noobie

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there is so much here violates the hermeneutic of Scripture! As God has said 2 Pe 1:19-21 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. NKJV This means what it means and when the simple truth appears seek no other truth for God hates itching ears 2 Ti 4:3-5 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. NKJV I suggest you get yourself around some Godly Bible Teachers and learn of the foundation God has given you! Love, Steven Greetings: I think the whole thing hinges on an immortal soul doctrine. We have to be careful of things that crept into Christianity, as that is one doctrine, another is Hades based on Greek mythology. You have not really addressed anything satisfactorly in the points I brought up. To state two examples, as for Saul identifying it as Samuel, that is not enough proof. People claim they see their loved one's ghosts after death all the time, but it's just that, a claim. Also, the Rich man and Lazarus story only shows your attempt to wanting to take it literally, the very thing I said one can't do. I once believed as you do, but abandoned some of these ideas since they did not pass scriptural muster to me and upon learning the outside influences to Christianity over the years that the apostles would not have believed. Blessings. Greetings! Wouldn't it be more beneficial to stay inside the influences of Christianity and His Word?

I am not ensuring complexity. It is something that most people look over rather than look to the teaching presented. This was simply a "base" or foundation to build from. One of the things I hope to discuss is that there is a component here that I think is often looked over. There is a difference between "believing" and BELIEVING. Sorry Jacob I didn't mean to imply that I thought you was ensuring complexity. Some times in forums and even text messages to family I seem to lead people into thinking I mean something that I don't. I was just giving the most simple and easy reply to others who might not really know. I love what you do here on these forums and enjoy reading the post you make. God Bless and keep doing what you do! Noobie, your responses are so humble and pleasant. I was just making a generalization. I presented this discussion in chat and it took awhile to get to the gist of the discussion. Which seemingly, will occur here as well, which is fine. . . . I was just making a point of my intentions etc. God bless you friend, hope you understand. Thank you also for you compliment! Glad you are here Hope you stick around in this thread! Well in that case we have to look into the role of the Holy Spirit. Paul comes right into verse 16, which is tied to our lifestyle that's going to merit rewards or lack of it, by bringing up a completely new doctrine in Scripture. You don't find this in the Old Testament, you don't find Jesus teaching it, Peter and the eleven don't teach it, only Paul teaches it, and what is it? "That God Himself is dwelling in this body." Now that's a concept that you have to take by faith, because you didn't feel Him move in, you don't feel Him moving around in you, but He's there because His Word says He is. Now let's look at it. I Corinthians 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Even these poor old carnal Corinthians were temples of the living God. To every believer, the moment he believes, the Spirit comes and indwells. Now usually when I teach young people (and that doesn't mean it doesn't apply to older folks), but I usually tell young people, "Now look, when you go to some ungodly place, you're not going to check God at the door. You take Him wherever you go. You cannot check Him wherever you think it's not fit for Him to be, so you'd better be careful where you go. Because this body is the temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit and He comes the moment we believe!" I Corinthians 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Now that's plain language. You don't have to be a theologian to understand that. The third Person of the Trinity, as we refer to Him - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - the third Person of the Trinity comes and indwells the believer. That's why God can know every thought. Now that's scary, isn't it? God knows our thoughts. God knows every place we go. He knows everything we do. Because He's here in our heart. Now in your mind's eye, if you will, go all the way back to when Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, which was going to be the dwelling place of God. When the Temple was complete, and they dedicated it, what happened? Well, the presence of God in the Shekinah Glory came right down into that Temple there at Jerusalem. The presence of God dwelt in that dwelling place, which was the Temple Now that was just a foreview of this Age of Grace where, when God saves an individual, he immediately becomes a Temple, a dwelling place. And just like the Shekinah Glory came into Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit comes into us. Not as visibly. It isn't manifested in much the same way, but according to the Book, this is what happens. And if the Book says it, we have to believe it. He is dwelling within us. Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit (the Holy Spirit who is now indwelling us, according to Paul's teaching) also helpeth our infirmities(our weaknesses. There's not much we can do about it because we're dealing with the invisible, in the realm of the Spirit. But let God do it. God can strengthen us in our places of infirmity): for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." That verse is kind of hard to comprehend, except to say I think that there will come places in our lives when we just don't know how to pray. We have an idea of what we want, but we can't put it into words. I've told people over the years, when you get to that situation, just be quiet and let the Holy Spirit commune for you. This is not necessarily a tongues experience. That's not what Paul is talking about. But we get to this place where the Holy Spirit actually intercedes on our behalf. Now, come back to I John. This is a different intercessory power that John talks about in his epistle. I John 2:1 "My little children (who is he talking to? Believers! He doesn't call the unbelieving world his children. It's the believing element that is being addressed), these things I write unto you, that ye sin not (we are under Grace and not under law. Grace is not license. Just because we're under Grace, just because the sin is always less than God's Grace, that doesn't give us license. And so John says the same thing. He begs the believer - sin not! Don't sin!). And, if any man sin (that's conditional. What are we going to do? We're going to sin! You might as well admit it), we have an advocate with the Father (now what is an advocate? It's an intercessor. We have Someone Who is interceding for us to the Father. And Who is it?), Jesus Christ the righteous:" Absolutely He is! He is there 24 hours a day, every day of the year. I'm sure that at any one moment of time, there are probably a million believers in all areas of the world that are approaching the throne room. But He hears every one as an individual. He doesn't hear just a mumble-jumble of voices coming up before Him. And so when we pray we have that assurance that He hears us and He knows all about us as a person. Now, back in Romans 8, the Holy Spirit is interceding on behalf of us. And again, I think we have all three Persons of the Trinity involved, even in our prayer life. All three Persons are working for us constantly. A little later in this chapter, no wonder Paul will write, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" We've got all three Persons constantly working on our behalf. Let's read on. Romans 8:27 "And he that searcheth the hearts (this is the area in which God works. You and I can't look on each others hearts. I can't judge anyone, nor would I ever try. But God does) knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit (now hold it. Where, so far as you and I are concerned, is the Spirit? He's in us. Now, that's a concept that we cannot understand. A person of the Godhead dwelling in me? Absolutely! It's what His Word says. And again, we take it by faith that the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is indwelling the believer. And it's through that Holy Spirit that God searches the heart of the believer), because He (the Holy Spirit) maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Does that leave out the Son? No! It just involves all three. The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf and the Son intercedes on our behalf to the Father. It's just fantastic. The Holy Spirit today in the Age of Grace points people to God, the Son. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, to point lost people to the Son. For we believers, it's the Holy Spirit's work to teach and encourage and reprove us, so that we might in turn bring honor and glory to the Son.

I am not ensuring complexity. It is something that most people look over rather than look to the teaching presented. This was simply a "base" or foundation to build from. One of the things I hope to discuss is that there is a component here that I think is often looked over. There is a difference between "believing" and BELIEVING. Sorry Jacob I didn't mean to imply that I thought you was ensuring complexity. Some times in forums and even text messages to family I seem to lead people into thinking I mean something that I don't. I was just giving the most simple and easy reply to others who might not really know. I love what you do here on these forums and enjoy reading the post you make. God Bless and keep doing what you do!

Wow my font got tiny somehow on that reply, sorry about that.

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." First you have to be born of water. If you are reading this reply then you are born of water because that would imply you are alive and was born from your mother. Water bust when you are born and so on. That is the first birth. Second is born of the Spirit. Accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior is another birth... A Spiritual birth. Doing both things makes you born again. People try to make it more difficult than it needs to be. It's as easy as that.

