Circumstances and
Consequences
Seminar 216-02
June 3-6, 2009
Seminar topic:
The
Two Witnesses – Part II
Larry
Wilson
1.
Two Witnesses are:
(1)
The two laws of the universe, the Constitution of
the Universe: “Love God/ Love neighbor”
These two laws are “The Royal Law,”
(these two laws are represented as two
candlesticks)
James
2:8 If you really keep the royal law
found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as
your self,” you are doing right.
(2)
The Holy Spirit (two phases of the Holy Spirit,
are represented by the two olive trees)
(Zechariah
4:11-14)
2.
God’s Word is an ongoing revelation of
truth, an endless stream of divine declarations
that exalt and reveal the substance of the laws
of love.
The
Word of God “pushes” His children to
grow, grow, and grow. Eventually, God’s Word
causes conflict with the two laws of love and it
is these circumstances that reveal things that
were previously unknown.
For
example, Adam and Eve were created perfect. They
had sinless natures in the beginning.
But….
They
did not have the knowledge of good and evil.
This
knowledge did not arrive until they sinned!
Genesis
3:22 And the Lord God said [to the
other two Gods], “The man has now become
like one of us, knowing good and evil [wrong]. He
must not be allowed to reach out his hand and
take also from the tree of life and eat, and live
forever.
Genesis
3:23 So the Lord God banished him
from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from
which he had been taken.
Genesis
3:24 After he drove the man out, he
placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden
cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and
forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
We can
look backwards over 6,000 years and see what the
knowledge of good and evil produces.
The
carnal heart is thrilled every time a new deviant
sin is thought up and implemented.
When
it comes to doing evil, the amount of creativity
involved is amazing.
Genesis
6:5 “The Lord saw how great man’s
wickedness on the earth had become, and that
every inclination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil all the time.”
The
point here is that God’s Word in a fallen
world constantly polarizes people.
If we
accept God’s Word as the revealed will of
God, that is, an obligation, and if we are
willing to obey its demands, our faith will be
tested. Count on it!
1 John
2:15 Do not love the world or
anything in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John
2:16 For everything in the world
– the cravings of the sinful man, the lust
of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and
does – comes not from the Father but from
the world.
1 John
2:17 The world and its desires pass
away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever.
What
is God’s will?
That
we live by faith: Trust and obey.
That
we believe His Word is true, practice what it
says and watch for the conflicts that will surely
follow!
God’s
Word constantly tests our faith. It reveals areas
where we need to grow and once we understand how
God’s Word works, it opens our minds to new
things and new truth.
Profound:
The newest thing in the universe is also the
oldest thing in the universe.
The
Godhead.
Ever
since the last occurrence of sin took place, God’s
biggest problem has been the prevention of a
third episode of sin in a universe of children
having the power of choice.
Once a
person understands the dimensions of the problem
that God is working on, the actions and ways of
God over the past 6,000 + years will make a lot
of sense.
God’s
love and wisdom and strange ways make perfect
sense when viewed in reverse.
This
is why God requires His children to put their
total faith in Him going forward.
Now
you know why salvation is based on faith.
Faith
is the only way a finite being can fully trust
and happily live with an all-knowing infinite God
that he will never understand.
The
biblical definition of faith can be summed up in
three words: “Trust and Obey.”
The
two laws of the universe, the Constitution of the
Universe is called “The Royal Law” and
the King of the Universe is subject to this law
just as His subjects are.
In
fact, by watching and studying the actions of the
Godhead, we see what love is and is not.
James
2:8 If you keep the royal law found
in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as your
self,” you are doing right.”
When
Adam ate the fruit, He (1) violated the Word of
God (which commanded him not to eat) and (2) he
violated the first law of love by putting the
second law of love above the higher law.
If she
wasn’t going to live, he didn’t want to
live either.
Misplaced
love
Thus
Adam violated the first and highest law, “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
mind and soul.
Adam
made the horrible mistake of loving Eve more than
He loved God.
Adam
was the first humanist.
Humanism
is based on the idea that human beings can
determine for themselves what is best for life
and happiness.
Humanism
dethrones the wisdom and authority of God and its
efforts to avoid pain and unhappiness, it exalts
human wisdom that ultimately produces the very
thing it seeks to avoid: pain, unhappiness,
degeneracy, decadence and death.
