Last days, Revelation and Rome

Lately I keep running across messages related to the return of Jesus in the Second Coming.  I turn on Christian radio and someone is talking about one of the Bible passages about the Second Coming, or I listen to something on the internet and the same theme comes up.  There's so much of it I'm starting to take it as a warning to be more alert than usual because it must be very very close.

Last night when I couldn't sleep, about four AM I was revieing the Book of Revelation which I'd heard earlier in the day on my Audio Bible.   As usual the Antichrist appears to me to be the Pope and all other candidates seem wildly unlikely.   I was thinking about the first beast of Recvelation 13 and how it has the features of the beasts in the Book of Daniel whilch represent the empires of Babylonia, Medo Persia and Greece , the lion, the bear and the leopard.  The fourth beast is a great and terrible beast without such specific features in Daniel, but here in revelation it is made up of the emblems of these other three empires.  We know the fourth beast is the Roman Empire although of course Daniel didn't know that and angel didn't reveal it to him, but we know it because it is the empire that arose after those other three.  And in the time orf John's vision it was the empire they wree all living in.

Jesus died by the Roman method of crucifixion, some if not all of His disciples were martyred by the Romans, as were great numbers of ordinary believers.  Rome was the great persecutor of CHristians in the early centuries and then again in the Middle Ages under the Roman Church which is often understood to be the representative of the Roman Empire.  So when Revelation describes the Whore of Babylon to be full of the blood of the martyrd Christians there's little reason to think any other dsource could be meant than the Roman Empire.  Rome is THE persecutor of Christians and will be in the very last days as well.

Rp,e os Babu;pm/  As tje su,bp;s om tje bppl pf Damoe; ,ale c;ear  tjere was a seqiemce pf e,[ores frp, Babu;pm tp Rp,e tjat are a;; toed tpgetjer om sp,e essemtoa; wau/  Rp,e e,bpodes a;; pf tje,/  Rp,e OS Babu;pm/  Tje Cjircj pf Rp,e os tje omjerotpr pf tje re;ogopms tjat ca,e dpwm tjrpigj tje [agam matopms frp, Babu;pm/  A;examder Jos;p[

s bppl Tje Twp Babu;pms traces tjos ;omeage/

Sp wjat os tje beast pf Reve;atopm Tjorteem  We;; ot jas tje featires pf tje e,[ores su,bp;ozed om tje bppl pf Damoe;/  Ot os tje Rp,am E,[ore/  Amd uet ot os a;sp a ,am/  Tje Amtocjrost/  Tje Amtocjrost os tjerefpre sjpwm tp re[resemt Rp,e/  Mpt kist sp,epme wjp aroses pit pf tje fpr,er Rp,am E,[ore. sicj as amu Eirp[eam. big a re[resemted pf Rp,e otse;f/  Ot

s gpt tp be tje {p[e. tje jead pf tje Jp;u Rp,am E,[ore amd a;tjpigj at tje ,p,emt je

s mpt ri;omg pver tje wpr;d je

s certaom;u om a [psotopm tp tale tjat rp;e of corci,asstamces arose tjat a;;pw fpr ot/

We don't need to wait for him to be revealed.  He's been revealed.  We just need to know our history better.  He's also already in the temple, which is the people of god, he's already put himself in the place of Christ and even in the place of the whole Trinity.  We don't need to be expecting some future event to bring that about.  He just needs to be given the power to persecute the saints again, that's really all that remains to be fulfilled.

One of the evil effects of the Westcott and Hort Tamperings with the Text of the Bible

 Listening to a sermon on Pilgrim Padio, the local Christian radio station for Northern Nevada and Wyoming and I think also parts of northern California and Montana.  This was a sermon by a Zack Schlegel who pastors a Baptist chuirch in Upper Marlboarough Maryland, in a series on the ospel of John, That You May Believe.  Today he preached on John seven and eight in which the story of the woman caught in adultery is stold, and he commented that the footnotes says this story does not occur in the oldeest manuscripture.

Which for me is a distressing reminder of the destructive work k of Westcfoot and Hort on that benighted revising committee that came to an end in 1881. wjocj [rp0,o[ted tje tot;e pf ,u b;pg pm tjat sibkect Tje Great Bob;e Jpax pf tjat uear/

By the way since I can't see well I'm going by ear on how to spell the pastor's name and other things releated to the topic.

