I want you to see a belligirent commentary I received and how I responded.

 This is the original comment.

“Greetings in the name of Jesus, and I hope you are covered by his blood." 

"The mouth that roared is never the muslim movement in the singular, because throughout history they had never truly had world dominance or conquered as much as the Pagan Roman Empire. Nor persecuted so many of God’s people during their rule. Even during Christ’s human presence on earth, they were firmly in power and ruled the holy land of Israel. Pagan Rome in this passage is the dragon symbol that gave its power to Christendom papacy Rome around 476 AD. 

Around the middle ages They had brought Christianity in to the dark ages of a prophetical period of 1260 years or 42 months. Where bible abiding Christians were denied the right to read the bible and many persecuted for defying the papacy rule that was enforced by the state. Such as the long like of Sunday worship, paying indulgence, and purgatory, and all the other laws of a man ‘mouth of a lion.’ Of course, in Daniel 7, Daniel’s dream was of a-lion that was symbolic of Babylon, the kingdom of King Nebuchadnezzar."

My response goes as follows:

Wow, greetings in the name of Jesus to you also.

I also hope you are covered by his blood because your hostile attitude doesn't demonstrate His love. I said it in this manner because, while it may be important to have a lively discussion, attacking people for stating their opinion – based on what you call facts is not what I deem a lively discussion. 

I have a leftist living in my home, and this time of Presidential transition has been impossible in terms of conversation, as she bases her arguments on emotion and not facts, just as you have. 

It would seem that raising your voice to an angry level is supposed to help win your argument, but you are wrong, and I need you to know that you have NOT gained any sense of respect from me by the tone I perceive in your comments. 

Strangely, I am prone to allow remarks in opposition to remain as comments on my blog so that others can comprehend the type of garbage that many of us have been dealing with for most of our Christian lives. 

 Surely you did not think I would let your attack just slide by.

You said, "The mouth that roared is never the muslim movement in the singular."

Let's tackle this for a moment. 

First, I do not and cannot understand your statement. It is certainly not a question, nor is it a respectable argument in rebuttal to anything 

I may have said in my post that, in Daniel chapter seven, we are given two examples of a mouth. One is the description, and the other is the explanation – a fourth beast, out of which comes a little horn (another kingdom), and out of this kingdom comes its spokesperson.

Daniel 7:7-8 NASB: "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (8) "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts."

We are NEVER given a firm definition of who the fourth empire is, like we are with the first three. 

So arbitrarily assigning Rome as the fourth empire does not work scripturally.

Historically, we know that the third empire was the Grecian empire under Alexander, but few pay attention to the fact that upon Alexander's death, the empire fell under the rule of two remaining generals – Seleucid in the North and Ptolemy in the South. 

After the demise of these final two sub-empires, there were the Parthians and the Sassanids. 

In Joel Richardson's book, The Mideast Beast, he states: “Because of their Persian ethnicity and identity, the Parthians and Sassanids were not treated as distinct empires within Nebuchadnezzar’s dream;” and yet we ignore them as the potential fourth empire; this is an interesting and yet confusing way to handle the interpretation of the iron legs of a statue.

The next passage conveys Daniel's desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast. 

Why? 

Because it was different from all the others, as it had a mouth and it was significantly larger in appearance than the others. 

You can look this up in Daniel 7:19-20.

We see this mouth one more time in Revelation.

Revelation 13:5-7 NASB: "There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. (6) And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (7) It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him."

Notice here that “the mouth” speaks blasphemies. 

There should be an immediate association with the ministry of Christ when He told the Pharisees that they were blaspheming – as they were attributing His actions of casting out a demon to the work and power of Satan/Beelzebub. 

With that information, you can make a logical assessment as to what this “mouth” is saying.

You said: “because throughout history they had never truly had world dominance Or conquered as much as the Pagan Roman Empire.”

Again, I refer to Joel Richardson and The Middle East Beast, where he states, 

“The three other kingdoms that would be trampled and crushed, as we already know, are Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The text is clear that the fourth kingdom would “crush” or conquer all three of these empires. The three empires never co-existed of course, and thus we must ask what the text means when it says that the fourth empire would “crush” all of the others.”

Richardson goes on to say, 

“the Roman Empire only conquered roughly one-third of the regions controlled by Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. But roughly two-thirds of the regions controlled by these empires were left entirely untouched by the Roman Empire. In fact, the Roman Empire never even reached the two Persian capital cities of Ecbatana and Persepolis.”

According to this information, you can see that the Roman Empire NEVER obtained “world dominance,” as you suggested.

You continued your denunciation of the pagan Roman Empire by saying, “Nor persecuted so many of God’s people during their rule.”

If you could segregate the actions of the Roman military from the governing body in Italy, you might be able to say that God's people were not persecuted so frequently, but historically we cannot do that. 

We have at least a couple of examples of Rome's (Nero's) persecution. 

When Paul writes to the church in Rome, it has barely been reestablished since the followers of Christ were driven out of Rome. 

In saying followers of Christ, our gentile minds only picture evangelical non-Jewish believers, when the majority of this body was just the opposite, and gentile followers were in the minority. So when you say “God's people,” you must be talking about Jewish followers of Christ. 

In Romans 16:3, Paul tells the church in Rome to greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. We can learn that “They had come to Corinth from Rome because of Claudius’ decree that all Jews must leave Rome.” 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary adds: “Suetonius (A.D. 69? -140), a biographer of Roman emperors, described what may have been the occasion for such a decree. 

