"The thing of greatest importance here is the awful fact that, before ever man’s HAND was extended and the transgression committed, that old serpent, the king of the bestial system, the devil, had IMPARTED HIS MIND TO THEM. The MARK OF THE BEAST was in their hearts, in their MINDS, and in their FOREHEADS, and what they did afterward was the MARK OF THE BEAST in their HANDS. It is not difficult to see that the things which men are doing today and have done in ages past are but the MANIFESTATION of that which is in their minds, for, “As a man THINKS in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7) and “a good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Mat. 12:34-35). The mark of the beast that appears IN THE HAND (outward actions) is the direct result of the mark of the beast IN THE FOREHEAD (mind, nature). This is the mind that inspires the ever increasing confusion and violence that is running rampant among all nations."
In depth study on the mark in the link:
https://www.kingdombiblestudies.org/antichrist/antichrist1.htm#6
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"Suppose I were a pursued fugitive. Now, if I could get my pursuers sidetracked and get them to fire on a stuffed dummy made to represent myself, they would thus, by diverting their fire from me, aid in my escape. Satan has a dummy antichrist set up, a horrible creature who will never appear. And the Christian Church is busily engaged in wasting their time and ammunition on this dummy. They are telling what a terrible creature he will be, all the while ignorant of the fact that the true criminal is in their very midst! If the adversary can get the people of God to look for some imaginary man of sin yet to appear, some fictitious son of perdition to come, then he has won a victory, because then WE WILL NEVER DISCOVER THE MAN OF SIN WHERE HE ACTUALLY IS ABIDING."
"The detrimental and deceiving effect of the notion of antichrist being some world leader yet to arise, is, that while people have their eyes focused on the future, they are not alert to discern his presence now - and that gives him opportunity to do a great deceptive work right in their midst. The old serpent is still very crafty, beloved, and if he can keep us peering out in the mists of the future for the events we have been warned about, we will overlook them in our own generation and time, and within our very own lives. “Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (I Jn. 2:18). Ah, my brother and sister, the Christian Church, for the past nineteen hundred years, has been literally filled with antichrists. And the present-day crop are busily engaged in pointing the finger of accusation at some poor defenseless and fictitious person who is supposed to appear at some indefinite period in the future. That is Satan’s trick to keep men’s eyes off of the real culprit! Satan is the sole author of the doctrines which keep men looking ahead to some character who will never appear, thus aiding his present-day emissaries to carry on his work without interruption. It is high time for Christians to awake, and learn what they are playing with. There is poison in the pot!"
A very thorough study of antichrist in the link:
https://www.kingdombiblestudies.org/antichrist/antichrist1.htm#3
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I've been using Bank of America for decades. It's easy like google.
My better half twisted the knife with that comment (Your bank is very commie, and gay) tonight, cracked me up
No wonder I'm drawn to TGA
"The declaration of Jesus that He is Himself Alpha and Omega conveys the thought of infinite and inexhaustible wealth. The letters A to Z constitute a claim by which is set forth the absolute completeness of His character, wisdom, and power. Is this not what Jesus was saying when He declared, “I AM THE TRUTH.” And is this not what Jesus is saying: “I AM THE TOTAL REALITY OF ALL THINGS!” I am every letter, I am unique, I am substance, I am shape, I am image, I am form, I am essence, I am all height and depth and length and breadth of Being, not just words and letters, but the reality of life and power and value of all things, the WORD OF LIFE!” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1,4)."