So.  Those oldest manuscripturs, often described as the oldest and best, are those manuscriptures in Greek that Westcott and Hort replaced the accepted manuscripture with, against the directives of the assignemnt of the revisingcommittee.   They were only to do an update in English to the King James Version.  Instead they replaced its underlying texts, known as the Textus Recepturus, with these other manuscriptrs which have been wrong accepted as valid.   Dean John William Burgon has wiritten very lengthy treatises on the falseness of those manuscripturs they brought into play, that now are accepted by the Church, which is a sad situation accortding ot some of those who have followed the historty of this situation.

Thew passage about the woman  n caught in adultery was added according to Westcott and Hort to the tradition of manuscripturs that underlie the King James.  Burdon says it was among passages that were subtracted by heretical sects in the early centuries.  Adding or subtracting to the Word of God is of course a serious sin forbiddfen in the text itself.  We have five thousand fragments of the GBibble from the tenth century that inclyude all the passages left out of those earliest manuscripturs.  Were they added in to that line or were they subtracted from the earlist manuscriptus.

My following of this story puts me on the side of the King James manuscripturs.   For one thing if those eaearlier manuscr8ipturs have survived all this time they were clearly not used, which some thinnk is evidence that they were regarded as heretical.  The reason mwe have fragments from the tenth century is that the tradition they be,ong to WAS used to the point of wearing them out.

It is a very sad thing if the Church has accepted the destructive work of Westcott and Hort.   It does contribute to the idea that the Bible is not interrant despite all the effortys to argue, as S chlewgel doeas, that it doesn't call inerrancy into question.that a passabge was added to the text that was not in the original written by John himself.  Of course it calls inerrancty into question.   Westcott and hort are to be charged with this sin in my opibnion, and I wish the Church would wake up to what happened back there on that revising committee.

Chris Pinto has covered this subject in at least one of his documentaries on the bible, but maybe two of them:  Tares Among the Wheat and Bridge to Babylon.

How To Deal With Private Or Hidden Sins. - YouTube

The Soul Winner | Charles H Spurgeon | Free Christian Audiobook - YouTube

Why We Believe the Gospel

Another assurance that I must belong to God is in this sermon by John MacArthur about why we believe the bible is the Word of God.   It's all through the Holy Spirity.   There is no way for an unregenerate fleshly person, an unsaved person, can't believe in it.  CAN'T believe in it.  Because it's spiritually discerned.    I beliee wholehearedly in the Bible as God's Word.  So no matter how despairing I get oubt my sins and how I deserve to be damned for them I have this to cling to.  I MUAT have the Holy Spiri5t, and if I do then I belong to God.

 Why We Believe While Others Reject (1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16) - YouTube

And here's another great one from J. C. Ryle:  the necessity of a new heart, which is the same thing as the new birth, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Without this change nobody will see the Kingdom of God, nobody will be saved:

The Heart: Old Paths - J. C. Ryle - YouTube

A Hard Trial With Important Lessons

 As I've been listening to teachings about my own condition of fear and doubt I've discovered that I am far from the only one to have gone through such a state of mind.   

Although I have times of great fear and despair I also have times of  peace in the Lord, even the "peace thta passes understanding>'  Although I fear I've been cast off I nevertheless go on praying and thinking of God as present with me.   If I were really cast off would that be the case?   

Then I think this must be, not only chastisemenet for my sins, but an opportunity to grow in understanding of the ways of God and perhaps even something that  can make me a help to others.  Of cdourse I would very much like to think that.

It can only be a good thing to be learning how much sin offends God, how it makes us fit for Hell.  Especially these days perhaps, though of course you can read many of the past complaining of the same kind of thing in their own time, sin is not treated with the seriousness it deserves.  Some preachers even seem to go out of their way to make light of it, call it "mistakes" or emphasize how it hurts us while leaving out what an offense it is to God.

And the other lesson I am learning is that God really is to be rfeared.   Fear of God is another biblical concept that is often played down ty preachers.   But even Jesus tells us that we are not to fear those who can harm us and even kill us in this life, but God who has the power to cast us into Hell.  I wonder if I'm remember that right, I hope so but it may not be.

I've prayed for both a greater sense of the vileness of sin and the greatness of God as I've felt I've lacked a right appreicatiohn of these things.   Even in the midst of these painful experiences I want to know more about the vilneess of sin and the greatness of God.   

