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to the law and the testimony The testimony is the self revelation of God. It represents God’s heart desire, which is also God’s requirement - or we may say, God’s standard. His standard reveals Himself, showing us what a God He is. When this testimony comes to man, it becomes law. On God’s side, it is testimony, but on the human side, it is law. The Lord Jesus comes to bear witness to the Father; the Holy Spirit comes to bear witness to Christ; we are to maintain the testimony of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. The witnessing of Christ is none other than telling people who God is in Christ and what Christ is. It behooves us not to sin against this testimony. God’s people are to speak from the place of their purpose. It is in this light that we speak as God calls us to come up hither and He will show us what we are to say. The purpose must be in the power and the knowledge of God. The words spoken are to be in accord with our calling. We speak the truth of God’s word by faith. Faith is not about feeling comfortable, it is speaking God’s word authentically. What it commands, what it asks, what it directs. Not just the soothing and the pleasant and the peaceful, but also the warning, the revealing, the specific...diminishing not a word. The only truth to be spoken is God’s truth. That’s why it’s so important to always search the scriptures and ask God to continually give us wisdom according to His will. And it helps to learn through conversations with believers in our search for understanding. When we speak, we are to provide a comprehensive vision to the reality of God. Our words are to offer suggesting answers to the questions that arise in the course of examination as others enquire for detailed evidence of the things of heaven. Our speaking is to call forth an investigation into every expression of God allowing those who hear to search for the explanation of the nature of the connection between the heavenly and the earthly realities. Our speaking is not just the utterance of words. It is the approaching of the Holy Spirit advancing the desires of God that our vocal performance is far deeper than the natural. Our spirit within us, begotten by the Holy Ghost, discerns and communes with Him, and receives from Him answers of peace. It is a spiritual business from beginning to end. When we speak to the law its’ aim and object end is not with man, but to reach to God Himself. In order to such testimony, the work of the Holy Ghost Himself is needed. The testimony is the solemn declaration as by a witness under oath. We are to be the firsthand, outward sign of authentication of the truth of God. If testimony were of the lips alone, we should only need breath in our nostrils to speak. If testimony were of desires alone, many excellent desires are easily felt, even by natural men. But when it is the spiritual desire and thes piritual fellowship of the human spirit with the Spirit of God, then the Holy Ghost Himself must be present all through it, to help infirmity, and give life and power, or else true testimony will never be presented, but the thing offered to God will wear the name and have the form, but the inner life of the truth of testimony will be far from it. The interposition of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential to the light that brightens the law and the testimony. Through this crucified and risen person the veil is entirely taken away and we are shut in with the living God. To the law and to the testimony, without the Savior, our words are an insult to Deity. Our speaking is to be intended and offered as an acceptable sacrifice to God. We are purposed to take these words and handle them as God shall give us ability. Our text speaks of a throne - the throne of grace. According to the law and the testimony we are reminded that our Father is infinitely greater than ourselves. In our speaking we remember that the mercy seat is the throne. In our speaking we are claiming the promises of God. It is God’s word in our mouths. God’s law and testimony are not dated. They are forever present. Without the living guidance of His Word, we can’t move an inch in the direction of God. It is the light of the law and the testimony whereby we can understand and fulfil all God’s divine purposes. The word is carried from God to us to others. And it comes with God’s own creative power. When we speak the truth of the law and the words of the testimony they contain all the power needed for its own fulfilment. It is God speaking, and it is done! God’s word does not exist independently from God. It is alive and incorruptible. It can never be destroyed or defeated because it possesses all the qualities of God Himself. Our recourse must be always to speak directly in every case. We must make good use of our bible. We are counseled as to what is required of us according to the law and the testimony. We must make this our standard, conform to it, take advice from it, make our appeals to it, and in everything be overruled and determined by it. If there be any of the word of God not concurred with, evinces that there is no light in the one who speaks. They do not understand themselves. To reject, to not accept any of the divine revelation through reasoning is followed by a spiritual darkness. When we speak the law, the testimony, we receive the very life of God as He plants the seed of His Word inside us. Everything in His plan and purpose for our life comes within our reach. The light, that is by the law and the testimony, is that creative life spoken by God when He said let there be...today, by exactly the same power, God keeps on sustaining all things, and accomplishing His eternal will of salvation in His people who speak accordingly. When understanding the law and the testimony we understand God purposing His will. The Word declares it - speaking out the Father’s purpose. The Spirit performs the Father’s will by working out every detail of His plan. It is futile for people to attempt to resist God, for He always fulfils His will. This is the awesome experience of God’s people. Letting the word work in us by giving it access to the deepest parts of our being. This means allowing God to search our heart and to expose those things which displease Him. It is an awesome experience. We accept with all humbling of self the infallible authority of the word of God. This renders an ever-increasing effectiveness of our faith. The light emitted from the law and the testimony will fulfil His word to us. All His promises will be given us. He will accomplish His good-and-perfect will in our life. The goodness of the law and the testimony gives abundance to our spirit as it moves us beyond the thoughts and inclinations, ideas and opinions of the world. We are grounded in the endurance of the truth by faith. It is with the law and the testimony whereby all devices and attacks of the enemy will be thwarted. Every word of the law from God, every word of the testimony of God which we truly receive in our spirit begins to reveal itself in our thoughts, our deeds and our words as the light that is the life to those who receive and confess Christ. Speaking the law and the testimony means that our minds, our hearts, our mouths, our spirits are in full agreement with God’s word. This is the working of the conviction of our faith. By this faith, we enter deeply into the marvelous presence of God. The Holy Spirit – God’s covenant gift for all believers – both grants us access to God and begins to inspire us so that God’s words become our words, His law our law, His testimony our purposed reality. Our speaking to the law and the testimony furthers our faith declarations in the utterances of our amens in the spirit-inspired agreement to the truth of God’s word; our hallelujahs in the highest form of spirit directed joy; and our maranathas in the witness we share with the Spirit to the hope of Jesus’ return. That which is gifted to us swells up in the praise, the hope, the confidence in God. Our obedient actions to the law, our declarations of faith to the testimony fulfills the related needs in our life to justify the calling of God purposefully as His election. We are so made able to offer scriptural truth to impregnate the spirit of others with the seed of His word. This is the light that is life. If the spirit does not agree with the word of God, it is a dark spirit, unbalanced with the truth. A dark spirit presents chaos and destruction from the inside. Such depravity is God-dishonoring, Christ-denying, man- exalting doctrines. It is exempt from the understandings associated with the heavenly realms. It is what actually happened when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden as recorded in Genesis. Adam, being wrong at the fall, was wrong of all. The law of God was iniquitously disclaimed. And so we thank God for the law and the testimony that gives light. This truth provides the exception for all to be saved through the representative act of the last Adam – the Lord Jesus Christ. Through one came transgression. Through one came justification. We are exhorted to keep God’s testimonies in the same way as we are required to keep His word, precepts, law, statutes and commandments. It may sound a little strange to our ears when we say we must keep God’s testimonies. But we find in the bible that His testimonies are of the same nature as are His word, precepts, law, statutes and commandments. The two tables of stone on which His law was inscribed are called the two tables of the testimony. The testimony bears witness to the kind of God we have as over against the sort of life we humans live. When it is placed in our heart, such a testimony convicts us of our unrighteousness, our falling short of the divine standard. But while it remains in the Lord’s hand, it reveals what a God He is. Testimony, therefore, is the self-revelation of God. It is God’s speaking concerning Himself. It is not our giving testimony. We must profess assertively that this testimony is a spiritual reality, that which is ultimately reality. Whoever fails to touch the ultimate reality does not touch the testimony. Strictly speaking, no one can bear witness for God save Jesus Christ, since from eternity to eternity the divine testimony is given by God Himself. God, His Son, and the Spirit alone can tell us what He is. But in the law, in the testimony we bear witness to our Jesus...whom is the Light. To testify for God requires of man that we touch God Himself so as to be able to speak the words which God asks us to say. Man can speak only after God is known, seen and revealed to us. Only when we have touched this ultimate reality are we able to speak the testimony. And so, we know why we are given by God the revelation of Jesus Christ. Thank God that our witness does not rely upon man’s word or doctrine or teaching, because it is Christ himself who has come forth to show us God. A testimony may become a doctrine, but a doctrine can never become a testimony. When testimony is given, commandment may come upon us to obey; yet this commandment is not the testimony. For this testimony is, but more than a matter of experience. It is touching the Lord Himself. Manward, yes testimony is indeed experience; nonetheless, the term experience is far too inadequate when discussing testimony. Because testimony is a matter of touching the Lord, He alone can testify for himself. Since there is none greater than God, He is the only One who can bear witness for Himself. Read Psalms 119. Testimony is of such immensity that it is not easily comprehended by our mind, because it is God Himself speaking, and by which He reveals Himself and also His demand. Whoever touches this divine testimony has in reality touched God Himself. To the law and to the testimony...Hear this intense truth... whatever touches the character or the way of God touches His testimony. God will have His absolute character manifested. And that which misrepresents His character sins against His testimony. Whenever God’s testimony is involved, He will not overlook the full event; the motive, the thought, the words, the deed, the situation, the consequences. Whatever defames or falsely represents Him, He will immediately deal with it, since it affects His character, His position, even His very self. When we speak according to the law and the testimony, we are speaking more than simply receiving the resurrection life; it also speaks of the working of the cross in men’s lives. The cross is a great subtraction, in that the old creation must all be taken away. How can the testimony of God be maintained if the rod fails to bud, if the rock is struck twice with wrath and the old creation does not fade away? And so, we may say that God opens just one door by which we may enter in. All who do not come in through that door must die. We must preserve the law and the testimony. God does not want Himself misunderstood. Our faith must be so Christ-like that our belief in God is to be such that we know He is the “I Am” to be sanctified in the eyes of all Israel. We must not complicate God since to sanctify God denotes to set Him apart, to display the characteristics of God. Moses’ loss of control over his temper this one time affected God Himself. God’s displeasure with Moses was as though the Lord were saying, “in your action you have drawn Me into your disobedience; you have not sanctified Me and honored Me with My rightful place.” While His servant was angered God was at the very same time still working. He caused the water to come forth from the Rock. Moses spoke not to the law and the testimony. His action confused the people about the situation. Moses had definitely dragged God into this awful mess, with the result that the Israelites might have thought that the Lord was a God who, like Moses, lost control of His temper. God was therefore complicated by Moses. Whatever we do that involves the power of God is to conclude to the people that God is God. We are to do nothing against His character, His testimony. The consequences of this are far too serious to be overlooked. Moses was not allowed to enter Canaan. Oh, do let us learn a lesson before the Lord. There are many things which we must let God work out. Those who do not know Him deeply enough often try to help Him. Were we to spend a little time considering the end of those people in the past, shown for our admonition, we would notice a great principle, which is, that we cannot afford to sin against the testimony of the Lord. Whenever anyone does a thing which sins against God’s character, God’s authority, God’s way, God’s plan or God’s testimony, he will be chastened by God. For He is never careless about His testimony. He will ever and always vindicate Himself as the holy, mighty and living One. Because of this, may we tremble with fear before Him and never attempt anything frivolously. We must ponder over the fact that when God chastens us to vindicate Himself, Satan can no longer accuse? In chastisement God shows the enemy that He, who is our Father, our God, has no part in the matter, thus preserving His holiness. For this reason, our first reaction under chastisement should not be asking for relief but asking for help to sanctify God. Each time we come under chastisement of this nature, we may tell brothers and sisters that this is due to our offending God in a certain matter. Our word may sound simple, but our doing this will uphold the fact that the Lord has had no part in the matter. Why cry? Because the discipline is too severe? Because there is hardship? These are not for crying. We ought to see that God’s chastisement, as severe and hard as it may be, is His vindication of Himself. Since His name is upon us, He can easily be complicated by us. And hence He has to extricate Himself from any adverse involvement which our actions may bring about. During the time of such chastisement let us bow our heads and worship God, saying: I will gladly accept such discipline; I will gladly stand on such ground. The more we submit ourselves under God’s disciplinary hand the more He is vindicated, and therefore the quicker discipline of this kind will pass away. This is as the prophecy of our gathering is purposed. Leviticus 26:40, 41 The import of the law and the testimony spoken in the word that gives light is part of the Lord’s way, the learning of which will enable Him to be glorified in our doings. May the blood cover our words, for they touch upon a most serious theme. The testimony of Jesus Christ concerning himself together with the word, “Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Why did they not accept this testimony given by the Lord Jesus? What was their secret thought? They had no intention of reasoning whether or not He was truly the Son of God because they considered His confession of being the Son of God to be one of guilt. Their aim was not at proving a fact according to the word, it was instead one of finding an excuse for condemning. Hence immediately after the Lord Jesus acknowledged himself to be the Son of God, they judged His word as blasphemy and condemned Him. This showed they had no intention of finding out whether this Man was truly the Son of God; their sole concern was to kill Him on the ground of whatever He said which could be used against Him. They knew not the law, neither the testimony of God. They were children in the blindness of the darkened minds. The Lord Jesus was condemned because of this testimony. He was sentenced to death not because of what He was but because of what He testified as to himself. According to the opinion of the council, truth should not be attested to. They tried every means to overthrow this testimony, and finally they resorted to human power to put the Lord Jesus to death. We are to give an excellent testimony to the truth when our person and service are called into question. Ours is an uncommon path if we are to be seated at the right hand of Power. All who follow Him must pay attention to His testimony. Who Jesus is – this is the foundation of the testimony. The first aspect of the testimony of Jesus Christ is concerned with His Person. He is the central theme of the bible. He is the mystery of godliness. Christ has done things which exceed any power of man and that are impossible to him. He is God, therefore He acts like God. However, Christ does all things for man. He joins himself to man by becoming flesh. He becomes one of us, therefore He can be our Representative. His life, His work, His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, and His present position and work in heaven are all representative in nature. And hence the testimony of Jesus Christ includes His relationship with man in whatever He represents both now and before. This is the light of men. That we know his relationship to God’s eternal purpose. From Genesis to Revelation, today, the testimony of Jesus Christ is deposited in a vessel which is called the election, the body of Christ. And it is deposited in the following fashion: first, this testimony is the sum of all the revealed truth; and second, this testimony is the power of the truth as incorporated in the true people of God. For this testimony of Jesus Christ as set down in the servant of God is the same truth which the Holy Spirit has wrought out in Jesus Christ. It is therefore not a kind of objective truth for the mind to comprehend but is that truth becoming our life, our nature and our experience through the working of the Holy Spirit in us. And thus the testimony is deposited in that vessel which is the election. The Holy Spirit reveals and incorporates this testimony in the people of God, which is the body of Christ. And we who have believed in Jesus are members of this body. The Lord Jesus is our Representative at the right hand of God. There He represents us in all which God may require of us, be it moral or spiritual perfection. We are perfect and complete in Christ before God. God has already found a perfect man in the manhood of Jesus Christ. He has reckoned the Lord’s perfection to be ours, He has put the Lord’s perfection into our accounts. He has no more need to find a perfect man, because He has already obtained that Man. It is now the work of the Holy Spirit to impart that Man’s perfection to us. Through our faith and obedience the Holy Spirit is able to impart Christ to us. And thus Christ becomes a part of us. This requires the work of the Holy Spirit’s revelation and incorporation. Not an ideal, nor a theory, neither a creed. We will perceive the difference if we have really seen. We therefore insist on the need for the Holy Spirit’s revelation and incorporation by the law and the testimony. Concerning what the Lord Jesus has done on the cross, it too needs the revelation of the Holy Spirit to make it our portion. We must see that the Lord Jesus not only died for us but also died as us. Has the Spirit of God given us such revelation that we know that when Christ died we too died, that when He was buried we too were buried, that when He was resurrected we reappeared in Him? On resurrection ground the judgment is over, and there is no more condemnation. This is the law...this is the testimony...this is that light that we speak! The law and the testimony are of a supernatural element. God actually superintended the production of the Book. Its unity is the unity of a Divine plan and its harmony the harmony of a Supreme Intelligence. In speaking the truth of the whole law and testimony and in arranging the precepts by reason, we can understand how Moses' grand anthem of creation glided into Isaiah's oratory of the Messiah; that by and by sinks into Jeremiah's plaintive wail, which swells into Ezekiel's awesome chorus, and changes into Daniel's rapturous harmony; and closes with John's full choir of saints and angels. One presiding mind planned the whole of the law and of the testimony. And this Mind purposed the workmen and the work that would see that there was agreement with what went before, and what should come after as the carrying out of the grand plan. Everything in agreement with everything else, because the whole word was formed in the thought of God. Herein is the law and the testimony expressed. The whole bible is the history of the kingdom of God. Israel represents that kingdom. All centers about the Hebrew nationality. With our origin and progress as a peculiar people of God being the main historical portion. Prophecy, which is history anticipated, takes up the broken thread, and gives us the outline of our day when the true Israel shall take its place among the nations to speak the law and the testimony in the time of the final warning to issue forth to the world. In this warning is increased light; the decline of spiritual life; the unity between the beast, its image, and the world; a civilization that is wholly worldly; parallel development of good and evil; apostasy on the part of God's people; and the concluding judgment. To the law and to the testimony, when we speak this word it is so elastic and flexible as to contract itself to the narrowness of ignorance, and yet expand itself to the dimensions of knowledge. None will have excuse for lack of understanding. The word of God has select terms which hold hidden truths that shall disclose the inner meaning to accommodate reality, that would be the best solution to give understanding to the most difficult problem. Who was Jeremiah's teacher in astronomy?...the law and the testimony. Not one of the books of the bible could be lost without maiming the body of truth herein contained. Every word fills a place. None can be omitted. Every word is the most complete exhibition of the providence of God. It teaches a divine hand behind human affairs; unbiased freedom of resolution and action as consistent with God's overruling sovereignty; and all things working together to produce grand results. The word exhibits God's providence and is meant to teach us of the power that, though unseen, moves and controls all things. The word is full of illustrations of grace. The sinner has run away from God and robbed Him besides. The law allows him no right of asylum, but grace concedes him the privilege of appeal. Let us hear the context of the law and the testimony. Daniel fits into the Revelation as bone fits socket. Leviticus explains, and is explained by, the epistle to the Hebrews. The Psalms express the highest morality and spirituality of the Old Testament; they link the Mosaic code with the divine ethics of the gospels and the epistles. The passover foreshadows the Lord's supper, and the Lord's supper interprets and fulfills the passover. Even the little book of Jonah makes more complete the sublime gospel according to John; and Ruth and Esther prophetically hint the Acts of the Apostle. When we come to the last chapters of Revelation, we find ourself mysteriously touching the first chapters of Genesis; and as we survey the whole track of our thought, we find we have been following the perimeter of a golden ring; the extremities actually bend around, touching, and blending. We read in the first of Genesis of the first creation; in the last of the Revelation, of the new creation, the new heaven and the new earth; there, of the river that watered the garden; here, of the pure river of the water of life; there, of the Tree of Life in the first Eden; here, of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God; there, of the God who came down to walk with and talk with man; here, we read that the Tabernacle of God is with men; there, we read of the curse that came by sin, here, we read: "And there shall be no more curse." To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. The life of God is in His word. It is a seed hiding the vitality of God. Is it a sword? Yes, but a sword that omnisciently discerns and omnipotently pierces the human heart. Hold it reverently; for we have the living word in our life. We speak to the Word, and it will answer us. We hear the heart of God. The creatures of darkness will assault this Word, and vainly seek to put out its eternal light. We are to hold forth as the Word of Life and the Light of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Love and law are closely connected. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Love is about acting in a way that is consistent with the commandments of the law. The word counsels God’s people in our diligence in obeying the commandments..."love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and to "love your neighbor as yourself". This kind of love, called agape love, is self-sacrificing, deliberate, and active, and it's directed toward everyone, including enemies. It's not based on emotions, but rather an act of the will, and it's about promoting the best interests of others and working to bring them good. Love includes justice, and biblical love never falls short of what justice requires. Because God is love, love is over law. We do immeasurably more because we love. That moves the motive for obedience from “doing” to “being”. Love is a choice in a relationship. The real strength of love is compatibility and communication. The word of God says, “speak the truth in love”. To the law and to the testimony we share difficult truths with others in a loving way. The word says we are to love in deed and truth. Take seriously all truth. It is the light that illumines the law and the testimony. The great testimony to the world is God’s love...for He so loved the world and while we were still sinners, His Son died for us. Faith in God's love is central to our faith. It’s a confidence that goes beyond our circumstances. Why we speak the law and the testimony? So that others who doubt and have questions can experience true, God-designed love and come to faith. Studying God's word can help people understand this connection and how to live it. And then the testimony of the love of God begins to reveal itself in a most specific way. They learn of an everlasting love that draws them with lovingkindness. God is never deterred by circumstances or the confrontation by His enemy and ours, from seeking the lost, and bringing all believers into a deep relationship, and knowledge of His love. How could it be otherwise, since the believer’s highest good is Christ Himself? To know and experience this love of God, though we are limited in our capacity to fully grasp and understand it, is God’s greatest testimonial expression in drawing us to Himself. How then do we know that He loves us? To the law and the testimony He works to draw us to Himself, working through circumstances to create a thirst, and hunger, that can only be met by Presence. The thirst and hunger that He gives is the demonstration of love with its first and foremost objective being to save the soul. This is why Christ’s life is that light spoken in the law, in the testimony. The magnitude of this love is as deep as Christ’s desire and resolve to bring us into fellowship with Himself that we may have salvation. It is by this love that we proclaim the testimony. It is the very word of God. The grace and truth of the law. The manifestation of God in the flesh. The show of love at the cross. Redemption, freedom, justification, atonement. It is the confidence that God performs the work for us while transforming us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There is no reliance upon self in proclaiming the law and the testimony. It is a power that comes from God. That we are not to stumble or fall, God binds up the testimony and seals the law among His faithful people that we not lose our attachment to it. We are speakers for God. The ministry of intercession shows that our Savior is constantly performing for us. He has given us his word and we are sanctified through the truth of that word. The repetition of the testimony and the law in Isaiah suggests an aspect of God’s revelation. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. God's testimonies instruct us what to believe, and His law instructs us how to behave. God secures His word in the hearts of His people, and God now calls us to attend to that authoritative standard for doing the law and faithfully expressing the testimony of God’s holy justice and free grace. Those who abandon the authority of the scriptures condemn themselves to wander in darkness. The law and the testimony are not an unknown thing. It may not be well understood. Every human being in the world, every child in our family, every person that we work with, everybody in our neighborhood has an inborn knowledge of God, according to Romans, and an inborn knowledge of the moral law of God. This means, among other things — the implications are many — that when we are speaking to the law and to the testimony to people about faith and about why we live the way we live and what God expects of us, we are not starting from scratch with people. There are profound things already in their hearts that God may make use of to help them see what we are saying. There comes a time when we understand the principles of our creation and who we are. Suddenly these things are illuminated to us and the cords of our hearts do vibrate. This is the time when testimony enters into our very souls and we know beyond a question of a doubt that God is our father - that He lives, that He is a reality, that we are literally His children. Those who will strive to do God’s will and keep His commandments will receive personal revelation as to the divinity of the Lord’s work in bearing testimony of the Father. The law of God has fallen on hard times. More accurately, it has fallen on hard hearts. Misunderstanding about what the law does is the cause. Not knowing God is not understanding the permanence of His law. The testimony speaks to the source of God’s law, the uniqueness of God’s law, the goodness of God’s law. It is the light of the law and the testimony that is not only showing the truth of life, but it is also the light that is searching for the fugitive sinner. This law, this testimony exposes sin and its uncomfortable results. But this light most surely cast a powerful radiance upon the place of refuge where the guilty conscience can be cleared. That place is Jesus Christ. When the light of the law casts its glare upon Christ, all it sees there is His perfection, perfection freely and fully given to sinners who trust in Him. The law of God, the works of which are written upon the hearts of men, functions to restrain iniquity and order life. This is how the Holy Spirit operates in “common grace”. We are to help others to gain that testimony which is most vital in their preparation to know truth as it is in the word of God. The word of God is enough for both what is done in the law and what is believed in the Testimony. It provides a standard for judging any teaching or claim, stating that if someone doesn't speak in accordance with the Word of God, it's because they lack light. From where to you get your wisdom? Go to the scripture. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

while we are gone The concept of a final desolation of the earth during the thousand-year period described in Scripture presents a sweeping and sobering vision of the end of human civilization as it is presently known. Drawing primarily from Revelation, alongside the prophetic imagery found in Jeremiah and Isaiah, this period, often called the Millennium in certain theological interpretations, is portrayed not as a flourishing earthly kingdom populated by humanity, but rather as a silent, emptied world in which the consequences of human rebellion have reached their full and devastating conclusion. When examined carefully, these passages suggest a total collapse that affects every dimension of existence: technological, environmental, social, political, and spiritual. The binding of Satan, as described in Revelation, marks the beginning of this period. An angel descends, lays hold upon the adversary, and confines him to the bottomless pit so that he may deceive the nations no more until the thousand years are fulfilled. This detail is significant not only for its spiritual implication, but also for what it reveals about the condition of the nations themselves. If there are no nations left to deceive, then the systems, structures, and populations that once defined global civilization have already been brought to ruin. This aligns closely with the language of Isaiah, which declares that the earth is utterly emptied and utterly spoiled, and that the Lord has spoken this word. The destruction is not partial, nor is it symbolic of mere political upheaval; it is comprehensive and physical, touching the entire globe. In considering the technological achievements of humanity, such as space exploration, the implications are profound. Humanity’s ventures beyond the earth, once seen as the pinnacle of scientific advancement and ambition, would come to a complete halt. Satellites would drift aimlessly in orbit, no longer maintained or guided by ground control systems. Space stations, once inhabited by astronauts conducting research and observation, would become silent relics, eventually succumbing to decay or orbital collapse. Rockets, launch facilities, and research centers would stand abandoned, their purpose rendered meaningless in a world devoid of human life. The ambition to explore the cosmos, rooted in curiosity and dominion, would be extinguished in the stillness of a desolate earth. Military organizations, which have historically been among the most structured and resource-intensive institutions of human society, would likewise cease to exist. Armies, navies, and air forces depend upon command structures, communication networks, and logistical support, all of which require human participation. In the absence of humanity, weapons systems would fall silent. Tanks would rust in place, aircraft would remain grounded or crash without maintenance, and naval fleets would drift or sink. The immense infrastructure dedicated to defense and warfare would become useless, overtaken by time and the elements. The prophetic description of the earth being without form and void suggests not only a lack of population, but also a dismantling of the organized systems that once governed human conflict. Modes of travel would also be profoundly affected. Automobiles, once symbols of personal freedom and mobility, would be left scattered across highways and streets. Without maintenance, fuel, or operators, they would gradually deteriorate. Roads would crack and become overgrown, bridges would weaken and collapse, and the intricate networks of transportation that connected cities and nations would dissolve. Air travel would cease entirely, with airports abandoned and aircraft left to decay. Rail systems, dependent on precise coordination and energy supply, would grind to a halt, their tracks eventually reclaimed by the earth. Sea and ocean mobility would follow a similar fate; ships would drift without crews, ports would fall into disrepair, and the vast systems of global trade conducted across maritime routes would vanish. Housing and urban environments would undergo a dramatic transformation. Cities, once vibrant centers of human activity, would become empty shells. Skyscrapers, homes, and public buildings would stand as silent monuments to a vanished population. Without maintenance, structural integrity would weaken over time. Weather and natural forces would gradually reclaim these spaces. Jeremiah’s vision of cities being broken down at the presence of the Lord and by his fierce anger underscores the extent of this destruction. It is not merely abandonment, but an active dismantling brought about by divine judgment and natural decay. ** Under the level of devastation described in biblical passages, widespread, healthy vegetation reclaiming cities in the usual sense is not possible in any stable or recognizable way throughout the period. If the conditions outlined in Revelation sixteen, Isaiah twenty-four, and Jeremiah four are taken together, the environment is not merely abandoned but profoundly altered. Water systems are corrupted, extreme heat scorches the earth, and later the physical structure of the land is violently disrupted. Seasons are destabilized, and light itself is at times diminished or distorted. Under such circumstances, the basic requirements for plant life—reliable water, moderate temperatures, stable soil, and predictable cycles of light— are severely compromised. In the immediate aftermath of these events, most existing plant life would certainly perish. Crops would fail first, followed by more resilient vegetation. Forests could be burned, uprooted, or unable to regenerate due to erratic climate conditions. The imagery in Jeremiah of a land that is “without form and void” and devoid of birds strongly suggests ecological collapse, not gradual overgrowth. There would be no coordinated ecosystems, no forests reclaiming cities in a balanced sense, and no agricultural cycles tied to seasons. So, the more precise way to describe it is this: the earth would not be actively “reclaimed” by thriving plant life as we often imagine in post human scenarios. Instead, it would exist in a largely barren, unstable state, with zero biological survival. There would be nothing to restore order or beauty within this broken environment. This aligns closely with the tone of the prophetic descriptions. The emphasis is not on nature healing and flourishing in humanity’s absence, but on a world brought low, stripped of its productivity, and left in a condition that reflects judgment rather than renewal. Second Peter is one of the strongest passages describing the intensity of the final judgment: the day of the Lord comes suddenly, the heavens pass away with great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat, leaving the earth and its works exposed or burned up. It emphasizes total dissolution of the present order rather than partial damage. When you place that alongside Revelation, where Satan is bound, and the desolation imagery in Jeremiah, it does support the idea of a world emptied of normal life. The only “life forms” present would be Satan and his angels. The texts clearly describe the removal of human society and the collapse of the systems that sustain life as we know it. Jeremiah’s language—no man, no birds, fruitful places turned wilderness—strongly points toward ecological devastation. Second Peter intensifies that by describing a kind of elemental unmaking. Taken at face value, that leans toward total extinction of earthly life. However, Scripture distinguishes between physical life and spiritual beings. Satan and his angels are not dependent on the earth’s environment in the way humans, animals, or plants are. Revelation shows Satan bound in the abyss, not roaming freely across the earth interacting with a physical environment in the normal sense. That detail matters. It suggests confinement and restriction, active observation of a ruined biosphere. So, the idea that Satan and his angels would be left to “walk the earth” contemplating the devastation is directly stated. Satan is restrained from deceiving, effectively cut off from influence over nations because there are none functioning. His condition is one of limitation and isolation, no longer dominion over a silent planet. Reflection of rebellion in the absence of anything left to corrupt lines up thematically with the passage. The thousand-year binding is understood as an imposed inactivity. With no nations to deceive and no systems to manipulate, the consequences of rebellion are fully exposed. There is nothing left to distort or control. In that sense, the desolation itself becomes a testimony. The trajectory of the descriptions points toward a world that is functionally lifeless. The earth is a stage of ruin. The passages support a condition where human life and organized ecosystems are gone, Satan is bound and unable to act, and the earth stands in a state of profound desolation. The notion of Satan and his angels existing as the only conscious beings connected to that scene fits within a theological interpretation, but the key emphasis of the text is not their observation of the ruin—it is their restraint and the finality of the judgment that produced it. Second Peter uses language that is deliberately forceful: the heavens pass away with a great noise, the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth and its works are burned up or laid bare. To understand what is being described, it helps to slow down and consider what is meant by “elements,” what kind of “burning” is in view, and how this fits with the broader prophetic picture developing. The word translated as “elements” points to the most basic components of the created order. In the ancient world, that included what we would call the fundamental building blocks of the physical universe—earth, air, fire, and water—but the intent goes deeper than a simple list of materials. It conveys the idea of the underlying structure of the world itself. In modern terms, one might think of the very fabric of matter: the substances, forces, and bonds that hold everything together. So when the passage speaks of the elements melting, it is not describing a surface fire that consumes objects while leaving the planet intact; it is pointing toward a dissolution at the most basic level of the physical order. The phrase “melt with fervent heat” reinforces this. Melting implies that solid, stable forms lose their structure. What was fixed becomes fluid, what was dependable becomes unstable. If applied on a global scale, this suggests a breakdown of the earth’s integrity: rocks, metals, and the crust itself losing cohesion. The idea is not merely that cities burn, but that the ground beneath them is fundamentally altered. Mountains, which are often used in Scripture as symbols of permanence, would not withstand such conditions. This connects closely with other prophetic descriptions where mountains are leveled, islands disappear, and the surface of the earth is violently reshaped. The statement that “the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” extends the scope beyond natural structures to everything humanity has built. Every work—cities, machines, monuments, infrastructure—would