunch of references to zombies, lol!!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Gifts and caling of God are irrevocable

Romans 11:28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. 32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.

The "they" is Israel   What is being highlighted is a time when
seemingly they have forfeited their calling, their disobedience is front
and center and seemingly they have been cast aside, 
it is over, 
but MERCY,
 bulldozes through.  
MERCY is exalted, 
MERCY triumphs.  
God's promises
are fulfilled through the most circuitous route possible,
 but they are true, 
because
HE is true. 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Zechariah Bible Study #7 Chapter 5:1-4


Zechariah Bible Study # 7
The Flying Scroll
Zechariah 5:1-4

The Flying Scroll


5:1 Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.” 3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side. 4 I will make it go forth,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones.”  NASB



After 5 visions emphasizing hope and future glory, come 2 visions displaying the cleansing judgment that must come.

Before the millennial reign on the earth

from this very land,

through this very people

there must be a time of cleansing from everything that defiles.

The God of Israel has two methods in dealing with sin and removing iniquity, both of which are in perfect accord with the absolute holiness of His character. One of these methods—the one He delights in—is the method of grace. This is beautifully unfolded in the 3rd chapter, where we are shown how that, on that ground of His sovereign immutable 'choice', and because of the full atonement and perfect righteousness accomplished by His Righteous Servant, 'The Branch,' the iniquity of that land shall be removed 'in one day,' and repentant Israel (upon whom the Spirit of grace and supplication shall in that day be poured)shall be cleansed from all defilement (as signified by the removal of the 'filthy garments') and clothed in 'rich apparel,' and with the 'fair,' or 'clean,' mitre on his head, on which the words 'Holy to Jehovah' are graven, shall be fitted to go forth among the nations as the priests of Jehovah and the ministers of our God.

But what about those who persist in their wickedness, and, in spite of the marvellous display of God's grace, 'will not learn righteousness' but continue even 'in the land of uprightness' (as Immanuel's land shall then be called) 'to deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah'? (Isaiah 36:10) With them God's method is that of judgment. Sin must be purged away, iniquity, must be stamped out in the city of God; and when the sinner is so wedded to his sin that he is no longer separable from it, he becomes the object of God's curse, and must be 'cleansed away' from the earth. In short, then, the two visions in chapter 5 give us the reverse side of the truth unfolded in the first four chapters.

They show us that if there is grace and forgiveness with God, it is not in order to encourage men to think lightly of sin, but that 'He might be feared' (Psalm 130:4). They also take us, so to say, a step backward, and show us that, before the glorious things symbolically set forth in the first five visions will finally be fulfilled, a period of moral darkness and corruption, and of almost universal apostasy, was yet to intervene." David Baron (3 amazing paragraphs)



Verse 1 – The prophet is looking toward the scroll that is the starting point for the angel to explain it. Just like if someone visits your house and is looking at an object, without them verbally asking, you start to tell them about it. Ezekiel 2:9 is an example of a scroll that appears in a vision that foretells, “lamentations, mourning, and woe.”

Verse 2 – The dialogue begins with a simple question, “What do you see?” Don't attempt to explain its meaning, or symbolism, or anything else just yet. Let's keep it simple. The prophet sees a scroll specifically that is flying. So it must have been “launched” from somewhere. He is able to give its dimensions. The measurements are the same as two areas of the temple; (1) the porch of Solomon's temple (which had been destroyed) (2) the Holy Place of the tabernacle. This would seem to say that this judgment is based on God's standards. They are unchanging, unlike the culture around us. They are final.

Verse 3 - “This is the curse...” It is singular, no matter how long the list is. Deuteronomy 30:1 So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, “ It is singular because it is coming from one source. The law of God, has been broken, the curse now comes forth. This curse is going out to the face of the 'whole land' (not the whole earth) indicating once again that blessing and privilege for the Jewish people also exposes them to judgment. Amos 3:2 “ You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Two sins are mentioned, swearing falsely by the Name of Jehovah and stealing. The third commandment and the eighth commandment, both in the middle of the each table that God wrote the law on. Two sides of a tablet and now two sides of a scroll. “Purged away” could also be expressed as 'cleansed away.' Even in the judgment, there is a redemptive element. One just gets the feeling that God is holding back, giving grace, in only specifically identifying these two sins. The judgment is poured out, “according to the writing” again, which has not and does not change. There is a definite tendency in our thinking that 'wishes' the commandments could be weakened or altered. Can we come to the point where we see that the “hardness” of the demands is meant to draw us, to drive us, to the beauty of His grace. “Of course you are going to fail, I knew that, and I have made the way to return, to be healed.” The horror and the beauty is shown most magnificently at the cross.