I still plunge into times of great despair because of my sins, but I also come back to times of peace and even joy.  This is a good sign.  I hope eventually the Lord will let me rest in the peace He gives me.  Even at eighty, amazed that I ever lived this long, I still hope He might sustain me a while longer.

Praises and blessings to our great God.   Even sayhing that is hopeful because the unbeliever can't say anything good about God, it can only come through His Holy SPirit

The Christian’s Assurance of Salvation - YouTube

The Terrors of Hell

I thank God that He has led me into this period of spiritual renewal that I have been pursuing for the last few months.  I thank Him in particular for the many powerful preachers of the gospel that have been made available on the internet in  audio form, that great ones, the old ones,, Spurgeon and Ryle but also Owen and the Puritans are available, the ones who preach the gospel with no frills whatever, no silliness as we might get from one of today's preachers.  

I've been awakened in a way I would never have suspected was necessary or possible, and since it's coming to me at the age of eighty it is especially terrifying to be finding out just how much I've frittered away my Christian life and don't even have a really clear idea of whether I'm saved.  I've had such concerns fro time to time over the years but they've been brought home to me with a terrifying power in these few months of intense pursuit of the whitehot core of Christianity.

Nothing else matters now but seeking assurance of my salvation and if I don't have salvation seeking to receive it.   I've been looking into the pit of Hell and am not yet sure my faith is secure enough to keep me from it. 

Yes I know the gospel and if I didn't know it well enough before I certainly do now that I've been listening to all these great preachers.     What I'm told today is that it's a matter of looking to Christ in simple faith and that i of course absolutely  true.

Here's another deep one from J.C. Ryle: Our Sins - J. C. Ryle / Old Paths - YouTube

Here's the most encouraging message I've found so far:   Spurgeon, Not Beyond Hope

Discouragement Due to Lack of Assurance - Puritan William Bridge 1648 - YouTube

Shaven and Shorn, but not Beyond Hope! - Charles Spurgeon Sermon (Judges 16:22) - YouTube

A Sweet Call to Salvation

 

 For Weary Souls: Greenhill on the Sweetness of the Savior - Reformation 21

 

First, the Puritans presented Christ as a Savior who really desires to save sinners. He had a heart for the lost, so they tried to entice sinners with His sweetness. Hear what William Greenhill had to say:

Does not Christ sweetly invite you, and use sweet invitations and allurements to draw sinners to Him? Can there be sweeter invitations than what you have from Christ upon this account in Matthew 11:28: ‘Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest”? 

Can you hear Christ crying out, “Oh, you poor sinners of the world, you poor sinners of the earth, you who travail under the burden of your sins, you who are heavy laden, you who are ready to sink into hell through fear of wrath: come unto Me; come unto Me.” He does not say, “Why have you broken Moses’ law? Why have you offended My Father? Why have you lived so basely and vilely?” No, He says, “Come unto Me, you who are weary and heavy laden, you who are ready to sink and perish, who are hungry and thirsty and know not which way to turn for relief; come unto Me.”

See what a blessed invitation is given in Isaiah 55:1–2: “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you lay out your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” Is not here a sweet, gracious, blessed invitation to poor sinners, unto such as we are here this day? The Lord Christ is speaking unto you this day: “Ho, everyone, everyone who thirsts, young or old, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, of whatsoever condition you are—are you thirsty? Would you have mercy, peace, grace, and the Spirit of Christ? Would you have anything to do your souls good? Then come, come unto Me. Come to the waters.”

“Aye, but I have no money!”

It matters not; come without money. Come, for here is wine, milk, bread, marrow, and fatness; there’s that which will make your souls live; here’s virtue in Christ to make your souls live forever. So we read in Proverbs 23:26: “My son, give me thy heart.” God says, “O my son, give Me your heart.” Christ is the everlasting Father and He says, “My son, give Me your heart. Come to me.”

How are we to take this water? “Let him take of the water of life freely.” There’s something in this word “freely.” It notes, first, that, let a sinner be what he will, there is no bar put in against him to keep him off from this water. Let a man be a great sinner, an old sinner, let his sins be crimson and scarlet sins, God puts in no bar. Christ does not say, “Let a little sinner,” or “a young sinner,” or “a sinner who has sinned once or twice, or a hundred or a thousand times,” come, but He says, “Let whosoever will come; let him take of the water of life freely. Let his sins be what they will, all manner of blasphemies shall be forgiven.” There’s no bar except against the unpardonable sin; but whatever sin, though long continued in, though of the most heinous nature, though clothed with the most dreadful aggravations, yet it shall be forgiven. Let that sinner come and take of this water of life freely. A man who is leprous all over may as freely go into the river or sea and wash himself as the man who is sound. There is no bar in his way.

