Then what? What if you don’t know what you are reading? What if you understand it wrong? Then what?
Test the spirits to see if they are of God or of something else. The Lord did not leave us as dumb little orphans. He ascended to the Father and the Father sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. Now is the time to call on the Holy Spirit to teach you understanding of what the word of God says. This begins with prayer and asking. Ask and you shall receive.
As in the title picture above, 1 John 4:1 we are told, “1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” We are further told that the Spirit of God confesses that Jesus Christ is the son of God. ” 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
But, what if they come saying they are of Christ who has come in the flesh? What then? John goes on to say in verse 4, “4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
John then stresses what to look for in testing the spirits. He stresses to us that “Love Comes from God”.
7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
This to me, reinforces the words of Jesus to the church at Ephesus where he said, you have left your first love. In their zeal against false teachings they appeared to have forgotten that. The Lord told them to repent and do the first works (that of loving their neighbor as themselves and forgiving them) or else he would come to them quickly and remove their church (candlestick).
That being said, there has been some misunderstandings as to my passion against the preterist views. I have delved into this deeply and many have said that they have as well and so they saw little danger in it. Whereas some things said are scriptural and in that I have no issue. It is in the deeper interpretations that they lay on a person after they lure you in with a common denominator. Whereas John was told to write what has been, what is, and what is to come… they wrap it all up in a small window of time, saying it all has been fulfilled. Whereas I don’t agree, I don’t cast them all into a burning fire who believe that. Not at all. I merely point out where I disagree and why I do so.
They fail to speak of the many martyrs of Christ before the war of AD70, of which those in high places in Jerusalem were the first to start killing the followers of the way of Jesus, starting with Him first, and 3.5 years later stoning Stephen and beginning the all out persecution of the followers of the way of Jesus. Those in charge of the Temple continued to hate and blame them for a revolt by rebels against Rome that had already been taking place during the life of Jesus. It just hadn’t escalated.
Of which the events leading up to that war, history shows that it was the Jews who pleaded with Pilot to execute their enemy Jesus accusing him falsely of which Pilot washed his hands of the man and allowed them to choose one of their prisoners to set free of which was their custom and they freed Barabbas and crucified Jesus. Which brought about a series of events among them the great earthquake, an eclipse that caused darkness and the moon turning to blood, the veil in the Holy of Holies being torn from the top to the bottom, the graves were opened with saints going about the city testifying of the gates of hell being broken and the Lord freeing them from hells prison. Of which the High Priests feared and blamed all the happenings on sorcery. Among a host of other events. Whereas refusing their own Messiah and killing him was an abomination that made their Temple desolate. As Jesus wept and said it was soon to be so, before they killed him.
Matthew 23:36-39
“36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.“
Might we also add that Jerusalem was already under Roman control since 63 BCE when general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and its surroundings. Which prior to that, was under the ruling of the Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) and the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great “King of the Jews” in c. 40 BCE, Herod not in line to be king at all. He was appointed by Caesar as a favor to Mark Antony.
Nor is there mention that the rejection of their own Messiah and by their own decree is what brought about all the persecution of those who followed the peaceful way of the Lord’s teachings to begin with. Nero was killing Christians and burning them in his patio to entertain his guests after blaming them for setting Rome on fire, on July 18, AD64? Read: July 18, 64 AD: The Great Fire of Rome, Nero Blames Christians! – History and Headlines And those little facts are somehow moot in the fate that had befallen them in Jerusalem?
For example… one writer and the one who did the case study based on preterist views…. He shares the preterist view that everything in Revelation has been fulfilled. And has his own concept of how that all took place.
Below is a page of his work:
He goes on to say, “In my opinion, this view excludes the very people (the martyrs) who were explicitly named in Rev. 20:4 from participating in the 1000 years. On the other hand, I believe the text shows that the saints were beheaded first (AD 66-70) and then reigned with Christ (after AD 70).”
What he fails to show is that was just the beginning of great tribulation of killings and martyrs of the saints for their faith in Jesus and followers of the way of the Lord.
