Lesson 4: The Hustler

Revelation, Lesson 4: The Hustler

Today's lesson happens to fall on Easter which makes it an appropriate time to cover a few items.

1) Whatever we study in Revelation, we mustn't forget that because Jesus died on the cross and rose again, He has already achieved victory over evil.
2) Whatever we study in Revelation, we can't forget #1 above.  Meaning, we can disagree about some of the particulars of prophetic literature and their meanings, but we have to hold true to the core doctrines.

For today, we are going to briefly cover Revelation 4 & 5.  Remember, when we skim over certain things, it is not because they are unimportant or irrelevant, but because our time is so short I have to choose what I spend time on.  Please dive into areas you don't feel I cover deeply enough on your own.  We can always talk about them in class, or in the comments section of the blog. (please comment).

Revelation 4:  I've selected a several areas of focus for this verse.

• John is told, "Come up here...". This indicates John was taken to Heaven for this viewing.  I don't know how this experience differed from his visions, but it seems significant to me in that John was being shown these things existed at the time, rather than indicating they are future things.
• John's vision of the throne and its surroundings indicates that all the events of the Tribulation would be managed from this location.  The command center.
• You'll note that there are 24 elders surrounding the throne.  A possible significance of this is that 24 is 12x2. 12 is the number of divine governance. The two sets could be the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles.
• Again, we are told of the 7 lampstands and 7 spirits. The Church (Rev. 1:20)
• We could spend weeks discussing the 4 living creatures, so I'll just give you a glimpse and allow you to explore these on your own. 4 is the number of the earth. The lion, ox, man, and eagle representation is the same as Ezekiel 1:6-10.  The wings indicate angelic power.  Hence the creatures could represent angelic power over the earth.
• Finally, quite a bit of the verse shows God being worshiped forever.  Meaning, this isn't a short-lived experience.  He has been, is now and will be - forever. The goal - worship Him.

Revelation 5:

• The scroll is God's right hand.  The hand of power and prestige. I believe this is the same scroll mentioned in Daniel 12:9 (where Daniel views the end times.
• The question is asked, "Who is worthy?" Rhetorical in a sense, but John is perplexed because he doesn't know until he's told.
• The Lion and the Lamb.  Both names/metaphors for Jesus.  Power and sacrifice.
• He is described as having 7 horns and 7 eyes.  Horns indicate Kingdom and eyes (which are the 7 Spirits) are all seeing.  The number 7 indicates "completeness".  Jesus has the power and insight into His Church.  This shows God's power in Jesus.
• Rev. 5 ends out with all the people of the world and those in Heaven praising and worshiping Jesus, just as they had done for God in Chapter 4.  God's declaration that Jesus is the Messiah to all the people.

Now, before we launch into Chapter 6, when the 7 Seals begin to be opened, we need to address a subject we started last week (Terms of Endearment).  I broached the subject of losing salvation and the timing of the rapture.  I think it is important to continue that discussion prior to actually diving into the details of the Tribulation.  We need to establish whether we will be here to endure it or not, right?

First, a disclaimer:

My goal and belief is not that one view is necessarily right and the other is wrong.

 

But rather, it is to ensure everyone has the knowledge to prepare for all scenarios.

So will we (the Church) be raptured before, during, or after the tribulation period described in Revelation?  My belief is the Church will endure the tribulation.  You can read in greater detail my reasoning in these two blogs I posted back in 2014.

Satan's Final Trick & Satan's Final Trick part II

Since I wrote those, I've compiled a few other items to support my reasoning. First, I used to always be a "pre-trib" rapture and "always saved" person.  But truthfully, I was that way because of word of mouth.  Meaning, I just followed what others believed.  But when it got deep into the Olivet Discourse, particularly in Matthew 24, I started to question the strong language that indicated we would suffer through the tribulation.  So I started studying more and asking myself questions.

• Maybe it doesn’t matter… maybe it does?
• I looked… I found plenty of Biblical evidence, but no direct statement of pre-trib rapture.
• I asked why not? This led to the discovery of other views.
• Pre-trib’s history
• Mid and Post Trib views
• Millennialism… (and all the other varying and respected opinions and theories)
• I realized, doctrinally it didn’t seem to matter which view you took, so long as you maintained the base foundation of belief that Jesus is your Savior.  So I asked myself, why all the disagreement?
• Then, as I read more, I began to believe you could lose your faith.  But, is that the same as losing salvation?
• We know Satan is the great deceiver (he's like a fake Rolex, has to be real enough to fool you). But why so much difference on these things that aren’t doctrinally different?

