Are you a Real Christian?

All scripture is quoted in NCV unless otherwise noted.

Introduction

An eagle soaring through the heavens cries out: “ Trouble! Trouble! Trouble for those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets that the other three angels are about to blow!”

Descriptions of talking eagles, an army dressed in white while riding on white horses, demonic locusts, and prophets that shoot flames from their mouths and able to summon plagues to the earth, almost sound wizard-like The events are all found in the book of Revelation, a book that tells the future, known as prophesy.

Although the events described by John the Revelator sound similar to those described in fantasy classics like the Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, Bible prophesy is true. Hundreds of prophesies have already been fulfilled to the letter and some have been fulfilled before our own eyes. For the human mind, it is difficult to believe these things will actually happen, thinking them impossible, except in books or movies.

Many in the faith have been reluctant to read the book of Revelation or the other prophetical books in their Bibles. This is unfortunate, but not surprising. With so many conflicting teachings on prophesy, many have put their hands up in surrender on these portions of the inspired Word of God. They have bought the lie that prophesy is all symbolic and confusing. Many have held to the phrase, “Christians win in the end, amen,” saying this is all we need to know about prophesy. “After all,” they say, “unless you are a theologian, you can’t really know what it is saying.” As a result, many have left this book out of their personal reading. We need to realize that this perspective is not biblical.

God included the books prophesy for a reason. As Paul said, all scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching. People who have faith in the God of the Bible, must also have faith in all His word and that it is true and will be carried out as it says it will. We need to find out what it says for ourselves, otherwise we leave it up to others to teach us on what they say is important.

The fact is, biblical teachings on the basics of prophesy is not being taught today. The mainstream approach in our churches today is to teach only “practical” or “relevant” topics that will apply to our everyday life, as they say. Our desire is for our church family world-wide to realize that the prophetical books have very practical and relevant topics for our lives today and for our readiness for the Lord’s return.

We need to rediscover the teachings on the “blessed hope,” which is the pre-tribulation removing of the ready followers of Jesus, known as the Rapture. He is coming for bride and we are told to be looking for the signs of his coming. We need to rediscover the blessed promise of heaven. He is preparing a place for us there.

Revelation Unleashed is different in many respects from what you may have read or heard about Revelation before. We want to show you that Revelation is not just a few letters to a people long gone, but they are for us today especially and anyone else who will listen. This is not a book to say we know exactly who the antichrist is….because that’s not what’s important yet. Certainly there will come a day soon, when it is important, but we are not there quite yet. It is important for us to be looking for Jesus on a daily basis and expecting Him, as was the early church.

We will discuss the more important message from Jesus which is: “I am coming soon for those who are ready.” He is coming for a ready bride first, but also holding out mercy for more to be saved later on as well. This book will hopefully be a wake-up call for some. For others, a solid reason to be more convinced an excited that Jesus is coming for His own before his concentrated wrath begins.

We also want to show that through the events of the great tribulation, we see the loving nature of God, who will still wait for those left behind to repent and worship him. There is hope for those left behind, but they will have to endure to the end through much pain and suffering to obtain their Salvation.

Prophesy gives us hope in a world with little to find. It could be the first time you will see the scriptures that teach these truths. Only hearing about heaven and Jesus’ return is not enough, it is important to read and study the scriptures yourself. Revelation Unleashed is also a study that will help guide you through the book of Revelation, chapter by chapter.

Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for those who love him. It will be a place of mansions and many rooms. Naturally, Jesus talked about heaven quite a bit, since heaven is his home. The book of Revelation gives more descriptive details about heaven. We begin our study of Revelation by briefly thinking about the real, three-dimensional hope that we have been promised to be our dwelling place at the end of time.

…Try to imagine a city and a land so beautiful, that it's very gates are made from gigantic pearls taller than men. Streets, not just of gold, but so pure is this gold, that they, as well as the rest of the city’s gold, is like transparent glass. The city walls have every kind of jewel adorning them, just as its base. Mansions, spires and other unique structures, as far as the eye can see, dot the perfectly groomed landscape. All inhabitants of this happy place dwell in them, and not just their leaders. Incredible Eden-like, perfect gardens, crystal clear fountains and other architectural wonders of all shapes and sizes line the perfect walkways that lead one from one thing of beauty to another.

New crystal clear streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, lead to more new seas and oceans all perfectly crystal clear that are all fed from the famed “River of life,” which flows directly from the throne of God down the middle of the transparent golden city. “Trees of life” also line the river and continually bear fruit. All these created things and everything in this land including the inhabitants cry: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lamb and to the one who sits on the throne who made all things.” Echoes of praise rise up from everyone and everything, because of not only the splendor of this magnificent creation, but also because of what Jesus did to allow people to access this amazing eternity.
 
