| (Copyright 2023) by Fellow Servants (Minneapolis, Minnesota) |
|---|
| Eph. 4:13-16, “til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” How can this possibly happen when the Church is so scattered and divided on doctrines, casting out and hating one another?? Jer. 32:17, “Ah, Lord God! …there is nothing too hard for You.” Also, “…with God all things are possible.” Mat. 19:26. Believers of the TRUE Gospel will have fellowship with the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ & one another. Apostle John writes of this unity in I John. Holding fast to God’s Word of Life, our Savior & Lord, is believing, obeying, and loving the True Gospel. Believing in the Name of Jesus Christ is believing the TRUE Gospel. John 16:27-28; Rom 10:9-10. The world’s religions ‘say’ they believe in Jesus Christ’s Name as they sit before their idols. Mat. 24:4-5. They follow men and eat their spiritual food, thereby, commit spiritual sexual immorality. Rev. 2:14-17. Overcoming the world, our Savior promises to give hidden manna and share in His inheritance of His throne I John 5:4-5; Rev.3:21. I John 2:12-14, apostle John writes to all the brethren in whatever spiritual state they are in. Please read all of I John. Also Prov. 4 & 8. When going out to meet the bridegroom, the oil for trimming lamps can only be received from God. Rev. 3:18; Is. 55;1. You will become prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev. 21:2. John 14:15-24 keep Christ’s commandments and also the words of Life. What is the commandments? I John 3:23, “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” Name means all authority. Walk in the Light. Love your brother and sister. Put on the whole armor of God. (Eph. 6:10-20). Do not love the world or anything in the world. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other. Bear with one another in love. Strive to attain unity of faith. Speaking to you the truth in love, ———————————————————————————————————- See Fellow Servants other articles at: Fellow Servants – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) ———————————————————————————————————- |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Scattered But Not Divided Article by Fellow Servants Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
|---|
| According to the internet, the world population at this time is approximately 8,045,311,447 or about 8 billion people. Of those 8 billion people the world Christian population is approximately 2,604,381,000 or about 2.5 billion people. The difference between 8,045,311,447 and 2,604,381,000 is 5,440,930,447 or almost 5.5 billion people. These 5.5 billion people would include devil worshippers and people who do not believe in God. Does the Bible tell us how many people will be in the first fruits resurrection? Yes, it does. Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. The number of people in the first fruits resurrection is 144,000 people according to the bible. And those people come from the following Israelite tribes. Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Rev 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Rev 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. And when that first fruits resurrection takes place, the elect will be gathered from all over the world. Mar 13:27 And then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. How big is a church? Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That means that what constitutes a church does not have to be that big. And there are churches all over the world. If you take 144,000 people and divide them into 6000 years, you get 24 Saints per year. In proportion to the huge populations at various times, 24 Saints per year is not a lot of people. As near as I can figure the population of the Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God was approximately 150,000 by 1970. So, if you figure that 24 Saints per year were produced and the church started in 1934, that means you have 36 years times 24 Saints per year equals 864 Saints. So, one more, baptized members in 1995 were said to be 89,000. Now we have 61 years between 1934 and 1995. Then we take 61 years times 24 Saints, and it equals 1464. Okay, so none of my calculations are exact as you would have to know population, converted people and unconverted people for every year from Adam and Eve until today and only God has those figures. My point here is that the number of God’s elect is very low when compared with the world population, those who claim to be Christian and even those who were once a part of the Worldwide Church of God. I think people lost track of how many splinter groups came out of the Worldwide Church of God, so I won’t even go there. My biggest point with all of these calculations is to show you that in the 144,000 first fruits are included all of the elect that met God’s criteria from the time of Adam and Eve to now. The first two figures for population and Christians only count those that are living now. The populations for Worldwide only includes that church, and there were other churches now and throughout time. So, anyone’s chances of being called by God are very low in comparison to the figures. So, if you have been called, try not to blow it. Then looking again at the figures, anyone’s chances of being chosen by God to be among that 144,000 is even lower. Now if you