Take Heed

Jesus mixed many things together in these twenty-two verses. The disciples had asked him when these things were going to take place: the literal destruction of Jerusalem, what would be the sign of His coming, and the sign of the end. Note how Jesus gave an answer to these precise questions. After they asked these questions, Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you" (verse 4). These three questions cover the area of more deceptive teachings than any other part of the Word of God.

The Second Coming of Christ is of utmost importance to every Christian. We know it's very important because of the prominent place it holds in the teaching in the New Testament. The majority of Christians believe in the Second Coming of Christ; they rest their hope in it. However, when we begin to teach and explain the events that will precede the Second Coming, men become divided.

Christ tells us to "Take heed." The Apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 4:16, tells us, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self, and them that hear thee."

Second Timothy 4:1-4 reads: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

Paul said in Titus 1:14, "Not giving heed to Jewish fables..." Many of the teachings which are being brought forth so prominently today are old Jewish fables that the Jews started when they rejected Christ and truth. Men are trying to use some of the happenings of the time to prove that these things mark the Second Coming of Christ. Nevertheless, many of them are not new; they are merely those old Jewish fables being set forth again.

Someone may ask, "Where do Jewish fables come from?" After returning from exile in Babylonian captivity, the Jews went back to rebuild the temple. When they returned, the Jewish teachers (called scribes) rose to prominence. Those scribes were to do nothing but copy the law and hand out the copies; yet they took a more preeminent position. They not only copied the law, but also formulated and detailed rules which were later called the oral law or the tradition of the elders.

The oral law or tradition of the elders was that which hung Christ on the Cross. We read in John 19:6-7, when Jesus was brought before Pilate, he said: "I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die..." It was not the Mosaic law, nor was it a law which God had given. Where did that law come from? It was formulated by those individuals who had become too preeminent in themselves. They added to and took away from the law as it was pleasing to them. Yes, it was that law which sent Christ to the Cross.

We must be careful or we'll formulate a law of our own. We can't find anywhere in the Bible that says we commit sin if we go to a hospital. Yet some people will break fellowship if a person's faith is weak(?) and that person goes to a hospital. We're letting a preeminent spirit take hold of us when we feel that we can add to the principles of God's Word and bind it as law on God's people.

What's this have to do with the lesson? Well, it was in this uninspired collection of traditions that the millennium theory was formulated. Have you ever studied to see who first taught it? The millennium teaching was first written down in the Talmud, which the scribes had formulated. Webster's definition of the Talmud says it's the book that contains the whole body of Jewish laws and traditions which the commentaries and the speculation of the rabbis set forth. The Talmud is where you first find a future reign of Christ on the earth being taught. It never was in the Bible nor in God's plan.

The Bible emphatically declares the preeminence of Jesus Christ in all things. According to Jesus' words in John 12:48, to reject His Word is to invite peril. Only Christ has the authority to introduce a doctrine to which His followers must adhere. Outside of Christ, the Word has been sealed.

Jesus Christ, alone, is God's mouthpiece for this day in which we're living. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things..." (Hebrews 1:1-2).

As the Apostle Paul saw men and women so quickly removed from the Gospel and the plain teachings of Jesus, he said, "Who hath bewitched you..." (Galatians 3;1)? What bewitched them? A false spirit. We're not fearful enough of false doctrine. With false teaching there' a bewitching, false spirit, whereby we can be so quickly removed from the pure Gospel. Just as the Holy Spirit convinces unbelieving people of the truth through the power of the Holy Spirit, even so these bewitching spirits work with false teaching to deceive people.

Truth Brings Freedom

I want to make a statement which some or many may not accept, but please stay with me. The very thought of Jewish priority is out of the question. Many thousands of dollars have been wasted trying to favor a people to whom God is not showing any favor, people upon whom God has put a curse. It's needful that we study these things. Jewish heresies that worked against the prophets of the moning church are still working through Jewish fables to destroy the effectiveness of the preaching of the Word of God.