I understand that you personally disagree and find it to be disturbing, sorry to hear that. That was not my intentions when I made the post. I can assure you that much. We are all created unique with difference of opinions that is what makes us who we are. One thing for sure friend is we can all rest, meet and agree on the risen Christ. I share my views but don't debate them and I respect your views even if I might not agree. Further along we'll know all about it friend. Thank you for viewing my topic and God Bless.

Note: The following examples show: The Bible is letter and word perfect Sections of the Bible written hundreds of years apart by various writers fit perfectly together, and are critical in interpreting each other. Prophecies written hundreds of years in advance have been fulfilled according to history, and are still being fulfilled today. There are relating patterns of numbers, letters, and events within the Bible that all fit together perfectly. Note: This section proves that even the punctuation in the Bible is letter perfect, and plays a critical part in its interpretation. NAMES OF DEITY, MOST HIGH Please turn with me in your Bible, to Genesis, Chapter 15. Genesis 15:1,2a "AFTER these things the word of the LORD ("Jehovah," all capitalized) came unto Abram in a vision, saying, `Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.' And Abram said, `Lord God,...'" What is different? The casual reader won't ever notice that the word `Lord' is not all in capitals in verse 2. Typographical error? - No! Again, it is another name of Deity. In this case in the Hebrew it is "Adon," or in some places it is Adonay or Adano. In England, and various other European countries, the headmaster of a school is called the don. The very term "adon" in Hebrew is "master." If it is in small letters, that means "master" is also small letters. But here it is capitalized. "Master," then, is equal to the title of a person of the Godhead. *adon=master * Adon or Adonay=Master * Adonai=Master=God Genesis 15:2 "And Abram said, `Lord God (Master God), what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?'" In order to follow up on this Master concept, we must again compare Scripture with Scripture. Turn with me to Exodus 4, to the account of God appearing to Moses, and telling him that he is to go back to Egypt and approach Pharaoh. Exodus 4:10 "And Moses said unto the LORD (capitalized, so he said to Whom? Jehovah), 'O my Lord (now what? Small lettered Lord),...'" See the difference? The capitalized LORD is the Scripture reference that Moses is speaking to Jehovah, but Moses doesn't address Him as Jehovah, but rather as Adon/Master. What do we call those under a Master; servants! That is exactly what we have here. Read on: "...I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." Whenever you see the word `Lord' with a capital `L' only, this refers to Adoni as Master, and the Master, is going to be over his servant. Watch for that in the Old Testament. Another good example is in Isaiah 6: Isaiah 6:1 "IN the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord (small letters, so Isaiah is saying he saw the Lord, Adoni, his Master) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple." No doubt it is God in all His fullness, but why does Isaiah use the word "Master?" What follows several verses down? Isaiah 6:5 "Then said I, `Woe is me for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King (capitalized - God in all His glory), the LORD (all caps - The Jehovah) of hosts.'" So why, then, did he approach God in verse 1 as Master? Let's go to verse 8: Isaiah 6:8 "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, `Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then said I, `Here am I; send me.'" What is Isaiah becoming? - The servant. Watch for this as you study Scripture; whenever there is a master and servant relationship it won't be LORD in all capitals, it will begin with a capital `L' only. When educated men, theologians, (that's what they claim to be) take the Bible and say it is nothing more than a bunch of Jewish legend and myth; or, as others have said, there may be some of the Word of God in it, but not all of it is; as soon as you take out part of it you would lose the fabric of this beautiful threadwork that goes all through Scripture. This Book is so supernaturally woven together, we never have to doubt that it is the Word of God. I'll admit that all we have today are translations. The King James (I still like it) is a translation. When I say the Word of God is letter perfect and word perfect, I am referring to the original manuscripts before anyone ever touched them. Portions of every book of the Old Testament were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls; the Book of Isaiah being almost totally intact. Those are the oldest copies of the Word of God that man has come up with so far. When they translated the Book of Isaiah out of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the King James Version was almost letter perfect. This is when I was assured that I would stay with the King James Version. Even after all the translations and copying, we have a Bible that is nearly error free. Sometimes I'll say I think the King James translators