"It is strange that any should interpret this as speaking of Jesus’ sufferings on the cross, yet that is how many interpreters view it. The cross, however, does not reveal warfare, but the great love, reconciliation, and redemption of God in Christ! Furthermore, in the scene above it is not His own blood that is shed in weakness and in meekness and in sacrifice, but the blood of foes trampled in wrath. He is on His way to battle! And “every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood” (Isa. 9:5). The language is symbolic, of course. Jesus does not wield a literal sword of steel; His sword is the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He does not go out physically killing multitudes of people, and soaking His garment with their blood. Rather, His warfare is spiritual, He slays the enemies within man, which appear as the man, but are not the man that God intends. Oh, yes! He slays men, but it is the natural man — the human consciousness, the carnal mind, the ego, self-will, lust, deception, fear, rebellion, bondage, and every sin of the old Adamic man. Wielding His powerful sword of the spirit He comes upon the world of natural, carnal-minded, sinning men, and He comes to judge and to make war! His flaming eyes picture to us the holy passion that burns in His bosom at this moment, now that He is ready to subdue the earth and establish His righteous kingdom in the hearts of all men everywhere!"
Much more spiritual warfare in the link:
"The glory of the Lord will shine from within us when His work within us is finished, and the feet of the Lord’s army shall march radiantly and triumphantly throughout the whole earth in the power of His might. After speaking of how the body of Christ shall arise and shine in the fullness of the glory of the Lord, the prophet Isaiah declares, “The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee (Humanists, Communists, Islamists, Buddhists, Hindus, Church Systems, sinners of all sorts, etc., etc.) shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 60:14). Why should it be that the enemies of Christ will bow down at the soles of His feet? Because the feet company of the body of Christ shall have done their work well! They are putting Satan under them and are overcoming him, thus destroying his power and bringing deliverance to every captive. What a hope! What a vision! And what a responsibility is ours!"
Great link on topic:
"If I did not believe in the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God in all realms and everywhere and over everything throughout the vastnesses of infinity, and if I believed that this world was to continue to be misruled and misgoverned as it is; if I believed that sin and sorrow and death and wicked men and vile institutions were to continue unto the end, I should despair of humanity and God, and I should certainly tear I Corinthians 15:20-28 out of my Bible and burn it on the trash heap. But God never gives up! God reigns! The good news which our Lord Jesus the Christ came to preach is “good news of great joy to all people.” Praise God for the good news! Praise God that it is to all people! God reigns! — that is the good news. Neither the will of man nor the power of satan shall prevail. God shall be Victor! He shall put every enemy under His feet and under our feet! The horses are galloping and Christ is riding forth conquering and to conquer! Aren’t you glad!"
Much more in the link:
"As the Father opens His Book of Life — which Book we are — He is actually sending forth the Spirit of His Word in a triumphant overflowing which will not cease until every valley has been filled and every hill has been made level, till our heavens and our earth have been purged from every stain of pollution and every heart beats in unison with the heart of God. This is CHRIST THE CONQUEROR!"
"In order for Christ to be fully revealed in us, these negative attributes of the carnal nature and human consciousness must be effectively dealt with. Before the One who has purchased us for the base of His operation can take full possession of His inheritance in us there must be the dispossession of all that hinders the expression of the spirit. Just as the children of Israel were commanded to utterly destroy the inhabitants of Canaan — those occupying the land belonging to another — so must the giants that possess our land be conquered and driven out! This, dear ones, IS THE MINISTRY OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN!"
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/rev-84.html
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These guys still pretending to be military?
https://17sog.substack.com/p/letter-to-patriots-labor-day?utm_medium=email
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These guys still pretending to be military?
"We here at 17SOG would like to wish you and your loved ones a very happy Labor Day weekend."
https://17sog.substack.com/p/letter-to-patriots-labor-day?utm_medium=email
"When the book of Revelation was written, John was in the Spirit! This is a fact of extreme importance. The realm of the Spirit is a realm beyond the reach of the natural. Spiritual things are all about us to such an extent that we live and move and have our being in them, yet the natural man can never see them until the Spirit draws aside the dusky curtains of our carnality and opens our eyes to the realities of the spiritual world. Thus it was with John, in exile on barren Patmos, a place of few inhabitants and always swarming with pirates and banished criminals of various sorts, but the record says of him, “Who bare record of the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw...for the testimony of Jesus IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY” (Rev. 1:2; 19:10). Preachers and teachers ought to heed this wise counsel and concentrate on the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy, rather than futuristic forecasts of earthquakes, plane crashes, riots, nuclear disasters, political coups, invasions, wars, terrorist attacks, foreign policies, world government, etc. When God gave us the Holy Spirit, it was not to take soundings of uncharted depths into the future of America, Russia, China, Europe, or the Jews, but to develop a SPIRITUAL CHARACTER, to put on the mind of Christ, and follow the Lamb whithersoever HE goeth!"
