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Preface
Not unlike the rest of the Bible, The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, a.k.a., the Book of the Revelation, represents a Book which (ironically!) has in fact never been taught. That’s right! The best known Book in America, or, the world, for that matter! The best selling Book of all time, taught from, talked about; having schools, colleges and universities established around it, yet, no one can teach it, in its entirety, faithfully. Their many, many books, prophecy conferences and seminars, etc., notwithstanding, its prophecies, particularly the Revelation of Jesus Christ, are a mystery still to even the best of minds among evangelical/fundamentalists of all brands, Pentecostals, catholics and jehovah’s witnesses (in fact, as we illustrate in the book “The Mystery: Christ Jesus”, even Him who is the center of all prophecy, the Captain and Chief Architect of our Faith, is a “mystery” to those who should know Him best!). And, what is worse still, the average of all Christians are therefore totally ignorant of the fact that—between the prophecies of the Old Testament (OT) and all those of the New Testament (NT), including the Book of the Revelation—no single theme occupied more the teachings of Jesus Christ our Savior, than did the subject of eschatology (i.e., the study of end-times events). Without diminishing the value of any other, we can safely conclude therefore that the issue of end-times events and all that that involves represents a matter that is (particularly in these last days) uppermost in His thinking. Thus, He wanted and expects that His saints should be so apprised. Anyone contemplating a serious study of the Apocalypse, in writing, may well think within himself that he (or, she) cannot, given the evident enormity of the potential for problems of interpretation, as well as for colossal errors. And, to a degree in so thinking, he may in fact ‘think’ well. There will be tremendous problems to work (and think!) through; huge challenges to surmount; daunting hurdles to climb up and over; tiny, virtually imperceptible dots of information and truth that must, no less, be perceived, borne out and connected. God did not make, nor did He intend, that this Book should be easy, any more than unlocking the secrets of the inner workings His universe has been (just ask the physicists! By the grace of God, their baffled and confused brains succumbed in time to the weight of a firm understanding down to the very pillars of the universe, upon which understanding is built our modern world, with all of its amenities and conveniences.). He did, however, leave us this word of encouragement, in our quest for enlightenment, as we struggle to understand His prophetic statements: “Now, faith is the foundation (a setting or a standing under, i.e., the support) of the things we hope for (as we are inspired and moved by the word and promises of God), the evidence (or, the proof—of those things for which we hope) not being seen. It was on the basis of this kind of faith the elders bore witness (they testified)” (Heb. 11:1-2). Thus we conclude then that faith is itself the stand, the support, the confidence and conviction that we place under these things that God has told us, the promises He has given, as we harbor and nurture them with expectation (or, a virtual longing) within our hearts, lifting them high in the face of a doubting, God/Christ rejecting world, although we may have no (tangible, visible) evidence and proof.
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For saints living between the days of the patriarchs and approximately the year 1900 and for those who live still today in otherwise un-, or underdeveloped countries, the foregoing might have been the sum total of “faith” for them. Faith for all such was/is hard work. His sensibilities taxed to the limits, it was/is tough trying to justify belief in something, or, Some One for which or, for Whom there was/is no quantifiable evidence or record, beyond the Bible, word of the Living God. For those of us living in highly industrialized American, and the European nations, God’s definition is not necessarily applicable, in its entirety, at all points, as we shall see here, and throughout this study. We have been marvelously blessed to live in a time, a day, and a country wherein we can see and perceive the “unthinkable”—particularly those formerly unthinkable things which up two one hundred ten years ago, were not only unthinkable, they were so “untenable” as to be downright ludcrous. Unlike those unfortunate saints of old, or, those who live primitively even in these modern times, the educated, industrialized saint is not at all without justification, having been blessed with a watershed of evidences in confirmation of the word of God, based upon which to bolster the faith that supports and holds high the things and promises that he is to parade before ears, eyes and hearts of hungry, thirsty souls, in an otherwise lost and rapidly dying world. It is on the solid footing of this basis then, therefore, that we assert, circumnavigation (bypassing) and ignorance of the Book of the Revelation, or the issues it raises (or any other prophetic statement), contrary to popular church culture, is not an option! God has an enormous amount of end-times information stored in all of the ancient “zipped files” of the OT & NT prophecies