• Reward for Overcomers

    by Published on 05-27-2013 07:03 PM     Number of Views: 2906 
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    2. Reward for Overcomers

    I had a non-Christian tell me his views on using bittorrent. He took 3 passages from Scripture: a) thou shall not steal; 2) don't covet other peoples' goods; and 3) be holy as God is holy. Of course, he rejects Christ Jesus as God, Lord and Savior who died on the cross for the sins of the world, and resurrected the 3rd day which is why he is going to Hell. You can't take the passages of Scripture selectively interpreted according to your opinion and without the flow of the Holy Spirit in agreement with the word of God that comes to one who is born-again. He said he teaches his students not to bittorrent and that he himself never does it. Never does it? Not even once?

    Then he preceded to accuse me, since I am a Christian how could I do such a thing? There was a 15 year old girl that was listening to our conversation. She immediately reacted and said "that's discrimination" to hold Christians to a higher standard than non-Christians. She took the words right out of my mouth. I couldn't agree more.

    When I first tried to give him the Christian response to his position, I pointed out that in the Bible we are told of idols that exist in a person's life which need to be torn down. His idol was that of self-exalting himself by claiming he never bittorrents and claims that all his students agree with him which I found highly doubtful, because the young girl standing next to us listening to the conversation responded in opposition by saying, "when placing a bowl of candies at the entrance after you walk through a doorway is not stealing". After hearing this, you could see steam coming out of his ears, and his entire complexion changed. He was very angry and left in a huffy puff.

    I would add further, when you download a movie, you aren't coveting anything but saving $14. Consider this God's grace. The download takes just a couple minutes if that. It is pervasive across all platforms and nations, and nothing could be simpler. This is God's judgment upon the entire movie industry to reduce their profitability as well as reduce the gargantuan paychecks for popular movie actors since it is usually these big budget movies that are subject mostly to downloading, and vanity of vanities would be to get paid millions of dollars for pretending to be someone you are not. Owners and directors of these movies are making in some cases more than a billion dollars. Avatar by James Cameron and The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson come to mind.

    An unenforced law is no law at all so if such a law exists then it needs to have pervasive consequences to all who download freely and not just 1 in a million affected by it otherwise it is discriminatory and arbitrarily applied.

    And I am not convinced if Jesus were here today, He would be against it. Though you are being holy as He is holy if you give your life to Christ which this person has not. Since he has not given his life to Christ, naturally he misuses and abuses the Scriptures for his own selfish purposes not in keeping with the Spirit of Truth which is the life of the Father and the Son.

    Here we see the principle of salvation by works in this man who exalts himself by his own strength by alleging he has never bittorrented, but the Bible says we are not saved by works lest any man should boast. This man boasts in his works and creates a law for himself that he himself in all likelihood doesn't keep, for I am sure he has used bittorrent at some time or another. If you live by the law even a law you create for yourself, you will die by the law. Violating even one tittle of the law eternally separates you from God. This takes true humility to accept.

    But as we have seen, there is nothing wrong with bittorrenting, and such points of pride are just that - pointing to oneself as being great and better than others because you don't bittorrent but most others do. Instead of pointing to ourselves, let us look to Christ who sums up all things as Christians do. Satan is the greater accuser and will try to use the Scriptures against the saints. He will call stealing that which is not stealing, unholy that which is holy, and coveting that which is not coveting. Praise be to God He protects us through discernment of the truth by His Spirit and applies it properly. Did ancient Israel steal the plunder of the goods they took? Most certainly not. This was God's judgment.

    If you are watching merely for personal immediate consumption or with a few friends or share it with a friend that is acceptable until an enforceable law is widely applied, but if you want to mass redistribute to profit from others' works which many do all along the chain from copying and redistribution do then you are sinning.

    Sadly, when I confronted this individual sometime later to ask him if he would like to hear the Christian response, he wanted nothing of it. He closed himself off in his little world and ran away. He only wanted to self-exalt himself with his view, misreading the Scriptures, and not listening to how Christians view these verses as applied to bittorrent.
    by Published on 05-15-2011 10:11 AM     Number of Views: 13666 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration,
    3. Reward for Overcomers

    Since Adam let's say there will be 50 billion souls that have lived up to the moment of the return of Christ, 250 billion more souls during the millennial kingdom, and the New City will contain at most 1 billion souls to fit comfortably the space provided in Revelation 21 of 1379 x 1379 miles. So that's a savings ratio of 1 in 300 souls.

    I also assume that only about 1/7th of those saved will return with Christ to reign during the 1000 years because only 1 of the 7 churches in Rev. 2 & 3 is an overcomer church. So 1 in 300 of 50 billion is about 170 million. 1/7th of 170M is about 24 million souls. However, this conflicts with Jude 14,15.

    "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him" (Jude 14,15).

    Do you see? If only 10,000 return with Jesus which is 1/7th of those thusfar saved then the total saved would be 70,000 not 170 million.

    Even if "ten thousands" meant tens of the thousands, at most that number would be less than 100,000, otherwise it would read "hundreds of thousands." So the upper boundary of these figures could be as much as 10 times the calculations I have provided here, but the total saved would still be at most 1 billion.

    There is also "144,000" virgin firstfruits (Rev. 14.1-5) which is a class of believers in the total number of overcomers these past 2000 years. How do we reconcile this number with only 70,000 saves thusfar since Adam? One might say the 144,000 virgin firstfruits span the entire time from Christ's first coming to His second coming. This is a very special class of believers that are closest to Christ.

    Based on this clear word of Scripture, the savings ratio prior to the return of Christ is 70,000/50 billion ~ 1 in 700,000 souls. During the millennium another 999,030,000 would be saved for a total of 1 billion. The savings ratio during the millennium, thus, would be 999,070,000/250 billion souls = 1 in 250.

