Question: For a couple weeks now, the Scripture "Judge not, that ye be not judged" has been coming to my mind. This Scripture comes to me in the manner that Saddam Hussein is judged by the general public as an "evil" man, while George Bush is judged by the public as a "good" man.
Can you explain how this Scripture applies in our age?
Terry
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Michael: It is observable that when one judges, he gets judged. This has been observable in any age of man. It is written in the Scriptures: "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things." Romans 2:1. I can remember as a young person hearing someone say, "Why do you always pick on me?" Then the answer came back, "Well you always pick on me."
You mentioned George Bush. Today in this country there is a large segment of the population who want to attack Muslims because Muslims are evil, in their minds. They quote stories of Muslims having taken revenge upon someone who has written against them. Muslims destroyed the World Trade Center and they want to get revenge against that religion that gave birth to these souls. When Mr. Bush scores a great victory they shout in celebration. The facts are, America carries out the same crimes that the Muslims do, except America mostly uses bombs. America also has used many assassins to carry out its subversive policies, and Christians have supported those policies. So, to apply this to "Judge not lest you be judged," it is applied this way: Why do you condemn Muslims for doing the same things you do?
Those who are not guilty of the same crime, do not have a hateful, condemning spirit of judgment. This word judge used here is krino, which means, to try, condemn, punish: —avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to. These actions come with an attitude. It is the attitude of condemnation when one does not know the facts but only judges out of his own store of hatred and prejudice. Men can only see and react to their own selves in everyone they condemn and react to hatefully. There is no one out there but one's self. If one judges another as inherently evil, and he has the attitude of condemnation, it is only coming from the fact that the judger is inherently evil. When one condemns another, he condemns himself. Parents who hate their children, only reveal that they hate themselves. This goes for spouses also. Hatred begets hatred and revenge begets revenge.
Why is it then that Jesus judged his enemies? This is clearly seen in Matthew 23. He pronounced his woes upon them and condemned their evil practices. This condemnation generated a lot of revenge in the hearts of those who heard him. Jesus did not hate those he was speaking to. His heart was pouring out for them even while he was speaking his judgments. Also, his judgment was not unjust, but fair and right. "Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." John 8:15-16. Herein is the key. "Judge not" is clearly pointing to those who judge after their own natural nature. Jesus said, "I judge no one that way, but when I judge, I judge righteous judgement, for my Father is with me giving me eyes to see clearly what is truly occurring." "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." John 7:24.
Question: Would like to ask you a couple of questions that are puzzling:
1. Are there any modern day prophets? Ellen White is often referred to as a prophetess. Would appreciate your input.
2. The "Beloved City" is this Jerusalem or the New Kingdom? It talks about Satan going on the breadth of the earth to attack the saints... Is this on our earth?
Frank
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Michael: The word "prophet" means, "One who utters revelations or predicts events." The Scriptures use the word, nabiy which means, "an inspired man, or one who prophesies." The New Testament uses the word, prophetes, which means, "an inspired speaker or foreteller." So, your question could be put, "Are there any people on earth now who predict events or who are inspired speakers?" If there were no "inspired speakers" I think we would be in very big difficulty, for no man would be saved at all and God would never do anything, for it is written: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. Paul writes, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." 1 Corinthians 14:1. Paul clearly states that one should follow after prophesying. That word is propheteuo and it means, to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office:—prophesy. Paul would have all men foretell events and to speak under inspiration and to exercise the prophetic office.
In the book of Revelation, John records "a great multitude" who all had this gift of prophecy.
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev. 19:6-10.
This Scripture literally reads by definition: "I am a 'ministrant of the same Master' and of those 'from the Womb' of God that have the 'evidence given' of Jesus: worship God: for the 'evidence given' of Jesus is the spirit of an inspired speaker." Each one John saw in this "great multitude" had not only been born out of God, come 'from the Womb' of God, making them all related to God and each other, but they had become "his wife." They became married to God in the "marriage of the Lamb," and each one had "the testimony of Jesus...the spirit of prophecy." The Son of God had appeared in each one and they were all possessed by His Spirit of inspiration. Each one in this "great multitude" had 'given evidence' of Jesus.
The testimony of Jesus, the testimony of the one whom the Son of God appeared in at His first coming to earth, is recorded in many places in the gospels. This is the same "testimony of Jesus" that this "great multitude" have:He that sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him....And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. John 8:26, 29
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. John 5:19I am able to do nothing from Myself, independently, of My own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders. Even as I hear, I judge. I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision, and My judgment is right, just, righteous, because I do not seek or consult My own will. I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose, but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me. John 5:30 Amplified.
These are the instructions, orders (commandments), which I have received as My charge from My Father. John 10:18 Amplified.
The One Who sent Me is true, real, genuine, steadfast; and Him you do not know! I know Him Myself because I come from His very presence, and it was He personally Who sent Me. John 7:29
What is written about me has its fulfillment, has reached its end and is finally settled. Luke 22:37 Amplified.When Jesus said, "I do ALWAYS those things that please my Father," he was prophesying under inspiration. He was speaking of what His future would be -- ALWAYS doing those things that pleased His Father. This was the "faith of Jesus" and this faith was given to Him by His Father. When he spoke it aloud it became "the testimony of Jesus. John saw that those in the "great multitude" had "the faith of Jesus" which is what enabled them to have "the testimony of Jesus": "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. With Jesus, the "great multitude" says, "These are the instructions, orders ('the commandments of God'), which I have received as My charge from My Father." John 10:18 Amplified. Jesus was inspired to see that he was fulfilling all of the prophecies that had been written of him. And likewise, the "great multitude" is inspired to recognize the prophecies that they have fulfilled, and this is part of their testimony.
So, do I believe that there are modern day prophets? There surely are. These would be those who are inspired by God. Their inspiration enables them to see who they are and what their mission is. Their inspiration enables them to clearly see the evil of where this generation is heading, and enables them to speak against it. I would wish that all men were prophets.
On the other hand, there are false prophets. These are those who speak peace and safety, and comfort the people in their sins. They would also lie, as they would be inspired by the one who has lied from the beginning. Satan inspires his prophets to believe in a New Order where peace and freedom will come to all, yet he launches out in a war, determined to eradicate anyone who is not 100% for him. A false prophet may say many good things, but he does not do those good things he says. There are many false christs and false prophets in the world today, and I would surely wish that there would be some true ones also, but there are precious few. A false christ is one who promises salvation and a future glory, then launches his world into war and chaos. He is a false deliverer, as was Barabbas.
The Beloved City
That "Beloved City" you refer to is only mentioned in Revelation one time and nowhere else in the Scriptures, in just that way. That "Beloved City" has a very special purpose for the time of its appearing. The facts concerning this city are clearly mentioned in the 20th chapter of Revelation. In verse 3 one can read that Satan is shut up for a thousand years. In verse 4 it says that judgment is given in favor of the saints. They were judged righteous. In verse 5 the wicked dead are in their graves for a thousand years. In verses 7 and 8, the wicked are raised from the dead as referenced in verse 5. When the wicked were in their graves Satan was bound because there was no one left to tempt. Now after a thousand years they are raised, and Satan goes out and stirs up those who were raised, so that they would attack the city of God. This stirring up is very much like what we see in the nations today. There is a "stirring up" to war. This "beloved city" is the city that reigns after the thousand years are completed. This "camp" of the saints is surely on this earth, since Satan would hardly be in heaven attacking the city with the raised dead.
Where did this camp of the saints come from? First of all, when the earth was left desolate, where were the saints? It is written:
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not go before them which are asleep. For 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: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess. 4:13-17.
Here is clearly stated that those in Christ, those anointed with the Anointing, will go with the Lord and leave the earth. Because of this there are no believers remaining in the wicked world. They are gone from it. This was first evidenced by Jesus Christ when he rose from his sleep, this one who was dead, arose and he was caught up into the clouds, leaving the earth far behind. The wicked, as I have noted, are dead from the final destruction of their world, and do not rise up for a thousand years. This same thousand years is when the saints reign with Christ "in the clouds." We will meet in the air and "always" be there with him.
Then, according to the revelation, a change occurs. The wicked are raised and the saints return. Jude quotes the Book of Enoch in this regard:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. Jude 1:14-16.
Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him. Enoch, chapter 2.
It is with interest that we note here that the Lord comes to execute judgment against those who complain, murmur, and who follow their own desires. They boast of their greatness and admire those who might give them some advantage. This coming is very different than the coming which destroys the wicked off of the earth. This time He comes to "convince" them of their evil ways. This word "convince" is exelegcho, and that word means, "to convict fully, and to punish." This does not happen beforehand because there are many who die in accidents and wars who have never been convicted fully. This judgment is referred to in the text of Revelation.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:11-15.
This judgment after the wicked are raised, and they come against the saints who have returned to the earth in their "beloved city," is the judgment that completely convinces the wicked of their evil deeds. One very interesting word connected with "beloved city" is that it is the "camp" of the saints. This word camp used here is parembole and that word means, a throwing in beside (juxtaposition), i.e. (specially), battle-array, encampment or barracks (tower Antonia):—army, camp, castle. The camp of the saints is a battle camp. It is an encampment for an army that has come to "fully convict" the wicked of their evil ways. This convicting army, this witness to the truth, is surrounded by the raised and wicked dead. They come against this conviction which shows them their evil ways, for all of the saints are a witness against them. It then says that all the wicked, who are all those who do not have the Life of God, are cast into the lake of fire.
This lake of fire is not a mystery. It is the fire generated in the soul when one is confronted with his own evil ways and he hates to see this light. "...Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein." Ezekiel 20:47. It is a fire that cannot be quenched. This resistance to the light of God that is now being made very prominent in this time of "convincing," causes the wicked to burn in their self generated torments and they cannot stop being tormented by their thoughts and feelings. They writhe in their hatred of righteousness as the glorious light floods the world in light. This judgment light is everywhere, and all the wicked see who they are with nothing to cover them or hide them from the light, as has been done in this world previously. The wicked have been able to hide in their wars against their "terrorists," their entertainments, drugs, and passionate self glorification, but now there is no place to escape the light. They must just stand there and take it, see it, and experience it fully. This revelation of themselves in relationship to the pure, undiminished light of God begins to consume them, and they self destruct in the flames of the glorious truth of righteousness and pure judgment. They perish because they are unfit to stand in the light of God. It is written:
The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. Isa. 33:14-15.
The saints can stand in this "eternal fire" because they have been prepared for it in the previous life. They have borne the fire of God and have had the dross consumed out of their souls by His searching gaze. They have yielded to His righteousness and have been burned in the flames of eternal Fire. Their lives were not consumed entirely however, because they yielded and did not resist His work of cleansing. The Life that was in their soul was not consumed by itself. Their characters were formed after this Light and Life, so now at this time they are enabled to bear the light. Now, these souls can stand to live in the sight of a holy God without perishing in the light, but the wicked, who had refused to see and acknowledge this light, are left unprepared to stand in it. They are consumed altogether. It is written: "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." Revelation 20:9. This "fire" that comes down from God out of heaven is the fire of His righteous character and Life. This falling of fire takes place when the saints are in their camp, prepared for righteous battle. It takes place upon this earth after a thousand years. This is how it is, and this is how it shall be.
The simple truth here is self evident. I will make it very plain. The people of earth are now angry by the sign of the Son of Man appearing. This "sign" is that Christ is now appearing in His people. He is coming a second time in them and not now in just Jesus alone. This is now being revealed. It is the beginning of the second coming. Soon, these souls in whom Christ is appearing will leave the earth altogether. Those in whom the sign of the Son of Man has appeared will be caught up entirely away from earth and its foreign soil. "When he shall come to be glorified IN his saints, and to be admired IN all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." 2 Thess. 1:10. After the righteous have departed, the wicked will then unleash their final fire, for no righteousness will be here on earth to restrain them. They will be consumed in nuclear fire, the fire that even consumes the elements. The world will be left desolate from the fire that they created themselves.
Satan will be bound upon the earth, for no soul anywhere in the universe will have an ear for him. All of those who have had ears for him will be dead. After a thousand years, the wicked will be raised from the dead, and Satan will once again entice them to war against righteousness. The saints return to earth in their "Beloved City." They are in their "camp" for the final war of justice. As the wicked confront the righteous, the light goes out upon the earth, and the wicked are made to see the truth about themselves. They are tormented in this light. Every knee bows to the justice of God, for it is not God who arbitrarily destroys them, but their willful unfitness for the light that is everywhere now seen. It is the pure light of God that destroys those who refused this light in their previous world. Because of this cleansing of light, the entire earth is remade after the order of righteousness. There are new heavens and a new earth entirely, for there is nothing at all to controvert it. After this time, the power of sin will never rise up again. Eternal Light, and eternal Life will be the reality for all of the beings who live in the new world.
Do Christians Sin? (sometimes?)
Question: In an earlier post, you quoted these verses:
"You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother." 1 John 3:5-10.
These verses certainly state plainly that a true child of God does not sin. However, I have heard many quote the following verses from the same book, in defense of sinning:
"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 1:8-10, 2:1
Could you please explain how you harmonize these verses from I John? How is it that both these things are true?Allasso
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Michael: This does seem like a contradiction of terms when viewed from the legal standpoint, but not when viewed from the mind of God and from the mind of the one who wrote this verse. God is not a legalist, but He is real. This Scripture was no problem for John, because John was a Jew and Jews knew the law. There are many references to how the law pictured things and the law helped explain the work of the Intercessor, Jesus Christ.
It is written in the law:
If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. Leviticus 5:15-18.
Here is the key: In the Scriptures you quote, John is saying, "You all know that Christians don't sin, for they cannot sin, because the Spirit of God is in the Christian. The true Christian is as righteous as God is righteous because of that Spirit Who is in him. It is the devil who sins and by this, one knows who is of God and of the devil. But if you find that you have sinned unknowingly, and you have done something wrong that you were ignorant of, and you see that you missed the mark unwittingly, if you confess those things you shall be forgiven, for you have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous."
In the Old Testament there was no sacrifice that could be offered for willful or known sin. In the New Testament there is no sacrifice for known or willful sin, either. Those who sin, after having been shown the truth, will have no covering from heaven, neither in Jesus Christ, nor in the Father. There is no blood or life that can cover them. It is written: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Hebrews 10:26-27. This statement by Paul is clearly in reference to this principle. There are other statements that reflect these principles. One comes from Jesus' words: "And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." Matt. 12:32.
There are times when the believer may misjudge someone and speak against the one they have misjudged. That will be forgiven him. But when a man is convicted of the Holy Spirit and comes to a knowledge of what is actually true, yet still puts forth his lie, that will not be forgiven him. It is the unforgivable sin. This is not an arbitrary dictum from God. The "unforgivable sin" is unforgivable because this soul doesn't WANT to be forgiven for something he believes he is so "right" and feels so "justified" about. This is a sin that the convicted soul does not want to be convicted about. He places himself where he cannot receive the forgiveness offered him. It is unforgiveable because he will not let God forgive him. God cannot forgive him, since he will not let Him.
One last verse I will mention: "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." 1 John 5:16. The sin unto death is a known sin. In this case a man knows very well he is doing what he should not. John says, I am not saying you should pray for that man who does these things. But if a sin is not unto death because it was committed ignorantly, then one may pray for that.
This is not a strange principle. Everyone instinctively follows this rule. If a man were to ignorantly and unbeknown to himself hit a man with his car while driving down the highway and continues on home, he is free of the charge of murder. He may repent for not being more observant and aware, but he would not be convicted of a crime, if it could be shown he had no knowledge of the incident. But, if he were to hit a man intentionally, he would be charged with a crime. If someone ignorantly walks out of a store with some merchandise he has not paid for and it is brought to his attention, he goes back and pays, apologizing for the slip. No charges are brought. But if he hides his merchandise, and knows very well he has it hidden, it is shoplifting and a crime.
Christians NEVER EVER do something they know is wrong to do. But true Christians sometimes find that they have missed the mark in some way, because of their ignorance of circumstances or experience in life. This ignorance is forgiven. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Acts 17:30.