"Alpha and Omega is a revelation! It is all that can be said of the Lord Jesus proclaimed in a way that can be seen and understood. It stands for the revelation of Jesus Christ! By this word He is revealed! Christ is the alphabet — the Word, all that can be said of God. We’ve seen that in the figure of a Man who walked the shores of Galilee. But we have only touched the shell of that man, the outer image, not the inner intelligence. It’s as though we are holding a book, looking at it, flipping its pages, but we haven’t read it yet. The inner intelligence of the Lord Jesus represents His omniscient mind, His omnipotent power, and His divine nature. Until we have personally experienced Him in all that He is we have not discovered Him in the A to Z — that is, we have not read the book which He is! In speaking of the inner intelligence of the Lord Jesus, we are speaking of the greatest reality of Being in the universe! The truth we are entertaining at this point will prove that all our eternal hopes of sonship and the kingdom depend upon one thing and one thing alone: that the mind of Christ, the power of Christ, and the nature of Christ dwell in us fully. This is the Alpha and the Omega — all that can be said of God WRITTEN AND INSCRIBED IN OUR INNER LIFE AS CHRIST IN US."
Much more in the link:
https://www.kingdombiblestudies.org/Revelation/rev238.htm
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"Imagine this headline in today’s newspaper: Cure Found for Death! Newspapers would soon be sold out. Every television and computer would be tuned to the news channels. Everyone would be scrambling to find out what this fantastic announcement had to say. But suppose the article or news report under the headline reported that a traveling teacher has announced that he personally is the cure for death — he has not made a scientific discovery, nor a new medical breakthrough, nor found some secret fountain of youth — but by revelation he has proclaimed himself as the source of life and immortality! We might begin to suspect that he’s just another religious teacher who has gotten carried away with delusions of self-importance, even if he has raised a few dead people back to life. And when we read about his claim that the only way to escape death is to believe in him, we’d say, “How preposterous!” Perhaps its not surprising that relatively few people take Jesus’ bold statement seriously — “He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). After all, it’s probably the most startling claim that anyone has ever made! Why should anyone believe it? We should believe it, not because Jesus raised Lazarus after he had been dead for four days, but because Jesus Himself arose after He died for us — and because He still lives today! The Lamb that was slain is in the midst of the throne, and He has sent forth from the throne the very spirit of His life into us by the power of the Holy Ghost! It is a glorious fact, for we have received it! Christ alone has the credentials to claim that He can give life and immortality to men!"
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Rev/rev237.html
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"Never forget, dear reader of these lines, that the book of Revelation reveals the processes that God takes His people through so that the bride can make herself ready, arrayed in linen pure and white; so that the manchild can be birthed and caught up to God’s throne of authority, power, and dominion; and so that all creation can be redeemed, purged, and transformed by the fiat of the almighty Creator and Redeemer. "Behold, I make all things new!" Ah, that is the mystery! In former times we supposed the book of Revelation was about God’s vindictive, implacable vengeance poured out upon the inhabitants of the world, and we felt sad for them, or perhaps some felt glad, feeling that mankind deserved what they would get! Only now, in the light that the Spirit brings, can we say with the beloved Seer of Patmos, "Blessed, happy, to be envied is the man who reads the word of this prophecy!" (Rev. 1:3). No, it’s not about devastating the earth, tormenting and killing millions of people, or sending billions of souls to eternal doom — it’s about MAKING ALL THINGS N-E-W!"
Read all about it in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Rev/rev236.html
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"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,” is how we find it described in the King James Bible. It is significant to note, however, that the verb ‘is’ does not appear in the Greek text. A more literal translation would be, “Behold the tabernacle of God with men!” That is, the tabernacle of God is with men — behold it! The tabernacle of God with men is the holy city, New Jerusalem! The tabernacle of God with men is the bride of the Lamb! Look at the bride! Fasten your eyes upon the holy city! Behold the tabernacle of God with men! By the time we reach this chapter of the Revelation every spiritual mind has figured out that the tabernacle of God is not a tent in the wilderness, nor a temple on mount Moriah, nor a literal city floating down out of space and setting down somewhere in the Middle East, but the tabernacle of God is a spiritual people that has been built up a spiritual house, made of living stones, fitly framed together and compacted by every part, raised up in the earth to be an habitation of God through the Spirit."
