Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 14:9-11
Nov 29th, 2009
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

Vision Four - The doom of the Beast worshippers

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured without mixture inti the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the pesence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment  ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.  Revelation 14:9-11

We have said that chapter 14 is not a part of the chronology (the story line) of the book, it is parenthesis which looks back, at the present and to the yet future. We have a series of visions that present valueable information.

Today we see vision four in which we see the fate of the beast worshippers. It will be a great encouragment to the tribulation saints as they read these verses, as they watch the beast martyring their fellow believers and as they face martyrdom themselves.How it will strengthen their faith to be reminded that they are on the winning side. "And the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night", how the enemies of Christ are to pitied, how tragic their position.

What a confirmation to those tribulation saints as they realize they are on the right side!

One of the most neglected truths is the truth concerning the wrath of God against sin and the sinner who will not repent. The Old Testament is literally filled with this truth. We see Joshua being commanded to take Achan and his wife and children and stone them to death and burn them with fire and all their possessions. Achan had disobeyed God and it cost him his life. We see Joshua going against the enemies who dwell in the land, and who have become depraved by sin. God says kill them all and leave nothing alive that breathes. God hates sin! God will never allow sin to go unpunished! God went so far as to punish His own Son for our sins that we might escape the fire of God's wrath.

It is true that God's mercy is great, but there is no mercy apart from repentence. Jesus said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."  Here in our text the worshippers of the beast have blasphemed God by worshipping Satan's man and they have crossed the line of God's mercy.

This next line in our text gives us further evidence of God's wrath against sin. "tormented  with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb,"  This should cause all to tremble in God's presence. The fire of God's wrath against sin will never go out, it will burn for all of eternity, and God takes satisfaction in that punishment. You may say I do not accept such a God, to bad for you, that is the God with whom you have to do, you should fall on your face and beg Him for mercy!

It will do you no good to recreate God into the image you wish Him to be!

We see in verse 9 the commitment that places these people beyond the grace and mercy of God. "Receive his mark in his forehead, or in his right hand."  We have an act that seals the fate of these Satan worshippers, an act from which there is no turning back. Men today need to fear lest they should so resist the convicting influence of the Spirit God that they might cross the line of no return.

Out With Jesus, in With 'frosty the Snowman'
Nov 29th, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Chelsea Schilling
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Federal court upholds school district's ban on tunes about Christ

The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has upheld a school district's ban on Christmas carols such as "Silent Night," "Joy to the World," "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" – and approved "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman."

In the Nov. 24 ruling the Third Circuit approved the school policy banning all religious Christmas music, including instrumentals, that had been part of the South Orange–Maplewood School District's Christmas program for years – until one parent complained.

Attorneys with the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., argued to reverse a lower-court ruling affirming the policy. The firm argued the district's ban on religious music conveys a government-sponsored message of disapproval and hostility toward religion in violation of the Establishment Clause.

"Christmas is a national holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, not the birth of Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. "This ruling is another example of how the courts have tyrannically twisted the Establishment Clause as a weapon against Christians in the War on Christmas."

The law firm says the school's ban was specifically aimed at preventing Christmas music, including simple instrumentals without words, during holiday concerts. As WND reported, the district had allowed the performance of traditional Christmas music for more than 60 years but in 2004 suddenly banned it.

The complaint was filed on behalf of Michael Stratechuk and his children in the district. The ban deprived the Stratechuk children the right to receive information and ideas, the suit asserts, an inherent corollary of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and academic freedom.

Thomas More Law Center attorney Robert Muise indicated the case is not over. Muise said he will ask the Third Circuit to rehear it on both substantive and procedural errors. If denied, the Law Center indicated it will most likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The New Jersey school district policy at issue in the case was featured in a book, "The War on Christmas," by the Fox News Channel's John Gibson.

The district's decree ordered that only selections such as "Winter Wonderland" and "Frosty the Snowman" would be allowed, with a complete ban on tunes about Jesus and even Santa Claus.

The high school's brass ensemble had to rebuild its repertoire, the Martin Luther King Gospel Choir was ordered not to perform and printed programs were edited to remove any "graphics which refer to the holidays, such as Christmas trees."

Ngo Explains to Clinton Why Israeli Settlements are Legal
Nov 29th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The Arab world and the international media have today convinced most people that Israeli towns and villages located in Judea and Samaria - more commonly referred to as "settlements" - are illegal and the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

But in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week, the Office for Israeli Constitutional Law, a non-governmental legal action group, explained why that view is flawed and perhaps even illegal, especially as far as the US is concerned.

OFICL direct Mark Kaplan told The Jerusalem Post that there is a little-known treaty called the Anglo-American Convention that was signed between Britain and the US in 1924. The treaty more or less made the US a partner with Britain in upholding and maintaining the British Mandate for Palestine - which included all of what is today Israel and the "West Bank."

Kaplan noted that even though the UN's 1947 partition plan and subsequent recognition of Israel lopped off the West Bank as an Arab territory, that decision was non-binding since the UN General Assembly does not have the authority to change borders or create nations. By contrast, the Anglo-American Convention remains in force, as there is no statute of limitations on treaties.

Furthermore, the Anglo-American Convention and the British Mandate for Palestine were based on the 1920 League of Nation's decision in San Remo, where the precursor to the UN determined that the entire area encompassed by the British Mandate was to become a Jewish state and fully open to Jewish settlement.

Also unlike the 1947 partition plan, the San Remo declaration was and remains legally binding.

Israeli Settlers Warned About Obama Spies
Nov 29th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

The Obama Administration has sent representatives, some open and some covert, to monitor construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, according to a report in Israel National News, an agency based out of the settler town of Beit El.

Shaul Goldstein, regional council head for the Eztion Bloc of settlements south of Bethlehem, said that he had met recently with an American diplomat who asked for updates on all building projects in the area. Goldstein said that he simply told the representative the truth, and added that "we have come home to build and to remain on our land."

But long-time settler and former Knesset Member Elyakim Haetzni warned in a letter to settler leaders not to cooperate with Obama's representatives, since any information given to them will be used to further pressure Israel.

Haetzni also blasted the American government for thinking it has the right to keep tabs on an ally in such a manner.

"It’s great chutzpah of a foreign government to openly collect information and supervise a country on that country’s own territory. We must not cooperate with this brazenness."

News of the "Obama spies" came just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under tremendous US pressure, announced a 10-month settlement freeze.

Christ Made the World
Nov 29th, 2009
Thought for the WeekA. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational

Think about the world into which our Lord Jesus Christ came-it is actually Christ's world! Every section of this earth that we buy and sell and kick around and take by force of arms is a part of Christ's world. He made it all and He owns it all. Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, made the world. He made the very atoms of which Mary was made; the atoms of which His own body was made. He made the straw in the manger upon which He was laid as a new-born baby. Let me digress here. I hear an occasional devotional exercise on the radio, in which the participants ask: "Mary, mother of God, pray for us!" It is only right that we should express our position based on the Word of God, and the truth is that Mary is dead and she is not the "mother of God." Mary was the mother of that tiny babe, for God in His loving and wise plan of redemption used the body of the virgin Mary as the matrix to give the eternal Son a human body. We join in giving her proper honor when we refer to her as Mary, mother of Christ.

'Obama is Our Enemy,' Say Israeli Lawmakers
Nov 29th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

A group of lawmakers and rank-and-file members from Israel's ruling Likud Party met on Saturday to publicly blast US President Barack Obama as an enemy of Israel and the Jews over his heavy-handed pressure to stop building homes for Jews in areas claimed by the Palestinian Arabs.

Organized by Likud MK Dani Danon, the meeting was a follow-up to remarks made last week by Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat, in which she called the Obama administration "terrible" for Israel.

Danon also laid into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for having implemented a partial settlement freeze in line with international demands, but noted the Livnat had correctly identified Obama as the main antagonist.

Yossi Naim, a regional council leader, summed up the feelings of those at the gathering:

"The Obama administration is an enemy of the Jews and the worst regime there ever was for the State of Israel."

Ron Nachman, mayor of the settler town of Ariel, concluded by announcing that he, for one, will not be complying with the government's decision to implement a 10-month freeze on all new building projects in the disputed territories.