Questions About The Six Seals Of Revelation Now Answered (With Video)

This past September I wrote an article featuring Bill Salus and his conclusions about when the six seals of Revelation occur, but I did not agree with him.   You may read that article here .  Mr. Salus is featured in a video at that site.

Yesterday I watched a video featuring Ron Rhodes, a Christian, who teaches at a seminary and who has written over 70 Christian books. His views on when the seals of Revelation occur put my mind at rest on this issue, and I trust his explanation as it is sound and more in keeping with what the majority of scholars teach.  Most importantly, it agrees more with the Bible explanation of the fact that all wrath of God is poured out during the 7 year tribulation period.  Following is that  29 minute video from christinprophecy.com with Ron Rhodes:  

We need to take all questions about doctrine to the good Lord in much prayer.   Actually, we need to go to Him in prayer about ALL things.  He has all the answers and will guide you if your heart is fine-tuned to Him and His will.

We must be a true believer and living our lives to please the Lord, for His love and tender mercies to be showered upon us and for Him to guide us .....

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:  I will guide thee with mine eye."  -  Psalm 32:8

"For this God is our God for ever and ever;  He will be our guide even unto death."  -  Psalm 48:14

"Howbeit when He,  the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come."   -   John 16:13

"Doing The Impossible" - Inspirational Weekend

The above Hawaiian Black-Crowned Night Heron is attempting an impossible fishing task, as some of the Koi in this pond are as large or larger than he is.  That being said, I have seen him (or other herons) at this same location several times and they never seem to give up.  So maybe occasionally they do capture smaller Koi.   

Never, never, never give up !!   There is a lesson here for Christians.  Sometimes we have what seem like insurmountable obstacles; things which seem impossible to us......But GOD !

"I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me."     -    Philippians 4:13

Many times the above verse has enabled me to continue to hold on when things seemed hopeless.  Sometimes we simply do not see a way out; we do not see even a glimmer of hope.  But that is viewing things from a human perspective.  

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  -  Matthew 19:26

We serve a God that is omnipotent.  He has unlimited power and authority.  He is God Almighty and the Sovereign of the universe.  We can look to Him with confidence and faith that He will see us through anything if we but have faith and trust in Him to rescue us.  He will point the way for us; the path to take.  This may involve a period of waiting on Him; our trial may not be solved immediately.

Thus we need to endure for a season, perhaps, and this is where faith comes in..... endurance is a training ground for faith.

The above white duck was not sipping water from the quiet and rather dead pond but was catching moving "living water" by sipping it as it fell over the rocks.  I am, of course, not suggesting that this water was truly living water as mentioned by Jesus in the Bible.   I am merely saying that this duck preferred the moving water to drink, so that I may lead up to Jesus' words in John, chapter 4.

Our Rock is Christ Jesus, and only He can give that living water that will sustain us and lead us to our heavenly hope.  

"Jesus answered and said unto her,  If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water."   -  John 4:10

In John 7:38-39 the term "living water" is explained as meaning the Holy Spirit, but here it refers to eternal life.  We must also consider John 4:14, where Jesus says: 

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

It may appear that I have digressed from the main topic "Doing the impossible", but I haven't really;  it all ties in.  We can do nothing without the good Lord.  (John 15:5).  He gives us the power to hang on when we exercise faith in Him and believe His every Word.   Which means we should read His Holy Word daily, and let it empower us to such a strong faith that we can do the impossible, with the help of the Lord.  Although it is actually the Lord Who does the impossible; we are the vessels of His workmanship, and we do as the Potter bids us.

Let us not be like the koi in a man-made pond, forever floating and swimming endlessly about in the same area , back and forth, and getting no where.   We can be strong and have a purposeful life when we look to the good Lord for guidance and strength.  He will guide us along the chosen path for us.   The good Lord will keep us from wandering aimlessly through life.  Our purpose is to glorify Him by obeying Him and sharing the good news of the Gospel.  Remember, "with God all things are possible."

To build our faith, and to live a meaningful life, we need to be much in prayer and much in the Holy Word of God.  In that way, we will build a strong, personal, and intimate love relationship with God through Jesus Christ.   God wants to fellowship with us, and we do that by prayer and by following His guidance as He "speaks" to us in the Bible.  The Bible is God's Love Letter to us and also it is His Instruction Manual for us.  There is much power in God's Word and much power in prayer.  It helps us to overcome hardships and sorrows and to believe we can do great things for God's glory if we but put all our trust in Him for guidance and help.