This is also the principle in regards to nations. The Jews were ignorant of their many crimes until Christ came to show them the truth. Once they saw the truth, yet crucified the Son of God, then the nation had no more covering. The city was destroyed in 70 A.D. When America elected a president, they did so thinking they had done well. The president then launched the country into war based on the argument that the enemy was developing weapons of mass destruction. When that proved to be false and the president did not repent, but continued on in his mistake, and when the nation reelected him knowing full well that what he was doing was wrong and based on a lie, and only connected with self-interest, then the nation lost its covering. Its intercession ceased, and judgment will come upon it.
Any parent knows this truth. If a young child goes to the cookie jar before dinner because he has no knowledge of any right or wrong about it, he is forgiven. But if the child knows very well that mommy does not want him in that cookie jar at that time of day, so he sneaks into it, looking fearfully around to see if his mother is watching, he may see some correction coming his way.
John is not saying, "We know that Christians don't sin, but if you do it is okay." He is saying it is not okay and Christians never do that. One can know that if he intentionally commits a wrong, that he is not a Christian, and not a child of God. He is not forgiven, nor will he ever be forgiven, in this world or the next. But if that sinner, who is not a Christian, lays down his evil self and surrenders that evil self to God, the soul will be forgiven his sins and then he will not sin anymore, for the Spirit of Life will come into him. He may make an ignorant misstep, but he will never knowingly choose evil. When his ignorant misstep is brought to his attention, he will make amends and correct his path so that it does not happen again. There are those who go to the priest and repent after every act of adultery. They confess after every theft. Their confession may be heard by a priest, but it will not be heard by God. This kind of confession is vain self deception.
Is the Virgin Birth Pagan?
Question: I would like to know what Father says about "the virgin birth." Is it pagan or the Word of God?
Some believe that Jesus' virgin birth is not scriptural, that the Catholics added the "virgin birth and nativity" of Christ in the scriptures taken from Babylonian (Amorite, Hittite) pagan belief.
PAGAN ORIGINS http://www.medmalexperts.com/POCM/pagan_origins_virgin_birth.html
Hebrews say that the word was changed from "young maiden" to the wrong translation "virgin."
(Mt 1:22-23; see Isaiah 7:14) "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, A VIRGIN shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us)Kathy
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Michael: The word translated "virgin" here in the Hebrew is, almah. The word means: damsel, maid, or virgin. The clear meaning is that it is "a young unmarried women." In those days it was not even thinkable that a young unmarried woman would have known any man. So, in the light of this it would read, "Behold, a young unmarried woman shall conceive and bear a son."
The verse in Matthew used in this context is, parthenos. This word means, "an unmarried daughter, a virgin." Truly, it could be said that this word could apply to an unmarried girl who had known a man previously, but the Scriptures tell the story that the mother of Jesus had not known any man. The testimony is that she became pregnant by the Spirit. In verse 25 of Matthew 1, we read that "he knew her not until she had brought forth her first born son." The first chapter again says, "She was found with child by the Holy Ghost."
The charge is now made, "The Catholic translators made it all up and put it in the Scriptures." If this were true, then how could anyone believe anything in the Scriptures? One could say that it was all made up. There are those who say that Jesus was made up. There is no end to it, and it all leads to quicksand, and to where one trusts only his own imagination. This is a perfect ploy of Satan. All he wants is to take your Rock away, and then he has you in sinking sand.
The root here of the Christ Child being born in this way, and the purpose of the message of the virgin birth is this: The same God Who Fathered Jesus, is also your Father. The same Son of God that was in Jesus, is the same Son of God that the heavenly Father impregnates you with. The Spirit of God fertilizes the SEED which is in you and brings you to the birthing of the Son of God in your life. In other words, you become impregnated with Christ just as Mary was impregnated with Christ, and your life becomes just what it was for Jesus. You become the Son of God in the highest sense of the word. God literally comes into you and Fathers your Christ Child. You may reference this to Revelation 12.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. Rev 12:1-5.
These verses were written long after Mary. This Scripture is a revelation of the second coming of Christ, when Christ is born out of the Woman, the true church, the true people of God — all who truly believe God and take Him at His Word. This Woman is the bride of Christ and she bears out of her the SAME Christ, this SAME Jesus, that Mary bore out of her. This was the purpose of the virgin birth. Our conversion is not based on the seed of man, but on the SEED of God. Because of this SEED of God, we have the very same life that Jesus had. If Christ comes the second time into us, it is just as Christ's coming the first time into Jesus. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.
Yes, paganism had a virgin birth message. This virgin birth was one of the doctrines of Egypt at the time Moses freed the Israelites from that place. It has been part and parcel of paganism. It has also been partly understood in Judaism. The Jews looked forward to their Messiah who would come from God and deliver them. You quoted the verse, "Behold a young unmarried woman will conceive and bear a son." This verse was in the old Testament. The Holy Spirit arranged for it.
Satan has long worked to discredit the work of God in some way. He always makes the work of God look foolish and contrived so that men will not catch the message. He has done this with the virgin birth and he has done this with the second coming of Christ as well. He wants men to think it is pagan and contrived, so that they will not get the reason for it and give birth to the Christ Child themselves. He wants no more of Christ born into the world. His own kingdom is the silly kingdom, contrived and made up, and he works feverishly to cast that same pall upon the Father's Kingdom. Satan knew what was coming, so he wanted to spoil the affect before it came. He wanted to prepare men to cast it aside.
It is true, however, that the Catholics did change something. They changed Jesus into a god and now they worship a god. Jesus did not come to be worshipped as a god. He came to show you yourself, if the Christ comes into you the second time as He did into Jesus the first time. Jesus came to show us what humanity is when it is infilled with divinity. He came to show us what a Christian is. Antichrist has denied this connection and turned the historic Jesus into a god to be worshipped in images and imagination. The Catholics appear to have great reverance for God, but they have taken the truth of God and turned it into a lie. The Father in heaven wants us to be His Sons, and not His slaves. He wants us to be One with Him, and not separate from Him. He wants us to be able to say, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." This was the message of the virgin birth, and it was the message of Jesus. If anyone comes with any other gospel, have nothing to do with him. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8-9.
Question: How do you respond to the past postings of your websites such as this one:
http://web.archive.org/web/20001206003900/http://quotes.strongcity.com/protocols_of_zion.html
which seem to espouse racist white supremacy tenets?Sean
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Michael: You connect me with the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. I have used this document to a great degree in various writings that I have published. There is a good deal of controversy over this little book, for it is the height of incrimination to whomever wrote it. It is espoused as written by the conspiracy theorists, and then there are other conspiracy theorists who claim it was written to incriminate Jews. Still others claim it was written by the conspirators themselves. Whoever wrote this little book was no idiot. It is a masterpiece on the study of how most people don't think, but act as cattle, while those with the money know just how to manage their cattle. I find in this book a clear exposition on the new world system that has been gaining great momentum over the past century. If one reads the Protocols, he can see how everything is working just as it was written in the Protocols over 100 years ago.
The Protocols of Zion is not essentially a racist book in its presentation, but more a book of "We who are in control" vs "Those who are our slaves." As we will see, in the end, it truly is classic racism. The activities recommended in that book in order to control slaves, are just what we are now seeing unfolding in our world in a more vivid way than ever before. It is bigger than ever. The book may be racist, but God is not. Jesus was a brown man, and so was Moses. Ancient Jews were the color of most Middle Eastern tribes that can be seen today. Most modern Jews are converts from other races of men. Most modern Jews are not Semites but Europeans and Asians. There are white supremacists who use this book, but they fail at grasping the true gravity of their own movements. A white supremacist would be the same as anyone who considered himself superior because of his color or religion. This would include most of humanity today.
To show some of the intensely interesting events of our modern world, I will quote from Protocol 23:3:
The supreme lord who will replace all now existing rulers, dragging in their existence among societies demoralized by us, societies that have denied even the authority of God, from whose midst breeds out on all sides the fire of anarchy, must first of all proceed to quench this all-devouring flame. Therefore he will be obliged to kill off those existing societies, though he should drench them with his own blood, that he may resurrect them again in the form of [democracies and] regularly organized troops fighting consciously with every kind of infection that may cover the body of the State with sores.
