National Sunday Law

01/16/2022

The Beast Identified, Part 1

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." Revelation 13:1,2. Here is the beast that has the dreaded mark. This mark we definitely don't want! The most awful warning of all time is directed against it (see Rev. 14:9,10). But before we learn what the mark is, we must discover who the beast is. And it won't be hard. In fact, the Bible makes it so clear that I'll simply list the characteristics of it, and you'll be able to tell me who it is! Are you ready? 1) A "beast" in prophecy represents a kingdom, a nation, a power. The prophetic book of Daniel tells us - "Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth." Daniel 7:23. 2) This beast comes up out of the "sea." When a beast arises from the "sea," it always represents a power rising in a highly populated are; amid "peoples, multitudes, and nation, and tongues." Revelation 17:15. It would have to conquer the existing government. 3) This beast has seven heads and ten horns. A head represents the headquarters of a government. The head of a county is called the "county seat" you remember. A "horn" represents a king, a ruler. "And ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise." Daniel 7:24. The beast is a power with a man at the head of it. You'll find that the Bible explains itself! 4) The beast has "the name of blasphemy" (Rev. 13:1). What is blasphemy? Again the Bible gives its own definition. In John 10:32,33, it tells how the Jews were going to stone Jesus. He asked them why they were about to stone Him and they said, "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." Amazing! Blasphemy is for a man to claim to be God! Of course Jesus didn't blaspheme because He is God. But for someone less than God - it would be. But there's more. In Mark 2:5-11 it tells the story of how a paralyzed man wanted to come into a house where Jesus was, but it was just too crowded. He finally persuaded his friends to carry him up on the roof of Peter's house and break it up so they could let the man down into the room where the Saviour was teaching. Down he comes. Jesus looks into those pleading eyes and knows that the poor man needs to have forgiveness and peace with God even more than physical healing. Jesus says to him, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee....

11/18/2021

TIPS ON UNDERSTANDING THE WORD TO AVOID BEING DECEIVED

There are bound to be those who will both agree and disagree with various points below as you would expect when one has believed a certain doctrine for a long time as it often becomes a way of life or what one would call a mindset. So we must try and keep an open mind while desiring in our heart the real truth of God’s Word as much as the air we breathe. When we truly love God with all our heart, might and soul, this should be a natural occurrence. The other thing we must never do is to underestimate the enemy to perpetuate false teachings. The following is one of my favourite quotes when it comes to remembering how true it is that what is popular is not always truth and what is truth is not always popular.

“A lie can travel halfway around the world, while truth puts on its shoes.” -- Mark Twain (1835-1910).

The enemy has had literally thousands of years of practice when it comes to deception and making changes from the original doctrine taught by the early Church by slowly and subtly introducing erroneous teachings over time periods of even hundreds of years. Satan knows the Bible and Prophecy better than all of us and has a very good idea of where we are in history and what it is he needs to achieve at any given time on the Biblical time scale. To give one such example, all the early Protestants that departed from the Catholic Church and started many of the mainstream Churches we still have today knew what the Bible taught in regards to who was the antichrist power and yet this truth has been lost by every one of these Churches today. How did this happen? It did not happen overnight and the enemy knew he had plenty of time to achieve his goal by just slowly and subtly pulling the truth from these Churches one piece at a time.

Many false teachers unfortunately do arise also from those who just choose to see what they want to see or who are motivated by money and or power. But there are those who are also just too trusting of their colleagues. One of the enemy’s favourites is to have one teacher hear a particular doctrine taught by one of their colleagues or someone they trust who has their doctrine wrong, but in trusting this person takes on board their teaching and the false teaching continues to be perpetuated helped along by Satan and his demons by the same process. This may sound a little hard to believe but you would be surprised how history shows that many false doctrines have been spread by this method.