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Rev/rev235.html
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TWO WOMEN — TWO CITIES
"In our previous studies on this subject we have seen that in John’s visions in the book of Revelation two women and two cities are clearly presented. One of the women is a pure virgin, clothed with the resplendent glory of Christ (Rev. 12:1-6). The other woman is a harlot, gaudily attired with scarlet and purple, and decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls. One of the cities is the holy city, New Jerusalem. The other is called Mystery Babylon the Great. In the symbolism of prophecy a “woman” signifies a church and a “city” signifies a religious or spiritual government. Thus, the virgin woman represents the true church, the bride of Christ, and the harlot woman represents the false church, the fallen, corrupt, apostate church systems of man. The “holy city, New Jerusalem” is the symbol used to represent the established rule and government of God composed of the perfected and holy bride of Christ and the overcoming sons of God. The city is the woman, the bride of Christ, whereas the throne in the midst of the city signifies the manchild, the sons of God who rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 12:1-5). But as with Adam and Eve in the beginning, it is a joint dominion. “Mystery Babylon” can be nothing else but a church which is also a religious government over men’s lives, a great ecclesiastical kingdom, backed by the power and influence of the world — the carnal church systems of man exalted to power and dominion in the earth. This is why God will judge, throw down, and utterly destroy the Great Babylon; and this is why God is building up His holy city. the pure bride of Christ and the holy sons of God, New Jerusalem, to shine with His scintillating light of life to lighten all peoples and all nations, filling the whole earth with His glory!"
Much more in the link:
"There is really nothing complicated about the new heavens and the new earth. To aid our understanding of this beautiful truth let us learn a lesson from the symbolisms of the book of Revelation. The key to this understanding is the word “sea.” As soon as John sees the new heaven and the new earth he immediately notes that “there was no more sea.” Again and again throughout the book of Revelation we have shown that the word “sea” is not used in the literal sense of the vast oceans of earth, but in a figurative and symbolic way. The vast majority of the events in the Revelation take place in one of three dimensions: HEAVEN, EARTH, and SEA. These three realms, of course, represent three dimensions of life within each of us, three states of being, life-styles, levels of consciousness, spheres of existence, and realms of experience. There is a “heaven” realm within our spirit, an “earth” realm within our soul, and a “sea” realm within our body. The highest of these realms is heaven — where God dwells in our spirit. Earth is the in-between realm, a dimension that at its highest touches heaven, and at its lowest kisses the sea. That is the soul which lies between the spirit and the body. It can yield to the spirit above to become heavenly, or to the sea (body realm, flesh nature) to become sensual and devilish."
"The lowest of these three realms is the sea. Throughout the scriptures the sea is a type of the inner storms and turbulent nature of the Adamic man. The prophet Isaiah penned these inspired words: “The wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa. 57:20-21). Jude also described wicked men when he said, “These are raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame” (Jude 13). No one can dispute the fact that it is this restless, turbulent, raging, evil heart of the fleshly man, with the passions and lusts and the motions of sin that lurk in the body with its lower nature, that inspires every evil and devilish perversion, and has filled the world with ever increasing confusion, faithlessness, immorality, falsehood, fraud, hatred, violence, greed, cruelty, strife, wars, bloodshed, and every wicked work. It is more than a raging sea of evil — it is a virtual tsunami of self-destruction!"
Much more in the link:
"Truly the Lord is speaking in symbolic language of great spiritual realities fulfilled within His people!"
"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless" (II Pet. 3:13-14). It will be a wonderful day when all the Lord’s people understand the great truth that there is even now a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. "We look for it!" Peter says. Since you are looking for it — now give diligence to be found in Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. In other words — BECOME WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR! When you are at peace, without spot, and blameless, you have then discovered within yourself the new heavens and the new earth…the ones wherein dwelleth righteousness! "We look for it!" Peter says. Since you are looking for it — now give diligence to be found in Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. In other words — BECOME WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR! When you are at peace, without spot, and blameless, you have then discovered within yourself the new heavens and the new earth…the ones wherein dwelleth righteousness! This new heaven is the heaven of our regenerated spirit wherein God dwells, and this new earth is the earth of our transformed mind and soul by which we are able to demonstrate through our body in our everyday living, what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Oh, yes!"