could have used this word or that word, but for the most part it is so accurate that we can just rest upon it. Note: These next two sections explain how the various books of prophecy written hundreds of years apart fit perfectly together, and play a critical part in the interpretation of each other. NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND DREAM (DANIEL 3) Just like to open the Scriptures and help people see what The Book really says. So many of us have been bound by tradition, and if there is any word in the Scripture that is condemned, it is tradition. We must be careful that we don't find ourselves locked into a tradition that is not necessarily in line with The Book. So this being the only goal; and that is to help folks see what the Bible really says. This Book is so gloriously supernaturally put together so that there is no possible way that human hands could have done it. For example, there are three books of Prophecy written by Jews of course. But all written outside the land of Israel. Daniel, which we will be looking at, is one of them. Daniel is writing from Babylon, while he is captive there under King Nebuchadnezzar. The second one is the Book of Ezekiel which was also written from captivity in the next empire, as Ezekiel writes from Persia. And the third one is the last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, written by John from the Isle of Patmos, which is in the Aegean Sea, between Turkey and Greece. Now those three Books of Prophecy also are unique in that all three write in symbolism. Just stop and think about it. Ezekiel uses for example, The Dry Bones, The Stick, and the Fiery Wheel. All those are symbolism, but they have a literal truth. Now we come into the Book of Daniel and we will see this Great Image, with a head of gold, and a chest of silver, a belly of brass and on down its body. It's a symbolism of all the great empires that would be coming down through history. And then when you get to the Book of Revelation written by John, most people are afraid to even study the Book of Revelation. They can't understand it. And therefore won't even read it, simply because it is in symbolic language. But you see all those symbolisms are all interpreted by Scripture itself, in one place or another. And all you have to do is search the Scriptures and these things begin to fall into place. Daniel 12:1,2 "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." The previous 11 chapters have been an outlaying of prophecy. In fact, Daniel and Revelation just fit together hand in glove. You can't study Revelation without studying Daniel and vise versa. So, now, as you come into the last chapter of this great book of prophecy, Daniel writes this: "..and at that time shall Michael stand up, that great prince which standeth for the children (Israel), and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people (Israel, the Jews) shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Now, this is what Paul refers to in Romans as that remnant. "...And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth,..." In other words, they have died and they've reverted back to the dust. "...many of then shall awake,..." and here we have a parallel with John's Gospel, Chapter 5, "...some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt...." Again, you've got the believer and the unbeliever listed here. Now let's skip over to verse 8: Daniel 12:8,9 "And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, 'O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?' And he said, 'Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.'" Daniel is saying that he heard but he understood not. Now, I've always maintained, as I've taught the Old Testament, that all Scripture is inspired of God. Peter says so clearly that prophecy came not in the old time by will of man; and, I ridiculed the concept several months ago, of these things having originated around the camp fire and then just having been handed down as legend. That's not what our Bible is at all. Our Bible is the very inspiration of the Spirit of God and as Peter says, that these holy men of God wrote as they were moved along by the Spirit. Now under those circumstances, do you think they understood everything they wrote? Why, no way! And here it's so plainly. Look what Daniel says, after writing this great book of end-time prophecy (and he's writing it 2500 years before it happens). And look what he says in verse 8. "And I heard,..." He realized what he had been writing, but look at what he says next. "...I understood not (!)," He didn't understand what he was writing. "And I said, 'O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?'" Now, that much he could comprehend. There were some terrible times coming upon this planet. But he couldn't understand it. And so he said, "'what shall be the end of these things.'" And The Lord said, "'...go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." I always like to look back and read about men from years ago. You will find that it wasn't until near the turn of the century that men began to get a comprehension of prophecy. Before that, there was not a clear cut teaching of how these things were going to unfold. And that's exactly what God told Daniel. It wasn't for men to understand until we get close to the end times. And now, every week, it is so much easier to understand. I know, 20 years ago, when I'd teach the Book of Revelation, it was hard to get people to understand what it was saying. Now, I can teach the Book of Revelation and people are almost running ahead of me with current events and news. Note: This next section shows that Daniel wrote about the rise and fall of various empires hundreds of years before they came into existence, and history shows these prophecies were fulfilled. 