Chapter 5

Introductions to Chapter 5
This fifth Chapter is designed to help bring spirituality into our personal Bible study. It opens with document #05_01, The ‘How’ of Eternal Life. It spills over into the next Chapter as we learn how to apply the teaching of “line upon line.” You will find some repetition in these documents. It is intentional. We learn from repetition, and this prescription for Bible study is of the utmost importance for us to grasp fully. Many, even most people, never access a true relationship with God because they fail in this regard. Please, don’t you be so! Holy Spirit teaches us (John 14:26) the testimony of Jesus by leading us to Truth, line upon line. God communicates with us on a personal level in the Scriptures. Restrict the use of that and you may never experience the blessing of direct communication with God!

The first document of this section, answers our fundamental question when we consider Christianity, “How Shall I Inherit Eternal Life?” What a shame that so many denominations never answer that question from this Scripture. It should be answered repeatedly everywhere, so that everyone will hear and know the answer, and share it with those who are un-churched!

Scripture Text: Mt. 19:16-19

Title: How Shall I Inherit Eternal Life?

For Scripture today, we read Mt. 19:16-19. When asked, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered,”…if thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments; …Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Is there any doubt in your mind that keeping God’s Ten Commandments is still important today? You are the Remnant church. You “keep the Commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus” – faith in the Bible as the accurate Word of God.

But do your neighbours know what you know? Have you helped them to see that Jesus Himself, as we just read from the Bible, stated that inheriting eternal life is dependent on our keeping the Commandments? If they belong to a Christian church, they most likely think that they know the Commandments. You are the one Jesus has called to reveal the fact that what they think the Commandments say has been altered by the power called the “beast” in Revelation, and they may be trying to keep his commandments rather than God’s! If you don’t tell them, they may continue to be deceived and will finally be lost! Tell them that God gave us free access to the Bible but He thereby makes us responsible to “see if these things are so” for ourselves so that we will not be misled. Tell them that that’s only the beginning of what they need to know. That’s why the Everlasting Gospel must be preached by the Remnant to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying, “Fear (or reverence) God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come… and, worship Him that made heaven, and earth.” Tell them that we won’t just tell them what to believe: we’ll tell them where to find it in the Bible! We’ll even tell them how to find the answers to their questions on their own, “line upon line, here a little, there a little,” so that they will know they have their answers from God, not from deceivers!

The Bible itself says, “Whom will He [Holy Spirit] teach knowledge, and whom will He make to understand doctrine?” Where is that text found, people? (Isaiah 28:9-13). Other denominations do believe in keeping the Commandments of God. What, then, is different about our gospel? It is that we believe we must keep the Commandments of God, not the changed 10 commandments of the “man of sin!” It is thus that we believe that we worship the Creator, who is Jesus, by keeping His Sabbath day holy, not by keeping the spurious sabbath of the “beast!” (the “mark” of the “beast”)- one of his 10 commandments! Further, our gospel is different because we worship Jesus as our Intercessor, not the “beast’s” “image,” MARY, who the “beast” has made the intercessor between God and man. Praying the rosary asks her to pray for you!

Do you see the connecting links in what I have just stated, to the Three Angel’s Messages? Our Everlasting Gospel message is thoroughly tied to the Three Angel Messages, isn’t it. (Re-read from “other”). Finally, and here is the huge difference in our gospel, we believe we can keep the real Ten Commandments, by putting Jesus on the throne in our minds, continually, and that thus we will overcome as He overcame, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Jesus said that by the presence of Holy Spirit, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you!” John 14:15-18; 20-26.

We also teach that, because of free will, we are always capable of putting self back onto the throne of our minds, instantaneously, so we must choose never to allow ourselves to do so at any time, in any circumstance, if we would finally be sealed by Holy Spirit. It is this unwavering habit that will seal us! (Ephesians 1:13.) Thus, by choosing always to do His will, not our own will, we will “do only those things that please Him.” (We will indeed become like Jesus!).

Our teaching regarding baptism is also solidly part of our message. Millions of Christians see baptism as merely a rite by which one joins a denomination. It is so much deeper than that! Have you carefully studied the material you received last time about baptism? Again I ask that you answer some questions out loud as I ask them. Remember this: Wrong answers only help you to learn. Right answers solidify your knowledge of the truth! First question: This is the big one regarding baptism. What are you supposed to be doing by being baptized? You are making…? Yes, you are making your Covenant with God! What is your side of the Covenant? What do you say to Jesus by being baptized? …”I don’t want to sin, any sin, any more! I need Your Holy Spirit to live in me to help me to overcome sin as Jesus overcame!” (Revelation 3:21).

Can you overcome sin by applying enough will power?…No? So what is it that God has promised to give us when we are baptized that makes being baptized the only real way to enter into the kingdom of God? The answer is in Peter’s first great sermon. Where is it found? What Book of the Bible? Acts 2:38. At the end of Peter’s sermon they asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said unto them, “Repent…and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Further, In speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus said very emphatically, “Except a man be born again…of water…and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!” John 3: 3 and 5. Even Jesus Himself was baptized, even as our example. Peter wrote, in 1 Peter 2:21 and 22, that Christ left us an example, that you should follow in His steps: and, he continued, “Who did no sin.”

Next question: Where is the baptism chapter in the Bible? Romans, chapter 6. There the Bible teaches, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.” v.12. Further, it teaches, “Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin, unto death, or, of obedience unto righteousness?” So, at baptism we declare that we are not wanting to sin any sin, any more. We are turning to God for salvation from sin’s hold on us. God Covenants with us to be our God, and He gives us Holy Spirit to guide and empower us to obey His will. Holy Spirit writes God’s Law in our hearts (as well as in our minds) through reminding us that Jesus (our Creator God!) died in our place. Holy Spirit brings to our mind, from the written Word, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments.” John 14:15.

When Holy Spirit has written God’s Law in our hearts, then our new probation begins. We are then a Christian. Jesus has redeemed us – paid all the requirements of the Law. Because of our faith, He declares His righteousness in place of our past sinfulness. And, from then forward, if we should stumble into committing a sin, He ever lives, as our High Priest in the Sanctuary in Heaven, to intercede for us. But we must be on the road to overcoming! That road is leading into the Most Holy, where Jesus is now! He is waiting to cleanse the Sanctuary in heaven of the record of our forgiven sins! While we live, Jesus, through Holy Spirit, wants to give us the power to stop us from sinning, any sin, any more, so that He doesn’t have to just keep on forgiving us, without effectively saving us from sin!

In your materials for today, you will find a pamphlet entitled, “How to Let Jesus Stop You From Sinning.” If we follow Him into the Most Holy, refusing to sin, by keeping Him on the throne of our mind, continually, then He will be able to cleanse our soul Temple, while we live, and seal us. Then we can stand in this final work of the church – the “loud cry,” – without sin! Only then can Jesus finish the “cleansing” and leave the Sanctuary because He doesn’t have to be the Intercessor anymore! He is waiting for that day, but will not put it off forever! If you don’t stop sinning, by fully understanding and applying the Everlasting Gospel and baptism, you won’t be sealed: “the time of trouble such as never was, even to that same time” shall crash upon you, and you will be lost as Jesus leaves the Sanctuary in heaven!