Modern Jewish writers will tell us their belief hasn't changed. They're still expecting a messianic kingdom on this earth with a restoration of a temple, animal sacrifices, and Old Testament priesthood. Their books say that John the Baptist and Jesus Christ didn't proclaim such a kingdom. I have nothing in my heart against any individual; I only want to declare the truth as it really is. Only the truth will make us free.

The Book of Daniel is the seed-ground of all the teachings of the supposed-to-be millenniums and antichrists sitting in the temple in Jerusalem. It's the book which is used to affirm the belief that the literal Jews are supposedly still God's people. There are four Scriptures (Daniel 9:24-27) from which most of this teaching has be derived.

I will prove to you as I go along that millennialists actually put words in the Bible that aren't there. Doctor Scoffield's Bible is a good Bible; it's a King James Version. However, if you will read the prefix, it tells that he had taken the privilege of "adding to " it. On many pages there are paragraphs of his thoughts, and people today are accepting them. Doctor Scoffield was far from the truth in his theory. He was a literalist, and he was a postponement man. He didn't believe in the spiritual kingdom at all.

Remember, God's people had failed Him and were carried away into Babylonian captivity. God, through the Prophet Jeremiah (Chapter 25), foretold the seventy years captivity. The seventy years were nearly expired, and Daniel was troubled in his heart about the future, so he began to fast and pray. As he fasted and prayed, God sent Gabriel out of heaven with a message that seventy weeks were determined on his people. In other words, when those seventy weeks were accomplished, literal Israel would no longer be a special people to God.

The Prophecy Given

I'm going to prove, by the Scripture, when the seventy weeks were. After Gabriel came down and gave Daniel the prophecy, we don't read any more about Gabriel until it was time for the prophesy to be fulfilled. Then, out of Heaven came Gabriel to tell Zacharias, "Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son..." (Luke 1:13). He went from Zacharias' house over to Mary's house. He said, "Thou shalt...bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS" (Luke 1:31).

This prophecy was in Gabriel's hand; God didn't trust man to bear it. Old Zacharias asked, "Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stands in the presence of God..." (Luke 1:18-19). I believe Gabriel knows more about God than you and I do. So, let's keep our eyes on Gabriel, and we'll know when the fulfillment came. God sent Gabriel back when it was time for the seventy weeks to move into fulfillment.

Let's read Daniel 9:24-27: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks [ or seven and sixty-two equal sixty-nine weeks]: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

This is a definite prophecy. Some things were definitely determined through the foreknowledge of God. This ninth chapter of Daniel is probably the most significant utterance in Bible prophecy that involves a time element.

God sent Gabriel from Heaven to tell Daniel at least four things: how long He would yet work with old Israel, how long He would remain in their holy city, how long it would be until Messiah comes, and what He would definitely do in His Advent.

Time Elements

When we begin to study these seventy weeks, there are two things that need to be determined to understand this prophecy. One, we need to know how the time is figured. Two, what do the seventy weeks actually mean? How long is a week in this prophecy? We need to realize that seventy weeks in this prophecy are actually weeks of years, each week containing seven years. The may be new to us, but to the Jew it was very understandable. God's people in Judah understood these week-years.

In Leviticus 25:8 we see that the Jewish sabbatical year was divided into week-years, each week containing seven years. We read in the twenty-ninth chapter of Genesis that Laban (Jacob's father-in-law) deceived Jacob and gave him Leah to wife when he wanted Rachel. Then Laban said, "Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years" (verse 27). Verse 28 tells us, "And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week [or seven years]..."

So seventy weeks with seven years per week equals 490 years. When Daniel talked about seventy weeks, he was talking about 490 years. In other words, we can put it in plain language: 490 years were determined on old Israel. Within this 490 years, the old temple was going to be destroyed and God was going to come, die, and confirm the new covenant.

When Gabriel gave this to Daniel, he divided it into seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Seven weeks and sixty-two weeks is sixty-nine weeks. Then he said there would be one week after that. He also told us that during the first seven weeks (or forty-nine years), God's people would be released to leave Babylon, go and build the city, and build the temple in troublous times.

