The Thousand Year Prison Sentence

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

 

Go to jail, go directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

The devil is guilty as hell itself. He has been sentenced and will doing time, serving long stint in the big house, the clink, the pen, joint, clink, up the river, in the slammer, the pen, on ice cooling his heels.

The Angel: This angel is a servant of the Most High is from Heaven. No doubt, he is very familiar with the devil. I imagine he is more than happy to carry out his assignment with great satisfaction.

*He served alongside of Lucifer in heaven for who knows how long until the devil was cast from heaven.

*He was an eye-witness to his constant accusations against the saints.

*When there was war in heaven, the devil and his demons vs Michael and the angels, this angel may have participated on the side of good.

He possessed the key to this bottomless pit as well as a great chain.

There are those who say that all this figurative because the devil cannot be fettered. But my question is how and why should it be figurative? I think there is a real bottomless pit, a real key, a real chain and a real devil (dragon) who is going to jail for just short of a thousand years.

The Dragon: This term causes us to conjure up images of feral ugliness, ferocity, fire-breathing, mean, disregard and hatred.

He is also called "that old serpent." There is no more feared, disrespected creature than a snake. From the Garden to now, his subtlety, cunning and venom are unmatched in malice.

He is the one who has deceived not only individuals, but nations for these 6,000 years. His tool box is more than adequately outfitted with the sharpest and most effective tools for damning souls, stealing glory, killing joy and destroying lives.

But now, as the devil goes to jail, the earth gets a break and Paradise is restored for 1000 years.

Parole: For certain, he is not getting a reprieve for good behavior. He is allowed to be loosed for a little season only that the plan of God may be fulfilled. Sides will be taken as the dragon is released and rounds up the Russian mob for one final fracas. The Lord will completely annihilate the rebels with fire from heaven and it will be over and done for the dragon and his followers.

Don't think for a minute that the devil doesn't know these verses as well as anyone. He has too much pride to think he can't do anything about it. But because of John's vision, he knows his time is short and he is as mad as heck. (Rev. 12:12) He has a job to do and he will give it his all while he has the freedom to do so. You can expect him to continue to deceive the nations, create war, cause havoc, damn souls and fight against God and all that is good.

Je$u$ $ave$

 

The False Gospel of Prosperity

We Americans are nuts! Somehow, we think that God has only, ever shed His grace on me and only crowned my good with brotherhood. Note to self(ish): There are other believers in the world besides us!

We are so “Amerocentric” in our philosophy and in our theology. We feel that the parables of Jesus are all set in American Suburbia. Our skewed theology has paved the way for an insidious heresy, the Prosperity Gospel. The belief that believers are to sow $eed and reap riches. The idea is that if we speak faith, think positively, give graciously and rebuke poverty, we will realize God’s financial and health blessings at every turn.

Yet, for 2000 years Bible-believers have known mostly destitution and persecution. They have understood what it means to lose it all to find everything in Jesus. They understood that, when He was all they had, He was all they would need. Even the Apostles declared, “Silver and gold have I none…”

That is a far piece from today’s name it claim it, health and wealth, prosperity gospel preachers with their private jets, multiple mansions and exorbitant lifestyles.

Imagine, telling the Christians meeting in the caves of the Alps, or in the Catacombs of Rome that they must be living in sin or else they would have a ring on every finger and a Cadillac in the driveway. When Christians were being fed to the lions, drawn and quartered and burned at the stake, little could they have imagined that they ought to be members of the country club, jet-setting to exotic ports and living in luxury.

Those martyred saints of past ages believed the simple, powerful gospel of Jesus, how that He died according to the Scriptures, was buried and raised again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Word never reached their hovels, caves and dungeons that there was more to the gospel than eternal life, that this is their “best life now.”

If I remember correctly, Jesus didn’t even have a place to lay His head, much less a Malibu mansion. He commuted by sandal power, fishing boat or borrowed donkey rather than by Lear jet, yacht or Italian sports car. He paid His taxes out of a fish’s mouth, not by exploiting widow’s pensions.