Do you hope that time will go on, and you will go to your grave, so that you don’t have to face the time of trouble such as never was? You are playing Russian roulette! I pray that none of you remain in an unsaved condition. For you, today is the day of salvation. Today is the time to fully receive Jesus as your King, as well as your Saviour. If any of you have not been baptized into God’s Remnant, I beseech you, put it off no longer! If you have been baptized, but now much more fully understand baptism and the Everlasting Gospel, Jesus will now honour your baptism by giving you Holy Spirit today, if you ask Him in true faith! If, however, you believe you must be re-baptized to make your Covenant with Jesus, then let no one deny you that privilege!

The second document, #05_02, How to Let Jesus Stop You from Sinning, is the practical application of Jesus’ answer to the question, “How shall I inherit eternal life?” I hope that you will be really enlightened by this insightful look at our common failure to overcome temptations in our life! The “sealing” is absolutely dependent on this understanding! Read and heed!

Scripture Text: Revelation 3:20 – 22. (Please Read before the study).

Title: How to Let Jesus Stop You From Sinning.

The counsel to Laodicea, the final church era, is followed by the prescription from Jesus designed to Create a cleansed people. While He is cleansing the Sanctuary of the record of forgiven sins, He is also, through the work of Holy Spirit, cleansing the soul Temple of each willing person, so that they can be sealed and enabled to proclaim the “loud cry of the third angel.” Very few people have ever experienced what He wants to accomplish in every one of us, because we fail to apply His prescription for our healing.

Have you ever sat down and carefully considered how Jesus can stop us from sinning, so that He doesn’t have to just keep on forgiving us without effectively saving us from sin? I believe Jesus is waiting for us to do this, and apply what we learn. When we do, then He will be able to cleanse us and seal us so that we can stand in this final work of the church – without sin.

Ask a believer in Jesus who is addicted to cigarettes and alcohol if the plan of salvation, as he understands it, is saving him. He will admit that it is not. He cannot, so far, overcome. His sins are, if we consider these alone, only sins against the laws of nature, but all sin needs the same prescription. So, I will use such a person for my illustration of how the plan of salvation really works.

Where to start? Let’s get our first glimpse of His prescription, which is right after the counsel to Laodicea, the last church. Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me.” The emphasis here is a Covenant relationship. To “sup” with Him, is to partake of the Covenant Meal. This is not just the idea that you will eat all your meals as if He was sitting there with you. The wording is specifically pointing to the Covenant Meal. In the Covenant relationship, we begin with repentance for all sin, followed by baptism and the making of our Covenant with Jesus. “I don’t want to sin, any sin, any more! I need Your Holy Spirit in me to help me overcome sin as Jesus overcame!” If we don’t make that decision, and choose to make our Covenant in baptism, we will be lost! Period. “The wages of sin…is…death.” Peter proclaimed, Acts 2:38, “Repent…and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.” Be baptized. Make your Covenant with Jesus.

At Sinai, Jesus gave the Jews His Law in Ten Commandments. For His side of the Covenant, He said, “If you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My Covenant, then you shall be a peculiar (special) treasure unto Me above all people…and you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” For their side of the Covenant, all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do.” Exodus 19:5, 6, and 8.

The Jews have failed miserably to keep the Covenant. But so have we. Almost all people try to keep the Covenant by their own power! God says that won’t do. “For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel…Not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in My Covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My Laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” God wrote His Laws in our hearts, by revealing His love for us by giving us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Since that great act of love, we really want to keep His Law, and try really hard! But we still fail, miserably. We haven’t got His prescription right, yet. We declare, with the apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” His answer comes from God, immediately, and he proclaims, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” “…the carnal mind [self-centered] is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh [carnally minded] cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Romans 7:24, 25; and Romans 8:7-9.

Let’s skip back to Acts 2:38. I deliberately left out the last part of that verse. Peter proclaimed three things in God’s prescription for salvation. Repent [of all sin], be baptized [and thus make your Covenant with God], and thirdly, “and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost! For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” “If you love Me, keep My Commandments: and I will pray the Father, and He shall give you …the Spirit of truth…you know Him: for He dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you!” John 14:15-18.

People, most of us haven’t yet found access to that gift! It is “even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory!” (Heaven!) Colossians 1:26, 27.

Why do we not find access to the gift? It is because we fail to really make our Covenant with Him as it must be worded! We fail to tell Him that we don’t want to sin, any sin, any more! And we fail to really want His Spirit, by which He overcame, living in us full time, so that we too can overcome sin, and live the victorious life! Then He can answer, “I will be your God!”

Now: Here’s the problem as I see it. Say I’m the man who believes in Jesus, but is addicted to tobacco and alcohol. I repent of all sin, and make my Covenant with Jesus by baptism. I love Him and the Father for what they have done to reveal Their love for me, and I really want to stop sinning so that I can inherit eternal life! Some short time after my baptism, I crave a cigarette. Jesus promised me He would give me His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, didn’t He? I claim His power in immediate prayer. A moment later, I take out my pack of cigarettes, and light one up. Ahhh. Relief. … “Jesus, why didn’t You stop me?” I conclude that Jesus didn’t give me His Spirit, despite His promise! And every time I crave a cigarette thereafter, my conclusion is confirmed! Then I want a drink. “Oh please, Jesus, help me!” But I reach for the bottle, and I’m back in my familiar but terrible trap that is ruining my life! “God failed to keep His Covenant with me and I am without hope!”

Isn’t that how it is for many people? Isn’t that how it is for some friend or acquaintance of yours? Is anything still wrong with the wording of my Covenant? Or did God fail to keep His end?

The answer is in our free will. God will not force our will and make us do His will! We must “work out our own salvation, with fear and trembling.” When we make our Covenant with Jesus in baptism, His Holy Spirit comes into our mind and takes the throne in our mind. But when we reach for that cigarette; or for that bottle; we shove Jesus off the seat of the throne in our mind, and He lets us take the throne back! When we steal that item, or lust for that man or that woman, when we get very angry and lash out at that person to hurt or even to kill him, we shove Jesus off the seat of the throne in our mind!! Even Moses was still capable of doing it, just before they entered the Promised Land!

It’s a choice, people! If we choose to do His will, rather than our own, we shall have His power, right from the throne in our own mind! “Thy will, not mine, be done!” That’s the choice I must make every time, to overcome as Jesus Himself overcame! “Work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling…” for we must do only those things that please Him. Then, the rest of those verses can be completed. “For it is God, which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13. Keep Jesus on the throne in your mind, minute by minute, day by day, year by year, and you will be “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,”… “sealed unto the day of redemption!” Ephesians 1:13; and Ephesians 4:30. Sealed, in this time of the sealing, just before the “loud cry of the third angel” must be proclaimed, by us!
Pray with me. Lord Jesus, we have been blaming You for our failure to overcome sin in our lives. But You weren’t failing to keep the Covenant. Your promise, Father, to give the Spirit of Jesus to us, to be in our minds, didn’t fail. We just didn’t think it through! We didn’t take the time to understand that You won’t force our will, and that’s why the plan of salvation wasn’t working in our lives. Please, forgive us our Laodicean trait, and grant us the zeal to choose to let You have the throne, right in our own minds, in every decision we make. We do want to do only those things that please You. Through the name of Jesus, our High Priest, we pray. Amen.