That first seven weeks (or forty-nine years) covered the time from Daniel to Malachi. You can read of it in Ezra and Nehemiah. They will tell you that the walls were built in troublous times. Following the seven weeks were to be sixty-two weeks, which is 434 years. This covers the time from Malachi to John the Baptist, or to Christ in His first advent. The first sixty-nine weeks (seven plus sixty-two) will bring you up to this first advent or dispensation of Jesus Christ.

It's strange that most Bible teachers will agree on the happenings of the sixty-nine weeks. Millennialists even go along with the sixty-nine weeks. History has proven that the words Gabriel gave to Daniel were carried out just that way. However, the seventieth week is where the trouble begins. The seventieth week brings confusion, yet there's no need of it. Let me repeat it: The first seven weeks were from Daniel to Malachi. The next sixty-two weeks (434years) were from Malachi to John the Baptist. Was the prophecy sealed up? Nobody heard a word from God from Malachi to John the Baptist. (over four hundred years).

Where do we start to reckon these 490 years? Daniel 9:25 tells us, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks..." He said it would be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; that is sixty-nine weeks. From the commandment to restore and rebuild old Jerusalem and the temple until the Messiah came was sixty-nine weeks.

When was the commandment given? In Ezra we read that in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, the commandment was given for the people to be released to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Artaxerxes' reign was from B.C. 464 to B.C. 425. When we subtract seven from B.C. 464, we get B.C. 457. That's when the commandment was given, and the was the starting point (B.C. 457).

Again, if we take seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, we get sixty-nine weeks or 483 years (sixty-nine times seven equals 483 years.). Subtract 483 from 457, when the commandment was given, and we get A.D. 26. Every Bible student knows the calendar is four years off; in other words, they held B.C. four years too long. A.D. should have started four years before it did. When we put that four years on A.D. 26, it brings us right up to A.D. 30. This is when Christ was anointed and baptized by John the Baptize, and God spoke out of Heaven. We can read of this anointing in Acts 10:38.

The Seventieth Week Is History

Now we want to focus our thinking on the thought of antichrist making a covenant with the literal Jews. Let's look into God's eternal Word to see if the Bible even hints such a thing. There's a lot of talk about one antichrist appearing and making a covenant with the Jews in the seven years. The seven years is this seventieth week. I'm going to prove that it is past: it happened two thousand years ago.

False teachers tell people that it's going to happen any day. The seventieth week is the seven years of tribulation they talk about. How did they get it way out there? Isn't it strange that when this seven and sixty-two weeks followed week after week of this prophecy, consecutively, that when God gets up to the last week He would move it off two thousand years later?

Every time I think about that, I think about a clown I saw one time at a fair. My, everything was going on so fast, and he was about as simple a looking fellow as you have ever seen. He ran up to the microphone and said, "Hold it, hold it! I just got a message from President Eisenhower. He wants everybody to know that following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will come Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thank you!" Well, I'm here to tell you that following the sixty-ninth week was the seventieth week. There was no postponement.

Doctor Scoffield actually declared that the prophets stood on mountain peaks to see these things; that thought alone is false. No prophet wrote what he saw; he wrote as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. In this case, Daniel wrote as Gabriel gave the prophecy to him.

In Genesis 1:9 Moses wrote, "And God said, Let the waters...be gathered together...and it was so..." Now, tell me where Moses was standing when he saw all the waters come together. After you tell me where he was standing, I'm going to prove to you that Moses wrote Genesis two thousand years after the Creation. The great move through false religion is to take the divine quality out of the Word of God and bring it down to a rationalistic state. That seventieth week followed the sixty-ninth week, consecutively.

It's claimed, according to Daniel 9:27, that antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews for seven years. (This is the only scripture any of them use to teach this false theory.) They say this covenant would allow them to offer animal sacrifices in a rebuilt, Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Then in the midst of the week (halfway through it), the tribulation period, he will break his covenant and set himself up as God in the temple.