Here we are in the present time. President Bush, in his recent Inaugural Address, clearly laid out this plan. He spoke of taking "freedom" to the world. The evangelistic fervor of present day conservatism is the great movement which has evolved from the war on terror, to taking down all of the "evil" rulers and replacing them with "benevolent" democratic rulers. Mr. Bush plans to save the world for democracy. This metamorphosis of purpose, from weapons of mass destruction and terrorists, to tyrannical rulers, is missed by most men, but not by me. The invasion of the world by Antichrist is now underway in a greater way, and more up front, than at any time in history. The Protocols gives an accurate picture of how modern rule views this word, "freedom." These statements are from Protocols 12:1.
The word "freedom," which can be interpreted in various ways, is defined by us as follows: Freedom is the right to do that which the law allows. This interpretation of the word will at the proper time be of service to us, because all freedom will thus be in our hands, since the laws will abolish or create only that which is desirable for us according to the aforesaid program.
This is not a strange concept, for in every nation on earth one may do what the law allows. In this, every dictatorship is a nation of freedom to do what the dictator says. And so it is in our own country. We can all do what the law says we can do. But the mob cannot comprehend this contradiction. When the mob chants freedom, their eyes get all sparkley, but they have no idea what the word means.
In Protocol One, is the essence of modern forces. It reads:
25. Far back in ancient times we were the first to cry among the masses of the people the words "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," words many times repeated since these days by stupid poll-parrots who, from all sides around, flew down upon these baits and with them carried away the well-being of the world, true freedom of the individual, formerly so well guarded against the pressure of the mob. The would-be wise men of the GOYIM, the intellectuals, could not make anything out of the uttered words in their abstractness; did not see that in nature there is no equality, cannot be freedom: that Nature herself has established inequality of minds, of characters, and capacities, just as immutably as she has established subordination to her laws: never stopped to think that the mob is a blind thing, that upstarts elected from among it to bear rule are, in regard to the political, the same blind men as the mob itself, that the adept, though he be a fool, can yet rule, whereas the non-adept, even if he were a genius, understands nothing in the political - to all those things the GOYIM paid no regard; yet all the time it was based upon these things that dynastic rule rested: the father passed on to the son a knowledge of the course of political affairs in such wise that none should know it but members of the dynasty and none could betray it to the governed. As time went on, the meaning of the dynastic transference of the true position of affairs in the political was lost, and this aided the success of our cause.
26. In all corners of the earth the words "Liberty [Freedom], Equality, Fraternity," brought to our ranks, thanks to our blind agents, whole legions who bore our banners with enthusiasm. And all the time these words were canker-worms at work boring into the well-being of the GOYIM, putting an end everywhere to peace, quiet, solidarity and destroying all the foundations of the GOYA States. As you will see later, this helped us to our triumph: it gave us the possibility, among other things, of getting into our hands the master card - the destruction of the privileges, or in other words of the very existence of the aristocracy of the GOYIM, that class which was the only defense peoples and countries had against us. On the ruins of the eternal and genealogical aristocracy of the GOYIM we have set up the aristocracy of our educated class headed by the aristocracy of money. The qualifications for this aristocracy we have established in wealth, which is dependent upon us, and in knowledge, for which our learned elders provide the motive force.
27. Our triumph has been rendered easier by the fact that in our relations with the men, whom we wanted, we have always worked upon the most sensitive chords of the human mind, upon the cash account, upon the cupidity, upon the insatiability for material needs of man; and each one of these human weaknesses, taken alone, is sufficient to paralyze initiative, for it hands over the will of men to the disposition of him who has bought their activities.
28. The abstraction of freedom has enabled us to persuade the mob in all countries that their government is nothing but the steward of the people who are the owners of the country, and that the steward may be replaced like a worn-out glove.
29. It is this possibility of replacing the representatives of the people which has placed at our disposal, and, as it were, given us the power of appointment.I do not consider the Protocols as an overt racist document, but a document of superb intellect, stated by those who know very much about how to take over the world and make it the world of their own god. In this there is a covert racism. I respect the intelligence of this movement, but I cannot abide with its spirit, for it is a spirit that treats men as cattle, rather than as the creation of God. This movement is the old movement of Lucifer upon the present fortunes of men. It makes one people superior over another people. Whoever it was who wrote this document understands clearly the nature of fallen man, but they do not understand the nature of God, for our Father is the God of love and respect, and not the God of force.
Our present day government of the United States is now launching out into the earth through the powers of force and make-believe. We saw that make-believe in the strong assertions of weapons of mass destruction, when there were none. Now we see another doctrine, the doctrine against tyranny, when there is no tyranny except the tyranny of the New World Order.
Again, from Protocol One:
23. Our countersign is - Force and Make-believe. Only force conquers in political affairs, especially if it be concealed in the talents essential to statesmen. Violence must be the principle, and cunning and make-believe the rule for governments which do not want to lay down their crowns at the feet of agents of some new power. This evil is the one and only means to attain the end, the good. Therefore we must not stop at bribery, deceit and treachery when they should serve towards the attainment of our end. In politics one must know how to seize the property of others without hesitation if by it we secure submission and sovereignty.
This has been the principle of the last two administrations, and possibly the last ten. The people are generally stupid and unaware of what the speeches given actually mean. There is a fire that has been unleashed into the world and President Bush proclaimed this fire that he had launched into the earth. In his Inaugural Address, he stated:
Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well as a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world. [We may note here that this freedom that Mr. bush is bringing to the world is only the freedom to do what the laws of the New Order allow.]
We can see at this present time the great force of this political fire thrust upon the world. I received this E-mail yesterday:
"By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well as a fire in the minds of men." George W. Bush
"Fire in the Minds of Men - Origins of the Revolutionary Faith" was the title of the book by James Billington (Librarian of Congress) tracing the roots of the modern "Left", Communism, et al, to the Illuminati, the French Revolution and the secret societies in Europe. It is very strange, and telling, that he would borrow that phrase. Certainly his speech writers were aware of that book.What is occurring and what almost no one sees, is that this present movement is the long prophesied appearing of Antichrist. The Protocols of the Learned Elders were also these forces of Antichrist. The whole Christian world, warning the world almost from the spirit of paranoia against Antichrist, has fallen for the bait and it has put its energies into the camp of Antichrist. I marvel at the simplicity of men, and at how unaware men are of their present time. Americans can quote baseball scores, and they know what movie is at the top of the charts, but they know nothing of the spirit that has now taken them hostage.
The Protocols are thought to be racist, as evidenced from the question that you have asked me. That comes from the notion that they were written against Jews, yet tacked onto Jews as an anti-Semitic act. The irony of your question is that Israel, the Jewish state, is precisely a racist state. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often publicly stated that they could not allow exiled Palestinians to return to Israel because it would cause the Jewish state to cease to exist, since Palestinians would be in the majority and could vote a non Jew in as Prime Minister. American Christians are also racist, for they want a "Jewish state" and not a Palestinian state. They believe that the present day Jews are the chosen of God and that the Messiah will appear in Israel. The Jews are a race and a religion, and for many, unwittingly, by supporting a "Jewish" state, they have fallen right into the net of racism while all the time denying it. The laws in Israel are forged to protect the "Jewish" nature of the country. What if a group of whites forged laws to keep America white and Christian. Would not you hear the howls of millions ascend unto the heavens? Yet, not a word is heard in protest, except from the Palestinians, against the laws that keep them a minority. All of this is to protect the "Jewish" state, a state that no other race or creed would ever be allowed to create for themselves.
The forces of the secret societies, the Illuminati, Communism and all the host of totalitarianism are being launched out into the earth at this present time. The fire has been kindled and it will burn until everything is burned up. Catholics, Protestants, and Jews have joined hands with the secret societies to bring in the false christ and to usher in the final fires which will destroy the world. Satan himself is the king of this endeavor.
America is being used as the guns against weaker nations who have lifetime rulers. Democracy is the tool that the secret forces use to put into power those whom they wish to have ruling. They own the media and can place for election only those who will follow their course and obey their dictates. This is awesomely simple, yet in the shade. The nations who will not cooperate fully, will find a new president soon and all of this revolution will be to bring all men under the umbrella of the secret forces, dominated by them, and all in the name of freedom. The chains will be placed on everyone who thought they were being led into their deliverance. No man will be permitted to buy or sell except that he receive the mark of this beast.