that He wants His people to know, based upon which we are to order our own lives, waiting expectantly with great anticipation in these latter days, as we share and pass them on to others. His word in whatever form is not a smorgasbord, where one can walk up and pick and choose what he wants—“what’s best for me”, or “what meets my needs”—only to discard the rest. To do so is to make one’s Maker a liar and a fraud, places himself on a par equal to or greater than the Son, in addition to being himself a liar. Continuing the ‘theme’ begun a few paragraphs ago, another student of prophecy, drawing the same conclusion as above, faced with the same intimidation and trepidation may on the other hand, seeing the problems and hurdles, yet, see less of a cause for concern or hindrance. He knows that he can always work them through at the expense of others who, having paid the price, have left crutches behind, upon which one may lean for insight and learning. Understanding then, as we do, that there is a vision, a view in a glimpse of the future concerning end-time things that God has for His people, wanting all believers to see (“…blessed are the ones who read and heed the words of this prophecy...”, He says in Rev. 1), so that they in turn may present what they observe, understand and know others, herein then, lies the rub! All too many of these crutches represent only so much religious “fluff and stuff”, having nothing to offer in terms of increased knowledge and understanding of the pictures God has painted for us in the general prophecies, or those specific to the Revelation! Like pulling together the busted and shattered shells of so many different, splattered humpy-dumpies in order to piece together one good egg, so likewise, use of their rambling, fragmented views and often foggy logic to construct a clear view of God’s eschatological portrait (His word and His
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will) is naught if not so much wasted effort; a fruitless endeavor. It simply cannot be done! Nevertheless, be done it must! Both the Bible and the Revelation must be taught, like never before. “The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ….” is the second in a two part prophetic series which, by the grace, power and foreknowledge of Almighty God, are uniquely positioned to open up end-times prophecy and the Book of the Revelation, like no one else ever has, or, can even at this very late hour—not even those who are considered the “best and brightest” (not the combined works of the likes of John Ankerberg, David Reagan, Hal Lindsey, Jack
Van Impe or my all time favorite the late J. Vernon McGee even come close. Do not even think about the Bible Answer Man’s Hank Hannegraff, TBN’s Crouch, or John Haggee, or, others of the Pentecostal rank! And, though the heavily fictitious work of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins was very popular, it is not by any means an accurate portrait of Bible prophecy, and so provides little in the way of real-world spiritual edification—beyond perhaps, so-so entertainment. Great teachers though they are/were, one and all, it occurs to me that Almighty God has seen fit to withhold from their eyes the perspective, and many fresh new insights and understanding, forthcoming in this and the other fine books, it is my privilege and responsibility to write.). Interestingly, the first to buy a copy of my first release was a retired
ranking army enlisted man NCO who while being married to a Christian, is himself a skeptic. As such, he subscribes to the notion that unbelievers in science, archaeology, as well as other assorted erudite doubters, skeptics, critics and scoffers have laid whatever potential there ever was for credibility, in the Holy Bible, to rest. Having been “…telling people that, that Book cannot be believed…”, he would read my book “thoroughly, and get back with you”, he assured me approximate six months ago (@ 02/22/08!). In addition to conspicuously failing to offer to pay the remaining ten dollar installment (he owes me) on the book he purchased, it occurs to me that my friend had/has little or nothing to say in terms of the kind of criticism he would like to offer, relative to the Bible, beyond the words, “…yea, you did alright”! It is as if he developed a case of “scoffer’s amnesia”! He cannot now remember either the debt he owes, or his promise of a critical analysis of my book, that will in turn discredit and sound the death knell for the Books of Books. It seems one recalls it said somewhere, by someone, that the Bible (with all of its prophecies) is its own best defense. It speaks for itself. It makes no apologies for the claims it makes. And, as it seems my friend has learned from his reading of “Prelude to the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ”, the Book of books does not need to in today’s economy. Here, in The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ…, as well as in the “Prelude to the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ…”, a strong position and stance is taken and held throughout, relative to the Bible’s place as history, as well as literature embracing indelible trace elements of science and physics, long before there was any quantifiable, viable, intellectual discipline under either banner. Any nay-sayer of any genre, of any stripe would have to first recognize, understand, then, tear the Bible apart on these grounds and unwavering claims, before ever he qualifies and distinguishes himself as one capable of discrediting the Bible on any other ground—whether that ground be God or Christ; demon or angel; things seen or things unseen. Thus, such a one has to be told by informed and knowledgeable scholarship before he can even begin his own analytical process. Oddly, he had his chance not much more than one hundred years ago, when, on