be consumed. But the wording suggests more than destruction by flames; it implies exposure and removal. We might consider the rendering as “laid bare,” which carries the sense that nothing remains hidden or preserved. The accumulated achievements of humanity, whether technological, cultural, or economic, are stripped away entirely. When we place this alongside the earlier discussion of the seven last plagues, the progression becomes clearer. The plagues dismantle life systems—health, water, climate, political order—while this final burning addresses the physical framework itself. It is as though the judgment moves from the surface of human experience down into the very structure of creation. What was already uninhabitable becomes, at least for a time, fundamentally unfit to sustain life at all. This has important implications for the condition of the earth during the thousand-year period referenced. If the elements themselves have been affected to this degree, then the earth is not simply abandoned; it is altered at its core. The instability would explain why no organized life—human, animal, or plant—could function in any normal way. Even the cycles that depend on stable physical conditions, such as weather patterns and seasons, would be describing the collapse of the physical order that makes environment possible. In scientific language, life, weather, seasons, and the periodic table all depend on stable physical laws: matter, energy, time, and predictable interactions between elements. Once God removes all known elements, we are not just talking about removing substances—we are seeing the removal of the entire chemistry of existence. Without elements, there is no hydrogen or oxygen for water, no carbon for organic life, no nitrogen for atmosphere, and no iron or silicon for planetary structure. At that point, we are no longer describing a planet with conditions—we are describing the absence of the building blocks of physical reality as we understand it. Similarly, weather and seasons are not independent phenomena. They are expressions of atmospheric chemistry, solar energy, axial tilt, and planetary rotation. If those underlying systems are removed or rendered nonfunctional, then weather does not “fail” in the usual sense—it ceases to be a meaningful concept because there is no atmosphere to behave dynamically, and no stable system in which change can occur. So the most accurate way to phrase what we are describing is something like this: It is a condition in which the physical framework of creation has been fully dismantled, leaving no stable matter, no active atmospheric system, no cyclical time-based processes such as seasons, and no chemical basis for life or interaction. In such a state, the earth is not simply lifeless; it is functionally unstructured, lacking the necessary components for nature itself to operate as a system. Another way to express it, more succinctly, would be: A world in which matter has lost its organized form, natural laws no longer produce observable cycles, and the conditions required for life, weather, and planetary processes have ceased to function. One important clarification, though: this kind of description moves beyond what physical science or even most interpretive readings of II Peter strictly require. The passage uses dramatic, cosmic language, explicitly defining the annihilation of all elements and the elimination of physical law itself. So what we are constructing here is a maximal conceptual extension of the imagery— useful as a theological picture. The earth would exist, but not as a balanced, life-supporting system. At the same time, it is worth noting that the passage in II Peter continues beyond destruction to renewal. It speaks of looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. That context matters, because it shows that the melting and burning are not an end in themselves. They serve as a clearing away of the present corrupted order in preparation for something entirely reconstituted. The language of dissolution is therefore paired with the idea of re-creation. So, when taken seriously, the imagery of elements melting and the earth being burned up points to a comprehensive unmaking. It is not only limited to visible destruction but reaches into the fundamental nature of the physical world. Everything that once provided stability—matter, structure, environment, and human achievement—is undone. What remains is not a functioning ecosystem or civilization, but a world reduced to a state that reflects the full consequence of judgment, awaiting whatever form of restoration follows. If II Peter is taken in the strongest literal sense—where the present physical order is fundamentally dissolved, the “elements” lose stability, and the earth and its works are fully burned up or exposed—then the question of what life could exist becomes very narrow. Under ordinary natural conditions, life depends on stability: consistent chemistry, usable water, breathable atmosphere, and predictable energy from the sun. If those baseline structures are significantly disrupted, then complex life forms—humans, animals, and plants—would not be able to persist in any way. Even microorganisms, which are far more resilient than larger organisms, will chemically and environmentally be rendered non- existent under such conditions. So if the passage is understood as describing a collapse of the normal created order rather than simply widespread surface destruction, then natural life would be reduced to one of two possibilities: First, no independent biological life at all. That is the most direct implication if “elements melting” is taken to mean a breakdown of the physical systems that support organized matter. In that scenario, even microbial ecosystems would fail because the conditions that allow structured chemistry would no longer hold in a stable way. The earth would exist in a state of judgment and transition rather than ongoing biological activity. Second, the limited survival of life is isolated or divinely sustained. Scripture does not describe mechanisms, but it does repeatedly affirm that the life of angels ultimately depend on divine preservation. If anything were to persist, it would not be because the environment naturally supports it, but because it is specifically upheld. That would not resemble ecosystems or biological continuity as we understand them; it would be exceptional and constrained. What is important in the biblical framing is that the emphasis is not on what life can biologically endure, but on the theological point: the present order is not permanent. II Peter uses cosmic language to strip away the assumption that matter, stability, and natural law are ultimate. Everything that appears fixed is portrayed as temporary and subject to dissolution. This also means that the passage is not primarily trying to map out a detailed scientific state of survivable life during that period. Its focus is on judgment and replacement—what exists is not the continuation of creation in altered form, but the removal of the present order in preparation for a renewed one. So, in strict terms aligned with our reading: apart from direct divine preservation, there is no clear basis in the text for stable, self-sustaining life continuing under those conditions. Any remaining life would be exceptional rather than systemic, and the dominant picture is one of cessation of normal biological existence rather than adaptation to it. The earth is left desolate and undone, stripped of all order that once upheld creation, stripped of the ordered substance that once sustained it. All that once held creation together has been undone, so that matter itself no longer serves as a stable foundation. There is no living thing to mark the passage of time, no breath of life to witness the passing of moments, and no movement of nature to signal change or renewal. There is no life to mark its passing, no voice of nature, and no witness of movement or breath. The heavens yield no weather, for the systems of air and water have ceased their appointed course. The seasons no longer turn, for time itself no longer speaks through growth or decay. There is no spring to awaken, no summer to increase, no autumn to wither, and no winter to still. The appointed order of times and seasons has fallen silent, and the earth no longer moves through its appointed course. There is no atmosphere to gather wind or form cloud or bring rain. The skies do not shift or stir, for the cycles that once governed them have ceased. There is no storm, no calm, no warmth, no cold—only an unchanging absence where motion once existed. All that once composed the substance of the world has fallen away from stability, so that the elements no longer hold their form. What remains is not a living earth in ruin, but a creation emptied of its structure, silent in its vast absence, awaiting the appointed renewal beyond judgment. What remains is not a living world in ruin, but a world that has been emptied of the very principles that once allowed it to exist as a functioning creation. The environmental impact of this period would be both destructive and restorative in different respects. Isaiah’s description of the earth being turned upside down and emptied suggests catastrophic events that disrupt ecosystems on a global scale. Fresh waters of lakes and rivers could become polluted or altered due to the collapse of infrastructure and possible preceding judgments. Dams will fail, flooding regions, while other areas could experience drought. Without human management, agricultural systems would collapse, leading to widespread elimination of vegetation patterns. Nature, in its totality, would become resistant to reasserting itself. All conditions are of chaos rather than harmony. Animal life would also be deeply affected. Domesticated animals, dependent on human care, would face extinction or drastic population decline. Wild animals might initially expand into areas once occupied by humans, but the broader environmental upheaval could lead to instability in food chains and habitats. Sea dwelling creatures would not be immune; if the prophetic judgments include the pollution or destruction of oceans, as suggested elsewhere in Revelation, marine ecosystems will suffer massive die-offs. The balance of life, both on land and in water, would be disrupted in ways that reflect the overall desolation described in Scripture. The atmosphere itself will undergo significant transformation, as implied by the prophetic language of cosmic disturbance found throughout biblical texts. Darkened skies, altered climate patterns, and the lingering effects of divine judgments will render the environment hostile. This would further reinforce the uninhabitable nature of the earth during this period. The absence of human activity would eliminate pollution from industry and transportation, yet the preceding destruction might leave long-lasting scars on the planet’s systems. Spiritually, this period represents a profound pause in the narrative of human redemption. With Satan bound and humanity absent, the usual dynamics of temptation, repentance, and faith are suspended. Religious groups, institutions, and practices would no longer exist in their earthly form. Churches, temples, and places of worship stand empty in patience for their destruction. Their purpose fulfilled or rendered obsolete in light of the completed phase of divine judgment. The awareness of God’s sovereignty would be absolute, yet not mediated through human experience during this time on earth. On a global scale, nations as political entities would cease to function. Borders, governments, and economies would disappear along with their populations. The distinctions that once defined humanity—cultural, linguistic, and national—would no longer have any practical meaning. The prophetic vision of the earth being utterly emptied emphasizes the universality of this condition; no region or people group is exempt excepting God’s election. The world, once characterized by diversity and activity, becomes a unified landscape of silence and ruin. The thousand-year period described in these biblical passages presents a comprehensive picture of desolation that touches every aspect of existence. From the heights of technological achievement to the depths of natural ecosystems, nothing remains unaffected. Human civilization, in all its complexity and ambition, is brought to a complete cessation. The earth itself becomes a testimony to the consequences of sin and the certainty of divine judgment. Yet within this stark portrayal lies an implicit promise: that this period is not the conclusion, but a prelude to a final restoration and renewal that follows in the unfolding of the biblical narrative. The concept of a final desolation of the earth during the thousand-year period described in Scripture presents a sweeping and sobering vision of the end of human civilization as it is presently known. Drawing primarily from Revelation chapter twenty, verses one through three, alongside the prophetic imagery found in Jeremiah chapter four and Isaiah chapter twenty-four, this period, often called the Millennium in certain theological interpretations, is portrayed not as a flourishing earthly kingdom populated by humanity, but rather as a silent, emptied world in which the consequences of human rebellion have reached their full and devastating conclusion. When examined carefully, these passages suggest a total collapse that affects every dimension of existence: technological, environmental, social, political, and spiritual, extending even to the ordered rhythms of time that govern the seasons of the earth. The binding of Satan, as described in Revelation, marks the beginning of this period. An angel descends, lays hold upon the adversary, and confines him so that he may deceive the nations no more until the thousand years are fulfilled. This detail reveals not only a spiritual restraint, but also implies the absence of active nations and peoples. Isaiah’s declaration that the earth is utterly emptied and utterly spoiled reinforces the idea that the systems sustaining human life have ceased. In such a condition, the regular cycles that humanity depends upon, including the predictable sequence of seasons, would no longer serve their former purpose. The earth continues to exist, but its ordered productivity and its role as a habitation for humanity are fundamentally altered. Considering the technological achievements of humanity, such as space exploration, the implications remain profound. Satellites, space stations, and exploratory probes would persist only as remnants of a former age, no longer maintained or directed. Without human oversight, their orbits would eventually decay or drift. The same principle extends to earthly systems. Military organizations would dissolve, and all modes of travel—automobile, air, rail, and sea—would come to a standstill. The infrastructure that once depended upon seasonal patterns for scheduling, agriculture, and commerce would become irrelevant. The seasons, once closely tied to planting, harvesting, and travel conditions, would be diminished entirely in their capacity, their significance profoundly undone. Housing and cities would reflect this abandonment. Structures built with careful consideration of seasonal weather patterns—insulation for winter, ventilation for summer, drainage for rains—would await their demise. Over time, exposure to the elements would accelerate their decay. Jeremiah’s vision of a land without man and cities broken down suggests not only immediate destruction, but also ongoing deterioration under the influence of natural cycles that continue without restraint or maintenance. The seasons themselves, however, may not remain stable or familiar. The prophetic language found in Isaiah, describing the earth being turned upside down and its inhabitants scattered, suggests a disruption that could extend to the very mechanisms governing climate and seasonal change. If the earth experiences axial disturbance, atmospheric alteration, or divine judgment affecting the sun, moon, and stars—as is described in various prophetic passages—then the regularity of spring, summer, autumn, and winter could be thrown into disarray. Seasonal transitions might become extreme, irregular, or even indistinguishable. Periods of prolonged darkness or light, unseasonal temperatures, and unpredictable weather patterns could dominate the landscape, contributing to the overall desolation. These things will occur before the end. The environmental consequences of such disruption would be immense. Fresh waters of lakes and rivers, already affected by the collapse of human systems, would further suffer from lack of precipitation and temperature shifts. Earth’s upheaval will create floods without warning, followed by extended droughts. The absence of stable seasons would prevent the normal regeneration of ecosystems. Forests fail to cycle through growth and dormancy, and plant life perishes in unstable conditions. Animal life is forced to face extinction. Many species depend on seasonal cues for migration, reproduction, and survival. Birds that rely on changing daylight to guide migration would become disoriented. Mammals that hibernate based on temperature cycles fail to enter or emerge from hibernation at appropriate times. Marine life, influenced by ocean temperatures and seasonal currents, would also be affected, leading to widespread collapse of aquatic ecosystems. The disruption of seasons would therefore compound the already severe impact of a humanless world. Atmospheric conditions would likely reflect this instability. Without the moderating influence of stable seasonal cycles, weather systems could become more volatile. Storms might increase in intensity or frequency, while other regions experience prolonged stagnation. The skies themselves, as described in prophetic imagery, could appear darkened or altered, reinforcing the sense of a world removed from its former order. The interplay between sunlight, temperature, and atmospheric circulation—key drivers of seasons—would no longer operate in a life-sustaining manner. Spiritually, religious observance would vanish. The earth would persist in a state where time continues, but history, as shaped by human action, is ended. In conclusion, the inclusion of the seasons within this prophetic vision deepens the understanding of the totality of desolation described in Scripture. Not only are human systems brought to an end, but even the natural rhythms that once sustained life are either rendered meaningless or fundamentally disrupted. The cycle of seasons, once a symbol of continuity and renewal, becomes either a silent repetition without purpose or a broken pattern reflecting the upheaval of the earth itself. This reinforces the overarching message of these passages: that the final judgment encompasses all aspects of existence, leaving the earth in a condition that awaits eventual restoration beyond this thousand-year period. When the seven last plagues described in Revelation chapter sixteen are considered alongside the already desolate condition drawn from Revelation twenty, Jeremiah four, and Isaiah twenty-four, the picture does not merely intensify—it becomes absolute in its completeness. These plagues represent the final outpouring of divine wrath prior to the condition described, and they function as the direct cause of that global collapse. In other words, the desolation is not an isolated state; it is the outcome of a sequence of judgments that systematically dismantle every remaining support of life and civilization. The first plague, grievous sores upon those aligned against God, signals the breakdown of human health on a massive scale. This is not simply disease as we understand it, but a targeted affliction that resists remedy. Modern medicine, already rendered ineffective by the collapse of infrastructure, would offer no relief. Hospitals, research facilities, and pharmaceutical systems would be overwhelmed or abandoned entirely. The suffering would contribute to widespread death, accelerating the depopulation that leads into the empty earth described in earlier passages. The second and third plagues strike the seas, rivers, and fountains of waters, turning them to blood. This imagery, whether understood literally or as a symbol of total contamination, points to the complete destruction of the planet’s water systems. Oceans, which sustain vast ecosystems and regulate climate, would become inhospitable to life. Marine creatures would perish in unimaginable numbers. Rivers and freshwater sources, essential for drinking, agriculture, and sanitation, would no longer support life. This alone would bring human civilization to the brink of extinction. The environmental consequences would extend far beyond humanity, collapsing entire biological networks and leaving the earth in a state that aligns with Jeremiah’s vision of no birds and no fruitful place remaining. The fourth plague, in which the sun scorches humanity with intense heat, suggests a dramatic alteration of the atmosphere and the earth’s relationship to solar radiation. The delicate balance that governs temperature and seasons would be shattered. Instead of the predictable cycle of warming and cooling, there would be extreme, destructive heat. Crops would fail instantly, ecosystems would burn or wither, and any remaining human populations would face unbearable conditions. This would further destabilize what little remained of seasonal order, reinforcing the idea that the natural rhythms of the earth are no longer functioning in a life-sustaining way. The fifth plague brings darkness upon the seat of the beast, a darkness so profound that it causes anguish. This is not ordinary night, but a suffocating absence of light that disrupts both physical and psychological stability. Energy systems, already failing, would collapse completely in such conditions. Solar power would cease, and even basic visibility would be lost. The alternation between day and night, a fundamental aspect of timekeeping and seasonal experience, would be thrown into confusion. The world would oscillate between extremes—scorching heat and oppressive darkness— without the moderating patterns that once defined the seasons. The sixth plague, involving the drying up of a great river and the gathering of the nations to a final conflict, marks the ultimate collapse of organized human resistance. Water scarcity would reach its peak, and whatever remains of political or military structures would converge in a final confrontation. This moment effectively ends human governance altogether. The great systems of nations, alliances, and wars dissolve into a final act of defiance that is swiftly overcome. The seventh plague culminates in a cataclysm of unparalleled magnitude: a great voice declares completion, followed by earthquakes, lightning, and the fall of cities. Islands flee, mountains are leveled, and massive hail falls upon the earth. This is the point at which the physical structure of the planet itself is violently reshaped. Urban centers are obliterated, geological features are altered, and the surface of the earth is left broken and unstable. This directly corresponds with the language of Isaiah and Jeremiah, where the earth is described as empty, broken down, and without form in a functional sense. When these seven plagues are viewed collectively, their consequence is total. They dismantle human health, destroy water systems, destabilize the atmosphere, disrupt light and darkness, eliminate political order, and physically restructure the earth. By the time the thousand-year period begins, there is nothing left to sustain human life. The seasons, already destabilized by earlier judgments, would no longer operate in any recognizable or beneficial pattern. Environmental systems would be in ruin, and the earth would exist in a state of chaotic stillness. Spiritually, the plagues serve as the final demonstration of divine justice. They expose the complete inability of humanity to sustain itself apart from divine order. The silence that follows—the bound adversary, the empty nations, the desolate land—is not merely absence, but consequence. Every system that once supported life has been removed or destroyed, leaving the earth as a stark witness to the end of human rebellion and the certainty of judgment. In this way, the seven last plagues do not simply add to the devastation; they complete it. They are the direct pathway to the condition of total desolation described in the prophetic texts, ensuring that when the thousand years begin, the earth is exactly as depicted: empty, broken, and awaiting whatever comes next in the unfolding of the divine plan. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

soon coming God has given us the Revelation warning. God's good purposes will be accomplished in as many lives as possible, may his warnings be heard, and may the grace of Jesus Christ bring salvation to the lost. God's total and complete knowledge of all future events; His ability to make these events come to pass; his love which drives him to warn us of them; and His peculiar people to whom He has made these events known are to be shared with the wise. May the Holy Spirit give us understanding and faith. This country’s true history is being revealed. Every aspect of turmoil that is happening is the consequence of failing to acknowledge God’s law and the ill-gotten gain accumulated through the evils done against God’s people. This country has sinned. God will not allow this place to persist in its pursuit of sin. He would be letting pain and suffering persist upon His people and the world. A holy and loving God can't and won't do this! We are in the very last day of this Babylon. The word of God tells us that this land shall be a land of immigrants and people of mingled racial descent. Think on how such was purposed by God ever before the first pair was created. God has begun the gathering of His temple people between the seas in His glorious holy mountain, His church; yet this place shall come to its end, and none shall help this nation with coasts on both oceans. Its destruction has begun from within. Its extensive seaports are failing, its wealth is no longer owned but borrowed, its government is no longer regarded in admiration. America’s military might is no longer invincible. Its self-policing is mired in hate for those considered lesser people. Her skies are no longer fortified. Its daily journals evade and malign truth. America’s forged birth certificate as a Christian nation has been uncovered as she has become a nation of religious confusion being led astray by political and religious leaders who have turned to cannibalism while promoting the occult. These liars have brought apostasy in every form conceivable. Its courts and educational institutions are filled with demonic spirits and are reprobative in all their considerations. But God’s love placed a people here to carry forth a most severe warning... Americans curse God and use his name in vain by the tens of millions everyday and rarely does anyone get worked up about it, but if someone doesn't stand during the pledge of allegiance or burns an American flag, people will come unglued. God’s word designated America as the dragon nation. God purposed Christopher Columbus to falsely claim America as an unoccupied and barren wilderness and he directed the Pilgrims to settle the new land. These were the first European types to travel here following the excursions of the people known as Vikings. There was the First National ready here who were first isolated in Asia before migrating from the disbursement of people through the Bering land bridge. But while America was still a youth, the occult invaded the land. As the seventeenth century drew to a close in this country, so enfeebled had the affluent christianity of the Puritans become, that the manifestations of Satan's power - occultism, witchcraft, demons at mischief - were coming out into the open. Witches began hanging out shingles, as it were, letting it quietly be known that they could cure warts and straighten toes and mix love potions, all white magic; the black magic - the hexing, the cursing, the spellbinding would come later. And the gullible, the unwary, the hopeless turned to this source of power, and more and more people began to come to so-called “knowing ones” for advice and counsel. This paganism is today a fast growing religion in America. A false god can be anything that you put faith in other than God. It can also be anything that keeps you from serving and obeying God. In America people have gods of wealth; millions of Americans have put their trust in wealth rather than in God. These people have movie star gods, sports star gods, golf gods, football gods, basketball gods, baseball gods, soccer gods, etc. Most of the nation is too busy with sports, entertainment or other worldly pleasures to worship the God of heaven. Americans don't trust in God, his dietary laws and his healing herbs for health; they trust in man-made drugs. By and large, Americans have made a god of their government, when they are stricken with disaster or misfortune, it is the government to whom most turn and in whom most put their trust, not in the God of heaven. They trust in their wickedness and knowledge. Today’s leaders within the world church are directed to not be so strict. To not be so narrow minded, to recommend that there are other truths in religion that lead to salvation. To be more open- minded – suggesting that perhaps your interpretation of scripture is wrong. They change their positions as to what is right according to the biblical way of living. People are in an “anything goes” mindset when it comes to faith, morals, values, and lifestyle. Americans are creating unique, highly customized worldviews based on feelings, experiences, and opportunities. Most people say that the objective of life is feeling good about yourself; that all faiths are of equal value; that entry into God’s eternal presence is determined by one’s personal means of choice; and that there are no absolutes to guide or grow them morally. America has never been “one nation under God.” This country has ridiculed the truth of God’s Word and called it pluralism. This country worships false gods and called it multiculturalism. This country has neglected to discipline its children and called it the building of self-esteem. It has polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. It has institutionalized perjury and deception in government and called it politically correct. The United States is a nation of knowledge, of higher education, of technology, and of science. It is the world's leader in scientific discovery, innovation, and invention. It leads the world in computer technology, manufacturing technology, construction technology, space and aeronautical technology, engineering, medicine, pharmaceuticals, etc. And she trusts more in her science and technology than most do in God and His word. They've taken creationism out of school and teach evolution instead. They hide and eliminate true history to deceive its citizens. They trust more in man's drugs than in Gods power to heal. They trust in their construction technology to protect them from the storm rather than obeying God and trusting Him to protect. They’ve built the most technologically advanced military in the world. They have aircraft carriers, nuclear subs, stealth jet bombers, nuclear missiles, cruise missiles, smart bombs, spy satellites, global communication, tanks, armored personnel carriers and body armor. They don't need God to protect them because they have the most advanced technology in the world. They have made science their God. The God of heaven says that Babylon's technology won't save her: “Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.” Hasn't the America fortified her strengths in the heavens with its space, missile, satellite, and aircraft technology? God says that this won't make a difference when He brings his judgment upon America. In the church in America today there is every sin imaginable. As a nation, America has rejected God's commandments, both his moral and religious laws: over 95 percent have rejected His Sabbath; 87 percent have rejected the Ten Commandments; and 85 percent of Americans have rejected all moral absolutes. When one considers these statistics, it is amazing that 85 percent of Americans consider themselves Christian in contradiction to the fact that they have rejected God's law. Fornication, adultery, divorce, abortion, homosexuality and false doctrine are rampant in the church in America. Much of the church has embraced New Age occultism, they have rejected salvation by faith and many church leaders are declaring that Jesus Christ is only one of many paths to salvation. Church leaders are leading many astray today. The great multitude of sin in the church is largely a result of pastors who have failed to preach the truth, and/or have polluted and compromised the truth and/or who have lived a life of sin and debauchery as an example to their congregations. There is a famine of hearing God's pure uncompromised word in America. Many church leaders have also failed in the following areas: many in America are extortionists; many are engaged in adultery; a growing number are homosexuals; and we've got church leaders engaging in sexual abuse of children. Church leaders are compromising and corrupting the truth; they're declaring the commandments of God have been done away with; and they're teaching salvation by works. It is church leaders who are bringing the occult into the church; many are declaring that all religions are equally true and some are even declaring that they are gods and teaching their congregations to do the same. The history of this country’s besiegement of the rights of God's people, is a clear model of what America, the Babylon, will do to the people of God. Many government documents and court rulings have already identified truth believers as the enemy and government detention centers have already been set up. These detention centers aren't conspiracy theories or speculation, they're documented facts. The only speculation is the purpose for which they will eventually be used. God's word clearly reveals that these detention centers will be used for the incarceration of his people who do not accept the mark of the beast. The treasures in the temple were all carefully crafted according to God's design. They each represented certain truths from God's word and for his plan of redemption and plan of salvation. When these treasures were taken away and the ceremonies came to a halt, Gods truths were carried away with them. This is symbolic of the carrying away of the truth from God's church in America. There have been several attacks on biblical doctrine in public schools in America. First evolution began to be taught; then prayer was removed in 1962; the following year the Bible was removed; in 1968 a law requiring creationism as an alternate theory to evolution was declared unconstitutional and in 1980 the Supreme Court said the Ten Commandments had to be removed from the classroom. And now that the entire truth of history is being biblically and rationally unfolded the elimination of these courses is being government sponsored. When these truths were carried away from schools, they were carried away from society and in turn they no longer exist in a great many places of worship in America. The establishment of the one-world government, will also be responsible for the establishment of the one-world religion; both of these makeup the New World Order. The mark of the beast and the image of the beast will come about as a result of the one world state religion in the New World Order. Prophecy speaks to a particular of importance; it says that Babylon would be as when “God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” Sodom and Gomorrah was burned by fire and brimstone but Babylon was never burned at all. The city of Babylon was taken in tact. Since this prophecy is not about ancient Babylon, it is obvious this prophecy is meant for the end-time Babylon - America. Babylon was filled with immigrants who would suddenly fight against her before her destruction. There are currently as many as 20 million aliens in America. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated that in 2003 there were 78,000 aliens from countries of ‘special concern’ due to the war on terrorism. Others have used the government's own statistics to show that the figure is actually closer to 150,000 undocumented immigrants from the Middle East. An estimated 115,000 immigrants are from China and 55,000 from Korea. Legal immigration between 1981 and 2002 amounted to over 18.5 million. Among these were over 1 million from former eastern bloc countries; 981,500 from the Middle East; 551,800 from Korea; and 931,100 from China. Prophecy has more truth...almost all of the continental United States is located south of 48º latitude and almost all of the former Soviet Union is located north of 48º latitude. This places Russia north of the US. The significance of this is that Jeremiah and Daniel prophesied that Babylon's destruction would come from the north. Prophecy says that along with this nation from the north will come an assembly of great nations from the coasts. China, North Korea, and Iran are coastal nations, and they are each hostile towards the US. The bible prophecy of Revelation says that Babylon’s destruction comes in one hour. The only possible way that the great nation of America could be destroyed in one hour is with nuclear missiles. Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear missiles and Iran is working on acquiring them. There is a sound of war in the land...great destruction! They are assimilating themselves into extinction. Watchfulness, not dispiritedness fostered by the mistaken notion that Christ's return must be far off in the future, must characterize the true believers constant posture. Observing the signs has a positive significance for life in the present. They serve as a reminder of God's call to watchfulness, holy living, and service to Christ. the signs of the end do not belong necessarily to the category of the extraordinary or spectacular. The exhortations to be watchful, given by Jesus and the apostles, presuppose that the signs will be a part of the ordinary course of history and therefore that discernment is necessary. Such discernment is also required, of course, in the case of the extraordinary; counterfeit "signs and wonders". One sign is the proclamation of the everlasting gospel to all nations. Another, divine judgments in nature. And another, increasing opposition to God. The most important sign – the carrying forth of the three angels’ message with particular and intense focus on the first angel’s message. It gives to our present age its primary purpose and significance. The period between Christ's two advents is preeminently the messenger age, the time when God graciously calls all people to choose to be saved, a time foretold by the prophets. Disruptions in nature are reminders of the fact that the present fallen world is under God's curse, but not yet His wrath. They are signals emphasizing the need for all sinners to repent. However, the people of God are urged to regard these signs as "birth pangs" of a time like nothing ever known and to take comfort in the fact that God promises to protect and preserve them in the midst of this suffering. The opposition of the world to the word of God is expected to increase in various persecutorial methods against God’s people prior to the end. We are called to endure in faith until the end. The bible predicts heightened persecution against God's people such as has not been since the beginning of the world. Consider the effect of truth on the end times. Learning the truth will challenge the misplaced feelings of peace, comfort, and security that most people have. But knowing the truth, living the truth, will cost everything in the last day. Everything will be fulfilled, everything will happen, what the prophets of God has announced...nothing will be cut off from their words. As we contemplate the time we’re in, our study of prophecy produces peace and hope in the heart of every believer. And remember, no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God’s people must study the entire panorama of prophecy. Prophecy tells us that the intense pains of a dying world, cannot be avoided. This country is reverting to its founding roots...proposing legal edicts to mass murder human rights, to place in bondage preferred cultural and faith observant individuals. The court’s attitude is folding back to historical eras. Unwilling to hear and accept challenges pertaining to the status of certain groups. It has abdicated its duty to justice. Emerging tactics today are weakening the moral interests based on decisions of the political, educational, legal, and civil institutions. It can be concluded that these decisions together have served to entrench the interests of political incumbents and economic elites at the expense of isolated peoples living here, especially the multitude of immigrants of color, voluntarily here or forced to be here. There are two court sessions in play – the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Being’s Court. The soundness of the Supreme Being’s Court differentiates truth from political, sociological, philosophical, and the “merely personal” preconceived opinions not based on reason or actual experience. The critical need for reform by this country has passed. Most of earth’s inhabitants parrot the world’s perspective, which is based on a humanistic philosophy that stands in direct conflict with God’s will as revealed in His Word. According to His Word, these have already fallen away and do not have the light. When the Supreme Court of the United States declared same- sex marriage to be a constitutional right, it was a slap in the face to the laws of God and man. It was a direct frontal assault on both religious freedom and the Constitution of the United States, undercutting the very foundations on which they claimed to stand. Every people will suffer under the very tyranny of the usurped authority of man. Some will suffer for righteousness sake while obeying God...others, choosing to obey man rather than God, will suffer the penalty of unrepentant sin. These lack the sound foundation of biblical truth. This nation is being cast into an abyss not to arise from. The overreach of the world’s governments have put every earthly country in great jeopardy, and in recent years it has divided the people of the world into factions instead of uniting them. Too much of the world looks like Sodom and Gomorrah. A growing chorus of nations are preparing seriously for war, and this is a very real probability to happen tomorrow. The Lord gave us His written Word so we could see the world, mankind, and ourselves as He does. To see as He does is to see the truth. As the Lord said through Isaiah the prophet, those who do not speak according to His Word do not have the light in them. We are in the time to expect that those who will be standing on the truth and wholly following the Lord will be paired down to a very small number. Some are waking up to the profound differences between what the scriptures actually say and what they have been told they say, often even by their own compromising pastors. This is the purpose of the first angel’s message. Regardless of how small a number the faithful become, their faithfulness will ultimately turn the tide. There will be a gospel sounded with a loud voice. As the divisions in this country become more clear and pronounced than ever, a great unity will grow in the small and persecuted company of the faithful. It is always worth it to stand on our convictions without compromise. We will also find out that those we did not think we had any common ground with will stand in Christ together with us. We will obey Him regardless of the consequences. Every soul to ever walk the earth are all similarly tried...by faith. The soon coming of the end will see many of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ risk their lives every day to worship and obey Him. Now is the world’s people time to be tested. The hedge of this country is being removed. Its sowing is ready for reaping. We must not put limits on how long we will stand or what cost we will pay to stand for God and His truth. We do not just stand for truth because it is the truth, but because truth is what our God is. God’s truth will win, but for His own reasons. We know that the Lord often allows setbacks to test His people. Truth will win over all deception and lies, but we all may not get to see that in our lifetime; however, our life can help lead to this victory if we live by the truth. We stand because it is the right thing to do. The churches are dividing today. And its not upon theological questions. The sharp divide is because of political differences. And this marks the end of man’s government. The liberty of man is not safe in the hands of any church. The whole world is at an inflection point. Shattered peace in Europe has impacted stability everywhere, and reckless nuclear threats endanger the global non- proliferation regime. Autocrats are working overtime to undermine democracy and export a model of governance marked by repression at home and coercion abroad. A nation’s power springs from its people. And every people, in every land is divided. This is the first of the division spoken of by Jesus. Jesus gives some details as to how this division will look. He begins with a family in which, perhaps, two of the three children come to belief and are born spiritually. Maybe it is the mother and a child that believe. They may be able to hide their conversion for a while but soon a change in behavior will be seen by the other three and it will be determined by various means that they are believers. That will result in pressure from the three to encourage the two to denounce their faith and return to the religion of the family. Jesus details the division further by saying, “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” This division can produce conflict that is severe enough to result in beatings and even in martyrdom. This persecution against believers is clearly not limited to family members but may involve neighbors or others who hear of someone becoming a believer. These may become so incensed over this spread of faithfulness that they in mob action act to remove the enemy from their midst. In many cases the government acts resulting in imprisonment and possible torture and in some cases death. Just as Jesus was hated and hung on a cross to die, so will his followers be persecuted in most areas of the world. The most bitterest division ever is nurtured in the dragon nation of America. Divisiveness based on politics, religion, ethnicity, group identity, gender preference, financial status, ignorance, education, and history. The truth to remedy all division...who is on the Lord’s side. For a time, God’s people were hedged here in the west, free of open persecution and not having to suffer the way our brothers and sisters do in other areas of the world. This was a place of God’s interest and blessing because of the message to be brought forth by His scattered Israel. This began with the loud cry of 1844. And our social experiences and purposes were prophesied in tables. America’s acts of aggression against other nations in its determination to retain and expand slavery and in pursuit of its “manifest destiny” to govern the continent from sea to sea showed it to be heaven-daring, soul-destroying, slave-holding, and a neighbor-murdering country. The gathering prophesy told of the woe to come upon this country. The United States was lamb-like only in its pretensions and surface appearance. This nation was founded not as a democracy but as a slavocracy. It was, it is, and will be the hypocrisy of independence. There is no mention of slavery in the final Declaration of Independence. When it came time to draft the Constitution, the framers carefully constructed a document that preserved and protected slavery without ever using the word. And this is the country that makes the case for freedom to the world? They did not want to explicitly enshrine their hypocrisy, so they sought to hide it. Their Constitution contains 84 clauses. Six deal directly with the enslaved and their enslavement, and five more hold implications for slavery. The words are dark and ambiguous; such as no plain man of common sense would have used, and are evidently chosen to conceal the long range plot to bring forth the 2025 Project. This is the sin that is America. Fifty-nine percent of Americans say they want to just start over. Corrupt practices are commonplace in this country. Americans prefer today a divided government. So called democracy in the US has become alienated and degenerated, and it has increasingly deviated from the essence of democracy and its original design. Problems like money politics, identity politics, disputing between political parties, political polarization, social division, racial tension and wealth gap have become more acute. All this has led to the failed functioning of democracy in the US. This world leading nation is gravely ill and so rooted in endemic racism that God purposed one who possesses power to manifest evil in the world through influencing people and commanding demons. This ideology, is reinforced not just by laws but by racist science and literature, maintained that “other” people are lesser in being. This is the belief that allows designated Americans to live with their betrayal. How wonderful are the purposes of God. It was the bondage in Egypt that brought forth a nation chosen by God and it is the continual bondage in this Egyptian styled land from which the peculiar people of God will be made Israel. Faithful believers who commit themselves to following God’s laws could expect trouble, persecution, and even death for those who resist religious laws as well as civil statutes. Its churches coercive tendencies are all upheld by the laws of the land. They are oppressive when possessed of civil power. Look at its Declaration of Independence and its Constitution; and then look at its institution of slavery, the darkest and most condemning sin upon this abyss of a nation, and its laws of continual bondage, look at the religious intolerance, the corruption and oppression existing throughout this land. But will our faith grow strong eror weaker as a result? Are we willing to suffer and possibly die for our faith? When we face persecution would we be willing to risk our life to keep the bibles we have? Do you think you would grow spiritually, or do you think you would instead deny your faith? The soon coming is the end. Nothing has changed concerning the true nature of this country and the warnings found in Revelation still remain pertinent. It is still vital to live out an unwavering allegiance to God, realizing that this will bring disfavor and even negative sanctions as we follow scriptural injunctions to be inclusive in our love. Faithfulness to the call to be a true “son” of God, one who reflects His image by modeling his inclusive love, sometimes means breaking with social conventions and even national laws. It means not being caught up in the nationalistic impulse which encourage others to put the welfare of America above the well-being of the rest of the world. It does mean denying America’s claims to be pure, innocent, and “Christian,” while telling the truth about the underside of America’s practices: its willingness to oppress religious groups and races that it sees as a threat to its goals, to deny equal rights and respect to minority groups, to pursue wealth at the expense of the poor and vulnerable both at home and abroad, deport undocumented immigrants back to certain death in their countries of origin, as well as many other sins. We must still recognize that the nation’s vaunted Christianity and Republicanism will not restrain its punitive response to defiance of its policies. The vast majority of American churches at the denominational level, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, are still joining hands in an effort to force their systems of belief on the nation through the changing of laws. They preach that the financial setbacks, natural disasters, and various tragic events America has recently suffered are God sent as punishments for departing from bible law. They teach that the heavy hand of God’s discipline will not be removed until the laws of the nation are consistent with God’s laws, as they perceive them to be, and enforced. America is beginning to experience its demise. It is too far gone to be redeemed by mercy. There’s a reason God gave us the first three verses in the Revelation. That we might discover in our investigations of Revelation 13 and 14 the true perspective of American realities. We must commit to living out our calling as messengers of God’s love recognizing that our purpose is that of proclaiming His truth. The overwhelming signs of the last part of story include the weakness of democratic values among key elite groups and the general public; severe economic setbacks, which will intensify social conflict and enhance the popularity of remedies that could be imposed only by authoritarian governments; social and political polarization, often produced by leftist governments seeking the rapid introduction of major social and economic reforms; the determination of conservative middle-class and upper-class groups to exclude mainstream and leftist movements and lower-class groups from political power; the breakdown of law and order resulting from terrorism or insurgency: intervention or conquest by a nondemocratic foreign power: triggering the collapse or overthrow of democratic systems in this and other countries. The world is witness to a global economic collapse, the dangerous increase of Iran’s nuclear power capabilities, Israel’s facade as God’s people and revealing their moral and spiritual corruption, China’s quest for world dominance, the skyrocketing rate of suicide, the rising threat of socialism, the anarchy spilling into the streets, the attack on this nation’s capital, and the mounting death toll due to the coronavirus. God’s true people will be comforted in the prophetic scriptures, which confirm that God is still on His throne and will reign in power and glory. The prophetic scriptures shout from every book in the bible. We may be sojourners in this strange land, surrounded by foreign faces, hearing unfamiliar voices, witnessing hordes of people worshiping pagan gods. We have a choice to either focus on dire circumstances or stand with the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and His Word. God wants us to understand why He does what He does. There is a vast difference between knowing about God and actually knowing who God is. When we personally know God and have a close relationship with Him, we can better understand what He does and why He does it. God’s people must anoint their eyes. They must have the mind of Christ knowing when and how, if at all, to answer accusers. America knows about God, but a vast number has no comprehension of God’s character. The Supreme Being of the bible is a God of majesty, wisdom, truth, love, and grace, and He is jealous over His children. He is also a God of judgment and wrath, and He does not change. Nothing can alter the character of God. He will judge sin, He will finish His work. What He planned in eternity, He will carry out in time. God’s people must anoint their eyes. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

covenant faith Please allow me to peak your inquiry into what we read, and may I begin with this, hoping that you feel no shock or disdain in this day and age of political correctness…God made a racial choice in His forming man and He made a divine choice concerning the exclusivity of God’s covenant with His people. God shows His people their own particularity that they may affirm God. God began with man being created with the privilege of bearing His image, not His color, for no amount of intelligence can determine what, are even if, God has color seeing as how God is a Spirit. The mention of physical differential appears with Isaac and Rebekah’s sons. All were to share their mental and spiritual faculties with God. This is why we must understand the covenant that we may better understand the word of God. God created man that confirms that God is God. And life is to confirm His righteousness. It is for a certainty that Adam and Eve were ethnically generic and in God’s wisdom and in God’s time He would do that which serves His purposes for the creation that gives Him pleasure. If we only knew what God has in store for us. I pray that our consciences are clear with God not allowing any human prejudices to depreciate the power to love as Jesus loves. But our conversation around the covenant of God must be inclusionary of all diversity resulting from the ministry of Jesus Christ who died for all. Do not allow shades to move us away from the ultimate mission assigned. Not all will conform to the will of God to receive of the benefit. It is in our faith in God’s covenant promises that all injustice is repaired. Jesus’ presence is power and we pray that our descriptor is that we are one with him. God’s covenant does not make us like a new Adam…it is designed to make us like the last Adam, transformed by the word of God. What is that like…the new covenant finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ who is the true seed of Abraham, the true Son of God. The new covenant promise of forgiveness of sins is fulfilled in Jesus himself, and thus he pours out his Spirit on his people so that they are enabled to do God’s will. God’s covenant addresses the two greatest measures of life in our day; SIN and racial conflict. God in His unsurpassed and infinite wisdom resolves both measures in the divine purpose we learn from the twin births of Esau and Jacob. In God’s wisdom His people find great courage and comfort. God’s wisdom knows ALL things and He foreknew ALL things before there was ever anything. The covenant sharpens our definition of God’s wisdom and shows its relevance in our lives today. Everything must be considered in the wisdom of God. God could have created a “tree of wisdom” instead of the ”tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. We learn tree of good and evil from God’s word that wisdom is not “knowing good and evil, wisdom is knowing good from evil”. It is disobedience that causes us to know evil. And what was evil became good in their eyes. Then, after experiencing through disobedience what was thought good became evil. Nakedness was good until disobedience. Walking with God was good until disobedience and hiding from Him was sought. They were tempted to be like God, knowing good and evil. Their sin became like Satan’s…trying to be like God. Sinning can never by any way make man like God. The tree was created because God wanted Adam and Eve to be wise concerning what is good and aware of what is evil. Creation was to be the lesson book for God’s people. Wisdom is a “tree of life”. God’s covenant, when obeyed, gives life. God’s wisdom is revealed through His covenant of faith with Israel. God promised Abraham that in him, in his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. It seems this would have taken place through the entire world, but history makes it clear the world will not be subject to God and will persistently resist and rebel against God. It was not through the plural seed of Abraham that God brought about the blessing of the world, but through the seed singular of Abraham - Jesus Christ. This is why we are in awe of the covenant of God. God brings about what He has promised in ways we could never imagine or even believe if we were told in advance. God’s wisdom is seen in His dealings with Israel as demonstrated in two manner of people. God’s wisdom is realized in Christ. God’s purpose was a mystery. Christ’s first coming resolved the mystery of the seed. And God’s eternal purpose is to reveal His wisdom to the celestial beings as well as to His people on earth. God is still accomplishing His purpose, which will culminate in the establishing His covenant in His people and the second coming of His Son. When this purpose and program is completed, the full scope of God’s wisdom will have been revealed, and this wisdom will be revealed as so great it will provide the fuel for the praise of God throughout all eternity. God promised to bring salvation and blessing not only to the chosen people but also to the Gentiles who believe. He promised a Savior who was a man, the seed of Eve and of Abraham and of David, but also One who was the divine Son of God. It is this lengthy mystery that will assure that sin will never again come to be. It is the privilege of the covenant that effectuates the marvel of the wisdom of God in saving us. Before God begins this talk with us let us place our hearts and souls where we know we are now in God's perfect timing. It is His timing that grows our faith as we are obliged to wait and trust in God and His timing makes certain that He, and He alone, gets the glory and praise for pulling us through the time that we may be fashioned without sin. Psalms 31:15 God’s covenant was very explicit in stating the promise to Abraham that God would have a visible people made forever perfect through sanctification and is made able to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. And the bible sanctions this promise. Hebrews 10:14-19 Revelation 7:3, 4 These are not the total number of Abraham’s descendants, but are a very elect group from among that number who will in the latter times have a special mission to fulfil. Revelation 12:17 Revelation 14:1, 4, 5 Let’s move to the light that the shadows be not seen. This “better” covenant… Isaiah 42:1, 6, 7 The “new covenant” is not just a promise waiting to be fulfilled but a person who embodies its fulfillment. God’s covenant word is the Word made flesh. Thus, from Adam through Noah, from Abraham through Moses, and from David to Christ, to his elect, God’s people are being defined, united, and shaped through an ever renewing and developing covenant bond. God’s covenant promises have been unveiling since He clothed Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:21 Notwithstanding their sin, God cares. These coats of skin had a significancy. The beasts whose skins they were must be slain, slain before their eyes, to show them what sin cost, to show them what death is. It was as though they were slain for sacrifice, to typify the great sacrifice, which, in the latter end of the world, should be offered once for all. Their admonition for having committed sin: the first thing that died was a sacrifice, or Christ in a figure, who is therefore said to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The sacrifice did no wrong, but clothed the sinner. They put on the Lord Jesus. The New Covenant comes into focus whenever the Lamb and his blood are mentioned in the bible, and it speaks to a new relationship with God. According to Revelation, God will be faithful in fulfilling His promises to Israel. God’s word offers priority of clear texts over private interpretation and priority of spiritual illumination over obscure conjecture. Why say this…let’s reason brothers and sisters…we accept the truth that the 144000 are of Israel as biblically stated. Now read in Galatians… Galatians 3:26-29 The descendants of Abraham; Ishmael, Isaac, Keturah’s offspring and their bearing, Esau’s descendants, Jacob and all his bearing, and where there was faith in Christ that proceeded Abraham – Adam, Abel, Noah, and the other faithfuls, these are that innumerable great multitude. Everyone represented by Jesus, the ideal king and Israelite, is considered part of true Israel and therefore shares in the blessings promised to Abraham. Yet not all of Abraham’s physical seed belonged to his spiritual seed. Some became the synagogue of Satan. Revelation 7:9 spiritual seed The identification is evident…count the stars. Revelation 2:9; 3:9 Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hear the complete fulfillment of the new covenant. For none to need being taught implies that such a condition as this can only exist after the binding of Satan. Does the new covenant bind to Revelation? The new covenant is stated prophetically as the ongoing relationship between true believers and God that will be in full fruition in the end of days. The connection between the blood of Christ and the new covenant is the power of that mediation that Jesus is finishing in the heavenly sanctuary. There will be the occasion when Jesus finds no fault with them. Daniel 9:27 This new covenant is designed to break the curse of sin from that first brought through Adam…for the judgment proceedings will be complete before Christ returns…it is purposed to return us to the image of God. This spiritual Israel is based on the faith of the patriarch Abraham even before he was circumcised who was ministered by the Melchizedek priesthood, which is understood to be the type of the believers’ faith in Jesus Christ. As there is no precedence to Melchizedek, there is no precedence to Christ, and neither will there be precedence to God’s final living people. They are people of the promise. These have salvific knowledge of the word and have no need to be taught of the ways of the Lord, they lack need for exhortation regarding reconciliation with God. These will show there to be no abrogation of the law. These will evidence by emphatic declaration of the immutability of the covenant. These are now reckoning with sin. These show the new covenant to be present reality. Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, Jacob…these players and their characters are all in place in God’s plan. And as it is the covenant of God that establishes His people, the question is where are we? Let’s look at the covenant particulars with Abraham and with Jacob. Genesis 12:1-3 Genesis 28:13-15 There is not only the land promise and the promise of numerous descendants, but also the promise that God will be with Jacob wherever he goes. This is God’s presence that is the final fruit of the covenant relationship. This is God’s presence with the scattered of Judah. Because God has undertaken to be our God, He will do that for us which will answer the compass and vast extent of our engagement as He orders and disposes what is best fitted for our deliverance. Whether God lengthens or shortens, embitters or sweetens, as He pleases, our confidence must be according to the counsel of His determination, His will. The highly controverted discourse of Esau and Jacob was prophetic in its consequential revealing of the purpose of God’s covenant. Throughout the bible, God relates to His people through His covenant. It is through this covenant relationship, which serves as the foundation for God's promise to bring redemption to His people, that we can understand the advancement of His kingdom. As passions of violence have been released upon God’s scattered people, against humanity, our most powerful response must be to counter with a passionate revolution of purpose, with greater passion and drive than that which the wicked wages against us. The covenant, if believed in, and adhered to, will purpose us with the will of God, as is the truth of God, through the spiritual faith that is of Christ. Spiritual faith involves the recognition of a belief that there is something greater than ourselves, something more to being human than mere sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is divine in nature…and the opening of the heart is an essential aspect of true spiritual faith. And so, our brothers, sisters, and friends to the east, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon will be brought into the covenanted faith in Jesus Christ. In this covenant faith is found forgiveness, God making us perfect in Jesus, God’s will done in us, our inward journey, our unique and distinct purpose, our reward. God’s covenant is not brought forth to coerce or manipulate, but to be freely received with the faith of reason. And this faith is centered in love for God, so it strives to act as God wills and is, therefore, manifested in more than just words but also in our respondent actions. And because the enemy of all righteousness accuses us, the function of our faith must be related to the covenant of God. The covenant discussed is our commitment of believing God's promises, trusting in His faithfulness, and relying on God's character and faithfulness to act. All the while accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. The purpose of this covenant is to authenticate our change in character and conduct based on the person of Jesus and his work of atonement accomplished through his death on the cross and his work in the most holy. What does this display to every observer? That our works alone do not have any value for obtaining a positive final judgment, but that a positive final judgment depends on faith alone in what Christ will conclude according to the origin of things in God. Think on the incredible implications of this question… Luke 18:8 What responsibilities do God’s covenant people have to the nations of the world? Faith gone from earth! If not for God’s covenant promises…for it is the covenant of God that moves us from human faith to the faith of Jesus Christ. What precisely is this human faith to the faith of Jesus? Human faith is that demonstrated in the courtyard. It is our expression of belief that leads to imputed righteousness. But all to often this belief falters and we must again return to the courtyard to again confess that which we have not totally forsaken. But the faith of Jesus is just that, as his righteousness is imparted unto us and our spirit is commended unto God, our faith is now in what God can and will do for us; heal us, answers to our prayer, we receive of His blessings, deliverance in a trial, guidance in a difficult decision, and, most importantly, receiving salvation. Obedience to the law of God is purposed in the covenant and yet covenant faith reaches beyond the law. The purpose of the law has never been to forgive sin or bring justification, no law could do this. This is what the covenant blood of Christ is for, and it is why mankind needs a Savior. The two-fold purpose of the law is to point out sin that we might know the wrong and then to point us to Jesus Christ that we might do the right. Establish this thought in your mind; it is covenantal carelessness that brought forth hatred between the two manner of people, a very unusual birth, a birth that was so different that Isaac favored the oddity, and God determined this would bring forth some very ungodly actions, and where we are embarrassed to think of these people as our spiritual ancestors. Although the texts about Jacob and Esau are ostensibly speaking about individuals, each brother represents an ethnic group. Let’s better reason with God concerning the 2520. Leviticus 26:40 The iniquity of our fathers??? How are we accountable? Isaac must have trembled violently with great force as reality dawned upon him. As covenant head and father, he gave the blessing, so full and rich, to someone not his firstborn son, Esau. The deed is done; the word had been spoken, and that oral contact was now legally binding by covenant. No turning back now. Isaac tells Esau concerning Jacob, his brother - “I blessed him…and indeed he will be blessed.” This is God’s reality. How the truth is handled establishes our standing with God. Proverbs 19:21 The enormity of our faithlessness in the covenant promises of God is reflected in this pathetic scene. Reason with the word of God. Hebrews 12:16, 17 We are to reject all ungodliness…all ungodliness…all ungodliness! Esau and his descendants would prove to be the prime example of this. He sold his birthright, despising it, rejecting his high calling, privilege, but also his important responsibility. Yet he wanted the material prosperity. In other words, he wanted all the benefits of God’s kingdom but none of the serious effort. Does this sound familiar in our day as well? Esau had forfeited his claims to the blessing, but he retained a strong sense of entitlement. Here is where covenantal faith will always place us in the presence of God. Please hear this; Esau could have enjoyed God’s blessing if he had submitted to God’s will. Jacob has the great patriarchal blessing. If Esau had submitted to Jacob, thanked the Lord for His guiding hand, and lived in obedience to God’s will from then on, he could have enjoyed the Lord’s goodness in the ascendancy of Jacob. In God allowing Isaac to bestow a blessing upon Esau, Isaac uses many phrases from his earlier blessing to Jacob, but now they have a slightly different nuance. The land of Edom would not be as fertile as Canaan would be. The Edomites would be forced to submit to the Israelites, but they would fight back, often revolting against Israel and living in the utmost hatred toward the Israelites. This “blessing” indicates that the Edomites, Esau’s children, would not be a weak nation, but in the end, they would always be a restless nation. What began in the conflict of Esau and Jacob continues…bitterness, disappointment powered by hatred can grow roots that sink into the soul. Weeds are easy to uproot when they first appear, but if weeds are neglected and are allowed to grow, the roots sink deeper into the soil, and weeds become more difficult to spiritual weeds become difficult to uproot uproot. The same is true with the roots of hatred. Genesis 27:41 Esau hates Jacob. Notice that Esau does not identify Jacob as “my enemy”, but he calls him “my brother.” We clearly hear an echo of the Cain and Abel story and even an echo of Ishmael and Isaac’s conflict. In Genesis chapter 4, we read that two brothers are divided by God’s righteous favor as well as unrighteous jealousy and hatred against the other. Cain killed righteous Abel in cold blood. Esau prepares to do the same to Jacob, the man whom God loves in His covenant. God loves Jacob, not on the basis of Jacob’s actions, but on God’s own sovereign choice, His own mercy. With covenant faith must come the reasoning with what God reveals. God had shown to both Isaac and Rebekah the early rising of the faithlessness of Esau. Genesis 26:34, 35 And even yet did Esau show contempt for the rites of the covenant. Genesis 28:6-9 Esau’s descending character has left his people so “spiritually stunted” that the fostered hatred exists in ways yesterday and today that show direct conflict with God’s truths. Jesus descended from Jacob. Who sought to kill him? Is Herod descended from Esau’s lineage? Obadiah 10 Esau himself never knew that his descendants would claim to be the superior race over all humanity, and in the name of white supremacy would commit such inhumane atrocities. The book of Obadiah explains in detail the fate of Edom, and how he will eventually pay for his sins, pride and atrocities against humanity but especially against his brother Jacob, the chosen one, to whom he is a servant. Numbers 24:14-24 Amalek was the leader among Esau’s princes. This is talking about the Byzantine Empire. It controlled the Mediterranean Sea. Chittim is plural. God is trying to point to all of the Islands on the Mediterranean Sea and their coastlines. God is describing the Byzantine Empire, the ancient name for Cyprus. Lamentations 4:21, 22 THE LAND OF UZ is Armenia. Genesis 32:3; 36:8, 9, 21 Esau is the ancestor of the Edomites who live on Mount Seir, southwest of Judah. Ezekiel 35:15 Present day Esau, which is Edom, which is Idumea. Genesis 14:6: 36:21 Now let’s follow the word and see what we resolve… God has declared this about His name. Psalms 138:2 How very careful then should we be to give diligent heed to His written word. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that we become acquainted with the genealogy of the Gentiles, who are Esau, or Edom. What does God declare? Obadiah 9, 18 God confirms this… Genesis 36:9, 12 Numbers 24:20 Amalek was son of Eliphaz, and grandson to Edom or Esau. If these words of God be true we cannot, and should not, spare any pains, however great, in order to ascertain who Esau, or Edom, is. The Spirit of God identifies Edom with Babylon. Psalms 137:7, 8 We will see this verse again. It means to make bare or destroy the Temple. Chaldea, or Babylon, was re-established by Assyria. Isaiah 23:13 Ezekiel 12:13 Ezra 5:12 The Assyrian empire embraced the country on both sides of the Tigris. Babel, was founded by Nimrod. Genesis 10:9, 10 The Assyrians descended from the Caucasus, conquered and destroyed Jerusalem. II Kings 17:1-6; 18:9-11 The bible tells us that Babylon conquered Assyria and Medo-Persia conquered Babylon and Greece conquered Medo-Persia. And plucking from Greece history identifies a “little horn” becoming the Roman Empire. Could Rome be “Mystery Babylon” Mother of Harlots? Revelation 17:3-6 Luke 3:1 From the east Rome, peopled all the west; first Italy, France, Germany, England and America. Christianity became the established religion, under Constantine; hence Babylon, Edom, Rome, and Christianity are synonymous. Remember, the Edomites sided with the Babylonians. Psalms 137:1, 7-9 Because of these bearings Esau is historically typed as the ancestor of Rome. Thus, we can begin to reason with the “new covenant”. We can see how this relevancy makes the most powerful nation in the world (Rome) into one that fears, or at least respects, the God of Israel. Moreover, the “real” battle in this world is one between Rome and Judah, i.e., between Esau and Jacob. Oh how wonderful is the covenant power of God to reverse the hatred of Esau for Jacob to reconciliation and the final gathering unto God by us in the last day. So, when the Babylonians were to destroy the temple, it was Esau/Edom who took advantage of that fall, establishing the Roman Empire, and chased away the remnant of Israel, who fled to West Africa in which was the end of them being a nation. The Edomites, the Roman elite then converted the Ottoman Turks, their fellow Edomites to Judaism, replacing the vast black Hebrews with imposter Jews who hated Jesus. We are aware that the Southern Tribes of Israel were in Africa in 1747 AD and the historical maps prove the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin were in Africa. I believe the word of God presents a case of mistaken identity today among those who say they are Jews but are the Synagogue of Satan. Are Jacob’s descendants not living in the United States of America today? Is there a difference between African Hamites and Black Israelites? Why are there historical maps, which prove the Transatlantic Slave Trade was responsible for the scattering of the Southern Tribes of Israel? It is in the covenant that God gives us the genesis of the revelation. This is the continual covenantal truth of the faith of expectation. It is understood as “confident expectation.” It is looking to the future with confidence because God is a faithful provider of all that we need. There is motivational power in one's expectations when the word of God shows itself to be all truth. God isolates faith, which means “trust,” or “confidence,” as the single most important element of relationship with Him. How does covenant faith show Jesus in us…trust is best evidenced by the life of Jesus Christ, who did all he did by way of his unflagging trust in his heavenly Father. Ephesians 4:22, 31, 32 Restorative justice, through sacred reconciliation on the part of Jacob in his wrestling with God is our admonition in the last day…are we people of the covenant by faith whereby our birthright comes directly from our God? God chooses His people because He can…He is God…and God showcases His sovereignty, His power, His love in fulfilling His promises how He so determines. The full enfolding of the covenant will not be done in this natural temporal domain, yet we are the people in this time, this place, and this situation where God’s will can truly be accomplished...in earth as it is in heaven. We must “faith the truth”. God’s truth supersedes worldly facts. And faith-full actions can change the world. The time is nearing where God’s people will have the courage to know the hopelessness of circumstances and yet remain expectant that God will provide a way. Christ knew he was to die on the cross and hope did not present his coming forth, yet he expected his Father’s acceptance that had been given him. SOP - Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father’s acceptance heretofore given Him. He was acquainted with the character of His Father; He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. By faith He rested in Him whom it had ever been His joy to obey. And as in submission He committed Himself to God, the sense of the loss of His Father’s favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor. {DA 756.3} This covenant perspective thrills our hearts because we realize that we have been caught up into Christ’s grand, ages-long project. It gives us a sense of identity—we know our roots. It brings us a sense of stability. Faith, is not a power in itself, nor of merit to us; it requires an object, someone or something to trust in. Faith points us to God who is the object of our faith, but to trust Him we must know something about Him, that is, His character and His promises. It is in God’s covenant that we find the transcript of His character as written in the law and it is in our obedience to His commandments that we find the sureness of His promises. And Jesus Christ is the all of God’s promises. That is why we must have the faith of Jesus; he knows the way, he is the way. God’s words prove that He has every resource necessary to do all that He promises. The new covenant 11fingered in the heart, in the mind, is struck by flint; faith with no compromise, love with no compromise, obedience with no compromise. God’s covenant signifies that Christ will never have to do it again. we know our roots 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

