Revelation 13:18 - Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Now I'm sure you probably are already aware that there are many books out there adding up people's names, putting numerical equivalence to alphabet numbers, and adding up people's names to be six hundred and sixty-six. This has been going on for a long time.
But if I may point out that everything that we've studied in this chapter is telling us that there is Satan's trinity (if you would), the dragon, the antichrist, and the false prophet are the shadows of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Here's what I can share on this:
Let him that understands count the number of the beast, and notice this: For it is the number of man, not "a man," not "the man," just man. Adam was created on the sixth day. Six is the number that is one less than perfection or completeness. So, all the way through scripture it was the number of man. Man was created by God, but he falls short of completeness because he's a sinner.
He says for it is the number of man; and his number is 666, not six hundred and sixty-six. You see, it's the number six three times. It's the number of man, and each six stands for one of the three in Satan's trinity. It doesn't add up to six hundred and sixty-six. It's six three times!
And that's the number that a person must take to function in the one world government that's about to come to pass here on the earth.
So here came the guilt. "We aren't doing our job." Some even went as far as to say that Jesus would have come back by now, but we haven't been doing our jobs. We've got to get out and reach the world for Christ. So out of guilt and human effort, not by the power of the Holy Spirit, people are put under this very stressful teaching.
The Lord's already got it taken care of. If it was left up to us, the Lord would never come, because once you've reached the last person in the world, somebody else is born. Nobody's ever completely reached. So, in my own way of thinking, I'm saying that I'm not going to fall for that one!
But you see, God already has it covered. During the Tribulation Period, before He comes back at His second coming, He's going to have the men testifying there in Jerusalem, and He's going to have angels flying in mid-heaven preaching the gospel to people and telling them don't take the mark of the beast, but worship God. All of the world is going to be reached. It is God's timetable!
Hopefully you have figured it out that we can't do God's work for Him, and that you don't get caught up in that!
There is a general misunderstanding concerning both the church and the Lords coming .
To be a true BORN child of God qualifies us to " run the race" and ALL true born children of God are called to that " high calling" .
But we are not automatically in the Bride by being BORN .
The Lord will first come " to the air " FOR His bride who will meet Him in the air .
Once she has gone from the earth all restraints on the spirit of antichrist is gone as well and we have the unfolding of thec" great tribulation" and the "5 foolish" brethren who were not ready and were barred from " the marriage" with the words " I know you not" . Will be tried in the fire of the great tribulation and face martyrdom .
The unsaved are barred eventually from the Kingdom with the words " I never knew you".
To be BORN again is to get out of Egypt ( the world ) and from the dominion of Pharaoh ( Satan) .
By the blood of a lamb by the Word of God ( to Abraham) and by the Power of God ( judgement on Egypt)in a day .
But we are not only saved from . The penalty of sin ,the power of sin and finally from the presence of sin .
But we are also saved TO.
The wilderness was simply what could be called boot camp . Where civilians are turned into soldiers . Where they learn to obey orders and understand " man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God".
But somehow we have made the wandering in the wilderness for 40 years the Christian norm!
Where Jordan is death and the promised land heaven .
This cannot be fir there are no giants in heaven or cities to conquer there are no Jericho's .
But what do the scriptures say ? The Bride will come out of the wilderness terrible as an army with banners leaning upon her beloved" .
Little children says 1 John . But it also says " young men" but jt goes on " ye fathers" .
We have so concentrated on being BORN again we have forgotten we are meant to grow into maturity .and eat meat!
Revelation 14:7 - Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
You see, people were in between making a decision. I can't eat; I can't participate in the world's economic system unless I get that mark. But you know those two witnesses, those two guys on TV, they are telling me don't take it. And here's this angel flying in mid-heaven telling people do not take the mark of the beast.
Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Now I want to make a comment to you before we get to the second angel. This is very important!
We have various movements that take place within the body of Christ periodically. We've got the great commission going now. Several years ago, a movement started when people said that Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 that He can't come until all the nations are reached with the gospel. They said He wouldn't come until all the nations are reached.
Revelation 14:4 - These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. There have been debates over this over the years. But you will see from 2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22, Jeremiah 14:17, 18:13, 31:4, 5, 21, Amos 5:2 and many other places in the Old Testament that Israel is called the virgin of God.
And these are all spiritual terms, especially 2 Kings 19:21. There are many of them. That's why in the New Testament, when Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2, he says I have engaged you to God, and God is a jealous God.
In James 4:4, James says that to be friends with this world is to commit adultery against God. This is spiritual. We are the bride of Christ. We're the bride in waiting. Spiritually we belong to Him. The 144,000 did not involve themselves in the religious system of the world. They remained pure. They are virgins. They are the Israel that was described in the Old Testament.
These are they which follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. The firstfruits was always the first crop, part of the crop that would come up in the harvest. When the 144,000 were sealed, they were the first of God's fruit, saved, in the time of tribulation.
Revelation 14:1 - And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
John looks up and he sees a lamb standing on Mount Sion. And with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. That's the 144,000 Jews who were sealed back in Chapter 7, that at Christ's second coming, He will gather them to Himself there in Jerusalem at Mount Sion.
Revelation 14:2 - And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
These are not harps. These instruments are called lyres (KITHARAIS), which are guitar type instruments rather than a harp that we would think of.
Revelation 14:3 - And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Revelation 13:18 - Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Now I'm sure you probably are already aware that there are many books out there adding up people's names, putting numerical equivalence to alphabet numbers, and adding up people's names to be six hundred and sixty-six. This has been going on for a long time.
But if I may point out that everything that we've studied in this chapter is telling us that there is Satan's trinity (if you would), the dragon, the antichrist, and the false prophet are the shadows of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Here's what I can share on this:
Let him that understands count the number of the beast, and notice this: For it is the number of man, not "a man," not "the man," just man. Adam was created on the sixth day. Six is the number that is one less than perfection or completeness. So, all the way through scripture it was the number of man. Man was created by God, but he falls short of completeness because he's a sinner.
He says for it is the number of man; and his number is 666, not six hundred and sixty-six. You see, it's the number six three times. It's the number of man, and each six stands for one of the three in Satan's trinity. It doesn't add up to six hundred and sixty-six. It's six three times!
And that's the number that a person must take to function in the one world government that's about to come to pass here on the earth.
Revelation 14:7 Continued
So here came the guilt. "We aren't doing our job." Some even went as far as to say that Jesus would have come back by now, but we haven't been doing our jobs. We've got to get out and reach the world for Christ. So out of guilt and human effort, not by the power of the Holy Spirit, people are put under this very stressful teaching.
The Lord's already got it taken care of. If it was left up to us, the Lord would never come, because once you've reached the last person in the world, somebody else is born. Nobody's ever completely reached. So, in my own way of thinking, I'm saying that I'm not going to fall for that one!
But you see, God already has it covered. During the Tribulation Period, before He comes back at His second coming, He's going to have the men testifying there in Jerusalem, and He's going to have angels flying in mid-heaven preaching the gospel to people and telling them don't take the mark of the beast, but worship God. All of the world is going to be reached. It is God's timetable!
Hopefully you have figured it out that we can't do God's work for Him, and that you don't get caught up in that!
To be a true BORN child of God qualifies us to " run the race" and ALL true born children of God are called to that " high calling" .
But we are not automatically in the Bride by being BORN .
The Lord will first come " to the air " FOR His bride who will meet Him in the air .
Once she has gone from the earth all restraints on the spirit of antichrist is gone as well and we have the unfolding of thec" great tribulation" and the "5 foolish" brethren who were not ready and were barred from " the marriage" with the words " I know you not" . Will be tried in the fire of the great tribulation and face martyrdom .
The unsaved are barred eventually from the Kingdom with the words " I never knew you".
To be BORN again is to get out of Egypt ( the world ) and from the dominion of Pharaoh ( Satan) .
By the blood of a lamb by the Word of God ( to Abraham) and by the Power of God ( judgement on Egypt)in a day .
But we are not only saved from . The penalty of sin ,the power of sin and finally from the presence of sin .
But we are also saved TO.
The wilderness was simply what could be called boot camp . Where civilians are turned into soldiers . Where they learn to obey orders and understand " man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God".
But somehow we have made the wandering in the wilderness for 40 years the Christian norm!
Where Jordan is death and the promised land heaven .
This cannot be fir there are no giants in heaven or cities to conquer there are no Jericho's .
But what do the scriptures say ? The Bride will come out of the wilderness terrible as an army with banners leaning upon her beloved" .
Little children says 1 John . But it also says " young men" but jt goes on " ye fathers" .
We have so concentrated on being BORN again we have forgotten we are meant to grow into maturity .and eat meat!
Holy, sanctified etc
Revelation 14:7 - Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
You see, people were in between making a decision. I can't eat; I can't participate in the world's economic system unless I get that mark. But you know those two witnesses, those two guys on TV, they are telling me don't take it. And here's this angel flying in mid-heaven telling people do not take the mark of the beast.
Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Now I want to make a comment to you before we get to the second angel. This is very important!
We have various movements that take place within the body of Christ periodically. We've got the great commission going now. Several years ago, a movement started when people said that Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 that He can't come until all the nations are reached with the gospel. They said He wouldn't come until all the nations are reached.
Revelation 14:4 - These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. There have been debates over this over the years. But you will see from 2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22, Jeremiah 14:17, 18:13, 31:4, 5, 21, Amos 5:2 and many other places in the Old Testament that Israel is called the virgin of God.
And these are all spiritual terms, especially 2 Kings 19:21. There are many of them. That's why in the New Testament, when Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2, he says I have engaged you to God, and God is a jealous God.
In James 4:4, James says that to be friends with this world is to commit adultery against God. This is spiritual. We are the bride of Christ. We're the bride in waiting. Spiritually we belong to Him. The 144,000 did not involve themselves in the religious system of the world. They remained pure. They are virgins. They are the Israel that was described in the Old Testament.
These are they which follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. The firstfruits was always the first crop, part of the crop that would come up in the harvest. When the 144,000 were sealed, they were the first of God's fruit, saved, in the time of tribulation.
Revelation 14:1 - And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
John looks up and he sees a lamb standing on Mount Sion. And with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. That's the 144,000 Jews who were sealed back in Chapter 7, that at Christ's second coming, He will gather them to Himself there in Jerusalem at Mount Sion.
Revelation 14:2 - And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
These are not harps. These instruments are called lyres (KITHARAIS), which are guitar type instruments rather than a harp that we would think of.
Revelation 14:3 - And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
They're saved, they're sealed, the 144,000!
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