There is no piece of real estate here on earth that compares. Nothing here comes remotely close to the splendor of even the least in heaven, if there is such a thing. The New Jerusalem is gigantic. It's as tall as it is wide. Revelation says it is 12,000 stadia tall, wide and deep. A stadia is just over one tenth of a mile, so this city is approximately 1,400 miles high and 1,400 miles wide and its length is the same as well. It's a perfect cube.

To put this in perspective, imagine a city from Boston, MA, to St. Paul, MN, then from there down to Texas. Approximately one half the size of the United States is just the ground floor of the New Jerusalem. I say ground floor because the city is also as high as it is wide. This is almost unfathomable, but again, imagine the earth's highest point is Mt. Everest and that is only 5 ½ miles high. This city's height will make Mt. Everest into less than a foot hill. Since God never wastes anything, it is very possible that its height will be filled with levels How many levels is certainly an unknown, but the possibilities are certainly endless with dimensions as large as these.

In fact, though it's called the “New Jerusalem,” its dimensions alone show it to be more like a new world than just a city. This city or new land is not imaginary, however, but very real. It will be the capital city of the new world for the Holy people of God. The light of the glory of God, which is a perfect light, will illuminate this new world and there won't even be the hint of a shadow to remind anyone of the way things used to be.

Those who are invited to be in this glorious new kingdom will be like him, with new bodies that will never die or get sick. We will see his face and he will be our God and we will be his people. Everything we do in this place will be for his enjoyment which will also become ours. No more tedious, boring work or work that produces sweat or decay. Perfection will be everywhere and on everyone and everything. No more sin, no more injustice and no more pain. It is a city and world that the Holy people of God and God himself will live in and no one else, forevermore. This is more than a fantasy or movie, but a coming reality. We are closer to heaven now than we ever have been.

A new world is about to be born, while an old world is about to die. So, what about the here and now? How close is this coming new world? Who's going? Who's staying? How could the early church have expected Jesus to return for them in their time, if there were certain things that had to happen before that could take place? What if nothing needs to take place at all, except for the rapture itself to start the beginning of the end? Could God have simply started all the end time signs we are seeing now, back in the days of the early church? We will be looking at these questions and many more in Revelation Unleashed.

The world, as we know it, is on the cusp of something spectacular and frightening at the same time. For some it will be glorious, desired and expected because they studied and believed the book that speaks about these things. For others, they will be caught unaware and to them it will happen suddenly and be very scary indeed.

You may be asking, “Is this another new interpretation of Revelation to add to the already too many?” The answer is, “no,” though it may seem new to some. There are already far too many interpretations as it is, and that is part of the problem. Whose interpretation do you go with? Which theologian do you believe? Would it be the one with the highest perceived education? Obviously, this can’t be the way. There can be only one correct interpretation, the one which has already been stated in the Bible itself. Revelation Unleashed as a commentary and study, however, will seek to lift up what is already there in a more literal manner. Our goal is to read and believe what is already stated in the scriptures themselves. Revelation Unleashed also seeks to bridge the gap found in the pre-tribulation teachings that for years has had holes, though it has been strong in spirit.

So what we are presenting to you here in this book isn’t necessarily new, though it may seem new to some. The Bible certainly presents us with scripture that proves a pre-God’s wrath and a pre-tribulation escape for some people. Many pre-tribbers, including myself for a time, have given weak arguments to the overall debate because we don’t know all the scripture that pertains to and supports the position. We have had some scripture strengths, certainly, but we need all of it.

We also want to encourage those who believe in a pre-wrath Rapture, because there is solid proof in scripture that we are to be gathered up before the tribulation begins and before God‘s wrath. We just have missed where it actually occurs in Revelation because it doesn’t fit pre-conceived ideas that don‘t conform to our opinions.

We will show in Revelation Unleashed that we are living in between the 5^th and the 6^th seals already, but at the same time we still have not yet begun the last great seven year tribulation.

Some have said, “If a teaching is new, it can’t be true,” not realizing that the reason a teaching may sound new, is because it went so long unpracticed. Just because something hasn’t been talked about or practiced as much as it once was, does not mean it’s new. More important than a perception of newness is, a teaching should be evaluated as being scriptural or not. If some teaching has been “mothballed” for 1800 years, then there is something missing from traditional perceptions and teachings.

We need to remember the church did not start in the 16^th century, but 1500 years before. The church reformers of the 16^th century may not have gone far enough in reforming to the original. Did they do some good? Sure, but partial truth isn’t good enough.

Prophesy teaching especially in modern times has been subjected to the prophet or the teacher. This goes against scripture. 2 Peter 1:20 says: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things“. This verse is significant because it means there can only be one interpretation of scripture, which is the literal and no personal interpretation is acceptable, unless it’s in line with ALL of scripture, not just some of it. It doesn’t matter if they studied longer, or have a higher education. It seems we have now come to a place today where scripture isn’t enough, and men’s ideas and opinions are given more weight than the scripture.