Now, I don't say this with any animosity toward anyone, but there's not a single one of such things as I have mentioned to be found in Daniel 9:27. It not only doesn't teach any of these things, but it doesn't even hint such things.

Who Is "He"?

If there's nothing in Daniel 9:27 that teaches about antichrist, what was Daniel teaching? Let's read Daniel 9:27, "And he..." This is where all the trouble is. People already have a projected idea of who "he" is. Millennialist actually teach that "he is the antichrist; yet there's nothing in verse 27 about antichrist. If we can know who "he" is, we can know the truth of the matter.

Then who is "he" that Gabriel was talking about when he said, "And he shall confirm the covenant..."? Many say he is antichrist, but the word he is a pronoun. Wherever there is a pronoun in English writing, there is always a noun which lets you know who the pronoun is. Verse 27 says, "And he." Who is it? The subject of verses 25 and 26 has been about the Messiah; that has been the whole subject. Needless to say, when the Prophet came to verse 27 he didn't have to say, "And the Messiah"; he simply said, "And he..." This is the same "he" whom I have been talking about. Can't you see how devilish this millennial doctrine is?

Who is "he"? "He" is the Messiah. Verse 25 tells us, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince..." Let's not get these princes mixed up. When the Bible refers to Christ, it uses a capital P. When it talks about Titus, it uses a lower case. Gabriel didn't come down from Heaven to tell people that antichrist was going to set up something in the temple; he came down to tell about Jesus , the Messiah.

How do we know "he" is the Messiah? Let's read verse 27 again, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease..." He (Christ) came A.D. 26 to 30. That week was to be seven years; that would take it to 33 A.D. The Scripture says, "in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." Did He do it? he preached three and one-half years, and then right in the midst of the week, He went to Calvary. When He died on the Cross, the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom, God moved out, and the old oblation ceased right in the midst of the week. Christ offered Himself once and for all, the only sacrifice for sin.

Why did He cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease? The blood of bulls and goats couldn't take away sin. He went to Calvary's Cross, shed His life's blood, and put an end to the Old Testament sacrifice for time and eternity.

Some people feel that "he" might have been that other prince, Titus. If you will read those three verses, you will see there is no way that it could have been Titus. First of all, Titus is spoken of without a capital letter. If they think "he" was Titus, then "he" is not antichrist. Moreover, if "he" refers to Titus, they can't teach that the seventieth week is out in the future, because that happened in A.D. 70.

A New, Literal Temple?

Another point we need to understand is that no reference of a future temple being built in Jerusalem is mentioned whatsoever. These verses are used to teach it, but there's no mention in these verses of a new temple being built in Jerusalem.

To understand this prophecy, we must go back to some things I stated in the beginning. At the time this prophecy was given to Jeremiah (you can read about it in Daniel 9:2), Israel was to be in Babylonian captivity seventy years. Remember, the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, and Israel was carried away into Babylonian captivity. Daniel was in Babylon when he received this understanding. Here was their situation: They were carried away as slaves; then God released them so they could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. When did the sixty-nine weeks begin? From the time the commandment was given of God to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

The Jews went back and rebuilt it because "the people had a mind to sork" (Nehemiah 4;6). That temple was standing when Jesus came. (You can read about this in Matthew 24). It had undergone some modifications, but it was the same temple. Jesus walked out of it and left it desolate, and in A.D. 70, it was torn down. Nobody can find anywhere in prophecy were it says there would ever be another one built. The one which was to be built was the one that Jesus worked in. There's nothing in prophecy that talks about a later temple than the one Titus tore down.

Daniel 9:26 tells us this temple would be destroyed. Let's read verse 26, "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself [this is when Christ went to the Cross]: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."

