Starting with Isaiah 41:10; “Fear not, for I am with you; be ye not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”  (ESV – all emphasis is mine)

The idea of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being with us always goes all the way back to the creation and is demonstrated throughout the Old Testament. It continues with our Lord and Savior Jesus coming to earth as a human to provide us the most perfect gift we could ever have – eternal life with Him forever. He lived a perfect, sinless life on this earth so that His blood sacrifice for us would be acceptable to the Father as payment for our sins.

When God makes a covenant, He never fails to honor it. Going to Genesis 28, His covenant with Jacob stands today, and it includes all people of all nations. Looking at verses 12-15,

“And he dreamed, and behold there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, ‘I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’”

After AD-70, the Jewish people were scattered around the world, and the nation of Israel became mostly desert. Samuel Clements, better known as Mark Twain, visited Israel in 1867 and called it a “hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.” He made comments about the land being desolate and devoid of inhabitants. As of May 14, 1948, there hadn’t been much change, but on that day, Israel declared itself an independent sovereign nation after almost 2,000 years. The first nation to recognize that sovereignty was the United States under President Harry S. Truman. Most of their immediate neighbors responded by mounting a full-scale attack in an effort to wipe this tiny nation off the map. Needless to say, their efforts didn’t work.

Today, Israel has truly been blessed by the Lord and has developed fertile soil for growing many types of produce; their wines are some of the finest in the world; and to top everything off, there have been oil and natural gas deposits discovered within their legal boundaries. They have formed a respected military force, and their ability to drive back the invaders has been truly God-inspired.

Richard Rogers (1902 – 1978) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) wrote a song for their 1945 musical “Carousel” called “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” At the time, it was not meant to carry any religious message.

From 9/4/1966 through 8/31/2014, Jerry Lewis held telethons to raise funds for his “kids” who had Muscular Dystrophy. Over the course of those years, his efforts raised over two billion dollars for the M.D. Association. His efforts were meant to be inspirational for all his “kids” to know someone truly cared for them and there were people who loved them and wanted to do all that could be done to give them relief. He sang that song at the end of each telecast as a means to encourage “his kids” to never give up.

To date, many performers have recorded this song, and it has even been accepted as a gospel hymn. It reminds us that we are never alone if we have our Lord and Savior Jesus as our Shepherd and Redeemer. Here are the inspiring words to that song:

“When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark. At the end of a storm, there’s a golden sky and the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind; walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone; you’ll never walk alone.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone; you’ll never walk alone.”

For all true believers, we have the faith to know that our forever will be far greater than any words can possibly express. We just know that we will have a body that will never age, never experience pain or death, and we will have a mindset that will be immune from temptation to any form of evil ever again. We will live in a place prepared for us by our Jesus, as stated in John 14:1-3. This is available as a gift for receiving and accepting our Lord’s pure, sinless blood sacrifice that He willingly gave for us at Calvary (John 10:18).

On the other hand, all who were out of the will of the Father before the crucifixion, and all who will have refused Jesus from Calvary to the end of this earth’s age, will answer for every sin, great or small, that they will ever have committed in their lifetimes. They will attend an event known as the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. All souls at this judgment will be separated from the Heavenly Father forever in a lake of fire, as given in Matthew 25:41. It will be eternal torment without any form of relief.

Every single soul on this earth has the ability to choose Heaven or Hell. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is found in Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, and Romans 10:13. The simple steps to Salvation are found in Romans 10:9-13, and as Ephesians 2:8-9 states, it is a gift from the Father and not something we can earn or buy.

With evil and abominations increasing daily, it is very possible there will be the sound of the Trumpet of God and a shout from an archangel very soon. Paul tells us about this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. All of the Savior’s precious flock will be removed to keep us from the coming tribulation/wrath, as promised by the Father in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Revelation 3:10.

All who are left behind will face the worst 7-year period of time this earth has ever seen. With this said, the decision of which eternity you choose becomes very important. We do not know the day or hour the Rapture, as it’s commonly called, will take place. However, when God says it’s going to happen, it will happen.

Our Heavenly Father could be a totally different type of God and force His will on all of us. However, that would not be love, and our God is all about pure love. He wants no one to fail (2 Peter 3:9) but allows us the ability to make our own free-will choice. He is waiting for our call to have His Son be our eternal Shepherd, but eventually, as with all the biblical events, the time will come when it will be too late to decide.

Satan wants you to believe that all the things of this earth are what are most important. His famous lie of “Did God really say?” still draws souls to him. It may be easier to make a decision when you realize that everything on this earth is not permanent; only the love of God is forever.

Jesus will turn no one away who truly calls on Him to save them. Right now would not be too early to place that call. As stated, it’s completely up to you to make that decision. Just remember, what you choose is how you will spend forever.

Meanwhile, for those of us who have already chosen our Savior, we gladly say, “Maranatha!” which means Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com

My articles can also be found at: Dennis Huebshman Featured Articles – Rapture Forums

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 17:19, Isaiah 34:16, Daniel 9:2, John 5:39, Acts 17:11,2 Timothy 2:15

Summary: If we are to understand biblical prophecy or any challenging topic within the pages of Scripture, we need to lay down guidelines on how to correctly interpret what we are reading.

