Wednesday, February 6, 2019

A LIVING ENTITY by Stephen Benton


A LIVING ENTITY  by  Stephen Benton

 
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,..."

            The scriptures are a living entity.   The literal meaning  of any given text  will not  change,  but  the  angles and  intensity  of spiritual  light being  shed  on a passage  are constantly  changing.   That is especially true of prophetic scripture.   The very day itself allows prophecy to be seen in a different  light as time  goes by. Because we are  living in the final years of the last days, most of the  dark  passages of prophecy are  now shining  with a brilliance never   before  seen.   As we move closer to the end of the last days the  few remaining prophecies that are yet blurred will continue to come  into focus.
For example, the book of Revelation speaks of the "mark" of the beast and that  no man  will be able to buy or sell unless he has  the  mark  in his right hand or in his forehead.  When I was a teenager, those who taught on that topic had no idea  of how the mark  would be placed or identified.  In the last 20 years technology  has  given us bar codes  and  scanners  which in turn have allowed us to better interpret the  possibility of Revelation's mark.   With the development  of the  micro-chip, a device that  stores million of bits of information  on a surface  the  size of a fingernail,  we can easily comprehend  how invisible marking on the skin or implants just under the skin can carry  an  entire case history  of an  individual.  Scriptures that seemed muddy a few decades ago may now be seen clearly because  so much more information  is now available  to us.  Even Daniel did not understand   all of the prophecies he wrote about.   He was writing about things that went far beyond his day and they stretched his imagination to the limit.  God didn't explain all of them to him either:

            "And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, 0 my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?  Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end."   Dan.12:8-9
 
When the apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, God  told John not to seal the book because  the time of the events was at hand.   Because Revelation, written centuries after Daniel, was not sealed, the seal that was once placed on Daniel's prophecy has also been broken.   Because  we are at the end of this age it is logical that  God will continue  to reveal  more  of his secrets  to those  who are fervently  searching  his word. Furthermore,   God will actually reveal more of his plans to us because we are his friends. 

            Abraham was the only Old Testament character recognized as God's friend and as such he is the prototype of our friendship with God. There is a general impression that Moses was called a friend of God but that is not  so.  God spoke with Moses face to face "as a man speaketh unto his friend"  [Ex.33:11,)  but Moses  was never called the friend  of God.  Three times Daniel is called  "greatly beloved" but never was he called God's friend.  To the Church Jesus says the following:

            "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  Henceforth  I call you  not servants; for  the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for  all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."   Jn.15:14-15

            Before destroying  Sodom and Gomorrah,  God told his friend Abraham  what he was about  to do because  God had promised  the land to Abraham  and also because Abraham's nephew was living there.
            As believers, we are not only Jesus' friends, we are also the sons of God and Jesus is our older brother.  As our brother, he will not keep us in the dark regarding our Father's plans.  I'm sure that the Father has made known to the Son the day of the Rapture. When Jesus promised the Holy Ghost to his disciples he said the following:

            "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."   Jn.16:13

            I am fully persuaded that God has shown this generation, those who will be alive at the time of the Rapture, when that day will be.  In these last days, God is still revealing secrets to his prophets before he acts.  God has always conducted himself that way.  He does not keep secrets from his people.
            This book will examine the scriptures that reveal the  message to the Church for the time of the Rapture.  It will also look at some of the  signs in the  heavens that have been placed  there for the  express  purpose  of confirming that our redemption is at hand.


{excerpt from the forward of 1997...at the last trump! by  Stephen Benton}
(available on this page: Google+, GOD'S FINAL MESSAGE TO  HIS CHURCH!)