Archives for May 2020

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Proverbs 20:13

Over the past few years I’ve been sleeping at least 10 hours a night. My body didn’t need that much sleep, but I let it dictate to me rather than ruling over my body. Now that I’ve rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, I can’t afford to be throwing away time like that. Time is precious. The Bible says to redeem the time, for the days are evil! From now on, I’ve decided to go to bed at midnight and wake at 6am. 6 hours of sleep should be enough. Even if it’s not, I will not allow myself to sleep for more than a quarter of the day. A lot can be done in the 4 hours that I’m “depriving” myself of sleep. I look forward to being more productive for the kingdom of God in reading and memorizing the Word and in prayer. Life is short and I don’t want to waste any more of it. Disciplining myself is the thing to do. I expect there might be a battle with my flesh during this time of transition. I am going to win that battle, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

2 Timothy 2:3-4

I am a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Even natural soldiers aren’t allowed to sleep the day away. They have a discipline enforced upon them by their officers. God expects us to be self disciplined. When we discipline ourselves, the Holy Spirit is there to help us through. We don’t have to do it all by ourselves.

And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

Paul knew a thing about disciplining his body. He often told the churches he was writing to to be followers of him, as he was an excellent example of Christ. The Bible doesn’t say how much Paul, Peter or the other apostles slept, but I can’t imagine it was very much. They had the master’s work to do! So do I! We all do! Love not sleep. Love the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Revelation 12:1

The book of Revelation is a book of symbols. We can understand the symbols if we look to the whole of God’s Word for how the symbols were used elsewhere. This symbol of the woman is taken from Genesis 37 where Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon and stars bowed down to him. The woman represents Old Testament Israel.

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

Revelation 12:2

Old Testament Israel was pregnant with the promise of the coming savior, Jesus Christ. It was a long, difficult labor over thousands of years before Christ came to His people, natural Israel.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Revelation 12:3

The dragon is satan or the devil. His spiritual description is that he is red. Red from shedding innocent blood over many years. Spiritually he has 7 heads representing perfect intelligence. 10 horns represent complete authority. 7 crowns upon his heads shows how he has had victories over the people of the world, possessing their souls.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Revelation 12:4

Satan’s tail or his lies drew the third part of the stars of heaven, the formerly holy angels and by following the devil’s sinful example transformed into demons. It is interesting to note that two thirds of the holy angels stayed true to God and did not rebel against His Word. There are more holy angels than there are demons. This should bring us hope and encouragement.

Satan knew the promise of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He tried to kill Jesus as a baby through the actions of Herod the king. God preserved Jesus many times during his life so that He could die on the cross as a willing sacrifice.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Revelation 12:5

Jesus Christ rules the nations with His unbending, unchangeable Word, represented here by a rod of iron. This chapter skips the life of Jesus and says simply that He went back to heaven. We know of course how much He accomplished through His death and resurrection so that man’s sins can be forgiven and he can be justified before God.

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 12:6

Just as OT Israel fled into the natural wilderness from Egypt, so now NT Israel flees into the spiritual wilderness from spiritual Egypt (the world). NT Israel is also called the church or the bride of Christ. God feeds us with His Word, the bread of life, Jesus Christ, the heavenly manna. This goes on spiritually for 1260 days or 3.5 years. This represents half of 7, which is perfection. From the cross of Christ until His 2nd coming is an imperfect, unknown amount of time. The church is to stay in her place of holiness and righteousness until the 1260 days are complete.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12:7-9

The holy angels fought against satan and his demons. This was a war of words. God’s Word, the Truth, against satan and his lies. The Word of God prevails against the lies of the enemy, every time we stand in faith in it! Satan can deceive the whole world because the world is not trusting in God’s Word. Only the church has victory over satan and his lies. Notice that satan and his demons were cast out into the earth. No longer can they appear in heaven before God to accuse the brethren. Neither are they in hell right now. They are free to roam the earth, seeking whom they may deceive.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Revelation 12:10-11

Because of the victory through the blood of Jesus, spiritual salvation has come. The spiritual kingdom of Christ has been made available to whosoever will humble themselves, turn from sin and live a righteous life by faith in Christ. We are given 3 keys to overcoming satan and his lies. First, the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us from all sin. Second, the word of our testimony. When we testify to what God has done for us, we are giving Him glory and at the same time overcoming the lies of the enemy. Thirdly, we love not our lives unto the death. We pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus by trusting in Him and His Word, not ourselves.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Revelation 12:12

We, the church, are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Therefore, we can rejoice, knowing we have the victory over the devil as long as we cleave (stick like glue) to Jesus and His life. Those that inhabit the world spiritually are dead in their sins. Satan has the mastery over those that follow him and his deceitful ways. Satan is very angry and is doing all he can to disrupt God’s plan of salvation to every man and woman. He knows that his time is short. Soon he will be judged and cast alive into the lake of fire.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 12:13-14

Satan persecutes the church. He can’t destroy them because he is powerless to stop the Word of God from prevailing in our lives. He uses sinners, in whom his spirit operates, to persecute the bride of Jesus Christ. We can rejoice in persecutions because it means our heart is right with God and that we belong to Him!