Much more in the link:
“Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah…hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne” (Rev. 5:5,7).
"The fifth chapter of the book of Revelation represents a scene in heaven — the realm of Spirit. A book is held in the right hand of Him who sits upon the throne of Omnipotence. The scene is purely symbolic and spiritual! God is omnipresent spirit. God never sat on a throne. He never held a book in His right hand. The One on the throne did not have an image. Even though He did not have a physical figure, John could see Him in and by the Spirit! And in and by the same Spirit John could see a book in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. The book is the symbol of the revelation of Himself in and through a people!"
"Multitudes of Christian ministers today are ministering from the lowlands of religious traditions and carnal church creeds and programs. God’s elect has a higher calling in God! Only as we ascend into the heavens of God’s Spirit and minister unto the Lord and for the Lord from the realm of His greater, spiritual presence in the most holy place of His throneship, shall the blessings and benefits of His heavenly kingdom continue to change us and the world. Since heaven’s greatest desire is that the sons of God be manifested, let us understand that we are the book in the Father’s right hand and we must be “taken” by Jesus Christ the Lord; He must rip off the seals from that book which we are so that there shall be a revelation of the life of God that is written within! Father has raised us up into a unique place in this spiritual temple of the body of His sons. Our hearts cannot settle for anything less, for we yearn and long and pray and seek His will to be done in earth as it is in heaven. Nothing else will satisfy! Those who are called to sonship are experientially ascending in the spirit to the high places in God. They are recognizing and taking their rightful place on the throne of the Lord, by the Spirit, where they shall reign with Christ. Today we are living in momentous times. Christ is opening the seals of that book which we are to bring forth the revelation of Jesus Christ in us!"
Much more in the link!:
“For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II Cor. 11:2). To be a virgin means to be pure, undefiled, and separated unto our Lord. God is creating the desire in a called and separated people in this hour to be truly virgin in their desires toward Him. We have known what it is to be conformed to this world. Then we have known what it is to come into fellowship with Christ while remaining entangled in all the defilement of a carnal and corrupt Babylonish church system. But God is laying His mighty hand of dealing upon a people and calling forth a glorious body of Christ who, in response to the quickening of the Holy Spirit, is desiring to be virgin — separated only unto her Bridegroom, unto intimate and vital union with Him! How lightly we sometimes take the purposes of God in us! In this hour separation is coming from everything of the flesh, the world, the devil, and from every vestige of entanglement with the carnal church systems of man which we have made our HEAD in place of the mighty indwelling Christ of God."
Much more on being the bride in the link:
"Once again we must keep in mind that we are dealing here with a vision, with a picture which is highly symbolic. We cannot take the language of this passage literally without falling into all kinds of absurdities. What we have here is a highly symbolic picture of spiritual union with our Lord — the marriage of the Lamb. Should we try to take it literally we would see Jesus standing on a cloud with vast multitudes of saints standing before Him, while the Father, or an archangel, or one of the Patriarchs, or someone else recited the wedding vows. The marriage would then be followed by a great wedding feast of earthly food set upon tables stretching into infinity, followed of course by the final act of the drama — sexual union. Any thinking person knows that such is not the case! Ray Prinzing once expressed it this way: “It readily becomes an allegory, but for many it reaches only their natural mind to be viewed after the flesh. They talk of being a ‘bride,’ and see themselves someday walking down a pathway clothed in beautiful bridal attire, to where the Lord waits for them, and God performs the ceremony, and they, with Jesus, enjoy a thousand year honeymoon on the Beautiful Isle of Somewhere. How they think that this ‘individual ceremony’ shall be repeated innumerable times for every other member of this bride-company, I don’t know. And if they make it a great universal ceremony, just imagine the crowding in to be one of those ‘up front,’ with tens of thousands all around. So who is the selected one to walk hand in hand, while all the others yearn to touch Him too? Obviously all such thinking is of the carnal mind, relating, or trying to relate spiritual truth to natural conditions of this present world. No, we cannot do this, nor think of fulfillment in Christ according to the literalness of the flesh. But there are beautiful applications to be seen for spiritual reality, and we find much to be desired in this relationship with Christ.”