"And Jesus said unto them,  Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be unpossible unto you."   -  Matthew 17:20

"And He said unto me,  My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.   Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  -  2 Corinthians 12:9

Consider all the great things the Lord has done for you.  Primarily, the miracle of Salvation.  Following is a Scripture that says a lot in a few words:

"Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart.  For consider what great things He has done for you."   -  1 Samuel 12:24

Whenever you feel the least bit depressed or overwhelmed by circumstances,  think on that verse directly above in 1 Samuel. 

To have God's blessings, you must be a true believer in Jesus as the Savior.  You need to repent of any and all sins, and come humbly before the good Lord in prayer and ask for His forgiveness.  

Jesus loves you.

He will not turn any away who come to Him in sorrow and sincere repentance.  Then your sorrow will  turn into great joy as He forgives you and leads you along the paths of righteousness.   

Remember, we are in the end times now; Bible prophecy is being fulfilled as I write this.... or at least the precursors to prophecy are in place and about to be fulfilled.   

The Rapture of Christ's Bride (the true believers) will occur very soon.   

Don't be left behind to face the wrath of God upon all the ungodly left on earth who will go through unspeakable suffering and horrors of the 7 year Tribulation period.   Read the Bible book of Revelation concerning the sufferings and plagues and destruction that will occur during that time.  You do not want to be on this earth during the judgmental Tribulation.

"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"    -   2 Corinthians 6:2

Romans 10: 9,10,13 tells us:  "(9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,  but  have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend.... and life !

Critical Times - Russia, China, Syria (With Video)

So many upheavals and chaotic things are occurring in the world today that many are perplexed and do not know the way out.   The only answer is the peace our Lord Jesus Christ will bring about when He returns after the 7 year Tribulation and sets up His Millennial Kingdom..... and for eternity after that.

Jesus is the Prince of peace.

Luke 21:25 informs us,  "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring."

Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13 all tell us about signs of the end times and I urge you to read those chapters.

Following is a 10 minute video from prophecyinthenews.com  featuring author and evangelist Dan Goodwin.  He discusses current events and the nuclear threat.   Something he said about Russia recently testing an EMP device was news to me.

Now is the time to make sure you are right with the good Lord and that you are born again from above.  Now is the time to be ready for the soon to occur Rapture of the true believers.  

Jesus loves you and does not wish for any to perish.

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."  -    2 Peter 3:9

Confess any sins and pray for forgiveness.  Repent, and turn completely away from a life of sin.  

Believe that Jesus is the Savior and only His shed blood at Calvary can save a person and wash away sins.   Believe also in His resurrection.

Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us,  (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"I Believe; Help Mine Unbelief" - (Video Sermons by Charles Spurgeon and Andrew Murray) - Inspirational Weekend

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"Because faith is never perfect, belief and unbelief are often mixed" (so says one commentary.)  I think all of us can relate to that fact.  Let us go to the context of that statement above, "I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

A father brought his demon possessed son to Jesus to be healed, and Jesus told the father,  "......If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."   -  Mark 9:23

In Mark 9:24 the desperate father replied,  ".....and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."

Notice how the upset father made a direct prayer to Jesus asking the Lord to help him with his unbelief (or weak faith).   Jesus did not rebuke him, but instead cast the demon out of his son and thereby healed the boy.   The father was not deliberately and stubbornly doubting the Lord; he recognized his weak faith and prayed for Jesus' help in that regard.   The father was sincere and asked - in prayer - for help with his doubting and unbelief.  

Even weak faith, if a person has the proper attitude, the Lord will honor when we have a good and submitting and surrendered heart and we pray for help and forgiveness.   

One commentator has said,  "No man is quite a stranger to the Lord, or an utter unbeliever, who with tears entreats Christ to put away his unbelief."

The help for unbelief is much prayer and strong belief in the Savior.  The condition of Jesus answering prayer and gaining His favor is to have FAITH  and BELIEF.  Jesus was very merciful to this father and his son by honoring what little faith the father exhibited and by honoring the father's sincerity in praying for help with his unbelief or weak faith.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him:  for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."  -  Hebrews 11:6

Charles Spurgeon said,  "Unbelief is an alarming and criminal thing, for it doubts - in fact, unbelief robs God of His glory in every way, and therefore it cannot receive a blessing from the Lord."

We are now talking about deliberate and willful doubt -  refusing to believe in the Lord and in what the Bible has to say.  This type of doubt is sinful.   As a sin, unbelief grieves the Spirit; but as a weakness mourned and confessed, it secures His help.  Weakness of faith is no sin when it is confessed and help for stronger faith is prayed for.

Jesus Himself is the remedy for unbelief.