Document #05_03
The Dramatic Encounter of a Powerful King with the God of Heaven, may seem like it is only another prophecy document, but it is a transition into seeing prophecy in light of how we may soon face such challenges to our personal faith! Let us learn the lessons of true faith revealed by Daniel and his three friends.

The Dramatic encounter of a Powerful King with the God of Heaven

When a proud king who rules the whole known world suddenly discovers that Someone greater than he rules the whole universe, including over his kingdom, anything can happen. That’s why the little Book of Daniel is not only vitally important, but also exciting reading.

The characters in this real-life drama include:
*The God of Heaven
*Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon
*Daniel, a captive/prophet/statesman
*Three friends of Daniel who had what it takes.

It also involved:
*A dream that has collided head-on with the dreams of modern dictators
*Two images (idols)
*A furnace heated seven times hotter than usual
*A tree cut down
*And a bow-or-burn story that reads like a rehearsal of one soon to come in our day.

What does all of this have to do with you? MORE THAN YOU THINK! The book of Daniel is full of challenge, encounter, and confrontation. It has to do with how this ancient king reacted when challenged by the God of heaven, as well as how four Hebrew captives met the challenges of this heathen king. This could be an important education for you and me about how to face such challenges as they come our way soon!
Two books of the Bible that are seldom studied and little understood are: the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. Yet these are the two books that were written especially for our day. Both contain important information: Will Europe unite? Will there be another great empire? What events will soon take place?

It is most significant that the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, though written so many years apart, are closely related. A careful student will find many ties between them. The first six chapters of Daniel are mainly narration – and anything but dull reading. The last six chapters are prediction. Today we will look at the first four chapters. In the first chapter, we find Daniel and three of his friends captive in the city of Babylon while their homeland was continuing to be destroyed by the armies of Babylon. In the second chapter, the king of Babylon is given a dream which impresses him exceedingly, but which he cannot remember! He demands of his counselors, since they profess to be in touch with the gods, that they tell him both the dream itself, and its meaning. When they cannot, the whole lot of them are sentenced to death.

But, the true God, the God of Daniel the Jew, reveals to Daniel the dream and its meaning. The dream is an outline of history all the way from Daniel’s day to the Second Coming (or Advent) of Christ! BUT THE KING’S PRIDE HAS BEEN HURT by the fact that the image shown him in the dream represents him as only the head of Gold, who would be succeeded by others. He did not want to be succeeded. So, in chapter three, he has a great image made, all of gold, and commands everyone to bow down to his “image.” [Remember that key-word when you read the 3rd Angel’s Message in Rev. 14:9 and Rev. 13:15!].

The three friends of Daniel refuse to bow down to any image, including the king’s image, and are thrown into a fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. To the utter amazement of the king, the Son of God Himself joins the three faithful friends walking around loose in the flames! Chapter four is written by the king himself! It tells of a proud boast he made, claiming it was by his greatness that Babylon had become a kingdom of the whole known world, and how it took him a terrible seven years, banished from his throne, to learn that the God of Heaven rules over all!

As we open our Bibles to the Book of Daniel, we will find the assurance of a Secure Future if we are on God’s Side! It may appear that Daniel took quite a risk when he offered to show the king of Babylon the correct interpretation for his dream. But the death decree applied to Daniel and his friends, too, even though they had not been involved when the king’s counselors couldn’t tell him his dream. Daniel and his friends were being educated to become counselors to the king. The king, in fury, commanded the whole lot of them to be slain.

1. What did Daniel do? Daniel 2:16:
“Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him _______, and that he would show the king ____ ______________. Daniel went to the king and asked for time, promising an interpretation. Think of his confidence in God, to promise an interpretation, when he had no idea at that moment even what the dream was! Evidently, Daniel knew his God, that even the king’s dream would be known by his God. Daniel and his friends simply went and prayed; and God did reveal to Daniel both the dream and its meaning. God didn’t let him down! }

Now read the details of the dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it as found in Daniel 2:26 to 45. Notice that Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the head of gold represented him, the king of Babylon. Any good politician would have stopped there, with that flattering message. But Daniel went on. He must tell it as God gave it.

2. What was to follow Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom? Daniel 2:39: Answer: _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________. Nebuchadnezzar was to be succeeded by three more world kingdoms: Medo-Persia, a dual kingdom represented by the breast and arms of silver; Greece, by the belly and thighs of brass; and finally, Rome, by the legs of iron. But after them, the kingdom was to be divided. There would be no fifth world kingdom – only four. Rome was the last! History has followed this prophecy like a blueprint, showing that God does rule over all. After Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, came a divided Europe, represented by the ten toes!

3. According to this prophecy, will Europe ever be united? Daniel 2:43: Answer:___________________________________________________. Here, old English uses the word “cleave” to mean that they shall not stick together. History has not been able to change this prophetic statement. These words have spelled the downfall, one after another, of every would-be dictator who wanted to rule the world, since the Caesars. God says Europe will not and cannot stick together!

4. What will happen in the days of these kings, this divided Europe, as we know it? Daniel 2:44: Answer: ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________. In the days of these kings – in our time – God will set up His kingdom! Evidently, we are living very near the day of Christ’s return! It has been told that this prophecy was once explained to Kaiser Wilhelm at the height of his power. He said, “I cannot accept it. It doesn’t fit in with my plans!” Does it fit in with your plans? If it doesn’t, change your plans because history has shown that God does rule over all. If you have a right relationship with Jesus, your plans will fit into His!

The high points of this prophecy are these: 1. There will be no fifth physical world kingdom. 2. Europe will not be united [the NEW WORLD ORDER will almost succeed to unite them] and, 3. Christ will come very soon. What an evidence of Bible reliability! How could Daniel possibly have known, except by Divine inspiration, that only four major kingdoms – not five, or six, or ten – would dominate the world?

But now, back to Nebuchadnezzar and his confrontation with the God of Heaven. He had been greatly impressed by Daniel’s interpretation. But he soon lost his awe of God, returned to idolatry, and, rebelling against God’s decree, set up the golden image (of himself?) on the plain of Dura (see Daniel chapter 3). And Daniel’s three friends – evidently Daniel was not there for some reason – refused to bow down to it. They didn’t bow! So they were cast (bound) into the overheated furnace. The king, furious that they had dared to defy him, watched.

5. As the king gazed into the furnace, what did he declare that he saw? Daniel 3:25: Answer:_______________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Four men – though his soldiers had cast in only three! And the fourth looked like the Son of God? Tell me, how did this heathen king know what the Son of God might look like? Had Daniel so described Him? Had these Jewish captives so faithfully witnessed to him of the Redeemer to come, that the king could recognize Him? Do any of us so faithfully witness of our Redeemer to come, that our friends and neighbours might recognize Him?

These three men did not know that God would deliver them. But they trusted Him, and left their fate in His hands, as the Ruler of the Universe! Whether He spared their lives or not, they would not disobey His Law. They honored God. In this crisis of their faith, He honored them! Think what a close companionship with the Lord must have been theirs – that He would come and walk with them in the fire! If we pray as they prayed: if we obey as they obeyed, perhaps we too will have the marked answers to prayer that they did. WE MAY NEED A FAITH LIKE THEIRS SOONER THAN WE THINK!

6. Do we face a similar test in the future? Revelation 13:15: Answer:
“And he had power to give life unto the IMAGE OF THE BEAST, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not ______________ the image of the beast should be ______________.”
Soon, in the final crisis, there will be another image, and all who refuse to bow down will be faced with death. Like the three Jewish men, we shall have to choose. Will we stand up for the Lord, or will we give in to pressure to conform? We shall need a faith like theirs. If we don’t stand for our Lord now, how can we be sure we will stand for Him then?

Back to Nebuchadnezzar. God loved this heathen king and was determined to save him. The fourth chapter relates how much it took to cure a king of his pride. Please read it now. Thank God it worked! THINK IT THROUGH How far will God have to go to cure us of our self-sufficiency? (pride). If the final crisis were to come today, how would we meet it? Would we pray as these Jewish men prayed, and have faith in God as they had? Are we meeting the little tests each day as we would want to meet the final test? Is our relationship with Jesus so close, that we too could walk with Him through the fire – and He with us? Christ’s kingdom may come in our day! Would its coming spoil our plans? Is there something wrong with our plans?

WHAT WAS YOUR IMPRESSION FROM THIS BIBLE LESSON? Check the answers you believe to be accurate below:
How many world kingdoms did Daniel’s prediction say there would be?
__ three __four __six

Is there a possibility that Europe will one day be reunited into one kingdom?
__ yes __ no __once again…almost!

How could Daniel see more than a thousand years into the future?
__ God revealed it to him __it was a good guess __ Daniel was psychic

Who wrote the fourth chapter of Daniel? __ Daniel __ Daniel’s secretary
__ Nebuchadnezzar himself.
In your own words, what impressed you most about this lesson? ____________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________.
A MOMENT OF MEDITATION “Faith of our fathers! Living still! In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword. O how our hearts beat high with joy, whene’er we hear that glorious word! Faith of our fathers! Holy faith! We will be true to Thee till death.”

Document #05_04:
Many Shall Run ‘to and fro’ and Knowledge shall be Increased, gives us real prophecy interpretation, plugging in the HISTORY that fulfills the prophecy, but also ties the revived Papacy to our “time of Jacob’s trouble” that is right around the corner of the future for us. Here the Three Angel’s Messages of Revelation 14 leap into prominence. These warnings are all that will prepare us to stand, by real faith, like Daniel and his friends!

Scripture Text: Daniel 12:4:

Title: Many shall run “to and fro” and knowledge shall be increased.

In the study on Daniel chapter 2, we looked at the Bible’s first earth-history-encompassing prophecy – all the way from Daniel’s time through to the Second Coming of Jesus. The great metalic image of Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, made up of a golden head, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, and legs of iron, ending in feet of iron mixed with potter’s clay, and finally 10 toes; all this illustrated kings and kingdoms down to the end of the time allotted to them, before Jesus comes. The stone that crashed into the image and destroyed it totally, referred to the coming kingdom of Jesus, which shall never be destroyed and shall stand for eternity!

Now listen carefully. The prophecies of the latter part of Daniel, and those of all of the book of Revelation, are to be unveiled by one understanding. Here it is: From Daniel 7 through to the end of Revelation, all of these prophecies are going over the same earth-history as the metalic image, but with increased information about sections of the history that are brought into special focus. (Re-read above paragraph.)

Daniel 7 is the same history, as we shall look at shortly, as that of Daniel 2, using new symbolic illustrations – great “beasts” in place of each metal. New information is added, especially to do with the last of the 4 kingdoms. Daniel 8 then prophesies the time involved for the greater part of the prophecies, all the way to the Judgment hour. Daniel 9 then explains the part to do with the Jews and the coming of Messiah. Daniel 10 introduces chapter 11, which focuses in on each successive king (and their queens, where it helps clarify who the kings are) right up through history to the Judgment hour. You can even find Cleopatra, and Antony, in their place in the prophetic history! (See Dan.11:17-19).

Remember this principle: “Prophecy is history before it happens!” Chapter 12 then focuses on a time prophecy for one whole section of the overall prophecy, after the time of Messiah, which leads us to “the end time” (the time, and times, and half a time).

Now here is a crucial point: there is a direct connection between the beasts of Daniel 7 and the beasts of Revelation, chapters 13, 14 and 17 (and chapter 11, as we shall see). The “beasts” introduced in Daniel 7 are: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a beast that was unknown to Daniel; one we speculate was probably like a dinosaur, perhaps a triceratops. (A very rhinoceros-like animal with one difference – a great shield behind its head, with 7 horns on the edge of the shield and three on its snout.)

Daniel says, in Daniel 7:17 (found by looking up the key-word “beast” in a Concordance and comparing “line with line”) that “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise.” – four great kingdoms of all the known world (in their time). The “beast” introduced in Revelation 13 has characteristics of all four of these beasts, including the 10 horns!

It is, therefore, a “beast” which combines the main characteristics of each one in itself, and, according to Revelation 17:10, becomes a “beast” number 5, as the “beast” imagery is extended in order to focus on three more, important, though smaller and different kingdoms. (Note well: “beast” is a key-word for comparing Scripture verses “line upon line” – Isaiah 28:9, 10 – looking for understanding of the symbols). Here is the main tie-in with Daniel 7. The “little horn” power, out of the head of the 4th “beast,” shall “…wear out the saints of the Most High…and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times and dividing of time.” – Daniel 7:25. Revelation 13’s “beast” is more information about the little horn power, using the extended “beast” imagery because he becomes such an important kingdom, diverse from all of the others, because he is (as history reveals) a king of kings.

But it is the time element that is the clincher, tying Daniel 7’s 4th “beast” to the “beast” of Rev.13. “Power was given unto him to continue 40 and 2 months.” – Rev.13:5. This is the same as “a time, and times, and the dividing of time,” – Dan.7:25 – as is revealed by comparing Rev.12, verse 14, with verse 6 of the same chapter. 1260 days is equal to “a time, and times, and the dividing of time,” which was found to mean 3 1/2 years, which is also equal to 42 months! Through a great many centuries, the length of a year was considered to be 360 days, divided into 12 months, each of 30 days. Thus a “time,” (2) “times,” and 1/2 a “time,” was 3 1/2 years, or 1260 days, or 42 months.