Much more in the link:
"With these wonderful words John introduces the New Testament church to Old Testament understanding. For the first time in the book of Revelation, here at the very beginning, he is bringing the Old Testament literal types and shadows over into the New Testament fulfillment. The Old Testament was all about natural, physical, earthly types and shadows of kingship and priesthood. Their kings and priests sat on physical thrones and offered animal sacrifices upon brazen altars in temples made with hands. But now John is raising this kingship and priesthood into a higher, spiritual dimension and announces to the saints that Christ now “hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” With this simple beginning John does what we have seen him do constantly throughout the book of Revelation — refer to Old Testament terminology within the context of New Testament spiritual reality! And then, shortly, we are shown another scene."
Much more in the link:
"Only in the book of Revelation does the reference to magic arts or sorcery take on an entirely new meaning! The word used throughout the book of Revelation is an altogether different Greek word than is used anywhere else in scripture. In Revelation 21:8 it is pharmakeus and in Revelation 22:15 it becomes pharmakos. Then in Revelation 9:21 and here in our text the word is pharmakeia. Obviously the prefix “pharma” reveals that the meaning of the word has something to do with drugs, as in the words “pharmaceutical,” “pharmacy,” and “pharmacist.” No other place in scripture, but in the book of Revelation, is the idea of “sorcery” associated with drugs! The three Greek words listed above are simply different forms of the same word denoting drugs and druggists. It identifies deadly poisons and those who either make or sell those deadly poisons. That is just what the words mean, nothing else. In the Greek language a Pharmacist is, therefore, a Sorcerer, a maker or a dealer, a vendor or a user of deadly poisons sometimes administered as medicines. Legal or illegal, in many cases they destroy the brain and other vital organs and systems, madden the user, and weaken and ruin the spirits, souls, and bodies of the countless millions who use them. If you doubt that practically all drugs are dangerous, deadly poisons that are, even at best, destructive to human life, just listen to the plethora of warnings and side effects at the end of most pharmaceutical ads on television! Oftentimes more seconds are spent on the warnings and side effects of the drug than on the actual promotional and beneficent content of the ad! That is the actual meaning of the words “Sorcerers” and “sorceries” in the book of Revelation. As a matter of scholarship it cannot be contested.
"The purpose of this message is not to attack drugs, medicines, or pharmacists. Let us keep our minds in the Spirit! Again I remind every reader of these lines that the Revelation is a spiritual book, and its realities are spiritual realities! No one knew better than the beloved John what, in its spiritual meaning, “drugs” signifies! The message is clear — it signifies the doctrines and teachings of religious Babylon which dull the spiritual senses of the Lord’s people and are destructive to true spiritual life, giving them a false hope, a mis-directed goal, and causing them to live by religious superstitions, myths, traditions, legends, and folklore. Doctrines about the power of the devil, financial prosperity, the rapture, so-called end-time events, the antichrist, the great tribulation, a mansion over the hilltop, along with holidays, rituals, ceremonies, sacraments, and a hundred more delusions drug God’s people into a spiritually hallucinogenic state. They live in a false, starry-eyed fairy-world of soulical imaginations which they suppose to be spiritual realities! Pleasure! Fun! Thrills! Excitement! are the result of a cunning spirit that saturates the church systems as they run after the “high” of soulical programs, concerts, fleshly manifestations, emotionally stirring singing, entertaining preaching — the same as any drug user in the world. God says that all nations are deceived by the “sorceries” or the “spiritual drugging” of Mystery Babylon!"
Much more in the link:
"That is the great word-picture of the merchandising empire of religious Babylon! The luxuriance of the language must not blind our eyes to the fact that though it involves the kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, and the ship-masters and sailors, it is really just one great lamentation, and one too of unequalled pathos; for the saddest sight imaginable is not the judgment of a World but the crashing to destruction of a professing Christian Church — the vision of a church first faithless, then fallen, and finally destroyed, consumed by the fire of God’s judgment! So great a space is devoted in the Revelation to the lamentations over her — one entire chapter — because so momentous, surprising, complete, and far-reaching is her destruction! The age and the land in which we live are full of the merchandising of Mystery Babylon. On every side we see the church and the world on the best of terms, and in such close alliance the one with the other that in reality they can only fall together! Thus, while Babylon burns, the world stands by and wrings its hands, casts dust on its head, and in stark fear weeps and mourns!"