The people thought they were going after terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, while all the time they were going after those societies that declared their independence from the New World forces. The state of Iran is now in their sights. After Iran it will be Korea and anyone else who is not marked with the mark of this beast.
There is something very encouraging here, however, and that is that my Father has never allowed a tower of Babel to be completed. Mr. Bush, et al, will be disappointed, for the God of heaven has set up His Own kingdom, and the kingdom of the secret society will never be allowed to blossom fully. My God and my Father will see to that.
What is the Silence in Heaven?
Question: 1. When was Satan cast from Heaven so that he could no longer go back? In Job
and Moses he was arguing with Jesus.
2. Can you explain the silence: "there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour."
Marlene
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael: Satan was cast out of heaven and began to ruin the earth with his spirit almost immediately. This was seen first with Adam and Eve. The human race was tested as to its faithfulness, and that human faithfulness failed because of the rise of self-interest and distrust. The race has become very wicked since that time and not much of the image of God can be seen in it. Satan did not enter heaven again after the war of the spirit, but he did seek to influence heavenly angels who did not see the full extent of his rebellion and where it would lead. When Jesus was crucified, that opened the eyes of all heaven as to the extent of Lucifer's evil, and he no longer had access to influence them as he had before.
Now the problem was reproduced upon the earth where Job and Moses lived. There are many Jobs and Moses' in these days who must battle with evil influences. Evil influences come to the children of God, because there is some trait in their character that gives Satan permission and access to harass. Job said, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." Job 3:25. Fear comes from faith in evil powers. Jesus said, "Fear not." Job's fear brought upon him the very things he feared because he believed that they would come. So it is with today's generation. Americans fear terrorists, so terrorists are what they will receive. This is why bad things come to "good" people. It is because "good" people believe in them.
There are many humans who are not clear as to the depth of evil that Satan presents. These humans do not want to sin particularly, and they want to serve God, but they do not realize the malignancy of their visitor. These people are "nice" people but they send their children off to war. They go into debt, effectively enslaving themselves and their families. They send their children into public schools to be ruined for any godly use. They salute their flag, pledging allegiance to a civil power, instead of pledging allegiance to God only. They vote for political candidates who guarantee that the evils will continue that now exist. They are sincerely deceived.
Over time, those who profess to believe in God are allowed to see the results of their beliefs and actions in these things. The Father in heaven opens their eyes to the evils of their own society. They watch their government, which was elected by them, destroy the lives of others, all in the deceptive names of freedom and democracy. They see not that the movement in their government is spreading only to become a worldwide slave state, a socialist democracy, where everything and everyone is controlled by civil authority, money and debt. As the evils that are destroying man are revealed to them, they are more and more disinclined to discuss matters with the evil angels. The children of God shut them out, not willing to enter into dialogue with them anymore. This happened with the heavenly angels and Lucifer, and it is now happening with God's earthly children and Lucifer. Soon, very soon, Satan will have no more access to them, or power to influence to any degree their thinking or feeling, because they will not be listening any longer. They will repudiate every single evil, for their eyes will have been opened to them all.
This brings us to your question about silence in heaven. In prophetic writing a day often equals a year. This is not always the case, but it often is. This "half hour of silence" has a special meaning if so calculated. A half hour would be about a week, or seven days in time. You may want to notice when this half hour took place in the prophecy in Revelation. It took place just before the announcements of the judgments, which bring on those very judgments announced. When Noah entered the ark and closed the door, there was silence in heaven for this half hour, this 7 day period. When Noah entered the ark, God said to him: "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth." Genesis 7:4. What this half hour means, is that a little time before the judgments fall, the people of God cease their intercession. They are silent. The door of the ark is closed and the earth hears from them no more. The earth is free to go headlong into their evil intent without the intercession of heaven. This brings on the very judgments that have been prophesied to come. Heaven gets quiet, and the world is left without help.
This period of time was also evident with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The people of God escaped from Jerusalem before it was destroyed. These were the people who believed that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. After they left the city, the city came under siege, and the gates of the city were closed. Before the city was destroyed, there was silence in heaven. That is, the city would no more hear from the people of God. The believers were gone, and the gate was closed. With the ark of Noah, the believers were locked safely on the inside, but with the destruction of Jerusalem, the believers were safely locked on the outside.
This is now happening in our time. The believers are safely locked out of the city of Babylon which is about to be destroyed. The judgments now fall, but it has been after a time when heaven was silent and no more warned the inhabitants of the earth against their evil intents. Now the world is allowed to go into its abyss, and burn in the fire of its own making. President Bush said in his speech, "By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well as a fire in the minds of men." And so the fire now burns. The world is on fire. The children of God will rest awhile and come apart from the evils that have come upon this generation as a flood.
Question: I have a question about physical death. What has Father revealed to you as to what happens when our physical bodies die. Are people just dead until the resurrection or what? I think that is referred to as soul sleep. Jesus said to the man on the cross that he would be in paradise with Him that day so I'm not sure.
Justin
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Michael: We can observe the answer to this question in the Scriptures. The answer to this question helps to alleviate the abuse heaped upon the state of man by modern prophets. What I mean by this, is there is almost never a funeral or a comment from some public figure, but that they immediately launch the departed into the realms of bliss and beauty. "They are in heaven, now looking down upon you with loving eyes." The phrase is often heard, "When I get to heaven..." The basic belief is that one goes to heaven at the moment of death. This is a perversion of the Scriptures at its most basic root. The Bible writers never even thought of a person going to heaven when they died. All one needed to do was to look into the casket and see very well where someone went when they died.
You asked about this verse: "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43. This verse was translated by translators who believed you go right to heaven when you die. The problem with these "students of the Scriptures" is that they seem to completely ignore the fact that Jesus did not go to heaven that day at all. He didn't go until sometime after that day. When Jesus resurrected from the dead, he said to Mary, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." John 20:17. It makes a world of difference where one puts the comma: "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise." Dying does not take one to heaven. It takes one to where Jesus was taken, to the grave. This verse would be better translated, "Verily I say to you right now today, you will be one who is with me in paradise." The man on the cross had yielded to the Christ Who comes into the flesh, and that qualified him for paradise.
There are many ways that humans have gone to heaven. Enoch and Elijah went immediately into heaven without having ever died. They were taken, without dying. Moses died and then was resurrected and taken to heaven. Most others stay in the state of sleep until the resurrection at the last day. This happened during the "last day" of Jesus. "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Matt. 27:50-53.
This present day resurrection is the resurrection about which Paul clearly expounded. It was the resurrection to which Jesus referred: "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:40. This "last day" in the Greek language means, the furthest day at the end. This word is a superlative, meaning, "uttermost day." This uttermost day is the end of everything. In that uttermost day, those who believed that Christ came in the flesh will be raised up from their sleepy grave. Why do I say "sleepy?" It is because Jesus said, "sleep." When a little girl died, and Jesus was asked to come and help, he said: "Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn." Matthew 9:24.
Another well known resurrection was the resurrection of Lazarus. He was in the grave four days and already decomposing. "Jesus said to his disciples, 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.... Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead'.... And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth." John 11:11,14,43. Jesus raised him up. He did not call him back from his heavenly bliss in order to live once again in this dark world. Lazarus had nothing to say about his time "in heaven" because Lazarus did not go to heaven when he died.
Paul was very clear in his explanations. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52. Paul speaks of two groups of believers at the last day. There are those who have previously died physically, and sleep in their graves, as did Lazarus and the little girl, and the living who never saw physical death. One group will be raised and the other changed. Both of these groups will ascend. "For 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. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
Considering these things, some men have died and gone to heaven after being awakened only a short time after they died. Others die and sleep until the resurrection at the "last day," the "last trump." Still others are taken to heaven having never died. This is all in the hands of God. There is one thing that is a root in all of this, however, and that is that it is certain, no man goes to heaven, ever, unless he has gone to heaven here. Why? Because men do not change their character when they "go to heaven." They are the same persons then as they are now. They do not become someone else. When the wicked are raised from the dead, they are still wicked. When false prophets preach the wicked dead into heaven, they lie, for no promise of this has ever been given. It is as impossible to take an ice cube to the sun, as it is to take the wicked to heaven. The wicked would only melt under the righteous eye of the Father in heaven. His gaze of light would burn up everything but righteousness in the soul.