are absolutely 100% sure you are one of the chosen elect of God, then you are more than likely an arrogant/cocky person or both who believes they know everything there is to know about scripture. Or you could be a person who believes that because you were in a certain group for example “Worldwide Church of God” and that automatically makes you one of the chosen elect of God, you are just lying to yourself. Neither of these options will automatically make you one of the 144,000 elect of God. Believing in God/Christ will not make you one of God’s chosen. Doing good deeds or helping people will also not make you one of God’s chosen. Just being an over all nice person will also not make you one of God’s chosen people. Yes, you do need to believe, do good deeds and be a nice person, but these are only part of the criteria for being one of God’s chosen elect. One of the things you should be doing every day is to search the scripture to see whether the things you are told or the things you hear are true. I do not mean read one scripture and, okay, now you get it. No, I mean study scripture. You need to be able to read scripture and be able to have the wisdom and knowledge of all scripture to put it together, so you understand it. The best way to do this is to start at the beginning of the bible and read a chapter a day and when you are done with the first reading do it all over again for the rest of your life. This will give you a solid foundation for study. As you read the bible you will see that stuff is scattered all over the place and you have to try to piece it together like a huge puzzle. Do not be afraid to seek help from other people and other sources. You need all of that information in order to come to a conclusion of what ever matter you are studying. What is it that you have to have in order to be chosen by God to be one of His 144,000? You need to keep God’s Law. I know many are saying that God’s Law is done away, that it is a curse, and it is nailed to the cross, none of which are true. God’s Law makes everything orderly. A lack of law leads to chaos and there has never been a better time than now to see that principle in action. For example, if you have no traffic laws, people would be speeding, running red lights, hitting pedestrians, hitting other cars etc. and they could do all of these things without law, which is order. With no law your streets would be in chaos, and no one would ever be held accountable. Right now, certain areas of our country portraying themselves as WOKE (Enlightened) feel people who commit crimes should not be punished. So, the criminals for the most part spend no or little time in jail and get off with no or few penalties. When there is no accountability for crime and no penalty for crime, the criminals just go out and commit more and worse crimes. Innocent people are the ones hurt by these WOKE societies. Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam, and Eve both sinned by eating of the tree which God told them not to eat from. Anything that God tells you not to do in scripture is breaking the law if you do it. If God tells you what to do in scripture and you don’t do it, you are also breaking the law. When you break God’s law it is sin. The curse of the law of God is death. Death is what was nailed to the cross, not the law. 1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ conquered death for all of us by dying on the cross, that is a gift of God. When Christ died for us on the cross, He did not then say, keep on sinning and you will still receive the gift of eternal life. Absolutely not, if you want to keep on sinning which is breaking God’s law, you will not receive the gift of eternal life. God’s chosen elect will be keeping God’s laws which are mostly found in the first five books of the Old Testament. I know, many believe they have to hold on to the original doctrines they have been taught until the end when Christ returns, but is that true? You did not do that when you switched from keeping Sunday to keeping a Saturday Sabbath so why would that be true now? Because you are afraid to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine? Okay, so if someone tells you a new doctrine do you even look at it or do you just dismiss it? Being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine is the same as not looking at the new doctrine but in reverse. In the one case because you are afraid or worried about being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine you then refuse to look at any new doctrine. In the other case, because you were told and believe that you need to hold fast to what you have already learned, you dismiss any new doctrines without even looking at them. Both of these are unwise actions. When you hear a new doctrine, the right thing is to read it, look at it, think about it, study it against scripture. If it does not match what scripture actually says, then dismiss the doctrine as false. God’s chosen elect will compare the new doctrine to scripture and if they find that the new doctrine is correct and the old doctrine was wrong, they will change to the correct doctrine without hesitation. I once heard a minister say he now understands “between the two evenings” but then said “but we are not going to change it.” If that is also your attitude, then you are probably not one of God’s chosen elect unless you are willing to change and now do the right thing. There are a multitude of things covered by God’s law, of which most are common sense and easy to understand why God said not to do these certain things. So, because of the length I am not going to cover them here, but I do have a few points to bring up. The Saturday Sabbath Command. Why is this important? Most people absolutely will not keep a Saturday Sabbath for any number of reasons. Yet God commands that we keep a Saturday Sabbath because it is a sign between Him and his people. In other words what God is saying is that if you are unwilling to keep this small command you probably won’t keep any of the others either. Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Exo 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. Many people dismiss Sabbath Keeping because they do not feel they are an Israelite but that may not be true. The Jewish people is not the only Israelite tribe there is, although they are the visible tribe. If one looks at the tribe of Judah, they will see that it is scattered all over the world and is in most countries. Generally, the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and some of Levi were known as the tribe of Judah. If you read your Bible from cover to cover a little at a time daily, you will soon understand there were ten other tribes which to the public and themselves lost their identity and were scattered throughout the world as well. These are known as the lost ten tribes. (Mathew 10:6) Because they lost their identity and were scattered throughout the nations so no one knows who they are or where they are. Large portions of them have been located in countries like Australia, New Zealand, England etc. However, do not dismiss the Saturday Sabbath because you feel you are a gentile. You may not be a gentile; you may be an Israelite and do not know it. Even if you are a gentile, you may still be grafted into the Israelite tribes. The bottom line here is that just like all of God’s Laws are for all people including the Gentiles the Saturday Sabbath Command which is a part of God’s Law is a command for all people. Some gentiles are in the lineage of Christ, Ruth and Rahab to name two. God wants all people to be saved but some will in the end because of free will, choose not to be. God’s chosen elect will be found keeping a Saturday Sabbath. Most people that keep a Sunday Sabbath, feel God will honor that, but that is not what scripture says. There is no place in scripture that tells anyone to keep a Sunday Sabbath. The only Sabbath mentioned in the bible anywhere is the Saturday Sabbath and the high holy days which are also Sabbaths. There is also nothing in scripture telling anyone to ever keep Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, Halloween etc. Now I am going to tread in territory that I have been in before. Before I start on this, I want everyone to understand that I also want all of us to make it. This is not my pet doctrine as I have none. I am just trying to point people to Christ and that means we have to discuss the good the bad and the ugly and if people get mad and leave for greener pastures, so be it. Those who keep Sunday, I sincerely hope you will study the Saturday Sabbath in scripture before you dismiss it as a false doctrine. For those of us who already keep a Saturday Sabbath ask yourself if it would be okay with God if you kept a different day for a Sabbath, for example Sunday or maybe Friday. I think most people already keeping a Saturday Sabbath would see a problem with doing that. Wouldn’t it go something like this: God commands us to keep a Saturday Sabbath and we cannot substitute that with another day because it would be a sin. For example, if we kept our Sabbath on Thursday, we would not actually be keeping God’s Sabbath, we would be keeping our own Sabbath and God will not honor a Thursday Sabbath because He has commanded us to keep a Saturday Sabbath and anything other than a Saturday Sabbath would be a sin in the eyes of God. So why are the high holy days any different than a weekly sabbath on Saturday? If it would be a sin to keep the Sabbath on some other day than the seventh day, then why is it okay to keep your high Sabbaths on whatever day you want to keep them? I have through the years heard people say that God will honor our high Sabbaths as long as we keep them even if we do not keep them on the right day? Would you actually even be keeping God’s high Sabbaths if you kept them on a different day than God appointed them to be kept on? No, you actually would not. Do you honestly believe that God would tell you to keep Holy Days and then not leave you a calendar to show you when to keep them? I am sure all reading this are all nice people, that you do good deeds etc. etc. but if you are being paid to hit the center of a target and you miss, you do not get paid. And so, it is with the high holy days. If God has called you and put before you the scriptures (bible) which told you what days to keep and you dismiss them and go off and listen to some guy telling you to go look for barley or new moons and you miss the target then you have lost your first fruit resurrection and your chance to rule with Christ. Not keeping the high holy days on the correct days as God has laid in front of you is a sin, plain and simple. Sins are not just when