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/rev202.html
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"There are two voices abroad in the land today. Each of these voices purports to be the voice of the Spirit of God. One of these voices rings out loud and clear, “Come out of her, my people!” The other voice issues forth from the mouths of men who profess to be Spirit-filled, tongues-speaking, Holy Ghost anointed leaders, teachers, apostles, and prophets of the Charismatic Movement, exhorting the people, “Stay in her, my people!” “Stay in your denomination, for, after all,” they croon, “the Holy Spirit will make you a better Methodist, a better Baptist, a better Presbyterian, a better Catholic — a BETTER BABYLONIAN!” You will have to write a very large book, my brother or sister, if you are going to convince me that this voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit, for it requires but little of the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God to discern which of these voices is the voice of the Spirit and which is the voice of the beast which has two horns as a lamb, but speaks as a dragon. The voice which urges people to remain in Mystery Babylon is unquestionably the voice of rebellion and blasphemy against the clear word of the Lord! “Come out” never means “stay in!” I have no hesitation whatever in declaring to you that God is not today in the business of blessing, renewing, or perfecting Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. He is in the business of calling out a people for His name, that is, to take His name, to be a bride unto Him. He is in the business of gathering together unto HIM. He is in the business of washing, cleansing, and sanctifying the virgin bride of Christ. He is in the business of building and preparing and adorning the HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM!"
Much more in the text:
"I feel to share a couple testimonies from other brethren which I believe will prove both edifying and instructive to those who read. The first is from brother Bob Torango. “I’ll never forget the time that I preached in a big-time church in Downy, California. This was in the early 1970’s and I was preaching the sons of God and restitution message at a little store-front church. It turned out that the people from the big church down the road started to hear the message and packed the little place out. After about a week of this, the pastor of the big church paid me a call and asked me to come to his church since most of his people were attending my services anyway. I prayed about it and the Lord told me to go. I was scared to death! T. L. Osborn was supposed to be following me the next week, and I hadn’t ever preached to so many people at one time in my life. Like John, I was viewing all of this with great admiration (Rev. 17:6). All the musicians were very professional, the people all dressed sharp, the pews were padded, the carpet was luxurious, the pastor and his wife looked like movie stars. I was in awe!"
"I proceeded to preach for a couple nights and about the third night the pastor got me alone in his study. He started out by telling me that He knew I was preaching sons of God and reconciliation and that he believed in this message himself, but he couldn’t risk preaching it from the pulpit because he would lose his church. He then told me that he would like to sponsor me to start preaching on the big-time circuit, but I had to get some gimmicks incorporated into my ministry. He asked me if I couldn’t start some orphanage somewhere just so I could present it to the people as something to give to, the understanding being that the money would never reach the fake orphanage, but would be used for my own needs. He said that he admired my ministry and that I had great potential on the ‘circuit’ of large churches he was affiliated with, but I had to do a lot of work on my offering taking. He said he would be willing to train me in the art of getting money out of the people, and before long I would be driving a big fancy car just like him and all the other big-time evangelists. Needless to say, I shut my meeting down with him and told him he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his church because he had lost it already, along with any decency he might have had!"
"When I left that office I was so sick I had to struggle to keep from throwing up. MONEY! More preachers have sold their souls for it than any other single thing. The reason is simple. MONEY in itself is not evil, such as an act of fornication, drunkenness, and other vices. Everyone needs MONEY and therein lies the subtleness of its seduction. Don’t think I wasn’t impressed with the splendor of that church, because I was! I actually thought God was going to allow my ministry to reach more people and that the message of life could be heard and believed upon by the masses. Along with this I got to thinking that maybe I deserved to live a better lifestyle, since my wife and I had struggled with our finances for so many years; and after all, the laborer was worthy of a greater hire. My eyes were fixed on the wonder of the Whore, and I was finding all kinds of justification for getting connected to the CIRCUIT! As a young evangelist, it was the invitation to the big dance, an offering of the big enchilada, and I could have arrived at the top of the world!"
