General Articles

Revelation Prophecy Today :: By Daniel Payne

Published on: by RR7

Disclaimer: This article is intended to serve a dual purpose. The first is to strengthen and encourage believers. The second is to proverbially grab non-believers and skeptics by the shoulders and scream, “Wake up!”

Mobile device: think smartphone.

A great number of things are falling into place concerning events that many would have considered far-fetched and nigh impossible only a few generations ago. Consider the fact that the technology now exists to literally put a digital mark on every human being on earth that would link those humans to a centralized database network. The capabilities of this network are at the very least equivalent to the capabilities of the exact same devices that most Americans are already familiar with and often use every day.

Think of every online, digital, and mobile device you’ve ever interacted with. Devices you use to control your banking and finances. Devices you use to buy your groceries and pay for services. Devices you use to take photos and videos. Devices you use to communicate with friends and family. Devices you use for navigation that track your own location and movements on a map. Etc., etc…

Now think about this mark as having access to the exact same network as all of those devices mentioned above. Having the mark will be the same as having your mobile device with you at all times instead of forgetting it or purposely leaving it at home, whether you currently use a smartphone or not.

Again, what are all of the things that you can do with your mobile device? Or, better yet, what are all the things your mobile device can “do for you” in the name of convenience or necessity?

Are you familiar with the World Health Organization (WHO)? Have you heard about their agenda for something they call the “DDCC”?

(“DDCC” stands for “Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates,” and “DDCC-VC” is “Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates: Vaccination Status”.)

The WHO has a publicly published document that you can find online. (Just search for “who ddcc technical specifications.”)

The goal of the WHO is to have a worldwide electronic immunization registry in place ASAP. What follows are quotes from the WHO document referenced above. I have not altered or edited any of the quotes EXCEPT for only underlining a few words. Where they decided to use all uppercase letters, they, in fact, did use all uppercase letters.

From page 9 of the WHO document, “HEALTH CERTIFICATE IDENTIFIER (HCID): A unique alphanumeric identifier (ID) for a physical and/or digital health document which contains one or more vaccination events. It is the key identifier, present within the DDCC:VS and retained in the DDCC:VS registry.”

From page 14, “Digital vaccination certificates should meet the public health needs of each WHO Member State, as well as the needs of individuals around the world.”

[In case you’re wondering: Yes, the United States participates in WHO governance, including as a current Executive Board member. The U.S. has historically been an active and engaged member of the World Health Assembly, sending a large delegation usually led by a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services with multiple other U.S. agencies and departments also participating.]

From page 18, “The HCID SHALL be used to establish a globally unique identifier (ID) for the DDCC:VS or to reference the ID of a previously established DDCC:VS.”

From page 15, “An individual who has received a vaccination should have access to proof of this – either as a traditional paper card or a version of the electronic DDCC:VS. The HCID should appear on any paper card in both a human-readable and a machine-readable format (i.e., alphanumeric characters that are printed, as well as rendered as a 1D or 2D barcode).”

From page 25, “It SHALL be possible to enter or attach the HCID as a 1D barcode to any paper vaccination card issued to the Subject of Care (or the HCID card holder).”

From page 26, “It MAY be possible for the solution to generate a machine-readable 2D barcode that, in addition to the HCID, contains further useful technical information, such as a web end-point for validating the HCID, or a public key.”

From page 28, “A digital solution that can inspect and cryptographically verify the validity of the DDCC:VS. This can be an application on a mobile phone or another device.”

From page 37, “If a paper vaccination card or electronic vaccination document bearing a 1D or 2D barcode is presented to a Verifier, then it SHALL be possible for the Verifier to scan the code and, as a minimum, read the HCID encoded in the barcode to visually compare it with the HCID written on the paper card, if present.”

From page 38, “If, at the time of verification, a Verifier has online access/connectivity to a DDCC:VS Registry Service managed by a National PHA, then it SHALL be possible to query whether the HCID present in the barcode (and the public key, if also present) of the paper vaccination card are currently valid.”

