Monday June 07, 2004 01:04:58 PM -0400
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CHAPTER 7 Here are some questions to be considering in Chapter 7. 1. Why does God decide Global judgment is necessary? 2. Does the bible when considering the 4 corners of the earth teach that the world is square instead of round? 3. Who are the 144000 witnesses? Are they Jehovah Witnesses, 7th Day Adventist, Armstronites? 4. Where is the Holy Spirit during the Tribulation hour? 5. Do all the saved have the Holy Spirit abiding in them? 6. What message is proclaimed by the 144,000 who will be preaching around the world? 7. Will people be converted during the Tribulation period? 8. Will there be a great revival during the Tribulation 7 year period? 9. Who are the body guards and the servants mentioned in this chapter? 10. What blessing will be received because of having rejected the mark of the beast? CHAPTER 7 One of the greatest revival in history and all of this occurring in the midst of the Tribulation. The seven seals is discussed in chapter 8 however before we get there, God has a parenthesis for us in this chapter. Chapter 7 may be divided into two portions dealing with two groups. Verses 1-8 deals with the 144,000 Israelites, verses 9-17 deals with the multitudinous Gentiles. This chapter also portrays God as loving, compassionate and merciful. For God is LOVE, 1ST John 4 v 8 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. John 3 v 16 & 17. It is man’s wickedness, rebellion and sin that produces judgment. Job 4 V 8 “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” Romans 6 v 12 “ For the wages of sin is death” the judgments already described were unleashed because of the hardness of men’s hearts. They rebelled and continue to rebel over thousands of years, so God’s global judgment MUST come. The LOVE of God however is STILL so great that he requires a “TIME OUT” he desires men every where to open their hearts and come on to him. The result is this chapter dealing with the MERCY of God in the midst of the tribulation. God in his mercy, creates a lull before the storm in order to call men to salvation and revival. Verse 1. “After this I saw four angels…….”The fact that the angels are standing at the four corners of the earth, DOES NOT signify that the earth is square. God knows the world is made round, because “he sitteth on the circle of the earth” Isaiah 40 v 22. This statement was in the bible when Christopher Columbus was insisting that the earth is round, because he believed the bible, while everyone else was saying it is flat. The statement “the four corners of the earth” is but a bible expression depicting NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST”. The four parts of the compass. The four angels standing in the four positions administering judgment are commanded to relent (so that there might be a time of GREAT REVIVAL) while servants of God are sealed in their forehead. Revelation 7 Verses 2 & 3. “then I saw another angel coming up from the east..” The wicked get their seal 666 under the Anti-Christ in chapter 13 v 17&18. The genuine believer get their seal from the angel of God. This group cannot be the church because the church is already in heaven. Chapter 4 v 1. The church is not Jewish, but the church is composed of all nations, races, peoples and tongues. This group does not picture the 7 Days Adventist or the Jehovah Witness, both have claimed this in their theological writings. The Seven Day Adventist say the 144,000 are the faithful Sabbath Day keepers. The Jehovah Witness teaches that the 144,000 are the over comers of the flock. Both are Drastically Wrong .The 144,000 are JEWS, they are NOT Englishmen, they are not AMERICANS either as the advocates of the British Israelism teaches. These are JEWISH TRIBES, with JEWISH NAMES. Does the names Judah, Benjamin, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Ruben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Joseph, Simeon, sound anything other than JEWISH. Under the circumstance we have to believe that Jews with Jewish names to head up Jewish tribes in a Jewish nation called Israel. Presently the Jews are not certain of their tribal heritage, however the all KNOWING God will untangle this condition at the appointed time. Actually no one today really knows what his stock is. Due to world wide migration, most of the people today are a combination of different nationalities. These 144,000 JEWISH EVANGELISTS are anointed by the spirit. Joel 2 v 28 & 29 The Holy Spirit see Romans 8 v 9; 1st Cor 3 v 16. Because of this truth God’s spirit dwells in the heart of his people. God’s spirit cannot be taken unless those whom he lives within is taken. THE SPIRIT’S REMOVAL ONLY SPEAKS OF HIS RESTRAINING POWER BEING REMOVED. The Holy Spirit is God, the 3rd person member of the Trinity. God is Omniscient all KNOWING OMNIPOTENT all POWERFUL and OMNIPRESENT meaning EVERYWHERE at all times. Therefore the Holy Spirit CANNOT be removed from the earth because God as God is in all places constantly. Psalm 139 v 7 &10. Since the Holy Spirit is everywhere at ALL times, only his restraining influence over sin is removed during the Tribulation hour. Presently Christians are the SALT of the earth and the LIGHT of the world. Matt 5 v 13-16. The evacuation of Christians in whose heart the Holy Spirit lives is the WAY the ONLY way his restraining influence on sin is removed, ridding the world of SALT and LIGHT. Matt 5 v 13 & 14. Christians are God’s preservative forces, as well as the disposer of darkness. Imagine what happens when the Spirit’s restraining influence is removed via the RAPTURE. Literally all hell will break loose on earth. Yet even during those terrible times, his continuing personal presence on earth produces the greatest revival in the history of mankind. The message of the 144,000 evangelists centers on the PERSON and WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was actually the emphasis of the Old Testament Preachers!! Whosoever believes in him shall receive remission from their sin. Acts 10 v 43. In addition to preaching the shed blood of Jesus, these 144,000 proclaim the advent of the King. For this gospel, or good news of the kingdom, “and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” This is not the message of his first coming the Rapture, chapter 4 v 1, but the revelation or the revealing of Christ as King. Chapter 19 v 16. In order to get a picture of the complete message that the kingdom messengers use to proclaim, one must study the life of John the Baptist. John’s message was: 1. REPENTANCE for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Matt 3 v 2; 2. The BLOOD- Behold the lamb of God which take away the sins of the world John 1 v 29.
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