"If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous" (I Jn. 2:29; 3:7). Can any doubt it — there is the NEW EARTH wherein dwelleth righteousness! Paul speaks the same truth this way, "For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be FULFILLED IN US, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT" (Rom. 8:2-4). It is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that makes us free from the law of sin and death. That is the new administration of the new heavens and the new earth!"
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Rev/rev232.html
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"Children in school learn what we call definitions. A definition is an explanatory statement which tells us exactly what a certain thing is, as "an island is a tract of land completely surrounded by water." God also gives us definitions in His Word. We could cite hundreds of examples! He tells us exactly what certain things are. And in the passage quoted above God tells us exactly what the second death is. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. THIS IS THE SECOND DEATH." Now let me make this a little plainer. Definitions of men can be given backward. For instance, the definition, "An island is a tract of land completely surrounded by water," can be given thus: "A tract of land completely surrounded by water is an island." This is but another way of stating the same fact. It does not, in any way, change the meaning."
"Now let us try this on the definition of the second death. The Bible states it thus: "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Now let us turn this statement around for clarity. "The second death is death and hell cast into the lake of fire." Therefore we have exactly the same meaning either way it is stated. What is the second death? IT IS THE FIRST DEATH AND HELL CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE! This fact is very important. Most Christians and nearly all preachers read the Word of God very superficially. They read and suppose that the second death is men being tortured forever in the lake of fire. Yet there is absolutely nothing in this passage about men! The verse that follows the one we are considering speaks of men being cast into the lake of fire. But not this one! It is the state of death and the condition of hell that are cast into the lake of fire. The second death is not men cast into the lake of fire, or men tormented or tortured forever. That’s not in the Book! The Holy Spirit has made it very simple and plain. The second death is the first death and hell cast into the lake of fire. That is the Holy Spirit’s definition, not mine."
Muxh more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Rev/rev231.html
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"I feel a great urgency about this message because the vision tells us that not only are the “books” opened, but also the other book, THE BOOK OF LIFE. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire — for further purging and purification. I want to help you grasp why you are here — you are being prepared to reveal the invisible God to the visible creation! Dear reader of these lines, you are not just anybody. You came out from God. There is a strange and wonderful statement in Hebrews 10:7. “Lo, I come (in the VOLUME OF THE BOOK it is written of me) to do Thy will, O God.” These words are attributed to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. This is, however, a quotation from Psalm 40:7. Therefore, the “volume of the book” referred to was written before the Psalms! The five books of Moses were written before any others, except, perhaps, the book of Job; and in these earliest books of the Bible Moses pled for God to have mercy upon the children of Israel, “and if not, blot me out of THY BOOK which Thou hast written” (Ex. 32:32). These words speak of a book written by God Himself which was older than Genesis or any of the other books of Moses. God wrote the law of His life in His Christ (Head and body) long before the Bible was written! The scripture indicates that the revelation Jesus was sent to bring to pass on earth was fully recorded in the “Volume of the Book” long before Jesus ever started to walk out His script in the earth realm. The nature of God written in the Christ, the Logos, the Word, which was in the beginning with God, was the heavenly reality of that Book of Life that would be written and opened on earth. Do you not get the connection between the Word and the Volume of the Book? That’s what a book is — it is a word! And it is the Book of Life, for of the Word John says, “In Him was Life; and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:1,4). And then John tells us that “THE WORD was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” (Jn. 1:14). By revelation of the Spirit John is telling us that the Word was made manifest FOR ALL THE WORLD TO READ. This Word, this Holy Record of the Life of God, was not written upon stone, nor papyrus, nor golden parchment, but THE WORD was MADE FLESH TO DWELL AMONG MEN AND BE READ BY THEM! Unlike any other book in the world, this “Book” was alive and the title of this Book was JESUS!"