From page 70, “Ask for the public key if it does not have it. The Verifier can provide the HCID and check that the authority has that HCID in its records and that the HCID is linked to a valid public key. This is the role of the DDCC:VS Registry Service in this paper.”

Also, from page 70, “Once the Verifier has the public key, it can also check with the authority that the public key is valid and has not been revoked.”

From page 71, “For the vaccination certificates, the HCID must resolve back to a digital record that is digitally signed in the manner described.”

From page 79, “CLIENT REGISTRY: Also referred to as a patient registry, a demographic database that contains definitive information about each Subject of Care. This database can include a Subject of Care’s name, date of birth, sex, address, phone number, email address, as well as other person-specific information such as parent-child relationships, caregiver relationships, family–clinician relationships, and consent directives. It is also in the client registry that the list of unique identifiers (IDs; e.g., national ID, national health ID, health insurance ID) for a particular Subject of Care can be found. The data elements in the DDCC:VS core data set that may be populated with data from the client registry include:

→ name
→ date of birth
→ sex
→ unique IDs.” – End quotes.

In case you’re wondering if it’s possible to place the digital barcodes containing your “National ID” and your “globally unique identifier (ID)” referenced above on your skin instead of a piece of paper, just search the internet for “Microsoft smart tattoos.”

I mean, who really thinks that with all of the technology described in that WHO document, that their end goal is stamping your global ID on a piece of paper? LOL, as some would say.

Now for the elephant in the room. Whoever wrote about something such as “a globally unique identifier (ID)” before the Bible did? Do you realize that the Book of Revelation was written nearly 2,000 years ago? Who could have, or who would have ever guessed thousands of years ago that anything would or could affect the buying, selling, health, and governance of all people on the entire earth: all nations, all tribes, and all tongues? Think about it.

Revelation 13:7, “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.”

Revelation 13:16-18, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

I’m sure that Satan is thrilled that so many professing Christians have been deceived into believing that the Book of Revelation is just some kind of non-relevant allegory. That is just the more people who aren’t paying attention to the truth of the very prophecies contained within Revelation becoming a reality right before their eyes and underneath their fingertips. And possibly coming soon to a forehead or wrist near you.

However, there is a way to escape these things that will come to pass.

Luke 21:34-36, “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Jesus is saying that true believers should watch and pray at all times, thus separating themselves from the unbelieving world, which is destined to experience the wrath of God during the Tribulation. True believers should identify themselves with those who will stand in acceptance before the Son of Man.

How can someone be “worthy” to escape the Tribulation? Through humbly admitting that only Jesus is truly worthy. By His stripes, you can be healed. He is the righteousness that you can never attain on your own.

2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Romans 3:22a, “Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.”

Have faith in the sacrifice of Jesus for your sins on the cross. Believe that He is risen from the dead and is in heaven at this very moment preparing for the day that He will return for His bride.

The following Bible verses declare how you can become part of the believing family that is His bride:

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The following is the Lord’s promise to all believers:

John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Revelation 3:10-11, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

 

The Message of Psalm 2: Part Three :: By David Reagan

Published on: by RR7

The Spirit Warns

Psalm 2 begins with David speaking as a prophet, lamenting over the way the world’s rulers scoff at the Lord. It proceeds with the Lord laughing over the feeble attempts of men to frustrate His will. It is then punctuated by a proclamation of Jesus in which He announces His Father’s promise that He, the Son, will one day triumph over all the kingdoms of the world.

The psalm concludes with a warning given by the Holy Spirit:

“Now, therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with reverence,
And rejoice with trembling.
Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry,
and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled” (Psalm 2:10-12a)

The Audience

The Spirit’s warning is addressed to the kings and judges of the earth. It is a solemn call for the political leaders of the world to clean up their acts and submit themselves and their nations to the Lord’s will before He bursts from the heavens in wrath.

Unfortunately, this stern warning seems forever to fall on deaf ears and hardened hearts. The warning was spoken 3,000 years ago, and power grubbing and political corruption continue unabated to this day. The world’s political leaders continue to thumb their noses at God and mock His Anointed One.

