Digging Deep into the Revelation of Jesus Christ

THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE

How important is it to repent?
How often should we repent?
When did repentance begin?

Malachi 2:16a; 3:1a
For the LORD God…says…
“Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.”

The Gospel According to Mark begins with John the Baptist fulfilling the prophecies:

Mark 1:1-8
THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: [Notice the plurality Prophets.] “Behold I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” [Malachi] “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” [Isaiah 40:3] John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission [forgiveness] of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The prophets Malachi and Isaiah were led by the Holy Spirit to prophesy that God would send the Lord’s messenger {John} to prepare the Lord’s way for people to come to him with a contrite, broken, ashamed, repentant heart—to apologize for offending God when they had been disobedient to His Commandments. In other words, John’s baptism was preparing the hearts for people to take the first step to being saved. When a baby is first conceived and then born, that child is innocent for never having broken any of the Commandments. So the child is accepted by God—justified to be viewed by God as having the righteousness of God—totally sinless. Therefore God welcomes the child to be with Him in His kingdom. However, when the child matures and, even unknowingly, breaks a Commandment—like even telling a falsehood—a lie, then, since God does not accept sin, God separates that person from Himself and keeps that separation until the person comes to admit he has sinned—that is to repent and asks to be forgiven—and to believe without any doubt that God is who He says He is and will, indeed take those sins away. At that moment, the sinner is brought back to no longer being separated from God—for all eternity future—freely given eternal life—totally redeemed, bought back with a tremendous price.

How does this happen? When we say “God is who He says He is,” we read that He redeems us with His blood. That eternal life is in His Blood:

WHO ARE THE TWO WITNESSES?

REVELATION 11:3-6

Posted by Elfriede Copple from the Bible Study Guide “DIGGING DEEP INTO THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST” (pgs 96+97)

Last week’s Bible Study of Revelation 11:3-6 gives us some insight into who the TWO WITNESSES are. It is quite interesting, and I thought I would share that with you today.

REVELATION 11:3
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING THAT FITS

Posted by Elfriede

A new book for Christmas titled
“Spur of the moment” – by Marcia Lee Laycock

After reading the first Chapter titled: SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING THAT FITS –
John 15:9 – I decided to write down my thoughts and what I discovered searching the Scriptures:

God’s Choices of Whom He will take Up and the Rapture Timing

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

The Rapture

Psalm 49:15b God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me.

John 6:39-40 “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. [Last day refers to last day of Church Age.] And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Hold Fast – to the End

“hold fast till I come… keepeth my works unto the end”

by Randy Amos

We live in a changing world – and church. Truth once held is being let go in the name of liberty. And in our technological explosion things are changing almost monthly. We let go of what was the “newest and greatest” to further upgrade to something more exciting.

Is it easy to hold something fast for a long period of time? Try holding a 3-pound book in your hand while standing. For a few minutes it’s easy. But could you do it for even a week? Tiredness, hunger, inconvenience, time demands, peer pressure to move on, and even boredom would make it a monumental task.

There are things the Lord asks His children to hold fast (not let go of) until He comes. But that can be hard because of relativism, results, reputation, relationships, and regression (small at times). If 20 people were standing side-by-side in a straight line and eventually 19 stepped back, the one who didn’t move now looks strange and out of unity with the others. Yet we are exhorted to be “steadfast, unmovable,” 1Cor. 15:58.

Seven Areas the Lord asks Believers to “hold fast” Until the End

10 COMMANDMENTS for BIBLE STUDY

We received our Cornerstone Magazine and feel blessed by the below article written by Rick Morse in the Nov-Dec 2019 issue (pg 4+5).

We hope you enjoy it too and find the teaching helpful to rightly divide God’s Word.

10 COMMANDMENTS for BIBLE STUDY

“Be diligent to present thyself approved to God –
a workman irreproachable, rightly dividing the Word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15, (Young’s Literal Translation)

In His wisdom, our God has placed what we might consider three “sentinels” in His Word – one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5- 6; Rev. 22:18-19). It is to warn all who read it to neither add nor take away from what He has chosen to reveal. He also inspired Paul to exhort Timothy to study the Word of God with diligent care, to pursue an orderly and consistent approach to discovering its truths (2 Tim. 2:15). Out of gratitude to those have mentored and nurtured my own interest in Bible study, I offer these ten “rules of thumb”. If observed, they will enable the eager Bible student to rightly divide the word of truth, and to avoid many popular but harmful bypaths which are so readily available today.

1. Observe What The Text Says

Forcing a preconception on what is written usually leads to error. Reading and re-reading a portion slowly, and out loud, is the best way to take in every word. Notice every detail, verb, order, progression, pattern, etc. God does not do things haphazardly. Before we even begin thinking about what the Bible teaches, we need to first establish what the Bible says.

The Four Horsemen are Previews of the Coming Antichrist Events

In Revelation Chapter 6 each of the four horses with a rider represents the antichrist in a preview of chronological events which will take place over the Seven-year Tribulation Period.

In Revelation 6:2 the white horse previews the antichrist’s beginning phase:
– entering to conquer,
– imitating the Messiah
(Rev. 13:1-3, 13-14; 2 Thess. 2:4, 11; Matt. 24:24) and
– coming into power at the beginning of the Tribulation.

How important is it to repent?How often should we repent?When did repentance begin?

REVELATION 11:3-6

A new book for Christmas titled “Spur of the moment” – by Marcia Lee Laycock

The Rapture

“hold fast till I come… keepeth my works unto the end”

Seven Areas the Lord asks Believers to “hold fast” Until the End

10 COMMANDMENTS for BIBLE STUDY

How important is it to repent?
How often should we repent?
When did repentance begin?

A new book for Christmas titled
“Spur of the moment” – by Marcia Lee Laycock