In his Life of Claudius (25.4), he referred to the constant riots of the Jews at the instigation of Chrestus. Possibly the name Chrestus is a reference to Christ.” Our strong assumption is that these followers of Christ were doing everything possible to stand against unjust laws and therefore deemed troublemakers, just like today.

Persecution under the Roman Empire was quite common for Jews and followers of Christ.

Allow me to show one more example. 

As we fling about our traditional and fearful language about eschatology, we denounce anyone who suggests a potential timing of the Lord's return. 

The blasting argument usually comes from Matthew 24:36, where Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience about Jewish things in a language they understood, but we Gentiles, because of a lack of teaching, do not understand said,
“but of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the Son,...” 

A dive into the surrounding events (context) might help us to understand, so we go to Daniel's prophecies, and there we find a reference to the people of the prince.

Daniel 9:26 NASB: "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end, there will be war; desolations are determined."

Preterists will argue that this scenario has been fulfilled. 

I suppose to them that means we are living in the time of God's wrath; that is NOT the case, and the events will have a second fulfillment. 

The point I want to make is that the people of the prince is an established historical event, fulfilled initially during the rule of Titus Vespasian in 70 AD.

You added: “Even during our Christ’s human presence on earth, Rome was firmly in power and ruled the holy land of Israel.”

Rome comes into the picture only because: First, Rome conquered Jerusalem; Secondly, Herod’s temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. under the Roman rule of Titus, just as Jesus said it would. 

Sadly, few take this study of the destruction of the temple to the next step, as that is where we find Josephus and Tacitus. Both of these historians recorded that the destruction of the temple can be directly attributed to Assyrian conscript troops, who refused to follow orders to quench the fires that they had started because they had an open hatred of the Jews. 

Since we choose to read Daniel 9:26, which says the people of the prince that is to come, as Titus – the Roman, instead of what the historians provided – Assyrians. With such skewed information, we only have one logical conclusion: we must be looking for the Catholic Pope as the Antichrist, and that does not work. 

Therefore, our entire concept of eschatology is tainted by the false narrative of a final Roman world leader/Antichrist.

Here, in this next set of run-on sentences, you have run together multiple topics and ideas to fuel some twisted theology.

• “Pagan Rome in this passage is the dragon symbol”

  What passage? You have not once referred to scripture - merely conjecture.

  
  

  If you did a search for “the dragon,” references that are significant primarily come out of Revelation; there is, however, one found in Isaiah.

  
  

  Isaiah 27:1 ESV: "In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea."

  
  

  While in the next verse, the dragon is referred to as a sign; it is well understood to be Satan.

  
  

  Revelation 12:3-4 ESV: "And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. (4) His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore her child, he might devour it."

  
  

  We understand the woman to be Israel and the child to be Yahshua/Jesus.

  
  

• I must assume, in your narrative, that Rome would have “gave its power to Christendom papacy Rome around 476 AD.”

  
  

  There is a semblance of clarity only because you initiated this barrage with “ Pagan Rome … is the dragon symbol.” 

  
  

  The assumption that this is between two “Christians” means that you, by your twisted theological inferences, are including yourself in one of those groups. 

  
  

  Ideally, we should be having this discussion based on the Word of God. So, let's get back to scriptural associations found in the Revelation.

  
  

  Revelation 13:1-2 NASB: "And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. (2) And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.

  
  

  This says NOTHING about Rome, or pagans – although we, outside of Judaism, are thought of as pagans, and it does not say anything about the papacy. 

  So here, you have Rome playing the role of Satan and giving its power to the papacy. Much too far of a stretch for me.

  
  

• Your next dip into darkness rears its ugly head as you refer to “they.” Since you have talked about your distaste for Romans and the papacy, I am NOT sure who you are referring to when you say, “Around the middle ages, They had brought christianity in to the dark ages of a prophetical period of 1260 years or 42 months .”

  
  

  Since nothing happens outside of God's plans and ordination, perhaps you should rethink much of this statement. I am not an expert on church history and, therefore, am not equipped to argue about who brought Christianity into the Middle Ages. I do not see how it is relevant to your life either.

  
  

  I did note that you had to drag numbers that are integrally associated with eschatology, but you did not put them into that setting. We find an association of this person with a mouth in the Revelation.

  
  

  Revelation 13:5 NASB: "There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him."

  
  

  I suspect you played with the numbers and found that 42 months on a 30-day Jewish calendar equals 1260 days. Bizarre and yet fascinating that you would tie these numbers into Christianity coming into the Middle Ages.

  
  

• “Where bible abiding Christians were denied the right to read the bible and many persecuted for defying the papacy rule that was enforced by the state.”

  
  

  I think many of us are aware that the Catholic church was the state church. 

  Their abuses, then, just as now, are, I am sure, an offense to God. 

  
  

  I recently learned that it was the state church that changed the wording of 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where, in Greek, the word apostasia was used. One of the earliest Bibles – the Geneva Bible - properly translated apostasia as the departure – referring to the gathering of the church back to Jesus. The Catholic church ordered a rewrite that reflected their angst over people leaving the Catholic church for Protestantism, and hence the word apostasia was read as apostasy – a falling away from, at the least, religion proper.

  
  

  If the Congress of the United States can be opened in prayer, by a Methodist minister, in “the name of the monotheistic god Brahman,” we are deeply entrenched in apostasy.

  
  

• You continued by ranting, “Such as the long like of Sunday worship., paying indulgence, and purgatory and all the other laws of a man ‘mouth of a lion.’ Of course, in Daniel 7, Daniel’s dream was of a-lion that was symbolic of Babylon, the kingdom of King Nebuchadnezzar.”