2 Peter 1:21 "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man (but here is how it came about. The word "holy" means set apart. Holy men of God spake, not as they dreamed it up, not as they had remembered what they heard around a camp fire, or what had been handed down from generation to generation): but these holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." What is this saying? Everyone of us will meet someone once in a while who will say, "I don't see how you can believe all that stuff. After all, why do you think the Bible is more right in what it teaches than the Koran or the book of Mormon?" or anything else that they may say is their guideline for doctrine. I'll tell you why. There is not another book written that makes prophetic statements like our Bible does. Hundreds, even thousands of years before they happen and they all come true. What hasn't come true, will! This is our reason for teaching prophecy. It is to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Book is the Word of God. And it's prophecy that has been spoken, and fulfilled to the last jot and tittle as much of the Old Testament already has been. We have no reason to doubt that the rest of it will be. Because the same God that fulfilled the first ninety percent of prophecy, is the God that's going to finish the last ten percent. All of that is just to show why we like to spend as much time in prophecy as we do. The main reason we are studying prophecy now, is, as we come through the Old Testament, we reach to Daniel. Let's go back to the Book of Daniel now to Chapter 8, which we skipped when we came through. But, you remember on our sojourn up through the Scriptures, starting with Genesis, we have just come right on up, unfolding our timeline, and, consequently, since Daniel is in captivity under the Babylonian empire we stopped there in our progressive revelations. But, of course, Daniel is a book of prophecy. And so, he is dealing almost entirely in his whole book with events that would happen to the Gentile world. Now, back here in Chapter 8, let me show you how accurate prophecy has been. It's already been fulfilled as you will notice starting with verse 1: Daniel 8:1 "In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first." And he goes on to say that he saw a vision way out there in Shushan, which was the capital of the Medes and Persian empire on the Tigris River. In this vision he's going to see the unfolding of the rather immediate history (not the long term). Daniel 8:3 "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last." Everyone envisions some horrible looking creature with a horrible looking pair of horns. Let's go back to a statement I made several weeks ago. Three books of our Bible were written outside of the land of Israel. All three of them are mostly prophetic, and all three of them deal primarily with Gentile prophecy. Daniel is one of them. He writes from Shushan on the Tigris river; Ezekiel is another, he also writes from captivity; and the third Book is Revelation, when John, the Revelator, wrote from the Isle of Patmos in exile. None of those three books were written in Israel. However, they were all written by Jews, and all three wrote in symbolism. The symbolism here is that the ram was indicative of the Medes and Persian empire. In fact, their coins had the ram's head on them. The crown of the Medes and Persians had the likeness of a ram. And so, there's no doubt from history and archaeology, that Daniel is seeing the vision concerning the empire of which he was a part, and that was the Medes and Persians represented by the two horns. The horns in Scripture always refer to kings or the top guy in control. Try to remember that, because when you get to the Book of Revelation, you are going to see this leader with ten horns. And that simply means a government with ten distinctive heads or presidents, or kings. The Medes and Persians are the two kings. One of them is the father of Cyrus. He was the one horn, but his son Cyrus became so much greater, and pushed the empire out further, that Daniel sees it as the greater of the two horns. And that's all they are, two kings, the father and son. Now, as the Medes and Persians began to expand out their empire, they enveloped the land of Israel, and they took the city of Jerusalem. Then they went down into Egypt. And then they went around the Mediterranean Sea, and started overrunning what is present day Turkey - and they were headed toward Europe. But Daniel sees something that's going to stop this Medes and Persian Empire. Verse 4: Daniel 8:4 "I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great." They were the greatest empire on the earth at that time. Daniel 8:5 "And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth (they're in the Middle East. The Medes and Persians are coming from the east, in the area of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They are moving around the north side of the Mediterranean Sea, and here comes a power from the west to meet them head on. It's a he-goat, and we know from archaeology that the Grecian Empire emblem was the goat. It was on their coins and other emblems. They recognized them as the he-goat. So this he-goat came from the west), and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn (One. What was Alexander the Great? - a conqueror of one (not a consortium like the Medes and Persians). He alone arose from the Grecian Empire.) between his eyes." Daniel 8:6 "And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power." Let's break that verse down. "And he came to the ram" (now what do you have? Do you have a fight between two animals? No, you have a fight between two empires. So, the Grecian Empire is going to run head-on into the Medes' and Persians' Empire. And of course we know from history who won? The Greeks did. Alexander overran the Medes' and Persians' Empire, and ruled the greatest empire on earth by the time he was 33 years old. And he was also known in history as a general who conquered swiftly. He would move his armies with speed such that the then-known world knew nothing of. He would take chances, and was almost reckless in the chances that he would take. But he always seemed to come out on top. He never really lost an army. So it was unique to Alexander the Great's military campaign. I think the word that shows that in verse 6 that many of us might miss is "ran:" but as this he-goat came he "ran;" see the indication of his swiftness and speed? "...and ran unto him in the fury of his power." Now, people read this and all they picture is a couple of animals in a wild animal fight of some kind - all it is, is two empires. Now you say, "Where do you get it?" Well, just move across the page to verse 20. And as I have said so often, Scripture always does it's own interpreting. Daniel 8:20,21 "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia (it's plain isn't it?): and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king (Alexander the Great)." Daniel 8:22 "Now that being broken (you know what happened to him - he died; probably of alcoholism. He was only 33 years old. The great empire that Alexander the Great set up so swiftly, was immediately divided between four of his Generals. And so the empire became a quadrangle. It was no longer "one."), whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." In other words, no longer an Alexander. Daniel 8:23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom (these four generals), when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up." This is an interesting little quirk of Scripture and prophecy. The little king, spoken of here as being so fierce and powerful, on the pages of secular history wasn't enough to amount to a paragraph. But he was a king who went down to Jerusalem and utterly persecuted, and put under tremendous pressure, the people of Israel. So, in God's plan of things, he becomes a prime player. But other than that, he is only a little blip on the radar of history. Let's look at this man because he is a picture, or a type of the last man of fierce countenance. He is a picture of the Anti-christ. So this is the only way we can look at the description of this Antiochus The Great. The very same descriptive words connected to him are also descriptive of this Man of Sin. I'm going to wind up with the biblical description of this world ruler that is coming on the scene (we think before much longer). Let's look at verse 24, still speaking of Antiochus The Great, in history shortly following Daniel's vision: Daniel 8:24 "And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully (in other words, beyond human comprehension the things that he would do.), and he shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people." See, he came down and persecuted the Nation of Israel. Daniel 8:25 "And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand (in other words he's going to be successful in his little era of history); and he shall magnify himself in his heart (this is all indicative of what the Anti-christ is going to be like thousands of years later), and by peace shall destroy many (in other words he's going to be a political manipulator, and we are going to see that in a little bit. How the man Anti-christ is going to have such charisma, he's going to have the world just really licking out of his hands, because of his charismatic personality. And this fellow was able to do the same thing): he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes (now that's capitalized, so he's actually going to stand up in the face of God, and try to fight against Him); but he shall be broken without hand." Note: This section proves that the writings of the Old Testament fit perfectly with the writings of the New Testament, even though the writers of Scripture didn't understand the meaning of these things when they wrote them. Go, if you will, to Matthew 28. In our last chapter we showed that Jesus definitely