Much more in the link:
"The whole purpose of the great white throne judgment is to clear away all the old religious heavens that have ruled us, and the earth of the flesh and the works of the flesh that have bound us, to make way for God’s new order — the new heaven and earth of CHRIST’S KINGDOM. I do not say that even that heaven and earth are an eternal order, for Paul tells us of a reality beyond all this: “Then cometh the end, when He shall have DELIVERED UP THE KINGDOM to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power…and when all things shall have been subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, THAT GOD MAY BE A-L-L I-N A-L-L!” (I Cor. 15:24,28). That is certainly beyond the new heaven and the new earth of the kingdom of Christ! We experience these things more and more in our lives as we walk with the Lord. This is the ongoing process by which Christ is “making everything new.” By it He transforms us into a new creation in which God can live, work, express, and manifest Himself in the totality of His life, glory, and power. When our old earth and heavens flee from before the Lord’s face, when we allow no room for them in our experience, God’s judging and refining has at last destroyed all carnality, sinfulness, religiosity, and all immature spirituality from our lives."
Much more in the link:
"There must therefore be no lack of either righteousness on the one hand, or mercy on the other, for the integrity and maintenance of the throne of God. Now we may see why the adversary ever seeks to drag his victims before the throne as criminals. Men fear the great white throne of God because the adversary sows into their minds the spirit of condemnation, magnifying man’s sin, accentuating his unworthiness, and distorting the great Judge’s character by amplifying and exaggerating God’s wrath without counter-balancing his wrath with His mercy! Nowhere does scripture state that God’s throne is upheld by wrath, harshness, exactitude, or implacableness — to the contrary, it is upholden only by mercy! If there is an inability to show mercy — I speak with all reverence — God’s very throne is of no value to Him. If He is powerless to save those He loves, and wills to bless, of what good is His throne or His judgment? It lacks power — strength to carry out His will, and he is no longer supreme. Can you not see Satan’s attack upon God’s throne of judgment? He misrepresents it, distorts it, deforms it, perverts it, by robbing it of its MERCY!
Much more in the link:
"One thing many of God’s people have failed to realize is that not only is Satan a great deceiver, but he himself is totally deceived! To my mind, this is a self-evident truth. He would not be trying to overthrow God and His kingdom if he did not somehow believe that he could. He is deceived by the very lies which he tells, by the very deception which he propagates. Christ is the creator of the world, of the whole vast universe, and is its present ruler. The scriptures make this very plain. The inspired apostle Paul tells us that all world rulers are “God’s ministers,” and that there is “NO POWER but of God” (Rom. 13:1-6). The great prophet Daniel declared, “The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (Dan. 4:17,25). And Satan also serves. The only power Satan has is that measure of power which God has appointed to him. I’m sure it is with him as it was with the wicked men who crucified the Lord — “they know not what they do.” That is deception!"
"The only other reference in the Bible to Gog and Magog is found in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of Ezekiel. This use of the term by John is rooted in the Old Testament passage. One will have to admit that this is a rather strange battle which Ezekiel described in his vision. Israel is pictured at peace and dwelling in security in her land, with no attempt made to defend herself against the enemy which suddenly and powerfully sweeps down upon her. Without a struggle, as soon as the enemy marches into the land, he is smitten with a catastrophic judgment directly from God. The rest of the vision tells of a glorious celebration of victory on the part of the people of Israel. We must keep in mind that in both passages the language is highly figurative and symbolic, and it can only be interpreted in that light. The fact is, history records no battle in the history of Israel that answers to the one described in Ezekiel’s vision. Nor can we conceive of it as taking place in a literal way in our day or at some future time, for, you see, all the invading army comes riding upon horses, a great company having bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, and all of them handling swords. In addition to this all their weapons are made of wood, and there are so many of them that no man of Israel needs to cut any fire wood for seven years while they use these weapons for fire wood! It certainly doesn’t sound like modern warfare, does it?"
