Life Ministries

For the next few days I feel led to share from a sermon series I have done called the “Five “R”s of the Book of Revelation” ( Revelation; Return; Rapture; Resurrection; Rewards ) It begins with the Scripture –

2^nd. Peter 1:12-21  and  3:3-13

What would you say if I told you that the entire Bible is a book of revelation? What does it reveal? It reveals everything we need to know about God. It reveals all we need to know about life. It reveals all we need to know about the life to come. It reveals everything we need to know about God’s plan and will for our lives and for this world.

    In our English language we have many different words we can use to describe a person, or even a business, that has gained our faith. Words like honest; truthful; trustworthy; dependable; and so on, but the word that I feel is most important even within these descriptions themselves, is the word “consistency.” A person or a business can’t be honest - most of the time; or trustworthy sometimes; consistency is the key to winning our faith. The same can be said for our faith in God and in the Word of God. One of the things that increases our faith and curbs our doubts is the consistency of God and the consistency of his Word.  This is especially true when it comes to “prophesy.”
    What would you think if I told you that God’s Word is consistently accurate - most of the time?  What if I said; “You can depend on God 80% of the time!”… Those may be good odds for some people but not good enough for me to put my faith and trust in and devote my life to!
    When it concerns the “Revelation” of scripture, we have two places to look; the Old Testament - where revelation comes mostly from prophecy… And the New Testament - where revelation comes from God himself through Jesus the Son. And, even some of the revelation we have from Jesus came in the form of prophecy.
    In verse 19 - concerning prophesy, Peter says; “you will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark place.”  He says that because Peter knew that it would be the consistency of scripture and of prophecy that would strengthen our faith. “The proof is in the puddin” so to speak;
*When God told Noah that he was going to flood the earth, HE DID!
*When God told Abraham he would have a son, even though he was 80  years old, HE DID!
*When God said he would lead his people out of slavery and into the promised land, HE DID!
*When God told Joshua the walls of Jericho would fall, THEY DID!
*When God spoke through the prophet Isaiah concerning the fall of Babylon, saying that it would be destroyed, IT WAS! Not only that, but God also gave the name of the man who would lead the army that would destroy Babylon, his name was Cyrus…. And, more than that, Cyrus hadn’t even been born yet!
*God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel concerning the city of Tyre; “They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape the dust from her and make her like the top of a rock, and thou shall be built no more”. The city of Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchanezzar and only the ruins remained. Then later Alexander the Great built a causeway and was short of material for fill, so he scraped the dust and topsoil from the spot where the city of Tyre once stood, and left behind flat ground “like the top of a rock”.  Many other cities were destroyed and re-built, but the city of Tyre was never to be re-built…God kept His word.
    There are literally hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament, all of which were fulfilled. Not most…but ALL.  All of the prophecies concerning Christ were fulfilled… 36 distinct prophecies in the last 24 hours of his life. That’s consistency!
    In light of the consistency of God’s Word, and the revelation of God’s Word, Do you think we need to be concerned with the “Return, the Rapture, The Resurrections (plural) and the Rewards”?  Should we believe it? Or, maybe this will be one time God misses the mark?  What should we do with scriptures like “This will happen in the twinkling of an eye”?  If you believe it will…are you ready? 
    The first time Christ came it was announced by angels…”Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born unto you”…And, the shepherds said; “Let’s go see”… But, of the second coming, it says that “No one knows the day or the hour…not even Christ himself”.  Jesus himself said that he came to save that which was lost…however, when he comes again it will be to get his bride- the church - and gather us unto himself, at the Rapture…and then the tribulation…(some would argue that)… But, we will get into that another time.
    So, the WHY of revelation has been revealed to us - (salvation or judgment)…. The WHERE is revealed (“in the clouds”) “This same Jesus will who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven”…. “And we who are alive will be caught up to meet him in the air”.  We know -of course - the WHO …Jesus, there is no other.  It won’t be Budda, or Mohammed, or Hari-Krishna!  The only thing that has not been revealed to us is the WHEN. “Only the Father knows.”