The time prophecy is the solid link connecting Daniel 7’s “little horn” power with Revelation 13’s “beast” as being one and the same! Much new information is given in Revelation regarding the latter days of the 4th kingdom of Daniel 7! The Papacy became the emperor of the “Holy Roman Empire” that succeeded Pagan Rome! The “little horn” became the other leg, if you will, of the image in king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream! At the end of the 1260 prophetic “days” (history reveals prophetic “days” to be literal years – confirmed by 2 Bible texts – Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34) this 5th power receives a “mortal wound;” but his mortal wound would be healed! The “time of the end,” is marked by the fall of the 5th “beast” by his “mortal wound,” (because the end of the 1260 days begins the “time of the end,” – see Dan.12:9, and v.7 of the same chapter).

Then Revelation 17 reveals two more “beasts – Rev.17:10. Each of these, as history reveals, is without a human king, yet they too are great powers against God’s people. We will see who they are as the history is unfolded. Further information is thus given, pertinent to us, who live in the “time of the end!” So now, let’s start over, and work our way through the prophetic “beasts,” plugging in the history which fulfilled each one. Keep in mind the principle that applies here: “Prophecy is history before it happens!” By looking back from the “time of the end,” we can accurately name each “beast!”

Return to Daniel Chapter 7. God says, through Daniel, that four world kingdoms would come up. It is still a fact today that since the days of Babylon, when Daniel penned his book, there have been only four world kingdoms. Let’s look closer. First Kingdom: Daniel 7:4 “…like a lion, and had eagle’s wings.” Who was the first world empire? Babylon, as before, but now represented by the king of beasts. Wings, in prophecy, mean speed – see Habakkuk 1:8. Babylon began to rule in 606 B.C.

Second Kingdom: Daniel 7:5 “…another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it.” Here is the second world empire, an alliance of the Medes and the Persians, with the Persians later becoming dominant “…raised up itself on one side.” The three ribs doubtless represent the three parts of Babylon’s kingdom – Babylonia, Egypt, and Lydia. Medo-Persia ruled from 538 to 331 B.C.

Third Kingdom: Daniel 7:6 “…another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl: the beast had also four heads: and dominion was given to it.” In 331 B.C., the third beast arose. It had four wings, fitly representing the double-speed swiftness of Alexander the Great, the Greek king who so quickly conquered a vast empire. The four heads represent the four temporary kingdoms after Alexander’s death, divided by his four top generals – to the north, Lysimachus; to the south, Ptolemy; to the east, Seleucus; and to the west, Cassander. Greece ruled from 331 to 168 B.C.

Fourth Kingdom: Daniel 7:7 “…a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly…and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it: and it had ten horns.” “It had great iron teeth.” The dreadful iron kingdom was the fourth (see Daniel 7:23) Rome, which ruled from 168 B.C. all the way to 476 A.D. Remember that the fourth kingdom of the great metalic image was the iron legs.

What about the 10 horns on this fourth beast? The interpretation is given in v.24: “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” These 10 horns are the same as the 10 toes of the image in Daniel chapter 2. When the original (Pagan) Roman Empire fell, it was divided into the 10 kingdoms of Europe, as the barbarian tribes from the north swept in. These 10 tribes were the Alamanni (became Germany), the Visigoths (Spain), the Franks (France), the Suevi (Portugal), the Burgundians (Switzerland), the Anglo-Saxons (England) and the Lombards (Italy). Three no longer exist: the Vandals, Ostrogoths and Heruli. To find out why they are gone, let’s read Daniel 7:8: “I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” [On the snout of a rhinoceros-like beast, this horn uprooted 3 other horns, and would grow, like that of the rhino, into a very great horn].

Here, we need to again plug in some history. Constantine the Great, Emperor of the whole empire of Rome, had become the first Christian Emperor, becoming allied with the bishop of Rome. In 330 A.D., He decided to move the seat of his Empire from Rome to Constantinople, his new capital city named after himself (now Istanbul in Turkey). Rome itself then lost its prestige, and, the western empire was exposed to the barbarian tribes, who split up the western empire, making the ten toes of the image in Daniel 2; or the 10 horns of the fourth beast, in Daniel 7.

But thereafter, and here is the great increase in information, the bishop of Rome (the little horn) over the next 200 years, arose to the ascendancy, subduing all of its kings to the Christian church but three of the ten, that were of a rival religion, the followers of a priest called Arius. These three were the Vandals in North Africa, and the Ostrogoths and Heruli in what is now Italy itself. (the three that no longer exist!)

Here’s how it happened. Justinian, the emperor in Constantinople, about to begin war against the Vandals in 533, secured the influence of the bishop of Rome against the Vandals by decreeing, in an official letter to the pope-to-be, that the bishop of Rome should be chief of the whole church body of the empire (including the bishop of Constantinople itself!) and, note well, “the corrector of heretics.”

Theodoric the Ostrogoth warred against the Heruli and destroyed their kingdom at Rome and Ravenna, and so the Ostrogoths ruled Italy till 538. Not until they were rooted out of Rome could the pope exercise the power with which he had been clothed by the emperor! In 538, under Belisarius, Justinian’s general, the Ostrogoths were so destroyed as to leave the field with numbers scarcely sufficient to preserve their identity as a people! Thus the Gothic horn, the last of the three, was plucked up before the little horn of Daniel 7, and Arianism was removed as the threat to the universality of the Papal faith. Nothing now stood in the way of the pope to prevent his exercising the power conferred upon him 5 years earlier. Thus, also, 538 became the year when the Papacy became the “little horn” in Daniel, which developed into a “beast” – [a kingdom of most of the known world – The Holy Roman Empire] by Revelation 13!

History reveals that Revelation 13 focuses on more information about the extent of the Papal phase of the Roman empire. (the great second leg of the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – the Holy Roman Empire). Extending the “beast” imagery of Daniel, it is revealed that the Papacy would receive a “mortal wound” which would end its persecutions of God’s people, and dethrone its temporal power. It received this wound in 1798, from Napoleon’s army, exactly 42 prophetic months (42 X 30 days-to-a-month = 1260 prophetic days, or 1260 literal years) after its power and authority from Justinian, the Roman emperor, was established by the defeat of the Goths in 538! (538 + 1260 = 1798!).

But, its “MORTAL WOUND” WOULD BE HEALED, over 130 years later, in 1929, when Mussolini granted the Papal States, (Vatican city in the midst of Rome) to the pope, in return for money to finance his facist movement in Italy. The Papal “head” was again a “beast” – a kingdom: truly a little one, yet today again with great power over the world! This is the “beast” we are warned of in Revelation 14, during the “judgment hour” Rev. 14:7. We are not to worship the “beast,” nor his “image” (MARY has for ages been his image!) nor receive his “mark,” – the change of the Biblical Sabbath to Sunday (the Pagan worship “day of the sun”), neither in our forehead (there is the reasoning part of our brain) nor in our right hand, the symbol of our working. We are instead to worship Him that made (Created) heaven and earth, by keeping His Commandment (the 4th) to remember the Sabbath day (Saturday – the 7th day of the week) to keep it holy. We remember it in our forehead, and refuse to work during the Sabbath, as the 4th Commandment stipulates.