So I came up with these two questions.

1. If someone believes in “once saved” and “pre-trib” rapture, what would happen if they were wrong?
2. If someone believes you can lose salvation and post-trib rapture, what would happen if they were wrong?

Let's answer question 2 first.  The answer is, nothing.  Nothing negative would happen.  You'd be raptured away safely at the beginning.

For question 1, the answer would be different.  That person would have some pretty confused opinions, thoughts, and beliefs.  Everything they had thought to be true would not have been. They would endure the tribulation along with the risk of losing their salvation unbeknownst to them. That could be dangerous.

Now, I'm not completely certain that FAITH = SALVATION.  But I do know you have to have faith.  And repeatedly we are told some will lose faith, some will grow cold, and some will turn away.  We are also told "But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." and "To the one that is victorious..." the rewards will be given.

We are also told that anyone who takes the mark of the beast will suffer torment forever. (Rev. 14).  Jesus also says that whoever blasphemies the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness (Mark 3).

So let's say you can fall (turn cold, lose your faith, take the mark).  Would you even be here to do that?  For this I'd like to parallel three different verses.  I admit, just because these verses are extremely close on imagery and construction does not mean they have to describe the same event - but you have to consider it.

First, "the Rapture verse":

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Second, from the Olivet Discourse (this follows Jesus statement, "Immediately after the distress of those days..."):

Matthew 24:30-31
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Finally, from Revelation after the bowls of wrath have been poured out:

Revelation 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

While these items are no way conclusive (and there is so much more to study), I think it is at least enough to make you wonder.  And if you wonder, I pray that you'll study more.  Because remember,

My goal and belief is not that one view is necessarily right and the other is wrong.

 

But rather, it is to ensure everyone has the knowledge to prepare for all scenarios.

Oh, and in case you were still trying to put the title to the message, a hustler fools you into thinking you are winning or can win, then they swoop up and beat and take your money.  Satan is a hustler, and he does it with our beliefs in order to try to keep us from Heaven.

Until next time,

Peace and Love,
Rob
www.starvt.com

And check out my novel Providence.

Part II - Satan's final trick...

Welcome back!  Last week I discussed Satan's tricks and deception and focused on my belief that the Rapture will not occur until after the Tribulation, meaning Christians will not be taken up beforehand, but will have to endure it like everyone else.

On the surface, this may just seem like an unfavorable circumstance and that the outcome will still be the same, but I fear there is another issue to address to ensure you are ready, should I be correct.

Today's discussion is on whether you can lose your salvation.  I've had many discussions on this topic before, and I'd like to first just clear the air on some of the arguments I have been presented.


1) It is a gift, you can't earn it or lose it.  You can only accept it, therefore you can do nothing to lose it.

Yes it is a gift.  But, I don't totally agree with the "earn it" statement.  I agree you cannot earn it by doing good deeds, donating money, or working in a ministry.  None of those things will grant you salvation.  But that statement has morphed into something akin to "you don't have to do anything for salvation".  Totally untrue.  You do have to do something.  You have to believe that Christ is your Savior.  You have to have faith that His death paid for your sins.  You have to accept that gift.  And we know full well you can deny this gift.  You can refuse to accept Christ as your savior.  Why do we draw the line there and refuse to believe you can give the gift back?  Why do we refuse to believe you can lose faith?

2) It diminishes God's power/sovereignty if you can lose your salvation.

Not in the remoteness is that true.  Why would turning your back on Christ diminish his power any more than you denying him in the first place?  From the beginning of all time, God has known your path.  Whether that path would be full belief and salvation, full denial and damnation, or wishy-washy flopping back and forth.  He knows already.   He's not going to make you love Him and he's not going make you stay faithful to Him.  It is your choice He has given to you to make.

3) Well, then those people didn't really have faith to begin with.

This one drives me the most crazy.  I tell people this answer.  Never try to see into someone else's heart.  Only Jesus can do that and it is a poor defense to claim someone's faith or belief wasn't real to begin with in order to try and protect yourself.  It can happen, see Matthew 13;21 - the parable of the seeds. "they quickly fall away."

Now that I've commented on some of those arguments, let's look at the root of Salvation.  There are two distinct verses that set the ground work of establishing what you must do.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)  (underlined for emphasis).