When we take the time to look over the contents of the book of Revelation, it is plain to see that what is being presented is not a collection of vague phrases, thoughts, or symbols in which we are left to guess their meaning or relevance. Revelation, like all other books of the Bible, is meant to be carefully read, diligently studied, clearly understood, and gradually applied to our lives as part of our expected maturation as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Any serious study of Scripture on our part demonstrates that we want to advance in our spiritual journey and go beyond ingesting the “milk” of basic belief.

Like the fertile soil of Jesus’ parable (Mark 4:1-20), the seed of the Gospel has entrenched itself deep within our soul, and we want to venture further into what it means not only to follow Jesus but to gain a deeper understanding of and love for His Word. All of this is a viable sign of spiritual maturity and the beginning of a great harvest.

In this message, I want to present the basics of proper biblical interpretation in order that you get a clear picture of what not only Revelation but the whole of Scripture has to tell us in order that we not only grow in our faith but also have the tools and knowledge necessary to fight the good fight of faith and be able to withstand any false or misleading doctrines that are all too common in these closing days of history and the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Twenty-first-century Christianity, as I see it, boils down to the fact that few “believers” know little or any of the content within the pages of Scripture. We have turned into a nation of biblical illiterates sitting among treasure troves of knowledge available on the internet and other media. More people can give you the names of ten brands of beer yet fail to name one of the Ten Commandments. There are church members who cannot list the names of the four Gospel writers. There are so-called “teachers” who wax eloquent on “personal revelation” and “new words of God” that the spiritually gullible devour like pigs in slop. I have heard the most outlandish, ridiculous, and stupid things coming from the mouths of so-called “preachers” who embellish their experiences, outlandish stories, and emotional outbursts over sound doctrine and the truth of Scripture.

All of this is both an insult and demeaning of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, setting the progress of the Gospel in a direction leading to ridicule and mockery by those whom we are trying to reach with the only message that will rescue them from an eternity in a very real hell.

Now that I have your attention, let us proceed to the heart of the matter. We are going to apply what is known as the literal interpretation of Scripture when we begin reading and studying the contents within Revelation. The first thing to know is that the book of Revelation is a literal description of the historical events that take place in both the natural and supernatural realm of God’s creation. A literal interpretation is the way for anyone possessing normal intelligence would understand the text without having to rely on the use or necessity of “special codes” or “keys” that “unlock” some kind of mystery.

(Sorry, gang, Scooby-Doo and those “meddling kids” are not going to solve this one for you. Correct interpretation of biblical texts is your responsibility.)

Scripture interprets Scripture, not our opinions and preconceived notions of how we think a passage of Scripture ought to read. When we try to fit our thinking and prejudices into the reading of Scripture, we are using a format known as EISEGESIS. The best way to describe this faulty procedure is when someone reads a selection of Scripture and then asks their peers or class, “What does this passage mean TO YOU?” This type of teaching and thinking leads to cults, false doctrine, and stunted Christian development if not corrected.

In studying the Bible, we want to know what God is trying to tell us with each passage and verse. This requires careful reading of the text using good study tools at our disposal, like dictionaries, concordances, commentaries, and the works of scholars and ministers who preach and teach that the Bible is literally true and trustworthy. This method of study is known as EXEGESIS, and it is the only viable way of really understanding the treasures of the Word.

There is nothing complicated about what the LORD would have to present to us in His Word.

Almost all of the Bible is written in a format that is easily understood and historically obvious to anyone willing to read it carefully. When the Lord Jesus taught in parables, He used stories of everyday events and people in ways that made those who wanted to truly learn from Him how to think and understand the precepts of God. He used figurative speech to illustrate literal facts about what it meant to follow Him and obey the commandments of God. In the book of 2 Samuel, the prophet Nathan used a parable to convict King David of his adulterous affair with the wife of his loyal soldier Uriah and the aftermath. Nathan’s story was used by God to show David the literal seriousness of his sins and the consequences that would accompany it.

Jesus made His disciples THINK, and He still does this for anyone willing to seriously follow Him today. He does not and never has commended anyone to just “open their Bible” and expect a message to ascend out of heaven. Sermons and teachings do not fall out of the sky already prepared, ready for us to give to a class or congregation. Proper interpretation of Scripture relies on the leading of the Holy Spirit, who was sent by the Lord Jesus to teach us (John 16:5-15) and bestow upon us those gifts deemed necessary for us to accomplish the work to which we are commissioned (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).

Like the Good Teacher He is, He assigns homework (studying the Word, preparation of messages and lessons, convicting us of the need to keep focused on the things of God and not the flesh, etc.) and encourages us to continually “renew our minds” (Romans 12:1-2), all which rests on our decision to mature in our faith and stay focused on the things of God to do His will.

In closing, I want to leave you with the words of Dr. Ron Rhodes regarding properly understanding Scripture:

“When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense lest you end up with nonsense.”

This applies to the treasures we will uncover as we go through the book of Revelation.

donaldwhitchard@outlook.com

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