Fikayo

GoldenEagle..... Thanks for your insight. I posted that a couple of years ago while searching. I grew up in the SDA church, but I have stepped away from the doctrines that separates. As a former SDA, I felt God's spirit leading me away from the church the more I searched. Being in a cult, or just simply believing falsehood, is a spiritual stronghold that I believe only Christ can free you from. Since leaving that denomination, I have grown to understand the whole futility of denominational thinking. I believe Christ has a purpose for his people individually in these last days. Those that are led by the spirit of god are the sons (children) of god.

I've had some dreams like that before (recently). I think the best thing to do is first earnestly pray to God about it. He might be revealing things about yourself that needs changing or preparing you for a greater work. It scared me a little bit at first when it started happening to me, but the closer I drew to Christ, the more peace he granted me in those situations. The Bible says that God will pour out his spirit upon all flesh in the last days. I truly believe we are in the last days, and most Christians will try to shut you up if you try to speak about the urgency and closeness of Christ return, even though God has revealed all things to us. The devil is uping his tactics because he knows his timeline is almost over. I believe the world is about to start seeing "Pentacostal" power from the Holy Spirit. God might also be preparing you for a work he has in store to lead his people in these last days. Ask God for wisdom and discernment. Pray without ceasing. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. I truly believe only God can truthfully foretell the future, and if the dreams are from God, it's a comfort to know that He will never do anything to harm you. I can speak about my experiences but it is too much and detailed to type. But like someone said ealier, talk to God about it, and leave yourself open to the work of the Holy Spirit. He will never guide you the wrong way.

"Let's see.....now that I'm a Christian, I have to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.....why does that sound familiar....?" I don't remember circumcision being anywhere in the ten commandments. Study the word with prayer and understand the commandments that Paul was referring to. As someone trying to get closer to Christ, it feels almost like a disgrace to bear the same label as so-called "Christians" who profess to follow Christ but denies His teachings. People claim to worship the God of the Bible, but would rather pick and choose the verses that makes their lifestyle acceptable in their own eyes. Isaiah 4 1 In that day seven women (churches) will take hold of one man (Jesus) and say, "We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!" Psalm 119:115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. Matthew 7: 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

The four horesman in revelation are false prophets, wars, famines and sickness and deaths, like some said earlier. The four beast in Daniel are the four major empires of the world.

Jesus told us that love for God and love for your neighbor sums up the commandments. So are you all saying that the ten commandments are of no effect as long as I have love?(i.e. can I kill somebody because I love them enough for them not to experience this evil world). If the fourth commandment was given at the same time and written with the same finger on stone with "thou shalt not steal", how come i don't have to keep the fourth commandment, but I can't still can't steal or kill, or commit adultery, or even worship another god? Paul said you shouldn't let anyone judge you by esteeming one day above the other. Where does the sabbath fall in there, because the only days that were different back then were the different days for customs and festivals. If you look at bible history compared to secular history, you will see that the sabbath wasn't changed until around A.D. 200 by the Church of Rome. So why are bible believing christians following the traditions instituted by the roman "beast", when there isn't any sound biblical doctrines to support the change? Wouldn't the Bible have clearly stated the change if there was a change to the unchanging universal law? Wouldn't Jesus have clearly stated the change when He was on earth so there wouldn't be any confusion about it, if it is the same laws he wrote with his finger? I've heard all of the arguments about not keeping the true Sabbath and none of them have stood up to the test of the scriptures. And why don't the majority of churches try to understand the mark of the beast if it's not related to the fourth commandment? Can somebody please explain this with CLEAR BIBLICAL proof without personal emotions and selfish perceptions?

So is the ten commandments of no effect?

