Tribulation

Comments December 2012
EXPLICIT BIBLE TRUTH
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Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing God’s glory.

Romans 5:3 Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Romans 5:4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Romans 5:5 Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:6 For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Tribulation !

Superficially it appears that a great war exists between God and Satan for control of the creation. However, such is not the case as God is the all powerful Creator and Satan is a created being who is tolerated and restrained by God until his, Satan’s usefulness is exhausted which seems to be similar to a magnet as he draws like minded people to himself. Obedience to the Gospel of repentance will brake that attraction with disaster also pushing us toward God as many understand that Satan, evil is the source of disaster.

Anyone that is upset with God should look in a mirror to find the cause and also understand that the Bible is referred to as a mirror as we see ourselves lost and in need of a Savior if we take the time to look .

Our problems come when God does not, by our standards sufficiently restrain Satan by preventing local disasters. People who have dismissed, denied or ignored God are suddenly aware when disaster strikes much like Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul. Disaster speaks much louder than mere sweet talk.

I think that if we did not experience disaster or even as observers and not participants there would be people or Angels that in the future would think or say “ if God had only allowed the Gaza strip to have been taken over by the Muslims then peace would have followed and if God had only freed convicted felons and murders then they would have appreciated His concern for them and they would have changed their ways.” What we see going on today and the 1000 years of rule by a “Rod of Iron” are times of learning for us and will prove such reasoning to be fallacious, faulty.

A number of felons and murderers have been spiritually freed by God from the snare of the Devil but then they served their time by remaining in prison or getting early releases and some have been executed as were Karla Faye Tucker and the thief at calvary.

Satan versus humanity!

To be sure wars and rumors of war are for our time and are being fought by the creatures of God both human and angelic.

In 2 world wars the U.S military fought against the axis powers of Europe as in WWI and then Japan and Europe in WWII again destroying Satan’s war assets.

Japan’s purpose most probably was to keep America busy while Satan fought for the unification and control of Europe which was a tactic Satan developed after WWI when we destroyed his war assets and set back his plans for the Mediterranean area mainly being the destruction of the Jews in the 1930’s and 1940’s and now Israel in our time. Islam is an older and the newest threat as well .

The dispersed people of Israel have always been a clannish people and eventually were unwelcome in every country they migrated to as foretold by their prophets, the prophets of God, Deuteronomy 28:63-68.

Deuteronomy Chapter 28 announces both blessings and cursing for Israel and they received both.

Within my life time the Jews have been more redly accepted in the U.S.A than in former years even though they added much to our culture.

Just prior to WWII in 1939 a ship load of Jewish refugees from Germany was turned away from asylum in Cuba, the U.S.A, and Canada and an estimated 25% were murdered by Nazi Germany after being returned to Europe .

The Napoleonic wars were an earlier attempt to control Europe and that attempt was destroyed by the Russian winter and the British at waterloo.

The objective here for Satan is to revive the old Roman Empire for World dominion with Satan as the head with the Roman Beast under his, Satan’s authority which is currently a dead political system that will be revived with 10 new heads, rulers, Kings from the old world empires, Revelation 17:8,12.

Satan’s most recent tactic is the destruction of America itself by putting the “Sons of disobedience” in critical places in our Federal and state governments and educational systems who are probably a very small percentage of our population. He also uses his powers of the air such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wind, rain and drought which are falsely called acts of God. We have been through much of this before with the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression which were meant to destroy us but we survived becoming a more humble and Godly people.

There has again been much suffering but we will survive all of this by the grace of God even though our ignorance and apathy have allowed much of it to happen but proving that we are vulnerable and need to be informed, updated and live righteously.

2nd Thessalonians chapter 2:1-12 is a good out line for part of God’s purpose, showing tolerance and control of evil as this is Satan’s day in the sun so to speak with “falling away or departure, verse 2:3” referring to the departure of the Holy Spirit and the “Body of Christ” from planet earth leaving no restraint on Satan and ties in with Revelation 12:7-9.

The omniscient God knew the beginning, in term, and out come of His creatures before He ever created as illustrated by prophecy but His creatures did not know. So, for our knowledge and benefit God allowed the process to be lived and illustrated by His creatures, the Angelic and Human races.

Even though a lot of suffering is and has occurred God gave all of us intellect and volition meaning we can choose righteousness or evil and many have chosen evil and many are currently living in the dregs of evil choices which hopefully will push them toward righteousness.