This does not mean some new revelation or truth can’t come forth that none else has realized yet, or possibly was done away with for a time. If it’s in line with scripture, then it’s fine or even better than fine, it may be needed desperately. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:26 said:

“So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, and another has a teaching. Another has a new truth from God. Another speaks in a different language, and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help the church grow strong.” Emphasis added.

This “new truth” Paul talks of here is not to replace the scriptures, but if it is a truth from God, it will line up with scripture. This new word would be something scriptural, but something just not realized or practiced by the church today. We need this gift in the church since we humans are prone to blindness and forgetfulness in a very short amount of time.

Let’s not forget that while Paul was still alive and in charge of the churches he started, he had to remind them many times about truths that they had forgotten already. In fact, most of his letters were about correcting errors, telling them they must continue in the faith and act like true Christians. Don’t we think if they strayed in Paul’s day, that perhaps we have done some wandering of our own 1900 years later? It would be reckless to think otherwise. Unfortunately, some hold to the line of associational or denominational positions at the cost of true critical thinking regarding biblical truth.

It is not about being traditional, but scriptural. If tradition matches the scriptures we should like it, if it doesn’t, we should hate it, just as God hates sin and anything that drags us away from pure truth. Today we are fond of diluting pure truth to tickle the ears. But we need to get it right with scripture, not right with consensus. Jesus and the apostles were always about confronting the religious traditions of men to see if they lined up with what God really wanted. Usually it didn’t.

We need to use the interpretation that is the most literal because that’s how all previous prophecy has already been fulfilled already. We believe that the book of Revelation is a chronologically sound narration of the events to come the way it is already written. It should be read and interpreted in the numerical order that Revelation already presents itself. Some who refuse to take the whole of Revelation literally, pick and choose where they are going to be strict with scripture and this produces confusion and a myriad of interpretations. Revelation is the master plan that all previous end times prophesies plug into to be fulfilled.

For instance, Daniel’s vision of things that will occur during the last seven years begins in chapter 7 of Daniel and runs through chapter 12, is fulfilled in Revelation, beginning at the 6^th seal, not beforehand.

Also, the numbered seals beginning in chapter 6 need to be followed sequentially in the numerical order given by John himself. There are numbers on them for a reason. There are some who take these out of order and claim that some things that occur much later on in Revelation, have already occurred such as the seven thunders or the water turning to blood. But when these things happen, none will have to guess at them, as they will be very obvious to everyone.

Revelation Unleashed is about what the Bible says by itself. Personal opinion though rare, will be clearly noted. Where there is mystery in scripture, we accept the mystery. We will not try and jam our own interpretation or philosophy on these scriptures. This does not mean that there are not some symbols in Revelation, there are, but the times there are, they are often explained right in the same passage. Where things are clearly stated, we are dogmatic and very strict with the scriptures, as commanded to be in Rev. 22:18-19:

We also have to use a little common sense when it comes to scripture interpretation, along with the even more important Holy Spirits leading as well. John 14:26 reads in the NIV: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” To even attempt scripture interpretation without the Holy Spirit’s help is futile. One could have education, but without the Holy Spirit’s education, we have knowledge without spiritual wisdom.

The original followers of Jesus did not have formal educations that we put so much emphasis on today. They had much better. Not only were they with Jesus for three years, they also finally had the separate infilling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as described in Acts, chapter two. Without this, they would have been wandering cowards as they were before the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

If we can recall the many times they were confused when Jesus told them a spiritual story, we would remind ourselves that they were still weak men not yet empowered by the Holy Spirit. The reason they denied Jesus and betrayed him at his crucifixion (and by the way they all did this, not just Peter), is because they still had not yet received the promise of the infilling. 1 John 2:26-27 proclaims:

“I am writing this letter about those people who are trying to lead you the wrong way. Christ gave you a special gift that is still in you, so you do not need any other teacher. His gift teaches you about everything, and it is true, not false. So continue to live in Christ, as his gift taught you.” (Emphasis added)

A connecting verse to this John 14:26 which reads in the NIV: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (Emphasis Added)

Luke 24:45 also says, “Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that a change of hearts and lives and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem.48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I will send you what my Father has promised, but you must stay in Jerusalem until you have received that power from heaven." (Emphasis Added)

So then, the Holy Spirit which is also known as the gift, the anointing, the promise, the advocate, the helper and more, is the teacher of what scripture means, not men. Can we have our own opinions and make our own statements in our own words? As long as is matches original scripture. Yes, this is why we have to rightly divide, not only scripture, but also those who are telling us what they think scripture says. You can’t do this if you don’t study the scriptures for yourself and with the Holy Spirits help.