Some false teachings are obviously not intentional and many do not realize that the original Greek never had punctuation, chapters or verses. These were all added at a later stage and there is more than ample evidence to prove that punctuation was not divinely inspired and an area that we need to be very careful. To give one such example, consider the placement of the comma in each of the following translations. Speaking of the thief on the cross, the King James says that the thief will be with Jesus in paradise on that very day, while “The Scriptures 1998” © Institute for Scripture Research says that Jesus is telling the thief at that moment that he will be with him in paradise but not on that actual day.

Luke 23:43 KJV “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, To day shall you be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:43 TS98 “And Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you today, you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Which punctuation is correct? Without going into all the tens of scriptures that would show which one would make these many other passages contradictory, consider for the moment just this one verse.

John 20:17 “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

Jesus had not yet ascended to the Father, hence there was no way he could have been with the thief in paradise on the Friday. Jesus rested in the tomb on Saturday (Sabbath) . The TS98 translation placed the comma in the correct position. The KJV Bible has many such punctuation errors and here is one more example of a misplaced comma.

Acts 19:12 KJV “So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

According to the punctuation of this verse, we see the diseases departed from the sick handkerchiefs or aprons. The comma should have been placed after the word “sick.” There are many such examples even through the King James Bible as well as other translations that prove that punctuation is not God breathed or inspired and only a thorough study of the Word and comparing scripture with scripture will reveal what is truly correct.

To give an even more elaborate example, here is one where the wrong text was placed in the wrong chapter and verse as well as a misplaced comma, and has caused a lot of confusion with many people including heretical teachings on the day Jesus was crucified. First, let’s look at Marks account of the same event.

Mark 16:9 “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.”

In Matthews account we have two descriptive phrases describing this time period and the extra phrase is not found in Mark 16:9 which says “In the end of the sabbath.” The other problem is that these two time periods contradict each other.

Matthew 28:1 says, “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”

The end of the Sabbath which is sunset and dawn are twelve hours apart, so why the apparent contradiction in the above verse? The answer is found in the translation of this passage. By reorganizing the last verse of Matthew 27 and the first verse of Matthew 28, the apparent ambiguity completely disappears. See Matthew 27:62-66.

In Matthew 27:62, a request for a guard on the tomb was made on the Sabbath (the day after the preparation) and that the request was for a guard until the third day. By simply moving the text “in the end of the Sabbath,” from the beginning of Matthew 28:1 to the end of the previous chapter and verse in Matthew 27:66, which is where it should have been placed when punctuation and chapters and verses were added, we would have the following.

Matthew 27:66 “So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch in the end of the sabbath.”
Matthew 28:1 “As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”

Matthew’s account now matches Mark’s account and there is no longer any contradiction. It was the watch guarding the tomb that began at the end of the Sabbath. Since Jesus was to rise the third day, the Roman guards were put in place immediately at the end of the Sabbath because they anticipated that the body of Jesus would be stolen by the Jews sometime on Sunday. Is it any wonder such translations result in so many false teachings?

Almost every Bible translation I have looked at has mistranslated this verse or modified it to try and get around the contradiction. How many Pastors or people that I have asked knew about this? None! What does this tell us? We cannot always rely on what even our Pastors teach us and we must always study the Word diligently like the Bereans and never take it for granted that what we have been taught all our life is correct and we always need to beware of false doctrines.

Which of the following two verses are correct in regards to hell fire? One says they are devoured and the other says they burn for ever and ever. You will note also that they are consecutive verses, which makes it even more interesting.

Revelation 20:9 “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”
Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

In this case verse nine describes the literal event and contains no symbolism while the second verse is symbolic. Is this enough to give us the true from the false? It helps but by comparing scripture with scripture and looking for other passages that relate to this event, we find there is more that reveals beyond doubt the answer to our question.