The opposite of having volition would be a Stepford wife or male equivalent who is robotized and has no will . Stepford wives are a work of fiction and I have personally never met a woman who had no self will but many are subjugated by oppressive husbands and societies.

Submission to the head of the household does not make you a slave or without self will with the husband obliged to die for his wife if necessary according to the will of God with both having different rolls in the creation which are of equal importance working together having co-dependency.

If God had wanted robots He would have made robots and saved us all a lot of trouble.

Satan is a promoter of worldly success through Evil in the “Sons of Disobedience” men and women who are in positions of authority and who rob, steal, lie to and murder innocent people and take their property, Matthew 23:13-14.

All of us have experienced some of this in our lives and some of us have suffered through drugs and alcohol which have useful purposes but not when used in excess for so called recreation.

Suffering is meant to lead us to repentance toward righteousness as the thief at Calvary and is not punishment although frequently named as such, Hebrews 12:9-11.

The “Lake of Fire” is eternal isolation and punishment with Hades being a temporary isolation and punishment for unbelievers.

God’s objective is redemption of the Human race but by means of His foreknowledge He foreknew that many would reject Him and His plan of redemption as they hate righteousness and love Evil and some with a smile on their face.

Satan’s departure to the lake of fire has already been recorded and has been set for a specific time.

Post, after Armageddon the Devil, Satan who is not the most powerful of the Angels but merely powerful and an instigator of dirty deeds will be captured and put in prison by a superior Angel for 1000 years and then Satan will be released for a short time to do his dirty work by seeking and drawing out like minded humans and then he and his “sons of disobedience” both men and women will be thrown into the “Lake of Fire” and will remain there through out eternity, Revelation 20:1,10 & 11-15.

The Scripture references and notes provided here are by no means exhaustive as there are hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the 1st and 2nd comings of Messiah who is Jesus Christ but these are merely samples !

The notes from the writer of this commentary are subject

to the knowledge of the writer, 2Timothy 2:15!

The writer also has illumination from the indwelling

Holy Spirit of God, Matthew 7:7-11!

Doubting Thomas was welcomed by the Lord Jesus Christ when Thomas challenged the Good news of His bodily resurrection so we too can have answers to our pressing questions not forgetting Him who gives understanding, Acts 16:14 and who has the last word !

Salvation is the starting line, gate for the great race and we will receive a score at the end of the race . Congratulations to all of you who are in the race as all finishers are winners, 2Timothy 4:7-8.

The Apostle Peter preaching to Israel !

Acts 3:18 But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, Psalm 22:1-31, Daniel 9:26, He thus fulfilled.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;

Seasons of refreshing is Israel’s “Day in the Sun” so to speak and will last for 1000 years with their Messiah, Jesus the “Son of David” sitting on the “Throne of the World” in Jerusalem and would have occurred at that time had Israel repented which only thousands did and millions did not.

Had the millions of the nation of Israel repented then Israel and the World would have moved almost immediately, within 7 years into the “Kingdom of Heaven”.

As it turned out many Israelis lost the “blessings of Abraham” which were transferred to the Gentiles in the alternate foreknown plan of God called the “Age or times of the Gentiles”, see Romans chapter 11, which interrupted, displaced the 7 year period which is the 70th and final week of the prophet Daniel which has yet to be fulfilled, Daniel 9:24-27.

After the Church Rapture the final week, the 70th week, the “Great Tribulation” period will begin and end in 7 years and will be ended by Armageddon the final War and then almost immediately will be the “First resurrection” with the “Kingdom of Heaven” beginning and lasting for 1000 years. This will be “The Season of Refreshing” a time of peace and prosperity and longevity with Satan in prison and the Lamb lying down together with the Wolf in peace and safety and the swords will be beaten into plowshares and we will learn war no more with Angels policing the earth and the saints of God being rulers and judges.  Sword is a word provided by the translators of the Hebrew and the Greek whose broader meaning would be “Weapon of War”, Revelation 9:1-11 with the bottomless pit perhaps being an industry that produces weapons from raw materials whose output would be similar to the Detroit auto industry.  
Acts 3:20 and that He may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus:

Acts 3:21 whom the heaven (God’s Heaven, Acts 7:55-56) must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old.

Times of restoration, From of Old in verse 3:21 here is referring to the 2nd coming and verse 3:18, see above is the 1st coming and that means the 1st and 2nd comings of Messiah were foretold in the Old Testament.

Acts 3:22 Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me. To Him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever He shall speak unto you, Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

Acts 3:23 And it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.