But a “day of reckoning” (Isaiah 2:12) is fast approaching, and what a day it will be! The book of Revelation says that on that day “the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong…” will hide themselves in caves and will cry out to the rocks of the mountains: “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:15-16).

The Lord has delayed the outpouring of His wrath because He does not desire that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But there is a limit to the Lord’s patience, and while He waits, “He reserves wrath for His enemies” (Nahum 1:2). The Lord may be slow to anger, but “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Nahum 1:3).

But the political leaders of the world are not the only audience for the Spirit’s warning. The warning is also aimed at the redeemed, for — as I have already pointed out — we will one day serve as the kings and judges of this world. So, let the redeemed take notice of what we are called to do as we await the Lord’s return.

A Call to Worship

First, we are called to “worship the Lord with reverence” (Psalm 2:11). The actual Hebrew word here is “serve” rather than “worship.” But I like the use of the term “worship” because it emphasizes that our ultimate worship of the Lord is expressed in how we serve Him.

We so often think of worship only in terms of what we do when we come together corporately as a congregation of believers. Don’t get me wrong — corporate worship is extremely important. We were created to worship God (Deuteronomy 6:13), and God actively seeks people who are worshiping Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23).

But the ultimate worship is expressed in what we do when we leave the congregation and return to the world. Do those who come in contact with us recognize that we have been in the presence of the Lord? Do we return from worship “to bless our household,” as was the case in King David’s life? (2 Samuel 6:20)

Do you have a passion to worship God? Do you desire to celebrate Him for who He is and what He has done? And do you desire to express that worship not only with the praise of your lips but with the labor of your body and the money you have earned?

One other thing — Do you understand that one day soon You will stand before the Lord and be judged of your works?

A Call to an Unusual Form of Rejoicing

The future judgment which we face for our works is the reason that the Spirit expresses His next command in such an unusual way. He calls us to “rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).

Have you ever thought about what a strange command this is? A person normally rejoices with laughter, dancing, singing, or hand-clapping. How does one rejoice with trembling?

I think the command relates to the tension that exists in the Scriptures between grace and works. We are saved by grace, and we should rejoice over that and over the completion of our salvation (the glorification of our bodies) that we will enjoy when the Lord returns. But at the same time, we should tremble over the prospect of standing before Jesus to have our works judged.

There is both good news and bad news about the Lord’s forthcoming judgment of the redeemed. The good news is so good that many Christians find it hard to believe, but it is true nonetheless. The incredible, good news is that the redeemed will not be judged of their sins to determine whether they will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

The reason, of course, is that we have already been judged of our sins. That judgment took place at the Cross when all our sins — past, present, and future — were placed on Jesus, and He received the wrath which we deserve.

That’s why the Bible teaches that if you are covered by the blood of Jesus, your sins have been forgiven and forgotten (Isaiah 43:25 and Hebrews 8:12). They have been removed from the presence of the Lord “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12-13). As Corrie ten Boom used to say, “The Lord has placed our sins in the deepest part of the ocean, and He has put up a sign that says, ‘No Fishing!'” (See Micah 7:19.)

What does it mean for the Lord to “forget” our sins? It means they will never be held against the redeemed again with regard to the determination of their eternal destiny. That’s why the writer of Hebrews could confidently assert that when Jesus appears a second time, He will come “for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Hebrews 9:28).

So, if our sins have been forgotten, what will be the nature of our judgment when we, the redeemed, stand before the Lord? This brings us to the bad news that should cause us to tremble. We are going to be judged of our works, not to determine our eternal destiny, but to determine our degrees of reward. And in regard to our works, our shortcomings and failures will be remembered.

This news comes as a great shock to most Christians, for most seem unaware that their works have any significance, and others do not realize that there will be degrees of reward.

