Be Blessed!

Your sister in the Lord!

Your sister in the Lord!

thank you for you extremely plain and clear teaching on the 144,000, and unlike so many other Bible teachers who absolutely refuse to accept what is so plainly written about them, you are the first one to state that these were actually from the tribes of Israel just as the passage so plainly declared them to be. And you said that they were “Servants” which is just what the book of Revelation addresses the whole prophesy to: Servants, or Doulos, which is the New Testament Greek for bond-slaves. Well,I believe this title is the key that unlocks the identity of these 144,000. And I believe the titles used in both the Old and New Testament are by themselves very instructive! In the Old Testament in passages too numerous to mention the title of servant is used of Israel in the flesh without exception. But a careful search of the New Testament we will find that in Paul’s Epistles that not once is the Church called servants but are called “sons”and only the apostles themselves who are some special sense called servants. yet sons are not necessarily servants, and while its true that we all are in some sense servants, but this is not our title as believers in Christ before God. this makes sense, since nowhere in Revelations are the people spoken of by this new designation as sons.
Our Lord Himself even announced this fact when He said, “Henceforth I call you no longer servant but friends, for a servant knoweth what his Lord doeth”.
This bears upon the fact that a close reading of the Epistles will show that prophecy is not for the church, but revelation is for the church, which would rule out Revelations as ever adressing itself to any but those for whom the book states its adressed to at the very threshold of the book, to Servants. Ihope I won’t offend any of these Christian Bible teachers who sees the Church everywhere in the Boók of Revelations, but as hard as it is to believe, I just do not think the Church is the subject of the book of Revelations! but that Israel in the flesh is the subject.

I argue this because the book it self is more like an Old testament prophecy with over 297 references to the Old Testament, and therefore prophecy is nothing if not special instructions for the earth, and a physical people who are called to a phyical place, Jerusalem, while for the Church from beginning to end everything is revealed already, with the books of 11 thessalonians and 11 Peter giving us a clear picture of what shall be the fate of the Church right up to the coming of the Lord. I cannot see that there are or were any such prophecies for the Church, which was given her instructions to wait for their Lord from heaven, nothing more.

And even when Paul was speaking by the Holy Spirit, this I believe was just a prophetic announcement, and upon every occasion which he did so, he identified the One who gave him instructions as the lord Jesus Christ. However, the prophets of Israel were God’s mouthpiece, and what they spoke was the Word of God. or words which came directly from the mouth of God.
so, for these and it seems to me many other clear reasons the 144,000 cannot be but the modern day physical heirs of the 12 Tribes of Israel who seem destined to return to the land of their forefathers in a kind of 2nd Exodus.

May God continue to bless your wonderful work for His name sake

Phillip

I have found your article to be very help full which fills the vacuun i had in my spirituality.

May God bless you

I am from Kenya and of late i have been feeling that we are in the very last days and as we were discussing the bible, my sister-in-law wanted to understand who the 144,000 are really and she expressed herself worried that the number 144,000 are very few born again christians who would make it to heaven and even though i tried to answer that they were not the only ones, i really wondered who these 144,000 would be and i set myself to search and i found your answer and it is very clear now and i will send her a copy too. Thank you and God bless you for taking time to study the word and especially for sharing with the rest of the world. Your reward in heaven will be great. I know that i will meet you the Bill. I was worried too as i knew somewhere in the bible it says a multitude would make it after the rapture but again the number 144,000 was still unclear and very prominent. We appreciate your work and may we give God all the glory. Amen.

Ann Mbugua
from Nairobi, Kenya

Some are faithful to the King James Version and will always be. While the KJV is a very poetic translation of the Scriptures, I feel that we today may not fully understand its Old English references.

Others may recommend the Amplified or Living Bibles. These versions of the Bible are not so much an exact word-for-word translation but are more of a thought-for-thought paraphrase. They definitely have their place in Bible study (I know I’ve used them several times) but I wouldn’t recommend them for general reading or when trying to help somebody understand a particular passage.

There are three translations that I recommend and they are the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT). All three are translations (not paraphrases) and all three can be used for basic Bible reading/study and explaining passages to people.

The NASB is touted as being the most accurate English translation we have while still being fairly easy to read. I would recommend this version for Bible study.

The NIV is a good solid translation in modern English and is more understandable by the people of today. I feel it is the best version to use when trying to find a balance between an exact word-for-word and a thought-for-thought translation.

The NLT is very similar to the NIV. It’s a fairly solid translation but I feel it goes one step further in it’s readability.

So again, my recommendations would be the NASB, NIV or NLT. The NASB will be more accurate to the original languages while the NLT will be easier to read. The NIV falls right in the middle, in my opinion.

Hope this helps,
Joe

I’d say it’s time we stop looking to the world for our example and start looking to the God (and His Word that is our standard) in whom we serve.