So again, what does this tell us? You cannot base your theology on one verse and one needs to study the Word of God as a whole looking at all related passages to find the real truth. If the one grey verse cannot be lined up with the several black and white scriptures, then we need to base our findings on the several black and white verses and not the one grey verse. There are many erroneous teachings on this very difficult topic that so many see what they want to see

11/18/2021

False Teachers and Teachings Exposed

How does one recognize false teachers and teachings from Biblical? While some may fall under the category of false teachers, others may teach certain doctrines which are false or that are not in accordance with the Word of God while most of what they teach is in line with Scripture. Some teachers whose teachings are analysed in respect to what the Bible teaches when all related scriptures line up perfectly, may prove to be fine teachers overall, but where they depart from Scripture, it is only prudent and wise that we as believers recognize these discrepancies and affirm only the truth that is in full agreement with God's inspired Word. The best way is as follows:

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 NIV

It is also quite possible that those who analyse the teachings of others may themselves have unbiblical teachings or perspectives or end up “nitpicking” over non essentials and going far beyond reason in their critiques. Some critics may have a very narrow, legalistic, or extreme fundamentalist perspective and seem to have little understanding of unity in the Body of Christ. And some write disparagingly of nearly all teachers over simple disagreements needlessly where much more important and major doctrinal issues are at stake. This is certainly unnecessary and not honouring to God.

Our hope is that those who read this document will find balance in how they evaluate which teachers they listen to and learn from. Some teachers need to be carefully filtered while others should be avoided altogether, and other teachers can of course be trusted almost implicitly. By grounding yourself in the unchanging Word of God and considering it your final authority in all matters of faith and practice, you will have a greater ability to distinguish between true and false teachings and avoid deception. Until we reach heaven, however, none of us will be able to completely define all truth or perfectly interpret all Scripture, but we can be as the Bereans and search the Scriptures daily to see if what we hear is true, or not!

As Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Our goal as followers of Christ should be to always seek after truth with the discernment to recognize and beware of deceptive, unbiblical teachings (many of which are harmful or even heretical), while also striving for unity in love among believers, whenever possible. Sometimes for the sake of love and unity we may have to agree to disagree.

There is no doubt that discernment itself is a very controversial issue. Many of those whose teachings or behaviours are “judged,” even according to Scripture, condemn their accusers and despise their criticism. Some criticism is indeed divisive and unnecessary (some is even bitter or mean spirited), but in case you tend to think that those who would dare to judge or criticize apparently unscriptural teachings would be much better off just preaching the Gospel and minding their own business, consider this: What if manufacturers had no quality control departments, how would the products eventually end up? What if police departments had no internal affairs divisions, how much more would police corruption increase? What if the taxman never audited anyone, how many people would pay their taxes? If we know the false teaching will lead to hell fire beyond all doubt, do we just sit back and do nothing? Within the Body of Christ, it seems very reasonable to believe that God has intentionally called certain ones in His Body to focus on keeping His message pure.

The simple truth is that if no one ever held preachers accountable for what they teach, false doctrines would abound much more than they already do. If small errors in doctrine are left unaddressed, they will only grow worse and worse over time. So discernment ministries are a good and necessary part of the Body of Christ, as imperfect as they may be. False teachings must be exposed and the cancer of deception in the Church must be treated, even if it is unpopular and often painful. Perhaps as you begin to understand and recognize common false teachings in the Church, you can become involved in solving the problem by writing letters (in love) to those you hear making the errors. Some do it for financial gain and will only ignore or reject any efforts to admonish them and will probably even criticize you in the process. Others who are truly seeking after God may eventually see their errors and correct them. Either way, it is the responsibility of all of us in the Body of Christ to keep our leaders accountable to Scripture and to do our best to ensure that God's sheep are not led astray by unworthy or unbiblical under shepherds, especially for the sake of future generations! Now more than ever, Satan is spreading as much heretical doctrine as possible to lead as many from the kingdom as possible in the end.