Degrees of Reward

The concept of degrees of reward is clearly spelled out in the Scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 3:8, Paul says, “Each will receive his own reward according to his labor.” He then says that our works will be tested by the Lord to determine their quality (1 Corinthians 3:13). He indicates that some will, in effect, be saved with their tail feathers smoking! This is because their works will not stand the test of the Lord’s “fire” (His judgment). He thus concludes, “If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Some of the last words Jesus spoke on this earth had to do with degrees of reward. Those words are recorded in Revelation 22:12 — “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

The Judgment of Works

How will the Lord judge our works? What criteria will He use?

I believe the starting point will be the gifts of the Spirit which we received when we were born again. The Word teaches that at the moment of salvation, every redeemed person receives at least one gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7 and 1 Peter 4:10). Some receive more than one gift, and some may receive additional gifts as they develop in the Lord, particularly if they are good stewards of their initial gifts (Matthew 25:14-30).

I believe the Lord will ask each one of us how we used the gifts He gave us for the advancement of His kingdom. And then I believe He will test our works in terms of quantity, quality, and motive.

What about you? Do you know what gifts you have been given by the Spirit? Are you using them to advance the kingdom? And are your motives pure? Are you serving the Lord in the power of His Spirit for the purpose of His glory?

A Call to Commitment

As we await the Lord’s return, we are to “worship the Lord with reverence,” and we are to “rejoice with trembling.” The third thing the Spirit calls us to do is to “do homage to the Son” (Psalm 2:12).

What the Hebrew actually says here is very clear but is seldom literally translated because it sounds so strange. Literally, the Hebrew words say “Kiss the Son.”

For years I wondered what those words meant. I consulted commentaries and found a lot of conjecture, but none of the answers seemed to click in my spirit. So, I continued to pray that the Lord would show me the true meaning of the words.

One day, as I was reading the book of Hosea, the Spirit suddenly impressed a verse upon my heart that gave me the answer I had been seeking. The verse is found in chapter 13.

As this chapter begins, Hosea has just completed his preaching tour of Israel, in which he calls the people to repent of their idolatry. To his horror, when he arrives back home, he finds a neighbor bowing down before a silver calf, and he cries out, “Men kiss calves!” (Hosea 13:2)

When I read those words, the Spirit witnessed to my spirit. I immediately thought of the words of the psalmist: “Kiss the Son!” Suddenly, this strange statement made complete sense to me.

You see, if Hosea were alive today and could preach to us about America, I think he would say, “I have traveled all over your land to seek its spiritual temperament, and I say to you, everywhere I go, I find men kissing calves!”

Except, I suspect he would put it in modern English: “Everywhere I go in this land, I find men kissing CD’s in the bank, chrome-plated automobiles, and audacious houses. I see men in love with money, power, and fame. I say to you, take all that the world has to offer, set it aside in a junk pile, and put God first in your lives. Fall in love with Jesus!”

That’s what it means to “Kiss the Son”! It is a call to commit your life to Jesus by falling in love with Him and putting Him first in your life — above career and family. It’s a call to make Him the Lord of everything in your life — your family and job, your hopes and dreams, your thoughts and words, your music, reading material, food, drink, recreation — everything!

By making Him your refuge, you will be delivered from the wrath that is to come (Romans 5:9 and 1 Thessalonians 5:9), and you will come to know the full meaning of the last line of Psalm 2: “How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

The Message

God is on His throne. He is in control. Three thousand years ago, He promised Mankind that His Son will triumph in history. He is currently working out that purpose in history.

God has the wisdom and the power to orchestrate all the evil of Man to the victory of Jesus. The world may appear to be out of control, but what we are experiencing are the death throes of a worn-out world and the birth pangs of a new one.

End-time events may be fearful in nature. But believers can find peace and comfort in the assurance of Psalm 2 that Satan will be defeated and Jesus will triumph as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The signs of the times tell us that Jesus is at the very gates of Heaven, ready to return any moment to take His church out of this world. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Live with an eternal perspective. Rest in the confidence that while evil men scheme and Satan plots, God sits on His throne in Heaven and laughs.