Heaven is righteousness and love. It is pure selflessness and disinterested benevolence. If one is not of this character in this life, then he would not be of this character in the next life. He would perish in the light of God. Those who "go to heaven" are those who love righteousness and truth. They are not religious legalists or self righteous terrorist hunters. They do not take up a gun against their human brothers. They are not jealous or selfish. This self-righteous group is reserved for another resurrection. It is the resurrection of those who have loved money, and themselves.
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. ...Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power...And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20.
This is the irony: Some have pictured God as a vengeful punisher, but He is not. He is a wonderful, loving, trusting Being of cause and righteous effect. If one does not have life as his core, the result is that he is cast into the lake of fire. What is this fire? This fire is the fire that makes the wicked writhe in anguish even now. I have seen some of these wicked souls writhe in anguish against my words when they read them. I have seen some folks tormented in fire when I speak to them. They are cast into a lake of fire because they hate righteousness and love themselves. The point I am making is that God does not judge unjustly. He only gives men what they love. Terrorist hunters receive a nation of terrorists because they love terrorists and are terrorists themselves. They are tormented day and night and have no rest. They must have unprecedented security measures to protect themselves from the phantoms they have imagined and brought into existence by their strong faith in them.
Today is the Inauguration. It is a time of unprecedented security measures. Why? Because Americans are afraid, paranoid, and guilty. There is no other place on earth more guilty and paranoid than is Washington D.C. They can show their teeth and smile a lot, but the peace of God is not in their souls. They talk a good faith, but they walk as the faithless. This is akin to the lake of fire. It is a fire that is kindled in the midst of themselves. This is especially true for those who experience the "second death." This second death is one that is experienced by those who once could see light, and now they receive the effects of rejecting that light which they saw. There is a horrible writhing in the flames of one's own guilty soul. Every soul will have the blessed opportunity to see himself as he actually is, either now, or at the time of the second resurrection. Eventually, every knee will bow to the truth. And what is the truth?
When Pilate asked this question, Jesus needed not answer him. Pilate was staring right at the Truth when he asked that question. The truth was, and is: Christ appeared in human flesh. That is, Christ appears in man. The Son of the most high God appears within the soul. Antichrist is against this truth. Antichrist says, "Oh, we are only human. No man is perfect. Those who say that Christ has appeared in them are false Christs." You have heard these false prophets before. All of these will face their Judge at the second resurrection. All of those who have had Jesus Christ, the Son of God, appear within them, will be their judge for they will have already ascended at the blowing of the last trumpet. For all things are judged according to this truth. When Christ appears in the soul, that is the saving of the soul, and no man is saved who has not had this appearing. This appearing of Christ in the human soul, the human flesh, is the "sign of the Son of Man." This is happening now. It is written of this time: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30. These souls are they who have had Christ appear in them, who are raised to enter into the realms of light. These souls are they who have had Christ appear in them, who translate to heaven without seeing physical death. These souls are "changed" and they receive bodies such as Jesus had after he had raised from the dead. Those who translate to heaven without seeing death, are those who have come to the fullness of Christ. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Ephesians 4:13. That is to say, "We press ahead, until we all come into the perfect unity of faith, and the perfect knowledge of the Son of God within us, and we come to a perfect man, measured by the very stature and fulness of the Messiah." This is how it was, and this is how it is. Christ came in the body of Jesus, and now He comes in the bodies of all who believe our testimony.
This is the answer to the question, "What happens to you when you die?" It is also the answer to the question, "What happens to you when you live?"
Why Use Astrological Signs?
Question: I have noticed many references in your writings to the astrological signs of the Zodiac. I know that modern Christianity, in all its self-delusion, claims that Astrology is of satanic origin. Would you explain your use of what, to many, are considered part of the essence of Pagan worship?
Thank you,
g.e.t.
Michael: There are two ways to look at the signs in the heavens of which I will write. Suppose you were to have a picture in your house that was a picture of a tornado. The pagans and the superstitious might believe that the picture had power over them. The true discerner of the Spirit would understand that the picture was taken of a tornado, but it had no power over him.
The astrological signs are only pictures. They were first envisioned by those who laid out on the grassy fields watching over their livestock. Pictures in the heavens began forming in their minds. The pictures represented real life occurrences and soon it was a storybook for all. I use astrological signs because they tell a story, and consistently the story is amazingly accurate of the present events in time. The Scriptures prophesied that these things would occur, especially at the time of the end. Jesus, himself, said so:
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring. Luke 21:25.
Now tell me, on December 26, 2004, were not the waves roaring in the Asian tsunami? Is there not distress of nations, leaving people perplexed. And did I not just post on the 15th of January, the signs in the heavens that pictured the event? The stars in the heavens are witnesses to what is occurring, but the stars do not have power over us. We are not victims of the heavens, and our fate is not tied to astrological signs. Our fate is decreed by the spirit that we invite into our lives. We are "victims" only of our own will and heart.
One prophecy about which I have written, is the one in Revelation Chapter 12. "And there appeared (was seen) a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." This wonder was Virgo, and that sign was the sign to the people of God that the church was soon to go into the wilderness. This prophecy was fulfilled in the years 2000-2004. For 3 1/2 years, or 1260 days, the church was taught in the wilderness in the presence of Michael, for He was born out of the Woman, the congregation, in the wilderness as it was written he would be. He was the Man Child that the dragon tried to kill upon His arrival. This sign in the heavens foretold of the event soon to transpire. The sign in the heavens did not make us sojourn in the wilderness, but it showed us what we were about to do. The 12th chapter of Revelation is the precise picture of our experience here. Those who believe in this sojourn which occured, will find themselves receiving the strength that we have received from it. This prophecy was fulfilled at exactly the time of the beginning of the 70 weeks of years in Daniel 9. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." Psalms 19:1. So it was, and so it is.
Question: In Revelation it talks about all the things to come to pass in the end times. You mentioned in your answer to the question, Does the present comet mean anything?, "This judgment does not tell us that God is mad, but that He is letting the earth put itself out of its own misery."
My question is this: What does it look like for the United States concerning the Scriptures and this sentence? What does it look like for it, it's end?
C. Becca
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Michael: This question is very clearly answered in the book of Revelation. And, this is a question that can be answered by the evidences of our present day society. What is happening to the United States, and the world as well, is that they are taking the mark of the beast, and this mark will kill them all. The mark of the beast is represented by the number 666, but that number doesn't actually tell the whole story unless someone knows what it means and can see the results of having that number impressed upon the soul. The rumors fly about chips under the skin and bar codes etc., but all of these things are only a side trip. The mark of the beast is very recognizable, and is a mark on the soul of the one who has it. When one has this mark on his soul, then the end is assured, for God has no say within that man anymore.
I have observed against myself and others, a spirit that is in the earth. I have seen this spirit in action on the Internet and in some personal interactions. Over time, this spirit has spread and has encompassed the nation and the world. The results of this spirit are that men have a blind hatred for others, and particularly against righteousness. It is a hatred that generates a whole new world of imagined offenses, and it can make up a host of stories against its created enemies. This is a sign of the mark of the beast. It is the actual working out of the mark and the evidence of the mark.
The mark is not simply that one got his facts wrong, or that he is mad at someone. It is more like an insane shift of the mind, a demonic, tunnel vision of misperceived and false reality. This mark is taken when the soul has given itself over to demonic control and cannot reason from the truth anymore. When one is in this mode of experience, it does not matter to him that it can be proven that his visions of "reality" are in error. The self-deceived one clings to them anyway. He creates and justifies his vision from the spirit of hatred that is in him. It seems to the one possessed of the mark, that if the facts that he is believing were not true, then they should be true, because of the way that he feels. These who have the mark of the beast can act nice, and pretend to be polite and respectful, but in their heart of hearts is a blind rage against their enemies. They cannot love anyone who crosses their will.