Know Thyself God wants us to know Him. God has placed a desire in our hearts to know him. We are uniquely made to give the Holy Spirit sanction to search our heart. Knowing God is a profound privilege. And the only way we can know ourselves is to know God’s Son. God wants us to be secure in His love and in ourselves. And it is by the Holy Spirit that we have a deep sense of self before the Father. The Holy Spirit uses the scriptures to be our spiritual telescope with which we can look deeply into ourselves. The scripture is a series of narratives disclosing the relationships between God and His people. It is for us to discern what the implications are for us, and then to listen to what is for us and how we should respond. The scriptures were not only written to us, but they were also certainly written for us. We are to know what the Father has given us to do as did Jesus. We are individuals, uniquely important to God and His purposes for the world. Consider God’s creative work in us up to the present. We are to know who we are in our true self. And we are to know the living God. God has made us as whole people in His image. That image includes physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual and social dimensions. We are to become holy in character, become like Christ. Everything is valuable for the purpose it serves. Nothing is valuable by itself, except the one content of everything which we call the Omnipresence of the Lord. And we cost God everything. That is the only thing that is important by valuables itself. All the other things are valuable for the purpose they serve and any purpose is valuable only when it serves the purpose of God-awakening in us. The value to God of his people knowing themselves is that it allows for a deeper relationship with Him, as understanding one's own strengths, weaknesses, and motivations enables a more authentic approach to faith, leading to greater humility, repentance, and personal growth, ultimately reflecting a closer connection to God's love and grace; essentially, "knowing yourself" is seen as a key step towards "knowing God”. Herein is the reasoning to recognizing the potential for self-deception as it highlights the need to seek God's wisdom in understanding ourselves. It is how we are to examine ourselves, to know whether we be in the faith; able to prove our own selves as not just us how that Jesus Christ is in us. We say self must die. Self-dying is not a final act. It is coming to self-knowledge. Understanding our own awareness, thoughts, beliefs, assessments, our merits, and behaviors as they are to reveal Christ working in us. It's about discovering ourselves in God. Our identity should never be based on a hope or a guess. God gave us His Word, the bible, so we can know Him and know who He is making us to be in Him. God’s word should fulfill our consciences so as to associate self-discovery, self-expression, and self-actualization. There is purpose to God wanting His people to know who they are. Having self-awareness gives us the power to influence outcomes by our choices; helps us become better decision-makers and gives us more self-confidence. We can communicate with clarity and intention, which allows us to understand things from multiple perspectives. It frees us from assumptions and biases and makes truth the only thing spoken in love, helping us make spiritual sense of our experiences. We earnestly study to understand ourselves within a larger context of just being. This involves practices like meditation, mindfulness, connecting with nature, and examining our significance to discern our deeper purpose and connection to something beyond ourself, allowing us to live more faithfully and with greater meaning as we give full attention to every present moment without judgment. Reliance upon our spiritual senses; the conscience, which is an inherent sense of right and wrong; intuition, a sense of God’s revelation, knowledge, and wisdom; and communion, a sense of God’s presence, orients us to that higher purpose or significance, that connection, that “something” that gives us a higher perception of reality. Our expressions are honest and sincere while reflecting kindness and compassion, essentially conveying important information while maintaining a caring and respectful attitude towards others, signifying a genuine connection built on both uprightness and empathy. As we come to know ourselves, we transcend the material realm and human comprehension. Knowing thyself is life-giving; it is a source of consciousness; it has intention and purpose; it connects us to all beings, it is connects us to all beings an aspect of our deepest essence. Knowing ourselves involve constituting ourselves as a spiritual subject. Seeing ourself as being a soul having a spiritual nature, and nurturing our soul - to consider that the dimension of reality that is often called “spiritual” is the most important part of who we are. This is God’s grace allowing us to construct ourselves when self dies. We come to Christ with an eternal mind, nurturing our spirituality in a specific way - as someone who is engaged in self-transformation, discovering or attaining our essence as being more than mortal flesh, and living in, interacting with, and aligning ourselves to a heavenly bearing that extends deeper and beyond the immediate materiality of the world as it appears to the humanly senses. We have access to full meaning truth. The key idea here to knowing ourselves is that spirituality is a search for truth, and that this search involves a process of transformation of oneself. Spirituality is an access to truth that comes through self-transformation rather than through the accumulation of knowledge. We move away from ordinary life. We have a quest toward truth and its ultimate meaning. Our life now involves knowing the spiritual sense of our whole self. Knowing our intention through trust in God. He knows we are to live our lives daily. He sent His son to die for us that we might live for him, allowing God to use us and our uniqueness - to do His work. We have a better perspective on who we are and how God continued humanity in us for His purposes. T o know thyself is to know that we do not measure up to the qualifications for God’s love. That we don’t measure up to being perfect. But to know thyself does mean that we are the recipients of His grace and mercy! That mercy, that grace, is at work as we run through the filter of God’s word to bring us filter of God's word to God in the righteous perfectness of Jesus Christ. To know thyself grants us sight of how God and His word are our framework and foundation for worth and worthiness in the plan of God. Know thyself is written in every scripture. The omnipresence of God teaches us that He is not ashamed of being present in His created beings. It is this quality that makes Him God, and it is the absence of this quality that makes us human beings. We are made in His image, we are expected to imitate God and fill up the gap. We are to behave in the terms He behaves, so that we may not be ashamed of the testimony of Jesus. To do this, we go through a process of knowing what is 'I am', and what is not 'I am'. That is the difference between the 'self' and the 'non-self'. So, we start with ourselves hearing the admonition of the ancients warning us…"know thyself." Know thyself means, 'know God'. We should know ourselves as in God, existing in God, coming from God and going into God. This is Jesus calling for us to be “one”. To know thyself is to know that our creation is an opportunity, not a privilege. We are to make the best use of time, of life. Let us transcend to the height time of use to understand God’s reason for us to know ourselves. Jesus came in the fulness of humanity and the fulness of divinity. He came to be that example for man that we may be restored to the image and likeness deemed to us at creation. We are to understand both humanity and divinity in regard to our purposes. The word of God counseling us to know thyself is considered important because it allows us to understand our strengths, weaknesses, and motivations, which in turn enables us to better align our lives with God's will, make informed decisions, and grow spiritually by addressing areas where we need to change or develop further; essentially, by understanding who we are at our core, we can better serve God and live a life that reflects His image. He who does not know himself does not know God either. And he who does not know God does not know the truth and the nature of things in general… He who does not know himself continually sins against God and continually moves farther away from Him. Self-knowledge is one of our foremost duties. We were made a being of lofty rank and has been destined to become like God, in Whose image we were determined, and a participant in divine goodness and blessedness. But in order to become a divine likeness, good and blessed, and to commune with God, we must first of all know ourself. Without self-knowledge we go astray in our thoughts, we are dominated by diverse passions, tyrannized by violent desires, troubled about many and vain things, and lead a disorderly, distracted life, erring in all things, wandering on the way, staggering at every step; and we stumble, fall, and are crushed. We drink every day potions of sorrow and bitterness, fill our hearts with grief, and live an unbearable life. We must learn to be concerned about things eternal. There is in us the power of self-knowledge – being a spiritual and morally free being, having free will and the power of knowing. But in order to acquire perfect knowledge of ourselves, we must first will, and then move toward self-inquiry and make ourselves an object of study. Without willing, none of the things that ought to be done can be done. The faculty of the will, strengthened by the faculty of reason, and that of free choice and self-control, overcomes all obstacles and succeeds in everything: ‘I will’, becomes, ‘I can’, in us, that acts with knowledge and freedom. We ought to will, to know ourself, to know God, and to understand the nature of things as they are in themselves, and thus become an image and likeness of God. With us being well advised comes wisdom. In knowing thyself we our neighbor know our duties toward ourself, toward God, and toward our neighbor, and that piety, justice, truth and knowledge should be for us the touchstone on which we test all our acts that have reference to God, to ourself, and to our neighbor… We are never to be puffed up, never to be filled with pride, but first of all we are to know our shortcomings and our faults, always comparing ourself with the ideal prototype, Jesus, in the likeness of which we ought to develop ourself, inasmuch as we see how much we fall short of his example. Let’s behold Jesus… What consequence might we see in him? What mystery might we learn of concerning ourselves? This mystery may be difficult for us to comprehend. Right at the outset I lodge a warning - we will consider written revelations that may disorient our mind. They are revelations of God. If it’s a revelation and we don’t understand it, we mustn’t argue with it, it’s a revelation. Do not become disturbed by the realities of God’s word that we cannot comprehend. Pray the Holy Spirit. The mystery is of the incarnation, God manifest in Christ, His only begotten Son. This is a subject that we need to study and yet it is beyond our understanding to comprehend. Yet, we can fathom this mystery through the subduing of the heart to the Holy Spirit. Christ could have done nothing during His earthly ministry in saving fallen man if the divine had not been blended with the human. The limited capacity of man cannot define this wonderful mystery - the blending of the two natures, the divine and the human. How can we enter into this mystery? Because of Christ we are privileged to be a partaker of the divine nature, and in this way we can to some degree enter into the mystery. We need to study Christ’s life as given in God’s word. Christ died for us, and he is the way that we die to self. Reason this statement to see what is meant - truth is so large, so far- reaching, so deep, so broad, that self is lost sight of. To know thyself, we are to contemplate Jesus Christ. He is the representative specimen that came to know himself just as we are to come to know ourselves. It is a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battles as man, in man’s behalf. His temptation the Pattern and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern; we must become a partaker of the divine nature. Close study must be brought forth that no confusion concerning our partaking is allowed to enter our reasoning with God. Jesus was tried in all points like as we are. Being tried is being enticed. It is a deep and strong desire, but being not conceived neither is sin. This was the experience of Jesus. Was Jesus a man? He was tempted as every man is. This pure wonderful God coming down into human flesh as a babe, as a youth, through to thirty years of age suffering as every man. Temptation is the phase of everyone’s experience. This, the human nature of Christ must endure being actually tempted all through his life. He was, in terrible reality, tempted as we are, and because He successfully resisted temptation under every form, He gave us the perfect example, and through the ample provision Christ has made, we may become partakers of the divine nature. In Christ is how we can know ourself. He was placed on probation, with liberty to yield to Satan’s temptations and work at cross-purposes with God. If this were not so, if it had not been possible for Him to fall, He could not have been tempted in all points as the human family is tempted. For a period of time Christ was on probation. He took humanity on Himself, to stand the test and trial which the first Adam failed to endure. Had He failed in His test and trial, He would have been disobedient to the voice of God, and the world would have been lost. Unless there is a possibility of yielding, temptation is no temptation. Temptation is resisted when man is powerfully influenced to do a wrong action and, knowing that he can do it, resists, by faith, with a firm hold upon divine power. This was the ordeal through which Christ passed. He could not have been tempted in all points as man is tempted, had there been no possibility of His failing. He was a free agent, placed on probation, as was Adam, but not like Adam, and as is every man so too unlike Adam save in the affect and effect of sin. Adam and Eve received their old sin nature by an act of negative volition. We receive our old sin nature by an act of physical birth, the first birth. In His closing hours, while hanging upon the cross, He physical birth experienced to the fullest extent what man must experience when striving against sin. This is the revelation of the mystery by which we may be able to strive against sin and conquer as did Jesus. By looking to Jesus, we can know ourselves in him, and experience that divine nature. This is how we are to comprehend the significance of the word to be like Christ… “to know thyself”. Sin must be made hatefully painful to us. Jesus is that great and good truth to say the image of God is within us. The substance of our soul is the essence of that infinite and eternal Spirit from whence all life, all power, and all things proceed. Because of this truth, the most terrifying words we can hear are “ye of little faith”. We do not believe in an imaginary or man-made God. Because all things are possible with Him, we can know ourselves as did His Son…we can partake of the human and the divine. It is our faith in God that with Him all things are possible that we can, through and by that belief, control ourself to such an extent that we bring ourself to a literal realization of that which we desire…to be like Jesus. To know ourselves is to know that we were born spiritually dead. When man partook of the forbidden tree, his negative volition led to his acquiring a sin forbidden tree nature. So, the original man was created. Everyone else is perpetuated. This is a very important distinction in knowing thyself. Volition is the power of choosing, the power of determining. But we have that gifted of Christ – we have the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. And by Him we are instructed having the mind of Christ. The human spirit with the Word, the Holy Spirit teaches the human spirit. ‘‘The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit.’’ When the Holy Spirit puts the Word into the human spirit, this is when we are hearing and listening to the teaching of the Word. Then we have something on which to use our free will beside what we have in the soul. The thinking in the soul is human viewpoint. But the Word of God is divine viewpoint by which we come to know ourselves by the consciousness of God. Because we were ignorant of self we sinned. But because of this spiritual experience in knowing ourselves we can stop sinning…by volition…by choice. We can now have the thought pattern of grace. Jesus Christ had compassion because He was God in His Deity, which is an extension of His love. In His humanity He had compassion, because He had not a sin nature. He was minus of any mental attitude towards sin and therefore He had the capacity for love. His compassion was an expression of the capacity to love. He was born of the Spirit. Knowing thyself is knowing how to open to God that we may be born of the Spirit. Jesus knew who he was to the extent that rather be made a king, which was contrary to the mind of our Lord Jesus, he departed. Herein he has left us a testimony of sober judgment according to the measure of faith given us. To know ourselves reveals the magnitude of God's presence in our lives as He examines the depth of our hearts. We are to be defined by the word of God. Our self-concept, also called self-construction, our self-identity, our self- perspective or self-structure is an assembling of principles about ourselves. We must know these things that we not deceive ourselves. We are known of God. And by His purpose we are brought to the knowledge of self. We are thus recovered out of the ignorance and bondage under which we before lay. By owing to ourselves this account we are more under the greater obligation to know that all purposes assigned us by God begins with Him. We know Him, because we are known of Him. This is how we come to know ourselves. The knowledge of self will never lead us to the knowledge of God, whereas the knowledge of God will reveal to us what it is that we are to learn about ourselves. We begin to recognize our divine selves being awakened to the truths revealed by God. We no longer define ourselves in terms of our limited human nature as a desecration of the image of God within us. We must learn to identify ourselves with that which is real in the eternal part. We contemplate the part of us made in the image and likeness of God, and claim our born again right. For, as we know thyself as His elect-child, we become empowered by all we have inside. So, we make it our purpose to know ourself. For, within us is hidden the treasure of treasures…the likeness of God. Through this realization, we can confidently and boldly declare with certainty that “I in Christ, and Christ in the Father, are one!” I in Christ 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

We are people of God. We are according to the faith of God’s elect. We are a people who have fully embraced God's revelation of Himself and His will for His people in Christ Jesus. We are the people purposed for the plan of salvation. We are the people who have the knowledge of the truth. We are the people that desire all to become God's vessels of grace and mercy for everyone and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord. We are God’s people, and this is not a hard truth to comprehend. Why? Because we believe that God is, and always has been. That He condescended from the fullness of His spiritualness to step all the way down to humanity to show us Himself in the form that He created us. He came in His Son’s generation, who was always with Him in eternity, that we may be a chosen generation, peculiarly called from the sureness of the darkness of death to the certainty of the light of life. Now please understand the depth of this identification as we consider something of even greater height – you ready? It was even before the Son of God was sent for us that God the Father had, according to His foreknowledge, His pre-arrangement, His predestination, that namely us, would love Him, whom he foreknew, and what would follow is our being found to be fit to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. God termed us the “elect”. That's a very controversial subject. What goes into that elect is a faith, a wisdom, such a knowledge of the word of God that problems within the people in whom the love of God is not yet, or may never be perfected, results in divisiveness. God does not think like man. God is finite in no meaning of the word. God is necessary, and our God is the first cause in all things. But He is not all things. He cannot be sin. He cannot be evil. He cannot be absent. And God is not bound. And this is why we who are people of God have free choice to come to know the pursuit of reason with God and to come to the truth of understanding that which appears controversial to the human mind. This shows there is coextensive in the will of God - His order to determine who's elect and His omniscient knowledge of our free choice, they run together. This is that great power given us at creation. There's not one more powerful in the way God does things over the other. God's sovereignty does not outreach our free choice as it affects us. But eternity exists within God, and that means that God can look into the eternities future, the times past, and the thoughts and motives of the heart as present with Him. We experience present consequences based upon past decisions, choices, but have no sight into the next moment...except by faith. That is why we are chosen...our faith. Faith is that given by God to allow us to glimpse in part into what He already knows. We are held responsible for our choices. God knows what choices everyone will make. Our choice of accepting the Lord or rejecting the Lord, that is determining our eternal destination. God has always projected Himself before all men that He exists. As we know in reasoning with the word, God has always shared that He is there. And if man would reach out and pursue that light, God will give more light until eventually it accumulates to that gospel that brings that person to the knowledge and understanding of his or her lost condition and his or her need for Christ. It's not a case of if we see God or not, the bible tells us all man sees God, but the bible also tells us it's man's choice to accept or to reject Him. We are responsible for our decision to accept or reject the Lord. But at the same time, God has in His foreknowledge accepted us according to the choice, obviously that we've made to accept or reject Him too. So as a people we either choose God or we suppress the truth and walk away from Him. Choosing God makes us others. We must be always mindful of ourselves of who He's called us to be in Him. We can begin to see our point of recognition in events when God called a man to leave his own country, his very kindred, his father’s house to include a man chosen to lead a people into a wilderness. We are to be the “on earth” living example of what a people are like when they follow God’s way. And now we know there is that people beyond the elect; there is the election. The election is not a people of nationality. We are a people of nature having commonality in Jesus Christ – set apart for his services - under one head agreeing in the same manners and customs and governed by the same laws. We are a holy nation because we are consecrated and devoted to God reborn and sanctified by His holy spirit...peculiar. We are inspirationally different. We are a people that should be separate, not because we are self- righteous or think we deserve eternal life, but because following God’s teachings causes us to be different from those who do not follow them. If this is our faith, our greatest separation must be from the sinful conduct of the world. God does have a people favored. We embrace every word of God and we have a singular faith that is objective and is exclusively based on Jesus. Because of Christ, we have the living hope that every promise of God will come to pass and so we live with eager anticipation and confident expectation of the fulfillment of every word of God. We abide in undeserved grace sufficient for every occasion. And we who know something of God’s grace as believers, appropriately seek to “see” God’s grace at work in others. This does not mean that we compromise with sin, but it does mean we reflect the character of Christ in dealing with those we witness to by sharing the truth. God is composing His people to convey the truth that the new heaven and the new earth will include all peoples, tongues, kindreds, nations – diversities of one mind. This challenges us to take seriously our own practices, programs, prejudices, and preferences. We are a people who come to all with justness and grace. We build relationships for heaven. We come to know our sisters and brothers now who will be in the family of God. God’s people are dependent. We continually trust God with every part of our lives. We acknowledge that He has all the power, and we trust Him to work according to His will. This is the revelation of our faith no matter our circumstances. And it is by our circumstances that our faith increases. We thrive in the creation of God. Creation gives us the example that can be followed by those who believe in Jesus because His people can trust in the Creator and Sustainer of all things. We thrive spiritually because we are following His command to keep the Sabbath holy in obedience to Him. Once we were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Because we have this mercy, we have this distinctiveness from Christ as a family related by blood. Read these texts; Ephesians 3:14, 15; Hebrews 2:17; Colossians 1:20; Colossians 1:2; and Ephesians 2:13. The people of God are truly blood kith and kin. We share the same Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its name. We share the same elder brother, Christ, whose blood shed on the cross has reconciled us to the heavenly Father. And we share a union with our spiritual others, brothers and sisters in Christ, who are reconciled to each other by the same blood of the cross. We are the peopled family that forms the centerpiece of God’s work in creation. We are that fruit multiplied. From the beginning God formulated His agenda in terms of a family. We are the people serving as the purpose of God’s intent that our faith would be indeed the perfection and completion of the former. We are to be the substance of that grace of faith that the faithful hoped for, and the evidence of the eye of the mind that the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by the eye of the body are the firm assent of the soul to the divine revelation, as set to its seal that God is true. Under the sovereign decree of an all-wise God, the family is the vehicle by which His triune likeness will be disseminated to the entire universe made new. We are the family of God in Christ. Divine image is not a speculation. We see perfectly in Christ the image and the glory of God. It is by this example of Christ whereby we divinely understand the must need death of self. From the unspeakable riches of equality with God to the most impoverished death in antiquity, from heights unsearchable to depths unimaginable, from one polar extreme to another, this is the measure of the self-emptying death of Christ. It is history’s most perfect expression of sacrificial love. It is also the clearest revelation of what it means to manifest the image of God. In Jesus we see the likeness of the heavenly Father. On the cross we behold a picture of what God is like, and hence of what families created in his image are meant to be like. It is a picture of infinite love. God the Son emptied himself, to humble himself, to take on the form of a slave, and to submit to a slave’s death. This portrait is harmonical with what we know of Christ and God. The Godhead is other- oriented. Each Person is plurality-in-unity. As the people of God, bearing His image, we must be found capable of this kind of love. Prepared to lay out ourselves with all possible concern for another to convert them from the error of their way to save a soul from death. We are others who strive for the salvation of the whole man. Though our sins may be still, they will be pardoned, our service of conversion will prevent a multitude of sins not just in the others to whom we are sent, but many also may be prevented in others that they may have an influence upon. We are a people who examine ourselves. Our concern for sinners must be stronger than our condemnation of sin. God abominates sin. It represents a personal affront. It diminishes his glory in the world and effaces the radiance of men and women created in his image. But God is love. He elects out of the multitude a chosen people to give glory to His image. Noah, Abraham, but God has a last time people called to fidelity to His covenant and the manifestation of His character throughout the world. Still to come, the ultimate unveiling of God’s Israel. From time immemorial it was God’s intention to carve out a new family whose hearts would be purged of the defect of sin and filled with the law of love, an impulse empowered by the indwelling Spirit of God himself. Creation eagerly awaits the emergence of this family! Isaiah prophesied of this Israel as the servant of the Lord. Isaiah 42:6; 49:6 We are to be the arrival of the indwelling presence of God signaled by the prophets, the glory of God’s image inscribed on human hearts, the displacement of sin by the internal law of love. Christ, whose own self- emptying death on the cross represented the expression of divine love, now comes to reside in us. It is absolutely essential to acknowledge that the indwelling love of Christ is bestowed within a plurality of human hearts. This is not to suggest that Christ does not indwell hearts individually. He most certainly does, but not hearts isolated from other hearts. Ultimately, it is a family of hearts that Christ comes to indwell. By vanquishing our sin in these two respects - paying sin’s penalty and purging sin’s power - Christ fits us for the family of God. Costly to him and priceless to us is our induction into the body of Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, single human beings, individuals can be saved from the wrath of God and assured seats in a heavenly eternity. While this reality is not to be diminished in any way but rather prized with full-throated praise, we do not view God’s work through the individualistic lens of our day. The Godhead is spiritual unity. And by one spirit are we all baptized into one body. And above all, within the people of God purposed by election in and by Christ, the larger dimensions of God’s plans for creation receive breathtaking definition. God is wholly other. Completely different than all other things. The essential of all holiness. We must relate to him by his self-revelation in the person of Christ Jesus, and through the bible. The angels cry holy, holy, holy. In Christ there is none other. How do we identify with none other name? God elected Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. When an individual is elected, it means his descendants are also elected. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought he them out of it. God has declared His as “mine elect”. This is very important to understand the “others” of God. In the same sense, God has chosen Jesus Christ, His elect, the seed of Abraham, so that the people who have relation with Him, who belong to Him, also become the elect or chosen “people of God”. Jesus Christ being God’s chosen one has fulfilled God’s choice of Abraham. Jesus is the fulfillment of the true Israel. But we must remember this truth – they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Though God can call a person, if that person is not faithful to God his or her calling can be abrogated. The purpose of God’s calling is for service, not for salvation. The one called has a choice. The calling and election must be made sure. In Christ unity transcends all other human unity and it binds God’s people together. The people of God are those chosen by him to fulfill his purpose, and this sense of being called and chosen brings a strong sense of solidarity to us. We cannot be defined apart from Christ who is the source of our life. The term “people of God” makes a definite claim that faithful believers all, regardless are the true Israel of God. There is a biblical theme of the people of God concerning the continuity that God’s people will be made up of all mankind. God gives exceptional attention to His people throughout biblical history. Israel was to demonstrate unswerving, exclusive loyalty to the Lord. Second, Israel was to remember that she had been chosen for a special relationship without any merit of her own. Third, Israel, as the people of God, was to remember her past life of slavery and use this to promote a proper worship of God. Fourth, Israel was not to repeat the social oppression that she experienced in Egypt, but rather establish a familial cooperative spirit based upon justice and righteousness. We learn how the fracturing of Israel into two peoples was not just a rejection of God but an opportunity for the world to begin to impose error to bring about disregard for the truth of God. During the period of Israel’s decline we are introduced to an important dimension in our understanding of the people of God. The people of God are not simply those of physical Israel; or even the majority of Israel. The true or real people of God are the few, the “remnant”, the children of Israel who live for God in faithfulness to his covenant. Remnant thought attributes to God His involvement in the world, acknowledging His transcendence and immanence, bringing together the themes of judgment and salvation. At its heart, however, lay the conviction that even when Israel or Judah were at their worst, there was always a small group of faithful believers who held on to true religion. The people as a whole might have failed spectacularly, but there were still some who could provide a bridge to forgiveness and restoration. It was these people, the true people of God, the “others” as it were, in whom God would work his resolution for the end of history and the vindication of God’s justice. The faithful ones are described as “the people that know their God”. At this last time, another element is added to the dimension of the people of God. God’s people in our day would not only be from among the elect, we will be the remnant of the elect. God’s people would be a new people unlike any generation called to purpose. God’s plan for Israel would not rest alone in the humanity of the faithful remnant, but in God’s action to inaugurate a new people whose ascent is unto God. We will be purified, illumined, and perfected in the likeness of Christ. Spiritual senses will mirror the divine image of the heavenly Jerusalem. Flooded with all these intellectual lights, our mind turns into a house of God that is inhabited by the divine Wisdom. Our mind, then, becomes a son, a daughter, a bride, and a friend of God. It becomes a coheir of Christ. It also becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is founded on faith, raised through hope, and dedicated to God through holiness of mind and body. It is the most sincere love of Christ that brings this about, a love which is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us. Now God can be contemplated, not only outside ourselves and inside ourselves, but also above ourselves: outside ourselves through his vestiges; inside ourselves through his image; and above ourselves by means of the light that is positioned above our mind. This is the light of the eternal truth itself, since our mind itself is shaped immediately by truth itself. “He Who Is” is our unity. And we will be in the last time constantly under the gaze of this purest Being who is supremely One. Our God will be most present. The fracture and division within relational units is this world’s most besetting darkness. A striking unity pervades the family of God. We are others not of the world but called to shine radiantly, transforming the surroundings as beacons of light. Our oneness with others is to develop a common bond in Christ in a faith relationship. The last time people of God are considered as the remnant people of God. These profess exceptional allegiance to God and His kingdom, even in the face of the dragon’s beast and its image’s deception and oppression. The “people of God” are not ethnically defined: they come from “every nation, tribe, people and language.” The people are elected “in Christ” to be a holy “people of God.” We are called for the service of God in order to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the Lord and to herald the dire warnings for the soon coming of Christ. We are a mixed society comprising the called of God. Thus, faith in Christ and sincerity to biblical truth are the hallmarks of the “people of God.” God’s election of the chosen is based upon his grace, the election of grace, because they respond to the gospel call in obedient faith that is absolutely necessary. As the people of God, we are others and we need to live lives that are separate from sin. We must not forget to remain a separate and distinct people of God. We must not have fellowship with the sinful practices of the world around us. We must come out and away from sin and live holy lives in the fear of God. Let us continue to preach and teach against sin and worldliness and encourage our families to live pure and holy lives. Now let us come to the point of why we are others. There is an agenda that God has for His last time people. Why is it that we have not ceased to sin? Why hasn’t our message been effectual when it comes to being God’s witnesses in the world? Have we chosen our own agenda, rather than following God’s? We think that what God wants is more people in the church, and that his goal is to build up the church with ever greater numbers in the last day. Could it be that we are not understanding the communal calling and the communal task. Is God’s goal about numbers or at most is that a by-product of God’s work in the world? It is important to have a strong and vibrant church for the assembling of those who want truth, but if we set out to achieve that with numbers, then we will not reach that goal, for that is not the goal that God has set before us. Remember the scripture - for it is written, rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Let us understand the present case in reading II Timothy 3. The strength of delusion will approach the very elect. Few will find the strait gate. Many who tasted the good word and been enlightened will fall away. The election purposed by God will stand. What then is the goal of God’s people? T o be the people of faith who display the love of God in the life for the world to see. And the LORD said unto Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. Acknowledging God’s sovereign rule in our lives and obeying him in everything that we do will not show in numbers. The whole of our faith is in Christ. There are to be 144000 who are the revelation of God, showing in relationship of love and obedience, truth and faith, the full stature of Jesus. These will show the individual commitment through the communal tasks of God’s people rooted to Christ to be members of his body. As others than the world we will reveal that God is not distant and impersonal; we reveal a God who is relational. Relational in that God calls us His sons, His daughters, His friends. We are others as individuals, but never alone. We are different and diverse people who have various gifts from God. We eschew superficial, hypocritical, harsh, unforgiving, and self-righteous judgment. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit we discernably speak the truth in love while prayerfully and gently confronting erring brothers or sisters in Christ. God’s people hold a special bond with each other and whose relationships are filled with temperateness and regard. God created us with a need for community and a desire for connection. God is gathering a people who walk beside each other in life, helping to strengthen and encourage one another. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. We counsel one another even as somethings are hard sayings. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe with compassion, kindness, humbleness, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of us have a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgives us. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds us all together in perfect unity. We can have this experience of friendship because of Jesus. Love in the last time will not be comfortable. But it is the primary way we show others that we belong to Jesus Christ. We must keep focus on the revelation of Jesus Christ. This uncertain world is descending into chaos. Many will lose their witness. No sacrifice of truth is to be made. Conflict will bring pain to close relationships. Our comfort comes not in explaining God’s purposes but in trusting them. We have this consolation – the final judgment is near. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

one purpose God is eternal...in existence, in purpose. Three entitied Persons, having clearly three unique identities acting in an inclusive way as one having the very same objective of conceptual reality. The three persons are distinct in their personal relationships with each other, but they are the same in substance, equal in power and glory, and have all that makes God who he is. The word "person" is used to describe the three persons because it's one of the only ways to describe this concept in language, but it doesn't mean that the persons are human beings. Instead, each person has intellect, emotion, and volition, and had a unique role in creation and salvation. God presents Himself to His people as one God. The people of God know Him and believe in Him as one God with one Name. We are a baptized people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Such a truth shows us that within God Himself there is both a unity between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one name and a distinct three persons. The wonder of this mystery: the Father is not the Son and not the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father and not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father and is not the Son. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit is God. No priority is due to one, no neglect is due to either. God cannot be divided. God, who is spirit, determined to physically come to earth in the form of humanity to put mankind in the right relation with Him. This done because of sin. The presentation of Jesus as Son of God, complemented by the promise of the Holy Spirit, gave rise to the singular purpose for redeeming mankind from our fallen condition that we may be partakers of the plan of salvation. We see not the plurality, but the harmoniousness of purpose in the counsel, in the creation, in the plans of both redemption and salvation. We hear “in the beginning God” and “let us make” regarding the expression in a singularity of deliberation, in fact referring only to One God. In all our discussions, the bible is to be the authority. It shows us that the central theme of all that is determined providentially in the council of peace is Jesus Christ the God-man. He is the fullness of divinity and humanity of the same substance, having the one essence with the Father and being consubstantial with the Holy Spirit. The Council decreed that Jesus, the Word, and Son of God, has been eternally ‘begotten’ from the Father to be worshipped and together glorified. He was incarnate, made flesh, of the specific Mary and became human. Herein is the mystery of godliness. In Jesus Christ there are two energies and two wills corresponding to his two natures. The purpose of this conciliar teaching protects the doctrine of the fullness and completeness of both Jesus’ humanity and Divinity. The God of the bible is a God of purpose. And not just general purposes but specific ones. And His purposes extend from eternity past to eternity future, encompassing not only the ultimate destiny of His creation, but our personal lives. In Christ the purpose for His creation is fulfilled. God Himself assures us of this: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’. But God is so much more than simple purpose. He is sovereign in His call to Abraham as a gentile to become the father of His people. And establishing us as descendants by faith as His Israel. And delivering us into the propheticness of His story to bring to a people the perfection of being by faith as is His Son. The story ends with the consummation, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth, and once all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. This is God’s ultimate purpose - to bring about a new heaven and new earth. God’s grand purpose for the world to come, then, is in the process of coming into being in the present through the redeeming and restoring work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, and by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, God is at work preparing a people to populate His new world. His purpose is to conform them to the image of Christ. This means that God’s purpose for each one of us is to be transformed in our character, such that we more fully reflect the character of our God and increasingly live a life of love and faith. This involves every area of our personal and moral life to include our family and others. God has a determinate character. He has purpose and performs particular events. He does one thing and not another. God's sovereignty and purpose, particularly in light of events that seem unequal, random, or unjust. It stems from the observation that God acts in specific ways in certain situations but not in others, such as healing some people while others suffer, or saving some individuals but not all. Therefore, the various actions we perceive God taking are not separate or distinct acts in God Himself, but different manifestations of His one, simple, perfect nature. A human might act wisely in one moment and mercifully in another. In God, however, wisdom and mercy are not separate attributes; they are one and the same as His very being. His essence is identical in all His attributes. God does not have goodness…He is goodness. He doesn’t have existence…He is existence. All He does from creation to salvation is one single, eternal divine act. Light is a single source, yet as it fractures it results in many colors distinct one from another. From God’s oneness we see such things as justice, wrath, mercy. God wants us to discover His will. The assurance that in Christ we are in the center of God’s purposes brings lasting stability to our experience. This is why we study the word...God’s will is made known to us. The word shows how God’s will is shaped by His ultimate purpose for us. We are to give every word careful thought with patience and a right attitude to God. The word of God gives us fundamental principles to guide us in every situation. God is good. Such a like purpose exists between God the Father and God the Son that their declarations of divinity and humanity are the same. The Father said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. The Son said before Abraham was, I am. They both refer to their eternality and existence. According to this truth and this Word of God, we believe in one only God, who is one single essence, in which are three Persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct, according to their incommunicable properties; namely, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost...these Persons thus distinguished are not divided nor intermixed; for the Father had not assumed the flesh, but had the Holy Spirit as Melchisedec, and the Son only. The Father had never been without His Son, or without His Holy Spirit. For they are all three co-eternal and co-essential. There is neither first nor last; for they are all three one, in truth, in power, in goodness, in mercy, and in love. We hear of the same purpose in the Father and the Son expressed in such an intimacy of relationship in the very words of Jesus...all things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. God presented Himself in Jesus as the Son of God. It is a mystery. The truth that God does not change is to be understood on a spiritual founding. God is speaking to His covenant. God was pleased to renew His covenant with man in such a way as that His unity might be believed in, after a new manner, through the Son and the Spirit, in order that God might now be known openly, in His proper names and Persons, who in ancient times was not plainly understood, though declared through the Son and the Spirit. Does the mystery of God’s omnipresence indicate change? Omnipresence is an attribute belonging to God alone, traditionally described as his quality of being present in all places everywhere at all times any time, with the implication that he is not bound by time or space, galaxies or dimensions. God is boundless, infinite. And by His word He attributes all to Jesus. And he has fitted and arranged all things by his wisdom, while he contains all things, but he himself can be contained by no one: he is the former, he is the builder, he is the creator, he is the Lord of all; and there is no one besides him or above him. That both God’s omnipresence and transcendence are depicted in his incarnation through Christ. While God revealed himself to us through Christ, he did not lose anything of his Divinity. As we now worship Him ‘in