Taking a closer look

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apocalypse, Craig, grace, Jesus, peace, seven, spirits, throne

I want to take a closer look at this greeting.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;
Rev 1:6 and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Please note the order of who is blessing with Grace and Peace.  The one who is, who was, and who is to come…  We have always associated that with Jesus or at least I have always associated that with Jesus but then why does the next verse list Jesus by NAME?

That first person is The Father!  So then it is the Father and the next person is the Holy Spirit, in His represented form as the Seven Spirits before the Throne.  In Isaiah 11 we find this: Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.

If you look at the list you plainly see the Seven Spirits or what is also called the Seven Fold anointing that is upon Jesus who is the afore-mentioned shoot.

I would also like to introduce the Study Called Apocalypse by Dr Mary Craig on audio and will be embedding or linking to these audios shortly.

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Judgment Day

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book, judge, LAMB, law, throne, virtue, white, yom kippur

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.

In Jewish tradition, at Yom Kippur they tend to say “may your name be written in the Book of Life”; we know this to be the LAMB’s Book of Life. But there are other books opened.  In the next verse we find that somehow every person who is now produced to stand before this Great White Throne is being judged according to “THEIR WORKS” and in the fifteenth verse the deciding factor of their judgment was whether or not they were found in the “book of life”.  In some Jewish tradition they talk about the book of deeds.  It is said that on Yom Kippur each year that the books are opened and it is decided who lives and who dies and who prospers and who does not. The other Book by virtue of a need for a Standard of Law would be the book of the Law.  By these two books perhaps does a soul get judged, and is weighed and found wanting for as James will tell us, if in any point of the Law we fail to live up to it and comply with it then we are guilty of the whole law. (Jas 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. )  Here are a few more facts that argue for the Book of the Law being used to compare to the Book that may well record all the deeds of men.

Rom 2:12  For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law;

Now look at this; this one statement covers the Jew who is NOT IN CHRIST and the Gentile as well.  The Law of Moses judges the Jew and the Deeds of the Gentile either stack up to Christ or … they are found … wanting.

Rom 3:20  because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.

Justification is the key for without being able to be justified before God as Judge Eternal there is no entrance into The Kingdom and realize this that there are no Christians here….at least there are none whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s book of life.  In Justification you are made Not Guilty, which puts you in “right standing” before God and grants you access into the Kingdom.  But since by the Law or Deeds no one can be “justified” these have no chance.  You see dear reader there is no deed, no action or sacrifice or ceremonial thing that will replace being recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life which means saved by grace through faith and that not of yourselves.  This Justification is Salvation and that as a free gift. Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Just as in the other judgment previously the wages of their being in Christ were paid, now here for these the wage is being paid.

One more book is actually recorded in Scripture.  A book of Remembrance.

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name.

This was in connection with a rebuke of Malachi the Prophet against the Israelites. Now the actual book may still be used or was only used on this occasion. However what this does tell us is that God listens in on and considers every word of our mouths.  Jesus confirms the thought of God listening on and weighing out our conversations.

Mat 12:32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.
Mat 12:33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.
Mat 12:34 Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mat 12:35 The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Mat 12:36 And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Now some folks say they will have some explaining to do before God when they get there but the reality is that the explanations and adjustments were to come in our lives in flesh un-glorified here on Earth BEFORE death.  It appears that Eternity is a fixed aspect.  There will be no explaining or reasoning with the MIND of God.

So then its not just what we did or didn’t do with Jesus but also what we said.