Who are the people? The Romans. Who is the prince? Titus. When did it happen? A.D. 70. So, that temple which was rebuilt was torn down in A.D. 70. No one can find a prophecy which states that there would be another temple built. Millenniallists have misused that prophecy (Daniel 9:26) to talk about a future temple.

We Have Salvation Now

In order to place Daniel 9:27 in the future, millennialists hold to the idea that a great gap exists between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week. However, the seventieth week follows right behind the sixty-ninth week.

How can we know when the seventieth week came? God sent Gabriel out of Heaven. Gabriel informed Daniel that sixty-nine weeks had been fulfilled and the seventieth was drawing near; it was time for Messiah to come! People are waiting for the time to be fulfilled, yet Gabriel tells us that the time has been fulfilled. That's why he made another trip from Heaven.

The Scripture declares that all the basic parts of the seventieth week have already been fulfilled. All sixty-nine weeks measure to Christ's appearance or His anointing. In the week that followed the sixty-ninth week, Christ was cut off in the midst of the week. It was his death that caused the oblation to cease. Here we will get into some reasons why this millennial teaching is so terrible. If the seventieth week has not yet come (which dispensationalists and millennialists teach), then we have no salvation and we are foolish to be building church buildings. Why? He was not cut off until in the midst of the seventieth week. If the seventieth week hasn't come, then He hasn't died yet, He hasn't risen yet, and we have no salvation.

What do false prophets teach? They teach that He has come and died, and they teach that salvation is here now; then they turn right around and say the seventieth week hasn't come. Well, if it hasn't come, how has salvation come? These things are false, and the devil is sitting back laughing. People who are held under false teaching are in bad shape, and only the truth will make them free.

One false doctrine lays foundation for another false doctrine. Did you ever stop to think where the teaching of Christ having to make at least two more appearings came from? The Bible teaches, "Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26). Christ is going to appear a second time, and that is all.

The Rapture

Where did man get the idea that there would be a rapture? When we already have a thought within our mind, we can find a Scripture to prop up our idea. On the contrary, take it from prophecy, from the Law, from the Gospel, from the Revelation, and chain it all together; if it's truth, it will "hook up". Hebrews 9:26 and 28 tell us, "Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself...and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Millennialists teach that he is only coming the second time for those who look for Him, that He is just coming to rapture the church away. Please read the Scripture again. It says, "...and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." He is going to appear to His true people, not dealing with sin. Needless to say, He will not appear to the rest that way. The unrighteous will be brought to the Judgment, and their sins will be named out right before them. He will be dealing with sin to those who don't look for Him, who are not ready to meet Him.

From where did the foundation come for teaching at least two more appearings of Christ? It came from this theory that antichrist is going to set up a place in Jerusalem in the temple, confirm or make a covenant, and then break it.

Why do they have to teach two appearances of Christ? Because they admit that this prophecy given to Daniel by Gabriel deals with the literal Jews. God, through Gabriel, spoke to Daniel and said, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people [the literal Jew]..." (Daniel 9:24). Since they teach that this antichrist business and making a covenant is only for the literal Jews, they had to come up with the theory that Jesus is going to come and carry the church away, because the millennialists are not included in this. They teach that while antichrist makes a covenant with the literal Jew here on the earth, the church will be caught up in the rapture.

Once again, I want to say, there is not a thing in the Bible to substantiate the thought of Jesus coming to rapture the church and leave the rest. The Bible plainly teaches that when he comes again, every eye will see Him, sinners and saints alike. Both the sinners and the saints will be caught to a final judgment.

The Greatest Noise Ever Heard

What laid the foundation for the doctrine of the rapture? Millennialist paint a horrible picture of what a terrible tribulation it's going to be when God raptures the church. Yet you've never heard one of them preach on the rapture from 2 Peter, the third chapter.

They teach that he's going to silently take the church away, and it will be done before the sinner ever realizes what has happened. That's what they think! The Bible lets us know that when He appears, "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10). We've never heard a noise like we're going to hear on that day. It will be so loud that it will shake the dead out of their graves.