Isaiah
55:8 “For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
Isaiah
55:9 “As for the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah
55:10 As the rain and snow come down
from heaven, and do not return to it without
watering the earth and making it bud and
flourish, so it yields seed for the sower and
bread for the eater,
Isaiah
55:11 so is my word that goes out
from my mouth; it will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the
purpose for which I sent it.”
God’s
children will never stop growing and developing.
His Word keeps everything moving forward in
growth and maturity.
This
growth is necessary because God will forever
expand the universe.
Another
new world means another planet of children, and
new children means new circumstances and
consequences.
The
expansion of the universe and the population of
the universe will never end.
Older
children will never stop mentoring younger
children.
God
speaks. He commands various things at various
times (a) to test and expand the faith of His
creatures, (b) to teach us new things that are
unknown and (c) to reveal areas in our lives
where we need improvement.
Example:
Exodus
35:3 Do not light a fire in any of
your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
Numbers
15:32 While the Israelites were in
the desert, a man was found gathering on the
Sabbath day.
Numbers
15:33 Those who found him gathering
wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole
assembly,
Numbers
15:34 and they kept him in custody,
because it was not clear what should be done to
him.
Numbers
15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses,
“The man must die. The whole assembly must
stone him outside the camp.”
Numbers
15:36 So the assembly took the man
outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the
Lord commanded Moses.
Why
was this man stoned?
Numbers
15:30 “’But anyone who sins
defiantly, whether native-born or alien,
blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut
off from the people.”
When a
person sins defiantly against the Word of God, he
violates the first law of the universe, “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
mind and soul…”
Defiance
is the opposite of submission. Defiance is
willful and determined rebellion.
This
explains why the Great tribulation will be a
clash between two systems of law: God’s law
versus man’s law.
Those
obeying God’s law will defy man’s laws
and those obeying man’s laws will defy God’s
law.
Daniel
8:19 He said: “I am going to
tell you what will happen later in the time of
wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed
time of the end.
Consider
this: God will not destroy the wicked at the end
of the 1,000 years because they offended Him or
disobeyed Him. No!!!
If the
rule of law is present, a judge cannot lawfully
sentence a criminal to death because the criminal
defied the judge.
No, a
judge sentences a criminal to death because the
criminal deliberately broke the law (1st
degree murder) and this offense requires or
permits the death sentence according to the law.
In a
similar way, God will lawfully extract
restitution and destroy those who have refused to
live by the two laws that everyone including
Himself, must live by.
If
anyone willfully defies these two laws, the death
sentence is required.
The
two laws of love demand that all defiant sinners
be eliminated from the universe.
If
someone refuses to love God first and his
neighbor as himself, that person is defiant and
all defiant people must be cut off from the
society of the universe.
Numbers
15:30 “’But anyone who sins
defiantly, whether native-born or alien,
blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut
off from his people.”
The
fall of Lucifer led to the fall of one-third of
Heaven’s angels.
The
fall of Lucifer led to the fall of Adam and Eve.
The
fall of Adam and Eve has brought untold
suffering, sorrow and death to the human race.
Because
sin is a cancer that never stops infecting the
innocent, a God of love will execute justice.
A
loving God will not subject oncoming worlds to
the predatory nature of sin.
The
telltale evidence of demon-possessed people is
predatory violence.
Sin
has no contentment.
Sin’s
requires camaraderie – bringing in new
people, capturing the innocent in a stealthy and
deadly process and then making recruiters of the
young.
A
perfect counterfeit for true evangelism!
The
Godhead:
Last
session I made several statements about the
Godhead.
I
would like to expand and amplify some additional
points for your consideration:
1.
After the three Gods cast lots and assumed their
roles, the first thing the Father did was to
write a book about the history of sin.
POINT:
Two Gods gave up their power of possessing a
perfect foreknowledge of coming events.
After
they submitted themselves to each other, ONLY the
Father knows everything about the future and He
tells the other two Gods whatever He wants them
to know.
The
point here is that the first thing the Father did
after assuming His role was to write down a
history of life before there was any history to
record.
According
to His perfect foreknowledge, He wrote down
everything that would happen and He even included
the name of every angel and human being that
would live!
After
writing the book, He then blotted out the name of
each person who would choose to defy the laws of
love.