Why is the only commandment that begins with the word "Remember" the ony commandment that many people say to forget? And why is it such a controversial subject between so many Bible believing Christians if all claim the bible to be the true and unchanging Word of God? And if the mark of the beast is the final test for our generation, why isn't the churches preaching about it and trying to come to the truth on the subject? I've heard and read in numerous places that the mark of the beast is directly linked in opposition to this one commandment, not the common deceptions of the devil about the microchip, or tattoo, or some visible marking. They said the devils deception is to create a "counterfeit religion" that professes to follow God and Jesus, without really understanding the true orgins their religion and traditions. Taking to account that Satan's master craft is deception, and his reason for getting kicked out of heaven was because he wanted to "ascend his throne above God's", it made alot of sense to me. The Bible says the the ones who overcomes the beast, his name, and his mark are the ones who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev 14). I started searching the word earnestly when the Lord brought me out of the world, and when I read revelation, it just seemd to be an urgent warning to mankind, considering we are living in the church of Laodecia. When I came across it, it started to make me think and wonder if the deceptions of the devil is far deeper than we think. I don't want to start a denomination bashing session!! I just want to see if anybody else has ever considered these thoughts.

The abomination of desolation is way deeper than that. Rightly, The abomination of desolation has to deal with the "anti-christ" standing where it ought not - some could say the Holy place. The Holy place isn't in the Jerusalem temple. The temple was destroyed and Jesus is now in the temple built without human hands. The abomination of desolation has to deal with worship. When "The" anti-christ appears and takes the place of God on earth and requires everyone to worship him or face death, then the test of God's true people would be revealed. I'm not going to go indepth because many disagree and are offended by this subject. But the abomination of desolation is when the devil puts in place and enforces(through the papacy) a law contrary to the only commandment that points to God to being the one and only creator, who created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. God blessed and sanctified the 7th day sabbath, and His seal is in the commandment. The pope (the position of the real anti-christ -666) is going to enforce his law implying that he has power to ovveride God's commandment and he will instill a law that Sunday is now the official day of worship - and those who comply and accept that are branded with the mark of the beast (indirectly implying that God's word isn't sure). The subject is too much to type in a forum and only true seekers that pray for understanding will search for the truth and accept the numerous proofs given in scripture.

Daniel chapter 7 tells us the four beasts are four kingdoms that will rise one after the other starting from Daniel's time: Babylon (605-538 b.c.) - Medo-Persia (538-331 b.c.) - Greece (331-168 b.c.) - Rome (168 b.c. - 476 a.d.) The attributes of the beasts give a description of the strengths and purposes of the empires.

Hello Sweety Cakes: Here in Matthew 24 Jesus is warning His disciples of the destruction of Jerusalem. This took place in 70 A.D. The Bible tells us that God "prepared a body" (Heb 10:5) for Christ.. that is, God came into a body (in human form). While in this body, He was a little lower than the angels (Psalms 8:5; Heb 2:7,0). In this state (human form) He may not have known all things. It was AFTER His resurrection that He ascended and was returned to His former Glory. He did come back (70 A.D.) in the form of an army led by General Titus. God destroyed the city & temple. God told them there wouldn't be one stone that wasn't overturned. He destroyed all their records, therefore the Levitical Priesthood was lost. They will NEVER return as they were under David as a nation. Oh, yes, they call themselves Israel today, but there is nothing special about them, they are just like any other nation. When you see the term "last days" in the N.T., it doesn't always mean the "end of time," but it may mean the "time of the end." The time of the end speaks of the end of the Jewish economy (Jewish Nation). There is a great difference between the end of time and the time of the end. When you see phrases like "sun darkened, moon shall not give light & stars falling" don't think this is speaking of the end of time (end of the world), but is used (more than once) in prophetic language to tell you a government is fixing to fall. The heavely elements discribe the heads of a nation. For example, take a look at Genesis 37 where Joseph had a dream (Gen 37:9ff) of the of the sun, moon and stars bowing down to him. Later he discussed this dream with he dad (Jacob). Jacob rebuked him and told him, "shall I, your mother and brothers bow down to you?" Here in prophetic language we see the sun, moon & stars represent the head of a house and family. You see these same phrases used in Isaiah and Ezekiel. In Isaiah & Ezk the language of sun, moon & stars represent a nation and that nation was over run by another nation that God used to destroy them. I said all this to tell you, in Matthew 24 these terms are used to represent the leaders of Israel (mainly the Sanhedrin, & leaders of Israel) and Jesus is warning His disciples of impending destruction. The parallel chapter of Matthew 24, Luke 21:20ff says "...when you see Jersulaem surrounded by armies, you can know that destruction is near." Jesus is speaking of General Titus surrounding Jerusalem and destroying it. By the way, history tells us that the disciples had fleed during this time to a neighboring city. I agree that when Jesus was walking the earth, he took on the form of human and left his divine glory in heaven. Walking this earth, I don't believe Jesus knew the exact day and hour. With the statement about the other prophecies though, i.e. sun will be darkenend, moon will not give light, stars will fall, I'm not quite sure if those actually represents nations. I don't know if another thread should be started, but I'll make this quick to get back to the subject. The bible has always used different beasts and horns to represent nations. The prophecies about the the sun, moon and stars, many claimed were literal prophecies that were fulfilled, I want to say around the 1870s. But the sun actually didn't shine for about 12 hours, and the moon turned the color of blood the next day or night. Then there was a meteor shower like never seen before. These are facts that can be looked up in any past articles... you can google "the dark day" or something to that effect and it will give you the story. I also think the "last days" and the "end of times" is one and the same. The last days were usured in since Jesus arrived on earth. We are the generation that Jesus talked about that will see all of His prophecies fulfulled in. But I do think that Jesus in heaven now knows the day and the hour. We just need to be ready all the time.