referred to Himself as the `I AM,' or the Jehovah of the Old Testament account. In Matthew 28 He alludes to this title, The Most High, by virtue of what He says in verse 18: Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, `All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.'" He is the possessor of Heaven and earth. He is not only the Jehovah, but He is the El Elyon. Before we go back to Genesis 14, I want to explain my ridiculous illustration. Repeatedly I will read or hear `so-called' theologians (I use the term loosely - not all of them, but too many of them) who will refer to the Bible as nothing but a compilation of Jewish myth and legends. I remember reading one who said that all this `stuff' (as he put it) in the Old Testament began as the ancient Jews sat around their campfire and exchanged stories; that after several generations someone got the idea they should be writing this stuff down. Result? The Old Testament. That's just as absurd as the illustration I gave you. When seminaries and educated men with degrees who have written their dissertations, make a statement like that, it is just as absurd as the jeweler saying there is no difference between a multi-thousand dollar Swiss watch and a $5.00 alarm clock. It is just as ridiculous. I remember a few years ago reading that the president of one of our more well-known seminaries made the statement that the account of Moses and the burning bush was just a figment of some good Jew's imagination. I don't know that he has ever retracted his statement. That's absurd! Hopefully, I have shown you how the Bible is so meticulously put together that the theme is never lost. It comes all the way through from start to finish. Everything is in its rightful place. How in the world could 44 men, living over a period of 2000 years, do that without the supernatural? They couldn't. What I try to emphasize is that you and I can rest on this Book. It is letter perfect (in the original). I realize that all we have are translations and there have been some slight errors in translation. But God has so brooded over His Word that He hasn't allowed any gross error to come in, not even in our translations, so that we can rest on this as the inspired God-breathed, Word of God. When we can just believe it without doubting, whether it is the account of the creation, the Flood, the call of Abraham, the Covenant with the Nation of Israel, the Gospel of the Cross, the writings of Paul or the Book of Revelation, what do we say? - It is the Word of God! It is miraculous from start to finish and we have no room for doubt. Here is another good example of what I am talking about. Clear back in 2000 B.C. when no one in Scripture had any idea of God the Son going to a Roman Cross to purchase mankind's redemption. Oh, it was there in latent terms as in Genesis 3:15 where the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Now we know what He was talking about, but they didn't. Even the writers of Scripture didn't understand these things. But God so put all these things into His Word, that it fully assures us that He knew everything from start to finish before it ever happened. In the middle of Genesis 14:18 we find that Melchizedek brought to Abram bread and wine. They certainly used bread in the worship in the tabernacle - the table of shewbread. The wave offering was the sheaf of grain. Another time they would have drink offerings of wine and they would pour that out, but never was bread and wine associated in combination throughout the Old Testament economy. In the Age of Grace, what does the bread and wine speak of? The Lord's Supper; the Communion Table. . The only way we can really identify that is to go back to Matthew's Gospel where we have The Lord's Supper. Jesus instituted The Lord's Supper at the Last Supper, at the Passover. Matthew 26:20 "Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve." Matthew 26:26,27 "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, `Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, `Drink ye all of it;'" I'd like to ask a question. Did the disciples understand what all of this stood for? They didn't have the foggiest notion. They followed His directions, but there is no explanation by The Lord Jesus, or even by the writer of this Gospel account, that they had any idea what He was doing. So, we have to wait until we come to the writings of the Apostle Paul. Now we understand what it was all for. Turn with me to I Corinthians, Chapter 11. Here, again, is progressive revelation. The eleven there at the night of the Passover didn't understand it. Jesus didn't explain it; it wasn't time yet. The Lord's Table of the bread and the cup is a memorial of His death, and on the night of the Last Supper His death hadn't taken place yet. I Corinthians 11:23-26 "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, `Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.' After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, `This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.'" Verse 26 gives us the explanation. "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lords death till he come.'" This is the purpose of The Lord's Supper. It is remembering what Christ accomplished on the Cross; that just