I am thinking now about Abraham, who had a strong faith in the LORD.... so much so that he was called the friend of God:

"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,  Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."  -  James 2:23

I am also reminded of Zacharias, the elderly priest who was the father of John the baptist.  An angel appeared to him to tell him that he would have a son in his old age, but Zacharias did not believe it.  The angel then said to the elderly priest:  "......  I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.  And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season."  -  Luke 1:19-20

Following is an 8 minute video sermon by Andrew Murray on the evil heart of unbelief.

"Unbelief is the worst sin of all," says Charles Spurgeon in the following video.   He also says, "If you don't have something besides your own goodness, you will never get to heaven."  This video by Spurgeon is 58 minutes in length, but I pray that you take the time to listen to it.  It is full of wisdom and insight.

In one of Charles Spurgeon's devotions, he has also stated:  "The angels never doubted Him, nor the devils either:  we alone, out of all the beings that God has fashioned, dishonor Him by unbelief, and tarnish His honor by mistrust.  Shame upon us for this!  .....May we henceforth wage constant war against doubts of our God - enemies to our peace and to His honor; and with an unstaggering faith believe that what He has promised He will also perform.  "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."

"But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."  -  Hebrews 10:39

"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."  - Jesus at Mark 11:24

Mark 16:16 tells us:  "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

If you are not a believer, not a follower of Jesus Christ, then you need to turn your life over to the good Lord.  Turn away from a life of sin - repent - and ask in prayer for forgiveness and believe in Jesus as the Savior with all of your very being.   

We are living in the end times -  the last hour of the last days -  and time is short and running out.  You do not want to suffer the horrors and terrible wrath of God during the 7 year tribulation period.....nor spend eternity in hell.   Turn to the Lord NOW.

Romans 10: 9,10, 13 tells us:  (9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Jesus loves you, and will welcome you with open arms of  forgiveness.  

Jesus will wipe the slate clean and give you a new life and eternal life as well.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."  -  John 14:6

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16

Have a happy weekend and a Christ centered life !

Update On USA Midterm Elections And Middle East Affairs (Video)

Many of you have heard results of the USA midterm elections, but I promise you that you have not heard it from a biblical perspective such as Amir Tsarfati gives in his update today which video follows.  It is only about 24 minutes in length, and fascinating to listen to his account.   He is a Messianic Jew who lives in Israel but travels all over the world preaching about Jesus and the end times.

Here is that video:

Please watch.  We live in exciting times.  Jesus could return at any moment !  Bible prophecy is happening right before our eyes - or at least the precursors to those prophecies.   We are living in the last days!  

Hurry, Lord Jesus !

Stay tuned as I am currently working on a weekend blog post

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words."   -                       1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Have a blessed and Christ centered life !!

"Deny Self And Follow Jesus" (Andrew Murray Video) - Inspirational Weekend

We live in a world of selfies, self-centeredness , selfishness, and people are generally only thinking of their own wants, desires, and interests.  Self-absorbed .  Plain and simple.  

This should never be true of Christians.   The word Christian is not used much by me, because so many people call themselves Christians when in reality they are worldly and carnal and not truly born again from above.   "Christ-followers" or "true believers" are better descriptions of those born again and who are endeavoring to live a holy life, one pleasing to the good Lord.  

"And He said to them all,  If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."  -   Luke 9:23  

So we see from Luke that following Jesus requires self-denial.  We do this by obeying the Lord and being completely dedicated to Him, and following in His footsteps and renouncing all notions of vainglory and any form of pride.  We also do not get involved with the sinful pleasures and fleshly delights like the people of the world do.   

Put God first.

Put other people next  (helping them and sharing the Gospel).

And last of all, consider yourself.

Consider the example of Christ.   What a true demonstration of self-denial was His Passion and Death.  

"For even Christ pleased not Himself..... "  -  Romans 15:3 a 

One of the most convicting sermons I have ever heard was today on You Tube.   It was concerning the denial of self and it was a 25 minute reading of the written words of Andrew Murray.  Please listen and benefit from this video which is below:

In Luke 9:23 Jesus also told us to "take up our cross daily."  What exactly does that mean?  

It means "Dying to self" or in being willing to die in order to follow Jesus.  It means absolute surrender to the Lord. It may also mean being shunned or persecuted.  In some parts of the world today, true believers are being murdered because of their faith in Jesus.

Jesus told us at Luke 9:24,25 :  "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.   For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"

The last thing Jesus said in Luke 9:23 was to "follow Him."   When we are born again, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1,2), and we make a radical change in our lives by the help of the Holy Spirit.   We think on things above, and our main desire is to please the good Lord and to draw ever closer to Him.   By doing all this and by obeying Him and loving Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul  (Mark 12:30) -  by all of these things we are following Jesus.   We endeavor to imitate Christ as best we can in these ways.  