In
other words, every person’s life was written
down in the Book of Life, but only the names of
those who will choose submission were permanently
recorded
OK,
the Father’s foreknowledge presents an
interesting problem:
Can
God be trusted with His perfect foreknowledge?
Will
He manipulate circumstances and consequences to
avoid problems?
Will
He use His incredible powers for personal
advantage and benefit?
Does
God always win because He always knows in advance
what His opponent(s) will do?
To
make Himself look good, did God create some
angels and some human beings for destruction?
Since
God already knows what the future will be, does
His foreknowledge have any effect on your future?
Illustration:
Let’
suppose that you and your wife were married in
1945 and by 1947, you had decided to have 9
children. But:
You
have perfect foreknowledge and you know that your
firstborn child will become angry and jealous of
you in 1997 – without justifiable cause.
You
know this child is going to say horrible things
about you.
You
know that this child is going to steal some of
your dearest possessions.
This
child is going to lie and convince a third of
your other children that you are a terrible
– even a sexually abusive father.
You
know that your son will become your greatest
enemy during 1997 and would, if possible, kill
you.
Yet,
for 40 years, you know that this child will be
your best == and most loyal friend – a
favorite son.
What
would you and your wife do to protect yourself in
a situation like this?
a.)
have no children – because the first born
has to be the firstborn
b.)
kill the child sometime during the 40 years while
he is still your best friend?
c.)
immediately kill your child when he becomes evil
to limit the damage upon others?
d.)
write down the whole story before it happens so
that at the end, you can show all of your
children and grandchildren that you knew what was
going to take place before it came to be.
The
point here is that God knew the outcome of
creating life and He chose to be vulnerable
anyway.
Contrary
to Lucifer’s claims, and the blame game that
goes on today, God grants the power of choice to
all of His creatures.
God is
love. His foreknowledge does not change His
behavior nor does it alter His actions that
spring from a character of love.
God
foreknew the existence of sin and He prepared for
its deadly consequences by writing a book.
He
foreknew that Lucifer would sin and deceive 1/3
of Heaven’s angels.
God
foreknew that Adam and Eve would sin.
He
foreknew that generations of people on Earth
would curse and deny Him.
God
foreknows everything.
Yet,
He made the angels and after they sinned, He gave
them many opportunities to repent. One third
persistently refused – committing the
unpardonable sin.
God
also made man. Since man did not openly defy God’s
law and commit the unpardonable sin, God provided
a way back to Eden – the payment was death
– Jesus died in man’s place.
At the
creation of Heaven and Earth, God commissioned
some recording angels. Their records, as
impartial observers of angels and the human race,
are called the book [of deeds]. These are the
records from which angels and men will be judged.
1
Corinthians 6:2 Do you not know that
the saints will judge the world? And if you are
to judge the world, are you not competent to
judge trivial cases?
1
Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that
we will judge angels? How much more the things of
this life!”
During
the 1,000 years, the saints will go over the
records of the wicked (angels and mankind) and
they will determine the amount of suffering
(restitution) that is required of each wicked
person.
At the
end of the 1,000 years, God is going to present a
history of each life to the inhabitants of Earth.
Everyone is going to see his own life, as God saw
it.
There
will be no blame, no excuses, and no escape.
For
God’s record not only includes our external
actions, His records include motive. In other
words, God sees our inner motives and their
corresponding actions and He judges accordingly.
When
the wicked behold their records as recorded by
angels in the book of deeds they will kneel
before God admitting that God has been
unquestionably fair in His judgment of them.
When
the righteous beholds their life’s record,
they kneel and confess that God’s record is
true and they have no claim to eternal life in
God’s kingdom.
Two
Groups:
One
kneeling before God’s throne of justice, the
other before His throne of mercy.
Isaiah
45:23 “By myself I have
sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a
word that will be revoked: Before me every knee
will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
Isaiah
45:24 They will say of me, ‘In
the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’”
All who have raged against him will come to him
and be put to shame.
Isaiah
45:25 But in the Lord all the
descendants of Israel will be found righteous and
will exalt.
After
the books of record have been opened and the
judgment review completed, the Book of Life will
be opened.
At
this time, the universe will behold that God
wrote down a complete history of everyone before
they came to be.
Everyone
will be astonished that God, fully knowing their
rebellion against Him, gave them so much love and
grace.
It
will be shown that God fully knew who would hate
Him and rebel against Him – yet He gave
everyone life and Jesus as a ransom for each
sinner.