the Spirit and in truth’ anywhere we want to worship Him makes God ‘more omnipresent’ in the Holy Spirit and in the truth of Jesus. God can be the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and even the angel of God. Read Genesis 31:11-13. How so wonderful is the mystery of the purpose of God the Father and God the Son. He can hang on the cross as God the Son and cry out to God the Father, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani’, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Read Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 40, verse 28 and Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. A purposeful creator? The ways in which God shows His oneness of purpose and compassion with humankind. The one purpose - to glorify God. The Father: determined creation, redemption, and consummation, and is supreme in authority. The Son: responsible for creation, the mediator, and the Father's image. The Holy Spirit: brings the works of God to completion, and is the bond of love between the Father and Son. God is a purposeful being...everything He does is for a purpose. History itself has a purpose...and God is working things out for that purpose. This is one of the most encouraging things about the doctrine of God’s sovereignty...seemingly random events are not random at all; everything is being worked out according to God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, God’s purpose in all of this is in some way defined and accomplished by election. God has a purpose, and that purpose is a sure and certain one. God’s purpose rules over the entire process of salvation. God’s purpose stands over His foreknowledge of people, His predestination of the people He foreknew to be conformed to the image of His Son...His calling of us by the gospel, His justification of us by faith, His future glorification of us. Again, the purpose of God the Father and Jesus is one...the bible says God has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. The purpose is now being revealed. We see that God’s purpose is totally centered in the person of Christ...grace given us IN CHRIST; Christ was and is the center of God’s purpose. We see an absolute harmony between purpose and grace...God’s purpose is a gracious purpose, or a purpose to give us grace in Christ. God’s call to us in Christ Jesus is part of this purpose. God’s purpose is so big, it even includes predestination! Our predestination itself was done for this purpose. God’s purpose is a “free and sovereign” purpose, in which He does everything after the counsel of His own will...it is not governed by anything outside of Himself. Unconditional election makes God’s purpose stand. Unconditional election ALONE makes God’s purpose stand. In salvation God desires His own glory above all things. In salvation, God also desires that all His elect most certainly be saved, that none of them be lost. Only election can accomplish these purposes, which are really one purpose ultimately. God’s glory is most clearly displayed in one way: that all of the elect might be fully and finally saved, that not one of us would be lost, and that we would stand and proclaim forever that we are saved for the praise of HIS GLORY . The decisive influence of all that happens in the world is God’s. He works all things after the counsel of His own will. He alone has the freedom of ultimate self-determination. In a word, God, looking on all ages, from the creation to the consummation, as a moment, and seeing at once whatever is in the hearts of all the children of men, knows everyone that does or does not believe, in every age and nation. Yet what God knows, whether faith or unbelief, is in nowise caused by His knowledge. Men are as free in believing or not believing as if God did not know it at all. Let’s pause in this truth concerning the one and same purpose of God and of Christ. Please reason this statement in the truth of the reality of the measure of faith given us by God. But before penning the statement I ask that you read and hear the following truths... Romans 3:22 Galatians 2:16 Galatians 3:22 Revelation 14:12 Now see by what it is that God’s people live... Galatians 2:20 Not our faith, but that which is of Jesus Christ, God Himself. God’s electing purpose will stand because our election was based on nothing outside of God Himself. It is not based on foreseen works, neither is it based on foreseen faith, nor anything God foresees in us at all. Rather, it is based totally on Himself. Election accomplishes this purpose of God because it thwarts all human boasting. Justification is conditional on faith, but election is not. Our faith in Christ is a condition for justification. But our faith is not a condition for election...God wasn’t looking in us at all when He chose us…He was looking in Himself. The “call” dear friends is that powerful call by which God creates what He calls. Do not imagine any sinner is beyond the pale of God’s unconditional election...unconditional election was designed to amaze and awe the world at who is included!! So God in Christ sees His people as we will be when Jesus comes. God sees us whole, sees us as we will be in His love eternally, sees us through the mediating eyes of Jesus. God sees us in Himself. God sees us through the eyes of love made flesh in Jesus Christ. This one same purpose with God and Jesus intends for us to be like Christ. Truly faithful people are precious in God's sight; we are His peculiar treasure; His delight is in us, above any people. We are His vineyard. And this makes God's people truly honorable; for we are really what we are in God's eye. By faith in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, as we trust in Jesus, we are part of His holy, chosen people. The object of our faith is God and His promises. Each of us is born for purpose, but it is God’s purpose. Remembering that it is not our faith, but the faith credited to us as righteousness. And by whose righteousness is why faith is the way God has chosen for us to get right with him. And God chose faith as the way to justification because faith accords with grace and grace is the free and sovereign work of God that makes the promise certain. God means to justify us by faith because it gives us strong assurance. God's free and sovereign grace is what guarantees the promise of salvation and makes it sure. And faith is the one condition of the heart that accords with grace in justification. Faith says yes to grace and is glad that God will save us that way and rests in that wonderful work of grace. So the purpose is expressed in the faith of Jesus as the way that we get right with God - the way to be justified - he wanted to base the whole thing on his almighty, all-glorious grace, so that our boasting would be excluded and his glory would be exalted and our salvation would be certain. Our pride is put down. God's glory is lifted up. And salvation is made sure. Therefore, rejoice that our justification is by grace through faith. Brothers, sisters, justification is not a process. It is a verdict. It is a singular act of counting us righteous and acceptable to God on the basis of the righteousness of another, namely and specifically, Jesus Christ. It is this kind of faith that God designs by His grace that will persevere. All subsequent faith dear friends is like an oak tree contained in the acorn. God, in the act of justification, which is imparted to us in our first believing, has respect to perseverance, as being virtually contained in that first act of faith; and persevering in faith is looked upon as being as it were a property of that first act of faith. God has respect to our continuance in faith, and He is glorified by that, as though it already were by divine establishment. God's purpose is to conform us to the image of Jesus, or to become like Jesus. The word states that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son, and that Christlikeness is God's eternal purpose. It means that full and steadfast justification is given to us through one simple act of faith; and assurance of eternal life is possible from that very beginning. And the work of Christ in whom we have our righteousness is a complete and perfect work. It does not get better with time. And we are united to Christ at once, through our first faith, not progressively. So, we ask reasonably...what is meant by from faith to faith? It means that God declares us to be righteous in His eyes because of our faith, from beginning to end living in a way that generates more faith in God and His promises. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Righteousness is thus a complete and total work of God. It is a right standing before God that has nothing to do with human accomplishment or worth. It is received by faith. There is nothing we can do to deserve or earn it. From the faith of God, who makes the offer of salvation, to the faith of Jesus, by whom we receive it. Salvation comes from God’s faithfulness to our faith. That salvation is accomplished through God’s faithfulness, which comes first, and our faith in response to that as a progressive, growing development of faith from one degree of faith to another akin to the ever-increasing glory of transformation. From day one of our journey of faith until the very last day, we, the righteous, must live by faith. We must trust God “from start to finish” and rely on His mighty power - the power of the gospel - to change our lives and the lives of those we encounter. Purpose!! We receive a faith that answers to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. That is also faithfulness to the call of God. God’s own faithfulness is in view with our justification which progresses into our faith. The faith of God is prior to all. It is the fundamental faithfulness that undergirds the covenant and creation itself and is paired with God’s steadfast love. The revelation of God’s righteousness is not just personal but cosmic. The word equates God’s righteousness with His salvation, which will act for the whole world. This all points toward Christ. We see this beautiful progression from God’s faith to Jesus’ faith, which leads to our faith and confidence in their faithful work. The mediating faith of Jesus stands between the faith of God and the responding faith of man, reinforcing the centrality of Jesus Christ in God’s saving and reconciling work of love. Jesus is not only the “author and finisher” of our faith but also the author and finisher of faith itself. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ reveals, on one hand, God’s faithfulness toward man. On the other hand, he as representative man reveals the faithful response of humanity toward God. And here is where our faith is born: in Him! We see the far-reaching of the one purpose - it is by faith from first to last, because faith is a word that binds God and man together through Christ in covenant relationship. In light of this, our own efforts and works are truly of no avail at all, for if we are not “of faith,” we are apart from God and Christ. But when we are “of faith,” then we are united in them and participate with them in the faith that defines them, and us. This is how and why God looks within Himself... because before there was our faith, there was His faith, the faith of God that was embodied in our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is their faith, the faithfulness of the Father and Son, that we are to think about most these days. For their faith is what makes our faith possible. This is the message of the everlasting gospel. God Himself will make sure of our perseverance in faith - not perfection in faith, but perseverance, persistence. How can we know this? Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. That last clause is crucial. It says that those whom God has justified, he most certainly will glorify. It's as good as done. That is, he will certainly bring us into everlasting life and glory with himself in the end. Now if that is true - if God will certainly and eternally save those who have been justified - and if our justification comes through faith which perseveres, then God will see to it that we certainly persevere in faith. This is a very precious truth: that God Himself is committed to keeping his people and not letting them forsake him utterly. We may stray for a season. But he will bring us back. Clouds may gather and faith may falter, but those who are justified will not stumble so as to fall utterly. We will persevere in faith. Our hope for glorification is not in our own willpower to believe. It is in God's faithfulness that he who began a good work in us will complete it unto the day of Christ. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

Micheal stands, Jesus Shouts The Bible’s use of names and titles for the Son of God is never casual. Each name reveals a dimension of His work in the great plan of redemption. When He is called Jesus, He is the Savior. When He is called the Son of Man, He is the Judge. When He is called the Word of God, He is the Revealer. But when He is called Michael, He is the Commander of heaven’s armies—the Warrior who contends for His people. At the Second Coming, all these identities converge, but it is His identity as Michael that Scripture highlights at the resurrection, for in that moment He comes not as a suffering Lamb but as the conquering Prince. The return of the Lord is one of the most profound and climactic themes in all of Scripture. Yet the Bible presents this singular event from two complementary perspectives - the day is both harvest and threshing, gathering and trampling, embrace and exposure. The final crisis of earth’s history is not merely a clash of nations or ideologies, but the great climax of the ages—the war between Michael, the Prince of heaven, and the rebellious powers of darkness. In this closing conflict, the attitudes of the wicked and the righteous will stand in sharpest contrast. Each group will reveal, through their thoughts, words, and dispositions, the master they have chosen and the destiny they have embraced. On the one hand, the Lord is revealed as Michael, the Warrior Prince who makes war with the living wicked and destroys the powers of rebellion. “Michael” means “Who is like God?”—a name that functions as both confession and challenge. In Daniel, Michael is “one of the chief princes” and “the great prince who stands for the children of your people”. He contends with principalities, stands up at the time of unparalleled trouble, and is intimately connected with the deliverance of His people and the first resurrection. That essential line: “At that time Michael shall stand up … and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was … and at that time your people shall be delivered.” Michael’s “standing up” signals the transition from heavenly intercession to royal enforcement. It is the signal that heavenly jurisdiction has moved to executive action. Intercession issues in intervention; the Advocate who pleaded now appears as the Judge who delivers. It is the moment when the verdict in the heavenly court of Daniel chapter 7 becomes the event in history: protection of the sealed, exposure of the unrepentant, and the opening of the graves. Jude 9 remembers Michael’s authoritative confrontation with the adversary. Revelation 12 shows Michael warring against the dragon, casting him down and securing heaven’s victory song. The wicked, preparing to war with Michael, will be characterized by arrogance, defiance, and delusion. Having rejected the pleadings of grace and resisted the drawing of the Spirit, they will be utterly hardened against God. Revelation describes them as gathering under the leadership of “the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet” to make war against Him who rides upon the white horse (Revelation 16:13–14; 19:19). Their attitude will not be one of sober calculation, but of blind rage fueled by deception. They will believe themselves invincible, even as their kingdoms totter and their resources fail. Like Pharaoh chasing Israel into the sea, they will rush forward under a spell of false confidence, unable to perceive that they are running into their own destruction. Hatred for the truth and bitterness toward God’s faithful people will consume them, driving them to unite in a last desperate assault upon the throne of Christ. Their preparation for battle will be filled with the spirit of defiance, curses against heaven, and a confidence born not of reality but of satanic lies. These texts portray more than a creaturely angel; they unveil the Prince who embodies the authority of God, answers the question of His likeness, and executes His judicial warfare. On the other, He is revealed as Jesus, the Redeemer and Bridegroom, who raises the righteous dead, transforms the righteous living, and gathers them all into His eternal kingdom. The righteous preparing for the coming of Jesus will be marked by humility, patience, and holy expectation. Their hearts, having been purified through trial, will beat in quiet harmony with the will of God. Unlike the wicked, who draw courage from numbers and weapons, the righteous will find strength in communion with their Lord. Their preparation will not be a frenzied mustering of armies, but a sanctifying of spirit. They will watch and pray, not in terror but in faith, trusting in the promise that “our God shall come, and shall not keep silence” - Psalm 50:3. While the wicked curse, the righteous sing; while the world plots revenge, the saints lift up their heads, knowing that their redemption draws near. Their attitude will be one of childlike expectancy, longing for the face of the Bridegroom, eager for the consummation of the covenant they have held by faith. The Lord descends “with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God.” The Lord descends—not to touch the earth and set up a worldly throne, but to summon His saints to Himself. The shout is the royal command; the archangelic voice is the authoritative summons that pierces the graves; the trumpet is God’s broadcast signal of assembly and victory announcing that the age has turned. The voice of the archangel is the voice of Jesus Himself, but framed in the language of battle and conquest. The three belong together in one person’s appearing: the Lord Jesus. The bible suggests identity, not mere accompaniment: the very voice that commands resurrection is the voice of the archangelic Prince—Michael—wielded by the Lord Himself. The titles differ; the person does not. The word declares his omniscient sovereignty. His being the “name written, that no man knew” signals the inexhaustible depth of the Son’s divine identity. Order and togetherness guard the church from fear and envy: the dead are not disadvantaged; the living are not isolated; the Lord gathers all in one embrace. The trumpet summons like a long-awaited song. The sleeping saints stir; the earth releases what it could not keep. Mothers meet sons, husbands meet wives, friends greet friends—yet every reunion is gathered around the One whose scars still speak. The living feel corruption flee their bones; weakness leaves like a shadow at noon. Together, like a single bride, the church rises to meet her Lord. No fear, no dusk—only the King, the Lamb, the Word who kept His word. These two scenes do not contradict one another but display the fullness of the Parousia—the appearing of the Lord—where judgment and salvation occur simultaneously. These functions transcend those of a created angel and point to divine prerogatives. Jesus, the incarnate Word and Lord of glory, is likewise described as Judge, Warrior, and Deliverer. It is crucial to note that both groups will be moved by a sense of inevitability. The wicked will prepare for war because they can do nothing else; the bent of their nature, corrupted and sealed in rebellion, leaves them incapable of repentance. Likewise, the righteous will prepare for Christ’s appearing because their lives have been fully surrendered; the Spirit within them cannot but long for the coming of the Lord. Thus, in the end, the distinction between the two groups is absolute—one marked by rage against heaven, the other by peace with God. One girds itself with weapons of earth, the other with robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. The contrast is not only theological, but deeply moral and emotional. For the wicked, preparation means hardening—more hatred, more deception, more violence. For the righteous, preparation means softening—more love, more surrender, more purity. As the wicked are animated by fear and wrath, the righteous are animated by hope and joy. As the wicked prepare for a battle they cannot win, the righteous prepare for a victory already secured at the cross. Thus, when Christ appears, the wicked will cry to the rocks and mountains for covering, while the righteous will cry with joy, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us” (Isaiah 25:9). In the final analysis, the attitudes of the wicked and the righteous in the last preparation reveal the deepest truth of all: every soul becomes like the master it serves. Those who resist Michael will bear the fury of the dragon; those who wait for Jesus will shine with the meekness of the Lamb. The great separation will be complete, and the attitudes of both camps will bear witness before the universe to the justice and mercy of God. The first scene presents the return of the Lord as Michael the Warrior. In Revelation, heaven opens and the Faithful and True appears, called “The Word of God.” He rides a white horse, His eyes are flames of fire, upon His head are many crowns and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. Not the blood of defeat, but the blood of costly victory. He treads the winepress—showing that His triumph carries the weight of His own sacrifice. Armies of heaven follow Him, also mounted on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. From His mouth goes a sharp sword with which He strikes the nations. The beast and the kings of the earth gather to oppose Him. Human power reaches its hubris: to marshal history’s might against God’s Lamb. But they are powerless before the majesty of His appearing. II Thessalonians echoes this vision: the lawless one and the wicked are consumed by the rod of his mouth and the breath of His lips. An echo of creation and prophecy: the Spirit-breath that gave life now executes judgment. And destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Glory unmediated. The very appearing is lethal to entrenched rebellion. The Lord’s presence is paradise for the pure and perdition for the impenitent. The imagery demonstrates that His war is not fought with earthly weapons but with the truth of His Word and the unveiled radiance of His presence. The gathered kings are the apex of rebellion. The Rider overcomes not by numbers but by nature because of who He is: He is King of kings. The beast’s coalition collapses; the false prophet is exposed; the Word stands. The wicked are slain not by steel but by light. This war is not a chaotic melee of creaturely steel against steel. It is the decisive judicial warfare of the Word. The sword proceeds from the Rider’s mouth: His verdict exposes, His proclamation deposes, His light annihilates the resistance of darkness. The war is waged by the Word. He judges and makes war “in righteousness,” not by brute force but by the potency of divine truth. The brightness of His appearing is itself judgment against those who loved the lie. The winepress imagery emphasizes that this is God’s own day of vengeance, the settling of the covenant lawsuit against stubborn impenitence. On one side stand the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth with their armies—the whole apparatus of human and demonic rebellion. On the other stands the Lamb, called Michael in His militant office, attended by the armies of heaven. The gathered opposition presumes to “make war” with the Lamb, but the war is asymmetrical: a breath, a word, a flash of unveiled glory—and the insurgency collapses. The living wicked are judged in their flesh by the appearing of the Lord. Judgment is not arbitrary. The judicial war of Michael follows a prolonged season of patience, witness, and warning. Those who “received not the love of the truth” are given over to delusion; the unveiling of the lawless one is the last, climactic exposure of human pride. When the Lord appears, He confirms the choice of every heart: those who loved darkness are overwhelmed by the very Light they despised. The sky tears like a veil pulled back. Light—not gentle dawn but consuming noon—pours over the earth. The coalition that promised safety finds its banners fluttering before a wind they cannot name. The Rider’s eyes find every heart; the lie dissolves; the masquerade ends. The breath of His mouth swallows the boast of the final tyrant. What the wicked called power proves fragile as ash before flame. The Day of the Lord does publicly what the gospel did privately—declare Jesus Lord—and compels every knee to bow, willingly or unwillingly. The armies who follow Christ upon white horses carry rich symbolic significance. White horses are emblematic of victory, purity, and triumph in revelatory imagery. Those who follow are described as clothed in fine linen, which Revelation 19:8 identifies as the angelic armies who accompany Michael the Archangel, Christ in His warrior role, in His final triumph over the beast, false prophet, and kings of the earth. Their whiteness signifies their sharing in Christ’s victory, not by their own might but through the Lamb who overcame. The armies on white horses represent those who belong to Him, standing as witnesses to His final victory over evil. And here is one of the reasoning points that we must considering reading Revelation 17:14. The called, chosen, faithful are with him? We are not with him when he returns but with him in the same warring purpose. We recognize that the believers are with Christ in a spiritual sense during their earthly life and struggles, but will be brought physically to be with him at his final return. This eschatological reality involves both a present, spiritual union and a future, physical reunion. We are already considered "with" Christ in a deep, spiritual sense, made possible by our union with him. This is not a physical presence, but a spiritual and theological reality that is the basis of our salvation. Because we are spiritually united with the conquering Christ, his victory over sin and evil is already credited to us. Therefore, even while we suffer persecution on earth, we are identified with the victorious Lamb. The "called, chosen, and faithful" are "with" Christ in Revelation 17:14 because their identity and victory are already secured in him through their present spiritual union. This triad traces salvation’s arc: the gospel call, election’s purpose, and faith’s perseverance. Those who belong to the Lamb share His victory. At his return, this reality is fully revealed as they return with him in physical bodies to celebrate his ultimate triumph. Revelation compresses realities to proclaim a single truth: all who belong to the Lamb—angels who serve and saints who are saved—stand on His side and share in His victory. The second scene presents the return of Jesus as Bridegroom and Redeemer. The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ rise first, bursting forth from the graves at His command. The graves that received their dust return it at the command of their Maker. This is the “first resurrection” for the righteous, the vindication of faith, the answer to tears. Then those who are alive and remain are transformed in an instant and caught up together with the resurrected ones. The meeting-place is the air— the domain once polluted by principalities, now reclaimed as the highway of the King. Together the redeemed accompany the Lord to the prepared place, the kingdom He promised. Mortality puts on immortality; corruption puts on incorruption. From that moment forward, the redeemed are forever with Him. Unlike the scene of judgment upon the wicked, this perspective emphasizes salvation, reunion, and everlasting comfort for the people of God. Taken together, these two perspectives form a coherent sequence of the Day of the Lord. The Lord descends with heavenly glory; the trumpet sounds and the dead are raised; the living saints are translated and caught up; and simultaneously, the wicked are exposed and consumed by the brightness of His coming. Thus the same event is both life and death: life for the saints, death for the wicked; embrace for the redeemed, destruction for the rebellious. The armies of heaven bear witness to this twofold reality, celebrating the triumph of Christ’s cross as it finds its final manifestation in history. For the church, these truths carry profound application. They call us to comfort one another with the hope of resurrection, to live in purity and watchfulness, and to find courage in the certainty of the Lamb’s victory. They remind us that readiness is not about predicting dates but about being faithful, holy, and steadfast. To the faithful, the brightness of His coming will be everlasting light. To the rebellious, it will be consuming fire. One Lord appears—Jesus, who is also Michael—and in His one coming He is revealed both as Warrior and Bridegroom, Judge and Redeemer, King of kings and Lord of Lords. The bible’s use of Michael at the resurrection is not to diminish Jesus but to magnify Him. Michael is Christ unveiled in His warrior-prince identity, the one who has always contended for His people and who at last commands the grave to release its captives. His shout is the battle cry that ends the great controversy. Yet even as He calls the righteous forth as Michael, He receives them as Jesus, the Bridegroom. In this union of names, we see both His majesty and His mercy: the Lion and the Lamb, the Warrior and the Savior, the Archangel’s voice and the Shepherd’s embrace. Thus, Michael calls the righteous to rise not because He is other than Jesus, but because in that moment Jesus is revealed as Michael—the Conqueror whose voice is life and whose victory is everlasting. This event is recognized in one of the most mysterious time prophecies in Scripture. “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour”. This prophetic interval holds profound significance. It signals the climactic transition in heaven’s administration when Christ lays aside His role as intercessor and assumes His role as warrior and king. The silence corresponds to the moment when heaven itself is emptied—Michael descending with the angelic armies and Christ descending to gather His saints. The “standing” is more than posture—it is a judicial and military act. Christ rises from His priestly seat in the heavenly sanctuary, signaling the close of intercession. At that very moment, Revelation 22:11 is fulfilled: The destiny of every soul is fixed. This standing ushers in the “time of trouble”, a period of anguish surpassing every prior crisis. Yet this is not yet the visible coming of Christ, nor the final battle. Rather, it is the transition in which God’s people, sealed and secured, face a world abandoned to judgment without a mediator, while Michael stands invisibly as their protector. Once probation closes, Revelation reveals the last plagues poured out upon the earth. These judgments are not mixed with mercy, for mercy has ceased. They expose the futility of human rebellion and prepare the stage for the last conflict. The saints endure these days with unbroken trust in God, preserved by His promises. This period is Jacob’s time of trouble, Jeremiah 30:7, in which the people of God wrestle in faith while surrounded by global hostility. Yet though unseen, Michael’s standing assures them of divine protection. He has not yet left heaven with His armies, but His power shields the remnant until the climax. During the sixth plague, the kings of the earth gather for the battle of Armageddon. The nations marshal their strength against the Lamb, and the great controversy reaches its earthly peak. At this decisive moment, heaven is no longer silent because of intercession but because its armies have emptied its courts to descend with Christ. This is when Michael, the warrior-prince, fully reveals Himself. He who once stood to close probation now comes forth as King of kings to execute judgment and deliver His saints. The silence in heaven aligns with this moment: heaven’s throne room stands empty because its Sovereign and His hosts are on the move. At Christ’s descent, the words of I Thessalonians 4:16–17 find their fulfillment. The shout of the archangel is none other than Michael’s commanding voice, breaking the silence with a decree that shakes both heaven and earth. It summons the sleeping saints from their graves and calls the living sealed remnant to ascend with them. Thus, Christ’s role as intercessor gives way to His role as warrior, and finally to His role as Bridegroom and Redeemer. The armies of heaven descend, the dead are raised, and the living saints are transformed. Together they are gathered to meet their Lord in the air, beyond the reach of plague or enemy. Please note that Christ Michael has resurrection authority. Truth presents Christ under different names or titles depending on His role in redemption. As Jesus, He is the Savior in humility, bearing our sins. As the Son of Man, He is the Judge entrusted with authority, John 5:27. As the Word of God, He is the eternal revealer of the Father. And as Michael the Archangel, He is the warrior- prince, commander of heaven’s armies. The title archangel does not mean “highest created angel,” but “chief of the angels.” Michael is not a created being but Christ Himself in His commander role. Notice: Daniel 12:1–2, Michael stands, and immediately the resurrection is mentioned. I Thessalonians 4:16: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Jude 9: Michael contends over the body of Moses, asserting resurrection power. John 5:28, 29 - the resurrection comes by the voice of Christ. I Thessalonians says it is the “voice of the archangel”. These are not two voices—they are one and the same. Michael is the name that emphasizes Christ’s warrior-commanding power at that climactic moment. So, it is not that Michael calls the dead instead of Jesus. Rather, Jesus calls the dead as Michael, the archangel—the commanding voice of heaven’s Prince. Reason with this context: the resurrection happens in the midst of the final battle at Armageddon. Christ comes, not as the suffering Servant, but as the King riding forth with heaven’s armies. The title Michael stresses His military authority and protection of His people. By using the name Michael, Scripture shows us the nature of the moment: Christ is no longer mediating as Priest but commanding as Warrior. His voice is not the gentle call of a shepherd but the battle-shout that breaks the power of the grave and rallies His army of the redeemed. At the Second Coming, we therefore see both realities united: as Michael, He shouts in command, raising the dead and destroying the enemy with His armies. As Jesus, He gathers His beloved, meeting them in the air and taking them home as Savior-Bridegroom. The two names are not in conflict—they are complementary. One emphasizes His authority, the other His intimacy. To the universe, He is Michael the Conqueror; to His saints, He is Jesus the Bridegroom. Michael calls the righteous to rise because Michael is Christ Himself in His role as Commander of heaven’s hosts. The resurrection is not a work delegated to another voice, but the direct command of the Lord, whose archangelic voice is the very power that breaks the hold of death. The half-hour silence represents the solemn interval when heaven holds its breath. The universe recognizes the finality of judgment and the imminence of deliverance. The silence in heaven is not emptiness but expectancy—the holy pause before eternity’s most decisive act. In that silence, we see the majesty of Christ as intercessor turned warrior, and finally as Redeemer, coming to gather His elect. Michael’s armies and Jesus’ descent converge in one breathtaking finale, revealing the fullness of His love and the certainty of His victory. The wicked face the terror of unmingled wrath, while the righteous cling to divine promises until the shout of Michael calls them forth. Thus, when the heavens are parted and the trumpet sounds, every heart will face its truth. For some, it will be the dreadful end of rebellion; for others, the joyous beginning of eternal fellowship. But for all, it will be the revelation of the One who has always been both Lion and Lamb, Warrior and Bridegroom, Michael and Jesus. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

God cries There is this one momentous reason why God cries...His divine love. We might then wonder, coming from so high a Being, what must be the sounding of the God who cries. Could it be a voice that reminds us of where we stand with such a holy God? Could it be a sounding that gives us greater understanding of how we are to see God? We might ought to understand that there can be no technical description to any sound coming from God. We know of the sound of thunder, we know of the sound of wind, of fire, of lightning, trumpets, and even a still small voice. The soundings of God can be revealed expressively or impressively through mountains, water, trees, meadows, clouds, valleys, landscapes, and so much more, but most persistently, through His Word. There can be no audible expression attending God’s soundings without the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help us hear God’s soundings whether God decides to speak audibly, visually, or inwardly through impressions, or even while it walks. As believers we have access to know the plans, mind, and purposes of God for our life through the Holy Spirit. Some of us wait for the face to face encounter. We must always consider the spiritual impressions of God’s nature. When we are in the mind of that holy thing born, God sounds like our own voice. Angels speak in both a physical and spiritual light. Who among us can discern the characteristics of God’s love? Love is the greatest attribute of God. When God sounds, He sounds to our faith, to our hope. God does not have faith in the way we have faith, because He never has to “trust” outside of Himself. God does not have hope the way we have hope, because He knows all things and is in complete control. But God is love, and will always be love. Can a faith that moves mountains be heard? Fortunately, we don’t need to choose between faith, hope, and love. God cares about our coming closer to Him. His crying is not dramatic. In our minds, with His will, we engage with wisdom the understanding of God’s nature through a more subtle path of discernment subtle path of discernment. God does not want us to discern in isolation. He lets us hear His crying through people we know who are farther down the path of holiness than we are. God has made us as an inherently relational being and as we are striving to become what we are purposed to be, we find ourselves deciding between sin and virtue. Then know that the voice of God as He cries is through virtue alone. God never asks us to sin. God’s voice is the sound of consistent love. God comes near us for a good purpose in a contrite spirit. In the reality of God what does it mean that He sheds tears? God is beyond human. Can God’s tears be more than an emotional response? He tells us that His eyes run down with tears. God cries for the pressures from the narrowness of circumstances of things that we are to endure. He knows the grievous blows that are coming to His people. God is love, and there is this principle taught in the divine Word, that true love weeps with those that weep. This is exemplary of the Divine character. But God’s peace of mind is never disturbed. His fatherly love that shares the sorrows of His human family contains no anxiety over our eternal welfare. With Divine serenity His wisdom has planned for the eternal welfare of all His people, and in His serenity He knows His Divine love and power will attain that goal. The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth…and it grieved Him to His heart. Yes, God cried. During the crusades, soldiers in route to the Holy Land slaughtered followers of Christ hiding in their synagogues. Cries of anguish shrilled unto heaven as the wooden structures were torched. And God cried. In Europe reformer’s blood flowed freely in Roman Catholic countries as victims of the so-called “Holy” Inquisition totaled in the millions. And God cried. Over 20 million Black beings were enslaved and between 2 to 4 million died while in slave ships yet at sea during the “Middle Passage” voyage to slave markets run largely by white so-called Christians. And God cried. Six million people claiming to be the people of God, descendants of those who reckoned his blood on themselves and their children were hunted, gassed, and burned in the tragedy termed Holocaust. And God cried. The first of two atomic bombs claimed 130,000 victims and terrified the world. And God cried. Ruthless governments of Nazi Germany, Communist rule, American inexplicable wickedness and the emerging pattern of its unhinged frothing hatred. And God is crying. God’s empathy runs so deep that He actually knows, in the sense of feeling, our troubles, sorrows and tragedies. God grieves with us, and He isn’t in a hurry to superimpose His reality on ours aggressively, why? Because He understands that our tears and temporal pain are a natural consequence of the brokenness we feel which is a direct result of the brokenness in this world. So He empathizes with us first, before He brings His truth to bear in our reality, however long that takes, Love is patient. Does God cry is not an academic question or an abstract philosophy. God suffers when man suffers, and yes, God has His purposes for permitting suffering. God knows the end from the beginning. God’s Son departed from his honor, his majesty to be with us. The foreknowledge of God adds another dimension to the scope of God’s crying. God is doing things too wonderful for us to understand right now. But soon we will see with a clearer understanding of God, that we might serve Him more faithfully and with greater appreciation. God’s last great cry to humanity is going on right now throughout the whole world. We’re a part of this cry, the Bride of Christ with the tears of Calvary, the tears of God, the tears of Jesus, the tears of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that we have been made partakers of His divine nature. Contained in the tears of Calvary are all the love, compassion, mercy of God. In the tears of Calvary, God provided that all the fruits of the Spirit could be manifested in each child of God’s life. God’s crying is not a sound. It is the sheer silence of His presence. You want to hear God cry? Go outside, look around and see what we consider the joy of His creation. Are we attuned to God spiritually? Can we discern the movement of the Holy Spirit? Few there are that can even recognize the voice of God, let alone hear it. Those who are in a right relationship with God can tune out the noise of the world. As God hears their cries, so they hear His. What does God cry about? Why does He cry? Sin interrupted our walk with God and He cries to us in these memorable words...”where art thou”? That cry has been going forth down through the ages to other Adam’s, other Eve’s…God crying over His lost children. Think of the multitudes who have been lost. As Noah and his family boarded the ark, God cried. He cried those seven days the ark door stood open. God thought about the first man and woman He made, how horrifying it had been when they fell into sin, how it grieved His heart when He had to drive them from the Garden and place cherubim at the gate with a flaming sword to keep them out. Never will God forget the way He cried that day. God cried again the day the ark door was to close. Those outside were given one last chance to repent. As God stood looking at the ark so long in the making, He knew a multitude of people were steeped in sin, darkness. All their thoughts were evil continually. God, shedding the tears of His great love, His burning tears of great compassion for lost humanity, the unseen hands of His angel took hold of the ark door and pushed it shut. But when the ark door was sealed, it was a tearless God who poured down the rains from heaven and opened up the fountains of the earth. It might be that the people began to pray. But they found no compassion, no tears of God, no crying; for their prayers contained no love for God but were filled with fear and anger. Without a tear, God brought judgment on those outside the ark of safety. God will not shed tears when He brings final judgment to human beings; they would be useless tears. God sheds tears when those tears can help. If people shut themselves out of reach of His tears, if His tears will not move them, God cries no more. It’s over and done with. How would we feel were God to look at us without the tears of Calvary? Imagine what it would be like for those who are in sin. Too many think they can find the Lord anytime they want – and they can as long as He has tears for them. But one day those tears may not be there, and there will be no hope of Heaven left at all. The only escape is in the tears of Calvary, the only love, the only faith, the only salvation. Without those tears...Do not think it makes God sound too vulnerable to say that He cries. He cries because our unbelief causes us unnecessary grief and sorrow. Our sin is committed against greater light. We stand on a higher mountain and see more than any could ever see. We have a completed Word with a full and detailed record of God's trustworthiness. We have the written testimonies of testimonies generations of godly fathers and faithful others who have passed down to us unshakeable proofs of God's love. And what of the countless personal experiences. He cries because we fail to recognize who He is and rest in His promises. We make God cry. And when we hear God cry, we move to a higher reality of faith. And when we see God cry, we move into a new revelation of His love. Our being made in the image of God and knowing that our God cries lets us know that crying is not a sign of weakness but of strength. Crying is more than an emotion, it is having the heart of God. God’s cries and our cries are joined. God’s cry is a cry of invitation. There is this war cry coming from God’s people today. This is born from confidence that God is mighty and that He is with us. In these last days God will use our cries to help others overcome difficulties. Our tears will be a blessing to many. As the woman’s tears washed Jesus’ feet, our cries will strengthen hearts to be cleansed through prayer and repentance. Just as Jesus wept, not for the death of a friend, but for the lack of faith that his presence means life. They knew not that he was a Savior who dwells alongside, above, and within the creation itself. Our evils have afflicted God. That is why we worship a Lord who experiences all the emotions of the world so that we may relate and cleave to something who has borne our pain. We serve a God who cries. There is no faltering on the part of God in dealing with us in the spirit of fathership. He deals with us as His children. Christ was brought to the extremity which we shall never reach but as he cried in the spirit of sonship we see our God bitterest cry commence with “O my Father”. If we remain faithful, we will go through arduous trials. God will agonize with us. This was Christ’s own Godlike nature that leaped up in him. He is the divine original. This compassion is peculiar to Himself dictated by his originality. And so, we know God cries in the inwardness of His love which may serve us for a pattern, but of which no pattern had existed before. This suggest of the memorable intercession prayer of Jesus overwhelmingly showing the deity of his affection. This is the first cry of our Savior’s intercession for those who will be perfected. And his second cry was his intercession for his enemies...Father, forgive them. All His intercession is in a measure like the intercession of his prayer and on Calvary and his cries help us to reason the character of the whole of His intercession above. Our Savior prayed for persons who did not deserve the prayer, but on the contrary, merited a curse - persons who did not ask for the prayer and even scoffed at it when they heard it. Even so in heaven there stands the great High Priest, who pleads for guilty men...and so our God still cries. There are none on earth that deserve His intercession. He pleads for none on the supposition that they do deserve it. He stands there to plead as the just One on the behalf of the unjust. Not if any man be righteous, but “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.” God cries because His heart of love is entreating the favor of heaven on our behalf. Tears and cries of omnipotence. God cries out of His own personal sorrow for what sin costs, representing the richness and depth of His character. God is spirit. The Father and the Holy Spirit do not cry literal tears as we do. We cry over situations that are overwhelming or uncertain to us. God does not have that element of uncertainty to deal with. He is never overwhelmed, for He has all authority in heaven and on earth. How are God’s tears real? God stores our tears in a bottle. God’s esteem for our tears is an acknowledgement that our sorrow and our very lives are precious in God’s eyes. Christ will be glorious in the eyes of the Lord; and those who are Israel, who are in Christ are truly glorious that are so in God's eyes. We are His tears, just as we are His joy. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD. Our tears are not lost on God. These tears cause God to be deeply moved. And we are called to be more than onlookers in this drama, to do more than pronounce our judgment about which people God loves and whether God could have done more to prevent certain tragedies. We too must allow the tears being shed around us to disturb us greatly and move us deeply. We need to recognize the tears that God is collecting and crying, and to choose to take part in God’s redemptive and restorative activity on behalf of all those who weep. God cries in our cry. Many have difficulties connecting God with emotional concerns that we have over situations. God’s Word tells us that we were made in God’s image and it also shows us that we can make God joyful, pleased, or sad. Do we think that our behavior has no effects to God’s heart? The spirit of God can be grieved. God is sorrowful when we reject Him. When we willfully forsake His way to walk somewhere else, due to personal passions, wills and ambitions. The spirit of God is not indifferent but sorrowful in such cases. The bible weighs in on what would appear to be the very first reference to the emotions of God in the Old Testament. God repented and He was grieved in his heart. God’s repentance and grieving gives reference to our understanding of Him. For since we cannot comprehend God as He is, it is necessary that, for our sake, He should, in a certain sense, transform Himself. For a God who knows every event that will occur can repentance really take place in God? With this consideration, nothing can happen which is by Him unexpected or unforeseen. God is celestial and sovereign in all His rest. God forever is like Himself, however, truth could not otherwise be known about how great is God's hatred and detestation of sin, therefore the Spirit accommodates Himself to our capacity to understand. God was so offended by the atrocious wickedness of men, it was as if his heart was deeply wounded with mortal grief. It is reality that both the image and the likeness of God were purposed to give us spiritual insight to the infinite realm of what holiness is. The mode of accommodation is for God to represent Himself to us not as He is in Himself, but as He must seem to us. Although He is beyond all disturbance of mind, yet He testifies that He is angry toward sinning sinners. Therefore, whenever we hear that God is angered, we ought not to imagine any emotion in Him, but rather to consider that this expression has been taken from our human experience; because God, whenever He is exercising judgment, exhibits the appearance of one kindled or angered. We learn this of our God...divine emotion is the quiet, understatement of God’s love for His people and His hatred for sin. This divine emotion spiritually bursts with hidden meaning. Here is our coming unto God and understanding the truth of His cries. Let’s discuss the drama of emotion to better understand how God cries. There is God and then there is us. A mystery is our created pattern in His image, His likeness. Emotion is either divine or undivine. When misused it is undivine and restricted to the physical and the shadowy mind. It’s an I, my, mine mentality. Any emotion that binds our conscience should be undone. Divine emotion should be pure in its source to expand our consciousness. When it comes from our soul, it tells us, "I came from God.” God is divine. His repenting, His grieving, God’s cries are divine. God’s cries open for His followers an expression of their inner aspiration. We become better soldiers in the fight against sin. We understand better why Jesus came to us as one of us. In Christ, as he wept, God cried and we feel that humanity is part and parcel of our consciousness, then we have divine emotion. We know why, we know how God cries. We are affected because we truly feel our own existence in the heart of humanity as is Jesus Christ our God. If we want to transform our lower emotion, then we must start feeding our divine emotion. We can consciously feed our divine emotion by feeling that each individual is God's child and humanity's embodied hope. Then we will have the inner urge to fulfil the divinity in humanity. The divine within us is totally responsible for us and for others. God risks revealing this character peculiarity in His crying to expand our consciousness, sweeten our existence and fulfil not only our life but also the lives of those around us who will receive the truth. For God to present a transform event of divinity and humanity, we come to see that the impure, earthbound emotion can spiritually be transformed. It will be thrown into the fiery sea of divine emotion, where everything is purified. We prioritize this “feeling” of closeness with God over the relationship itself, which is steeped in the truth of God’s Word. We come to all of the law of God with the love and grace of God. We cry ourselves to sleep desiring to understanding the hurt, the pain, the tenderness, the intimacy, of our God that extends beyond the comprehension of our Creator. Our God cries and He is the fountainhead of all wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And in His Being He becomes even more of a mystery to us. God cries. How could He create something in us that He doesn’t understand on the highest of levels or even possess Himself? It’s not that He doesn’t feel. Indeed, God feels - He feels in a perfect way, untainted by the curse of sin. Faith has us draw this inference...flowing out of the heart of God Himself is His image in us to experience His love, His grief, His joy as qualities of our own. God’s feelings for His people are deep and genuine - so perfect that such a feeling can never be possessed by fallen human beings, but only by the God who embodies within Himself the utmost perfection of emotion. Here is how God cries - Jesus wept. “Wept” doesn’t mean that His eyes got a little moist, or that He had to swallow a lump in His throat. And it certainly doesn’t mean He stood beside Mary and Martha as they grieved, with His arms crossed, disappointed in their lack of faith. “Jesus wept,” means that He felt the gut wrenching anguish that comes from losing ones you love and who you would die for, and displayed it in a very human way - by shedding tears. Knowing that he would raise one that was faithful didn’t stop him from entering into their pain and experiencing it with them. We must begin to show the marks of our divine origin. Our cries for others are not just tears. The Holy Spirit must elevate our servitude above duty fulfillment. We will see many abandon the truth. This will hurt us. We must be charged with sacred feeling for every soul, while having profound and tender regret for those who refuse the witness. We must let faith and truth be that powerful experience of godliness that is the seat of our emotion. Our God is an awesome God, and part of His awesomeness is His emotional-ness. Emotions are divine when we have true reverence for God. The emotive poetry written in the word depicts God’s heartbreak over the trauma of His broken relationship with His people is unmatched anywhere. What are we to do with this? We are to cry out to God! 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

Twin Lakes Let’s call this writing a treatise that weaves comprehensive scripture deeply, reverently rooted and judicially solemn seeking to portray the irrevocable finality of God’s counsel and the absolute termination of sin’s possibility. In the unfolding drama of Revelation is arranged two distinct but profoundly connected immolations of evil: first, at the coming of the King in glory, the beast and the false prophet are seized and cast alive into “a” lake of fire, an event that publicly strips the religiously influential deceivers of their power and exposes the jurisprudence of heaven that has run its lawful course on those who misled multitudes; second, after the millennium the ultimate judicial consummation occurs—the resurrection of the wicked dead, the final assize of every soul, and the casting of “death and hell” into “the lake of fire”—a scene that demonstrates the difference between an initial purging of instruments of deception and the final, universal extinguishment of death, the grave, and all remnants of rebellion. These twin scenes, separated by the thousand years, allow us to see God’s wisdom in ordering history: first the public unmasking and judicial disposal of religious counterfeiters who led the guilty to perdition, then a long, patient millennial epoch in which the saints— those whose names are preserved in the book of life—share in heaven the vindication of God’s character and the unassailable proof of the rectitude of divine administration while the subtlety of sin and the empty boasts of rebellion are left, for a time, as exemplars of folly to be seen and judged. The millennium, therefore, is not a hiatus of injustice but a period in which God’s law and the character of the Redeemer are perfectly displayed and defended while the last act of rebellion is given its public demonstration upon the reconstructed stage of earth when Satan is loosed and gathers his deluded host for the final assault; in this way God’s dealing with sin is both patient and judicially exacting—patient because every opportunity for repentance had been afforded prior to the awful sentences passed in the great day of judgment, and exacting because the rejection of mercy is accounted and executed according to immutable holiness. The imagery of Jeremiah 4 — seed of a new creation where the earth becomes like a solitude and the heavens withdraw their light—casts an ancient prophetic shadow over the postmillennial scene: the desolation that follows Satan’s last desperate effort vividly manifests the truth that rebellion, after every avenue of mercy is exhausted, exists only as self- annihilating fury and is incapable of originating anything lasting or restorative; it is the echo of death, not the seed of a new creation. Our insistence upon exploring Papal Rome, apostate Protestantism, and their various relational permutations to the phenomena of deception and judgment is theologically germane: the beast and the false prophet in Revelation act as archetypes and concrete agents—religious-political leaderships that, by mingling earthly authority with counterfeit sanctity, drew multitudes into culpable complicity and must therefore, by divine necessity, receive an authoritative and public sentence that demonstrates both the reality of sin’s guilt and the righteousness of God’s condemnation. When one examines the distinctions—Papal Rome + apostate Protestantism, their permutations - all three equally, both conditions if possible, woven together, blended yet firm and judicially solemn—one must maintain theological distinction: the Scripture’s indictment is against systems and movements that substitute human constructs for divine truth and employ religion as a mask for tyranny; whether the historical Horn of Papal power or the seductions of apostasy within Protestant ranks, the essential sin is the same—usurping God’s prerogative, obscuring truth, and leading souls into perdition—and therefore the treatment by divine justice is appropriately parallel, though the historical paths and culprits differ. In exposition we can treat these as distinct manifestations of the same moral reality: Papal Rome and apostate Protestantism are two historical channels through which the beast’s power and the false prophet’s delusion flowed; together they constitute that “religious” matrix which proved the fertile field for deception, and toward them God’s judicial process moves with solemn deliberation—no sorrow at final execution, because sorrow would imply surprise or injustice, whereas Scripture insists every sinner had been warned, every trumpet sounded, every pleading of mercy extended and refused. The narrative must emphasize that the casting of the beast and false prophet into “a” lake of fire at Christ’s visible return is a necessary juridical act that removes from the earthly theater the principal seducers so that the vindication of the saints and the full exposition of God’s law may be clearly presented without further perversion; it is an act of final disentanglement of the guilty from the saved— a judicial separation executed with the precision of heaven’s legal sovereignty. The millennium that follows is not a mere interlude but a revelatory epoch when the redeemed, gathered to heaven, behold the full outcome of sin’s fruit and sing the righteousness of God who had been misrepresented, for heaven’s fellowship requires that the mystery of suffering, redemption, and divine character be fully illuminated so that the redeemed might be forever assured that God’s ways were true and that the tragedies of earth did not imply defect in his government but the necessary consequence of free agents’ choices. During those thousand years Satan’s desolation across the ruined earth—wandering, “destroyed attempting to prove his lies”—becomes a living parable: deprived of the human trust he once manipulated, he walks the hollow scene of his own undoing and finds nothing to reconstruct the old lie. The final loosing of Satan at the close of the millennium functions as a culminating demonstration in which the rebellion he instigates is allowed once more to gather, then collapses in one last blaze of futility; the resurrection of the wicked, their rally and attempt, and their final casting into “the lake of fire” show to all intelligences— heavenly and redeemed—what rebellion finally leads to: not reform, not survival, but utter extinction. The bible’s insistence that nothing “ever again remotely related to sin could ever come into existence” after this consummation must be the theological leitmotif of the treatise: the “lake of fire” into which “death and hell” are cast is not a mere temporary disciplinary device but the terminus of sin’s storyline, the metaphysical end of death’s dominion and the final eradication of all principle and personhood that embodied rebellion; with the destruction of death itself the conditions for sin vanish because sin is inextricably bound to mortality, to the willful denial of God’s authority, and to the corrupting capacity of created wills—once those are judged and removed, there remains no substrate on which evil can re- emerge. No surface or material on or from which an organism can live, can grow. To elaborate extensively on these events, the writing must juxtapose careful exegesis with prophetic typology: Papal Rome exemplifies the institutional fusion of spiritual title and temporal coercion; apostate Protestantism illustrates the more subtle corrosion in which truth is compromised while pious language is preserved; together they reveal how deception can be both crude and cunning, both externally oppressive and internally pacifying; all three conditions—tyranny, apostasy, and the hybrid blend—show the breadth by which human systems can rebel against God; woven together in narration they expose the full panorama of affronts that justice finally answers. The judicial tone throughout is to be firm and solemn because Scripture’s portrayal of the final scenes is juridical rather than merely punitive: God’s actions are vindicatory, antithetical to arbitrary cruelty, and entirely consonant with the display of his perfections—holiness, justice, mercy, and truth. This writing will repeatedly emphasize that every opportunity for repentance had been granted and refused, thereby removing any legitimate grounds for sorrow in the execution of sentence; sorrow, if present, would only belong to the lost, whose eternal loss is the natural and just consequence of their obstinacy. Yet this treatise must not be superficial; it must be pastorally sober, grieving for souls while unwavering in its affirmation that God’s ways are right. As the narrative unfolds it should trace the legal and moral logic from Revelation’s immediate removal of the instruments of deception, through the millennial vindication of truth, to Revelation’s final unmaking of evil—each step showing how providence employs both restraint and demonstration to render the case against sin incontrovertible. It should meditate on the two-lake imagery: “a lake of fire” at the first act signifying the specific disposal of the primary deceivers, and “the lake of fire” at the final act signifying the ultimate, universal eradication of death and rebellion. It should point out that Satan’s deferral of ultimate punishment until after the thousand years serves a pedagogical purpose: by allowing the saints to witness the awful completeness of sin’s failure and the finality of divine justice, God leaves no plausible excuse; the universe’s moral education is thereby consummated. In the theological architecture of the writing there must be careful handling of typology and historical application, neither conflating symbolic portrait with simple historicist caricature nor divorcing prophetic archetype from its concrete historical manifestations; the beast and the false prophet function as both symbolic principles of apostate religion and as historical actors who misled nations—thus Papal Rome and apostate Protestantism are not caricatures but real entities whose histories illustrate the prophetic fulfillment in diverse degrees. The tone must remain judicially solemn but not vindictive: the execution of judgment is the necessary, impartial conclusion of a moral universe in which freedom and responsibility are real and where consequences are not avoidable by divine negation of moral order. The treatise must also develop the doctrine that the final eradication of sin is simultaneously the restoration of created order to its original intent: with death destroyed and the lake of fire emptied of all except the remnants of rebellion to be consumed, the new heavens and new earth may be inaugurated where the possibility of sin has been forever removed so that the creaturely life of the redeemed is no longer fraught with the moral ambiguities of a probationary state but rests in unchallenged fellowship with the Creator. Throughout, the writing will bring to bear the depth of biblical reasoning: God’s determinate counsel is not arbitrary decree but a coherent plan that harmonizes the demands of justice with the outflow of mercy, that vindicates his law by suffering and substitution, and that finally eradicates the conditions which allowed sin to exist. The writing must labor to show the brilliance of providential fulfillment: how each prophetic stroke— casting into “a” lake of fire, the millennial showing, the loosing and final overthrow—serves a pedagogical and a juridical end, proving to all intelligences that God’s government was both free from flaw and utterly merciful in opportunity. It should insist, with clarity and solemnity, that nothing thereafter remotely related to sin can come into being, since the instrumentalities, substrates, and willing agents of sin have been removed, judged, and, where necessary, annihilated, and that the new creation that follows is a cosmos free from the possibility of moral rebellion. The prose will avoid sentimentalism and avoid any implication that God takes pleasure in condemnation; rather, it will insist that condemnation is the necessary and tragic aftermath of persistent rebellion. The composition will be densely argued, scripturally anchored, and rhetorically measured—employing the texts as the foundational description while allowing typological and moral reasoning to draw out their implications. Finally, the conclusion will rest upon twin pillars the twin pillars of God’s unassailable righteousness and his everlasting love: the judicial acts recorded in Revelation are the closure of a moral drama in which mercy reached to its uttermost and in which justice, in the end, secures the conditions for eternal blessedness where sin, death, and deception are forever impossible—thus fulfilling the determinate counsel of heaven and glorifying the Redeemer whose cross made both the vindication of law and the restoration of creation possible. In the vision of Revelation, where history reaches its final clarity and all shadows break under the weight of unveiled truth, the Spirit draws before us a sequence of events so decisive, so absolute, that no creature in any realm of existence will misunderstand their meaning. The Scriptures speak of the return of Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords, coming in brightness and majesty, no longer veiled in humility, no longer hidden beneath the garments of suffering, but radiant in the full splendor of the glory He possessed with the Father before the world was. Revelation presents Him riding forth on a white horse, His eyes as a flame of fire, crowned with many crowns, and bearing a name that no one fully knows except Himself: a revelation of divine identity not diminished by incarnation nor contained by human concepts. The armies of heaven follow Him, clothed in white and pure righteousness, for they come not to wage a human war, but to bear witness to the judgment that proceeds from the One whose words are sharper than any two-edged sword. At His coming, the kings of the earth, the mighty, the captains, and all who joined themselves to the final rebellion stand assembled in open defiance against divine sovereignty. Yet there is no contest, no struggle, no battle in the sense of opposing powers wrestling for dominion. The Word that once spoke creation into form now speaks judgment, and the glory of the Lord consumes all opposition as easily as light dispels darkness when it appears. In that hour, two figures stand at the center of the world’s rebellion: the beast and the false prophet. These do not represent mere individuals only, but systems of organized religious and political deception that for ages held humanity in bondage through counterfeit worship and counterfeit authority. The beast stands as the embodiment of Papal Rome, that amalgam of political power and sacramental claim which exalted itself above the Word of God, thought to change times and laws, and seated human authority where only the eternal Lawgiver may reign. The false prophet stands as the apostate Protestant world, which after receiving light, truth, and reformation, turned back again to the pattern of Rome, embracing human tradition, worldly philosophy, and a religion of comfort rather than obedience. Together the dragon they formed a counterfeit trinity with the dragon who inspired them, teaching the nations to worship human authority in the name of God. Their deception was not forced merely through violence, but sweetened with the language of piety, ritual, sentiment, and unity, causing multitudes to follow with reverent sincerity what was in truth rebellion against the Most High. These are the deceivers of Revelation 19, and Scripture says they are cast alive into “a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” This casting is not the final destruction of all wickedness, nor the end of Satan’s kingdom, but the first public judicial removal of the religious powers that led humanity into delusion. Their judgment at Christ’s coming reveals a key truth about divine justice: the leaders of deception are dealt with first, before the final judgment of the masses who followed them, for leadership carries accountability equal to the influence it bore. Yet the world does not end when they are removed, for the story of sin has one final testimony to give. The wicked who followed the beast and the false prophet are slain at the brightness of Christ’s coming, and all the righteous— those whose names are found written in the Lamb’s book of life—are gathered, transformed, and ascended to be with Christ. Revelation records that they live and reign with Him a thousand years, seated upon thrones, given judgment, and participating in the great review of the cases of the lost. This is not a second chance for those who rejected salvation, nor a reconsideration of divine verdicts, but the opening of every record so that the redeemed may see the righteous foundation upon which God has acted. Every question, every sorrow suffered unjustly, every mystery of providence, every seeming contradiction between divine promise and earthly suffering, is laid bare in the presence of those who once walked by faith but now see with immortal clarity. They do not judge as tyrants passing sentence, but as witnesses confirming what God has already declared. Heaven is not merely a reward given but a Kingdom entered as full understanding replaces faith, and the redeemed behold that no soul is lost who might have been saved, and no soul condemned whom God did not first pursue with love, patience, and grace beyond measure. During the thousand years, the earth lies in desolation. Jeremiah 4 portrays it as without form, void, sunless, cityless, and silent. There are no living wicked to tempt, no nations to deceive, no armies to manipulate. Satan, who once proclaimed himself the prince of this world, finds himself the king of ruin, wandering a lifeless wasteland, his kingdom reduced to ashes of memory. The loneliness of this millennium is not simply a punishment but a demonstration: the universe witnesses what Satan’s government produces when left to itself. Every lie he ever told—that life without God is freedom, that rebellion is strength, that self-exaltation is glory—lies exposed as emptiness. There is nothing left for him to command, nothing left to build, nothing left to corrupt. He is locked in the prison of his own failure. Then comes the resurrection of the wicked at the end of the thousand years, described in Revelation 20. Satan, loosed for a little season, goes forth to deceive them again, proving that his nature has not changed, that sin no matter how long restrained never yields repentance. The wicked, unchanged by death itself, rally to surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city. It is the final demonstration of sin fully exposed: rebellion rises even in the face of undeniable truth. Then fire comes down from God out of heaven, and now appears not “a lake of fire,” but “the lake of fire,” into which death and hell and all whose names are not written in the book of life are cast. This is the final end, the second death, the complete erasure of sin from the universe. There is no sorrow in this judgment, for sorrow belongs only to love denied; here judgment is perfect and final, the closing of a story God never desired but fully redeemed. And once sin is no more, once every trace of rebellion has perished, then God creates a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells, and where the redeemed shall know the fullness of divine fellowship forever, without shadow, without trial, without possibility of rebellion ever arising again. For sin will not rise a second time. The prophet declares that the day comes that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that comes shall burn them up, leaving neither root nor branch. This is not merely poetic judgment language; it defines the totality of the end of sin. The wicked are not tormented eternally, nor preserved endlessly in a state of burning existence, for this would violate the justice of God and perpetuate the very evil He came to end. Malachi reveals the completeness of the destruction: “neither root nor branch.” The branch is the outgrowth, the fruit, the visible manifestation of sin in individual lives. The root is the originating principle of sin itself, the “mystery of iniquity,” the rebellion birthed in Lucifer’s heart. When God destroys sin, He destroys not only its practitioners but its origin, its ideology, its very possibility. Nothing remains that could think rebellion, imagine self-exaltation, or desire identity apart from the love of God. The saints, Malachi continues, “shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.” This is not triumph in cruelty, nor celebration of vengeance, but the symbol of irreversible finality. Ashes cannot rebel. Ashes cannot speak. Ashes cannot rise again. The memory of sin remains as testimony, but its presence is gone forever. The totality of this destruction is essential to the eternal stability of the universe. If even the faintest seed of rebellion remained—if a single motive of self-rule or distrust of God survived the fire—eternity would contain the possibility of sorrow, conflict, and death. Heaven itself would tremble, for eternal peace must rest upon the certainty that nothing will ever again rise to challenge the goodness of God. Thus the lake of fire is not merely punitive; it is preventative in the eternal sense. It secures the everlasting future of righteousness. It is the fire of restoration. Once the wicked, the fallen angels, and Satan himself are consumed, the universe enters a phase of existence entirely new. For the first time, creation knows life where no rebellion is possible, where free will is not diminished but fulfilled, for love reigns without opposition. To say that sin shall never rise again is not simply to state the outcome of judgment—it is to acknowledge that all intelligent beings will understand, fully and permanently, the nature of sin, the nature of love, and the character of God. They have seen the cost of sin. They have witnessed the patience of God, who pleaded through ages of history, prophets, the Spirit, providence, and suffering. They have seen the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, His wounds speaking for eternity the price of restoring the lost. They have judged with Christ for a thousand years, seeing every case laid bare. They have seen that no sinner was ever lost without being pursued by heaven itself. There is nothing left to question. The two scenes of fire now stand unveiled in their purpose. The casting of the beast and false prophet into “a lake of fire” at the second coming is the visible judgment upon the leaders of deception. It protects the redeemed from ever being confronted again with the systems of counterfeit religion that led the world astray. It shows that God removes and judges the sources of spiritual corruption before He completes judgment upon the followers of such systems. During the thousand years, the saints see that the followers, too, were given opportunities, calls, warnings, convicting appeals of conscience. None were lost by accident. Judgment is not a reaction of God but the conclusion of a long and patient pursuit of each soul’s salvation. Then, when the thousand years are finished and the wicked are resurrected, the final judgment takes place—not in a courtroom of secrecy, but in full view of the entire redeemed universe. The wicked see the New Jerusalem. They see Christ. They see what they rejected. They see themselves as they are. Scripture says every knee shall bow. Even those who lived in defiance will confess the righteousness of God—not from love, but from the unavoidable recognition of truth. Then the fire falls. Not to torment, but to end. And when the fire has accomplished its work, there is no wound in eternity, no scar in the soul of the redeemed, no hollow room where grief echoes. There is only the eternal knowing that love has triumphed—not by force, but by truth revealed. The redeemed walk a new earth, where every leaf sings life, every breeze carries peace, every star shines without shadow. The memory of sin remains not as pain, but as understanding. The cross remains as everlasting evidence that God did not spare Himself in sparing us. And the universe rests, finally, eternally, in the unbroken harmony of love. For sin is no more. Not merely ended. Not merely judged. Not merely punished. But impossible forever. There is a solemn beauty in the way God does not rush the end of sin. There is no haste in the judgment, no impatience in the closing of history. God does not bring the thousand years to an end until every redeemed mind has seen the full truth. The saints are not passive observers seated on clouds, nor are they detached from the story of salvation. They are participants in the great unveiling of righteousness. Revelation says they “reigned with Christ” and that “judgment was given unto them.” This is not judgment in the sense of deciding guilt, for the verdicts were determined before the resurrection of the righteous. The wicked were not raised to be tested again but to face what truth has already revealed. The saints do not judge in order to condemn, but to understand, to examine, to witness the perfect transparency of God’s justice. They see how the Spirit pleaded with a man in youth, how truth knocked at the door of his conscience in adulthood, and how mercy followed him into old age. They see the moments when a woman stood at a crossroads between surrender and self, between humility and pride, between love and fear. They see the circumstances of culture, upbringing, trauma, pressure, persuasion, opportunity, and conviction. They see every influence that touched every soul. They see that no person was ever lost because God withheld light, or because heaven tired and abandoned them, but because the individual finally and irrevocably resisted the last appeal of divine love. This is the vindication of God before the universe. Not because God needs defending, but because love must always be transparent. If eternity is to be free, then every being must know that the government of God is built not on arbitrary decree but on truth, righteousness, and compassion. The thousand- year review is the final answer to all the accusations Satan once made in heaven, when he claimed God was unjust, when he whispered that Christ’s law was bondage, when he suggested that the angels were loyal only because they had never known an alternative. In the thousand years, the redeemed see the full story of the great controversy laid plain. They see how sin began in the brightness of perfection, in the mind of one who was closest to the throne. They see how deception works—not by darkness, but by twisting the light. They see how rebellion presents itself not as evil, but as independence, as enlightenment, as self-realization. They see how sin spreads, not by force, but by suggestion, invitation, and imitation. Once the saints have seen all this, there is no question left unanswered. The justice of God stands not as theory, but as witnessed reality. Meanwhile, Satan walks the desolate earth. The prophet Jeremiah saw this long before John wrote Revelation, describing an earth without form and void, where cities, once alive with human activity, are broken and silent. It is a strange and dreadful reversal of the creation story. At the beginning, God formed the world from the void to fill it with life; at the end of history, sin returns the world to a void of death. This is not annihilation of the earth itself, but the temporary condition of a planet held in pause between two creations. The saints are not here. The wicked are not here, for they sleep until the final resurrection. Only Satan and the fallen angels remain, surrounded by the ruins of the world they claimed they could govern better than God. For a thousand years, Satan has no one to deceive, no minds to influence, no iron dungeon nations to manipulate. His kingdom is silent, and his throne is drowning in the ashes of its own lies. The prison in which he is bound is not a dungeon made of iron and walls, but the absolute failure of rebellion. The chains are the consequences of his own choices. The silence of the world is his accusation. The emptiness is his torment. This is where the wisdom of God shines. For if God had destroyed Satan immediately, the universe would not have seen the end result of sin. Some could have wondered whether Satan might have been correct, whether another system of government might have been viable if given the chance. But here, in the thousand years, the universe sees what Satan’s world truly is when he finally has everything he demanded: the throne, the dominion, the right to rule, the absence of God’s restraint. And what remains? A universe without life, without joy, without peace, without beauty. The great deceiver stands as the only citizen of his own kingdom. The silence of the earth is heaven’s final testimony: the wages of sin is death. When the thousand years are ended and the wicked are raised, the final scenes of history unfold with clarity that silences every shadow of doubt. The wicked rise, not to receive a second chance, but to see the truth they once refused. They see the New Jerusalem descending. They see the glory of Christ. They see the redeemed standing within the walls of the holy city, not as a separated, privileged class, but as those who once suffered, believed, and clung to God through darkness. Then the books are opened. Every life is reviewed—not for the sake of God, who needs no information, but for the sake of the lost, who must understand their own judgment. There are no arguments, no debates, no objections. Every knee bows. Every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is not salvation; this is acknowledgment. The humility of the wicked is temporary and compelled by the undeniable reality of truth. Then fire comes down from God. This is the second lake of fire, “the lake of fire,” the final end, the true completion. It consumes sin at every level— individual and systemic, visible and invisible, branch and root. The beast and false prophet were removed at the beginning of the thousand years as the visible leadership of deception. Now the wicked, the fallen angels, and Satan himself are consumed in the full burning that Malachi saw. The fire burns until nothing remains. No conscious torment endures. No wicked soul survives. No remnant of rebellion lives. Sin ends by ceasing to exist. The ashes cool. The universe exhales. The long war is over. Then God speaks, not with thunder, not with trumpet, but with creation. ashes cool “Behold, I make all things new.” The earth is recreated—this time not as a garden to be guarded, but as a kingdom secured by truth understood. Every blade of grass carries the memory of the cross. The redeemed walk not as those afraid of falling again, but as those who know why love is eternal. Nothing in eternity contains the desire or capacity to sin, because every mind has seen its full cost, and every heart has been healed by the Lamb. This is the triumph of God’s government. Not that He destroyed His enemies, but that He revealed Himself so completely that rebellion became impossible forever. *** In the unfolding of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, history does not merely move forward; it moves toward a determined and holy conclusion shaped by the