as in ignominy and shame His Body was broken, the bread is broken. The pouring out of His Blood is, of course, in the cup. Back in Genesis we have the picture of His death, burial and Resurrection, but that's all. All of this is to reassure us that the Word of God is so true. It is so supernatural. Note: This next section shows that there are relating patterns of numbers, letters, and events within the Bible that all fit together perfectly. Genesis 17:3a "And Abram fell on his face:..." I imagine that at 100 years of age he was awe stricken that God was still talking about him having children. I can understand how he felt. He has been waiting a long time. As I said in the opening remarks, God's wheels grind slowly but surely. Genesis 17:3b-5 "...and God talked with him, saying, `As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee (Abram), and thou shalt be a father of many nations.'" I think Abram was still human enough that he still had to keep asking, "But Lord, how? When?" Verse 5: "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee." We now have the introduction into his name, primarily of the letter `h,' going from Abram to Abraham. In verse 15 you'll see God does the same thing with Sarai's name. I've been cautious in pronouncing the names Abram and Sarai anticipating of these two verses. Genesis 17:15 "And God said unto Abraham, `As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.'" What letter has been added to her name? The letter `H.' Though I don't dwell much on numbers in Scripture, it is an interesting subject. The number five is the number of grace. The number five will continue to come up in Scripture, designating God's grace. The letter `H' is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. All of the main events of Abraham's life are in years which can be divided by the number five. He left Ur at the age of 75. At the age of 100 he had Isaac. He lived to the age of 175. Over and over throughout Abraham's history you'll see numbers divisible by five. As we get to the Book of Exodus you will see the same holds true in all of the instructions of building the tabernacle in the wilderness, which is going to depict the grace of God toward His people. Watch for it. All the dimensions are divisible by five; 45 cubits long, 15 cubits wide, etc. The boards were to be made so many cubits, and all numbers are divisible by five. I constantly point these things out to enhance the fact that the Bible is a supernatural Book. Men could never have thought of this; only the mind of God could have. So Abraham becomes the letter `H' and Sarah becomes the letter `H' referring to the tremendous grace of God which will be part and parcel of their lives.

Hello friend! The only thing I can say is fix your eyes on the Lord and let the people of this world be of this world and let the people of God be of God. Just like Jesus said "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" You will find it a lot better to work like that if you rest on the things He said. Let them make you feel small if thats the things they like to do for that will be there reward. Pray for them... give peace and love for doing this your reward will be greater in your Fathers house in heaven.

My best friend of 16 years is a JW and I remember going to his house one day and all his family members were there. I thought they where having a party but come to find out they was having a family JW meeting on reading the "scrolls" I think they called it. They kind of side swiped me and I didn't know this was coming but I said I would come back later and they told me to come on in. I was a Christian then too and something in my gut just didn't feel right but I went in anyway. They gave me "there" book and told me to have a seat. Confused I sat down with the book and then one of my friends family members began to read, then another, then my friend started to read... odd thing about it, I didn't comprehend a word they spoke. It was like something blocked what they was saying and I just got jumble jumble muffle muffle and they was reading english and thats what I speak lol... then they told me to read where he left off. I can read fine but I can't enplane what happened next. When I looked down at this book I started pouring sweat and the words on the pages started jumping around and I couldn't make since of anything to read anything. Then I heard a voice that said "LEAVE" inside me. Don't know if it was the Holy Spirit or my own mind but I got up and left feeling ill. When I got to my house I started feeling a lot better but I know for a fact I wasn't suppose read whatever they was going to have me read. Days after that I told my friend that we can always be friends but we wont discuss beliefs and he agreed. That was about 11 years ago and like I said we been friends for 16 years. I try to show him what I believe by my actions instead of words because of the pact we made but so far he is still a JW.

Truth be said it don't really matter either way because it don't mess with salvation. Your a child of God so take your Fathers hand and trust in Him. He wasn't kidding when He said "I got this". So let's all focus on that more than getting all worked up about heavenly worries. God bless and rest in Him

Amen!