Everyone
will be forced by circumstances and consequences
that God’s way are righteous and most of
all, He extended much grace and patience to every
sinner.
Bible
texts:
God
foreknew every person before they are born:
Jeremiah
1:5 “Before I formed you in the
womb I knew you, before you were born I set you
apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the
nations.
2.
God wrote the Book of Life before the world
began:
Revelation
17:8 “…The inhabitants of
the earth whose names have not been written in
the book of life from the creation of the world
will be astonished when they see the beast…”
Revelation
13:8 “All inhabitants of
the earth will worship the [first] beast—all
whose names have not been written in the book of
life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from
the creation of the world.”
Revelation
13:8 (Alternate) “A;
inhabitants of the earth will worship the [first]
beast—all whose names have not been written
from the beginning of the world in the book of
life that belongs to the Lamb that was slain.”
Point:
God wrote the book before the world began.
Next
point: “Then the Lamb’s
book of life is identified in Revelation as the
book having seven seals.
Revelation
5:6 “The I saw a Lamb, looking
as if it had been slain, standing in the center
of the throne…”
(7)
“He came and took the scroll from the right
hand of Him who sat on the throne…
(12)
In a loud voice they sung: “Worthy is the
Lamb, who was slain, to receive
1.
power and
2.
wealth and
3.
wisdom and
4.
strength and
5.
honor and
6.
glory and
7.
praise!”
Points
about the seven seals to consider:
1.
The book with the seven seals is introduced in
Revelation 5. It belongs to the Father and no one
can even look inside:
Revelation
5:3 But no one in heaven or on earth
or under the earth could open the scroll or even
look inside it.
2.
The book is sealed on the outside with seven
seals and there is writing on both sides of the
book:
Revelation
5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of
him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing
on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
3.
Someone has to be found worthy to break open the
seals and disclose the information inside:
Revelation
5:2 And I saw a mighty angel
proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy
to break the seals and open the scroll?”
4.
The scroll is opened after the seals are broken.
(See above)
5.
Jon weeps because no one was found worthy to open
the scroll or look inside. (John realizes that
this book is the only means of clearing the
government of the Father.)
Revelation
5:4 I wept and wept because no one
was found who was worthy to open the scroll or
look inside.
a.
The Father has possession of the book.
b.
The Father has been accused of things in the
past.
c.
This book contains a record of everything that
has happened.
d.
This book is mentioned in Revelation 6 times. And
after Jesus receives it, John calls it the Lamb’s
book of life (not the book of the Lamb’s
life.)
e.
Names were written and blotted out in this book
before the creation of the world.
f.
Moses knew of this book.
g.
David knew of this book.
h.
Paul knew of this book.
i.
Jesus spoke of this book indirectly.
6.
The breaking of a seal has nothing to do with the
unrolling of the scroll; rather, the breaking of
each seal marks another step in the revelation of
all that Jesus really is!
7.
As each seal is broken, more about Jesus is
exposed (both in heaven and on earth).
OK, so
now you know two things: Only the Father has
omniscience and He wrote a book before any life
was created.
At the
end of sin’s drama, the Book of Life will be
found to be identical to the Book of Deeds and
this will prove three things:
1.
God has perfect foreknowledge
2.
God will not, under any circumstances, manipulate
circumstances or consequences to favor His
position on the throne
3.
Can God be trusted with foreknowledge; will He
use it for me or against me?
The
union of the three Gods in marriage has no sexual
connotation. The three Gods are not male or
female. Before their union, each God was whole
and complete.
Their
marriage and union as One is similar to marriage
on Earth.
Genesis
2:24 For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother and be united to his wife,
and they will become one flesh.
The
three Gods are not sexual in nature and for that
matter, neither are the angels. (There is neither
male or female in Heaven.)
Matthew
22:30 At the resurrection people will
neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will
be like the angels in heaven.
The
Father ordained the creation of this planet and
the implementation of sex for a reason.
The
Father intends to restore His house to 3/3. Right
now, it is 2/3’s full.
The
idea is simple: The number of the redeemed from
Earth will equal the number off fallen angels.
Notice
how God’s “home improvement”
program works:
The
angels who sided with Lucifer were created in a
sinless environment. They had sinless natures.
They were perfect until they chose to follow
Lucifer.
You
know how the angels were cast out of Heaven.