That Prophet here is Jesus, Hebrews 1:1-4.

The people here means Israel and this may have begun in the year 70 A.D when the Roman General Titus sacked, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, Daniel 9:26 with many going into exile and slavery and many being killed.

This promise has now been extended to include the Gentiles in the “Age or dispensation of the Gentiles” which probably began with the Apostle Paul, Acts 13:46-47, Isaiah 49:6.

In the Church, the “Body of Christ” there is no separation by nationality, Gender or Status whereas the “Local Church” has gender with specific rolls for each gender. No one in the Local Church is greater but each one is assigned special task by the Holy Spirit with some or most just sitting and listening and practicing what they are learning.

The Apostle Paul had authority over the Gentiles as the Apostle Peter had authority over the Jews but Paul dealt with Jews and Gentiles and many congregations met in Synagogues preaching Jesus as the Messiah.

The Jews that believed had a head start on the Gentiles as they had been raised in the Old Testament scriptures. They understood that Jesus was the supreme sacrifice and the Temple system of animal sacrifice and the High Priest of the Levitical priesthood had been superseded, replaced by the Melchisedec priesthood who is Christ Jesus with the 1st advent of Messiah.

The ordinary Levitical Priesthood was then transferred to the members of the “Body of Christ” the Church, 1Peter 2:9-10.

Most of the Jews did not believe and still, to our time have ostracized Jewish believers and even killed them much as the Muslims do today.

Acts 3:24 Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days

These days is the 1st coming of Messiah, verse 3:23 above.

Acts 3:25 Ye (Israel) are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Seed here is Christ Jesus, the “Seed of the Woman”, the humanity of the Messiah Jesus Christ.

Acts 3:26 Unto you (Israel) first God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.

Turning away from iniquity is repentance !

The Church Age Temple of God!

1Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (each one of you) ?

The temple of God is the Church, the “Body of Christ” also referred to as a “Peculiar People or Holy Nation” 1Peter 2:9-10, Ephesians 2:11-22.

1Corinthians 3:17 If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.
Ye is plural meaning all of you and we are the temple of God on earth because God permanently indwells each one of us whereas the Temple at Jerusalem was temporary and only visited by God at specific times.

2Corinthians 6:14 Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?

2Corinthians 6:15 And what concord (agreement) hath Christ with Belial (Satan) ? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?

2Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore Come ye out from among them, (do not walk the path of Sinners, Psalm 1:1-6) and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you,

2Corinthians 6:18 And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Unclean thing here is neuter gender and is referring to Idols and the religious practices of Idolatry as in eating, drinking of blood and sacrifice and sexual promiscuity. The Corinthians had a history of Idolatry, Acts 15:20, 29.

Covetous people are Idolaters who worship money and wealth and are quite often involved in sexual promiscuity.

Being rich is not a sin but it is the persons attitude about wealth and position that is good or bad, 1Timothy 6:8-11.

We need good leaders who provide jobs and do good deeds who know how to use money as many do not and they will destroy the treasury if in authority.

I think it was Winston Churchill who once said “He would rather have a wise Turk in authority than a naive Christian .”

The “Word of Life” became Flesh !

1John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life.

That here is referring to the “Word of life” which was manifested in verse 1:2 meaning the “Word of Life” who is the Eternal God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ .

1John 1:2 (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us);

With the Father means that He is 100% God but not all of God.

The use of the parenthesis here lets us know that the translator believed that the writer is using verse 2 to expand, add emphasis to verse 1:1. The parenthesis is omitted in other newer translations as it is considered unnecessary.

1John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ:

1John 1:4 and these things we write, that our joy may be made full.

We here is first person plural probably referring to the other Apostles and writers, recorders of Scripture and is explained in the next verse 1:5.

1John 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him (speaking through Jesus) and announce unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Him here is the 3rd person singular “The Word of Life the Eternal God who came from the eternal God the father”.

1John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

1John 1:7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Walking in the Light, the Word of God!

Psalm 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: Therefore I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And light unto my path.

At some point in the past each redeemed person made a decision to turn to righteousness as God is righteous.

We made a decision to abandon the ways of the World and to be imitators of Jesus.

We are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ but that is a process and does not happen over night, Romans 8:29.

What we soon discovered was “The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak”.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law (the 10 Commandments) is spiritual, but I am mere flesh, sold as a slave to sin.

Romans 7:15 I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t do what I want to do, but instead do what I hate.