immutable counsel of God. Every prophecy, every act of divine restraint, every permitted trial, every unveiling of truth and unmasking of deception converges upon the closing scenes revealed in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The Lamb who was slain steps forth as the King of kings and Lord of lords, not in the gentleness of invitation as He did in His first advent, but in the righteousness of judgment, the completion of His mediatorial work, and the vindication of the holiness of God before every created being. The heavens open, not to reveal possibility, but to reveal finality. Creation itself becomes witness to the justice and faithfulness of the One who has borne the sin, shame, rebellion, and accusation of ages in infinite patience and love. For the One who rides forth on the white horse in Revelation 19 is not coming to persuade, nor to debate, nor to reason with unbelief, but to reveal the truth of what already stands eternally decided in the hearts of all beings. The time for choice is past. The time for revelation has come. The beast and the false prophet, representing Papal Rome and Apostate Protestantism, stand not merely as religious systems but as the climax of religious rebellion in human history. They are the embodiment of counterfeit worship, the merging of earthly political authority with spiritual deception, the final expression of Satan's desire to sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. They led multitudes, not by force alone, but by appeal to the conscience in distortion, by the imitation of holiness without the surrender to God’s transforming grace, and by crafting a Christless religion clothed in the language of salvation. They convinced the nations that rebellion was righteousness, that human works could equal divine favor, and that the authority of God could be replaced by the authority of the creature. And because the world loved religious power more than divine truth, they followed the beast and the false prophet to the very moment of their destruction. These two are cast alive into a lake of fire at the appearing of Christ, because their rebellion is not merely personal—it is structural, systemic, and completed. Their judgment begins before the thousand years because there is nothing more that can be revealed about their character; their deception has reached its fullness, their influence is sealed, and their destiny is fixed. They become the beginning of the final removal of sin’s governance from the universe. Yet Satan himself is not destroyed at that moment, for his role in the full revelation of sin is not yet complete. He is bound by the conditions of a shattered world shattered world, a world reduced to the desolation described in Jeremiah 4. The earth stands in the aftermath of divine judgment, a silent witness to the cost of rebellion. The cities lie without inhabitant, the mountains tremble, the birds have fled, and darkness hovers where once life rejoiced. Satan walks this ruined world not as a master of kingdoms, but as the lonely ruler of death, the architect of his own collapse. His chains are not material, for no physical restraints could bind a fallen seraph; his prison is the earth itself, emptied of life, emptied of voice, emptied of influence. The thousand years serve not to torture him but to reveal him. Every rebellion that ever rose against God ends in the same silence. Every kingdom built on pride collapses into the same dust. Every lie spoken against the character of God ends in the same void. God does not need to destroy Satan's argument in a courtroom; history has destroyed it fully. During the thousand years, the redeemed dwell with Christ in heaven, not as spectators but as participants in the final phase of divine justice. They are given seats in judgment, not to alter verdicts, but to see with perfect clarity the justice of God’s decisions. Every case is opened, every motive laid bare, every deception exposed, and every question answered. Those who were lost are not forgotten, nor are they erased from the memory of those who loved them; they are understood. The pain of earthly separation is not diminished by disinterest but healed by revelation. The redeemed come to see that God withheld nothing, offered everything, labored infinitely, and lost none who could be saved. Love is vindicated, mercy is vindicated, justice is vindicated. Heaven is not merely a place of reward; it is the completion of understanding. No one in the kingdom will ever again ask why. The thousand years complete the work of transforming love into comprehension. At the end of the thousand years, the wicked are raised, not as penitent seekers, but as the unchanged, unrepentant, self-bound servants of the rebellion they embraced. There is no conversion in the resurrection of the lost, only continuation. Character does not change in death; death merely pauses the movement of time while preserving the direction of the heart. The nations gather as they once gathered in life, still bearing the imprint of their loyalties, still drawn to the authority of the one who deceived them. Satan approaches them not as a fallen being but as one who presents himself again as ruler, arguing that the kingdom they behold—New Jerusalem descending from heaven—is an invader upon what they believe to be their world. And though the evidence of their failure stands in the desolation of the earth beneath their feet, they choose him again, proving before all creation that the issue was never misunderstanding, never lack of evidence, never weakness under pressure, but the fixed choice of self-exaltation over the law of love. Then comes the final judgment, when the city is encircled, not in battle, but in testimony. The books are opened once more, not for the saints, but for the lost. They do not deny the truth that is revealed; they see it, they understand it, they feel its righteousness, and they bow not in worship but in acknowledgment. Every knee bows, every tongue confesses, but confession is not conversion. The justice of God shines in unclouded brilliance, and all see that the kingdom stands secure not because God crushed dissent but because truth has fully revealed itself. Only then, when the entire universe stands in complete moral clarity, does fire come down from God out of heaven. This is not an act of rage but of preservation. Sin cannot be permitted to flicker as even a memory of desire. Malachi reveals that the wicked are burned as stubble, leaving neither root nor branch, neither the origin of sin nor its final expressions. Ezekiel 28 is fulfilled, for Satan, the originating root of rebellion, is reduced not to suffering forever, but to eternal nonexistence. He is brought to ashes upon the earth, the most complete demonstration that rebellion carries within itself the seed of its own annihilation. There will be no sorrow in the redeemed as they witness the final end, for sorrow belongs to uncertainty. There will be remembrance, but not regret; memory, but not suffering; identity, but not loss. Love will remain, but without the shadow of pain. And when the fire has done its work, when death and hell, meaning every expression and consequence of sin, are cast into the lake of fire and exist no more, then the universe will breathe with unspeakable clarity. Nothing remains that can corrupt. Nothing remains that can tempt. Nothing remains that can question the goodness of God. Eternity rises not as an extension of time, but as a new creation where existence itself is defined by truth. Sin will never rise again because there will be nothing in the heart of any being that contains even the faint echo of self-exaltation. The controversy is not only ended; it is ended forever. ** When the redeemed stand within the Holy City and the wicked stand outside wicked stand outside its walls, and every being in the universe is gathered in the final convergence of history, there opens before all creation a revelation so complete, so perfect, and so absolute that no being can ever afterward question the goodness of God. This is the moment when Isaiah 40:5 is fulfilled, when the glory of the Lord is revealed, not in part, not in symbol, not in prophetic shadow or sacrificial type, but in full, unfiltered radiance, and all flesh sees it together. This glory is not merely light, nor splendor, nor beauty; it is truth made visible. It is the unveiling of God’s character, the revelation of His ways, His patience, His mercy, His justice, His suffering, His love, and His long endurance in the face of rebellion. It is the comprehensive display of everything He did to save, everything He offered, everything He bore, and everything He restrained for the sake of freedom. Nothing remains hidden. Nothing remains misunderstood. The universe does not merely observe the truth; it perceives it. In that moment, every saved soul is shown the story of their own life in a panoramic unfolding, not for judgment, for their redemption is already sealed, but for understanding. They see how the hand of God moved in childhood, in temptation, in grief, in failure, in joy, in confusion. They see where angels intervened when death was near, where the Spirit whispered when the heart was restless, where the Savior stood when they thought themselves alone. They see how love pursued them when they did not even know they were being sought. They see that every answered prayer, every unanswered prayer, every delay, every closed door, every sorrow permitted, every deliverance granted, was not random but the precise work of eternal wisdom. And the redeemed will weep—not in sorrow—but in awe. They will know they were never unseen, never abandoned, never forgotten. They will know that heaven was nearer to their breath than they ever imagined. Their joy will not be merely the joy of salvation but the joy of understanding love. But the wicked, too, receive the panoramic revelation. Yet what they see is of a different nature, though no less complete. Every moment in which God reached for them rises into view. They see the times they were moved to kindness, the moments their conscience softened, the prayers spoken in fear, the sermons they heard, the warnings they dismissed, the tears of those who pleaded with them, the scriptures they encountered, the providences that blocked their path, the sickness that made them question their life, the tragedies that tried to awaken them to eternity. They see that they were pursued with the same relentless love that pursued the redeemed. They see that no one was ever overlooked. They see that the cross was not an abstraction but a personal call. And they see that every rejection of God’s voice was a deliberate act, not of confusion, but of self-trust and pride. Their condemnation is not imposed; it is recognized. They do not argue. They do not defend themselves. They simply understand. This is the final truth: that God never condemned them; they condemned themselves by refusing the life that was freely offered. The unfallen worlds see this revelation as well—the angels who never sinned, the children of worlds that never fell. And for the first time, they understand the depth of the divine suffering, the cost of free will, the weight of redemption. They see Satan’s rebellion not merely as an event in heaven’s distant past, but as the agonizing grievance it has inflicted upon God for ages. They see Ezekiel 28 fulfilled, where the once-anointed cherub stands exposed before all creation, stripped of the beauty that covered his rebellion. His lies fall apart under the weight of truth. He stands not as a misunderstood revolutionary nor as a tragic figure, but as one who saw the face of God and chose to raise himself above Him. His fall is not seen as necessary justice alone, but as the self-inflicted ruin of a being who could have carried the glory of God like a crown forever. The universe beholds and understands: sin did not need to exist. It was not foreordained. It was chosen.And in that understanding, something happens that seals eternity. The redeemed do not fear sin’s return, nor do they assume it impossible merely because God destroys it. They see that sin has no origin outside the heart that chooses self above love. And having seen its consequences, they recognize that no being who understands love could ever choose self again. The security of eternity is not founded on force, nor control, nor the erasure of memory. It is founded on comprehension. When Malachi 4 is fulfilled, when the wicked become as stubble and are consumed root and branch, the finality of sin is not simply that it is destroyed, but that no desire for it remains anywhere in the universe. Eternity is not held in place by fences but by clarity. There is no fear in heaven because there is no confusion. When the fire falls—not raging from wrath, but descending with the calm inevitability of truth—it consumes what no longer has any place in existence. The wicked do not scream in repentance; they do not long for salvation; they do not seek life. They simply cease. Their end is the natural termination of the path they chose. Death and hell, meaning not places but conditions, are cast into the lake of fire. The fire does not cleanse creation; truth does. The fire simply finalizes what truth has already revealed. And when the last ember fades and the ashes return to nothing, creation stands in a purity that has never before existed, not even at Eden. For Eden was innocence, but the new creation is understanding. Innocence can fall; understanding cannot. ** With the panorama of truth complete and the verdict of reality understood by every conscious being, the distinction between the first judgment and the last becomes radiant in clarity. The first lake of fire, into which the beast and the false prophet were cast at the appearing of Christ, was a judgment upon systems, structures, and organized rebellion. It was the termination of counterfeit worship and the collapse of institutions designed to obscure the knowledge of God. It was not a judgment upon individuals merely, but upon the machinery of deception itself. The beast and the false prophet embodied the culmination of rebellion’s religious expression, and their destruction before the thousand years ensured that never again could humanity or angelic beings be deceived by a counterfeit priesthood. The first lake of fire was the beginning of the removal of false worship from the universe. Yet the second lake of fire is not the same. It is not temporary. It is not partial. It is not selective. It is final. This lake of fire, revealed at the conclusion of the thousand years, is not aimed at systems but at the very existence of sin. The difference is of infinite significance, for in the first lake of fire, God removes deception; in the second, He removes the deceiver and all who have chosen his path. In the first, God destroys the counterfeit voice of religion; in the second, He ends the very capacity of rebellion to ever arise again. The first lake cleans the surface of history. The second cleans the roots of the soul of creation itself. In this final scene, God does not reveal wrath as uncontrolled anger but as the perfect and holy abhorrence of anything that corrupts love. Wrath is not the opposite of mercy. It is the guardian of all that mercy has restored. Wrath is love refusing to allow suffering to exist forever. Wrath is holiness defending the goodness of eternity. Wrath is righteousness ensuring that no sorrow can enter the world to come. The intensity of divine wrath is not the intensity of rage; it is the intensity of purity. It is the blazing certainty that love must be protected. Sin is not burned because God chooses violence; sin is burned because it leaves no other possibility of existence. When holiness confronts unrepentant rebellion, fire is simply what truth becomes. And now the final act unfolds. The fire descends not with noise of chaos but with the final quiet of inevitability, for sin has already died in meaning before it dies in being. The wicked do not curse God as the flames rise; they recognize the righteousness of their end. They acknowledge that life in the presence of divine love would be torment to a heart shaped by self. The lake of fire does not prolong suffering; it ends it. It does not echo pain; it extinguishes it. The wicked are consumed as stubble in the moment of full revelation, leaving neither root nor branch, neither memory of authority nor seed of recurrence. Sin is undone down to the principle that made it possible. As the flames complete their work and the ashes of rebellion settle into silence, a new stillness fills creation. The silence is not empty but full. It is the silence of a completed victory. The silence of a creation in which every being knows with unshakeable certainty that love is the foundation of existence. The silence of a universe in perfect harmony with its Creator. Then God speaks, not to command, but to begin. Creation is not restored to what it was before sin. It is raised into something greater than innocence. Innocence could fall, for innocence had not yet understood. But the eternal kingdom stands upon understanding, upon the comprehensive, lived, seen, and revealed reality of what rebellion is and what love is. The universe will not remain holy because it is prevented from sinning. It will remain holy because it understands God. Eternity is not secured by walls or threats, but by truth so full and so radiant that no heart can ever again desire anything but God. The new earth rises not as an echo of the old, but as the fulfillment of what the old was always meant to become. Life expands without decay. Growth continues without corruption. Knowledge increases without pride. Worship flourishes without compulsion. Identity deepens without rivalry. Joy grows without fear. The redeemed do not forget the story of redemption; they remember it with gratitude so deep that worship becomes the natural expression of existence. They see God not merely as Creator but as Deliverer, Sustainer, Father, Bridegroom, and Eternal Companion. The unfallen worlds, too, grow in the knowledge of God, for eternity is not static. It is becoming. It is unfolding. It is the infinite discovery of love. And never again will the universe question the holiness of God’s wrath or the necessity of the two lakes of fire. The first lake marked the end of deception. The second marked the end of sin itself. And both stand forever as the testimony that love is not fragile, nor passive, nor uncertain. Love is the strongest force in all existence. Love outlasted rebellion. Love endured accusation. Love carried the cross. Love restored the lost. Love purified the universe. Love secured eternity. And love will be all-in-all, forever, world without end. ** In the eternity that follows the final purification of creation, the redeemed awaken to themselves in a fullness of being that could not have existed under the shadow of sin. Identity is not erased but perfected. Memory is not lost but healed. Every scar becomes testimony, but no scar carries pain. The past is known without the sting of regret, for regret belongs to uncertainty, and there is no uncertainty in the kingdom of God. The redeemed remember what was, but they remember it through the gaze of the Lamb who carried them through their story. Every moment of darkness, every season of grief, every struggle, every prayer uttered in the night becomes not a wound but a jewel of understanding. The story of their salvation is not something they recall occasionally; it becomes the foundation of their eternal joy. For those who know what they were saved from know in their being the wonder of what they have been brought into. The resurrection body is not a return to what once was, but the unveiling of what humanity was always destined to be. Strength is not raw power but harmonious vitality. Beauty is not ornament but the radiance of character expressed through form. The limitations of decay are gone, not because the body is no longer physical, but because it has been freed from corruption. The mind does not forget, does not dull, does not tire; understanding grows without frustration. Thought and love and worship align in perfect unity. No redeemed soul questions whether they belong, for belonging is written into the structure of eternity. Every life finds its true meaning not in comparison with others but in the unique reflection of God they were designed to reveal. Memory does not fade because memory is the foundation of the eternal bond between God and His people. Without memory, love could not be chosen; without memory, worship could not be truthful; without memory, eternity would not be rooted in reality. The redeemed do not fear the remembrance of sin, for sin no longer threatens. God remembering sin no more means there is never again any debt against the redeemed. They remember that rebellion was real, but they also remember how God overcame it. That memory becomes their eternal strength. It is the assurance that the universe stands forever on the side of love, not by force but by understanding. And because all remember, sin can never return. The redeemed are not idle in eternity. They are ambassadors of the character of God throughout a creation that continues to unfold in glory. The new earth becomes the capital of a universe restored, the place where the throne of God and the Lamb dwells among His people. From this world, the redeemed journey throughout the unfallen worlds, not as conquerors, but as living witnesses of the faithfulness of God. The story of redemption becomes the eternal education of creation. The cross becomes the center of thought, the heart of song, the foundation of meaning. The redeemed speak not of what they have earned but of what they received, not of their endurance but of God’s faithfulness, not of their victory but of grace’s triumph over all. Their testimony becomes the language of the universe. Worship in eternity is not confined to moments. It is the natural state of existence when existence is aligned with love. There are times of gathering when the redeemed join in uncountable number around the throne, their voices rising in harmonies not yet imagined by any earthly ear. But worship is also found in work, in discovery, in fellowship, in thought, in song, in the movement of living itself. Every act is worship because every act proceeds from a heart fully at peace. Meaning is no longer sought; it is lived. Joy is no longer chased; it is breathed. The new earth is alive in ways Eden only foreshadowed. Life grows without threat of decay or disease. Every field sings with the presence of God. Rivers flow without scarcity. The trees yield fruit without season. There is no fear of loss, no shadow of night, no memory of dread. The city shines not because of gold or jasper, but because God is there. Light does not merely illuminate; it is the environment in which existence takes place. The Lamb is the everlasting Sun. And the redeemed walk in that light without barrier, without veil, without distance. In this eternal communion, love matures forever. Relationships do not stagnate; they deepen without wound. Families are reunited, but their unity is not based on earthly roles but on the sacred bond of having been redeemed by the same Savior. Friendships bloom in infinite variety. The redeemed recognize that every soul was created to reveal a unique facet of the glory of God, and eternity becomes the ever-expanding discovery of one another in the presence of God. No one is lost in the multitude, and no one stands alone. Community becomes the natural expression of existence. And at the center of eternity stands the Lamb. His scars remain, not as wounds but as the eternal testimony of love proven. The nail prints do not speak of suffering now, but of identity. They are the everlasting covenant engraved into the being of God Himself. The redeemed gather around Him not because they are commanded, but because they love Him. And love in eternity has no fear, no hesitation, no doubt. It is whole. The memory of sin remains only as the revelation of what love has overcome. The two lakes of fire stand forever as the demonstration that God did not merely forgive sin; He removed it. He did not merely limit rebellion; He ended it. He did not merely restrain suffering; He eliminated its possibility. And in that final act, the holiness of God and the joy of His people became inseparable forever. ** Yet though the lake burned with an intensity beyond any human imagining, its heat did not speak of divine cruelty. It spoke of divine honesty. Fire is the most truthful of all elements. It does not flatter. It does not negotiate. It does not alter its nature to spare what cannot endure. And in that final conflagration, as the wicked and the fallen powers reaped the harvest of their own choices, the fire bore witness to the uncompromising holiness of God, the God who had spent all eternity giving, calling, pleading, healing, restoring, rescuing. Those who perished did not perish because God was unwilling to forgive them, but because they could not tolerate the life of love He offered. The life of love was joy to the redeemed but torment to the rebellious, and so the fire, in the end, was only the outward expression of an inward truth that had already long been chosen. Their destruction was not God turning against them. It was the final unfolding of what they themselves had become. This is why the righteous, though they wept, did not accuse God. For each soul, every moment of their life was opened like a book, as Isaiah said: “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together”. Nothing was hidden. Nothing was excused away. The righteous reviewed each providence of mercy, each whispered call of conscience, each rescue from unseen danger, each moment when God had stood near them in joy and in grief. They saw with clarity how every moment of their journey had been shaped by a Love that never once withdrew Its hand. And the wicked saw the same truth, but without agreement. They too saw the Love that had pursued them, but their hearts recoiled instead of confessing. The fire did not harden them. They were hardened before they entered it. And in the final collapse of Babylon’s pride, in the final silence of Satan’s accusations, in the last breath of rebellion, something remarkable was revealed: the fire did not merely consume. It purified. Not the wicked, for they could not bear redemption, but creation itself. For the lake of fire, like the fire of Malachi’s furnace, did not rage only to destroy. It raged to refine. The elements themselves melted, releasing every scar of sin’s distortion. The earth, which had groaned under the burden of corruption, was being cleansed down to its foundations. The very atoms of existence were being reset, renewed, made young again. The fire that consumed the final imprint of sin became the womb of new creation. And so it may be said with deep reverence: the flames of the lake of fire did not only end what was wicked; they fueled the birth of what would forever be holy. From what seemed an ending came a beginning. From ruin came renewal. Just as a forest, once burned, births richer soil and seed, so the fire that ended the old world prepared the way for the new. The fire did not create the new earth, but it cleared a space so the voice of God could say again, as in the beginning, “Behold, I make all things new.” For sin had not merely caused moral disorder. It had infiltrated matter itself. Every tree, every shore, every wind, every star nearest to this fallen sphere had tasted corruption’s breath. And so the lake of fire was not vengeance without purpose. It was the Great Physician cauterizing the wound of the universe. It was holiness removing the infection once and for all. It was love, refusing to allow suffering to live forever. The final fire did not destroy love. It revealed what love really is. It is here, when the flames at last settle into silence, that the redeemed step forward upon the renewed ground of the earth made young again. No ash remains to accuse memory. No shadow lingers to haunt. No echo of the serpent's voice can be heard. And the universe, once wounded, breathes. We may continue from here into the unveiling of the new creation, the joy of eternal purpose, and the intimacy of the redeemed with the Lamb. *** *** At the closing of human probation, the panorama of God’s providential care and man’s response is laid bare before the universe. From the foundations of creation, the Lord’s plan had been a tapestry of mercy, justice, and opportunity, each thread representing the freedom of the creature to accept or reject His will. Papal Rome and the apostate Protestant churches, embodiments of spiritual corruption, had for centuries led multitudes into error, each bearing a weight of responsibility as those who deceived others, knowingly or willfully, fell under the same judgment they imposed upon their followers. Yet even as they exercised dominion and influenced nations, their transgressions were never outside the scope of God’s deliberate and infinitely wise governance. Every falsehood, every perversion of divine truth, every idol erected in hearts and nations, was contained within a framework every idol erected in hearts & nations that ultimately served the full revelation of God’s character and His triumph over sin. In the final scenes, Revelation 19 illuminates the precision with which justice is executed: the beast and the false prophet, representative of these corrupted religious powers, are seized and cast alive into a lake of fire, an “a lake of fire” that inaugurates the thousand-year reign of Christ in heaven, the period in which the saints rest in the fulfillment of God’s promises and reflect upon His unwavering faithfulness. The swiftness and decisiveness of their punishment bear no hint of caprice, for every opportunity for repentance had long since been afforded and refused. The flames that consume the agents of deception do not burn merely in wrath, but as instruments of divine purity, separating and confining the corruption that sought to taint creation, a visual testament to the holiness that abhors sin with infinite intensity. During the thousand-year reign, Satan is loosed upon a world that lies devoid of life, wandering in futility across a desolate earth. Jeremiah’s vision of desolation mirrors this cosmic desolation, as the tempter, once exalted, now wanders, revealing the utter collapse of all schemes that opposed God. Ezekiel’s lament over the King of Tyre finds its fulfillment in this moment: the exalted cherub, crafted in beauty and wisdom, whose pride brought ruin, now sees the consequence of rebellion in vivid reality. He attempts once again to prove his lies, to excite defiance in the hearts of those bound in the tomb, but time itself has been seized by God, and every stratagem fails under the weight of divine sovereignty. Meanwhile, the saints, shielded in heaven, review in panoramic clarity every instance in which God’s providence worked for their salvation, and every temptation overcome becomes a jewel in the tapestry of eternal victory. The unfallen and the redeemed behold the glory of God’s wisdom, seeing that the timeline of sin, rebellion, and restoration was never chaotic but a determinate unfolding of justice and mercy. Every spark of human pride, every turn from truth, every defiance of divine law, had been accounted for, and the reflection of these truths deepens the awe and joy of the saved, who witness the totality of God’s unerring plan. As the thousand years draw to a close, Revelation 20 portrays the resurrection of the wicked, whose names are absent from the book of life. They rise to face the judgment that reveals the panoramic truth of their existence: every moment in which God’s grace beckoned and every refusal thereof is laid bare, and the horror of sin’s rebellion becomes unmistakably evident. Death and hell, united in their finality, yield these souls to the lake of fire, “the lake of fire,” which differs in intensity and permanence from the earlier lake of fire that consumed the beast and false prophet. The first lake, immediate and targeted, confines the specific agents of deception; the second, eternal and total, engulfs the full manifestation of sin and rebellion, demonstrating that the ultimate purpose of God’s wrath is not mere punishment but the total obliteration of all that would corrupt creation. The flames of this lake are instruments of refinement, burning with the power to destroy sin utterly while also purifying the very fabric of the universe, clearing the way for the newness of things. Nothing that bore the stain of rebellion, pride, or falsehood remains; the cosmos, freed from every trace of sin, becomes a vessel prepared to reflect the unending radiance of God’s glory. Throughout this final judgment, the contrast between Papal Rome, apostate Protestantism, and the collective wickedness of humanity is striking. The former two represent organized and deliberate deception, ideological and systemic corruption that misled countless souls, while the latter reflects the universal human propensity toward rebellion when unrestrained by truth. Yet all are subject to the same ultimate law: mercy, opportunity, and warning are afforded, but judgment is sure when the rejection is final. The brilliance of God’s judicial act is revealed not in sorrow, for sorrow implies uncertainty or error, but in resolute justice, the exacting outworking of His eternal plan. Every decision, every act of rebellion, is laid bare in the panoramic review, and the righteous perceive the profound care with which God balances freedom and accountability, opportunity and consequence. Here, Malachi’s vision of the refining fire becomes fully realized: the sun of righteousness rises with healing in His wings, yet for those who have scorned the mercy offered, there is burning, unmitigated, complete. This duality underscores the inevitability of sin’s eradication: justice and mercy coexist, each serving the ultimate goal of God’s creation—an existence entirely free from the corruption that once sought to distort it. Satan’s final consignment follows, an act both judicially solemn and cosmically revealing. After the thousand years, he is released from his wandering, only to be led into the eternal lake of fire. Here, the unfallen, the redeemed, and the universe witness the finality of rebellion, a revelation that echoes Isaiah’s pronouncement: every eye shall see the glory of God, and all flesh shall witness the purification of creation. The former prince of heaven, once the model of perfection, now suffers the consequence of pride and envy, the culmination of Ezekiel’s lament, and the eternal lesson that no creature, however exalted, can usurp the sovereign will of God. The flames that engulf him are not vindictive in a human sense but carry the essence of divine holiness, the fullness of God’s abhorrence of corruption, and the refinement necessary to make way for the totality of creation’s newness. This final act demonstrates that God’s wrath is never arbitrary; it is integrally tied to the restoration of all that is good, true, and unblemished. From this cosmic panorama emerges the profound truth of eternal restoration. Every being and every event has contributed to a universal understanding of divine justice and mercy. The lakes of fire, while instruments of destruction, are simultaneously the furnaces of refinement; the end of sin is the genesis of a universe untainted by rebellion. The redeemed, having observed the fullness of God’s providential plan, enter into eternity with unbroken hearts, understanding the brilliance of God’s counsel in providing opportunity, enforcing accountability, and ultimately restoring the cosmos to a state of perfection. The new heavens and new earth, purified and vibrant, reflect the fruits of the divine orchestration, and the narrative of sin, judgment, and redemption becomes a testament not only to what was destroyed but to what has been gloriously renewed. The entirety of this plan—from the first rebellion in heaven, through the rise of Papal Rome, apostate Protestantism, and human wickedness, to the final execution of judgment—is an exposition of God’s infinite wisdom, an eternal declaration that sin’s dominion is forever ended, and that the universe is now prepared for unbroken communion with its Creator, where the brilliance of holiness illuminates all and no shadow of corruption remains. ____________________________________________________________ At the close of time, when the final moments of human probation draw to their ordained conclusion, the panorama of divine justice and mercy is fully revealed to all created beings. From the very foundation of the universe, God’s plan was meticulously orchestrated, balancing infinite love with perfect justice, and granting every soul a complete opportunity to choose life or death, obedience or rebellion. Papal Rome and the apostate Protestant churches emerge in this narrative as stark embodiments of systemic deception, powers that for centuries guided multitudes away from the truth. Papal Rome, through centuries of doctrinal corruption, political entanglement, and persecution of the faithful, misled nations and enmeshed entire populations in spiritual darkness. Apostate Protestantism, though born of reformative zeal, compromised truth through worldliness, doctrinal distortion, and the abandonment of the prophetic warnings given to God’s people. Together, these two great religious powers represent concentrated forces of spiritual corruption, but they are only part of the broader landscape of human rebellion, for all the nations and peoples who have embraced sin and rejected the light are accountable to the same unchanging law of God. Each choice, each act of deception, each deliberate turning from God’s mercy is recorded in the books of heaven, preserved with infinite accuracy, awaiting the time when the totality of each life’s decisions will be revealed before the universe. Revelation 19 unfolds the first act of judgment upon these corrupted powers, portraying the beast and the false prophet cast alive into “a lake of fire.” Here, the lake of fire is specific, judicially precise, a manifestation of divine wrath contained within holiness, an instrument to remove the agents of organized deception from the theater of human history. The purpose is not arbitrary vengeance, but the protection of truth and the purity of God’s plan. The saints, seated with Christ in His heavenly kingdom during the thousand-year reign, witness the immediate and decisive execution of justice. Every deception, every lie propagated through centuries, is seen as it truly is, and the brilliance of God’s counsel in permitting, limiting, and ultimately condemning these powers becomes a source of praise, for even in the removal of evil, the purpose of redemption is displayed with clarity. The flames of the lake of fire are instruments of purification as well as punishment, burning away that which cannot be reconciled to holiness, preparing the cosmos for the era of perfect peace. There is no sorrow in heaven for the punishment of the wicked; sorrow implies imperfection or doubt, and God’s law and justice are flawless. Every opportunity for repentance has been granted and refused, and the finality of judgment reveals the wisdom and perfection of God’s eternal plan. During the thousand-year reign of Christ, Satan is bound not in the lake of fire but upon the desolate earth, wandering amidst ruin and confusion, powerless to deceive but fully aware of the ultimate futility of rebellion. Jeremiah’s prophecy of desolation finds its fulfillment in this moment, as the tempter experiences the full impotence of his efforts and the desolation his lies have wrought. Ezekiel’s lamentation over the King of Tyre, once exalted in beauty and wisdom yet corrupted by pride, is seen enacted in the wandering of Satan; the universe witnesses the tragic results of arrogance and rebellion, and the contrast between his former splendor and his current impotence underscores the magnitude of God’s justice. Meanwhile, the redeemed in heaven review the entirety of human history from creation onward, observing the interplay of divine providence, human choice, and the outcomes of obedience or rebellion. The righteous behold each moment in which God’s providence guided, protected, and provided, every act of grace extended to humanity, and every refusal of that grace. The panoramic vision of Isaiah 40 comes alive, as all flesh witnesses the glory of God and every event is displayed in the full light of truth. This review deepens the understanding and joy of the saints, who perceive not only the faithfulness of God but also the inexhaustible wisdom by which He governs the universe, balancing freedom with accountability, mercy with justice, and opportunity with consequence. As the thousand years draw to a close, the scene shifts to the resurrection of the wicked dead, those whose names are absent from the book of life. Revelation 20 portrays the final judgment in which death and hell yield their captives, and the full measure of God’s justice is made manifest. These souls rise to witness their own histories, seeing every moment where they rejected divine guidance, ignored the pleading of conscience, and embraced sin and rebellion. The lake of fire, “the lake of fire,” awaits them, a vastly different manifestation from the first lake, not immediate and selective but eternal and comprehensive. It is here that sin meets its ultimate end, and its corruption is permanently removed from the universe. The intensity of God’s wrath, contained within His holiness and righteousness, abhors the stain of sin, and the flames of this lake serve both as instruments of destruction and as agents of cosmic refinement, burning away the remnants of rebellion and corruption while paving the way for the restoration of perfect order. Nothing that bears the taint of sin can remain, and the universe is thus purified for the eternal communion of the redeemed. This second lake, in contrast to the first, demonstrates the inexorability of God’s law: the agents of deception are punished at the outset of the millennium, and the collective wickedness of humanity and Satan himself meet their ultimate doom at the conclusion, revealing the full temporal and eternal consequences of rebellion. The contrast between Papal Rome, apostate Protestantism, and the collective human wickedness is stark and instructive. The religious powers exemplify organized deception, intentional perversion of truth, and leadership that misleads the masses, while the general wickedness of humanity reflects the pervasive tendencies of pride, greed, and rebellion in individual hearts. Yet all are equally subject to God’s law, and all are accounted for in His judicial plan. Malachi 4’s prophecy becomes vividly realized as the sun of righteousness arises with healing for the faithful and refining fire for those who have rejected the covenant. The duality of the two lakes of fire underscores the meticulous design of God’s providence: first, the targeted removal of those who led others into error, and second, the comprehensive destruction of sin in its entirety. In this way, the brilliance of God’s counsel is revealed, for nothing is lost, nothing is wasted, and all events are instruments in the manifestation of His justice, mercy, and omnipotent wisdom. Satan’s ultimate consignment follows, after the resurrection and judgment of all wicked, when he is cast into the eternal lake of fire alongside the devilish forces that rebelled against God. This final act is judicially solemn yet free of sorrow, for every chance for repentance has passed and the universe now witnesses the perfection of God’s law enforced. The flames that consume Satan and his cohorts are both destructive and purifying, obliterating sin entirely and serving as the refining fire that enables creation to enter its intended state of perfection. Ezekiel 28’s lamentation over the pride and fall of the anointed cherub reaches its ultimate conclusion here, and the cosmic narrative demonstrates the consistency of divine justice across angelic and human realms. The universe observes the finality of rebellion, the certainty of God’s promises, and the brilliance with which He maintains order, justice, and holiness. Nothing that once bore the stain of sin remains, and the foundation is laid for the new heavens and the new earth, purified and vibrant, prepared to sustain life without corruption, error, or rebellion. Throughout this cosmic unfolding, the flames of the lakes of fire serve not merely to destroy but to refine, to remove all remnants of corruption and prepare the cosmos for eternal communion with its Creator. The refinement of creation is achieved through the total eradication of sin and rebellion; the brilliance of the divine plan shines in the clarity with which justice is executed and mercy is displayed. Every event, from the rise of Papal Rome to the apostate Protestant movements, to the widespread rebellion of humanity, is incorporated into a panorama that demonstrates God’s providential control, His wisdom, and the perfection of His justice. The redeemed behold these acts with understanding and joy, witnessing the ultimate consequence of disobedience and the glory of obedience fulfilled. Every moment in history, every act of deception, every choice of rebellion, serves to illuminate the magnificence of God’s plan and the inevitability of His triumph. Finally, the universe enters into a state where the newness of things, purified and radiant, stands as the permanent reflection of God’s glory. The totality of sin’s dominion has ended; the agents of deception have been removed, the wicked have been judged, and Satan himself lies powerless, confined to the eternal lake of fire. The redeemed now exist in unbroken communion with God, free from temptation, corruption, and sin, and the entirety of creation participates in the restoration of God’s original intent. The judicial brilliance, the holiness of the divine wrath, the perfection of God’s mercy, and the meticulous orchestration of providence reveal a cosmos transformed by the interplay of justice and redemption. The panoramic review that began in the heavenly throne room and extended to every soul now reaches completion, and the universe stands as a testament to the truth that sin’s dominion is forever ended, that rebellion is utterly destroyed, and that the brilliance of God’s eternal plan has been fulfilled in full. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