11/11/2021

WILL THE COMING OF CHRIST BE SECRET(RAPTURE) OR VISIBLE TO EVERYONE?
PART 1
LETS FIND OUT FROM
SCRIPTURE
It May be A Little Long, But Try And Read To Know The Truth.
God bless and be with you as we in His words to know the truth which will set us free. Amen🙏

Introduction 😇😇
Is there really a secret rapture with a second chance of salvation? Regardless of the topic when it is associated with salvation, Satan has deceptions in every area in an attempt to steal as many people as possible from God’s kingdom. It is a grave error to underestimate the enemy. It does not matter how many people believe a lie, it will never make it truth. Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world, while truth puts on its shoes.” The only way to avoid the enemy’s deception and find truth is to study the scriptures diligently. Multitudes of people have been exposed to this “dispensationalist” or “futurist” interpretation of prophecy and have been utterly confused. So what is the real truth?

What is the Secret Rapture theory?
According to those teaching this theory, the coming of Jesus will be in two separate stages. The first will be a secret rapture of the Church at the beginning of a supposed seven year tribulation period followed by a glorious, triumphant return of Christ to the Earth accompanied by the Church at the end of the seven year period. They believe that during this seven year period the antichrist is going to come into power and God will select and seal 144,000 literal Jews who will take the Gospel to the whole world converting immeasurable souls to Christ. They also believe the great battle of Armageddon is a literal national war against literal Israel, which occurs near the end of the seven years and is brought to a halt by Christ’s return with His Church. Then literal Israel accepts the Lord as the Messiah and enters with Him as His covenant people into the 1,000 year (millennial) reign on earth known as the Kingdom Age. Christ will rule directly over the earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem, where the typical temple services function again. Those who ultimately reject Christ’s rule are eventually judged and destroyed at the end of the Millennium. The new believers will then receive immortality and eternity will begin.

However, the Bible nowhere speaks of these two separate comings and the word “rapture” is also an invention of theologians and occurs nowhere in the Bible. The deception does not stop there, Christians also debate whether we will be taken before the tribulation or in the middle of the seven years or at the completion of the seven year tribulation. These are called pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and post tribulation. Now for the most amazing part of these views in regards to the seven year tribulation period; are you ready for this? It was manufactured by a Jesuit Priest who was commissioned to come up with this false interpretation of Bible Prophecy. This raises many questions, such as why was this done and how could so many be drawn into this lie. I hope you will read on as we cover all aspects of this topic and reveal the Bible truth.

Does the Bible teach there is a Secret Rapture?
This is a brief point by point account of the order of events according to Scripture; there is Christ’s second coming, the resurrection, the catching up of the saints to meet Jesus in the air which all take place at the same time and at the end of the world. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 “…and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Why would Jesus promise to be with the Church until the end of the world if He intended to come seven years before the end to take them out of the world? The promise would then have no meaning.

This false doctrine on the secret rapture is contradictory to the words of Jesus in Matthew 13 when He said the wheat and tares would grow together until the “end of the world” and then would be separated. According to this dual coming rapture theory, both groups would not grow together until the end of the world. The righteous would be separated from the wicked seven years before the end. And what about the promise of the resurrection? Christ said, concerning the righteous, John 6:40 “…and I will raise him up at the last day.” No one denies that this means the last day of the world. Paul declares the saints are caught up to meet the Lord at the “same time” the dead in Christ are raised. He says, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Did you note that Jesus called this resurrection the “last day?” But how could it be the “last day” if this gathering of the saints takes place seven years before the end of the world? And how could the “last trump” (see 1 Corinthians 15:52 below) sound if it really wasn’t the very last moment of time? Imagine the graves opening and the righteous rising and no one knowing that it had occurred? Consider also the added testimony from God’s Word;

Matthew 24:27 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Matthew 24:30 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Matthew 24:31 “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (This is clearly the time when Christ comes to gather His saints.)