He goes on to proclaim that Satan was captured and bound so that he could not deceive the nations during the thousand years that began during the first revolt and or at least, he says, after Jerusalem fell in AD 70.
And after the 1000 years in AD 132-135 he proclaims that Satan was released and briefly allowed to deceive the nations to war a second time.
So, there you have a big decision to make in absorbing the 1000 years as being merely 60 to 75 years of peace? Where was that peace? But I suspect if you decided to you could take the scriptures as to mean there is no difference between a thousand years and one day? But, I am not buying that one. Are you?
Only to be continued under a succession of Caesars all persecuting the followers of the way. And both Paul and John, among others writing letters to the churches to give them faith that the Lord has not come to destroy the earth and all who are upon it through these evil men and their slaughtering. Was Paul and John lying? I do not believe they were.
He takes a great leap to Revelation 20 to prove his point?
“Rev. 20:8 speaks of the effort to deceive the nations “to gather them together to battle.” This very closely mirrors what took place leading up to the First Great Revolt: “For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of Almighty God” (Revelation 16:14). There are those who would say this was recapitulation, i.e. restating the main points of the same story. However, I believe it’s clear in Revelation 20 that the nations were deceived to war before and after the 1000 years. So that would mean the same story wasn’t told twice, but rather there were two different stories.”
He goes on to say, “2. Apocalypse of Paul
“The Apocalypse of Paul, part of “the New Testament Apocrypha,” proposed the same sequence for the 1000 years. This book states (chapter 21) that the destruction of the first earth (II Peter 3:10, Revelation 21:1) would come first and then Christ would rule for 1000 years. This is supposed to be Paul’s testimony of what he heard when he was caught up to the third heaven (II Cor. 12:1-4):
“And [the angel] brought me down from the third heaven, and led me into the second heaven, and again he led me to the firmament, and from the firmament he led me unto the gates of heaven. And the beginning of the foundation thereof was upon the river that watereth all the earth. And I asked the angel and said: ‘Lord, what is this river of water?’ and he said unto me: ‘This is the Ocean.’ And suddenly I came out of heaven, and perceived that it is the light of the heaven that shineth upon all the earth (or, all that land). And there the earth (or, land) was seven times brighter than silver. And I said: ‘Lord, what is this place?’ and he said unto me: ‘This is the land of promise. Hast thou not yet heard that which is written: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth? The souls therefore of the righteous when they are gone forth of the body are sent for the time into this place.’ And I said unto the angel: ‘Shall then this land be made manifest after (lat. before) a time?’
“The angel answered and said unto me: ‘When Christ whom thou preachest cometh to reign, then by the decree of God the first earth shall be dissolved, and then shall this land of promise be shown and it shall be like dew or a cloud; and then shall the Lord Jesus Christ the eternal king be manifested and shall come with all his saints to dwell therein; and he shall reign over them a thousand years, and they shall eat of the good things which now I will show thee.’”
He adds, “I haven’t come across any quotes from early church writers stating that the 1000 years would take place before the resurrection of the dead or before the destruction of the first heaven and earth, but if you find any please feel free to share them.”
He needs to reread Revelation 17 all of it. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Jerusalem was in captivity it was not reigning over the kings of the earth. It never did.)
Not to mention the issues of Revelation 18 that were not yet fulfilled. Verse 11 “And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev. 18:23: “And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
And he uses another persons observation to support it, “C. An Observation from a Friend about Gog and Magog
“Revelation 20:7-8 states that when the 1000 years would expire, Satan would be released from his prison and gather the nations, “Gog and Magog,” to battle. There was some discussion under my last post as to whether or not the gatherings of “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel 38-39 and in Rev. 20:8 refer to the same event. I do not believe they are identical references. As this post reveals, I believe Ezekiel 38-39 was fulfilled during the days of Esther. Ancil McBarnett, who I was able to meet this year and last year at the Blue Point Bible Church conference, agrees and had this to say:
“Ezekiel [38-39] happened during [the time of] Esther. Revelation seems to refer to that to register a similar occurrence on a wider scale. The big clue is Ezekiel describes a war after the people were displaced and then return and then this war took place. In Revelation it’s the same. It describes a war after the people were displaced [in] AD 70, then returned, [and] then this war took place” (Ancil McBarnett, Facebook, April 21, 2018).