Verse 4 – Here we find out who “launched” it, God Himself. Baron calls this verse, “one of the most solemn in the whole Bible, as showing what an awful thing it is to come under God's curse against sin.” 'I will make it go forth' and 'it will enter' both emphasize that there is no turning back, judgment has come. 'The house', the place where you may imagine yourself most hidden or least vulnerable, is neither, with God. The judgment 'stays' until the work that it was sent to do is accomplished. This is no visit that when the person leaves or when you exit the principles office you can wipe your brow and say, 'I'm glad that is over.' This is not over until God's judgment has been satisfied. These transgressions bring punishment with them. Baron again, “But there is yet a climax in the train of calamities which the curse will bring to the house of the wicked. It shall not only 'dwell' there, but is 'shall consume it with the timber thereof, and the stons thereof.' Here we see the terribleness of the punishment which sin brings down upon itself. It shall be utterly 'cleansed away,' or 'consumed' from the midst of God's congregation, together with those sinners who are no longer separable from it.” In Leviticus 14:45 the same type of destruction came to a house stricken with leprosy.

This makes our joy even more full, when we see, truly see, that “His blood can make the vilest clean, His blood availed for me.”

One day at the time of the end this prophecy will have its full terrible fulfillment. The Day of the Lord. When the earth will be cleansed.

Monday, August 12, 2013

death then resurrection, a way of life

"Death and resurrection is not a doctrine to which God is asking us to subscribe.
It is a mode of being, to which He is asking us to live and to fulfill the remarkable
requirement that is made of us, that CANNOT be performed out of our humanity, however
well-meaning.  Resurrection is the heart of the matter because it is the issue of God, it is
the issue of glory.  It is the issue of the triumph of God in supernaturalness over all that is celebrated in the world that has to do with man.  So the redemption of Israel in the land can never be a humanly achieved proposition, but by its very nature requires a total divine enablement, tantamount to creation istelf out of hopelss chaos, just like the reality by which the cosmos came into being, out of death, destitution, and chaos.
Israel will be established by the same means, for the glory of God the Creator."
 Art Katz "The Resurrection of Dry Bones"  Ezekiel 37
 http://media.sermonindex.net/21/SID21676.mp3

This is what I am trying to get across in my speaking of Post Tribulation.  The church going through the tribulation lines up with a principle in scripture that is from the beginning to the end with its ultimate highlight being the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The preparation of His bride, the Church, will come about in the same way, who but God could arrange for a tribulation that cleanses and purifies the Church.  Will we admit that we need the heat of the furnace to purify us?  The ultimate display of the 'fear of the Lord' is to submit to this time, with a trust and a humility that says, "Not my will, but Yours be done."  Help us, Lord!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Post-trib in ten words

God Israel  The Cross The Church The Cross Israel God

Got that while I was running and listening to Art Katz this morning.  He said, " the reiprocity between the Israel and the church and the church and Israel is seen in Romans 11"

So from Israel, the whole experience, the History from the choosing of Abraham, to the cross , which led to the formation of the church, which will go to the cross, in the great tribulation and display sacrificial love during the time of Jacob's trouble, leading Israel back to the faith of Abraham, in the God who raises from the dead, this Jesus whom you pierced.

Indeed we are lead to cry out and sing with Paul, "OH the depth and the riches...."

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Challenging the pre-trib rapture

Just some post-trib, "food for thought for anyone who might drop by this blog.
When is a "day" in scripture, ever equal to seven years??
Please put Revelation 3:10 and John 17:11-15 side by side and get a better understanding of what it means to be "kept" Strongs word #5083.
Daniel 12:7 puts the tribulation at 3 1/2 years, where is it said to be 7 years?
Study the "Day of the Lord" and the resurrection of the dead, with an open mind to the placement of these events in the last days.