"If John’s vision is symbolic, then so also is Ezekiel’s. The only difference is that John’s version is a little more complete and is given to us in the fuller light of New Testament revelation. In both instances most of our struggles of the Lord’s people are already over, and they are dwelling in a sense of peace and security. There is no struggle at all. In John’s vision this is due to the fact that they have already overcome the beast, the false prophet, Mystery Babylon, and now Satan himself has been bound in the abyss. Ah, there is peace and security! But suddenly the old devil is brought out of his pit where he has been placed. He is turned loose in their midst and there is unleashed upon them an awful attack of the adversary! He gathers all his forces and rants and raves against the redeemed of God. But before he is able to harm a hair on the head of one saint, at once the fiery judgment of God falls upon all the enemies and the devil who leads them. This, my beloved, is no literal warfare fought with conventional weapons — this is the final battle of our spiritual warfare; this is the climax of the most magnificent celebration of victory!"
Much more in the link:
Traveling from Colorado to Kentucky, first night in WaKeeney, good times
"Priesthood is the Spirit of the High Priest. Jesus lives, and Jesus loves us, and has Himself cleansed us in His own blood. He bestows upon us the disposition of priesthood by His indwelling life. His indwelling is but the first step, then follows the inworking by which we become that which He is. The spirit of priesthood is love. Love is the queen of all the graces of the Christ life. Love is the passion of self-giving. It never stops to ask what it can afford, or what it may expect to receive in return; but it is ever shedding its heart’s blood. It will pine to death if it cannot give. The love of Christ which went out so tenderly to those who walked and talked with Him when He was upon earth, is no less far-reaching and all-powerful to usward. It is this fathomless love of Christ which conquers; and His all-conquering, boundless love, is the banner unfurled in the lives of His Kingdom Priests. O precious love divine, higher than the heavens, deeper than the abyss, broader than all the ages of time! O mighty love that reached through countless ages and brought Christ down from the bosom of the Father to redeem creation; which brought Him to the cross; which brought Him to the tomb; which brought Him forth and raised Him up to the right hand of God, as the High Priest of the heavens who ever liveth to make intercession for us; which is come again in us and is now shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost!
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Rev/rev226.html
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"All who judge must be possessed of that same anointing of the seven spirits of God that rests upon the firstborn Son of God. "These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God" (Rev. 3:1). Isaiah enumerates the seven spirits thus, "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:2). Thank God! The very thought of a universe governed by the sons of God who are filled with the seven-fold intensified Spirit of the Lord leaves me absolutely breathless! Words become totally inadequate and human ability to articulate the wonder of such a thing fails completely. Our faltering minds cannot fully appreciate nor comprehend the wonder of Enoch’s prophecy: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14-15)."
"There are several points of interest in the passage just quoted. "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." The original would be better expressed, "The Lord cometh IN holy myriads of Himself." He comes in that people who are bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, spirit of His spirit, mind of His mind; the extension and projection of all HE IS — HIMSELF CREATURES. "To execute judgment upon all." To execute means to carry out, to fulfill, to pursue to the end. Holy myriads of Himself shall carry out judgment upon all, and pursue it unto the end, until the full fruit and effect of that judgment shall be manifested in all. "And to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds…" To convince means to convict, reprove, and fully persuade all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against the Lord. This is conviction, my friend, HOLY GHOST CONVICTION that must be ministered into the minds and hearts of men before they will submit so that the cleansing process can begin in them. I have seen it many times, when Holy Ghost conviction came upon men and women with the hardest of hearts and the most wicked life-styles, they were utterly broken before the Lord, weeping as it were buckets of tears, repenting, and being washed and cleansed from all their rebellion and sinfulness. Hallelujah! What a judgment! And it is no longer upon one here and there, a few who encounter the Lord in His movings, but now Jude says when the Lord comes in those holy myriads of Himself the judgment shall be UPON ALL! Thus the Lord comes in His holy ones to bring an ending to the long reign of sin, darkness, and death, praise His wonderful name!