His testimony continues in the link:
"Natural-minded men read of the “kings of the earth” and can only conceive of the outward and the literal. To them it bespeaks the actual kings, prime ministers, and presidents of the visible nations of earth. Though there is on one level a fulfillment in that realm, the quickening of the spirit upon the truth so vital for God’s elect bids me look beyond the letter of the word, and receiving of the spirit of the word, and considering that the book of Revelation is a spiritual book addressed to a spiritual people, we find that all that pertains to the kingdoms of this world lies first and foremost right within the heart of man, and there have been so many kings which have ruled within us, and as His kingdom unfurls its banner over our lives, these kings are subdued and brought to naught."
"In the symbolism of the book of Revelation “heaven” answers to the realm of the spirit, “earth” answers to the dimension of the soul, while the “sea” signifies the body realm of flesh. Thus “earth” denotes the soulical realm both within and without, which is also the religious realm of man and the world. We know, of course, that the harlot is first the soul of our individual life which abandons its union with the spirit and fornicates with the flesh, but she is also an outward and corporate expression in the earth as the carnal or soulish church systems of man. This realm has its “kings,” too! And then there are the kings or rulers of the nations with which the wanton harlot also commits fornication. You see, my beloved, we are dealing here not merely with the specific kings of any particular one of these realms, but with the divine principle that includes and applies to them all! Hers is a long career or harlotry, spread out over long centuries of time, and experimented with in many different realms and on various levels of experience."
Much more in the link:
"We know that in the symbolism of the book of Revelation this “angel” coming down from heaven is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ because of the marks that are given. I do not mean by this that Jesus is literally an “angel,” only that the angel in his symbolism stands for our Lord. The Lord Jesus is always pictured in the New Testament as “coming down from heaven,” and certainly He is the One who has “great power” or “great authority,” and who “lightens the earth with His glory.” Of Him it is written, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” Rev. 5:12). And again, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mat. 24:30)."
"Without doubt this is the same “another angel” we met in Revelation 10:1-2. “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed in a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.” Some would make this the many-membered corporate Christ, but by the identifying characteristics it is clear that this is the glorious Head of the body, the indwelling spirit of Christ, the One who indeed fills the whole Christ body, yet remains uniquely the Head of all. He is clothed with a cloud and the rainbow is upon His head, just where it was when we saw Him before in this book. The only two places where we see it is here and in chapter four. Furthermore, He is clothed with a singular cloud, denoting the firstborn Son of God; for when Christ is seen coming in all His saints it is stated that “He cometh with clouds — plural — the many clouds of glory! Now, in the tenth chapter His face is like the sun, just as it was in the holy mount of Hermon, in His transfiguration. His feet are as pillars of fire, just as John saw them in chapter one in the midst of the seven churches. He has a scroll in His hand, opened. Who opened it? Why, He did, the Lamb did, over there in chapter five! And now in our text we find that this “another angel” likewise comes down from heaven with great authority and the earth is lightened with His glory — the glory of that same One whose face is as the sun! Who can deny that this is indeed THE LAMB, even Jesus."
"I would point out that in Greek grammar, when the word “another” is used with a noun before it, it is very significant. It signifies literally, “another who is the same,” and throughout the book of Revelation we find this word descriptive of our Lord. Remember, Jesus told His disciples that when He went away He would send them “another Comforter.” There we have the same grammatical structure in the Greek, indicating “another who is the same.” The Lord made it clear that this “another Comforter” was truly Himself in another form! “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 (as Jesus Christ in the flesh), and shall be in you (as Christ in the Spirit).” And then He adds with unmistakable clarity, “I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL COME UNTO YOU” (Jn. 14:16-18). Can we not see by this that the Comforter, or the Spirit of truth, was not another or different person, but another manifestation or form of the very same Christ who said “I am the Truth,” standing there before His disciples! He was “another Comforter,” oh yes, ANOTHER WHO IS THE SAME!"
Much more in the link:
"Eight is the number of new beginnings. Every time there is new light, a fresh moving of God, a mighty reformation, a great and glorious revival in the midst of the Lord’s people who dwell in Babylon — there is a separation, a coming out, and a new thing is birthed. We see it in the Waldenses, the Huguenots, and various other groups throughout church history. We see it in the Reformation when the Protestant churches came out of the Roman Catholic Church with the great truth that the just shall live by faith. The Anabaptists, the Quakers, the Methodists, the Plymouth Brethren, the Puritans, the Pentecostals, and many, many other groups came forth out of the historic Protestant church systems as they received new truth and sought to follow the Lord into new realms in the spirit. Each of these is represented by the “eighth” — a new beginning. And yet, as church history unerringly confirms, every new move of God has subsequently gone into apostasy!"