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average, no theologian would have been able to defend any of the Bible’s claims (funny, is it not, how in reality, so few can even today?!). Those were the days when skepticism was easy! All of the Bible’s claims could be, and, were denied, yet none was or has ever been able to follow through. It was as if God made some of the most outrageous, ridiculous statements ever a “God” could, then blindfolded Himself, and, having tied His hands behind His back, sat down—doing nothing, saying less, offering no proofs for 2000 to 2500 years—as He waited and listened for man to apply his puny reason to discredit the reality of His Being and the believability of His word and prophecies. After all, given the times in which they were voiced, in light of the propensity of His hearers for understanding (or, their lack thereof!), those statements were ludicrous at best! Harsh critics like German monk, catholic dissident, and reformer Martin Luther were so befuddled by the symbolism throughout the Book of the Revelation, he recommended it be taken out of the Bible and thrown into a river. Was that warranted? Granted, its symbols of flying, flaming rocks are baffling enough, but, in the light of our day, is the Revelation and its claims hopelessly unrealizable? The truth of the matter is the answer is a most emphatic, “no”, on both accounts. Given the benefit of “hindsight”, we can now see and assert positively that, based in part on I Peter 1:10-12, the bizarre predictions of events and occurrences of the Revelation and other books of the Bible were in fact not written for the people of the days of their origin, as rather, they were propounded with a view to these days in which we live. Only in our day could these often superbly outlandish predictions have ever seen the light of day, in terms of reality. Though the prophecies were intentionally spoken and given to a people who had no capacity to ever understand in their lifetime, or to appreciate the significance of what they were hearing, all, each and every one (of the prophecies) had merit—albeit, as we have said, only in a then distant future; a future at that time as much “yet” to exist as it was utterly “incomprehensible”, unfathomable, and frankly, flat impossible to anticipate. The Mind of Almighty God so structured the end-times (of that distant future) that He tailored a situation in which the main events and happenings, per these prophecies, are only realizable in an enlightened, educated, highly refined and industrialized society such as ours (consider the many parts of the world where many people groups co-exist with us, living exactly as they have—and we did—for millennia. Without us, they would never be able to make sense of these prophecies.). Thus, thanks to the modern sciences, all of which must now be grouped under the general heading of “physics”, and in the light of the tremendously increased understanding they bring as to the workings of our world and of the universe at large, knowing hereby the power tucked, packaged neatly and securely woven within the cracks and crevasses of the vast “unseeable” that perpetually surrounds us, who can fail now to appreciate just how wrong Martin Luther and all the Bible critics and scoffers have been? It is now fully evident that everything they said could not happen, being everything God said would happen, is now doable! The blueprint for all that has not happened, is now visible, on the drawing board, “even as we speak”, certain to materialize, in its time. Examples of those prophecies that have yet to come to pass are: 1) the Jewish Temple on the site of Solomon’s old Temple (occupied now by the Mosque of Omar), 2) a self-sustaining
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(more or less) space-based Star Wars defense system, and, 3) the mating of humanoid robotics and AI, in a near life like package. Surely, “…our God is an awesome God!” The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ and its companion, Prelude to the Apocalypse, will demonstrate that far from creating a basis for disbelief in the Bible and Bible prophecy, the sciences and archaeology have actually joined forces, as it were, coalescing to give the Christian every reason to “…keep believing, in His Name…”, no matter the doubts of others (Larnel Harris), to encourage himself as his “…soul waits for the Lord, like a night watchman waiting…for the coming of the dawn…” (Marantha Singers), for, surely He is coming soon. Hence, notwithstanding the evident ignorance endemic to the voices of the critics, the mantra of every Christian should ever be, “Let the praises of the Lord, rise among us” (Marantha Praise Band), for His mercy endures, and His words never fail. Let us now pray that the Lord our God will remember us and smile on us for good, for this and every work that we do, against the grains of higher criticism, in defense of and honor of His Name. Amen!
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