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I invite you to follow along in your Bibles while I go into various topics. I have been asking God for wisdom and understanding of His Word and He has revealed alot to me. I hope that I can open the eyes of your understanding with what He has shared with me. I use an interlinear Bible to do my studying and have provided links so all you have to do is click on any Greek word to see the Greek definition for yourself or click on any passage of scripture and it will take you to the interlinear Bible I study from because I dont want you to take my word for what I'm saying. I want you to study the Scriptures for yourselves. Dont forget to like this page if you found it informative and share it on facebook so that others can be edified!

If you have any questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact me at kenneth.prichett@yahoo.com

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What Does The Bible Say about Worship?

Worship

In the time Jesus spent walking the earth, He made it perfectly clear what was acceptable worship, and what was unacceptable worship. First let’s look at what Jesus deems as acceptable worship.

John 4:23-24- Acceptable worship is in spirit and in truth. This is a very liberal statement. Let’s take a closer look at those words so I can show you what I mean.

'In' originates from the Greek word 'En'

'Spirit' originates from the Greek word 'Pneuma'

Let's start with 'in'. The same Greek word for 'in' is also used for 'by' and with'. This must be factored into obtaining the most accurate understanding because man determined that 'in' should be used here, not God. That's why there are so many different versions out there.

Now let's look at 'spirit'. There are many possible definitions so lets put all the facts on the table and decide which one is the best fit for the context of the verse.

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in/by/with _______ and in truth."

Which one is the best fit for the blank?

1. The third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son

2. The spirit, i.e. the vital principal by which the body is animated

3. A spirit, i.e. a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting.

4. The disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of any one

5. A movement of air (a gentle blast)

Each one is a possible definition. But the fact that Jesus says that God is a spirit is a big clue. Since 'a spirit' is defined by choice 3 it is easy to determine what Jesus was referring to when He said God is a Spirit. All that's left is to find the definition that describes the human spirit in a similar way, which is found in choice 2. Here's a further breakdown of choice 2.

a. the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, decides

b. the soul

So by using the definition of the original words that were written, we can better understand John 4:24 (without adding to or taking away from the original message) by saying;

"God is a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting: and they that worship Him must worship Him in/by/with the vital principal by which the body is animated and in truth."

Your spirit is how you’re able to walk, talk, and have the ability to do anything, so when Jesus says to worship in spirit He’s telling us to worship with the life that He has given you. Within the realm of a worship service God restricts worship to psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. (Colossians 3:16/Ephesians 5:19), but outside of worship service we can also worship God by giving Him the honor and the glory for being good at whatever our individual talents might be.

The word 'in truth' comes from the Greek word 'Aletheia' meaning truly, in truth, according to truth .

This is where worship differs from person to person, and from congregation to congregation, but that doesn’t mean that the way someone else worships God is unacceptable.

I have visited a few different congregations and each one does things a little differently when it comes down to praise worship. Some congregations feel comfortable worshipping strictly in acapella and some are comfortable with using instruments to worship God. Some people are reserved and contain their praise towards God inwardly, and some people go all out for Jesus, screaming and shouting and dancing in thankfulness. Although each person has their own personal view of what true worship is, the only one who can determine whether a person is worshipping sincerely is God, because He's the only one who knows our innermost thoughts.

Now let’s talk about the kind of worship Jesus finds unacceptable.

Matthew 15:8-9- If you aren’t worshiping Him in truth, you are worshiping in vain. Again this isn’t anything that anyone can say you are or aren’t doing. You can fool people but there is no fooling God. He knows if you’re worshiping Him in truth or whether you are just putting on an act. But I think the trouble we can find ourselves in is trying to make someone stop worshipping in truth, because you personally believe what they are doing is vain worship. We have no business telling someone they are wrong for worshipping God a certain way, because if its being done with the ability God gave us (spirit) and in all sincerity (truth), its pleasing to God. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be the one who is getting between someone and their sincere worship to God.

Next I’d like to go into instruments in the worship service. I personally believe that God is not going to send somebody to hell for playing a musical instrument, assuming that it's being done according to His commandment (spirit and truth), but let’s see what the Bible has to say.

Colossians 3:16- This is one of the verses many go to determine what kind of worship is appropriate, but let's take a close look at the verse. There are three different Greek words that were given in which we are to teach and admonish one another. We can't determine the distinction between a psalm and a hymn by defining the English words. Let me show you what I mean.

The English definition of a 'hymn' is a song or ode in praise or honor of God.

The English definition of the word 'psalm' is a sacred song or hymn.

Already you should see the problem. If the word psalm means the same thing as hymn this verse would be a redundant statement. But that’s the only English definition for psalm that there is. Since we know that a psalm and a hymn are the same thing in English we have to go the Greek definitions to find a distinction between the two because the true message here has been lost in translation to English.

'Psalm' originates from the Greek word 'Psalmos'.

'Hymn' originates from the Greek word 'Humnos'.

'Spiritual songs' originates from the Greek words 'Pnuematikos' and 'Ode'

To be contextually accurate, 'psalms and hymns and spiritual songs' have to be referring to three different ways we teach and admonish each other. Now that we have laid out all the facts and the true contextual definitions of psalms and hymns is what is in question, let's determine the best choice in the context of the verse.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in/by/with __A__ and __B__ and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Which possible definition is the best contextual fit for the blank A?

A. a striking/twanging of the chords of a musical instrument

B. a striking/twanging of a pious song

Which possible definition is the best contextual fit for blank B?

A. a song in tithe praise of gods, heroes, conquerors

B. a sacred song, hymn

No matter which one we choose for blank A a psalm is referring to the playing of an instrument. As for blank B, choice B is the most appropriate because the word hymn in Colossians 3:16 is not referring to a song in praise of multiple gods.

Now that we have all the facts regarding psalms and hymns we better understand Colossians 3:16 without adding to or taking away from the original message by rewording the verse to say this:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in/by/with striking the chords of a musical instrument and sacred songs and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Ephesians 5:19- This is another verse many go to determine what kind of worship is acceptable in worship services. We have already went into the distinction between a psalm and a hymn. Now I would like to focus on the latter part.

'Singing' and 'making melody' are two different ways God says we can participate in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another. Let's look at the definitions to the original words that were used so that we can obtain the most accurate understanding.

Singing originates from the Greek word 'Ado'

Making Melody originates from the Greek work 'Psallo'

Let's start with 'singing'. The only definition available is to sing so that one is pretty straight-forward.

Now let's look at 'making melody' There are many definitions for this one as well so let's put all the facts on the table again and choose the best definition.

"...singing and _______ in/by/with your heart to the Lord; "

Which possible definition is the best contextual fit for the blank?

a. touch or strike the chord, twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate.

b. play on a stringed instrument, to play, the harp, etc.

c. sing to the music of the harp.

d. sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song

Choice D is immediately ruled out because 'Ado' is already being used to tell us that singing is permitted. That leaves A, B, or C; all of them having to do with playing a musical instrument. Regardless of which is the best choice, making melody must be referring to playing an instrument in order for it to be contextually accurate.

Now let's take a look at the word 'heart'

Heart originates from the Greek word 'Kardia'

Everything that we consciously do, we do with our minds. That being said, the heart is how a person sings and also how a person plays an instrument. Now that all of the facts have been laid of and discerned we can better understand Ephesians 5:19 without any addition or subtraction by rewording the verse in this way.

"Speaking to yourselves in/by/with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and twanging the strings of a musical instrument in/by/with your soul/mind to the Lord; "

All the evidence that proves that musical instruments are allowed in worship is uncoveredby studying the words that were originally written. I hope that those who read this and are opposed to musical instruments in worship will humble themselves to the fact that the Greek definitions are undeniable. They all point to the use of musical instruments in worship being permitted. To those individuals I would also like to say that I was raised in a church of Christ and have only been around acapella music. So the information I am providing to you is not bias, but what God has given me understanding on. I hope that He will do the same things for you.

What Does The Bible Say About Spiritual Gifts?

Spiritual Gifts

The Bible talks about many miraculous things that have occurred and many believe that those things are no longer possible but let’s take a in depth look at what the Bible says regarding this topic. Before I begin I would just like to say that I am in no way attempting to force my opinion on you or trying to get you to believe what I’m saying over what the Bible says. But I do hope that we can all take a serious look at the Scriptures and accept them for what they say, so that God can reveal the truth to us in His Word.

First, I would like to go to some Scripture about the Holy Spirit and what part He plays in our lives because this is where the spiritual gifts come from. I hope that you will write down the scriptures that I’m presenting to you and study them for yourself because I don’t want you to believe me, I want you to believe what the Bible says.

Acts 1:8- There is no difference between the Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit.

The word 'Ghost' and 'Spirit' come from the same Greek word 'Pnuema'.

Jesus told His disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes upon them they will receive 'power'.

The word 'power' comes from the Greek word 'Dunamis' meaning ability, power to perform miracles.

This same Greek word is where the word 'miracle' comes from in the Bible. At this point in the Bible, only the apostles were told they would receive the Holy Spirit. Now lets go to where this was fulfilled.

Acts 2:2-4- Here we see where the Holy Spirit fell upon the Apostles. This happened in such a dramatic way, with tongues of fire and miraculous tongues, so that the large group of devout Jews and ultimately the multitude that crowded around to witness it, could see and believe without a doubt that God was at work in what was taking place.

Acts 2:16-21- Peter has made it known that what they witnessed is fulfilling what was prophesied in the Old Testament. So according to these verses alone God is letting us know that He is making His Spirit and the power that comes along with it, available to all flesh. At this point it has only visibly been at work in the apostles but as the book of Acts progresses God carries out just what He said He would do.

In Acts 10, God sets the stage for the Holy Spirit being made available to everyone by giving Peter a vision.

Acts 10:9-16- Peter was a Jew and it was unlawful for him to eat the animals that were on the sheet, but God told him not to call anything unclean that He made clean.

Acts 10:28- Immediately after this a group of Gentiles arrived, which allowed him to understand what the vision meant. Verse 28. It was unlawful for a Jew to associate with Gentiles but God is saying now that He is making them clean as well.

Acts 10:45-47 the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit simply by believing what Peter said to them. This particular occurrence was the first time a Gentile had ever received the Holy Spirit. The Gentiles were considered as heathen. But now, God has allowed them to speak with tongues the same way the Apostles did so that we all could know that at this point in history, the Holy Spirit is no longer restricted to the Apostles, or even the Jews, but has now been made available to all flesh, just as the prophecy said.

In Acts 11 the story of the Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit is repeated to highlight the significance of what happened. The Holy Spirit is no longer restricted to the Apostles. It is available to all flesh.

Acts 11:17- Peter makes a very important point in this verse. If God wants to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who believes in Jesus, who was he to stand in God's way?

The word 'withstand' in this verse comes from the Greek word 'Koluo' and means to hinder.

This is pretty important verse to understand because God can give the Holy Spirit to whoever He wants and for a man to say what God isn’t going to do is to hinder God.

Acts 11:18- In this verse this receiving of the Holy Spirit is directly related to 'repentance unto life'. This goes hand in hand with:

2nd Corinthians 7:9-11- After seeing how Acts 11:15-18 makes the connection of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to repentance unto life, now we can see that this is where godly sorrow comes from and even describes what the experience should be like. This is important to understand because this is how we know we have received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon those people in the Bible in a dramatic fashion so that those witnessing could see and believe but now that God has made His point that His Spirit is upon all flesh, the Holy Spirit does not behave so dramatically. But that doesn't mean that it isn't working powerfully.

Romans 10:9-10- Since we can see from the example given in Acts 10 and 11 that the Holy Spirit falls upon you when you believe we can see why this verse says what it says. The verse also makes it a point to say that we must also confess that Jesus is Lord. This is also important because the Holy Spirit is also at work in this.

1st John 4:15- According to John 4:24, God is a Spirit. So this is speaking of the Holy Spirit because they are all one in the same.

Some people say that these accounts in the Bible are the only times that anyone has ever received the Holy Spirit. And I can see why people have that belief. In Acts 19:1-6 and Acts 8:14-18 these accounts of the Holy Ghost appear to contradict what we've went over in the Scriptures. I agree that these verses make a strong case in regard to how the Holy Spirit is received, but for the Word as a whole to be accurate the Holy Spirit must be with us, because if it wasn't there would be many commandments that are null and void to Christians. 1st Corinthians 6:19 states plainly that the Holy Ghost is in every Christian so these various accounts of people receiving the Holy Ghost by these different means doesn't mean it's not possible today, it means God can give the Holy Spirit to whoever He wants, however He wants to do it.

2nd Corinthians 13:5 says to examine ourselves to know if Christ is in us. And that examination is done by lining up our personal testimony about how we came to Christ with what the Bible tells us about how it will look if it has been done correctly. So now that we have gathered the facts, we can put together from the examples were given that:

The Holy Spirit falls upon us when we believe in Jesus. (Acts 10:45-47/Acts 11:15-18)
The Holy Spirit indwells us when we confess that Jesus is Lord. (1st John 4:15)
The Holy Spirit is what causes repentance unto life. (Acts 11:15-18)
Repentance unto life is what leads to baptism (2nd Corinthians 7:9-11/Acts 2:37)

So for us to truly be Christians the Holy Spirit has to be at work in us. To say no one has the Holy Spirit is to say no one has God. I am not trying to say that baptism isn't important, it is, but for those who think that you receive the Holy Spirit when you're baptized, that does not agree with what the Bible says, because God has made Himself accessible to anyone who will call upon Jesus by means of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38-39- Since we have plenty of biblical evidence that you receive the Holy Spirit before you're baptized, we can properly gather that baptism is when you are freed from your sins and are promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. This 'gift' isn't referring to the Holy Spirit itself since we know that you receive that upon confession. This is referring to a spiritual gift. This is what Jesus referred to as power (dunamis) or ability. This was only given to the Apostles when Jesus first mentioned this power (Acts 1:8) but as time progressed the Bible makes it clear that it was no longer exclusively for them. (Acts 2:38/Acts 11:17)

Now that we have plenty of evidence that Christians have the Holy Spirit we can look at other passages in the Bible knowing that they apply to us. 1st Corinthians 12-14 is where the Bible speaks on the topic of spiritual gifts but before we go there let’s look at 1st Corinthians 1:2. Here we see who this letter is addressed to and why it made it into the Bible. This letter is addressed to everyone in every place that call upon the name of Jesus, so we can read this letter knowing that regardless of what day and age we live in, this letter is addressed to every Christian. Now let's look at 1st Corinthians 12-14. I'd like to go through these chapters and highlight important passages.

1st Corinthians 12

Verses 1-3-

'Spiritual gifts' originates from the Greek word 'Pneumatikos' meaning one who is filled with and governed by the Spirit of God.

This more accurate definition allows the following verses to make a little more sense, because God really doesn't want us to be ignorant concerning those who have the Holy Spirit. From these verses God plainly lets us know how we can know that someone has the Spirit of God. And that is by reinforcing what we've already learned, that by believing and confessing Jesus that you have the Holy Spirit.

Verse 4-

The word 'gift' in this verse comes from the Greek word 'Charisma'

This Greek word has many definitions, most of them centered on divine grace and unmerited favor. The same Greek word is found in the following verse.

Romans 12:6-8- The same word Charisma is used here. So these 'gifts' are actually measures of divine grace. The particular gifts mentioned here are not miraculous gifts. Prophecy (proper interpretation of God's Word), ministering, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and showing mercy are all considered divine grace in God's sight. Although these are gifts that God gives us, the gifts mentioned in Romans 12 and in 1st Corinthians 12:4 aren't referring to the gifts mentioned later in the following verses. And we know this because of the way the verses are laid out.

In verses 4-6 we see that there are diversities of gifts, and differences of administrations, and diversities of operations. And God wants us to know that He is at work in them all. But verse 7 is separate from those verses.

Verse 7- God transitions in this verse because He wants us to see that there is a difference between the divine grace and the manifestation of the Spirit.

The word 'manifestation' is a direct translation from 'Phanerosis'.

The word manifestation means 'an outward or perceivable indication'.

Verses 8-10- The gifts of divine grace in Romans 12 are centered on our character and our intelligence. Teaching, giving, and leading are all God given abilities. But these manifestations of the Spirit are things we can physically see. And the first question many will probably ask is ‘if Christians can perform miracles, why aren't miracles happening everywhere?’ Well by definition a manifestation is an indication. Meaning we don't actually see the miracle but if we have enough faith there will be a visible indication of what is unseen.

This is actually a complicated situation but the Bible explains it if we have faith to believe what it says.

Hebrews 11:1- Faith as defined by the Bible is the confidence in what you hope for and the evidence of what is unseen. 'Evidence of things unseen' is referring to the manifestations of the Spirit.

Evidence comes from the Greek word 'Elegchos' which is defined as a proof.

In a courtroom, evidence is what is needed to convince the judge and jury that someone is innocent or guilty. That evidence is a visible proof that confirms something did or didn't occur. This is what faith is. As metaphorical judges of whether a miracle occurred, we may not actually see the miracle occur but God says that if we have confidence in Him, He will present evidence that it did occur. And the more confidence we have in what we hope for (in this case, the Bible being true concerning these spiritual gifts) the more physical evidence we will have to support our hopes. This is the manifestation of the Spirit. But we only receive evidence and are not witness to what actually happened. And there is more scripture to support this.

John 9:39-41- Here Jesus heals a blind man to teach everyone an important lesson if we have faith to believe. He heals a physically blind man and says that He has come to make those who do not see, see and those who see, to be made blind. Then Jesus says that those who are blind have no sin and those who see are still in sin. The wording Jesus uses here is a little confusing so let's take a closer look at the Greek words so we can get a better understanding of exactly what He was saying.

Verse 39-

'See' in this verse originates from the Greek word 'Blepo' meaning to physically see or to understand.

'Blind' comes from the Greek word 'Tuphlos' meaning physically blind or mentally blind.

We can't gather the proper meaning of these words until we read the verses in it's full context and verify it with other verses, but now that we have the key words defined we can begin to understand the point Jesus is making here.

Verse 40-41- From these verses Jesus helps us understand whether it's good to see or to be made blind. According to this verse those who are blind have no sin and those who see are still in sin. We can connect what Jesus says here to what is said in 1st John 3:9 and know that Jesus is referring to people who are born of God when He says those who see are made blind, because people who are born of God cannot commit sin. So what does it mean to be blind and what does it mean to see in the context of the verse? Let's go to some other passages of Scripture to find out.

John 5:30-32- Jesus is born of God. And here we see how what He says in John 9 applies to Him as well. He says that if He bears witness of Himself His witness isn’t true. Meaning that He knew that He was blind as well and what He was actually seeing wasn't the truth. So who is this 'other' who is the true witness?

In 1st John 5:6 we learn that the Spirit is truth. In 1st John 5:8 we learn that the three true witnesses on earth are the Spirit, the water, and the blood.and in 1st John 5:10 whoever believes has the witness (Spirit) in himself. So from these verses we learn that we ourselves are not the true witnesses, but because we have this Spirit of truth in us, the more faith we have, the more evidence of the truth we will see.

So what Jesus is saying in John 9:39-41 now that we have plenty of evidence, is that He has come to Earth to make those who do not see(understand), see (physically see) and make those who see (understand) blind (physically blind). The very interesting thing about this is the miracle Jesus performed. What appeared to be a blind man receiving his sight to the Pharisees was actually someone who could see (understand) being made blind (physically). This is a tough thing to accept, but Jesus is basically telling us that we don't see miracles, even though they happen, because we are physically blind. Even Jesus Himself admitted his about Himself.

We personally don't see much because of our lack of faith, but the reason why so many miracles occurred in Jesus' day was because of His faith. He had the ultimate amount of confidence in what He hoped for because He is God, therefore the evidence of things unseen was substantial. But even though all those amazing things happened it was still only evidence of the truth, not the truth itself.

There are many cases in the Bible where people were healed by their own faith. Back when Jesus walked the Earth this was possible because many witnessed His miracles with their own eyes and as a result their confidence was much greater. But now if you tell someone that spiritual gifts are possible they may call you crazy. The Bible talks about how our unbelief affects God's ability to be a visible prescense in our lives.

Mark 6:1-6. Jesus’ could not perform miracles among His own people He grew up with because of their unbelief. I think the important thing to understand from these verses is that the miracles weren't done in this case because Jesus didn't want to do them. It was because He could not do them.

The word 'could' in verse 5 comes from the Greek word 'Dunamai' and is defined as to be able to do something, to be strong or capable.

From these verses we can learn that if there is no confidence in what God is able to do there will be no evidence. But just because there's no evidence doesn't mean God isn't able. He requires us to have faith because that's the only way we see evidence of His presence.

These manifestations are not all miraculous either. Verses 8-10 list these manifestations according to the amount of faith required for the individual to witness it.

For example, allow me to give you a personal testimony on how you can be given a word of wisdom or knowledge via manifestation of the Spirit because this one doesn't require much faith. All you have to do is understand that God is the master orchestrator and is able to put together situations so you can learn from Him if you are truly seeking Him and believe He is at work in everything. Here's a small testimony where God allowed me to gain a little knowledge and wisdom about myself.

Last year, I went to a church function for a weekend with a girl that I really liked. And while I was there I was really just wanting to be around her and spend time with her. But the first morning when we all met up for worship service she was nowhere to be found. The singing started and my worship wasn't sincere because I found myself more focused on wanting to be around her than on my worship to God. And as the weekend progressed this desire that I had to be around her became more obvious to me. So as a result I was able to know that my interest in this girl was interfering with my relationship with God. And as a result, I thanked God for helping me understand this and am working to make sure I don’t allow anything to get between me and my relationship with God. This is just one tiny example, but when you know a situation takes place because God wants you to be aware of your own flaws, that's one of many examples of what is called a word of wisdom or knowledge by the Spirit.

Wisdom and knowledge by the Spirit are easy manifestations to be witness to once you recognize them for what they are, but Faith and miracles are something that are harder to witness. Based on the things I have experienced in my walk with God these manifestations of faith and miracles are the result of an action based on your confidence in God's control over any and everything. Here is a testimony of something that happened so you can see what I mean.

I was driving home from dropping off a friend at her house when a voice within me told me to turn around and go the other way. I could have ignored it and kept driving because there was no logical reason to turn around. But by faith I believed that this voice within me was the Holy Spirit and God wanted me to go the other way for a reason. So I turned around and started going the other direction, having no idea where I was going. I drove until I got to a subdivision called Pritchard Point. My last name is Prichett so, by faith, I believed that God wanted me here for a reason. So I parked my car and walked around the neighborhood, telling people about the Bible. While I was walking a man was walking to his car. I told Him about the Bible, but the man started crying. He was clearly seeing something that I was being made blind to. Then he asked me if I would go with him to Ken Knight Rd to share the gospel with people over there. This particular road is special in some way. First of all because my name is Ken. Second of all because a different situation occurred to me by faith that led me to a place called Knights Inn. And thirdly because I had actually known about this road before he told me. I drove down this road and even wrote about it in my journal because I knew it was special somehow. Now a complete stranger that I approached is asking me to help him share the gospel with people on this very same road. This is what I call faith manifesting itself in a visible way. But none of that would have even happened if I didn’t turn around. It was my act of faith that led to the evidence of the unseen. That following Sunday we went to Ken Knight Rd together and shared the gospel with the people along that road.

After that situation no one can tell me that Spiritual gifts no longer exist. If anything can be learned from my testimony it’s that you will not see any evidence of God's power in your life until you begin to act according to faith.

Verse 11-13- This verse is important because now we see the difference between the 'divine grace' in verse 4 and the manifestations of the Spirit in verse 7. The difference being that the only ones who receive the manifestations of the Spirit are those who have been baptized. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit Peter spoke of in Acts 2:38. Those who confess that Jesus is Lord can receive 'gifts' or divine grace (ability to teach, lead etc.) through the Holy Spirit. But spiritual gifts are manifestations of the Spirit (visible evidence of the truth), that can only be given to those who are baptized.

Verses 15-21- These verses target the argument that many people have today regarding spiritual gifts. Keeping in mind that this metaphor is regarding specific parts of Christ's body and the gifts God has given to each Christian, what God is saying is that we cannot say we have no need of certain manifestations of the Spirit simply because we are not aware of them ourselves.

Verses 23-25- He continues by saying that the weaker parts of Christ's body are given greater gifts so that there is no division in the body.

Verse 28- Now God is telling us where He has placed His Christians. Notice that not all of these are centered around being an elder or a deacon or a preacher at a church. Governments are not based in churches, yet God is saying He has Christians placed there. He has also made it a point to say that He has set people who can perform miracles and gifts of healing in His body, so to say these things are not possible is to disagree with what God has declared.

Verse 31- In this verse Christians are given a command. To covet spiritual gifts. This is another verse that would have to be voided out if there are no spiritual gifts. The words 'covet earnestly' in this verse come from the Greek word 'Zeloo' and is defined as to burn with zeal or to desire earnestly. So in other words God wants us to desire spiritual gifts.

The word 'way' comes from the Greek word 'Hodos'. This word is best defined as a way of thinking, feeling, and deciding or a course of conduct. So this 'way' is how we desire spiritual gifts. And in the next chapter we find out that this way is charity.

1st Corinthians 13

Verse 2- This particular verse points out what the gift of prophecy is. It isn't an ability to predict future events. According to this verse, it's an understanding of the mysteries and knowledge provided in God's Word. This is important to understand as the chapter progresses.

'Charity' comes from the Greek word 'Agape' meaning goodwill and brotherly love.

This mindset of charity goes hand in hand with the spiritual gifts. We show our desire for spiritual gifts by our goodwill towards others. But this may be where many people miss out on a very special relationship with God. If you believe that God doesn't work in our lives with power, although it may be in your heart to be a loving person, God cannot manifest Himself physically in your life. Believing that what God says in His Word about spiritual gifts applies to us today is essential in us being witness to the manifestations of the Spirit. There is a verse that actually warns Christians to avoid people who deny the power that comes along with being a Christian.

2nd Timothy 3:1-8 talks about the kind of people there will be in the last days. But God elaborates on the last characteristic because I personally believe this is the most serious issue for us to take heed to. This is such a powerful verse when you understand the Original words.

The word 'form' comes from the Greek word 'Morphosis' meaning a mere form or semblance.

The word 'godliness' comes from the Greek word 'Eusebeia' meaning reverence towards God.

The word 'power' comes from the Greek word 'Dunamis' which means ability to perform miracles. This is the same word we looked into at the beginning of this study.

The words 'turn away' comes from the Greek word 'Apotrepo' which means to avoid.

So when you understand these words in light of their original meaning, God is telling Christians to avoid people who appear to have a reverence for God, but deny the power that comes along with being a Christian. And has even gone as far as to lump these people in with a long list of characteristics people are going to have in the last days. I think this is so we can all see the importance in our belief in God's power in our lives. God is saying in this verse that to be considered godly you must also accept the power that comes along with being a baptized believer in Jesus. God continues in verse 6-8 by describing people who believe in Jesus but deny God’s power. These are some pretty harsh statements that He makes. If we don’t accept the fact that Christians have spiritual gifts, we run the risk of spending our whole lives studying the Bible without being able to come to a knowledge of the truth. We also run the risk of and becoming reprobates in regard to the faith.

The word ‘reprobate’ comes from the Greek word ‘Adokimos’ meaning ‘not standing the test, not approved, unfit, unproved’.

Nobody wants Jesus to tell them that they are unfit concerning the faith, so it is important that we accept the power that comes along with being a Christian, even though we may not actually see it.

Verse 8-12- These verses seem to be the ones that many people go to justify why there are no spiritual gifts. But if that were true these verses would contradict many other Scripture. Since we know that in God's Word there are no contradictions, the issue has to be with man's interpretation. Let's take a closer look so we can see how these verses harmonize with the Word of God as whole.

Verse 8 does verify that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish. But Verse 9 tells us why they haven't ceased (because we know in part and prophecy in part) and Verse 10 tells us when they will cease (When that which is perfect is come). Verses 11-12 further describe what it will be like when what is perfect comes.

This is where there appears to be some confusion regarding what this perfect thing is. Many people say that it's the Bible, other people say that this is referring to Jesus. But let's allow the Word to speak for itself.

In Verse 9 it's important to understand that us knowing and understanding the Word (prophesying) has nothing to do with the Bible itself. Although we know that the Word is God (John 1:1) and He has made Himself available to us, we could not possibly know everything and understanding everything just by studying the Bible. This is how we know that we still know and understand in part. Because this is talking about what we personally know and understand, not where we get our knowledge and understanding from.

But in Verse 10 we see when we will put away these things.

The word 'perfect' comes from the Greek word 'Teleios' which means 'brought to it's end, finished, mature'.

Since we know from verse 9 that this word perfect is referring to doing away with our partial knowledge and understanding of God, we can better understanding that this perfect thing will be a perfect knowledge and understanding of God. So when this perfect thing comes we wont need knowledge, we won't need understanding, we won't need tongues. Not because we wont be able to do them, but because we will know and understanding everything perfectly.

In Verse 11 God is basically rewording what He just said in verses 8-10 to help us to better understand His point. Let me show you what I mean by putting the key words from verses 8-10 into verse 11.

'When I was a child (in part), I spoke (tongues) as a child (in part), I understood (prophecy) as a child (in part), I thought (knowledge) as a child (in part). But when I became a man (perfect), I put away childish things (tongues, prophecy, knowledge being done away)

This verse is simply verifying that we are understanding His point correctly. And we cannot understand this point He's making properly if we believe that the perfect thing that God is speaking of here is the Bible, or even Jesus. Becoming a man is referring to a perfect understanding of God we will have. Jesus also mentions something that allows us to determine when we will have this perfect understanding.

John 16:21-25- Jesus is talking to His disciples about what will happen when He returns. He tells them a parable about what the experience will be like and tells them on that day they will ask Him nothing because He will show them plainly of God. This explanation agrees with what is said in 1st Corinthians 13. We can put these verses together with everything we have learned so far to understand how what Jesus says matches exactly with what we have learned.

The woman in travail is referring to Christians.

The word 'travail' comes from the Greek word 'Tikto' and has a metaphorical meaning of 'bringing forth'.

This 'bringing forth' that causes sorrow is talking about our constant effort to seek after God and our partial understanding and knowledge of God's Word. I can personally testify to the accuracy of this part of the parable because the more you grow in your understanding of God’s Word the more sorrow you will experience. There are many truths in the Bible that are tough to accept. There's alot that God doesn't allow us to understand for our own good. To truly understand how partial our understanding is causes sorrow, but the joy that will come along with the birth of a man into the world is referring to the perfect understanding we will have.

In verse 22 Jesus equates this joy to when we see Him, And when Jesus says we will no longer remember the anguish He is talking about our partial understanding being done away. He goes on to say that on the day we see Him we will not ask Him anything and will show us God. This is when we will understand everything perfectly. Everything we've studied in the Word fits perfectly together to let us know that our perfect understanding of God will come when Jesus is revealed.

Verse 12 further breaks down what Jesus' return will be like.

The word 'glass' comes from the Greek word 'Esoptron' meaning a mirror.

The word darkly comes from the Greek word 'Ainigma' meaning an obscure saying or thing, enigma, riddle.

These words make it a lot easier to understand that our partial understanding of God is equivalent to looking into an obscure mirror, but when that which is perfect comes it will be equivalent to looking at yourself face to face. He continues by saying that right now we know in part but then our perfect knowledge will be equivalent to knowing yourself just as well as God knows you. This perfect understanding is something that will be unmistakable. When this perfect level of maturity comes there would be no need for the Bible. There would be no need to try to understand it. We will know everything. Since we don’t know everything yet, we will continue to prophesy in part, known in part, and speak in part.

Verse 13- Keeping in mind that this entire chapter was telling us about this more excellent way to desire spiritual gifts; faith, hope and charity are the three ways we show our desire for them. But the chapter talks about charity the most because this is the more excellent way out of the three to show our desire for spiritual gifts. But if you don't acknowledge that spiritual gifts exist you are missing out on the manifestations the Spirit is waiting to reveal to those who have been baptized.

1st Corinthians 14

Verse 1- In this verse we are commanded for the second time to desire spiritual gifts. Again, if there are no spiritual gifts this verse would no longer be a valid commandment.

Verses 2-4- God would rather us desire to prophecy because it edifies, comforts, and encourages others more than speaking in tongues. We know from the previous chapter that the prophesying God is talking about here is referring to an understanding and knowledge of the mysteries of God's Word. And we know from Romans 12 that this particular ability falls into the category of 'divine grace' from God and can be given to anyone who has confessed Christ. So by seeking out these mysteries in His Word and sharing them with others, both Christians and non-Christians can prophesy (understand the Word).

Verse 12- Again we have another verse encouraging us to gain this ability to prophesy.

Verse 37-38-God knows that many people will not believe that these spiritual gifts are possible and I believe this is why this verse is here. Either you can acknowledge that these things regarding spiritual gifts are a commandment of the Lord or you can remain ignorant. Many people remain ignorant regarding these gifts God has given Christians but the danger with that is that you fall into the category of those with a form of godliness who deny its power when you do so.

Verse 39- Again were given another commandment to desire the ability to prophesy and not to forbid speaking in tongues.

I hope that what has been studied here will clear up any issues regarding whether spiritual gifts exist or not. The short answer is that if they do not exist there are many places where the Bible would contradict itself. And that just isn't possible. These spiritual gifts will cease when Christ is revealed. Not because we won't be able to do them, but because we won't need them anymore. We will know everything perfectly.

What Does The Bible Say About Christians?

Christians

There is a whole lot to go over regarding what the Bible says about Christians but I'd like to go into specific things Jesus says about this topic. First off let's go into where the name Christian came from.

Acts 11:25-26- Here is where we get the name Christian from.

The word 'Christian' originates from the Greek word 'Christianos' and means a follower of Jesus Christ.

Jesus never referred to His followers as Christians, but as disciples.

The word 'Disciple' comes from the Greek word 'Mathetes' and it means learner, pupil.

I believe this a very important thing to understand because when Jesus is speaking to His disciples in the Word He isn't just speaking to those who were present when He spoke the words, but to every follower who would eventually read His Word. There were times where He gave the 12 apostles specific instructions but I'd like to point out specific things Jesus says about His disciples that apply to us today. Some of the things He says are difficult to believe but I think we should embrace these Scriptures and try to accept them as best as we can.

John 14:12- This is a very powerful statement Jesus makes about His disciples. From John 21:25 we know that Jesus did so many miracles that the world would not be able to hold the books if they were all written. But Jesus is saying that if we believe in Him we will do even greater things than He did.

Mark 16:17-18- Jesus makes another very bold statement regarding Christians. Although Jesus has said it very plainly here this is a pretty tough thing to accept. But Jesus has said it so we know its true.