you do something bad like steal something or kill someone. Sin happens when God tells you to do something, and you don’t do it and sin also happens when God tells you not to do something and you do it anyway. There is no excuse for anyone not to know which days the Holy Days are on. It is all in the Bible and it is pretty clear from scripture exactly which calendar they are using to keep the correct holy days on. It does not take a genius to understand this. What it does take is someone who wants to follow God. Someone who wants to do the right thing whether it is a new doctrine or an old doctrine they need to change. God’s chosen elect will all be found keeping the same calendar and the same high Holy Days. How can this possibly happen when the Church is so scattered and divided on doctrines, casting out and hating one another?? So, this is the question I have attempted to answer in this Iron Sharpening Iron, and here the answer is: God’s people may be scattered and there may be a good reason for that in these end times. People are more hidden from the enemy (Satan and his minions, mostly his minions) in smaller groups. The second part of the question is easy. God’s people are not divided on doctrines. God’s chosen elect will all be found keeping the entire law of God and according to scripture some will barely make it. So, it is not an easy thing to work out your own salvation. It requires a lot of hard work and study. And if you are in a group that is still disfellowshipping people you have two choices, leave the group or stand up to ministry when you see that being done. Being Dismembered from a group is not the end of the world and many who are dismembered from the group learn what scripture actually says a lot faster than they will ever learn it in such a group. (The use of the word “dismembered” instead of “disfellowshipped” has been borrowed from my friend David Sielaff.) Extra Notes: Recently we heard a minister say that only the beheaded people will be the elect of God. In other words, only those who have been beheaded will be in the first fruits resurrection. He uses: Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Here is the major problem with that teaching, King David was not beheaded, and we know he will be in the first fruits resurrection. Also, Paul and many others were not beheaded. Also, in 1Co 15:51-52 which is talking about the first fruits resurrection it shows clearly that some will be raised from the dead and others will just be changed because they are yet alive at the time of Christ’s return. 1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Now, another person using the same verse Rev. 20:4 combined with Rev. 7:9 got from it that two separate groups would be resurrected. In other words, there would be the group of the 144,000 and then another group besides that called a great multitude. Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; The problem with thinking the 144,000 and the great multitude are two separate groups is found in Rev. 14:1 and 14:3 which clearly shows in verse 3 that the 144,000 were redeemed from the earth and standing before the throne. The time frame would be the marriage supper of the lamb. Now look in Rev. 14:1, again, we have the 144,000 who returned to the earth with Christ to fight the nations and start the Kingdom of God rule for 1000 years. So, the great multitude and the 144,000 are the same group and they are those who were redeemed from the earth and will rule with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first fruits resurrection. Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. In Rev. 20:4, I believe it is talking again about one group which would be the 144,000 redeemed from the earth but in this verse, it is explaining the various traits of those who were redeemed and why: For example, part of the job of the first fruits will be to judge others which will happen during and after the thousand years is up. So, this verse starts out talking about judging and ends with “reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Then what is in between those two descriptors is how they ended up getting these jobs of judging and reigning for a thousand years. They got these jobs because they were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and the word of God. They did not worship the beast or his image. They did not receive the mark of the beast. And these are only a few of the things they did to be worthy of rulership with Christ. So, it isn’t talking about only the beheaded will be in the first fruits resurrection and neither is it telling us there were two groups in the first fruit resurrection. Then another problem arises in that some people the bible says will be in the first resurrection do not seem to be from any tribe and yet it numbers the 144,000 as being part of all the tribes except Dan. Read the Faith Chapter Hebrews 11. Many people listed in that chapter did not seem to be of any tribe. Also, what about the people from the time of Adam to the Flood that may be in the first fruit resurrection. The only solution to this that I can see right now is were they at some point grafted in? Can the grafting in be both physical and spiritual? The grafting in is found in Romans 11. Does anyone have any articles in regard to the grafting in and how it works that they can send to us for consideration for print? |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Scattered But Not Divided Article by Fellow Servants Comments by Denver Braughler (Muncie, Indiana) |