I am done with this commentary, as it makes little to no sense, and I am exhausted trying to respond to you. It is quite obvious to me that you came here to pick a fight. 

I strongly suggest that you save a few dollars, stop buying Starbucks, and buy yourself a grammar checker like Grammarly. I say this because you have tried to come across as a learned scholar, but a quick glance at your commentary proved otherwise. I would have never let something like this out in public view.

I will have no further conversations with you about this, and any continued belligerent hostility will result in your getting blocked.

I close this with all the love you expressed to me.

“I hope you are covered by his blood.”

Can we, as the sanctuary of God, be possessed by demons?

 Early Sunday morning found me doing my usual; listening to the morning devotional and playing Tiger Woods golf. As I listened to the devotional, the young man talked about how he did not know the Lord, but when he finally did, he became attached, in a sense, to Pastor James Robinson (he is also a television pastor,) as a youth minister.

James had apparently been talking about demons, and the young man admitted to Pastor James that he did not understand what was being said. This young man stated that James then had this youth minister and his wife come over to the house for homemade ice cream, and there James showed him this scripture.

Psalms 74:3 NASB Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

The young man thought about the scripture and what James had said, and then asked Pastor James, are you saying that we, as the sanctuary of God, are possessed by demons. To which James replied, well, what does it say? The premise was that we are.

At this point, I stopped everything for a moment, and asked the Father, if what he said was true. Here is what I began finger pecking on my phone.

In light of current events, that have us longing for Jesus' return, we are often directed to 2 Thessalonians 2:3. There we see the word apostasy or falling away. As I have learned from Dr. Andy Woods, it should read the departure or gathering.

The idea of falling away and gathering are opposing points of view, and open the door for doctrines of demons to be taught.

The Apostle Paul explained that anything outside of what he taught, was a doctrine of demons. There are always those, who for example, cling to the King James only – I have heard several of these say, it is the only authorized Bible we are to use. I am snickering because almost every King James Bible states that it is the authorized version, and it was, for King James, at that time; that does not make it the best and only version we should use. The twisted logic is, that to use anything else would be to fall away, and that is not the case.

As Dr. Woods explained, the Catholic church had the Greek word apostasia changed from departure to apostasy, so as to better convey the State Church's disdain for those leaving the flock and following after Protestantism.

Paul, in this letter to the church at Galatia, lays out how those who preach contrary to what he had taught should be accursed. What that looks like I do not know.

Galatians 1:6-9 NASB I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; (7) which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (8) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! (9) As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

Paul took this to the next step in his first letter to Timothy by explaining that there are doctrines of demons.

1 Timothy 4:1 NASB But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

What if one of those things were the demon possession of believers, as Pastor Robinson seems to have indicated?

First, let me say, I don't buy into the idea that a follower of Christ can be possessed. One of the few examples from scripture, that speaks about possession comes from Matthew 14: 43-45; there, it tells us that demons will come back to a clean and empty abode. That being the case, then let's make the assumption that having Christ in your life fills that empty space.

Another passage that concerns itself with demons comes from the Psalms.

They did not destroy the peoples, As the LORD commanded them, (35) But they mingled with the nations And learned their practices, (36) And served their idols, Which became a snare to them. (37) They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, (38) And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. (39) Thus they became unclean in their practices And played the harlot in their deeds.
Psalms 106:34-39 NASB

Pay attention to how this is worded.

1. “They did not destroy the peoples, As the LORD commanded them, (35) But they mingled with the nations ...”
2. They “learned their practices, (36) And served their idols, Which became a snare to them.”
3. “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, (38) And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;”
4. And because of their actions and the gods they followed, “the land was polluted with the blood.”
5. And this is how “they became unclean in their practices,”

Paul, in writing to Timothy, spoke of “new converts” becoming snared by the devil.

1 Timothy 3:6-7 NASB and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. (7) And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

In Paul's second letter to Timothy, he painted a picture of repentance by a believer (note that this time it says nothing about this person being a new convert,) which leads them to the Word of God and a release from the captivity of Satan.

The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26 NASB)

Now, how did a believer become captive to Satan?

Paul tells us, that they were snared by Satan because they were in opposition to the Word of God, which Paul spoke. Paul, by the way, spoke from the Old Testament, just as Jesus did, so don't get all hung up on semantics.

I still don't see the word possessed, but it certainly spells out a life in which the person, inadvertently becomes a follower of Satan. No pun intended, but let me play the devil's advocate for a moment. Some may foolishly turn to a verse like we see in Mark's gospel.

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. (Mark 1:32 NASB)

Here, many who were demon-possessed were brought, and Jesus healed them. But were ANY Christ-followers, living in God's grace and mercy? The answer is NO, they were, at best, ALL Jews.

Now keep in mind, we are not talking about a person that is filled with Christ in this next reference.

Luke 4:33-35 NASB In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, (34) "Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" (35) But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

Where was Jesus when this event happened?

You got it, in the synagogue.

Why is it that we don't see anyone alarmed by what this Jewish man is saying?

Maybe it's because he isn't saying anything he hasn't already heard repeatedly. They did not want Jesus nor his message, and that becomes very clear to us in the gospels. It is a common belief that Jewish men talk in a caustic, argumentative manner all the time, and this day seemed no different.

What did the man say?

I will give you the first part, as it makes sense, to a degree. “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?” I would guess that any of these men would have gladly said this to Jesus. But the voice opened with a strange phrase and NO ONE caught it, “let us alone!”

So, who was being referred to?

To many in the audience, the voice was referring to the general crowd. But Jesus knew immediately that the voice was referring to the crowd of demons in the man.

What was the next thing the voice said?

“Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!"

At this point, “Have You come to destroy us?” may have applied to the Jewish audience, specifically the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees; but again, Jesus knew exactly who the voice was referring to, the demon crowd inside the man. When the demons said this, all bets were off. I know who you are – the Holy One of God!, this had to have sent a shock wave through the synagogue, as NONE of them dared say such a thing. Some might try to argue, Nicodemus would have said such a thing; really, and risk his family wealth and position as a Pharisee. Scripture proves that he was a closet believer, at best, because he came to Jesus by night.

You must know there were those possessed in the Old Testament, however, the Old Testament does not use the word to describe someone possessed, even once.

I can't find a thing that breaks this idea that a Christian, can be possessed unless of course, you choose to play with the devil, and I think it would be safe to say, you never knew the God you claim to know.

I charge you in the presence of God. 1 Timothy 6:13.

 If you are a student of the Bible, then you know that we are on the brink of the church being snatched out of here and God's wrath is to be poured out upon the earth. The message, that I hear coming out the mouths of those who feel they are the global elite, is that they must reduce the population and control those who are left upon the earth, in a fashion that best suits the lifestyle they want to live.

The combination of God's judgment and the cruelty of humanity will lead to a slaughter of those who choose to follow Christ during this time frame, and these are considered to be the martyred saints. (For those who think that humanity can be peaceful and fun, think again. At the point at which God had decided to destroy every living thing on earth, this is what He saw.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5 NASB)

Perhaps the NASB does not convince you of the depravity of the human heart, maybe the CEV translation might.

The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. (Genesis 6:5 CEV)

As John looks into heaven for the second time, he sees martyred saints; while the number was extremely large the first time, it is uncountable the second time. It is the death of these “saints,” in record numbers, that leads Christ to say, “the tribulation will be so great.” I will show you this in scripture but want you to pay attention to the wording and how it changes across translations. I will ask for you, as the Holy Spirit told me that several of you will say, why is that important?

The NASB seems to be the common translation, as far too many of us take those two words and apply them to the time of wrath.

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:21-22 NASB)

The word great is the Greek word megas. For many of us, we are familiar with some store having a “mega sale”. The assumption is that their sale is bigger and better than anyone else's. The simple explanation that the Holy Spirit is trying to make, is that this is exceedingly great.

It would be easy to say, we have never seen anything like this, and though some fool may have told you that there was no holocaust, there was. Jewish death tolls reached 6 million; Soviet civilian death tolls reached 7 million; Soviet prisoners of war were around 3 million; non-Jewish Polish civilians hit around 1.8 million, and more than 700,000 people were killed in the death camps for being dissidents, activists, criminals, homosexuals, Jehovah witnesses, Gypsies, Serbians, and people with disabilities. To add to the graphic nature of these numbers, the people of Warsaw, said that it rained ashes daily. There is no doubt that the death toll, primarily of those who follow after Christ, during this time of wrath, will exceed those numbers that the death camps generated.

Tribulation is the Greek word thlipsis and – get this, means pressure, affliction, burdens persecution, troubles, and tribulation.

Dear Lord, there is not a day that goes by that I don't experience some form of pressure or affliction. It makes me grateful that I was born in America, and up to March of 2020, it was a sane place to live without the threat of violence, as some of you have.

I light of my introduction above, Paul has some sound words for us all.

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1Timothy 6:13-14 NASB)

End, page one.

Look at how the ESV expresses verse 13.

1 Timothy 6:13 ESV I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

Charge, as we see in the NASB, is the Greek word paraggello. It not only means to charge (as in a legal pleading), but it also carries the connotations of transmitting a message, enjoin (to forbid or prohibit), declare, or command.

Paul may well be saying to Timothy, I command you. Wow, that seems like a harsh way of speaking to someone who could easily be seen as a volunteer. Maybe that's our problem, we merely see ourselves as volunteers, who have the option of walking away at any time.

But there is something I think we need to consider.

Skimming through the Book of Acts leaves you with the impression that everything happened in fifteen-minute increments over a short period of time, and that was not the case. Most of these events occurred over seasons and years.

How would you possibly build the strong bonds that Paul had with the varying bands of new believers he established, in just a few short weeks?

These bonds, built over an extended period of time, allowed Paul to feel that he could speak boldly into their lives, just as we see him doing with Timothy, a young man that may well be in his early thirties by this point.

Some people's words apparently no longer have any value, but there was a time when we used to have people place their hand upon a Bible and swear to tell the truth; even though they do that, they still lie. Paul tells Timothy, I am writing this to you with God looking on, holding you to what I say. I am even calling upon the witness of Christ Jesus, who beaten and bloodied by Jewish and then Roman soldiers, and yet, still made a good confession before Pilate.

Now here is the punch line. I charge you, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of Jesus Christ. That appearing, was for them, a long way off, but they lived as though it was coming any minute. On that note, I recently listened to Chelsi Bedell, a Christian vlogger, talk about a meeting that she went to with her husband. There, Benny Hinn was introduced to the audience. This is the same Benny Hinn that cheated on the wife; and, it is the same Benny Hinn who got wealthy from the ministry. After years of this showmanship, he denounced the faith movement that was so lucrative to him. On that stage that evening, Benny Hinn said, coming to Jesus is the easy part, staying close to Jesus is the hard part. Chelsi said when I heard this I knew it was wrong and that he was a false teacher. Think about Benny Hinn and the path he put himself on, it only seems logical that he would say, this road we are on is hard, simply because he could not leave the monetary wealth and was therefore sucked into cheating on his wife.