We Know Not the Time or the Way… The beginning of sorrows is now. Global persecution and danger are found worldwide. Universal mourning is prevalent among all of God’s people. How are God’s watchmen to convey the timing and the methods that will so desolate humanity as to erase all identifying differences except that of the godless who continue in their opposition to God and are purged at his coming or the faithful watching for his return. Knowing the time is not the objective of our studies. Our objective must be our readiness. This can only be accomplished in our clinging to every word of God. National security, emerging diseases, global governance, racial crisis, will seem as meager matters compared to the besetting demonic conditions to be imposed upon the human race. The horrors of war and famine will display the depravity of mankind. The purpose…to reveal the character and corruption of the influence that Satan has upon those who utter hatred for God. We must now compare the prophetic accounts and get the fullest picture of reality that we have clear commentary as the book comes to a close. There will be an awful torment to be experienced. Most targeted by the world and by the enemy will be those that God has ordained to accomplish His purposes through His calling. The timing is settling around the abomination. It is the way that the events will present themselves that will overwhelmingly surprise us. We offer no speculation. God will reveal to His as the more time we spend with God, the more teachable we become concerning Him and the more truth we discover about God, the more profound He becomes to us and the more we seek to maintain a biblical balance between looking forward to his coming and living in holiness in the present, the more we bring glory to our God. winepress Life experiences will approach unto such spiritual calamity as to deeply empty the soul. The valley of sorrow will see the end of human strength as the trials, the troubles eat away spiritual self-confidence. The only hope will come from knowing and depending on God alone. We must be sufficiently advanced in grace to be ready to behold the mysteries of the time and the agony of the ways of the winepress. There will be an inner chamber of grief shut out from human knowledge. It would not be possible for any believer, however experienced, to know for himself all the mental suffering and hellish malice to be set forth. We will surely drink of the master’s cup and be baptized with his baptism. We will know unutterable woe. In enduring the immersing into sorrow’s depths, we will be driven to the very verge of distraction by the intensity of our anguish. Grief will be of a most extraordinary character. No sorrow like this sorrow has been since the will of Jesus was tried in the garden. Wisdom itself rebukes us with the question, can we understand the ways of agonies upon us? We cannot do more than look at the revealed causes of grief as we fully comprehend the meaning of sin and see it as a thing exceeding sinful. It is as though the shadows of death cover us. This is not the wrath of God that is determined upon the wicked. This is the trial of faith for the redeemed who will have not the desire to sleep in the grave. This time, these ways are sin in its natural blackness. But oh, thank God for the thought that at this hour our spirits may be encouraged as heaven is looking upon us. The foresight of the trials will not match the grievousness of the trials. This, ere we pass from the contemplation. We know this is but the shallow streams of sorrow—ahead of the buffeting with the swellings of Jordan. It is not possible for us to lift the veil of what revelation will permit to fall, but we can form some faint idea because of the hate speech, hate crimes, ethnic violence, and wars seen today. Hate is the mantra of our time. The bible foretells us of this…the love of many shall wax cold…perilous times shall come, without natural affection, fierce despisers. The level of hatred today reflects the malicious and wicked influence of Satan the Devil upon the minds of many. There is a purposed reason revealed why God says, “Esau I hate.” God hates wickedness…their thoughts, their evil ways, their pretended worship, the seduction of God’s people. Wickedness is first a mark of the deepest rebellion against God and against His law. Because these sinful people cannot storm the gates of heaven to dethrone and destroy God Himself, they turn on what is dearest to Him and nearest to His image. And so, they act out their wickedness against other people. They hurt them, harm them, main them, and will kill them. Every attempt will be put forth to put us to shame. We will be brought low becoming a prey to death because of our faith in every word of God. God hates the wicked because their wickedness is expressed particularly against God’s elect. Wicked people turn their fury against God’s people, mocking them, persecuting them, putting them to death. God’s people choose not to hate those who hate them. The enemy will find nothing in us that fouls the character. We will not be alone. Heaven is with us. Angels of God will be sent to attend us. May we pause for consideration of God’s calling His election for purpose. God must allow the enemy’s request to move forward less there be any question to His fairness. There must never be any casualness or disregard to our studying the word of God. We are to prove the strength of the atonement of Jesus. As stars of God, the light given us of His glory must never be quenched. We must do our all to fill the courts of heaven with choristers of God. As we are smitten, others will be gathered. Recall how Jesus was beheld as the only begotten of the Father. This does not mean that Christ was like the only-begotten of the Father…He is really so. And as we are the purposed election called and chosen by God, we are not just an expression in the bible, not a mere likeness to a thing, but the very thing itself. In the darkest of times, in every way of trial and trouble, we will be that very better thing. We will be the faith of Jesus. This is the phenomenon of the revelation of the mystery. We will be unrivalled as a people of God. As Christ proved the mighty power of his love in great drops of blood, the very observation of our faith will show the nourishing of the Spirit in our inner being as we pass through the trials. This will be our lot, and this we are to teach others. This is not something we seek. Therefore, our unceasing prayer, our prayer in loneliness, is “Lord, in the power of your word, help me through this thing…for your name’s sake.” This is the sword in our solitude. This is God exalting us in due time. This is our stronghold in the day of trial as we are confident to plead our adoption. This is our faith in our Intercessor. The events we know. The time we know not. The ways we know not, but his advent we know of a certainty…therein is our hope needed for the terrific struggle upon us. Herein is our victory in the battle. His enduring suffering and choiced death bears record that atonement was made not only at the cross. For this purpose the restraints upon the enemy are loosened. The enemies of God will be allowed to touch our bones, our flesh, their fiendish energies will be united…but our heart…our soul…our spirit…We will face in each one conflict all that craft could invent, all that malice could devise, all that infernal practice could suggest. We will face the devil in the form of men. It is quite likely that many of God’s people will die in the final days before the close of probation. Some will come to this time and loose something else. One of the most serious losses to affect some of the professed people of God will a loss of trust. How could a person spend all that time with Jesus and still be willing to betray Him? Because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that He will deliver to each of us. God gives us truth teachings that are revealed so that as we meet them, we shall know that we have felt them, because we will feel them deeply and keenly and pervasively. The way of these trials will be so exquisite and so severe. We are not forgotten, never forsaken. For the sake of righteousness, to endure, to be patient in the midst of affliction, in the midst of being misunderstood, and in the midst of suffering - that is being purposed by determination to be called as God’s chosen to display His great love and electing grace, He chose us, and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, is transforming the thoughts and actions of His people now and to become. Ultimately, all of God's purpose in election is done to the praise of His glorious grace. We show His love even when there is no reciprocity. It is hard doctrine, but we will be tried in all things being prepared for the worthiness of the kingdom. It is the trial of our faith that will write our true witness. It is the leaving us in this world, even though we are not of it, for a moment that prepares us for the better world. His will will be done in, by, for, and through us. Every seemingly unconnected past moment, as we look back, take form and pattern. For there is in each of our lives this kind of divine design, this pattern, this pattern this purpose that is in the process of becoming, which is continually before the Lord but which for us, looking forward, is sometimes perplexing. Do nothing to escape the calling that comes to us. The reality of the purpose will be revealed in the truths studied for approval. The adversary will press particularly in the areas of our vulnerabilities. Let this not take us unaware. Think not that our lot is so hard or that when we feel our selves misunderstood, that it is right for us to indulge ourselves in feeling some self- pity. There will be times when the enemies of God darken the light with false coverings…so much the better for God. We will fight in the shade! We must be ready to fight in the shade of circumstance. One of the ways we can have perspective that will permit us to fight in the shade of circumstances is to study the scriptures and have involvement - intellectually and spiritually. We may know and understand that God is totally serious about His purpose to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His election. That His chief concerns are but for the growth of souls, the celestializing of the souls with whom He purposed by election. Brothers and sisters, we discern that something special is happening in our lives but are not able to sort it out with sufficient precision and clarity that we can articulate it to someone else. That is so often the truth of the gospel. Its truths are too powerful for us to entertain them ceremoniously or as a special event as though they are only truths sometimes. Truths move us beyond personal motivation to purpose for favorable opportunity in significant events during times of trials. This trouble will help many to understand that the truth of God is real, because He is warning all about it now. So why not bypass this time and the atrocious ways that will accompany it. The attitude of the world today makes most obviously why there must be a time of trouble like none other. Satan’s accusations that God is presented as a withholding, untrustworthy being who can hold His creatures in submission only by death threats is to be revealed for the deceptive purposes devised to impress the rebellious human race that freedom is not based on obedience but rather on imagined superiority. The purpose is to cause our standing to be closer to eternity. The existence of God, the character of God, the love of God and the true consequences of sin are etched out powerfully by God's working in history. But remarkably, the lessons are all too often lost on the defiant people who are of disbelief. amnesia The power of the sin illusion is that amnesia sets in quickly and dark minded people use such displays of sin as a power that works as evidence against God. Many say they can’t trust God in the small challenges of life, how will we have confidence in Him in the large things? The punctuated episodes of dreadfulness and conflict throughout history has been allowed by God to potently impact the chaos to come upon the earth. God has patiently blunted the full impact of sin's destructive power. But here finally at the end of time, in ways that will once and for all vindicate the character of God, God must lift the restraint and expose the true reality that is the dark underside of the cosmic rebellion. While this lifting of restraint is an act of divine judgment and revelation, like all manifestations of the wrath of God, there is a component of "letting alone" for those who hold the truth in unrighteousness and are given over to a reprobate mind so that the true principles of God's enemy and the natural outworking of the sin principle are revealed. Then under God’s guidance Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose…a time of trouble in a way that never man could imagine or devise. This will precede the universal close of probation and the rendering of the final plagues. Before it is all over everyone alive will have made a decision about whom they will worship. Everybody is shouldered off the fence by these happenings. Multitudes offer allegiance to the beast creature while a remnant worship the Creator God. As the world polarizes, a stark clarity emerges. The seductive principles that have mesmerized most of the world are revealed as horrific, destructive lies. The trustworthiness of God is vindicated. May I advance this thought? This is to be the greatest time in history to be alive. For God’s people and those who come to Christ will be His elect and very elect. In the face of tribulation, distress, and persecution we are overcomers powered by our faith in the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We will experience an unprecedented sense of purpose during this time. Life will come into focus like never before. The earth will be in complete upheaval. Crucible crisis will recede into nothingness. The one truly important issue…the matter of supreme faithfulness. Who is worthy of our worship? Is Jesus truly Lord or not? Is He Lord of our lives? As during this awful time, we experience His Lordship in new and powerful ways, as the "latter rain" of the Holy Spirit drenches us, and a host of distractions fall away, this will be a time never known before. We will experience profound personal transformation during this time. The purpose of this time goes beyond the unmasking of the heavy blackness of evil and confronts us with the ways in pressure which it has taken root in the hearts of man. We will experience absolute spiritual exhaustion in this prologue to endless joy. For six thousand years, God’s people have known “times of trouble” and “days of distress” would continue to the last days. The scriptures describe the faithful not as those who never saw trouble, but as those who cried out to God in their crises. The believer who worries that they want to escape trials and trouble through death is in danger. They don’t have faith in God to strengthen and protect them even when times are rough before the great time of trouble. Faith can conquer any situation. Faith in God will be tried to the uttermost. Persecution of believers who have this level of faith reflects God’s power, truth, and grace even while being burned at the stake. In the end of time, the strong in Christ will endure the pressure of the beast’s power, the political and religious entity. They are faithful and obedient to the commands of God. As a result, they are recognized specifically as those who suffer for the purpose of revealing God’s glory. The bible emphasizes the terrible conditions during the great tribulation predicted by Daniel and Jesus. These were written as warnings for future generations. They paint a dark, bleak picture for those who will not heed the truth. There is no precedence for the type of situations coming. In the time of the deepest turmoil on earth, God will have a people who demonstrate to the universe staying faithful to God even amid extreme difficulty showing the glorification of God working through us. The bible tells us that Jesus stands up for his people. The bible gives us this powerful allusion to strength, decision, and finality of our Savior. It tells us that Jesus has had enough. This is not a deliverance from the time of trouble but through the time of trouble. We will not escape persecution; we will endure it. There is a people at this time who spue hatred in torrents of flames that are intended for destruction. These are those thinking they are living in peace and safety in this society and are a sensitive narcissistic generation who could care less about God. They are caught unaware when the Lord “stands up.” Because of their subconscious darkness they have no understanding of the time. They are lords of their own nightmares. These unbelievers wrapped up in everyday life apart from God are contrasted with those who stay faithful to God. Our eyes are looking upward. We are covered. The others are looking to nature to save them. We don’t know the time, we don’t know the way. We are tempted to ask when God, when, and how God, how. God wants us to live by discernment - revelation knowledge, not head knowledge. We learn to trust God by going through many experiences that require trust. By seeing God's faithfulness over and over, we let go of trusting ourselves, and we place our trust in Him. We see how timing plays an important part in learning to trust God. The exact timing of His plan will be perfect. The ways of His plan will fulfill His every purpose. We must began to see major fulfillment of what God has called us to do. God’s timing is often a mystery. His trouble has purpose…to fit us for the kingdom. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

Give me scripture... Adam (sinless flesh, no sin in him). Jesus (sinful flesh, no sin in him). We, unlike either the first or the second Adam (sinful flesh, sin in us). To go to heaven we must have the mind of Christ to cease to sin on earth like Christ and we must lose the corruption of the flesh being as like Adam. Tangible evidence says that Jesus’ flesh was changed at the resurrection. Was it as the flesh of Adam before sin? Did sin change the flesh of Adam? No. The flesh of man was changed by the birth through the woman by the seed of the man for neither did the woman have sinful flesh. A transformed body, a spiritual body, a glorified body, a heavenly body, no longer subject to death and decay and corruptibility. It has put on immortality. It is how we are changed at the coming of Christ. Lazarus had not immortality, neither Enoch, Elijah, Moses, or those released from the grave after Jesus’ resurrection. None will without us. The doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential. It is at the very core of the Gospel. The bodily, flesh and bones character of our hope of resurrection or moment of change is emphatic in biblical truth. It is by far the fullest treatment of the believer’s hope of resurrection and glorious transformation to imperishability within the entire bible. Resurrection is an event in which the present body is sown, but a body distinct from the present body is raised. There is this affirmation that the present body will be “changed” and “clothed” of necessity implying its revivification and enhancement. Predicate complements describe a change of quality rather than of substance, in which what was once perishable, dishonored, weak, and mortal is endowed with imperishability, glory, power, and immortality. Two contrasting modes of existence of the same body, one prior to, and the other subsequent to the resurrection, the change. A spiritual body refers to a body composed of spirit, distinct from the body of flesh. The first Adam was made a living soul, such a being as ourselves, and with a power of propagating such beings as himself, and conveying to them a natured body like his own, but none other, nor better. The second Adam is a quickening Spirit; he is the resurrection and the life. The first man was of the earth, made out of the earth, and was earthy; his body was fitted to the region of his abode: but the second Adam is the Lord from heaven; he who came down from heaven, and giveth life to the world; he who came down from heaven and was in heaven at the same time; the Lord of heaven and earth. If the first Adam could communicate to us natural and animal bodies, cannot the second Adam make our bodies spiritual ones? If the deputed lord of this lower creation could do the one, cannot the Lord from heaven, the Lord of heaven and earth, do the other? We must first have natural bodies from the first Adam before we can have spiritual bodies from the second; we must bear the image of the earthy before we can bear the image of the heavenly. Such is the established order of Providence. We must have weak, frail, mortal bodies by descent from the first Adam, before we can have lively, spiritual, and immortal ones by the quickening power of the second. We must die before we can live to die no more. Yet if we are Christ's, true believers in him for this whole discourse relates to the resurrection of the faithful, it is as certain that we shall have spiritual bodies as it is now that we have natural or animal ones. By these we are as the first Adam, earthy, we bear his image; by those we shall be as the second Adam, have bodies like his own, heavenly, and so bear his image. And we are as certainly intended to bear the one as we have borne the other. As surely therefore as we have had natural bodies, we shall have spiritual ones. The dead in Christ shall not only rise, but shall rise thus gloriously changed. Does scriptural context describes the composition of the future body, as a body composed solely of spirit? Spiritual body does not refer to a body composed of spirit, but to the fleshly body endowed with imperishable life by the power of the Spirit. What raised up Jesus? Who gives to us the earnest of the spirit? Was Jesus a spirit? Can this change be beyond our view of reality? It is very important that we understand that Jesus is God. It takes God in the Person of Jesus to save us. Jesus is called ‘the Great God and Savior.” We must give tremendous priority to Jesus’ return and his own resurrection from the dead. No matter what it cost; no matter what the obstacles. Remember, the bible truth says, “by any means”. We are resident on earth but our permanent citizenship is in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven, from where we eagerly await our Savior who will transform the body of our humiliation to be like the body of His glory. The reality of truth deserves reasoning. If anyone is not looking forward to the resurrection, to be with God in the place prepared for them, God is ashamed of them. The implications are frightening. These are not ones who die in faith confessing themselves to be strangers. God is not ashamed to be called their God. When is this truth of the new creature to be? Do they have a new name, and wear a new livery, a new heart and new nature? Or is this change the grace of God made in the soul? Old thoughts, old principles, and old practices, are passed away; and all these things must become new. Regenerating grace creates a new world in the soul; all things are new. The renewed man acts from new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. A thought: what inner turmoil, what internal deliberation and confusion do we have about why we have not ceased to sin? Do we doubt as did Thomas? Why are we unbelieving when we have the evidence of a sinless being at creation and at the giving of the Son of God? What separates us from the joy, the wonder of not sinning? Are we as the disciples: opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. Unless our minds are about what has been written about him we will not see the first resurrection, the change. Jesus must be our worship life. The entirety of the scripture points to him. The story of Israel must be stitched to the story of Jesus. The scripture is not spontaneously clear about everything. One needs instruction, something that opens the mind, in order to be able to understand them. It is only after that we learn of Christ how to worship that we worship, trust, are joyful, in the spirit of truth that we come to reverence and bless God. We hear the gospel when it is taught to us. We receive the gospel when we agree with its message and appropriate it for ourselves. We take our stand on the gospel when it becomes the foundation stone of our lives. We are reminded of the gospel with every word that we come to truth in reasoning. Faith must be sustained as it relates to the resurrection. The motivation for the way we live should be the anticipation of the coming of the Lord and the resurrection. No one can force another to readiness; all we can do is make it possible by showing the way. It is a matter of choice. It should make us choose to live differently. We are to tell others all these things. Urge, advise, encourage, warn and rebuke with full authority. Let none of us refrain from teaching truth. We have to be ready for the Lord. We have to be at peace. As much as is humanly possible, live at peace with one another. Note the words “first of all” in the inheritance chapter of the bible. This is the rock of our truth – Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Jesus died for us in keeping with the prophecy of old testament scripture. Note the words of the faith of Job echoing the inheritance chapter,“for I know that my redeemer liveth”. Hope in the coming resurrection. And the prophetic wisdom of Daniel, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”. Faith in the coming resurrection. Seeing Jesus in the flesh after the cross was essential for apostleship. The believing sight of Jesus was greater than the sun at the zenith of the sky, and it caused Saul to be without sight. As we await Christ’s return, our lives should reflect a resurrection mindset. When we think on the resurrection we think on the things of the Spirit. We glorify God. The resurrection matters because when we think on it, it determines what we do. We obey the word of God. Put off sinful patterns. Unbelievers can’t do what God commands. Isn’t that an amazing and stunning thought? Those who don’t have the Holy Spirit, those who are unbelievers, are enslaved to sin. They can’t obey because they lack resurrection life. We sin because often we put our hope in what is passing away instead of what awaits us. To unbelievers: if the truth were to be told, there is much more evil in an unbeliever than these would ever admit. There are secret sins that would embarrass deeply if they were known. Imagine this: imagine a movie screen suddenly came down and all were on the screen. And everyone was able to watch the things of good or evil done in the life. All see those who get angry or commit chosen sin and the thoughts in the heart are open for all to see. Others could read the thoughts, and others see the jealousies felt when someone or something betters them. The bitterness and resentment felt is devastating. Now believers have just as much to be embarrassed about. Believers have practiced evil as well, but through love, faith, obedience, and repentance have found forgiveness in Jesus Christ. A resurrection mindset leads to holiness. We can have that mindset because God has made known to us a glorious mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”. The mortal body is not the whole story. The Spirit in us is life because of righteousness. Now that is a strange phrase. The Spirit is life because of righteousness. Only because we belong to Christ can we be brought to eternal life. Bodies that were dead, bodies that are alive will be changed. But only for those who are righteous. Only for those who have the Holy Spirit. Our sins separate us from God. So, we aren’t righteous because of our own goodness. None of us can earn such life by obeying since God demands perfection. We need the righteousness and goodness of another. And this is where Jesus Christ comes in. He always did the Father’s will. He was the only perfect human being. And yet Jesus was crucified on a cross and suffered. Why did he suffer? Because of his great love for human beings. For our sake and for our salvation he bore our sins on the tree. The punishment we deserved was poured out on him. He absorbed the wrath of God that we should have experienced. But that wasn’t the end of the story. God was pleased with his Son’s obedience and raised him from the dead, showing that the sacrifice on our behalf was accepted. If we trust in him, if we believe in him, if we give our lives to him, then we become his children. We put our lives in his hands, and he gives us his righteousness and his life. And because he lives, we will live forever and ever and ever. And when we see Jesus on the day of our change, the day of the righteous dead’s resurrection, we will understand in a way that we don’t now, why God made us. For then we will see the King in his beauty. What means this resurrection mindset is so significant? Let’s embrace the truthfulness of the bible’s claims. Our access to the resurrection of Jesus is really no different than the access we have to nearly all historical events: we access historical events through the witnesses that were present and the testimony of written records provided. Resurrection is a historical claim that everyone must face to their own salvation or their everlasting condemnation. It’s not something that can be ignored. It’s not just a religious idea...not a mythological story. Jesus’ resurrection means that God is faithful to his word. Jesus’ resurrection means that Jesus himself is righteous. Death is God’s judicial response to sin. Jesus’ resurrection means that Jesus’ people are forgiven and declared righteous when they believe and accept all his acts of grace and mercy. When Christ bore our sin on the cross, he created a value of grace and righteousness that changes the lives of those who have faith in every word of God. The cross of Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Jesus’ resurrection means that his people are free to live for God. In other words, there’s an objective, historical reality: Christ died and was raised from the dead. But then there’s also a mysterious union between Christ and his people, such that what happens to Christ in the past makes necessary what happens to his people as they’re united to him by faith in their own lifetime. Christ’s historical resurrection transforms our present experience when we believe in him. Fear moves to love, despair to joy. Our worth to God is confirmed. Compelled to be better in hopes of seeing loved ones together with God. Because he still lives to God, his people can live to God. When we’re united to Christ, moral transformation occurs. Jesus’ resurrection means that our resurrection is “already and not yet.” Jesus’ resurrection means that God’s new creation is also “already and not yet.” Jesus’ resurrection is the inauguration of that new creation. By rising from the dead, Jesus becomes the new and final Adam who establishes a new humanity dominated by the Holy Spirit. That has personal dimensions: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”. It also has cosmic dimensions: “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God”. So, we’ve already entered the new creation as believers in the reality of faith, and we’re also waiting for the new-creation fullness. Jesus’ resurrection means that he will come again to judge the world. His resurrection does not allow us to approach him neutrally. It’s not something that we believers commit ourselves to as a way of merely easing our troubled conscience. It’s not something that we can just keep to ourselves, as if it helps us to get through life personally but really has no bearing on any others. Rather, Jesus’ resurrection says that all are accountable to him, and that means that everything about our lives matters. History is not the past for God’s people as it is for the world. For people who believe in God, "history" isn't just a collection of past events. It is a narrative actively shaped by God's hand, where past events are seen as part of a larger, ongoing story of God's plan and redemption, allowing us to learn and grow from the past in a way that transcends simply remembering it as a detached sequence of occurrences. We are come to the providence of God in His purposes through us where even seemingly negative events contribute to a greater good. We glean spiritual lessons and insights into God's spirit and truth through Jesus’ character and encounters. We see historical events as a powerful symbol of God's faithfulness and deliverance, offering hope and encouragement for the difficulties that we must face. There is a glory to follow all our sufferings and trials. And there are others who desire to look into the workings of the Holy Spirit in God’s people teaching the gospel. Even the righteous angels long to know more of the resurrection. God's sovereign rule over history is absolute and perfectly righteous. And because God is the author of every moment, history as a form of knowledge is objective without being impersonal - yet personal without being arbitrary or unpredictable. Because of history we have divine revelation to go back to the beginning to see what went wrong and we know about the rest of the world. And the beginning may bring greater understanding to God’s work. Consider the heavens declaring the glory of God and showing His handiwork. There is a unique and precise celestial sign of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those who study will appreciate the evidence found as you study to show yourself approved. Without debate, the book of Job, written as God's message is that phenomena of nature to show God's greatness and man's weakness. God shows Job a glimpse of the universe's complexity. God also asks Job to trust in his wisdom and character. The stars presented a sign of the birth of Jesus. I dare not deprive a people of God from acquiring the depth of wisdom associated with “truths” discovery. The heavens testifies of the greatest event in history, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. By what source did Enoch prophesy? Of the prophecy of Enoch we have no mention made in any other place of scripture; yet now it is scripture that there was such prophecy. One plain text of scripture is proof enough of any one point that we are required to believe, especially when relating to a matter of fact; but in matters of faith, necessary saving faith, we are tried. The bible tells us of Christ's coming to judgment that we might receive and acknowledge truth. We are told for what great and awful ends and purposes he will come. Enoch, showing as also will the 144000, prophesied the resurrection...”behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints”. Signs in the heavens...what did God reveal to Abraham. “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” There is a reason that God preserved the ancient stars positions by His divine hand that we too might have witness to His power. God will use signs in the heavens to signal the beginning of His intervention to punish humanity for our sins – and to rescue us from self-destruction before the great and terrible day of the Lord. The sixth seal offers a prelude. Thoughts of the resurrection reveals mystery truths of God. We are informed how truth and faith affects us. Not despite our past, but, because of it, God has a plan to turn it for a great purpose and a beautiful tomorrow. We must not truncate the gospel by leaving off the culmination of the whole salvation message. There must never be offered a defense for sin. Death is not the end of the book; there is another chapter, and it is called the resurrection. There is no eternal life without resurrection. There is much more to salvation than just eternal life which in itself is wonderful; but the pinnacle of human history is the resurrection. Our salvation can be likened to a spiritual ‘betrothal’. Our union with Jesus will not be complete until our resurrection. There is incredible excitement in heaven. What is it all about? It’s about you and me. If we are truly longing for Jesus’ appearing, it shows in the way we live; the practical outworking in our daily lives. We should be living lives differently to those who are not awaiting the appearance of Jesus. The longing should cause us to cultivate personal holiness. An indication that we are anticipating the Lord’s return is continuing prayer. That is very important. We can know doctrinally that Jesus is going to return, but unless we spend time in God’s Word and in prayer, it will seem a very distant event. There is no way we can be constantly filled with anticipation for Jesus’ return, unless we shut ourselves in with God’s Word and spend time with Him in prayer. We are going to need strength through prayer to stand in the last time. Prayer is an essential part of our relationship with God. There is no substitute for holiness and righteousness. God knows when there will be a generation ready for the return of the Lord. It is the generation that brings this gospel of the kingdom to all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. The word of God reveals all the wisdom needed to come to be one who enters life eternal at the return of Christ. Christ did not die for Himself. He died the death of Adam and Eve and of all their descendants. He died our death. The gospel validates and transforms our lives. All of the aspects of the gospel - Jesus’ sinless life and sacrificial death, are vital. But this part - the resurrection - is what gives us our greatest confidence and hope in the entirety of the gospel - because the resurrection is the means of a transformed life. Jesus’ resurrection points to our own. Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Firstfruits is an interesting and helpful word because it carries with it the clear idea that Jesus is not the only one who will be resurrected. Jesus was the first, but He is by no means the last. More fruit is coming. The framework of creation, the fall, redemption, and transformation by the renewal of the mind is central to the gospel story that runs throughout the pages of scripture. This framework plays a significant role in how we understand God’s active work in all of creation. Jesus will restore all things to God’s intended design. Resurrection speaks of completion and restoration - completion of the gospel story and restoration when everything God created as very good will once again measure up to that standard. It is by the resurrection that God’s story has always been designed to connect with our story. It is because of His Story that our stories make sense, have meaning, and carry on into eternity. All of God’s work is moving toward this end. The mindset of the resurrection has multiple meanings, including a warning and a message of hope. The resurrection is a warning that judgement day is coming and that His Father will be the judge. The resurrection is a judgment on those who contributed to Jesus' crucifixion. It's a wakeup call to the world to repent. The resurrection is a message of peace and hope. But this peace is not a peace of stillness. Jesus’ salutation to the disciples at his appearance saying, “peace be unto you” was first to calm their fear then he repeated the saying to raise their attention to the message he was sending them forth to teach. Message is the sum and substance of the resurrection. It conveys that Jesus will raise people up from the defeat of death to the victory of life, just as he did himself. It also gives people a mission to spread the good news of God's love and to help establish the kingdom of God. The resurrection is a confirmation that Jesus was who he claimed to be. It's also God's assurance to the true believers that they have been forgiven. With this message that we are given comes the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings peace and confidence in God. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us courage to take up the mission of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms us into the body of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that inspires us with love for all of our brothers and sisters. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to forgive each other's sins. We see the effects of the resurrection and the power of the Spirit lived out in our witness...our testimony...our faith. The first resurrection to eternal life began in the Garden and was settled in the Garden. But the bible doesn't specify a precise date for its completion. There have been first resurrections, not all from the grave, but some from sleep and none to eternal life except Jesus and there is no indication that any raised are typed as “wicked”. . Moses was resurrected. Lazarus was resurrected. The son of a widow in Zarephath. The son of the Shunammite woman. The man cast into the sepulchre of Elisha. The son of the widow from Nain. Jairus’ daughter. Many saints came out of the graves after Jesus’ resurrection. Tabitha, also called Dorcas was resurrected. And Eutychus. The first resurrection is a process that takes place over time. It involves the prayers, the pleadings, the faith in the power of God. God taught the first pair of the death of their Savior that gave them life when death was their due. The mindset of the resurrection began. And there are untold numbers who faithfully complete their earthly lives since creation that await Christ's appearing the second time. The resurrection gives those who believe in Jesus the power of eternal life. What is the last question...who is this King of glory! 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.