Mike Harmon

Tim Ramsey

Thanks for the encouragement (and random info–didn’t know there were so many energy drinks). I know I’m doing what God called me to, but man is it ROUGH! The website is strengthing Joe. I forget about the resouces on the web I have–Titusoneone =)

It is used 244 times in the New Testament and comes from the root word, peithō, which is a verb meaning to persuade, to trust, to obey, have confidence, believe, and be confident. (Peithō is only used 55 times in New Testament and most of those instances where in conversations not regarding faith, believe, or salvation in Christ.)

Regarding the word “believe” or “belief,” the Greek defines it as:
believe – pisteuō (pÄ“-styü’-ō)
part of speech – verb
definition/meaning – to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in.

It is used 248 times in the New Testament and comes from the root word, pistis, which we just defined as “faith” a moment ago.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

John 3:16 says
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We are saved BY grace THROUGH faith. Jesus’ death and resurrection makes God’s gift of grace possible. But how do we receive God’s gift? Through faith! Faith is the conduit or the means by which we stretch out our “arms” to receive that wonderful gift. The act of stretching our our arms of faith is believing–which is most definitely a verb–an action that we have to do.

So faith (noun) and belief (verb) work together. We have to choose to believe in the finished work of Christ and in doing so we place our faith in Him.

Yes, Romans 3:22 in the original Greek does say “this righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all those believing.” But lets put this verse in context with the rest of Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3:20-24
20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all those believing. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

So we see that it is indeed by Christ’s faith that we have righteousness apart from the Law. Verse 24 supports verse 22. We are justified (made right before God) by Christ’s redemptive act on the cross. And just as Jesus had faith in His Father’s will, we put our faith in Jesus that the Father may be glorified.

Here are several examples of people putting their “faith in” Jesus.
John 2:11
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

John 7:31
Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?”

John 8:30
Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

John 11:45
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.

John 12:11
for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

John 14:12
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Acts 3:16
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Acts 20:21
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

In regards to repentance, as Acts 20:21 just spoke of, the Greek defines it as:
repentance – metanoia (me-tä’-noi-ä)
part of speech – feminine noun
definition/meaning – a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done.

It is used 24 times in the New Testament and comes from the root word, metanoeō, which is translated “repent.”

repent – metanoeō (me-tä-no-e’-ō)
part of speech – verb
definition/meaning – to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent; to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.

It is used 34 times in the New Testament and comes from two root words, meta and noeō. Meta is defined as “with, after, or behind” and noeō is defined as “to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding.” Together, these two root words convey the idea of understanding something better after it has happened, or to use the expression, “hind sight is 20/20.”

You said that it “is nothing more than self righteousness to say that you now know what sins IS.” Actually, the Law of Moses shows us what sin is.

1 John 3:4 says
Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Romans 3:20 says
20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Romans 7:13b says
But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

In fact, even before the Law was given to Moses, God spoke to Cain and said, “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7). We know what sin is because God has told us very clearly what it is.

You also said that “it is a self righeoous act to think that we chose or accept Christ.” And right before that you said, “In total he [God] choose us out from among those he didn’t choose and he don’t want.”

2 Peter 3:9 is very clear when it says
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The concept that God would choose to save some people while also choosing to send others to eternal hell cannot be support by Scripture. What usually happens is people will find single passages like Romans 9:22 which says, “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?” and pull them out of context to say that it “supports” their theory. But let’s go back and put Romans 9:22 in context and find out what it really says about the character of God.

Romans 9:11-24 says
11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

Verses 11-14 show us that God is omniscient. He knows how every decision will unfold with its consequence.

Verses15-16 tell us that God is sovereign. He has the ultimate say, period.

Verses 17-18 show us that God will glorify His name in every decision He makes.

Verses 19-21 again reminds us that God is sovereign.

Verse 22 describes a group of people, God’s “objects of wrath,” that have apparently decided to set themselves against God. Yet, since we know that it’s not God will for anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9), that means God did not create them as robots without wills, programmed to rebel again Him. Instead, verse 22 shows us that God made people with free wills, with the ability to choose Him or to choose to something else.

And verses 23-24 describe how God makes preparations because He is omniscient.

Going back to verse 22, it says that God “bore” the objects of His wrath. The word “bore” in Greek is pherō (fe’-rō) which means – to move or carry something with effort. Verse 22 also says that God bore these objects with great “patience.” In the Greek, “patience” is makrothymia (mä-kro-thü-mÄ“’-ä) which means – patience, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs.

The question that this passage addresses is, “What does an all knowing, all powerful, loving God do with a person who He knows will never choose to love Him while still respecting that person’s free will?” And the answer is:

1. God will love this person and give him countless opportunities to accept His salvation.
2. God will handle this person with great patience. Instead of quickly dealing out just punishments for the person’s rebellion, God will hold back His wrath with longsuffering.
3. Instead of abandoning this person, God will stay with him. He will carry and move this person through life but not without effort on God’s part, because this person doesn’t want anything to do with Him.
4. Then, when the time is right, God will use that rebellious person to bring glory to His name, just like he did with Pharaoh.

The Greek language is wonderfully expressive, and you are right, we should definitely take time to research what their meanings, usage, and context tell us.

Joe

Jerry Collins

Jerry Collins