Acts 16:31 - "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (NIV) (underlined for emphasis)

I feel belief and faith go hand in hand regarding salvation.  Both verses clearly state believing in Christ is the foundation.  The Greek translation of  'believe' is 'pisteuo', which means to commit to and trust.  Faith is commonly and frequently used to describe one's internal dedication to that belief that Christ is your Savior.  The Greek for 'faith' is 'pistus', which means to have conviction towards God and his truth.

The two words are not interchangeable and I will concede that faith is not a synonym for salvation.  However, I will not concede that the loss of faith is completely separated from your salvation.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV) 

Ephesians 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

So how does this all play into my opinion that one can lose their salvation?

In the previous blog you learned I believe Christians will endure the Tribulation which means we will go through the most horrific events the earth has ever, or will ever experience.  We know that Satan will not stop trying to deceive us until his final defeat.  He will try to do everything in his power to sway us into not believing Christ is the Savior.  In the last blog I also asked what the mindset of people might be who have waited to be Raptured, yet suddenly find that didn't happen.  They could feel betrayed, confused, lost and afraid.  And who is going to be there filling their minds with answers?  Satan.  And Jesus strictly warns of this in Matthew 24:4, "Watch out that no one deceives you."

Why do I believe one can lose their faith and thus their salvation?  Below are some verses that have led me to this belief.  Each one is just a portion, but the reference is there for you to look up the whole verse and read for yourself.

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life
Matthew 10:22 - but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved
Matthew 12:31 - blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Matthew 13:21 - When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away
Mark 3:29 - whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.
2 Peter 3:17 - be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.
Revelation 13:10 - This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people
Matthew 24:10 - many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other
Matthew 24:13 - but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved
Matthew 24:22 - If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

Here's the tie between the two points.  If (I'm still letting you doubt...) the Christians are not raptured before the tribulation, then all of Revelation and Matthew 24 is referencing the 'already' Christians and it is clear that some will fall from the faith.  It is clear that sins against the Spirit are not forgiven.  And it is clear that 'standing firm' is a requirement, not a suggestion.

Let's wrap this up and I pray you seriously consider what I've laid before you. If this does nothing else for you but strengthen your resolve to remain faithful to Christ, then it has accomplished its purpose.  If you get nothing out of this except a memory that comes to you during the Tribulation and you remain faithful, then it has accomplished its purpose.  And if I'm wrong about these things, then I will gladly concede my ignorance as we make our way to the Lord!

Peace and Love,
Rob
www.starvt.com

Satan's final trick...

Many of you have probably heard about the quote (or have at least heard the theory) of Satan's greatest trick.  Satan's greatest trick is deceiving people into believing he doesn't exist.  Deception is his specialty.  It started in the garden with Adam and Eve and he's been hard at work on it ever since.

Some examples of his deceptions can be found within the various religions across the world.  There are similarities in each and every one.  Each one contains elements that make it seem plausible.  Each one contains history that makes it seem legitimate.  Each follower believes so heavily in their religion, they feel it is the one true way towards eternal life.  Each one is just close enough to the real thing to gain followers, but just far enough away to fail at the ultimate goal of eternity with God.  Think of the analogy of a fake Rolex.  It looks like it, feels like it, and acts like it.  But it isn't a Rolex.

So consider this.  If Satan's greatest trick is making people believe he doesn't exist and his greatest tool is deception, which religious set of beliefs is he going to focus the majority of his attention on in trying to "debunk"?  The answer in this writer's opinion is that he is going to focus on the one that is the biggest threat to his plans. There is no reason why he would attempt to thwart those that he placed in play to begin with.

But his tricks are not limited to breaking people into various faith groups.  He is hard at work inside the Christian community as well.  Christians often disagree on elements within the Bible among the various denominations such as the Baptists, Methodist and so on.  Why the strife here?  You would think that if each holds the core values leading to eternal life, the differences wouldn't be important.  And I'll tell you most of the churches hold to that theory.  "We can disagree on the minor things as long as we agree on the major ones."

That might be true, but I feel that also might be where Satan is his trickiest.  Specifically in two main areas that are the focus of this blog.

A) The timing of the Rapture.
B) The belief that you can not lose your salvation.

A) THE RAPTURE

First, let's level set on what sometimes becomes the focal point of this argument. The word "rapture" does not appear in the Bible.  It is a synonym for the phrase "being caught up".   The fact that the actual term is not in the Bible is irrelevant.  It is a term to describe an event, which  does occur in the Bible.  The rapture itself is very vividly described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. (KJV)

"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."