All this is possible when you read your Bible and get to know the Lord and His attributes.  His Word is like Him speaking to you and guiding you.    You also follow Jesus when you are often in prayer.  Jesus was perfect and sinless, yet He felt the need and the desire to pray to His Father frequently.  How much more should we imperfect mortals  pray without ceasing! (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

God wants to fellowship with you.  What He desires is a close, personal, intimate love relationship with you through Jesus Christ.  A person gets to know someone by communicating with him often.  We do that with the Lord by being on our knees in prayer often.

Here is a beautiful song by Jamie Cortez titled "Take Up Your Cross:"

To any unbelievers who are reading this, you need Jesus!  We are living in the end times..... the last "hour" of the end times.  We know this by many Bible prophecies converging right now all at once (or beginning to happen; precursors).   Israel is God's prophetic time clock.  Watch Middle East events closely.  One prophecy that could occur at any time now is the destruction of Damascus as foretold at Isaiah 17:1.   Another prophecy about to happen is Ezekiel 38 and 39  ..... the war of Gog and Magog.  Russia, Turkey, and Iran are all "friends" now and they and other nations will soon come against Israel, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

I say all of that to let you know the time is short.  Jesus will return soon at the Rapture of the Church, and only true believers will be taken to heaven to escape the horror and destruction to take place after the Rapture and during the 7 year Tribulation.  

Turn to Jesus before it is too late!

He will welcome you with love and forgiveness !

Sincerely repent and pray to the Lord for forgiveness.  You must believe that Jesus is the Savior, whose shed blood at Calvary can wash away your sins..... wipe the slate clean; if you have faith in Jesus and surrender all to Him.

Romans 10: 9, 10, 13 explains:  (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10)  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

("For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)  -  2 Corinthians 6:2

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."   -  John 3:36

"Jesus said unto her,  I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead,  yet shall he live.  And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.  Believest thou this?"   -  John 11: 25,26

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,  but have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16

"From Darkness To Light" - Inspirational Weekend

My previous post concerned itself with the darkness of a pagan holiday.  This weekend let us consider what is good, and pure, and holy; what can bring happiness and give one a sense of peace.

"Then spake Jesus unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."    -  John 8:12  (KJV)

Christ is truly and aptly compared to and most fittingly represented by light. One commentator has said, "The great end and errand of Christ's coming into the world, was to give light unto poor souls that sat in darkness."

All true believers remember how they were in darkness and sin and misery before they came to a saving faith in Jesus.  To know Jesus loves us and how He died a sacrificial death out of love for mankind, and that our sins are forgiven once we come to faith and belief in Him as our Savior who can wash away all of our sins,  then... and only then... can we find true happiness now and can look forward to an eternity of living in bliss with the good Lord.

No true disciple shall walk in the darkness.  Instead, he shall have as his own the Light of Life.  Light implies knowledge, guidance, safety, and holy purity.  So those who closely, humbly and steadily follow Christ shall have the Divine Light continually shining upon them.  Remember also, when you become a true follower of Jesus Christ and you are born again, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).  The Holy Spirit will guide you and keep you on the right path... the path of righteousness.   

"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."  -  John 14:16, 17

It takes faith in Jesus to be saved, to be born again from above.  Charles Spurgeon had it correct when he said,  "Would you be comfortable and happy?  Would you enjoy religion?  Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then have faith in God.  If you love darkness and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, Great faith."

"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men."  -  John 1:4

God is declared to be Life or the Living God because He is the source or fountain of life.  This is also true of Jesus Christ, of course.  The Messiah was predicted as the Light of the world:  Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 60:1.

Psalm 89:15 tells us, "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance."

One commentator explains Psalm 89:15 by saying, "Being blessed with the light of truth, and being enabled to walk therein, they shall live under the comfortable influences of Thy love and favor."

"For Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness."  -  Psalm 18:28

"For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see Light."  -  Psalm 36:9

Be happy !

Be blessed !  

But what if you are an unbeliever?

Can you see from all the above quoted Scriptures how much the good Lord loves you?!  That He longs to welcome you to the family of God as one of His beloved children?

Turn from sin and darkness !  Be free from the devil's evil plot to keep you in his grasp which suffocates you and renders you helpless to be free and full of joy.  Turn to the good Lord in faith and belief and break free from the devil's hold on you. 

Jesus is waiting with open arms, ready to embrace you in love and forgiveness.

If you have not been born again, turn to Him in true repentance and pray for forgiveness.  Believe Jesus is the Savior whose shed blood at Calvary can wash your sins away, if you have faith in Him.  Also, the Scriptures tell us to believe in Christ's resurrection.

Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us : (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.(10)For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."   -   John 14:6

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16