But that’s not how we roll in America’s holy land. Godliness is great gain here. It is not the love of money, but the lack of money that is the root of all evil according to the gospel of our twisted televangelists.

Okay, run that by the Christians of India, Somalia, China, Guatemala or Haiti. Prosperity ain’t happenin’ for the faithful in those places. Tell the believers in the Arab nations how Christians are to be flush with cash. If anything, conversion gets one black-listed, persecuted and martyred in any Muhammadstan.

Meanwhile, Benny and the Jets continue to name it and claim it. Jakes takes. Joyce rejoices in prosperity. Crouch’s couches are trimmed in gold. Price lives nice. Dollar preaches dollars. And you would smile like Joel if your best life was now. Je$u$ $ave$ is their gospel.

The Anti-Christmas

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

So, here are these nit-wits throwing a gala like it's the end of the world. Little do they know! There is rejoicing and partying like its 2017 (it just may be). UPS and Fed Ex are doing a booming business delivering packages sent from all over the world commemorating the death of Heaven's troublemakers. It is the Antichrist's Christmas and everyone is in the (evil)spirit of the unholidays. Yule logs in the hearth, mistletoe on the mantles, a pig on the spit, the world’s goose is cooked…oh, what fun it is to sing this “slaying” song tonight!

Carols they will sing:

*The First No-Hell.

*Grandma got Run Over by A Guillotine.

*I Saw Mommy Kissing Antichrist.

*Rockin' Around the Baal Tree.

*Antichrist is Coming to Town.

*Satan’s Baby.

*I'll Have a Blue Tribulation without You.

*All I want for Christmas is these Two Witnesses Gone.

*O Little Town of Babylon.

*O Come, All Ye Sinful.

*Thunders We have Heard on High.

*O Come, O Come, Apollyon.

*Thou Didst Leave Thy Pit.

O wait! Look at verse 15, what's that I hear but the Hallelujah Chorus! And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.  Now that's some real Christmas music!

Sorry, Anti-Christmas is cancelled. Never mind! The two witnesses are resurrected and ascended, Jesus is the reason for the season.  

I wonder if Wal*Mart will refund all those gifts.

The Day the Clocks Stopped Ticking

Rev 10:5  And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6  And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

Please read Rev. 10

Oh, such an awesome and terrifying scene as it (almost) unfolds in this chapter. The terrible time of Tribulation on the earth takes a turn for the worse. We are spared the horrible details. 

1. The 7th angel clothed with a cloud, rainbow on his head, face as the sun, feet as pillars of fire; with a little open book in his hand, right foot on the sea, left foot on the earth. 7. Thunders proceeded out of his mouth. 1-3

2. The 7 thunders are kept under wraps! The trumpets, vials and seals are disclosed, but not these. These 7 judgments will remain unknown until the earth receives the thunder of God's wrath.  4

3. What we do know: Time will be no longer! Vs 6. Until then, tick-tock. Sinners only have so much time to repent. Tick-tock, God's servants have only so many days to serve him. All our affairs must be put in order. Time must be redeemed. There is a day coming when the clocks will cease to tick.

4. The mystery of God will have been consummated. What might this mystery be?

*The mystery of the kingdom of God? Mark 4:11

*The mystery of the confluence of Jews and Gentiles?  Rom 11:25, Eph 3:3-9

*The mystery of the of the gospel to the nations? Rom 16:25-26, Eph 6:19, Col 1:26-27

*The mystery of the hidden things God has prepared for His people? I Cor 2:6-12

*The mystery of the resurrection of the saints and the change of essence of the same? I Cor 15:51-58

*The mystery of the inheritance of His children according to His pleasure and purpose? Eph 1:9-12

*The mystery of Christ and His bride? Eph 5:29, etc. Rev 1:20, etc.

*The mystery of the incarnation? I Tim 3:16

Or, could all these be part of the same grand, mysterious scheme - the plan of the ages?

This mystery has been revealed to His prophets and servants. Piecing together the writings of Paul, the parables of Jesus and the veiled prophecies of the Old Testament would indicate that this is the case. It can be summed up in simple terms: The Gospel and its implications.