|---|
| Counted but innumerable; goyim but Israelite. It is unnecessary to invoke grafting in as the only viable solution to place righteous people into the twelve thousand sealed from each tribe of Israel. That question of how arose only because the innumerable multitude of all nations is equated to a mere 144,000 people of Israel. «Now, another person using the same verse Rev. 20:4 combined with Rev. 7:9 got from it that two separate groups would be resurrected. In other words, there would be the group of the 144,000 and then another group besides that called a great multitude. » Let us consider which is more likely: (1) that throughout history only 144,000 people have been martyred, or (2) that 144,000 people are too many for a man to count. I can count 150 people in a few minutes, so I extrapolate that I could count 144,000 people within a few days. It’s hardly outside the realm of feats performed by mere mortals. In 2002, Bill Richardson shook hands with 13,392 people in eight hours. I can extrapolate that 12 people could shake hands with 144,000 people in nine hours. It’s not really extraordinary. If we are taking “144,000” literally, then we should acknowledge that this number literally counts only virgin men. It makes little sense to say that it includes “women who have not been defiled with women”. Whereas, as “people”, it could mean those who refused to recant their heresy and accept the false religions, and thus were executed, e.g., beheaded. Now if you are absolutely 100% sure that 144,000 counts both men and women and is an innumerable multitude of all nations, then you may stop reading here with my condolences on your numerical prowess. 144,000 people isn’t very many and doesn’t really make sense as an upper limit considering the Son was sent not to condemn the world, but rather to save it. The matter of how there can be righteous people not descended from Israel or who lived before Jacob was even a man is easily solved by accepting that 144,000 Israelites is a small subset of the vast multitude of all nations of the world for whom God sent His Son to redeem from perishing and give eternal life. Surely those multitudes from nations are grafted in. But the 144,000 are strong native branches sprung from the twelve limbs of Israel; they are not the twigs and leaves. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Scattered But Not Divided Article by Fellow Servants Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
|---|
| Great answer Denver but you gave no scriptures to prove your points. First of all, when we talk about the 144,000, we are only talking about the First Fruits and not about all the people from the time of Adam and Eve until now that will eventually be saved and receive eternal life. I am not sure you can invoke that the 144,000 were only men any more than you could claim that in the parable of the ten virgins they were only women. So, let’s remove that from the table unless you have scripture. I believe the best way to know we are talking about 144,000 people is from the following verse: Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. That looks pretty literal to me. And Rev. 7:4 tells you how many were sealed. Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Yes, one person could probably count to 144,000 but not easily. And why would anyone take that job on? In the following verses we see the sealing of the first fruits: Rev 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Rev 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Rev 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Rev 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Rev 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. This sealing of the first fruits would be both men and women and not just men. The reason would be that each individual must work out their own salvation. Men in this case are not responsible for other members of their family who may not have even been called by God at this point. The same applies to women that they also are not responsible for saving family members which have not been called at this time. The next set of scriptures shows these 144,000 came from all nations and kindreds. Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; Rev 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Rev 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Rev 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. The only way anyone from earth can go to heaven is to become spirit beings and only the first fruits become spirit beings after the last trumpet. So, my conclusion based on scripture is that 144,000 (a great multitude) were sealed after the seventh trumpet and before the bowls of rath were poured out. And only 144,000 returned to earth with Christ to set up the Kingdom of God on Earth. Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Rev 14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. So, in conclusion the multitude standing before the throne is the 144,000 first fruits that were redeemed from the earth and who also returned to earth with Christ to help set up the Kingdom of God on Earth. |
Views: 36
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: