And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. " (Revelation 22:17)

Abraham begot Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born of a bondwoman. Ishmael was already 14 years old when Isaac was born. Ishmael persecuted Isaac, who was born by a freewoman. Who actually had the right of succession? Isaac, who was born by the freewoman Sarah, had the right of succession. Isaac had the right of succession and was approved even though Ishmael was older and stronger in the flesh than Isaac was. Why? Isaac was born after the word of God.

Faith that is established by human thought is like a sandcastle. People can be born again only when they learn the truth of God’s word and believe it. “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:9-10).

What do these passages mean? Do the passages indicate the state of human beings BEFORE being born again or AFTER being born again? We were all sinners before we were born again. “There is none righteous” was the state of human beings BEFORE Jesus blotted out all the sins of the world.

What do the Scriptures say about the rapture? The Scriptures clearly tell us that only the children of God who have been born again of the water and the Spirit will be raptured. Concerning this number 144,000, which is recorded in the Book of Revelation, is the number referring to the number of people from ‘each Israelite tribe’ who will be receiving salvation at the end time (Revelation 7:4).

And the number of the Gentiles who eventually receive salvation during the Great Tribulation will be COUNTLESS as it is recorded, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). People generally come to a false and senseless conclusion because they interpret the Scriptures anyway they want to.

One thing the bible is very clear about is that a person with sin in their hearts WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE RAPTURED regardless of their denomination.

IF WE DO THINGS BY THE LAW, CAN IT SAVE US?

Luke 10:25-30 > “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?’ So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And He said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.’

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Then Jesus answered and said: ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.’”

IF WE DO THINGS BY THE LAW, CAN IT SAVE US?

Luke 10:25-30 > “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?’ So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And He said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.’

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Then Jesus answered and said: ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.’”

IF WE DO THINGS BY THE LAW, CAN IT SAVE US?

Luke 10:25-30 > “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?’ So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And He said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.’

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Then Jesus answered and said: ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.’”

DEMON-POSSESSED CHRISTIANS

Why is it that so many people come to be possessed by demons even though they try to receive the Holy Spirit? Because they receive demons through the laying on of hands from false prophets.

Surprisingly, we can see many believers in Jesus whose bodies and souls have gone to ruin because they received demons through the laying on of hands from false prophets. These people have nothing to do with God because their faith doesn’t rest in the words of the Bible. They’re busily using up their power not knowing that their services are causing many people to be Satan’s servants. Why do they work so hard in performing their powers in Christianity? Because so-called powers of theirs will soon disappear if they don’t use them. This is why they become very busy.

Those who believe in eschatology with their own man made set of deadlines interpret the number 144,000 recorded in the Book of Revelation as believers of their own respected denominations. Some denominations in this world even hand out identification cards as a proof of the ones ‘chosen to be raptured’. And some of these groups have already passed membership beyond that number, and if that were the case, it means that they no longer need to evangelize.

These man made claims do not make any sense at all. Even the amongst the Evangelicals there is much confusion about the rapture. We must simply believe exactly according to the recorded Word in the Scriptures.

How invigorating it is to come down after mountain prayers! Like a refreshing breeze, or like a spring rain sprinkling over trees and flowers, their souls are filled with peace and the grace of the Almighty. Feeling purer than the spirit of the mountain, they face the world wearing their special new garments. But as soon as they get back to their house and church, and start living again, the garments get dirty and begin to wear out.

Their friends ask, “Where have you been?” “Well, I have been away for a while.” “You look like you lost some weight!” “Well, yes, but that’s another story.” They never divulge that they fasted, they just go to church and pray. “I shall never lust after women. I shall never lie. I shall not covet my neighbor’s house. I shall love all people.” But the moment they see a beautiful bosomy woman with slim legs, the holiness in their hearts changes instantly into pure lust. “Look how short that skirt is! Skirts are getting shorter and shorter! I’ve got to see those legs again! Oh! No! Oh, Lord! I have sinned again!”

That is how both the northern and southern kingdoms ended up turning into nations of collective heresy, and through the work of Satan, this faith of idolatry was passed all the way down to Christians living in the age of the New Testament.

In other words, by making even today’s Christians serve idols, Satan has turned them into collective heretics. The people of Israel had fallen into the sin of idolatry, and as this very same sin has prevailed even in today’s Christianity, it has rendered even those who believe in God’s love to be accursed. Like this, the collective heresy begun by Jeroboam continues to prosper and grow in today’s Christianity, but few Christians actually realize this.

.

God commands the angels to gather all God’s elect from one end of the earth to the other. The words ‘God’s elect’ refers to those who have received salvation by believing in the only true gospel of the water and the blood of Jesus Christ in their hearts. God is doing this to fulfill His objective of accepting them as His children and to eventually live with them for all eternity. These words of God means that after the Tribulation He will send the angels to gather all the elect in Christ, those who have received salvation and eternal life and become sinless children of God by believing in His gospel of the water and the blood, and then rapture them all.

Those who have been born again will definitely be raptured after the Tribulation. Even though you may have never experienced flying in a plane, God will have you flying at high speed at that time. All the overweight people will be raptured and including the underweight people will be raptured as well. The born-again will be raptured regardless of their weight. The Scriptures tell us that ‘only’ the children of God who have been born again of water and the Spirit will be raptured.

Whenever I begin to talk about God, there are those who say, “Oh, dear! Please don’t talk to me about God. Every time I try to do something, sin spills out of me. It just floods out. I can’t even take a step without spilling sin all over the place. I can’t help it. I am too full of sin. I am quite hopeless. So don’t even talk to me about the holy God.” This person knows for sure that he/she is just a mass of sin, but does not know that God has saved him/her completely through the gospel of His love. Only those who know themselves to be masses of sin can be saved.

In fact, everyone is like that. Everyone continuously spills sin everywhere he/she goes. Sin just overflows because all people are masses of sin. The only way for us to be saved from such an existence is through the power of God. Is it not simply amazing? Those who spill sin whenever they are upset, happy, or even comfortable can be saved only through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save us. He has completely blotted out all your sins. Admit that you are a mass of sin and be saved

Whenever I begin to talk about God, there are those who say, “Oh, dear! Please don’t talk to me about God. Every time I try to do something, sin spills out of me. It just floods out. I can’t even take a step without spilling sin all over the place. I can’t help it. I am too full of sin. I am quite hopeless. So don’t even talk to me about the holy God.” This person knows for sure that he/she is just a mass of sin, but does not know that God has saved him/her completely through the gospel of His love. Only those who know themselves to be masses of sin can be saved.

In fact, everyone is like that. Everyone continuously spills sin everywhere he/she goes. Sin just overflows because all people are masses of sin. The only way for us to be saved from such an existence is through the power of God. Is it not simply amazing? Those who spill sin whenever they are upset, happy, or even comfortable can be saved only through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save us. He has completely blotted out all your sins. Admit that you are a mass of sin and be saved

Whenever I begin to talk about God, there are those who say, “Oh, dear! Please don’t talk to me about God. Every time I try to do something, sin spills out of me. It just floods out. I can’t even take a step without spilling sin all over the place. I can’t help it. I am too full of sin. I am quite hopeless. So don’t even talk to me about the holy God.” This person knows for sure that he/she is just a mass of sin, but does not know that God has saved him/her completely through the gospel of His love. Only those who know themselves to be masses of sin can be saved.

In fact, everyone is like that. Everyone continuously spills sin everywhere he/she goes. Sin just overflows because all people are masses of sin. The only way for us to be saved from such an existence is through the power of God. Is it not simply amazing? Those who spill sin whenever they are upset, happy, or even comfortable can be saved only through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save us. He has completely blotted out all your sins. Admit that you are a mass of sin and be saved

On the other hand, we can see that the personalities of demonpossessed people have been terribly destroyed. Satan controls them and bends them to his will because they think that things like shivering and speaking in tongues are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, these experiences are definitely not the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are so many ministers who are proud of their powers such as making prophecies in God’s name, being capable of performing many wonders and speaking in tongues. But if they still have SIN in their hearts, then their powers are DECISIVE EVIDENCE to the fact that they are demon-possessed. Therefore, they can’t give the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to others, but can only give that of demons.

Also, because Satan is deceitful, the miracle they have performed runs out very easily in a short period of time. There is a clear difference between the work of the Holy Spirit and that of a demon. Even though it may seem as if the work of the Holy Spirit offers no particular experiences or wonderful gifts in the beginning, as times go on, God’s power grows in the hearts of the righteous incessantly like the rising sun in the morning.

We must understand what the Lord is saying to us about the things that will happen after the tribulation through the Word, which is recorded in Scripture. The Lord says through Paul, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall alwaLord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

The Word states clearly that the signs of the Lord’s coming will appear after the Tribulation with the sun losing its light and heat, the moon also will give up its light, and the stars will fall away. The Scriptures also tell us that He will descend upon this world with the archangels and the sound of the trumpet, and send the angels to gather God’s elect from the ends of the earth. Here the word “to gather” really means the “rapture.” When we look at this, we can see that our Lord will rapture us after the Tribulation when the end is very near.ys be with the

Whenever such people call out to the Lord, it is to confess their sins. They bite their lips and call out to God, “Go~d!” and keep making up new garments every day. Then, what happens when they get tired of it? Once or twice a year, they go up to the mountains and fast. They try and make stronger and more hard-wearing garments. “Lord, please wash away my sins. Please make me anew. I believe in You, Lord.”

They think it better to pray at night. So, they rest during the daytime and as soon as darkness falls, they hang on to trees with all their might, or go into dark caves and cry out to God. “Lord, I believe!” “♪I repent and fill my heart with a contrite mind♪” They pray loudly and shout, “I believe.” In this way they make special garments which they hope to last a long time, but they never do.

HOWEVER, GOD CAN MAKE US RIGHTEOUS

However, God can perfectly save us even if a human being can’t. God can cleanse our consciences and make us confess that we are righteous and that He is our Father and our Savior. You have to know that faith begins from believing in the true word with your heart. It begins with the word of the truth. We are made righteous by believing in the true word with our hearts. We can never be made righteous by the deeds of the flesh.

However, those who are not born again cannot freethemselves from their own thoughts because they are locked in their thoughts. They can never say they are righteous because they think with carnal minds. On the contrary, faith by which we can say we are righteous begins with knowing the truth of God’s word. If you really want to be born again, you can surely be born again only by hearing the true word through a concretely born again person because the Spirit in the born again saint pleases to work with the truth and “searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).


People can be born again when they hear the word of God through the righteous because the Spirit dwells within the righteous, who have been born again. I want you to bear it in mind. You have to meet the righteous, who are born again, if you want to receive the grace of being born again.

Having inheriting Abraham’s faith, the people of Israel had kept their faith in God as their Savior until the days of King David. However, from the days of David’s son Solomon, they came to serve idols against God’s wish, and as a result, they drifted far away from the God of Truth and justice. At that time, on account of King Solomon’s sin of idolatry, God tore ten tribes from the twelve tribes of Israel and handed them over to Jeroboam. Israel was therefore split into two separate kingdoms.

However, Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom, feared that his people would return to the southern kingdom where the Temple was located, and to prevent this, he made two golden calves for the people to worship in place of God, and he also changed the sacrificial system that had been instituted by God. As a result, the northern kingdom of Israel turned into a nation of collective heresy serving idols before God.

THE RAPTURE

The Apostle Paul says in the First Thessalonians chapter 4 that our Lord will rapture the believers with the sound of the trumpet of the archangel. It says that the believers will be lifted up to the sky. Let us now look at the 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 together:

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will DESCEND FROM HEAVEN with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the CLOUDS to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. " (Revelation 22:17)

People’s fingers are defiled with iniquity and all they do throughout their lives is sinful. Everything they do is evil. And our tongues ‘have spoken lies.’ All the things that come out of our mouths are lies. “When a devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources” (John 8:44).

Those who are not born again like to say, “I am telling you the truth.... I am really telling you. What I am saying is the truth....” However, everything that they say is nevertheless a lie. It is as it is written. “When a devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources.” People put their trust in empty words and speak lies.

People conceive evils and bring forth iniquities. They hatch vipers’eggs and weave spiders’ webs. God says, “He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.” He says that there are vipers’ eggs in your heart. Vipers’ eggs! There is evil in your heart. That’s why we have to be redeemed by believing in the gospel of the water and the blood

People’s fingers are defiled with iniquity and all they do throughout their lives is sinful. Everything they do is evil. And our tongues ‘have spoken lies.’ All the things that come out of our mouths are lies. “When a devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources” (John 8:44).

Those who are not born again like to say, “I am telling you the truth.... I am really telling you. What I am saying is the truth....” However, everything that they say is nevertheless a lie. It is as it is written. “When a devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources.” People put their trust in empty words and speak lies.

People conceive evils and bring forth iniquities. They hatch vipers’eggs and weave spiders’ webs. God says, “He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.” He says that there are vipers’ eggs in your heart. Vipers’ eggs! There is evil in your heart. That’s why we have to be redeemed by believing in the gospel of the water and the blood

People’s fingers are defiled with iniquity and all they do throughout their lives is sinful. Everything they do is evil. And our tongues ‘have spoken lies.’ All the things that come out of our mouths are lies. “When a devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources” (John 8:44).

Those who are not born again like to say, “I am telling you the truth.... I am really telling you. What I am saying is the truth....” However, everything that they say is nevertheless a lie. It is as it is written. “When a devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources.” People put their trust in empty words and speak lies.

People conceive evils and bring forth iniquities. They hatch vipers’eggs and weave spiders’ webs. God says, “He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.” He says that there are vipers’ eggs in your heart. Vipers’ eggs! There is evil in your heart. That’s why we have to be redeemed by believing in the gospel of the water and the blood

However, people who have the true indwelling of the Holy Spirit have received Him by BELIEVING in the BIBLICAL TRUTH that says that Jesus cleansed all the sins of world through His baptism and death on the Cross. These people also help others know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and help them receive the remission of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They themselves try to live in a righteous way, and their personalities are so pleasant and sound as to lead others to the blessed faith of God and to the kind of life God wants.

Now and then God reproaches them in order to keep them sacred when their minds intend to turn back to the world. The righteous who have received the remission of all sins are definitely different from people whose personalities have been destroyed by evil spirits. True personality comes alive again if one receives the remission of sins and thereby receives the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, the righteous are deeply worried about others under unfavorable circum- stances, about what they truly need in God’s words, praying for them to be delivered, and actually offering self-sacrifices to help them.

When the gospel is shared even to the ends of the earth and all those who ‘deserve’ the receiving of salvation have received their salvation, then the Lord will completely demolish and send the host of angels with the sounds of the trumpet to bring together the chosen people from one end of the earth to the other. It means that the Lord will send the host of angels after the seventh trumpet sound following the tribulation to gather all the elect from the ends of the earth. There will be this glorious rapture on earth then.

The rapture will occur with the coming of the Lord upon this world when the Lord returns with the sound of the trumpet and of the archangel. It means that the Lord will lift the believers up to Him in the sky then. The stars of the sky will fall toward the earth like unguided missiles, and huge tidal waves and other disasters will then take place, making the earth an extremely difficult place to live in. God also said that He would return to this world after the Tribulation and rapture the righteous who had lived through and survived all these disasters as well as the believers who are already dead. This is the time when the rapture will occur.

Why would the believers be lifted up to the sky? It is because this land will no longer be suitable for human habitation. How can we live on this land after such decimation? Of course the Lord could renew the whole universe just simply saying these words, “Let there be a renewal of the universe” like the time when He had created the world. But the Lord says that the only the true believers will be raptured at that time.