BIBLE REVELATIONS-OCTOBER 2000 WRAP AROUNDS #2: Revelations, doweknow-studies biblical revelations

TUCKERD WROTE:

Dear Don,

I have read most of what your web site has to say about denominations, etc. However, I have a problem with a ministry bearing the name of an individual, such as the Don Love Ministries. In essence, it smacks of another "denomination", even though I agree with what you say concerning denominations. Couldn't one come up with a more generic name such as "The End Time Ministries", or "The Church of Jesus at Large Minitries, AKA, the "CJL" ministries, just to toss around a couple of ideas.

If I'm wrong, please help me out, but it's the I'm a bit uncomfortable with so far.

Sincerly,

A_____ Tucker

DON WROTE:

Thanks for taking of your time to WRAP with us.

The Gospel of Matthew; The Gospel of Mark; the Gospel of John; I & II Timothy; I & II Peter; I, II, & III John; Jude; Philemon; The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus… (Act 1:1); Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called [to be] an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God… (Romans 1:1); Paul, called [to be] an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes [our] brother, (1Co. 1:1); Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi…(Php.) 1:1; Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians (I Thes. 1:1); Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy [our] brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer…(Phm. 1:1-2); James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes…(James 1:1); Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered…(I Peter 1:1); Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father…(Jude 1:1); The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John…(Rev. 1:1)…

The preceding list shows that men who were called of God to write the New Testament introduced their epistles with their names. In fact, Paul said of the epistles that he wrote:

Rom 2:16 …God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Rom 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

2Ti 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

Except for Hebrews and Revelation, the writings of the New Testament authors were named after them. The following reasons for this should be obvious.

God calls individuals with names to be coworkers with Him; and He is not ashamed to have their names associated with His work. (In fact, this is true of all believers. Jesus would have us to witness to Him, and He loves to honor our witness.)
The early disciples were not ashamed to have their names associated with the name of the Lord Jesus, though, in their case, it often meant death.
The epistles they wrote could be distinguished from the writings of others.
And by using their names, these men were taking responsibility for what they had written.

By this, am I putting myself alongside the Apostle Paul and the early disciples? Well, if that means that I am trying to answer my call from the Lord and that I take responsibility for my efforts and that I recognize myself to be "the chief of sinners" (1Tim. 1:15) and that "in my flesh is no good thing" (Rom. 7:18)—then I plead guilty.

By the way, as to generic acronyms such as "PTL"? Thanks, but no thanks!

JENNIE WROTE:

I was checking out your website. It looks great. I am a Christian and decided to do a research paper for my college class entitled "Jesus, Buddha, and the Teresas Three". Its an amazing class. I chose the paper topic of the book of Revelations, specifically the significance of the number seven, because it is a book that I am curious about and don't know a lot about. I was wondering if you know of any publishings or online info that would be of help for me while writing this paper. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Jennie P______

DON WROTE:

Hello Jennie,

Isn't it good to be alive, to be curious, and to have the ability to reason and to understand. Your WRAP brought back to mind my college days and the excitement of learning. May you never lose that excitement!

Let me first suggest that you wade through all of our site. It is the product of a life time of learning (the last 2/3's of it while walking with the Lord as best I have known how) and almost 20 years of research and writing on the subject of revelations. (By the way, as several visitors to our site have informed me--it is the Book of Revelation, not Revelations. That bit of information might save you a mark on your paper.)

Let me forewarn you that as you go on into the subject of your study, you will probably find no two web sites or books that agree on what the Book of Revelation has to say. This shouldn't be surprising since these teachings come from a seedbed of denominational divisions, disagreements, and confusion called the "church" which is made up of divers, disparate, smaller church organizations. (This organization, the church, should be distinguished from the Organism, the Body of Christ, which is solely comprised of born-again believers. Jesus compared the visible, organized church [which He referred to as the kingdom of heaven] to a net cast into the sea that brought forth good fish and trash fish--the good fish are the born-again believers, the trash fish are the tares and the hypocrites [Mt. 13:47-50].) Because of the flak of confusion about the revelations of the Bible--as with all truths of the Bible--your first choice of study should be the Bible itself. Granted, the revelations in the Bible are hard to understand (impossible, actually, unless quickened by the Holy Spirit). For this reason, God has called men and women to be teachers. However, the responsibility as to what teachings you incorporate into your own understanding is yours. But God has not left you without an aid in this matter. Paul wrote the Corinthians thusly:

I Corinthians 2:
6 ...we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

So, the truths of the Bible cannot be understood apart from the Holy Spirit; but this should not be seen as a obstruction to understanding the Bible. Remember, the Bible was written for the believers and God wants you and I to understand it more than we want ourselves. Consequently, Paul's words should be an encouragement for us to study, for we can know that the Spirit is ready and more than willing to give understanding to those who are obedient to God and who study His Word to show themselves approved unto Him. As to the teachers who claim to have insight into the Bible, God knew before hand that the religious world would be full of false teachers and teachings. This is the reason for a particular gift of the Holy Spirit: i.e., the gift of discernment. The following verse comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians wherein Paul lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to the Church. (Notice that I use a capital "C" to distinguish the born-again believers in the church from the church overall, the organization that is run for the most part by the will of man.) In that list you will find the "gift" of being able to discern in the Spirit what is of Him and what isn't. In this age that we live, I don't know how any believer can function without this gift. For any who do not feel that they have the gift of discernment, simply ask for it; for you know that God will withhold no good gift from His children.

I Co.12:10
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

By the way, when this gift of discernment is relied upon, it brings not only understanding, but peace and more and more faith to do the things of God. The writer of Hebrews put it this way.

Heb. 5:14
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Keep up the good work; and my prayer for you is that you will not only understand the good things that are ours in the Lord Jesus, but that one day you will be a teacher of them to others.

Maranatha,

Don Love