I won't say that the woman is specifically Israel, but God's TRUE church. There were many Israelites that fell away from the preaching of truth while still professing to be God's people. The bible says in revelation that the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed. Those are they that keep the commandmants of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We all know that many false prophets have arrived, and since Jesus came, the truth wasn't only for Israelites but for all the world, for anyone who believes. But in a spiritual sense, you can say the woman is spiritual Isreal, because all who believe the only truth is adopted into God's family.

Myself and my family have always celebrated Christmas trying to keep Christ as the main focus of the season. Recently, I have been trying to come closer to God by studying His word and trying to understand this world that we live in. I recently saw a program about the spiritual aspects of halloween, and why christians shouldn't have any part in celebrating the so-called holiday. The speaker also mentioned some other holidays like easter, and more importantly christmas. I want to say first that I'm not talking bad about the holiday, but once you are presented with facts, it is up to the person to first search if those facts are true, then if the scriptures can or cannot support it, it is up to the person to ask God which way to go. The speaker was saying that Christmas started off originally as a pagan holiday which was embraced by the Catholic church upon conversion of the pagans to christianity. As other holidays, they took the paganistic themes off and added christian themes to it. The Bible has different days and seasons to celebrate along with the reasons for the celebrations, most common is the sabbath. But nowhere in the Bible can you find where Jesus himself celebrated His birth, or told any of His disciples to celebrate His birth. The Bible doesn't even state the season of the year Jesus was born, so where did the winter season, and more specifically the month of december, and even the date of celebration come from? Even though christmas has been a day that Christians celebrate Christ's birth, the holiday for the most part is spent picking out the perfect gift, and decorating the best tree, and really worshipping the "holiday spirit" instead of Christ. The holiday itself has been completely commercialized along with halloween and easter. Like I said, I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't celebrate it, because for many like myself, that is the only time of the year that the whole family can come together. I just wanted to share what I have learned, not for you to take my word for it, but for anyone who earnestly searches for the truth to look into it themselves and make sure we are not caught up with the deceptions of the devil while professing to be true christians. But I have to say, that your prayer is beautiful. I totally understand where you are coming from.

I'll have to agree with everyone that the two are equal. You cannot have the spirit of the law without the letter. Jesus did say we are now living under grace, but that is only because keeping the law doesn't save us; we will then be claiming salvation by works, and Isiah told us that all our righteousness is but a filthy rag to God. We cannot be saved by keeping the law; the law was given to us to show us that we cannot keep it on our own. Jesus said he came not to abolish the law but to fulfull it. I believe he came to fulfill the letter and the spirit of the law for mankind that cannot do it however hard we tried. Even though we are saved through grace, we can allow the Holy spirit to work in us to help us keep the letter and live by the spirit of the law.