Millennialists talk about a man sleeping in the bed not hearing; but the truth of the matter is, people who have been dead for hundreds of years are going to hear it. The voice of the Son of God is going to speak, and the dead are going to come forth.

First Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us the dead in Christ are going to rise first. First before what? Verse 17 reads, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds..." Paul also tells us that "we which are alive and remain...shall not prevent them which are asleep" (verse 15). The dead in Christ are going to rise with a new body first; then we who are alive are going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye and be caught up together with them in the air to meet the Lord. We won't stay there seven years while the tribulation is going on, but we will be with the Lord forever. We are to comfort one another with these words.

Where's the sinner going to be? According to millennialists, the church is going to be raptured, and the Jews are going to be gathered at Jerusalem where a new temple is to be built. (There isn't any prophecy for this whatsoever, but they are determined to teach it this way.) They also teach that while the Jews are there with antichrist and the church is caught up in the rapture, God is going to pour tribulation on the sinners.

I repeat, the foundation for teaching two appearances of Christ in the future is false, and it is based on another false teaching which we have dealt with already.

Somebody may ask, "Don't you think the Jews will gather back to Jerusalem? Don't you think a temple will be rebuilt?" If I forsake my thoughts and take God's thoughts, I can't think that way.

Why will the temple never be rebuilt? "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [during the seventieth week following the sixty-ninth week]: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation [When is the consummation? The end, when this heaven and earth are consumed by fire..." (Daniel 9:27).

God left that old temple in Jerusalem once and for all. It will be desolate unto the end. We would do well if we would receive the truth and line up with it. We must quit wasting our efforts, our time, our finance, and everything else trying to build up something which will never be built.

If the Jews were to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, offer the blood sacrifice, and reinstate the old priesthood, what would that prove? Would the offering of an animal sacrifice be pleasing to God now? Would He get any glory out of an old, sinful priesthood going through ceremonies? If the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem, rebuild the temple, and offer animal sacrifices, all it could ever prove is how deceived they are and how far they have gone in rejecting the Messiah.

There's nothing whatsoever to cause me to rejoice in learning that the Jews are going further in their unbelief. The thing that makes me rejoice is to hear of people who accept Christ and turn from Jewish fables to the truth. Let's hear of a people being filled with the Holy Spirit, realizing just as the people did on the Day of Pentecost that the atonement has already been made. We can't have the Holy Spirit and expect an atonement out in the future sometime. When the Holy Spirit comes in, He will convince us that Christ is the messiah, that he is Lord, the He is King, and that He is Ruler NOW!

The New, Living Temple

There's no prophecy anywhere that teaches there will be another temple built in literal Jerusalem. However, there was another temple built. When Jesus left the other one desolate, He said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). What is this new temple? She is the Church of God, a spiritual temple.

Jesus brought us a new covenant; He confirmed that covenant with signs following. He let us know it was true. He confirmed that covenant through His death. By His blood He purchased our salvation and delivered us from sin, and when we were purchased from sin, we were made members of that new, spiritual house. It's called the new Jerusalem, and the new Jews are going there. Many people have already found the new Jerusalem; that beats the postponement theory all to pieces. That's one of the earmarks of Satan; he always wants to postpone.

Jesus came with the "now" Gospel. He said in John 5:25, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." What des the devil want us to do? Postpone. Hell is inhabited with people who had good intentions of giving their lives to God, but the devil came along with a postponement idea (put it off a little while).

Every blessing that Jesus Christ brought to us in this great redemption (except a new body) is for us right now. We're in the kingdom now! There's a new and living way opened up. We can be holy and live in the presence of God right now, while we are living.

If we are in sin, we don't have to stay there another minute. If we will hear His voice, we can live holy now. He didn't say we would just be forgiven, but we can live free from sin. God is speaking to souls now, and He's resurrecting souls now. Salvation is the first resurrection. Then, the hour is coming when everyone who is in the grave is going to hear His voice. When He comes again, we're going to behold the second resurrection.

[ The End ]