“In other words, the “Gog and Magog” attack of Ezekiel 38-39 took place after the Babylonian exile, while the “Gog and Magog” attack of Revelation 20:7-10 took place after the Roman exile. That’s the idea anyway, and personally it makes sense to me.”
Well, that doesn’t make sense to me. I’m sure it might to some others, just not to me. Smile.
Whereas the author of that work is seeking truth, his path is not one I follow. Each will choose their own path as the Lord God gave us all free will to choose. Loving the Lord and having Him in our heart with the Holy Spirit is the most important gift of all and it is by God’s grace that we have been given it. Each must make up their own mind. The letters to the churches the Lord tells each one what is good and what is wrong with them pointing out where they are not correct. He says to some of them to “hold on to what you have until I come.” Knowing that John did write this when on the Isle of Patmos, and was imprisoned there under Domitian who reigned from AD 81 to AD 96, disputes the entire theology on the preterist time frame of John and the book of Revelation.
To Sardis he says, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” Now that is very point blank. He further warns them to remember how they received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If they don’t he will come on thee as a thief, and they won’t know what hour he will come upon them but also says there are a few who have not defiled their garments. To me that is a warning not to follow words that he and others did not say.
To Ephesus he says they hate the same things he hates and can’t bear them which are evil: and they have tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: but they have left their first love and to repent. That sounds to me that they got caught up in judging and forgot to love their neighbor as themselves. We all walk a fine line and in so doing we must remember to stay focused on the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to show us the truth and not man. Especially in these days of deception which the same deceiver who has gone out into the world then, is the very same deceiver active in the world today. None of that has changed one iota!
That is enough of all of that. Meanwhile, the views of Pastor Melissa Scott cover the events, and prophecy of Daniel and John and show an entirely different view and one that is more solid in scripture and explains the prophetic visions and the words of Jesus. And even in this, each must take what is told to the Holy Spirit to discern. Those who discern and never mention the Holy Spirit but only sight the words of other men… I run from. We all have the gift to talk to the Lord and have the Holy Spirit guide us and teach us. The Holy Spirit will also put others in our path to show us truth. Amen.
In this particular video, Pastor Melissa Scott points out that Daniel was writing of things that would happen in the later days. John was writing of things that must shortly come to pass. At the time of John, they were now in the later days spoken of in Daniel.
Pastor Scott shows us the Greek translations of Daniel 2:28 and Revelation 1:1 and explains the two.
She thoroughly shows in scripture of the word of the Lord to both Daniel and to John and how with John he was to write the things that have been (past), the things that are (in his time), and the things that are yet to come.
Scott continues this study in a step by step look into the scriptures without making a side turn into her own imagination…. she stands solid on what the scriptures said in the context of which they were said and points out different views of others who have interpreted them and many of the places they errored. And where many of the interpretations are yet unclear and fulfillment of some has not yet come.
These are understandable in whatever order you read them. Do watch the entire series which are available on this subject and many others: Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D. – YouTube
So as we learn in part and know in part, we must be read the scriptures for ourselves and as John wrote to the churches in his letters he said: John says in 1 John 2:22-23 “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denied the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father.”
And in 1John 4:2-3 “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”
2 John 1:7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist…”
Most importantly John writes…
2 John, Chapter 1, Verse 10: If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him take part in his wicked works.”
With that being said, Jesus did not send out the disciples to teach others how to be theologians, but to teach that he has risen and to love God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. For those are the two greatest commands and to keep those you shall have kept them all. He gave us a light yoke… the Lord said he would dwell in us and the Father would send us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and protect and comfort us. We are to let no one deceive us but to test the spirits if they are of God or the devil. We are in the world but not of the world. Amen.
Keep on pressing into the Kingdom of God. Press, press, press!
Dianne