After the fall of the Papacy by its “mortal wound,” another power “is” (Rev. 17:10 – five are fallen, one “is”) which is America in prophecy – Rev. 13:11 – note: (another “beast”) and yet another “…is not yet come” and “…must continue a short space” – atheism under Communism, which was spawned from the writings of the French Revolution – France gave the Papacy its “mortal wound.” See Rev. 11:7 – note – another “beast” in that verse! Thus we have the seven kings or kingdoms of Revelation 17:10, and the eighth of Revelation 17:11, the revived Papal kingdom! WATCH OUT! – the NEW WORLD ORDER!

We now have tremendously important information about the “time of the end” in which we live! Daniel and the Revelation are seen, as we should expect, to compliment and explain each other, “line upon line, here a little, there a little.” History “fills in the blanks!” We thus have “a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well to take heed, as unto a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the “day star,” (Jesus) arise in your heart!” – 2 Peter 1:19. When Jesus comes, very soon now, very probably while you and I live, will you be found to be on His side, or against Him? Today is your day to choose salvation! Choose!

As for me and my house, I will serve the Lord Jesus.

Post Script: Rev. 17:3 describes the “eighth” “beast,” upon which a woman arrayed in purple and scarlet sits. This focuses in on the “eighth” “beast” that is of the seven (see Rev. 17:8 and 11) and the woman that is riding (thus controlling) the eighth beast. In prophecy, a church body is personified as a woman. (Compare Rev. 12: 1,4,5,6 with the woman of Rev. 17) Thus the vile woman of Rev. 17:3 is the fallen Papal church, which shall control the eighth kingdom, and thus shall rule all of the kingdoms of the earth once again! WATCH OUT! – the NEW WORLD ORDER will be run by the Papacy! This eighth “beast” has ten new horns – see Rev. 17:12, 13. (Remember that there were only 8 horns left on the Roman “beast.” – 10 minus 3 = 7; + “the little horn.”) These other 10 kings have received no kingdom “as yet, with the beast.”

We are right there in the prophetic time-line!! This represents all of the nations besides Europe, who “…shall give their power and strength unto the beast,” during the Judgment “hour” – to persecute those deemed “heretics” by the pope! They are not the Papal “beast’s” ten horns, who have ruled as kings (crowns on the horns – Rev. 13:1) but are the horns of the great red dragon of Rev. 12:3, that have no crowns. (Only the heads, all of them, are crowned.) These horns (kingdoms) are under Satan’s control, but will become kings “one hour with the “beast.” Rev. 17:12. The woman rides the NEW WORLD ORDER.

At the same time, AMERICA will “make an image to the beast” (Rev. 13:14) “…and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (v. 15) Also, America will begin enforcing the “mark” of the beast – Sunday worship – by a boycott (Rev. 13:16,17).

As recently as about 1980, the Protestant church of England received pope John Paul II into Westminster Abbey, to the adoration of 4 million people come to see him. The high Anglican church now openly worships MARY, the “image of the beast!” The rest of Protestantism will not take long to fall into line! When all of the kingdoms of the entire world become united with the Papacy – [WATCH OUT! this will be “the NEW WORLD ORDER!” Much more on this soon, from prophecy!] – and all also worship MARY (Islam already does!) then the uncrowned kings will receive their power as kings with her (the Papal church). See the alliance of the great red dragon, with the “beast” and its horns, as well as America (the “false prophet” who “maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” – like Elijah did!) – this alliance is revealed in Rev. 16:13 and 14.

Thus the Papacy will regain her power as “the corrector of heretics!” by uniting church and state, like she did in the Dark Ages. Again I say, whose side will you be on when Jesus returns? “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters (reference to Noah’s Flood – warning of the end of the world)! …Babylon is fallen, is fallen! …If any man worship the “beast” and his “image,” and receive his “mark” …the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God! (Revelation 14:7 to 10.) Will you be found worshipping Jesus?

Document #05_05, How the Holy Spirit Teaches, reveals the real connection between the Word of God (the Bible) and the Spirit of God (the Spirit of Prophecy – Revelation 19:10). The counsel of the True Witness, Jesus, as to our true condition at this time in history, from Revelation 3:14 to 21, encourages us to get what we need in our experiences before the great “time of trouble” that we now have learned we must face. Here you will gain the knowledge of how to be “hot” for Jesus’ kingdom, instead of “lukewarm” and not sufficient for the trial ahead.

Supplement: Another very important principle of correct Bible study is necessary to the understanding of this document. Burn this one into your mind. “What is literal and local in the Old Testament prophecies, becomes spiritual and world-wide in the New Testament, especially in Revelation.” Even within Revelation: example – the letters to the seven churches of Revelation chapters 2 and 3; are first of all to literal, local churches in Asia Minor, but extend to include large, sequential segments of time from the time of John the Revelator to our time in history.

The final letter, to the church of Laodicea, is to the Christians of our era. We are “rich, and increased with goods, and say we are in need of nothing,” (secular “Christian” society) but we are in great danger from deception practiced by the “beast” power and Satan. We need zeal for Christ’s kingdom, and will surely be lost unless we repent and “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness!” Matthew 6, verse 33.

SCRIPTURE TEXT: Revelation 3:14-21.

TITLE: How Holy Spirit Teaches

When we all get to heaven! That wonderful hymn often resounds in my head! It makes my soul vibrate with hope. But we’re not there yet. Are we preparing ourselves to be ready for the “Loud Cry” of the Three Angel’s Messages of Rev. 14:6-13? …I am. Are you? If so, we must face the counsel of the True Witness, Who unerringly knows our corporate condition as a people. Turn again to Rev. 3:14 to 21, which was our subject-text reading: We are neither cold, nor hot; for the Kingdom of Jesus. We need to repent and be zealous for the Kingdom of Jesus over the kingdom of Satan. In the context of our need, Jesus proclaims to us, “I stand at your door and knock. If you will let Me in, I will come in to you. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame.”

It is by study of how Jesus overcame that my subject today developed. By the Spirit of Jesus in you, you can choose to keep His Commandments and live the victorious overcoming life! How did Jesus overcome? Let’s see it in the record of Scripture. Matthew chapter 4 is about Jesus being directly tempted by Satan in the wilderness after His baptism. How did Jesus overcome? What was His power? …”It is Written!” …Complete faith in Bible truth is how to overcome as Jesus overcame!

Can we put the two together? – the power of the Spirit and the power of the Word? Turn to John 6:63. This principle is the secret to overcoming sin. John 6:63: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” So: the true Gospel is the power to overcome sin, beginning with forgiveness of all past sin, at baptism.

Let’s go further back in the life of Jesus. As you know, Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s mortal body. Thus, Jesus was born of a woman, of the seed of David; born into a mortal body – God the Son, in mortal flesh! The son of man and the Son of God. By Holy Spirit in Him, teaching Him, He never sinned. But, He, being in mortal flesh, had to choose to obey Holy Spirit, not His mortal, fallen nature. Only by His overcoming the sinful, fallen, human nature in Himself, as our Saviour, was it made possible that His sacrificial death could be effective for all of His created beings.