"It is a great and terrible mystery — the eighth is OF THE SEVEN. There is the key to the mystery! It does not mean that the eighth is “one of the seven.” Oh, no! The preposition “of” is from the Greek “ek” meaning “out of,” and must be understood, as so frequently in John’s writings, to denote origin and identity of nature; this eighth beast is not different in nature from the seven, but is the concentrated essence of them, and therefore destined to not maintain its cuddly innocence and childlike purity, but to go into apostasy — into perdition. It should be very evident to us all that this “eighth” beast, this new beginning, when a people are drawn out of a religious system into a new walk in the spirit, in most cases contains right within it the seed of the Babylonish system out from which they came. Thus they are the eighth — but the new thing is of the seven — same old business under a new regime — and the latter is of the same spirit as the former! Now tell me that isn’t a mystery! The new move has the same potentiality and proclivity for carnality and sectarianism built right in from the very beginning because both the nature of the harlot and the nature of the beast lurk within the heart of every man. So through the generations, rising up in many expressions, the harlot and her beast are within us! And that, my beloved, is the mystery! The various religious kingdoms of man have brought to the full (seven heads, seven mountains, ten horns) the workings of Mystery Babylon the Great!"
Much more in the link:
This is an excellent essay that my wife and I read last night. Once on the page scroll down to the header:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Kingdom21.html
"When our blessed Lord came teaching the Kingdom of God throughout the province of Galilee, He made it abundantly clear that possessing the Kingdom is not an easy thing. It is not so difficult to see the Kingdom, as Moses saw the promised land from the heights of mount Nebo, but to possess the Kingdom takes a definite effort. Jesus spoke of this when He told the Pharisees, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it” (Lk. 16:16). It is doubtful if any of those who heard these words had the remotest idea of the effort involved in possessing the Kingdom. Let me put it this way. It takes an added effort after you have already put forth an effort! Like a sprinting race, it is that final thrust at the end where the contender puts forth all of his complete energy. He will press forth with all the strength he can muster to win the race. In like manner it takes running, pressing, and even violence in one’s effort to take the Kingdom."
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mat. 11:12). Some say that this is a negative statement, that Jesus is not talking about the necessity of taking the Kingdom by violent effort, but that in the hour when the Kingdom was announced many carnal people sought by the violence of carnal effort to seize the Kingdom for their own ends. These words of Jesus in Matthew are, however, a sequel to the words written by Luke. Matthew says that since the days of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of God suffers violence — and the violent take it by force. Luke says that since John the Baptist the Kingdom is preached, and men press into it. Each of the Gospel writers expresses in his own words the thought given by Jesus. The backdrop to this is the conquest of the land of Canaan, the Old Testament type of our possessing our inheritance in Christ. No one can dispute that when Israel went in to possess their inheritance that the land of Canaan suffered violence. Ah, yes! they pressed their way into the land and violently took it by force. That is the picture the Holy Spirit has drawn of what it means to take the Kingdom!
Much more in the link:
"The next point I wish to consider is the process by which the world shall pass away. Of that first world we read, “The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire” (II Pet. 3:6-7). The fact that the water which destroyed that first world was literal leads some to believe that the fire which shall destroy this present world must also be literal — but this by no means follows. The temple of God once was of literal stones, but that does not set aside the fact that the body of Christ, which is now the true temple, is built up a spiritual building, a holy temple, not made with hands. Noah’s ark was literal too, but it typified Christ who is now our hiding place and the mighty resurrection power of Him who will save the sons of God from the loss of this perishing world and which, through them, shall replenish and renew humanity. Almost all things under the old covenant were outward, natural, and literal; almost all things under the new covenant are inward, spiritual, and supernatural! Think of it!"
Much more in the link.........this one is outstanding:
"The implication of the Greek word used is of a wild beast — untamed, unruly, and violent-natured. Now we know that we are not speaking of a literal animal — for what does a wild animal have to do with the great mysteries of God? Internally, this wild beast is the bestial nature of the natural man, the carnal mind and the fleshly nature of the unregenerate self. Externally, this wild beast is the world — the institutions, systems, and authorities created in human society by the fleshly wisdom and soulical power of natural-minded men. Thus, this woman, the false church, is carried — underwritten, supported, maintained, and sustained internally by the flesh, and externally by the world!"
Much more in the link:
"God’s true church is not contaminated with the defiling pollutions of Mystery Babylon. There is a little flock, there is a body of Christ, its members are scattered abroad and almost invisible to the great religious Babylon. They are seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and they are the called and chosen and faithful who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. They are those who have turned to God in the spirit from all the religious idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for the glory that shall yet be revealed when God’s sons come into their own. They are those who have not the form, but the power of godliness, those who keep themselves unspotted from the world, and overcome all things by faith. Its ministers are not robed in material robes of scarlet and gold; they are robed in the righteousness of Christ. They are not trained in the seminaries and teachings of men, but by the spirit of grace and wisdom and revelation from God on High. They are not busy interpreting the creeds of the church councils of man; their very lives are the interpretation of the Christ enthroned in their hearts. They have no interest in persuading people to believe what they believe; their whole ministry is to bring people into intimacy of fellowship and vital union with God and His Christ."
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"As we have already shown there are two cities and two women presented in the book of Revelation. One of the cities is the holy city, New Jerusalem. The other is called Mystery Babylon. They are symbols and symbols are not what they are called, therefore neither of the two cities is a literal city somewhere on earth. If they are not cities, what are they? They are symbols of something else. If they were real cities, as many commentators suppose, they would not be among all the beautiful symbols of the book of Revelation, which is entirely a book of symbols. Most of the preachers today have the first city confused with other things. The vast majority think that New Jerusalem is a description of heaven; therefore they talk about the city as heaven, having golden streets and mansions over the hill-top. But New Jerusalem cannot be heaven because John sees it coming down from God out of heaven! Church theology today has the Holy City, Heaven, and the Kingdom of God all mixed up and confused. Confused -- oh, yes, that is the mark of Babylon! It is obvious they do not know what the New Jerusalem is, nor what Heaven is, nor what the Kingdom of God is!"
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Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
"Horns, on the other hand, are the symbol of might, strength, and power. The beast carrying the harlot has seven heads of authority and ten horns of power! Seven and ten are both complete numbers. Seven is a sacred number in this respect, that it generally is used of the perfection of spiritual realities and the completeness of God’s purposes and kingdom. It denotes fullness in the things of God. In our text, however, it is used with a negative application, signifying the fullness of that authority which purports to be, claims to be, pretends to be the authority of Christ, but is in reality the fullness of the carnal mind usurping the place of Christ’s authority in the church!"
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"Here we are informed that this beast upon which the woman rides, is full of names of blasphemy. It is not one name but many names, for the beast is filled with them. This word "blasphemy" requires special translation, or decoding. It was a familiar word in the New Testament era. It is not used so much today, but it does have its modern counterpart. Why did the Jews of Jesus' day call Him a blasphemer? That was always their charge against Him! It was because He dared to call God His Father and to call Himself the Son of God. Therefore, they called Him a blasphemer because He was not teaching and operating according to the rules and regulations which they had set down -- His doctrine was not that of the scribes and Pharisees, but He said that He spoke only what He heard personally from His Father. His entire message and ministry was outside of the "box" constructed by the religious leaders of the Jews. Today if a lawyer is not operating according to the rules laid down by the Bar Association he is called non-ethical or a malpractitioner. Just so, if a physician is not following the rules of treatment laid down by the Medical Association, he is labeled a malpractitioner. This gives you our modern counterpart of the ancient term blasphemy."
"Thus we can see that this beast upon which the woman rides symbolizes malpractice, that is, he appropriates to himself what belongs to God; he dishonors Him, vilifies Him, shamelessly offends all that is true and godly -- blasphemes Him. That is what both the world and religion do -- they usurp the place of God in men's lives, putting their authority above God's truth, dominating men's lives through malpractice! They are not doing things God's way! It is not the Father Himself speaking and acting through them. Rather, it is the elevation of Self to either impress, influence, coerce, or control men. You see this plainly in nearly all the rulers of the world's systems, and if you refuse their domination you will be persecuted, discriminated against, fined, imprisoned, exiled, or excommunicated! Oh, yes!"
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