Romans 7:16 Now if I do what I don’t want to do, I agree that the law is good.

Romans 7:17 As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out.

Romans 7:19 For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do.

Romans 7:20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

Romans 7:21 So I find this to be a law: when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me.

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being,

Romans 7:23 but I see in my body a different law waging war with the law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.

Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Romans 7:25 Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

The mind is the part of us that is being saved with the body of our flesh being the pattern of our new body but otherwise being discarded.

Our Soul is a reservoir which contains our old nature which is being replaced with our new nature that feeds on the “Word of God”, the Bible.

Mind here is our regenerated mind, spirit seeking righteous deeds.

Flesh here is the “mind of the flesh” that will remain with our old body and be discarded, Romans Chapter 8.

Some have conjectured this to be a license to sin which is a very wrong attitude and can lead to discipline or even physical death of their body. We are free from the penalty of the law but we do not have license to break the Law as our new person will be in conformity with the “Ten commandments”.

The person of 1Corinthians chapter 5 was not walking with the Lord because of his ignorance and he was facing expulsion from the Local Church and loss of future assets in eternity future. When he was made aware of his misdeed he repented and was restored to fellowship with the Church and with God, 2Corinthians 2:5-11.

While we are in our “body of death” we struggle to do what is right dragging around the old person with us, Ephesians 4:22-24 and seeking to obey the Spirit of God who indwells us and is righteous.

New Temple Service!

When we confess, acknowledge our sin through God the Holy Spirit who indwells us who forwards the admission of guilt to the “Throne of Grace” and through Jesus to God the Father who forgives us because of the successful ministry of His Son Jesus Christ .

We are graciously and necessarily forgiven with discipline following or preceding for our cleansing, See verse 1:9 below. God’s discipline can be very soft or quite harsh depending on necessity and severity as some sins are more grievous.

God does not want to exacerbate his children but will do what is effective for each of us giving us warning and knowing that in our future spiritual growth, maturity with persuasion, a word to the wise, we will simply cease or relent meaning no discipline other than time served as sin has consequences working against us as a discipline.

Red Skelton a comedian of yesteryear who departed planet earth some years back was asked why he hit his head with a hammer and he replied “it feels so good when I quit”.

Not sinning will simplify our life and avoid discipline .

If we repent, change our mind concerning any particular sin and do not practice that sin then all is well .

Inside of righteous behavior we have 100% freedom from God to freely function !

If we continue to do that sin having no repentance then the severity of discipline will /may increase pushing us toward repentance and can become very uncomfortable .

Will /may here are options only as God is the Judge who deals with each saint individually as we are all different.

Discipline is not for punishment but the objective of discipline is repentance and can be necessary for the Mule Headed .

When Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the road to Damascus Saul was blinded and knocked to the ground. That was not punishment even though Saul deserved punishment but rather it was discipline, persuasion for Saul to yield to the Lord and change his mind concerning his present course . In the end his present course would have led to the “Lake of Fire”. Jesus did not step on his volition but persuaded Saul who wisely agreed and who became the Apostle Paul by the preplanned, foreknowledge of God.

Being tempted to sin is not sin but yielding to the temptation is sin. Jesus was tempted in all ways such as we are but He did not yield to temptation as we so often do.

Because Jesus, the humanity of the God-man was born of the untarnished “seed of the Woman” and was exposed to discipline meaning the degenerate works of a fallen Human race and the Devil but with God his father in residence He wisely chose righteousness over evil .

Jesus Christ sometimes operates through His Deity having the attributes of God and some times operates from His humanity, as the “Lamb of God” whose information comes from His indwelling father as Jesus is not omniscient, not all knowing, Matthew 24:36 N.A.S.B, or R.V.

We are sinners because we are born sinners from the tarnished seed of Adam and not because we sin .

With the urging of the Holy Spirit we begin our metamorphosis having as our cocoon this “Body of Death” and being transformed to the image of Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit in permanent residence in us.

A prayer for an unbelieving person or wayward Christian should be for tribulation and not for soft shoe evangelism .

It is better for an unbeliever to learn the consequences of sin now as the thief at Calvary did rather than in the “Lake of Fire”.

Resistance to discipline and non compliance can result in physical death for the redeemed sinner, Hebrews 12:9-14, 2Corinthians 12:2.

God does not stand over us with a club waiting for us to sin but He is Long Suffering and Patient which is something He wants to teach us.

1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth (God’s Word, the Bible) is not in us.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word (the Bible) is not in us.

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