What did Jesus say?

Take my yoke upon you, for it is easy and my burden is light. I can tell you that Benny struggled, but his struggle wasn't with God, it was with his own desires, for money and lust.

Once again, Paul tells Timothy, you keep the commandment without reproach.

Well, that's great, but how do you do that?

The answer had already been given in verses 11 and 12, where it says:

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12 NASB)

End, page two.

You keep the commandment, without reproach by:

• Fleeing from these things.
• Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
• Fight the good fight of faith.
• And. take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

Paul told Timothy, in verse 14, that he keep the commandment without stain or reproach.

Stain may be best explained through the NLT translation, when it says, “Then no one can find fault with you.”

Reproach is the Greek word anepilēptos. It only occurs three times in the New Testament and all of them occur in 1 Timothy. It is best defined as irreproachable and means free from blame; upright, and innocent.

While God somehow sees us in this manner, it is hard to imagine how as we know the stumbles we make. But God looks through the lens of Jesus on the cross, where everyone was forgiven of sin and redeemed. Sin is that thing that is a part of us, thanks to Adam. Since that time we have been broken from inception.

Obviously, we needed help.

I have gritted my teeth and sweated as I tried to resist sin, and yet still failed - as far as I was concerned. So there is something here that keeps trying to tell me that staying above reproach is an achievable thing. I will not ask Benny Hinn how to stay above reproach, as he has proven, that he too, is merely a broken man; as we all are.

I want to add one more thing before I end this and move on to the next study.

I put myself in recovery because I was, and still am, an angry man. Before you get all judgmental hold on a minute and pay attention. In recovery I learned, that because of our brokenness we will never be free from our addictions; as I pointed out, mine is anger.

Many will say, doesn't this life in Christ make us free from “everything” that bound us?

Having known the Lord for many years, and learned that He is faithful, I know that freedom is His heart toward all of us. He has done everything necessary to make that happen. You might remember that Paul whined about his thorn in the flesh – we, religious zealots, turn that thorn into a variety of things. I happen to think that Paul's thorn was anger, just like mine. God's response to Paul, was that His grace was sufficient. Translation, I have given you everything you need to be free. Alright, here comes the deep wisdom. An alcoholic, or an angry man, has to realize that while they walk this earth (before the rapture) they are dependent upon God's grace and the investment that we have made in our relationship with Christ. What is that investment, since we have nothing to give but our lives? It is exactly that, we, knowing that we are incapable of managing our own lives, turn them over – daily, to the grace and mercy of the living God, Christ Jesus. In doing this (I got this from a television show I watch,) I have to make a conscious decision to choose wisdom. Is what I am contemplating worth the pain and harm I am going to do myself and those around me? I, like so many others, have been choosing wisely. Note: I am not asking your opinion, but God's. His opinion is written in His Word. You should consider reading it if you aren't already.

I charge you in the presence of God. 1 Timothy 6:13.

If you are a student of the Bible, then you know that we are on the brink of the church being snatched out of here and God's wrath is about to be poured out upon the earth. The message, that I hear coming out the mouths of those who feel they are the global elite, is that they must reduce the population and control those who are left upon the earth, in a fashion that best suits the lifestyle they want to live.

The combination of God's judgment and the cruelty of humanity will lead to a slaughter of those who choose to follow Christ during this time frame, and these are considered to be the martyred saints. (For those who think that humanity can be peaceful and fun, think again. At the point at which God had decided to destroy every living thing on earth, this is what He saw.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5 NASB)

Perhaps the NASB does not convince you of the depravity of the human heart, maybe the CEV translation might.

The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. (Genesis 6:5 CEV)

As John looks into heaven for the second time, he sees martyred saints; while the number was remarkably large the first time, it is uncountable the second time. It is the death of these “saints,” in record numbers, that leads Christ to say, “the tribulation will be so great.” I will show you this in scripture but want you to pay attention to the wording and how it changes across translations. I will ask for you, as the Holy Spirit told me that several of you will say, why is that important?

The NASB seems to be the common translation, as far too many of us take those two words and apply them to the time of wrath.

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:21-22 NASB)

The word great is the Greek word megas. For many of us, we are familiar with some store having a “mega sale”. The assumption is that their sale is bigger and better than anyone else's. The simple explanation that the Holy Spirit is trying to make, is that this time, in which some megalomaniac rules the earth, the death toll will be exceedingly great.

It would easy to say, we have never seen anything like this, and though some fool may have told you that there was no holocaust, there was. Jewish death tolls reached 6 million; Soviet civilian death tolls reached 7 million; Soviet prisoners of war were around 3 million; non-Jewish Polish civilians hit around 1.8 million, and more than 700,000 people were killed in the death camps for being dissidents, activists, criminals, homosexuals, Jehovah witnesses, Gypsies, Serbians, and people with disabilities. To add to the graphic nature of these numbers, the people of Warsaw said that it rained ashes daily. There is no doubt that the death toll, primarily of those who follow after Christ, during this time of wrath, will exceed those numbers that the death camps generated.

Tribulation is the Greek word thlipsis and – get this, means pressure, affliction, burdens persecution, troubles, and tribulation.

Dear Lord, there is not a day that goes by that I don't experience some form of pressure or affliction. It makes me grateful that I was born in America, and up to March of 2020, it was a sane place to live without the threat of violence, as some of you have.

I light of my introduction above, Paul has some sound words for us all.

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1Ti_6:13-14 NASB)

End, page one.

Look at how the ESV expresses verse 13.

1 Timothy 6:13 ESV I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

Charge, as we see in the NASB, is the Greek word paraggello. It not only means to charge (as in a legal pleading), but it also carries the connotations of transmitting a message, declare, or command.

Paul may well be saying to Timothy, I command you. Wow, that seems like a harsh way of speaking to someone who could easily be seen as a volunteer. Maybe that's our problem, we merely see ourselves as volunteers, who have the option of walking away at any time.

But there is something I think we need to consider.

Skimming through the Book of Acts leaves you with the impression that everything happened in fifteen-minute increments over a short period of time, and that was not the case. Most of these events occurred over seasons and years.

How would you possibly build the strong bonds that Paul had with the varying bands of new believers he established, in just a few short weeks?

These bonds, built over an extended period of time, allowed Paul to feel that he could speak boldly into their lives, just as we see him doing with Timothy, a young man that may well be in his early thirties by this point.

Some people's words apparently no longer have any value, but there was a time when we used to have people place their hand upon a Bible and swear to tell the truth; even though they do that, they still lie. Paul tells Timothy, I am writing this to you with God looking on, holding you to what I say. I am even calling upon the witness of Christ Jesus, who beaten and bloodied by Jewish and then Roman soldiers, and yet, still made a good confession before Pilate.

Now here is the punch line. I charge you, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of Jesus Christ. That appearing, was for them, a long way off, but they lived as though it was coming any minute. On that note, I recently listened to Chelsi Bedell, a Christian vlogger, talk about a meeting that she went to with her husband. There, Benny Hinn was introduced to the audience. This is the same Benny Hinn that cheated on the wife; and, it is the same Benny Hinn who got wealthy from the ministry. After years of this showmanship, he denounced the faith movement that was so lucrative to him. On that stage that evening, Benny Hinn said, coming to Jesus is the easy part, staying close to Jesus is the hard part. Chelsi said when I heard this I knew it was wrong and that he was a false teacher. Think about Benny and the path he put himself on, it only seems logical that he would say, this road we are on is hard, simply because he could not leave the monetary wealth and was therefore sucked into cheating on his wife.

What did Jesus say?

Take my yoke upon you, for it, is easy and my burden is light. I can tell you that Benny struggled, but his struggle wasn't with God, it was with his own desires, for money and lust.

Once again, Paul tells Timothy, you keep the commandment without reproach.

Well, that's great, but how do you do that?

The answer had already been given in verses 11 and 12, where it says:

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12 NASB)

End, page two.

You keep the commandment, without reproach by:

• Fleeing from these things.

  The things are the things we see in verses like 1Timothy 6:10, where it says

  "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (NASB)

• Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

  The pursuit of anything else is simply fulfilling your lusts. You figure out if it is destroying you and your relationships.

• Fight the good fight of faith.

  We are not merely swinging at the clouds, we pray and we do it as if our lives and families depended upon it.

• And. take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

  Hold are the Greek word epilambanomai and means to seize as if for help.

Paul told Timothy, in verse 14, that he should keep the commandment without stain or reproach.

Stain may be best explained through the NLT translation, when it says, “Then no one can find fault with you.”

Reproach is the Greek word anepilēptos. It only occurs three times in the New Testament and all of them occur in 1 Timothy. It is best defined as irreproachable and means free from blame; upright, and innocent.

While God somehow sees us in this manner, it is hard to imagine how as we know the stumbles we make. But God looks through the lens of Jesus on the cross, where everyone was forgiven of sin and redeemed. Sin is that thing which is a permanent part of us thanks to Adam. Since that time every human has been born broken by sin.

Obviously, we needed help.

I have gritted my teeth and sweated as I tried to resist sin, and yet still failed - as far as I was concerned. So there is something here that keeps trying to tell me that staying above reproach is an achievable thing. I will not ask Benny Hinn how to stay above reproach, as he has proven, that he too, is merely a broken man; as we all are.

I want to add one more thing before I end this and move on to the next study.

I put myself in recovery because I was, and still am, an angry man. Before you get all judgmental hold on a minute and pay attention. In recovery I learned, that because of our brokenness we will never be free from our addictions; as I pointed out, mine is anger. But many will say, doesn't this life in Christ make us free from “everything” that bound us? Having known the Lord for many years, and learned that He is faithful, I know that freedom is His heart toward all of us. He has done everything necessary to make that happen. You might remember that Paul whined about his thorn in the flesh – we, religious zealots, turn that thorn into a variety of things. I happen to think that thorn was anger, just like mine. God's response to Paul, was that His grace was sufficient. Translation, I have given you everything you need to be free. 

Alright, here comes the deep wisdom. An alcoholic, or an angry man, has to realize that while they walk this earth (before the rapture) they are dependent upon God's grace and the investment that we have made in our relationship with Christ. What is that investment, since we have nothing to give but our lives? It is exactly that, we, knowing that we are incapable of managing our own lives, turn them over – daily, to the grace and mercy of the living God, Christ Jesus. In doing this (I got this from a television show I watch,) have to make a conscious decision to choose wisdom. Is what I am contemplating worth the pain and harm I am going to do myself and those around me? I, like so many others, have been choosing wisely. Note: I am not asking your opinion, but God's. His opinion is written in His Word. You should consider reading it if you aren't already.

Premise is everything. A rebuttal of a post-tribulation rapture.

 Once again, I am interrupting my train of thought on 1 Timothy; hope you don't mind.

A few days ago, on my Twitter feed, a young lady proclaimed, “the more I read Revelation chapter seven, the more I am convinced of a post-tribulation rapture.”

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it is wrong. However, a writer, of which I have several of his books, clicked like on her comment, and that causes me grief. I will tell you that I refused to get into a fight with her, primarily because at my age I cannot remember passages that I could use as a club against her. I happen, at this point in time, to find this memory issue a blessing, as I still remember key words and themes and will take the time to find a prudent answer.

If I am going to make a brash statement such as, we are destined to go through the “tribulation”, as though the seven years that are coming are called the tribulation, then I am going to have to present a premise (Let's just say, a darn good reason why I believe that way.) Webster's Dictionary of American English (1828), tells me that an aspect of the word premise is “To speak or write before, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows.

In the case of this young lady, her premise was nothing more than informing her audience that she read the seventh chapter of Revelation more than once. Merely announcing that you have read something more than once tells me nothing more than you can read. And so, just this morning, after finishing my other devotionals, I intentionally played Revelation 7, repeatedly, on my phone's Bible application to see if I could pick up on what would tell me where she came to this conclusion; I found none.

Premise is everything, and if I am going to make the postulation that Revelation 7 is powerful evidence that we are going to go through the time of God's wrath, then I need to define why, but I can't do that if I don't understand or believe that this time period is just that, a time of great wrath and judgment.

I told an acquaintance that God's wrath is the basis for the seven-year period; to which he angrily responded, it is NOT. He would not back up his assertion as it was an emotional assumption based on traditional religious teaching. He merely proved to me that he had not read his Bible.

So my premise for understanding anything in the book of the Revelation, beyond chapter three, is that the seven-year-period is the time of God's wrath and judgment and is the major focus, aside from Jesus, of the Revelation.

What is the first thing you see when you begin to read the Revelation?

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,

If I must have proof of this statement about this time being the time of wrath, then I have dig through the majority of scripture from Job through the Revelation. The understanding that the wrath and judgment of God are coming is seeded throughout the Psalms, the Prophets, and the New Testament.

Job chapter 19 is interesting as it has Job telling those with him, even as my flesh is destroyed, I will see God. There is no assumption that anything else will happen; and I am referring to any potential wrath that he might, by religious standards, deserve.

"As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh, I shall see God;” (Job 19:25-26 NASB)

And, there is the declaration from Job that,

“wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment.” (Job 19:29 NASB)

King David understood that Israel had become a reproach to their neighbors, and he asked the Lord if He would pour out His wrath upon the nations instead.

We have become a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and derision to those around us. How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name. (Psalms 79:4-6 NASB)

End, page one.

And this is precisely what God will do, but you should know that God's wrath is to be poured out on Israel as well.

When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously. Then they remembered that God was their rock, that God Most High was their redeemer. But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues. Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant. Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury! (Psalms 78:34-38 NLT)

The Prophet Isaiah declares,

Come here and listen, O nations of the earth. Let the world and everything in it hear my words. For the LORD is enraged against the nations. His fury - (many of the translations use the word wrath here) is against all their armies. He will completely destroy them, dooming them to slaughter. Their dead will be left unburied, and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land. The mountains will flow with their blood. The heavens above will melt away and disappear like a rolled-up scroll. The stars will fall from the sky like withered leaves from a grapevine or shriveled figs from a fig tree. And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens, it will fall upon Edom, the nation I have marked for destruction. (Isaiah 34:1-5 NLT)

God also uses the term judgment(s) against the nations and Israel. Here is an example of what Ezekiel tells us.

"Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,' therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. (Ezekiel 5:7-8 NASB)

Nahum says,

A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. (Nahum 1:2 NASB)

If Israel is the target of His wrath, then it safe to assume that many of them have become His enemies.

Mountains quake because of Him And the hills dissolve; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world, and all the inhabitants in it. Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire And the rocks are broken up by Him. (Nahum 1:5-6 NASB)

If you wanted to know some of the ways in which Israel made God angry, try reading Ezekiel 16. There are so many details here that I will limit the passages. The NASB entitles this chapter the Lord's faithless bride.

Ezekiel 16:2 NASB "Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.

The NLT uses the terminology “her detestable sins.” So then what are some of these sins?

Ezekiel 16:16-17 NLT You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? (17) You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me!

End, page two.

Israel was barely out of Egypt when they coerced Aaron to make them the god Moloch. A massive image in the shape of a bull with outstretched arms and a hollow body in which they set a fire; the participants then roasted their children in the heated arms of this image.

What is the modern equivalent of such child murder?

We call it abortion and classify it as women's health.

"Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter? "You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire. (Ezekiel 16:20-21 NASB)

Perhaps by this time you understand why God is bringing His wrath and judgment, and to whom this wrath is supposed to come – the nations (We who are not Jews fall under the category of Gentiles or nations, that is, until we gave our life to Christ. We never take the place of the Jews, however, the adoption process, that God instituted, brings us into the family by placing us into Christ.) and Israel.

If you believe that those of us who are in Jesus Christ are supposed to endure the wrath and judgment coming upon those who have ignored Jesus, you have a serious problem. The Apostle Paul said, this message, in opposition to Christ coming back to rescue His church, is a doctrine of Demons, and you need to repent.

What did Paul preach?

Romans 1:18 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

What is the wrath directed at? 1. All ungodliness, and 2. The unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in the unrighteousness. When we accepted Christ's life in us, we obtained His righteousness, nothing less, and in God's eyes, we are righteous and accepted.

Just off the top of your head, who does it sound like God is talking to in Romans 1:18?

You would be right if you said the nation of Israel.

You want to know one of the ways they suppress the truth?

The rabbis in Israel prohibit the synagogue members from reading Isaiah 53 and the book of Daniel.