And, glory! He has given His victory to us! His overcoming Spirit is made available to us, through the New Covenant. Turn to Hebrews, the 10th chapter, the New Covenant chapter of the Bible. Hebrews 10, beginning with verse 4:

“4. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8. Above, when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first [Covenant], that he may establish the second. 10. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Continuing, in that context, after Jesus came as Messiah, from v. 16. (16 and 17): “16. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” At this point He is referring to baptism and our personal making of a Covenant with Him. Our decision at baptism should be, “Lord, I don’t want to sin any sin, any more! I need Your Holy Spirit in me to help me to overcome sin!” And God’s answer, as His side of the Covenant, is, “I will be your God! I will put my laws into your heart and in your mind I will write them!”

This New Covenant was actually there in the Old Testament, recorded in the book of Ezekiel. Turn to Ezekiel 36 (read Ezekiel 36:26, 27, and the last part of v. 28, through the first part of v. 29). “I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes…You shall do them.” John 1:12 says it too: paraphrased, “But as many as receive Him, He will give power to become a son of God! – even to them that believe on His name!”

Now we are ready for Rev. 3:18, the counsel of Jesus to us. “I counsel thee to buy of Me, gold tried in the fire.” – This is your witnessing experiences as you share the Gospel by giving Bible Studies. This is our first need. If we are not being His witnesses to a fallen world, we cannot receive the gold tried in the fire, and may be spewed out of His mouth like the tepid water of the ancient city of Laodicea! Giving Bible Studies is how we learn what we believe; and make it our own! Giving Bible Studies is how we can become “hot!”

We need also white raiment to hide our nakedness. This is the robe of Christ’s Righteousness that He is willing to give to us. This is “the righteousness of saints” Rev. 19:8. “Here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. You know these things, don’t you.

Thirdly, and this is our subject, we also need, and will receive as a result of having the first two, “eye-salve to anoint our eyes, that we may see.” – This is Holy Spirit’s teaching you your end-time Message for sharing in witnessing experiences as you give Bible Studies. Let me repeat that: The eye-salve is Holy Spirit’s teaching you your end-time Message, for sharing in witnessing experiences as you give Bible Studies.

We need that preparatory experience now, in order to be ready for the Latter Rain to give us power to face the perils of the great Last Days, which will soon burst upon us!

My purpose today is two-fold: to encourage you to go out and begin giving Bible Studies, using Bible Study Guides, and, to equip you with a neglected gift of Holy Spirit, so that you will know your real Message for these Last Days. Despite the delay in Christ’s coming and the last events that will precede it, we will be among the generation that must give “the Loud Cry of the Three Angel Messages.” Do you really know them? And what they mean? Are you telling them to anyone yet? By this Message we will “prepare the way of the Lord.” By this Message, and how we choose to carry or not carry it, we are receiving or refusing the counsel of Jesus to us because of our Laodicean condition!

So, how does Holy Spirit teach us the truths of Scripture? – especially our Message? Let’s zero right in on this now. John 14:15-18. We will now see everything connect together. John 14, beginning at v. 15, to v. 18: “15. If you love me, keep my Commandments. 16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17. Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but you know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” Continuing in context, verse 26: “26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Jesus, living day and night with His disciples for 3 1/2 years, shared with them all of the Scriptures, including what they subsequently wrote in the New Testament. His words are Spirit, remember? We saw that from John 6, verse 63: “It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh (His human presence) profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.”

Now: Here is the key. Are you wide awake? Holy Spirit works through Bible Study to teach us all things. John 14, v. 26: “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things.” Note: the key-word is the word “teach.” See if you can tell me which Scripture the following is from. Are you ready? “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine?” Call it out will you? What text is that? No-one? Here’s another part of it that will give it away: “…line upon line, here a little, and there a little.” Yes, it’s Isaiah 28:9 and 10, KJV. This is Holy Spirit’s prescription for effective Bible Study.

By using this prescription, the book of Daniel was unsealed, in this Time of the End we are still living in, by a man called William Miller. Etch this text upon your mind! Now put them together. John 14:26: “He shall teach you all things,” and Isaiah 28, verses 9 and 10: “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? …line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Holy Spirit works through Bible Study done by His prescription: – “Line upon line;” – comparing Scripture with Scripture, by subject key-words, and your Concordance to the Bible. Is it any wonder that William Miller, the man used of God to unseal Daniel’s great prophecies, was nicknamed “The Old Man and his Concordance?”

How does Holy Spirit teach? – through His prescription for true Spirit-led Bible Study, “line upon line.” I counsel you today, if you would receive the counsel of Jesus to His Laodicean people, buy yourself a Concordance as soon as possible! Get yourself a Cruden’s Concordance to the Bible. “Cruden’s for the crude” is a way to remember its name. You can even get one in a paperback edition. The others that are available, Young’s, or Strong’s, are too heavy with usually unneeded and confusing information for the average person.

You want a text finder, so that Holy Spirit can especially teach to you the following five things: Who the beast and his image are: Who Great Babylon, mother of harlots is: Who we must worship to receive the Kingdom of Jesus, and who we must not worship: and finally, number 5, what is the Everlasting Gospel that even most of Christendom does not have, but needs for this hour of history.

How does Holy Spirit teach? – through Bible Study, “line upon line.” Will you buy a Concordance and use it? Will you thus anoint your eyes with Holy Spirit’s eye-salve? Will you buy from Jesus “gold tried in the fire?” – witnessing experiences as you share the Gospel by giving Bible Studies, that prepare you to “prepare the way of the Lord?”

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Will you evermore-perfectly keep the 10 Commandments, and have the faith of Jesus in the Scriptures? Thus you will receive “the white robe of Christ’s righteousness,” and develop “the righteousness of saints.”

So: again: How does Holy Spirit teach? – through Bible study according to His prescription, “line upon line.” Why do you need that information? – in order to heed the counsel of Jesus to Laodicea !!

We need prayer. Let’s go to our knees before our Creator.

Father God; and Jesus our Saviour, we thank You both for Your counsel to us: we are Laodicean, and we need the things You counsel us to buy from You. We plead with You to help us to desire them, and pray also for zeal for Your Kingdom. We repent of our condition, and ask Holy Spirit to lead us in Bible Study of our Message, so that we may be the ones who can give the Loud Cry, when You have made us ready. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

The next document, 05_06, Prophecies of Jesus about Himself, gathers together a number of prophecies given by Jesus to His prophets, both from the Old Testament and the New Testament, that prove beyond a doubt that Jesus truly is the Messiah!

Another whole group of prophecies foretell that He is coming back to take His children home with Him. If all of the other prophecies came true, we are powerfully assured that this too will be fulfilled soon! Therefore, study to show yourself approved unto God! Get yourself ready to proclaim the fullness of the 3 Angel’s Messages of Revelation 14:6 to 12, so that you will be involved in Preparing the Way of the Lord.
The Prophecies of Jesus that refer to Jesus Himself.