    And if only 7 billion are alive today when Jesus returns and the savings ratio is 1 in 700,000 that's only 10,000 Christians alive today. Of those 10,000, only about 1/7th would be first raptured-about 1400 souls-since the first rapture is according to readiness (Matt. 24.40-42, Luke 21.36, Rev. 3.10). Isn't that amazing? Only about 1400 souls would be ready to be received "before the throne" (Rev. 7.9) before the first trumpet of the Tribulation starts (8.7ff).

    As you can see the savings ratio dramatically increases with the presence of Jesus. I suspect the savings ratio was less than 1 in 700,000 souls prior to Christ, then 1 in 700,000 during the dispensation of grace, then drops down to 1 in 250 during the millennial kingdom.

    Of course, I could be wrong somewhere in this analysis, but if Jesus only returns with 10,000 of His saints as Jude said, we can be confident though I may be off on the exact numbers, the principle of what I have just said remains true. The message, therefore, people will be greatly surprised how low the savings ratio actually is.

    Today 100 people attend on Sunday a congregation and another meeting, 1000 people attend a church gathering. The implication of the savings ratio is it is likely none of them are saved. Perhaps at most one is saved.

    Lord, if I have erred in this message, please correct me so that I may speak and do your will. Let one of your saints correct me in what I have said because what I have said seems perfectly reasonable and seems to fit your approval.
    by Published on 01-21-2011 08:44 AM     Number of Views: 4647 
    1. Categories:
    2. Reward for Overcomers

    Do You Think You Will be Raptured Before the Tribulation Just Because You Are Saved?

    On that day of first rapture, there "shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (Matt. 24.40). Both of them are Christians working for the Lord.

    Both male and female qualify for the first rapture. "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (v.41).

    Which one will be taken at the first rapture and which one will be left to pass through the Tribulation to be raptured at the last trumpet? "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (v.42). Whomever is watchful shall be raptured "before the throne" in heaven (Rev. 7.9) prior to the start of the Tribulation's first trumpet (8.7ff) at the beginning of the seven years.

    Are all Christians watchful? Of course not. Many if not most Christians are tied down to the world like a balloon unwilling to be released. They lie on a bed of fornication spiritually speaking, hardly living as sojourners in the world. Actually, only about 1/7th of believers alive at the first rapture will be raptured since only the Philadelphia church was an overcomer church of the seven churches.

    Some question whether both are Christians. Yet it is emphasized "your Lord doth come" to indicate you are a Christian but that if you are not watchful, you shall be left to pass through the time of testing. Though you can't lose eternal life as my brother or sister in Christ, for the Bible is clear those who are born-again "they shall never perish" (John 10.28), you can quite easily not be taken up to the throne to stand before Jesus when the Tribulation starts. Better you be aware of this now! This is what Paul was preeminently concerned with to receive the reward of returning with Christ.

    My concern is presuming you are not ready to be raptured alive on Sept. 14, 2015 on Feast of Trumpets (the Tribulation is from Sept. 14, 2015 to Aug. 7, 2022), I'd like to know how will you respond to a couple million that have vanished on that day (not including you)? Will you accuse them of being a "fake rapture," acting like Satan that great accuser accusing the brethren day and night (Rev. 12.10)? Or will you realize what I have told you that if you were not ready, still loving the world too much, that God did not consider you worthy at that time because you were unwilling to overcometh.

    All Christians overcometh, but not all Christians overcome at the same time. There are advanced parties and harbingers in every sphere. There are the virgin firstfruits (Rev. 14.1-5), a subsection of overcomers, and the total inclusion of all man-child overcomers (12.5) including women of course. The later harvest (14.14-16) are raptured at the start of the last trumpet (11.15) before the bowls of wrath are poured out over 24 months (1st woe is 5 months, 2nd woe is 13 months, and the 3rd woe will be 24 months).

    Again we see a conditional statement set forth by Jesus. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21.36).

    What happens if you are not watchful and prayerful? You won't be accounted worthy to escape the Tribulation and stand before the Son of man; therefore you will not be "taken" but "left" to pass through it. This is what is meant in 1 Thess. 4: "then we which are alive and left shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (v.17) at the last trumpet (Rev. 11.15) after the first six trumpets have been completed over 60 months (42 months of the first half of the Tribulation plus 5 months of the 1st woe and 13 months of the 2nd woe).

    To seal the deal if there was still yet any doubt in your mind the first rapture is according to readiness and not a foregone conclusion for the whole church who are alive on Sept. 14, 2015, read Revelation 3.10. Only if you are an overcomer as each church period is called to overcometh in chapters 2 & 3 will you escape the hour of trial according to this conditional statement...If "thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" (3.10). The Tribulation, particularly the last 37 months (2nd and 3rd woes), will be a war and army build up (9.16) unlike the world has ever seen with deaths to match it (v.18). Never will there be such a war again.

    These verses are not speaking of any tribulation, but the Tribulation of of Daniel's seventieth set of seven (Dan. 9.27). How else could 1/3 of the people of the earth die in fire and brimstone and there be armies built up in the middle east of 200 million?

    Have you kept the word of His patience? Have you kept the conduct of Matthew 5-7? If not, don't be surprised when there are a couple million that have disappeared on the planet and you were not included. Fret not! Simply realize you were a lover of the world too much and that you will have to pass through the consummation even possibly unto martyrdom to be tried by fire. Let the Holy Spirit by the cross correct your former thinking with a deep incision to divide your spirit, soul and body to walk after the spirit by the Spirit in a way never experienced before. Amen.

    My prayer is that when throughout the news a couple million people have vanished that you don't accuse these spiritual Christians. Amen.