The church is given two wings. Those are spiritual wings, which are spirit and truth. We fly over our circumstances and soar in the Spirit and the Truth, the Word of God. We are sojourners and pilgrims in the earth, wandering in the spiritual wilderness until we enter the promised land of heaven itself. We are fed and nourished by the Word of God and the Spirit of God away from the face of the serpent. We are protected by the Truth and the Spirit and the holy angels from the wiles of the enemy. This goes on for the gospel age or 1260 days or 3.5 years or time (1), times (2) and half (.5) which equals 3.5 or half of perfection.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

Revelation 12:15-16

Water is used in the Word of God to represent words. The water that comes out of the serpent’s mouth are his lies. He tries to flood us with lies in this world, so that we will be swept away and destroyed. We don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. We listen to the Word of God, the Truth. So, we have victory over the devil. It’s the world that believes his lies and is deceived. They swallow his lies and are destroyed thereby.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 12:17

Satan is angry with the church. He wants to possess them, but he can’t. This infuriates him to no end. He makes spiritual war against the church by fighting with his lies. God gives us the victory over the devil by the Spirit of Jesus Christ! The church has spiritual offspring who do the same things their mother does: keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ!

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

God has His secrets, things He is purposely keeping hidden from view for now. Someday He will reveal more of His secrets. Maybe we’ll have to wait until we are in heaven with Christ to have more revelation of these things. Yet, God delights in revealing some of his secrets to us right now, that we may walk in His commandments and do His will. God wants us to understand how to live a life that is pleasing to Him, in all godliness and holiness before Him, all the days of our lives. For this study, we are going to look at some of the mysteries mentioned in the New Testament.

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Matthew 13:10-11

God keeps His revelations hidden from those that aren’t pure in heart. He said blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see or understand God. That’s why Jesus spoke in parables, so that only those with a right heart before God would understand the things that were spoken. We see Jesus speaking parables to the multitudes and then explaining the parables later alone to His disciples. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ then the revelations of God are yours through faith in Christ!

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

The secrets of God don’t enter in to the heart of the natural man. We have to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and be spiritual sons and daughters in order to commune with the Holy Spirit and receive revelation from God. The Spirit will reveal deep truths about Jesus Christ, because that is His ministry and that is what He was sent by Jesus to do in the earth.

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

Romans 16:25-26

In the Old Testament salvation came through the natural nation of Israel. It was a secret that the gospel of Jesus Christ would go to the whole world for the salvation of all men and women everywhere. The mystery has been revealed through Jesus Christ! The commandment of God is that all people everywhere would repent towards God and put faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. This is what God wants preached to the whole world by His Spirit and by His church indwelled by the Spirit.

And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Ephesians 6:19

The gospel of Jesus Christ is mysterious to those who don’t know Christ. Yet, to us who are saved the revelation of Christ to our hearts has set us free from a life of sin and death. It is still a mystery to those of us who are saved. How can a wonderful gospel like this be true? It is beyond our full comprehension right now, yet we can still partake of the benefits of His salvation.

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

1 Corinthians 14:2

When we pray in the Spirit (in unknown tongues), we are speaking mysteries. It is a perfect prayer offered up through us by the Holy Spirit in a language that God understands. No man is meant to understand it. It is a prayer of faith, trusting the Holy Spirit to pray through us. God and man cooperating for the salvation of mankind. It is a sweet mystery.

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2 Thessalonians 2:7

There is a mystery inherent in sin. How can people commit sin against such a loving and wonderful God? How can they turn their backs on Christ? Antichrist religion specifically is what is mentioned in these verses. People that used to belong to Christ, turning from the commandments of God to their own sinful, demonic devices. This is a mystery we don’t want any part of.

Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

1 Timothy 3:9

Faith in God is mysterious to the natural mind. Even those that are saved are amazed to be living by faith, that is, trusting the Word of God to order their lives in Christ Jesus. Faith is a work of the Holy Spirit, which mankind cooperates with to see the salvation of their spirits. How wonderful is this mystery of faith! Yet, we can walk in it day by day, trusting God and His Word to lead us, teach us and guide us into all Truth.

God wants us to understand His mysteries. As we study to show ourselves approved unto God, He will be faithful to reveal more of His mysteries to us. We must hunger and thirst after righteousness, and we will be filled!