I have seen this very clearly in regard to reactions of others against myself. I have heard the many rumors that some have told about me that have no basis in fact. I have seen "conspiracy" web sites create the darkest and most convoluted set of accusations against some people in public office who offended their political view of life. While some charges may be true, some of the charges were obviously not true if one would just look at the facts. I have heard those running for office create such a bizarre view of their opponent that if the charges were actually true, their opponent would be in jail. All of these things come out of the mark of the beast. This mark generates a false reality and its spirit is hatred. We saw this spirit actively at work in the war against Serbia, Iraq, and the war on terrorism. These wars were all based on unreality, and there was a spirit of hatred connected with them that exposed the beast in his human incarnation.
This spirit is encompassing the earth, and filling the souls of men, causing them to see things in a grossly distorted light. Even now those with this mark are imagining all kinds of things that have no basis in fact, but are created out of their own imaginations and motivations. "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." 2 Thessalonians 2:11. When souls choose and love evil, the Father in heaven allows them to receive the mark of the beast, the mark of pure fiction. This "mark" distorts men's perceptions. They actually believe things as true, that are not true at all. I have watched this in law enforcement also. I have seen it in the courts, where some soul is judged and sentenced before he even sits down at the bar. It is assumed that he is guilty before he has even opened his mouth. Those who throw the false charges at some soul, are certain of their veracity, because they have seen these visions and manufactured these motives right out of their own hearts. They believe what they see is true, but it is not true, or even near the truth. I have also watched this mark reveal itself against law enforcement. A police officer is tried and convicted by an offended soul before anything can be explained. A person with the mark of the beast cannot be convinced or brought to understanding, because his imagination is based in, and indissolubly joined to, the spirit of hatred and personal offense.
This mark of the beast will push the button that annihilates mankind. The United States will be consumed in a fire that comes right out of its own spirit. The lies that the United States has generated against others for its own profit, will be generated against the United States. She will receive in full, that which she has paid out to others. Those "foreign aid" donations were only used to enslave the world in a huge weight of debt. This false aid will all come back to haunt before this day of reckoning is over.
Revelation 13:16
And he [this beast of America] causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:Note: This beast that came up out of the earth "causes" all men to receive a mark. They receive this mark in their actions (right hand) or in their foreheads (minds). This beast is the United States and it is now "causing" all men to receive this deadly spirit of pure self-interest and offense.
Revelation 13:17
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.Note: It is very difficult to enter into this world's natural flow of commerce without being part and parcel of this spirit. If one does not play the game, he is considered part of a cult, terrorist organization, or worse. The person must allow his life to be pried into and spied upon, or he is suspect. Often, based on false suspicions only, the funds belonging to the unconvicted, are frozen arbitrarily. They cannot buy or sell because they are suspected for some offense. Citizens may have "cash" confiscated because they are "suspected" of using drugs. They cannot buy or sell because they do not act as other men act. They are not "normal." They don't have the mark.
Revelation 14:9-11
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.Note: This terror that men feel and this demonic visioning is the wine of the wrath of God. It is when God leaves man to his own willful and self-deceived way. God no longer intercedes for that soul with His grace, which was designed to cause man to see rightly. He does not interfere and bring grace to the soul, but, instead, the soul who has shut out God and given himself over to demonic control, experiences wrath. This soul, who is now unhindered in imagining all kinds of lying wonders, is tormented day and night by his imaginings. The Lamb (Michael) and the holy messengers can only watch and marvel at what men have chosen for themselves. The torment of those with the mark, continues to rise as smoke, for the smoke of their torment obscures their vision of real life. Those who worship the beast cannot get rest, for the beast has continual warnings going out about terror and some ominous or imminent evil that must be conquered. They are always in their eternal war. Souls who receive these breathings of fear and hatred from the beast, and partake of his gigantic imaginations, receive the mark of this beast who has dominated the world by money, debt and make-believe, and they have pledged allegiance to this beast and cannot will to be free. No rest will ever come to the soul who gives himself over to this spirit, and thus becomes marked with it.
Revelation 15:2
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.Note: It is only the soul who has victory over this mark who can stand on the sea of transparency, this quiet, undefensive place of honest innocency, at rest and at peace.
Revelation 16:2
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.Note: It is these souls with the mark who receive the plagues. This is indicative that the plagues are not merely some outward event, some mysterious gas floating down from the heavens, or some blood in one's drinking water. The plagues are plagues to the soul. The plagues have implications for one's spiritual nature. Those who do not receive the mark of the beast, cannot be plagued. One who has a pure heart of love and trust, drinks pure water from the river of life. Those with an impure heart will drink bloody water from polluted rivers.
Revelation 19:20
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles (wonders) before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.Note: Here again is the result of receiving this mark. One is cast into a fire. They burn internally day and night over the ones they hate. They burn in their lusts. They hate God and they hate man. This is the nature of hell fire. It is in one's own self, and in the mark one has given himself over to. His character has been carved upon with the tools of the adversary of souls. He becomes devilish.
Revelation 20:4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.Note: Those who have victory over this mark, and refuse to take the animal nature of fear, revenge, hatred and rage, find themselves on victorious thrones. Judgment is given them, because they can reason things out and see things as they actually are.
You asked, "What does it look like for the United States?" This is what it looks like and this is what it is. America has thrust its people into the fires of hell and the rest of the world also. It has "caused" them to receive the mark of the beast. The citizens are in a tsunami of immorality that is given free reign on the Internet. A large portion of the population spend many hours lusting over the body parts of others. These fires burn day and night. The people in power continue to remind the population of the "axis of evil" that they must attack, and the people are entertained in their theaters with a tsunami of imaginary images and horrendous and vain creatures to excite the mind into an avalanche of fantasy. They are made to believe a lie. The people are dominated by an overwhelming weight of debt, that makes them servants of the beast who guides their way. They cannot escape, or buy and sell, without this gross chain around their neck. Day and night they moan in their fires, and when they are shown their errors, they lash out and gnash their teeth at those who would correct them and who have offended their pride.
Jesus said: The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:41-43.
This is now occurring. The Son of Man has appeared, Christ has come again in the flesh, as he said, and the wicked are gathered "out" of his kingdom. They have been invited to leave it. By so doing, those who received the mark of the beast instead of repenting of their spirit, are cast into the fiery torment of their own souls. They now hate the Son of Man when He appears in someone. They wail at the Son of Man and gnash their teeth at Him when His presence offends them. But those who have overcome the mark of the beast shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
All this is not a fantastic mystery. This is what happened to Lucifer in heaven. There stood one of the brightest angels, who led the angel choirs in music and rejoicing. At some point in time he was offended over the Son, and that the Son had privileges that he did not have. He was enraged, jealous, and imagined all kinds of evil in the heavenly realm. Because of this the Son gathered out of His kingdom, all that were offended in Him, and the devil and his host entered eternal torment where now they can only wail and gnash their teeth at the heavenly host all day and all night. They have received the mark of the beast, a mark that leaves the soul without God and without grace. It is a mark that leaves one only in his passions and self-interest, fully possessed by these offended demons that had to leave heaven. This is what is now destroying the world. This is what is now happening to America and all of those nations that have received the mark of America, the mark of debt, self-centered love and its huge powers of imagination.
When Jesus was crucified, he was crucified by the Jews who had yielded to the mark of the beast. They hired liars who would voice charges that they manufactured out of their own imaginations. This was the nature of the world, then. This is the nature of the world, now.
Does The Present Comet Mean Anything?
Question: I have a question for you. Does Revelations, (or any other part) of the Bible, describe the Comet that we are seeing approach, and any events that take place around it? Is the falling of the twin towers mentioned?
Robert R.
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Michael: The word disaster means "evil star." The ancients connected comets to an omen for some evil event, mostly an event of war or some brooding disaster. The comet (evil star) sometimes looked like a sword in the heavens, ready to drop down and destroy the inhabitants. These days there are many comets, because more of them can be seen. The present comet is the newly discovered comet Machholz. On the day of the tsunami wave, this comet was in the Constellation Eridanus. As one can see, this constellation is eerily like the coast of India, even including a jog for Sri Lanka. The other Asian coastlines are very recognizable. Immediately after the earthquake, the comet went directly into Taurus the bull. Taurus represents judgment, for the bull has his head down and he is going straight forward.