John 6:53-57- I believe that this is the one of the most difficult truths to accept. He makes it very clearly that He wasn't talking figuratively or in parables, but literally. And what Jesus is suggesting is pretty outrageous. So outrageous that it caused many of the people who followed Him to turn away from Him in John 6:64-66. This particular truth Jesus reveals is perhaps the most significant because Jesus already knows who is going to be able to accept this truth. And He knows that the ones who can't accept this will be the ones who will betray Him. So I believe it's extremely important to accept what Jesus is saying here, regardless of how impossible it may sound, so we can be counted among His true disciples. In John 6:63 Jesus says that His words are spirit and life. So if we take Jesus at His word what He is saying is that His words that are spoken and read in the flesh, are His flesh and blood that we eat and drink in the spirit.

But the question remains, if all of these things are true, why don't we see them occuring? The answer is found in what we studied in the earlier Bible studies. Since we know that Christians have no sin (1st John 3:9) because we have been made blind (John 9:41), this clears up many questions we have regarding the lack of physical evidence of the things Jesus has declared to be the truth about our circumstances.

Jesus has come into the world to blind His followers from seeing the truth. This is the only Scripture based way that Jesus can be telling us the truth in John 14:12. John 6:53-57, and Mark 16:17-18 while at the same time, making us totally unaware of it. We would not be able to lead a normal life if we were witness to what those verses say. But if you are truly able to understand this, Jesus says that you will be made blind to it. I believe this is why were told in 2nd Corinthians 5:7 that we walk by faith and not by sight.

John 8:31-32- The important thing to note here is that Jesus said we will know the truth, not that we will see the truth. We can put together the things Jesus says and know that seeing the truth is not what will make us free. Seeing the truth is the condemnation. It's knowing and understanding the truth that will make us free. Let's go into more things the Bible says about Christians.

Colossians 3:3-4-If we can accept that Christ has truly blinded us then we can begin to fully understand how powerfully God is working in our lives. If we accept this verse for what it says, Christians are dead and our lives are hidden with Christ.

The word 'hid' in this verse comes from the Greek word 'Krupto' and it means to conceal, to escape notice.

This is such a powerful claim when you understand how this ties into everything else to the Bible teaches. Let's look at some Scripture based examples of how Christians are hidden with Christ.

John 8:59- the same word 'Krupto' is used to describe how He was able to elude the Pharisees that were trying to stone Him. He literally concealed Himself and walked right between them.

The word 'midst' comes from the Greek word 'Mesos' and is defined as the middle

This example of how Jesus escaped also describes Christians.

John 3:5-8- This description of an individual who has been born again describes exactly how Jesus was able to escape the Pharisees in such a impossible way. And if we accept the Word for what it says, Jesus is saying that we are hidden with Him in the same way. Our lives as Christians are nothing but vapor from God's perspective. We appear for a while and vanish without a trace, the same way we don't know where the wind comes from or where it goes. But we don't see any of this because we have been blinded by the life Christ has given us.

There are other Scripture that further describe what Christians are blinded from.

Romans 3:31-

'Void' from this verse comes from the Greek word 'Katargeo' meaning to cause to cease, abolish.

'Establish' comes from the Greek word 'Histemi' meaning to uphold or sustain the authority of.

So according to this verse the law of Moses isn't brought to an end by our faith in Jesus, we actually uphold the law by our belief in Jesus.

John 6:28-29- Jesus gives us more confirmation that we do the work of God by believing in Him. And that work is upholding of the law of Moses. Romans 6:18-22 calls this being a servant of righteousness.

Everything in God's Word lines up perfectly to tell one great big truth about the world we live in as Christians. I hope that God will give anyone who reads this the understanding and the faith to accept the truths we've uncovered in God's Word.

What Does The Bible Say About Faith?

Faith

Hebrews 11:1- Here we are given the definition of faith according to God. But what does that mean exactly?

The word 'substance' in this verse comes from the Greek Word 'Hupostasis' which is best defined as confidence, assurance, firm trust.

According to this definition, faith is something that you feel inwardly and something that can be physically seen.

Romans 10:17- Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. So the more confidence we have in God's Word the more evidence we we see that God's Word is true. We can take this understanding of what faith is to see what part faith plays in how many of the miracles Jesus did were performed.

John 1:1,14- Jesus is the Word in the flesh so He had more confidence in God's power than any person who ever walked the earth. Although He performed many miracles He admitted many times that it wasn't Him who did the miracles. Keeping in mind the definition of faith, John 14:10 and John 5:19 are good examples that show us that it wasn't Jesus who did the miracles, but His confidence in God's ability to perform the miracles that made them visible, or in other words, His faith.

Jesus demonstrated this many times by allowing people to be healed by their own faith. Let's look at some examples.

Matthew 9:19-22- I'm sure most people know about this story. But I think there's a lesson about faith we can learn from this. Since we know that faith is the confidence of things hoped for, she showed her faith inwardly by believing whole-heartedly that if she could touch Jesus she would be healed. When Jesus saw her thoughts He made it a point to say that her own confidence in God's ability to heal her is what made her whole and not necessarily Jesus Himself. The physical evidence of the unseen was her being healed of her issue of blood.

Matthew 8:5-13- The centurion displayed his confidence in God by telling Jesus that He didn't even need to be there for his servant to be healed. As a result his servant was healed according to his own belief. There are many other times where Jesus said this. You can see for yourself in the following verses.

Matthew 15:22-28, Mark 5:34, Mark 10:52, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, Luke 18:42.

Jesus did many great things while He walked the Earth, but even after He left the Earth many miracles were performed.

Acts 3:12-16- After a lame man is healed, Peter also made it point to say that faith in the name of Jesus healed the lame man, and not Peter himself.

We dont see miracles these days because there is a lack of faith. People will probably laugh at you if you claim to have seen a miracle. But according to Scripture if our confidence in God is strong enough, Christians can do the same things Jesus did (John 14:12). The Bible also talks about how our lack of faith can hinder God's visible prescense in our lives.

Matthew 13:54-58- This is an interesting set of verses. Jesus went to His hometown and preached but many people there didn't think He was credible because they knew His family and where He was brought up. And since they didn't believe Him He didn't do many miracles.

Mark 6:5-6- In this account of the same situation we get a clearer picture of why Jesus didn't perform miracles among the people He grew up with. It wasn't because He didn't want to. It was because He couldn't. According to this account our own unbelief hinders God's power. Let's go to another example of this.

Matthew 14:24-31- Jesus teaches us another lesson by having Peter walk on the water towards Him. Peter began to sink into the water, not because Jesus didn't have the power to hold him up, but because he was doing it by his own confidence. When his faith began to waver he began to sink.

From 2nd Timothy 2:13 we know that even though we are faithless at times, Jesus is always faithful. In Matthew 14:31 we know that when we doubt and begin to sink, Jesus will immediately catch us. But Jesus wants us to stand on our own.

What Does the Bible Say About The End?

End Times

Let's take an in-depth look into what the Bible says about the End times. There are alot of different beliefs floating around about the end times, but let's stay grounded in the Word as we seek out the truth.

Matthew 24:15-22-This abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place is what begins the great tribulation. God's elect are the true Christians and this is saying that they will go through this. The days will be shortened for their sakes but according to this there will be no pretribulation rapture.

Revelation 6 is describing what the Great Tribulation will be like. Many things Jesus says in Matthew 24 lines up with Revelation 6.

Matthew 24:29/Revelation 6:12-14- These verses are describing the same event. So we can read Revelation 6 knowing that it is refering to the Great Tribulation.

Matthew 24:29-31- According to this Scripture the church will be gathered from the earth immediately after the great tribulation. This fits in perfectly with what is written in Revelation 7.

Revelation 7:2-4- According to these verses the 144,000 were sealed while the church is gathered from the earth. We know this by reading down further in the chapter.

Revelation 7:9-14- These are God's elect that Jesus prophesied about in Matthew 24..A great multitude of people will be saved by going through the great tribulation and in this verse we see where God's elect are being taken while the 144,000 are being sealed. According to these Scriptures 144,000 descendants from the tribes of Israel are being left behind. Since God said not to cause any harm to anyone until the servants of God are sealed and in Revelation 9:4 the things that happened only happened to those who didn't have the seal of God, we can safely conclude that those people were sealed so that they wouldn't be harmed by the things that we're getting ready to happen on the Earth.

There is more evidence of where God's elect will be gathered by putting these verses together.

Revelation 7:15-17/Revelation 21:1-4- These verses allow us to put together that after the Great Tribulation, God's elect will be gathered together in the new heaven and earth.

Revelation 8-9- After God's elect are taken from the Earth and the 144,000 servants of God are sealed, the 7 trumpets begin to sound causing all kinds of bad things to happen. The only ones who go through this are those who aren't God's elect so we should never see any of these things occur, but there are some important things to note.

The three woes are the three last trumpets.

The first woe is depicted in Revelation 9:1-12. This is describing a very terrible situation but as we go through Revelation you are going to begin to see that the reason that these bad things are happening is for everyone to repent. By Revelation 9:20-21 the first woe has passed and the second woe is underway, but God makes a point to let us know that the only ones who are still on the Earth at this point are the ones who still havent repented.

The second woe begins in Revelation 9:13 and concludes in Revelation 11:14. A third of mankind is killed by angels and thousands of horsemen (Revelation 9:13-19) and the only people who survive are those who didn't repent (Revelation 9:20-21). After this time stops (Revelation 10:6) and this is where things begin to get complicated.

In Revelation 10:7 we are told that when the seventh trumpet will begin to sound, time will be no more. And that these will be the days when the mystery of God is finished and declared to God's servants. This is refering to the Bible being made available to all of us. There is plenty of evidence in the Bible that confirms why this is true. Romans 16:25-26 and Colossian 1:25-27 are perfect examples of why the Bible is the complete revelation of the mystery of God.

The second woe comes to an end when the two witnesses are sent out to prophesy for 1290 days with the power of God (Revelation 11:3). They are eventually killed (Revelation 11:7), resurrected three days later (Revelation 11:11), and ascend into heaven (Revelation 11:12). This resulted in many people giving glory to God, probably causing many to believe the testimony of the two witnesses.

This striking simliarity between Christ's death, resurrection, and ascention brings up an interesting revelation. These two witnesses were also killed in the same place where Jesus was crucified (Revelation 11:8), which suggests who these two people may have been.

Luke 23:39-43- Jesus was on the cross with these two criminals and told them they would be with Him in paradise. These verses suggest that the two criminals on the cross with Jesus are the two witnesses. I'm certainly not saying that I know for sure, I'm just making a speculation based on the facts that are given.

The third woe begins when the final trumpet sounds. When this happens the kingdoms of the earth will become the kingdom of God (Revelation 11:15). We will all be changed as well. There is scripture supporting this in 1st Corinthians 15:51-54.

The third woe begins in Revelation 11:15 and continues all the way to Revelation 20:10 when the devil is cast into hell. This final woe is centered around the devil starting a war in heaven (Revelation 12:7-9), being cast down to Earth (Revelation 12:12) and going to war with those who believe in Jesus (Revelation 12:17).

This war with the saints starts by the beast coming from the bottomless pit (Revelation 13:1). Satan gives him his power (Revelation 13:2) for 42 months (Revelation 13:5) and causes everyone who's name isn't written in the book of life to worship the beast (Revelation 13:8). After this another beast causes everyone who will not worship the beast to be killed.

So if we pay close attention to how the Scriptures fit together we can begin to get a time line concerning the End Times:

Abomination of Desolation starts the Great Tribulation (Matt 24:15-22)
The Great tribulation plays out as depicted in Revelation 6.
Immediately after the Great Tribulation God's elect are gathered together by angels (Matthew 24:29-31)
God's angels seal the remaining 144,000 servants of God on their foreheads. (Revelation 7:2-4)
God's elect are with Him in heaven (Revelation 7:9-14)
7 trumpets sound that begins the three woes upon the Earth. (Revelation 8-9)
Time stops (Revelation 10:6)
The mystery of God is brought to an end (Revelation 10:7)
Two witnesses prophesy for 1260 days (Revelation 11:3-4)
The 7th trumpet sounds and the kingdoms of the Earth become the kingdom of God (Revelation 11:15)
The devil and his angels start a war in heaven, are cast out of heaven and pursues after those who keep the commandments of God.(Revelation 12)
The beast rises out of the bottomless pit (Revelation 13:1/Revelation 17:8)
The two witnesses are killed by the beast (Revelation 11:7)
Everyone who's name isn't in the book of life worships the beast and gets the mark of the beast. (Revelation 13)
Those who got the victory over the beast stand on a sea of glass and fire with harps while the wrath of God is getting ready to be poured out. (Revelation 15)
God's wrath is poured out on everyone who received the mark of the beast (Revelation 16)
The city of Babylon is judged (Revelation 17-18)
Jesus returns to Earth with His armies (Revelation 19)
Satan is bound for 1000 years (Revelation 20:2-3)
Those who didn't receive the mark of the beast reign with Christ for 1000 years (Revelation 20:4)
Those who received the mark of the beast are resurrected after the 1000 year reign (Revelation 20:5)
Satan is released to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:7-8)
The whole world is judged according to their works (Revelation 20:11-15)
The first heaven and earth passes away and a new heaven and earth is revealed. (Revelation 21)
And we all live happily ever after (Revelation 22)

Now the first question many will ask is where are we along this timeline. Well there are many Scriptures that clue us in.

Lets start by searching the Scriptures about the abomination of desolation.

We know from Matthew 24 that the abomination that causes desolation will be who begins the great tribulation. But we get a clearer picture of who the abomination of desolation is in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-9. The description we get of the son of perdition is identical to the abomination of desolation.

The word 'desolation' is a direct translation that comes from the Greek word 'Eremosis' which is defined as devastation.

The word 'perdition' comes from the Greek word 'Apoleia' meaning utter destruction.

So the descriptions are similar. We can gather more comparisons between these two people by doing more digging.

The description of the son of perdition in 2nd Thessalonians 2:4 is the same description given of the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15. We can make the connection between these two verses by where the dialogue in Matthew 24 took place. In Matthew 24:1-2 Jesus tells His disciples about the abomination of desolation standing at the very place the end would begin. We know this because the temple Jesus said would be destroyed was the same temple spoken of in 2nd Thessalonians 2:4.