1 Corinthians 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.”

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

Revelation 6:16-17 “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

There is no understood scripture that says the second coming of Christ to gather His saints will be a secret rapture. All these verses show it will be a very loud and very visible event that every eye shall see. There is nothing secret about any aspect of His coming. Those believing this false doctrine sometimes quote Matthew 24:40-41 out of context. The entire passage reads;

Matthew 24:37-41 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

Jesus is demonstrating the parallels between the days of Noah and the second coming of Christ. The eight that entered Noah’s Ark were saved and those that scoffed perished as the flood “took them all away.” Many have been taught that the ones taken are the ones saved but note it is actually the ones taken that are destroyed. There was no second chance. Jesus said and “so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” The last verse of this chapter tells us what will happen to those who are taken to destruction. Matthew 24:51 “And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Those believing in the secret rapture also quote Jesus in saying He will come as a thief in the night, meaning it will be secret. Jesus said in Matthew 24:43-44 “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Jesus is not talking about coming secretly but coming unexpectedly when we least expect Him and so the wicked will be taken by surprise. This is why Jesus tells us to be ready as we know not the hour of His return. Those who are not right with Christ and living wickedly when Jesus returns we will be taken to destruction as in the days of Noah. See Matthew 24:37-41 above. See also 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 is also quoted which reads, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Same message as before be ready for Christ’s unexpected return. And what happens after His return? 1 Thessalonians 5:3 “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” How secret is sudden destruction? Those that are left after Jesus’ return encounter “sudden destruction.” Again, just like in the days of Noah.

These two “thief texts” are also used to teach a secret rapture. Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” In both these instances just quoted, the secrecy is also in connection with the timing not the nature of the event, and is exactly the same as the other “thief texts.” Notice the phrase in chapter 3:3 which says “hold fast, and repent” and the last part of verse 15 which says “lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

This is once again a warning to be not caught living in sin, because we know not the hour which Jesus will return. He will come unexpectedly when you least expect it as does a thief. It would be no good for the thief if you knew when he was coming as you would be ready for him and he could not rob you. In the same way we need to be ready and living in righteousness now and not just when we think Jesus is coming or we will be “caught naked and our shame seen.” Those who love and obey Jesus will be ready for His return. This is the meaning of the phrase “to come as a thief” that is used several times in the Bible to warn us so we will not be left behind.

And still one more. 2 Peter 3:10 says “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

Again, absolutely nothing secret. To the contrary, it could not be more obvious. It states after Jesus comes unexpectedly as does a thief, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise” and “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth … shall be burned up.” So when Jesus returns the very next thing is the end i.e. the last day. If coming “as a thief” is a secret rapture which takes place seven years before the end of the world, how can the heavens and earth “pass away” as Peter describes it? Three of these “thief texts” are all followed by the same unmistakable catastrophic sudden destruction. Coming as a thief is unexpected, NOT a secret

11/07/2021

11/07/2021

05/21/2020

LOOK AT THIS SHOCKER.
It says that the beast has "the name of blasphemy." Revelation 13:1. "It became one of the leading doctrines of the church that its visible head is invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. More than this, he took the very name of God! He was addressed as "Lord God the Pope" and declared to be "infallible.".He demands the worship of all men.
What about 666? Let's take a shocking look.
On the Pope's official mitre is the title "Vicarius Filii Dei" which means "Vicar of the Son of God." The claim that this is his official title has been stated publicly through the years. The April 18, 1915 issue of Our Sunday Visitor, states: "The letters inscribed in the Pope's mitre are these: "VICARIUS FILII DEI," which is Latin for Vicar of the Son of God."
In Revelation 13:18 it says, "Count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (666)." Let's do it now and see what we find. Remember the Roman numerals you learned in school?
V = 5
I = 1
C = 100
A = 0
R = 0
I = 1
U = 5
S = O
U" and "V" have the same value. Look in your encyclopedia under "Alphabet."
F = 0
I = 1
L = 50
I = 1
I = 1
D = 500
E = 0
I = 1
------- Total = 666!
In Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, it comes out the same.
I want to be quick to say that when a person shares this shocking revelation, he must be kind and tactful. We must let people know that God loves all. The truth must be told - but always in kindness.