If you never crack the book, you can be easily lead astray and be succumbed to every wind of doctrine. Lastly on the Holy Spirit, there are Christians who do not have the fullness of the Holy Spirit as spoken of beginning in Acts chapter 2 and running though the rest of the book. Though a Christian is led to Jesus by the Holy Spirit and is given a new spirit, at initial Salvation, which is being born again, this does not automatically give them the additional infilling that we see so many times occur in the book of Acts. Without this additional empowerment, it makes scripture interpretation and understanding for that particular Christian much more difficult.

If two scriptures ‘appear’ that they may be contradicting each other, they are not. God’s word is infallible. All scripture together serve to form a more complete and bigger picture. So they are both and all true, not one over the other. It‘s line upon line and precept upon precept. If we ignore some scripture that we don’t like, it is just as dangerous as if you were to ignore a hole in the ice and fell through. Without the entire truth we become vulnerable to the enemies attacks that can come through false teachers. There is always someone who is going to try and drag you away from full truth… always. And what of those who know the truth and do nothing about it? They will spend eternity with regret, in a place they didn’t believe that even existed, wishing all the while that they had.

Scripture says in 2 Tim 3:16-17:16:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

A simple example of this would be when Satan was telling Jesus to throw himself down from the mountain and saying His angels would protect him. It was true, they would have protected Jesus, or He could have even protected Himself, but it was also true that Satan was trying to put God to a foolish test. So Jesus did what we should do. When some confront us with scripture on a given subject, make sure the person doing the quoting has the right motives and is quoting all scripture that speaks to the subject at hand, not just the few they may like.

There are others just like Satan, who will quote scripture to put God to a foolish test while at the same time sounding spiritual. There are many teachers today who will skip over some scripture and put more emphasis on the few that they like. This is typical of people set on defending their ideas over scripture as well as the ploy of a false teacher.

We also see many more examples in the Bible such as, “we can’t be plucked from Jesus hand,” which seems to be at odds with other passages that speak of some who have already had their names erased from the book of life such as Ex. 32:33. The fact is both are true. Some have willfully kept on sinning or returned to a lifestyle of sin and thus will experience great loss. While others remain in Jesus care, by living the life he has commanded them to live and so they will experience eternal security. But when it comes to scripture interpretation, the strict literal interpretation is the best method. It means what it says, and says what it means, with little interjection needed from men.

Occasionally we will go back to the original Greek or Hebrew when we find something that may not agree with what men are saying. A great example of this is Revelation 7:14 which is part of the 6^th seal, where we see a great multitude of people from all around the earth in heaven. An Elder asks John who they are and where did they come from? He then answers his own question and says they have come out of the great tribulation.

Some have said this scripture says they have come through the great tribulation, when the scripture says clearly in every translation, from the original Greek to KJV, and NIV that they have “come out” of it, not through it. We will find out later in our study that these referred to by the elder have “come out” at the beginning of the tribulation period, not the end. If you went with the “come through” interpretation, you would be left thinking we will not be Raptured until after the great tribulation is over.

Is this an important distinction to make about the exact meaning of this word or others? Yes, extremely important. We need to take the word literally without changing its meaning, just as it was placed in the text. If we are not strict with this, it is up to anyone’s idea. The reason some have changed this word, is because it fits their pre-conceived idea of when events should take place, instead of just letting the Bible tell us on its own.

Above all, you must ask the Holy Spirit to help you, not the biblical commentaries- including this one! We want Revelation Unleashed to encourage you to read the book of Revelation for yourself. According to the words of John, a blessing is promised for those who read the words of Revelation and do what it says. You should read and search the scriptures from your own Bible, as you study the points made here.

Scriptural proof that the first five seals have already been broken.

Scriptural proof of a 6^th seal pre-tribulation Rapture AND why is about to occur any day.

Encouragement to those who are looking for the 'blessed hope' of Jesus return.

Where we are on the time line of events as described in Revelation.

How many professing Christians will likely miss the Rapture.

How many tribulation saints will die at the hands of the Antichrist, but still be saved.

How Israel and the Jews will be protected and saved by God himself.

What a person must do if they miss the Rapture.

Where America could be in end-times prophecies and what may happen to her.

How the Antichrist is more easily identified in scripture (and it's not numerically).

Why we are not to look for the Antichrist, but Jesus alone.

What will happen the day of and after the Rapture.

Who the whore, modern-day Babylon and the revived Roman empire could be.

Exactly where in Revelation events Jesus will steal his ready followers, aka 'the rapture.'

Why there has been so much confusion regarding the book of Revelation.

How God's mercy is seen throughout almost all of Revelation.

The difference between Rapture and 2nd Coming verses & how to more easily identify them.

Other end-time misconceptions about the Rapture, and the second coming.