“In the beginning, God Created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis (beginnings) chapter 1, verse 1. Parallel to this is: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God …All things were made by him; and (for emphasis) without him was not any thing made that was made…He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,3,10,14.

Therefore, In the beginning, Jesus, who later became God in the flesh, Created the heaven and the earth. “God, who…spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who…when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom…And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.” Hebrews 1: 1,2,3b,8,10.

“…it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, ‘Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God.'” Hebrews 10: 4 – 7.

According to these prophecies, Jesus pre-existed the creation of our world and the whole heavens around us. He created them, with our world in mind! (Even the constellations that we see in the heavens are a revolving picture-book presentation of the plan of salvation! It is from the constellation of Orion that many believe Jesus will come!)

In Genesis 3, verse 15, after Adam and Eve chose to sin, God promised that from the “seed” of Adam and Eve would come someone who would crush Satan and his seed. “I will put enmity between thy seed (Satan’s seed) and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” The apostle Paul states in Galatians 3, verse 16: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one: ‘And to thy seed,’ which is Christ.'” This can easily also apply to the Genesis 3, verse 15 passage, quoted above, as you can see.

Micah 5, verse 2, says: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.”

Jeremiah 23, verse 5: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” (the Messiah would come out of David’s lineage – “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” Revelation 22:16.)

Some of the next passages of Scripture are of a different type. They were fulfilled in type and antitype (example followed later by the greater fulfillment in Jesus). Take this next passage for instance: Isaiah 7, verse 14: “…Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (which, being interpreted, is “God with us”). The birth of Isaiah’s son that fulfilled much of that prophecy (their enemies, Syria and Ephraim, would be “forsaken of both her kings.”) was recorded in the next chapter. However, note the name that the antitype child would be called, (Immanuel) and that the name given to the typical child was instead “Maher shalal-hash-baz.” Isaiah 8:3. Every human God used as a symbol of His deliverance of Israel foreshadowed the Deliverer to come!

When God used Moses to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt, – mentioned by Hosea in the following passage of Scripture – Moses’ actions foreshadowed God’s deliverance of all who believe in Jesus from slavery to sin! Hosea 11, verse 1 says, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” This is referring to the Exodus, yet Matthew cites this passage in reference to Jesus coming back out of Egypt after His family had run there to escape king Herod’s murdering of all of the young children in Bethlehem. Thus Herod tried to murder the newborn king. Matthew 2:13: “…the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, (Jeremiah 31:15): “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not” (Matthew 2:18). When they returned, Joseph came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth (where Mary was from): “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” (verse 23.) …and, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” (verse 15).

Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace: Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

God tells us events before they happen, giving us confidence in the dependability of prophecy. Isaiah 42, verse 9: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” …and Isaiah 46, verses 9 and 10: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.”

Further, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). NOTE WELL: very important. And so, the death of Jesus was also foretold. David spoke of himself, at least partly, in Psalm 22, yet Jesus was the real fulfillment of much of that passage of Scripture, as it foretold the crucifixion. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” (verse 1). See Matthew 27:46.

“But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Him” (Psalm 22:6 to 8). “They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (verses 13 to 18). See John 19:23 and 24. What an amazingly detailed foretelling of the crucifixion! From David’s time! 1500 years earlier! “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He is the governor among the nations…A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this.” (Psalm 22, verses 27 to 31).

The whole chapter of Isaiah 53 is well known to have foretold Christ’s sufferings for our sakes. It declares the spiritual application of all that Jesus accomplished by His life and death as the Messiah. Oh that Israel could have seen that this life would precede the Kingdom power that they looked for! “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? (Note the 2 paragraphs above!) For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” “…when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin…He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many: for he shall bear their iniquities…and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53, vs. 8, 10-12.

Jesus was betrayed for thirty coins of silver. Zechariah foretold it, in chapter 11, verses 12 and 13: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” See Matthew 26:14 to 16!

Psalm 41, verse 9: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” Zechariah 12, verses 10 and 11: “…and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, (see John 19:32 to 37) and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Ha-dad-rimmon, in the valley of Megiddon.”

(And in Zechariah chapter 13, these prophecies:) “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” (verse 1) and, “And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (verse 6).

Again, in David’s Psalms, Psalm 34, verse 20: “He keepeth all His bones; not one of them is broken.” Compare this with the Passover lamb: Exodus 12, verse 46: “…neither shall ye break a bone thereof.” and, John 19:31 to 37.

The next passage, Jesus Himself applied to Himself, before His betrayal! Hosea 6, verses 1 and 2: “Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.” See Mt. 20:18,19.

When should Messiah appear? Did God actually give a time? Daniel 9, verse 25: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (at the end of the Babylonian captivity) unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks…” – [69 weeks]. Daniel 9:22 to 24 – the 69 weeks are most of the 70 weeks [cut off] “determined upon” the Jews. The commandment given to restore and to build Jerusalem is given in Ezra chapter 7. This decree, given by king Artaxerxes of Persia is recorded there. This occurred in 457 B.C. according to most historians (a very important date to Jewish historians). It would be 69 weeks or 483 literal years [you will see that in prophecy, a “day” is a literal year] until the Messiah (Jesus) would come. From the beginning date, 457 B.C., subtract 483 years, and that brings us to 27 A.D. This is the exact year that coincides with the information given in Luke 3:1,2, the likely year that Jesus was baptized by John! There, at His baptism, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Messiah means, “anointed one.” See Luke 3:21 to 23; and Acts 10:37 and 38. [Our calendar, supposedly starting at the birth of Jesus, is therefore off by approximately 3 years!]

Daniel 9:27: “And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week (the seventieth week) He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” Jesus would confirm the Covenant (with the Jews – see Exodus 19:4 to 8) for one week of the 70, or for 7 years. Seven years from 27 A.D., when Jesus began his ministry as Messiah, brings us to A.D. 34, when the Jews were Judged and found no longer worthy to be God’s Covenant people because of their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah, marked by their stoning of Steven, the first Christian martyr. The gospel turned to the Gentiles and the fledgling Christian Church.

In the midst or middle of the week (3 and 1/2 years) Jesus caused the sacrifices to end, because He was the sacrifice antitype that all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed to. 3 and 1/2 years from A.D. 27 brings us to the spring of 31 A.D., exactly when Jesus died on the cross. The veil in the Temple was torn by God Himself, and the sacrificial system was considered by God to be finished. Type met antitype. Jesus was the fulfillment of all of the sacrifices of the sacrificial system at the Temple. It is the law concerning sacrifices, “…the handwriting of ordinances” that were taken “out of the way, nailing it to His cross,” NOT the Ten Commandments.

Jesus had prophesied that their “house” would be left unto them desolate. Matthew 23:38. Finally, in 70 A.D., the Temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed and made desolate. Jesus said, “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” Luke 21, verse 20.

Yes, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world!” proclaimed by John the Baptist. (John 1:29). Have you fully received Him as your Messiah, your Saviour from sin? Today is the day of salvation!