Much more in the link:
"This is awesome! After Satan has been bound in the bottomless pit, and the seal is set upon him, then the overcomers appear as "souls" who "live" and "reign" as kings and judges, but — they have been BEHEADED! All the garbage that the church systems have taught are a stench in the nostrils of God, and in my nostrils as well. They tell us that if you miss the "rapture" you can be saved, but you’re going to have to be beheaded. It never ceases to amaze me how shallow and spiritually stupid so-called teachers of the Word can be! In all their carnal-minded literalism they completely miss the truth! You see, if missing the "rapture" means you must face beheading, and if being beheaded then uniquely qualifies you to sit on the throne and reign with Christ for a thousand years, then being so carnal that you miss the "rapture" actually ends up exalting you to a higher position in the kingdom of Christ than those spiritual saints who were translated! Not very sound reasoning, is it?"
Much more in the link:
"What does this wonderful truth mean to us? Where and when and how have we escaped the corruption that is in the world? Ah, my beloved, corruption is the process of dissolution that leads to death, the downward spiral by which all things in the universe are being reduced to a worse state or inferior condition. All organisms age and grow old. All food spoils. All mountains erode. All mechanical things wear out. All societies break down in moral decay. Every kingdom and empire weakens and finally collapses. Every spiritual movement, historical and current, eventually stagnates and goes into apostasy. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse. Suns and stars burn out and self-destruct. There is a universal law of corruption, the bondage that enslaves every visible and invisible thing in the cosmos. The movement is always down, down, down!"
"And that’s how it was in my life until that blessed day when Christ appeared and I was born again by the incorruptible seed of the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. A divine and incorruptible life was raised up from Christ within my spirit and injected into my soul and in that wonderful moment old things passed away and all things became new. By that heavenly and divine intervention my course was changed, my direction reversed, my movement turned up-side-down. Instead of continuing the downward journey, I commenced an upward climb. And now I can truthfully and joyfully testify — I am no longer getting worse — I AM GETTING BETTER! Oh, yes! I AM GETTING BETTER! I am now learning of Christ. I am growing up into Him in all things. I am renouncing the hidden things of darkness. I am putting on the mind of Christ. I am receiving His chastisements and experiencing His dealings. I am submitting my will more and more to His. I am tasting the powers of the world to come. I am apprehending His righteousness, peace, and joy. I am eating His flesh and drinking His blood. I am overcoming sins, weaknesses, unbelief, problems, fears, and obstacles of every kind. I am putting off the old man, and putting on the new man. Daily, continually, progressively, unceasingly, from glory to glory, I AM BEING CHANGED! No longer am I being reduced to a worse state and an inferior condition — I am now being transformed by the renewing of my mind into a better state, into a superior condition! I have escaped the irresistible downward plunge — I have thus escaped CORRUPTION! I am now incorruptible — on my way up instead of down! Is my soul fully resurrected, raised up into His perfection, standing up again in the full power of HIS LIFE? I cannot confess today that the work is complete, but there is no doubt about it, my soul is in the process of RESURRECTION!"
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"Now the spirit must woo the soul, and raise it up into life in union with the spirit. If you can receive it — THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION!"