God
waited until Lucifer’s predatory behavior
affected one-third of His family and that was the
end of divine patience.
God
cast the devil and his angels out of Heaven.
THEN
The
Father gave some “creation plans” to
Jesus and Jesus went to work.
Here’s
the plan (as I understand it):
The
Father foreknew that it would take 6,000 years of
sin to gather up enough people to replace the
fallen angels.
The
Father foreknew that procreation was necessary
for the planet because He wants to end the sin
drama. He intends to repopulate Heaven with a
group of ex-sinners who will serve as His
ambassadors throughout the universe.
By
having a large troop of human beings who have
“been there, done that,” they will be
the Father’s insurance plan program that sin
will not arise again.
If a
“hot spot” should develop somewhere in
the universe, the Father will empty 1/3 of Heaven
to that “hot spot” to put the fire out.
If the
potential rebellion cannot be stopped, the Father
will suddenly execute the sinners and everyone
will know that the Father has acted according to
love.
You
see the wages of sin is immediate death by
execution.
The
death of Adam and Eve was stayed because Jesus
stepped in the way to redeem mankind. Therefore a
huge host of ex-sinners is God’s insurance
policy against the third rise of sin.
The
point here is that sex on this planet is a
temporary creation.
God
lost a third of His angels. They were sinless and
lived in a perfect place, yet they chose to
defiance!!!
He
will replace them with people who were born in
and under the curse of sin and yet chose
submission!!!
Wow!!!
Think
about this:
Who
can make more noise throughout eternity about the
horror of violating the Royal Law and the Holy
Spirit than ex-sinners?
As for
sex, at it’s best (and I must say that sex
has produced far more agony on Earth than joy);
sex is just a tiny earthly sample of the emotion
and union with God that is to come.
1
Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is
written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has prepared for
those who love him,
1
Corinthians 2:10 but God has revealed
it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of God.
1
Corinthians 2:11 For who among men
knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s
spirit within him? In the same way no one knows
the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
So,
there you have it.
God
created sex for a temporary purpose.
God
could not create fallen beings, but God decided
to use fallen beings to save the universe from a
third episode of sin.
For
this reason, God will elevate fallen man above
the angels – and they are ready to submit.
Jesus
is the Creative Agent of the Godhead.
Jon
1:1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John
1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
John
1:3 Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
John
1:4 In Him was life, and that life
was the light of men.
John
1:14 The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth.”
1 John
1:1 That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and
our hands have touched—this we proclaim
concerning the Word of life.
1 John
1:2 The life appeared; we have seen
it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the
eternal life, which was with the Father and has
appeared to us.
1 John
1:3 We proclaim to you what we have
seen and heard, so that you also may have
fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 John
1:4 We write this to make our joy
complete.
1 John
1:5 This is the message we have heard
from him and declare to you: God is light; in him
there is no darkness at all.
[The
idea is that fallen man lives in great darkness
and in order to have fellowship with God, a
person has to be willing to enter the light and
let go of his darkness on a continual basis]
1 John
1:6 If we claim to have fellowship
with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do
not live by the truth.
1 John
1:7 But if we [continue to] walk in
the light [toward the light], and he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all
sin.”
Hebrews
1:1 In the past God spoke to our
forefathers through the prophets at many times
and in various ways,
Hebrews
1:2 but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir
of all things, and through whom he made the
universe.
Hebrews
1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s
glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word. After
he had provided purification for sins, he sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
John
6:46 No one has seen the Father
except the one who is from God; only he has seen
the Father.
1
Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and
glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Colossians
1:15 He [Jesus] is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians
1:16 For by him all things were
created: things in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or powers or
rulers or authorities; all things were created by
him and for him.
Colossians
1:17 He is before all things, and in
him all things hold together.
Ephesians
1:17 I keep asking the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give
you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that
you may know him better.
Ephesians
1:18 I pray also that the eyes of
your heart may be enlightened in order that you
may know the hoe to which he has called you, the
riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians
1:19 and his incomparably great power
for us who believe. That power is like the
working of his mighty strength,
Ephesians
1:20 which he exerted in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and seated him at the
right hand in the heavenly realms,
Ephesians
1:21 far above all rule and
authority, power and dominion, and every title
that can be given, not only in the present age
but also in the one to come.
Ephesians
1:22 And God placed all things under
his feet and appointed him to be head over
everything for the church,
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