Through the centuries there has been no real consensus as to what river this Eridanus represents. Some writers claimed it was the Tigris or Euphrates, others the Nile. Homer called it an "ocean stream." If it is the Euphrates, as some suggest, it would be pointing directly at the war in Iraq as an omen of doom to come. If it is an ocean stream as Homer suggests, the implications are obvious. God's ocean stream was a judgment from heaven. This was one of the first conclusions of the Buddhists of that land. The Buddhists saw their society collapse while the images of Buddha stood unscathed. They saw this as an obvious omen that God was judging them for their iniquities.
Comets are not the only harbingers of judgment. A prophecy is also used by God to awaken people to their danger. This world event that you bring up, the disaster surrounding the Twin Towers, was especially poignant in my own experience, for God gave me a prophecy which I wrote out and published on the Internet on the morning of September 10, 2001. This prophecy stated:
I told you I would come again, and I have come again. Now let the nations mourn, for their kingdoms will be ground to powder. I will break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and gold. They will become like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind will carry them all away. No place will be found for them anymore. I will become a great mountain and fill the whole earth with my light. It shall burn as an oven. My Father has said it and it is coming to pass as He has spoken.
The earth may think it can kill me. Oh, foolish men, you cannot kill me as you do your other enemies. If my Father gave my body over to you, you may kill it, but I will inhabit a hundred more. If men kill them, I will inhabit ten thousand more. You cannot kill a Spirit you foolish ones. The Spirit has come and it has entered into the earth. You have gone far enough, and now I will show you who it is that rules in the heavens. You have built your Babylonish tower, but I will make the top to break off and its foundations to sink into the mire. You will see the stability of the sand you have built on. You will try everything to save it but it will not be saved. Your merchants will wail, for no one will buy their merchandise anymore.
The judgment is set and my people shall take away this new dominion that has spoiled the world. I will consume it and destroy it until there is not a coal to warm at. The kingdom has been given to the saints of the Most High and I am here to tell you that. My kingdom is the true dominion and all nations shall serve me. My kingdom shall not be destroyed for it is everlasting life. It is my own everlasting life. Let the wicked now call for their mountains and rocks to cover them. The sign of the Son of man is come. Let the nations grieve, for no man will buy their merchandise anymore. No one will accept their lying reports.A Scripture germane to the subject: Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering [their own made up stories], but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt [the beast/civil government], and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh [their president], and to trust in the shadow of Egypt [the beast]! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh [your president] be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt [the beast] your confusion.
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers [those who actually see what is going on], See not [don't tell us what you see]; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things [things that don't make us feel guilty, or things that don't make us feel that we are very great and wonderful], prophesy deceits [fool us by telling us how wonderful we are]: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel [Michael] to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel [Michael], "Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit."
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye [those who believe in me] be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye [those who love the world] would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift [ride away from conviction rapidly]; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift [chase you down rapidly]. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee [you will be afraid of everything]: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill [Everyone will pass by saying, I am sure glad I am not who they are].
For the people [who believe in me] shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem [dwell in my holy and secure congregation]: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. [Even though the Lord bring you difficulties to try you and develop you, you shall rest and not be hurt.] Ye shall defile also the covering [excuses] of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. [You will get rid of all of the demons you have loved.]
Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. [Sept 11, 2001] [At the time when the towers fall, you will be fed from heaven.] Moreover the light of the moon [the believers] shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun [the Son of God, Michael] shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound [by those things He takes them through].
Behold [look around you and see], the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of [their own] vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err [making them receive the just rewards for their actions].Ye [who believe in me] shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting (coming) down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest (tsunami), and hailstones. For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian [one who fought against the holy congregation] be beaten down, which smote with a rod. (From Isaiah Chapter 30)
There are many tokens, omens and warnings that come from the heavens to warn the inhabitants of the earth. But at the time of these plagues it is written that they will not repent. They will weep and gnash their teeth, and cry out in their darkness and smoke from the burning pit, but they will not be healed, for their hearts have been given over to demons and their hell fire cannot be quenched. For those of us who have trusted in the Father in heaven there is a sadness of heart that there has been so much suffering. This judgment does not tell us that God is mad, but that He is letting the earth put itself out of its own misery. The Father in heaven has grieved much over the gross nature of man's sins, but it has been necessary to teach us the results of living for one's self. Sin will never arise again in the next world.
Question: As I have considered your answer to "What Happens to the Seed", it brings to my mind some new questions. You have spoken of the Word, the Life, being the Light that lights every man. Is there a distinction between the Spirit, and the Life? It seems that as the soul yields more and more to the Life within, he is continually and increasingly drawn out in need for more of the Father's Spirit. It is as though he must reach out and draw from Father to be sustained in the Life within. Is this the Life within the soul Himself that is drawn out to the Father this way? Your answer has given me a view of there only being One Life, that is given to all men, and it is the same Life. Yet somehow that Life seems to, and even seems to have a need to, communicate with Himself. Also, the scriptures say that Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, yet, they also say that the Son and the Father are one. Can you expound on these things?
Allasso
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Michael: It is written: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:1-9.
Here mentioned are some basic facts. 1. The Word is God. 2. All things are made by this Word. 3. The Life is the Light of men. 4. This Light lights every man that has come into the world. The Life, the Light and the Word are all the same One. The Life is what enlightens us, and the Word educates us, and they are the Same One. This is what makes the destruction of the world so just. All men are given the Truth, and all men either resist and resent it, or they yield to it and become One with God.
Jesus said that he and the Father were One. Yet, Jesus prayed to the Father. Does the Father pray to Himself? Yes, in the form of His creatures. Jesus was One Spirit with the Father, and so it is with all who are One Spirit with the Father. There is only one God, and if God is in you, and you have yielded your will to His Spirit, then His Life is your Life and you are One with that Life. You are made into the image of God.
When the Life you live is God's life, there is an eternal drawing to Him. There is a continual praying out after Him and this prayer never ceases. Day and night the heart of God in men, prays out after Him, for the Life is attracted to the Life. This is Communion -- God communing with Himself in us. True Communion IS NOT little crackers. When one has resisted the Light and put up his walls of defense against the Light, he is left in darkness, and that darkness cannot comprehend the Light. The one who has chosen darkness just cannot "get it." The Light is obscured and that soul will die because he has no active Life to sustain him. When one crucifies the Life, he only commits suicide in the spirit realm. He kills his own Source of support that is within.
This is the great mystery, how a man can actually kick against the pricks, the goads, of the Holy Spirit. But man has been given freedom to do so. Whatever a man chooses to desire is given him, whether good or evil. We are creators as God is a creator. We actually invent our world and bring it into existence by our word, as does God. This is why the earth is how it is. Man has made it just as he wished it to be. The criminals who run the world, are the very criminals voted in by the criminal population. Then, the criminal population carries out their desires through the ones they elect. The world is exactly how the wicked want it, but they weep and moan and complain and elect someone else next time because they cannot comprehend that they wanted it the way that they did. The darkness cannot comprehend the Light.
But those who are led of the Spirit, these Sons of God, come out from the practices of the world. They withdraw their support and their affections from it. They do not participate in any way in the evils that are created by the wicked. In this way, the ones who love the righteousness of God are drawn to His heart continually. Their Light increases as their comprehension expands. They create the beauty of Eden in their own souls through the power of the Light Who lights them. These souls cannot be bought or sold. They cannot be impressed by anything other than the Light, the Word, the Life of the Father Who dwells in the invisible world that only they can see through the eyes of the unobscured Spirit Who dwells within them.
There are many religions and groups of people who try to find God through their beliefs. They make up great names for their churches, and study long to develop doctrines that they hope will save them because they think they believe the right things. They attend their meetings and sing their songs, but within themselves they have shut out the Light which lights the soul. They have shut out the Word and replaced that Word with the machinery of their own mind and will. These are all lost souls. They do not know where they are going. There may well be "heathen" in the darkest reaches of earth more close to the Father than they, because these "heathen" see the Light, and hear the Word, and follow it. These are the true Sons of God for their own Spirit is drawn out after the Spirit of the Father. They hear His Voice speak to them and they rejoice to respond to it. The Father's Spirit is drawn out to the Father's Spirit.