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"Of the dragon, the ancient serpent, it is expressly said that he is Satan. And he was now bound by the angel for a thousand years. Let us place this picture before us vividly, for John says he saw it; we therefore can also form a living mental image of the same. Therefore, right before his eyes, while John was viewing the picture, the dragon, namely the devil, was actually being bound by the angel with the chain, so that he could neither stir nor move. This John sees! The fact that the dragon was bound a thousand years could naturally only be communicated to John as information revealed within himself by the Spirit; for the picture did not last a thousand years. I have experienced the same thing when the Lord has spoken to me in a dream or a vision and I simply knew or inherently understood something about the vision that was not communicated to me by anything I saw in the scenes shown me. If we ask — Was Satan actually being bound at the precise moment in which John saw this? Our answer is — No! For John was not being shown a one-time event to transpire in the spirit-realm, either past or future, but he was shown a great spiritual reality to be experienced in all of the Lord’s people as they walk in the spirit and grow up into Christ. It was just a symbolic picture of that. And the thing that matters concerning the picture, in so far as it is a revelation of God’s working within us, is not just the binding itself, but the binding for a thousand years! The deep mystery is that this reveals to us not only the fact of Satan being totally bound in the abyss of our earth, within our heart, but also the HOW of that binding!"
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/rev219.html
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"While the day of the Lord certainly has a chronological reality to it, the day of the Lord is first and foremost a state of being, a state of illumination, understanding, knowledge, consciousness, and experience. The day of the Lord is the garden of Eden, it’s the sabbath of God, it’s the cessation of the flesh, and the strivings, desires, and anxieties of the carnal mind. It’s the ceasing of trying by soulish strength to think up and work up the nature, will, ways, and purposes of God, and it’s entering instead into the power of His life, light, and glory. It’s the discovering and unveiling of the Christ within! That’s what John discovered in Revelation 20:1-6. He discovered the Most Holy Place. There is a people on the earth today that is beginning to experience the reality and fulfillment of all that the prophets prophesied of through the ages. The third day, the third feast of Israel, and the third realm in God are all pre-figured by the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle of Moses with its dimensions of ten cubits wide, ten cubits long, and ten cubits high — one thousand cubits square! Those dimensions correspond precisely with the “thousand years” of John’s vision, for one thousand is a figure composed of 10 X 10 X 10. Beyond the veil, in the Most Holy Place, the one thousand cubits point to the one thousand years of the reign of God’s elect upon the thrones of judgment. Both measurements are symbolisms representing the reign of Christ and all the holy sons of God in the power of the kingdom of God and the brightness of the day of the Lord!"
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/rev218.html
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"The very fact that God states that the serpent was now to crawl upon his belly, which obviously he had not done before, reveals that there was a descending from one realm to another, from a greater to a lesser, from a higher and more mobile to a lower and more confined. Moving on his belly limits the sphere of the serpent’s activity, now he can only creep along the ground. Previously he had access to loftier realms, his sphere of activity extended to higher domains — exalted realms of pure spirit expression — but he is now lowered to the dust-realm, into the world of the natural man, confined to the earthly and sensual, and restricted to action upon and expression through THE MAN OF DUST, as the Lord pronounced to Adam in that same encounter, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for DUST THOU ART, AND UNTO DUST SHALT THOU RETURN” (Gen. 3:19). And to the serpent he said, “And dust (the fleshly, carnal nature of man) shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen. 3:14). Truly this accounts for the words of the apostle, “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, THE S-P-I-R-I-T THAT NOW WORKETH I-N THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE” (Eph. 2:2)."
"Ah, yes, this evil spirit is IN MAN! When the ancient serpent was lowered into the dust realm, to crawl upon his belly and eat (find his satisfaction and fulfillment in) dust, man became the base of operation for his activity. I do not hesitate to tell you, my beloved, that you will find Satan operative in NO OTHER REALM in the whole universe! You do not meet the devil in rocks, trees, mountains, rivers, clouds, fish, birds, animals, nor on far-away planets, in distant galaxies, in flying saucers, nor in any other object or location outside of man. Can we not see that under the curse God limited Satan to the dust of the earth, to the realm of the first Adam, the natural man, the carnal mind — the man of dust! “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (I Cor. 15:47)."
Much more in the link:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/rev217.html
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