Now that we have scriptural evidence that the son of perdition is the abomination of desolation we can learn more about this person.

John 17:12- From this verse we learn that the son of perdition is actually the only child of God who was lost. This verse gives us even more verification that the 'son' of perdition is an abomination. Because this particular child of God is going to exalt himself above God. From this verse we can also gather that the son of perdition is Judas. In this passage of Scripture Jesus was speaking to the 12 disciples He was present with. This is verified in John 18:8-9 when Jesus was being taken. So this is how we can come to the conclusion that Judas is the son of perdition. There is even more verification at the last supper.

John 13:4-8- Jesus washed all twelve of the disciples feet. This was significant in a way that only those particular disciples will understand. Jesus said that if He didn't wash their feet they would have no part with Him. The reason I'm bringing this up is because of Judas. Although Judas betrayed Jesus, He still washed his feet, so whatever Jesus did for the other disciples, He did for Judas as well, further verifying that although Judas betrayed Jesus, he is still a child of God.

John 13:26-28 As this chapter progresses Jesus hands Judas the morsel of bread and Satan enters into Him. Nobody knows why Jesus said what He said then but we can search the Scripture and understand why He said that. Since we have Scriptural evidence that Judas is the son of perdition we can begin to understand why Jesus said what He said to Satan. The obvious thing was that Jesus was betrayed because of Satan but what is not so obvious is the connection between what Jesus says to Satan and what is said in 2nd Thessalonians.

2nd Thessalonians 2:9-10- Now that we know that the abomination of desolation is the son of perdition and the son of perdition is Judas we can see what Satan is told to do. This verse also gives us greater insight into another character in the Bible.

Revelation 13:1-9-These verses describe what is said in 2nd Thessalonians about the son of perdition.

Revelation 17:8- The beast that is being described here is the same one from Revelation 13. This verse puts everything together. From this verse we see how the beast is the son of perdition and the abomination of desolation. Since we know Judas killed himself we see here what is going to happen to him. The bottomless pit is in the sea. He comes out of the bottomless pit to go into perdition. The perdition is that he goes to war against Jesus and the saints.

Revelation 19:19-20/ 2nd Thessalonians 2:8- It's really sad to see that this is Judas' fate. But I don't believe that his situation is hopeless. There is an Old Testament Scripture that points out who is to blame more clearly.

Isaiah 14:12-20- Isaiah also prophesied about the abomination of desolation. From these Old Testament scriptures we can gather that Lucifer (son of the morning) is the one who will ultimately be responsible. These verses make what is said in 2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8 a little more clear. Judas is the one who will be taken out of the way to reveal who is truly responsible. This actually opens up a whole new series of questions. If Lucifer is the wicked that will be revealed when Judas is taken out of the way, then Satan must be a separate entity who will be assisting him for all these Scriptures to be true.

Now that we know that the abomination of desolation is the beast we can get a better understanding of where we are in this timeline.

Matthew 24:34- If we take Jesus at His word and accept that the generation He walked the Earth with over 2000 years ago will not pass away until the great tribulation occurs and God's elect are gathered together, then what Jesus is suggesting is that the great tribulation has already occurred and God's elect have already been gathered from the Earth. If this is true then the 144,000 servants of God have already been sealed and many generations have passed.

This raises some pretty interesting questions. If the abomination of desolation is the beast how could it rise out of the bottomless pit to begin the great tribulation if it doesn't happen until the devil goes to war in the kingdom of heaven? Well there is more Scripture to help us out.

Matthew 11:11-15- This verse puts the time the devil and his angels start a war in heaven at the same time John the Baptist walked the earth. There are two more verses that verify this to be a fact. John 12:31 and John 14:30 allow us to draw the conclusion that the devil was cast out of kingdom of heaven and brought down to Earth when Jesus was crucified. These verses about John also bring up some interesting things I'd also like to go into.

John became the least in the kingdom in heaven although he was the greatest because he failed to prophesy and as a result there was a war in the kingdom of heaven. The verse continues by saying that John the Baptist was Elias. We get more verification in Matthew 17:10-13. Another thing worth mentioning is that John did not know that he was Elias. Since we have hard evidence that John was Elias in Matthew 17 we can gather from what happens in John 1:19-22 that John did not know that he was Elias. There's another verse that puts another piece of the puzzle together in Revelation.

Revelation 10:11- Many people believe this book was written by the same John who wrote the book of John but this verse suggests that it was John the Baptist. This angel says that John must prophesy before many people. If we look at the timeline John was told to do this after time stopped, after the mystery of God was over, and before the devil made war in the kingdom of heaven. This fits in perfectly to tell us that John the Baptist is the one who wrote this book and was told to prophesy. He failed to do so and as a result the two witnesses were sent in his place and a war started in the kingdom of heaven. All of this occurring while Jesus walked the Earth.

Since we know from Revelation 10:6 that time itself ceases to be before this war occurs, we have to suspend disbelief and logic to wrap our head around what's happening. Since many things in Revelation appear to be occuring while Jesus walked the earth we can get a better idea of what it means for time to be no more. We could never possibly understand God's ways but He has left evidence in His Word to help us comprehend what He is capable of. So if we have Scriptural evidence that the kingdom of heaven is under attack at the same time Jesus is walking the earth, then its perfectly reasonable to assume that the beast rises from the bottomless pit in the same generation Jesus walked the earth because this would have to be the case for Jesus to be telling the truth.

So now that we have gathered the evidence we can begin to determine where we are on the timeline.

Ephesians 6:11-13 tells us that we battle against spiritual wickedness in high places and to put on the armor of God. The devil was cast down when Jesus was crucified so this heavenly war is still being waged. Since we know many years have passed since the generation Jesus said all these things must come to pass (Matthew 24:34) we're going to have to come to grips with the fact that for that verse to be true Jesus must have already gathered His elect and the only Christians remaining on earth are descendants of the 144,000 servants of God. The mystery of God has already been completed (Revelation 10:7) because we all have access to the Bible. And if that has happened then time has ceased (Revelation 10:6). So if we suspend logic, think about God's ability to make anything possible, and are completely true to what we've found in the Word, everything that occurs from the 7th trumpet beginning to sound to the very end is occuring in God's eternal present tense, independent from time itself. And since we have Scriptural evidence that events that occur after time has stopped are running parallel to events that have happened in the past then we can make some pretty wild, yet accurate conclusions, the most important of them being that in this timeless state we can still be gathered from the Earth with those who were gathered in Jesus' generation, even though we are descendants of the 144,000 who were sealed. With God all things are possible, so I'd like you to entertain the truth that the Word is revealing. That we are all living in a world without time. That were not waiting on Jesus to return, were waiting for Jesus to be revealed. Colossians 3:3-4 describes this by saying that our lives are hidden with Christ, and when He appears, we'll appear with Him. I'd just like to add that I am in no way forcing my opinion on you, adding to, or taking away from what God's Word is saying. I'm simply accepting what's written and putting the facts together to arrive at these conclusions and I hope that whoever reads this will do the same.

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