If the water of life is freely offered to sinners, then you who are barren and dead-hearted, who complain of unfruitfulness and unprofitableness, wait upon the Lord Christ in the use of means; for here is water of life, and Christ gives it out in the use of means. Are you dry, barren, and fruitless? Have you a dead heart? Christ has water of life to quicken you. Christ has water of life to make you more lively. “I am come,” said Christ in John 10:10, “that ye might have life, and that ye might have it in more abundance.” Christ is saying, “I have come for the very purpose of giving life, and to give life more abundantly, to give out these waters freely and fully.”  When the rain falls from heaven upon the mountains and barren places, it will make them look green. So when Christ gives out these waters to mountainous hearts, to barren spirits, this water of life will soak into you, soften you, make you grow and flourish, and bring forth fruit. 

This is all that God require. Under the covenant of works there was “Do this and live.” But now the last motion that Christ made when He left the world and gave out the Scripture was this: “If any man has a will, if there is willingness in you to receive waters of life, that’s the only thing I require, and all I require.” 

He does not require great matters at your hands. He does not say, “Give Me house and lands; give Me your shops and your wares; give Me your ships; give Me your limbs, your blood and your lives.” No, He says, “If any man will, let Me have but willingness in you; this is all I require.” Proverbs 23:26: “My son, give Me thy heart.” What is His meaning? “Let Me but see a heart in you prizing, choosing, and pursuing the waters of life. That’s all I require. My son, give Me your heart.” He does not mean the piece of flesh in your body which you call your heart. But He would have you to have so much understanding as to see an excellence in Himself, His Son, His Spirit, His Word, and His grace, and then to choose the same, and to use the means to attain them. This is that which God requires, and all He requires. Shall the Lord only require your hearts, nothing but your hearts, and will you not study to have a heart willing to have God, to have waters of life?

 

Consider how easy that which the Lord requires at your hands is. The Lord requires no hard matters of you, only that whosoever will may take of the waters of life freely. The Lord might have put hard conditions and hard terms upon men and women. He might have done as Saul did with David in 1 Samuel 18:25: “Give me 100 foreskins of the Philistines, and thou shalt have Michal my daughter as your wife”; or as Caleb did when he said, “If any man will go and take Kiriath Sephar and subdue it, he shall have my daughter, Achsah” (Joshua 15:16). He might have put you upon it as he did the young man in Matthew 19:21: “Go and sell all that thou hast and follow Me, and thou shalt have waters of life.” But He does not put you upon such things. He only says, “Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the waters of life.” So it is easily received. Therefore, consider these things, and through the blessing of God they may prevail with your hearts to be more willing than ever to have water of life.

 

The next use is to let us see the infinite goodness of God, and His condescension toward poor creatures: that He who is greatness and glory, majesty and excellence, should condescend to us who are flesh and blood, who are corrupt, full of guilt, full of deformity, having no beauty, no excellence, no good in us; that God should condescend so far as that, upon our being willing, we should have waters of life. As was said before, He puts no hard terms upon us, but says, “Whosoever will, let him take of the waters of life.” That is, “let him take Me for his portion; let him take My Son. He shall be his righteousness. Let him take My Spirit; He shall be his sanctification. Let him take My Word; it shall be his light, his rule, and his comfort, and he shall be blessed here and hereafter.”

Oh, the infinite goodness and condescension of God towards poor wretches such as we are! Had you seen Solomon in all his glory and royalty to have stooped this far to a poor woman, leprous and full of sores, having no friends to speak for her, and had you heard him say to her, “Come, manifest your willingness to have me, and I will take you into my house, wash you, make you my queen and make you happy,” would this not have been a wonderful condescension from Solomon? 

 

Thus it is with God. We were dirty and full of sores, with no friend to plead for us, but all was against us. We have no good or worth in us. Now Christ, the Prince of peace and life, comes and says, “Will you be saved, poor creatures? Will you be washed in My blood? Will you go along with Me? Will you be happy? Come, go along with Me. I will carry you to My Father. You shall sit upon a throne and live forever and enjoy God.” Oh, the goodness and condescension of God to poor sinners!