There are varying views within the Christian community on when the Rapture will occur (and each of those views come with some pretty hefty names - don't get bogged down by the names...).  I'm going to keep it simple and focus on just two.

1) The Pre-Tribulation Rapture (Dispensational Premillennial)
2) The Post-Tribulation Rapture (Historical Premillenial)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Your first question might be, "What is the Tribulation?" To quote the movie Armageddon, imagine "the worst parts of the Bible."  It is the time described in the book of Revelation where God pours out his wrath on the earth and leads right up to the time of Jesus's return for his thousand year reign (which people also debate when the reign will be, but that's a topic for another day) on earth and the defeat of Satan forever.

Of the two, you are probably more familiar with the Pre-Trib Rapture.  It is the premise of the "Left Behind" novel series.  In the Pre-Trib Rapture, all the saved Christians are "caught up" and brought to Jesus in Heaven before the Tribulation period begins.  The Pre-Trib theory holds that God doesn't want the Christians to have to endure or go through the horrific events of the Tribulation and/or Apocalypse, and therefore they are raptured before it happens.  After the Pre-Trib Rapture, those remaining have the opportunity to redeem themselves and receive salvation.  But it isn't going to be easy.

The arguments and Biblical references for a Pre-Trib Rapture are sound and many.  Just as the arguments and references for a Post-Trib Rapture are sound and many.  I'm not going to attempt to spell all those out for you in this blog (search the internet and read your Bible on these subjects - you'll be occupied for the next year or more...).

I personally believe it will be a post tribulation rapture. I hope I'm wrong.   I mean who would want to endure the tribulation.  Not me, but that doesn't change my opinion that we will endure it if we're alive when it kicks off.

As Russell Moore (president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention) is quoted as saying, "This author (Moore) certainly hopes he is wrong about the timing of the rapture and will gladly concede this point to his pretribulational friends while flying through the atmosphere."

Here is a short list of some of the reasons I believe we will endure the Tribulation (it isn't the full list)

• Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (preceding and following) doesn't specifically say when it will happen.
• I believe Revelation 19:11-18 paints a distinctly similar description of the rapture, and Revelation 19 occurs after the Tribulation.
• Revelation repeatedly refers to "saints", "the elect", "holy ones".  These terms throughout the rest of the New Testament refer to Christians.  (I don't buy the argument that in Revelation it is only referring to those who weren't raptured and have converted).
• Matthew 24 (Mark 13, Luke 21) - the Olivet Discourse.  Jesus specifically declares the things will happen to "you".  "You will be persecuted and put to death." Jesus doesn't refer to those experiencing it will be someone else.  He says "you".
• Matthew 24:30-31 - After Jesus tells of the woes of the end of time and the Tribulation being completed, he states this; (KJV)

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.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So now you ask, "So what difference does it make which theory I hold as truthful?"

The answer; it could make all the difference in the world.

What will the mark be?

Imagine if you've gone your whole life waiting for Jesus to call you home and save you from the misery on earth and that doesn't happen...  And if suddenly you find yourself in the midst of the Apocalypse being persecuted and faced with choices like "the mark of the beast" or starving, what is your mindset going to be?  What choices will you make?

You might feel abandoned or betrayed. You might look for some form of comfort or aid in your time of need. You may even question the validity of all you know.  And who'll be there ready to help you out during your time of distress? Satan, through the Antichrist.

"Not me!" you shout and I commend you!  I hope I have that same resolve and strength.

But, go read Revelation and Matthew 24 again. Study it. I know you're tough, but really read it.  Read it from the point of view of someone who will have to go through it.  Don't read it like some fairy tale Sunday School lesson that glosses over it.  "Don't worry children, we'll all be gone when this happens".  Read like its your own future biography.  Then ask yourself again, "can I endure it?"

Another thing to remember, it won't be just you having to endure it. Your family and loved ones will be enduring it as well.  How strong will your resolve be then?

Now that I've thoroughly ruined your day or at least opened your eyes to the possibility...

You are now saying, "Well even if I have to endure it, it doesn't matter.  I've been saved and the Tribulation only last seven years.  I'll make it or if I die, then so be it."

Sounds like a logical approach.  So long as your belief that you can't lose your salvation is as sound as your belief was that the rapture occurs before the Tribulation.

Which brings me to the next topic, "Can you lose your salvation?"

But you're going to have to wait for that.  Stay tuned and look for Part II of this series next week.

Rob
www.starvt.com

Read Part II of this series.