Why do you suppose that is?

Because both of these prophets very precisely spell out the Messiah and who He is, and they can't have that.

This next paragraph applies to all who exhibit stubbornness and an unrepentant heart.

Romans 2:1-5 NASB Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. (2) And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. (3) But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? (4) Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (5) But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

How about this one.

Romans 5:6-9 NASB For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. (8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Christ died on that cross and rose again. It is because of those actions and our faith in those actions that we are saved from that WRATH that is to come. This statement is a short version of 1Corinthians 15:1-4.

End, page three.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 NASB (9) For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, (10) and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

We are not only rescued from the wrath to come, but this wrath is not our destiny. Our destiny is a seven-year banquet, in heaven, with Jesus. Let me make a point here. Over the years, some of the more heavyset speakers – who obviously enjoy food, have told us, we will sit down to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Because of one of those men – a man who frequently dove into teaching the doctrines of demons, I did a word search for “supper of the Lamb.” It only shows up one time in our Bibles and that is in Revelation 19:9. In close proximity to that phrase, there is nothing to explain or define what that looks like, that is until you get to Revelation 19:17,18. Here a bloody scene has been described and obviously, God's enemies have been slain.

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. (Revelation 19:17-18 KJV)

Perhaps you get the idea. For me, just knowing that I will be thankfully clinging to Jesus, finally holding on to the one who was willing to give His life for me.

Pay attention, God has NOT destined us, who believe, for wrath, and that is the primary purpose of the seven-years. Surprisingly, the secondary motive is to draw all humanity to Him. Considering the horrors that are coming it is hard to conceive, but it is true as it is His nature and character.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:9 NASB)

The next verses speak of God keeping us from sufferings or, as some put it, tribulations. Here are the verses, and they refer to Lot as an example of how God keeps us.

Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. (2 Peter 2:8-9 NLT)

Since some of you may not be familiar with Lot I will give you a quick overview. Lot is Abraham's nephew. They lived side by side, as Abraham watched over him for a time. As their herds grew and workers fought, it was time for Lot to move on. Given the pick of the land, Lot picked the area of Sodom and Gomorrah. You can speculate on the whys of such a move, but perhaps God had a story to tell and it required Lot to go there. Fast forward, this place is a deviant, sexual orgy hot spot, and on the day the angels came to town with one purpose – to destroy, they find Lot sitting in the gates of the city. This gate thing was important as this is where the law was handed down and affairs of life were adjudicated; from this, we know that Lot was a righteous decision-maker. The dickering was done, the place was to be destroyed, and we find Lot stalling. Having read the story it is hard to understand why he stalled, so the angels grabbed him and his family, saying, we cannot bring the pain until we get you to safety.

Rescue has become a hot topic, even more so lately, as the restrictions passed down by an omniscient few (Bill Gates and friends,) have put the world under oppressive restrictions for nine months, and it's only getting worse. People who lean toward the prophetic (they read their Bibles and see that these events we find in scripture are being played out before us,) are crying out, Lord, come and rescue us, and soon. Of course, the opposition, many of whom claim there is no God, consistently screams you just want to escape. Well, this is good news for us believers, as escape is a theological concept and we see it in the word rescue.

End, page four.

Rescue is the Greek word rhuomai and it means, according to Thayer's concordance “to draw to one’s self, to rescue, and to deliver.” Does the idea of drawing an entire global community of Christ-followers sound very similar to the rapture of the Church? That is because it is!

The word temptations or tribulations creates a problem only because we call God's wrath the time of tribulation. Jesus said, in this world, because you belong to me, you will have tribulations. By-the-way, in the Revelation, there is a time period, the second half of the seven-years, of which Scripture says, that the tribulations will be so great that unless the Lord intervenes no one would survive. So a distinction has to be made between the common and sometimes violent, daily tribulations of life, and the apparent non-stop horror of the seven-years.

The English word translated here as tribulations or temptations is the Greek word peirasmos. It means to put to proof. The Word Study Dictionary tells us this, “When God is the agent, peirasmós is for the purpose of proving someone, never for the purpose of causing him to fall.”

Since we operate under the assumption that God's wrath is entirely for the purpose of killing off people who are in conflict with Him, then we cannot assign that time period to those who are deemed God's people, in any way shape, or form as we should be excluded. I am hoping you see the logic here.

At this moment, you may not feel like one of God's people even though you did all the appropriate religious steps and accepted Jesus. That's just like Satan to tell you that, but you do belong to Him, and God does see you through the shed blood of Jesus. It is that blood, which you accepted in faith, that makes you righteous.

“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52 NASB)

At this point in time (in heaven,) feelings won't matter anymore as you will be like Him.

Since the time of wrath is for the dispensing of wrath, then what do we former sinners get?

A home in heaven with the Father. Simply put, all the wrath of God was put on Christ for one purpose. So that we would not have to suffer wrath for sin. We were forgiven on that cross. Those who reject Him get to stay and endure.

Do we humans punish sins here on earth?

Certainly, we do, if we can prosecute you. God instituted laws for the lawless, and those who stumble into sin. Sin is so many things, including gluttony, but who is counting. Jesus took all the sin upon Himself, voluntarily, so that scripture could say, God so loved the world, that He gave His only son. He redeemed us, paid the price for us, and bought us back so that we could walk free in His love.

How do you repay Him?

You don't, you open your arms and allow Him to come in. Remember, at that moment, in the twinkling of an eye, you were changed; you passed from life to death. Oh sure, your body will die if Christ does not come back first, but your spirit is alive to God now, and always will be.