The Number of the Beast, The Number of a
Man – Purity 666
Purity 666 02/28/2022 Purity 666 Podcast
Good
morning,
Today’s photo of a palm tree
and the blue sky above the beach at the E.G. Simmons Regional Park in Ruskin
Florida comes to us from yours truly as my wife and I decided to have a low key
day of relaxation on the last full day of our honeymoon vacation last Thursday.
I reported that it was “back to reality” on
Friday because we had returned to our homes in upstate New York only to be
welcomed back by a snow storm, but today is the real day of reckoning as my job
as “spontaneous vacation tour guide” has been exposed for the temporary
assignment that it was and I return to the working world and my “real job”.
While I only give my employer 40 hours a
week, I try to give the Lord all of my life and a part of my desire to follow
the Lord are these nearly daily encouragements that begun as personal texts to
a brother I was in an accountability relationship with. “Purity 1” was a single
text that was intended to encourage my brother in Christ that he could had
victory in the area of sexual immorality. Shortly after that first encouragement,
I started sharing the texts with all the men that walked through the doors of
our recovery ministry and then started sharing the encouragements along with
photos that highlighted God’s creation on Facebook. In 2020, I decided to bring them to
mt4christ.org which had been dormant since 2018 with Purity “217” and now we
have reached the dubious number of Purity “666”.
Numbers can be meaningful or novel as we
all witnessed as there was quite a bit of hoopla over 2/22/2022 last week. Numbers can also be seen as ominous as some
see the number 13 as bad luck and thus we have some buildings out there with no
13th floor. So as I realized that we were reaching Purity “666”, I
wondered if I should talk about the elephant in the room that comes to mind
with that “number of the beast”, the anti-Christ.
In light of the invasion of the Ukraine by
Russia, many are speculating over whether these events will lead to World War
III, the emergence of the anti-Christ on the world stage, and the fulfillment
of end times prophecies in which Russia is speculated to play a significant
role.
So is this the end? Is this World War III?
Is the anti-Christ going to come on the world stage to usher in the time known
as the Tribulation? What does the number 666 even mean?
As for the first three questions, I
confidently say “I don’t know” but based on what I know from my study of the
Bible, I would say “I don’t think so” because scripture indicates that the
event commonly referred to as the rapture will occur before the tribulation. According
to the pretribulation view of the end times, which the vast majority of Bible
scholars agree on, Christ comes and “snatches away” the church before the Tribulation
period begins.
But I am not here to argue over or predict the
end times, as a “freedom fighter” for Christ, I don’t really push one end times
scenario over another and take a more pragmatic view of my role as a disciple
of Christ. I believe that our purpose as
Christians lies in the “great commission” given to us by Jesus to go into all
the world and to make disciples regardless of the times or seasons that we
encounter on the earth.
As for “666” John MacArthur’s commentary on
Revelation 13:18 where the number of the beast is mentioned tells us that “666”
“ is the essential
number of a man. The number 6 falls one short of God’s perfect number, 7, and
thus represents human imperfection. Antichrist, the most powerful human the
world will ever know, will still be a man, i.e., a 6. The ultimate in human and
demonic power is a 6, not perfect, as God is. The 3-fold repetition of the
number is intended to reiterate and underscore man’s identity. When Antichrist
is finally revealed, there will be some way to identify him with this basic
number of a man, or his name may have the numerical equivalent of 666. (In many
languages, including Heb., Gr., and Lat., letters have numerical equivalents.)
Because this text reveals very little about the meaning of 666, it is unwise to
speculate beyond what is said.[1]” [1]
John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American
Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Rev
13:18.
Well, I am not going to be unwise and
speculate over who the anti-Christ will be, nor will I push one end times view
that attempts to incorporate current events over another.
Instead, as someone who has known and seen
the spiritual reality of the forces of demonic darkness, I will continue to live the life of a
Christian disciple regardless of the times or seasons. I will attempt to live
according to the Lord’s ways for my life and not fear the times to come. Our
purpose in Christ should be to share the gospel that teaches of the exclusivity
of Jesus Christ to save and to encourage Christians to pick up their crosses to
follow Jesus by “walking in the Spirit”, by praying at all times, by giving
thanks to the Lord at all times, and by rejoicing at all times.
All the theories about the end times and
all ideas about a political solution to the problems of world events should not
cause us to fear or cause us to lose our focus to share the good news of the gospel
of Jesus Christ and the wisdom of living by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit
in all the aspects of our lives.
If Christ comes back tomorrow or the
anti-Christ rises to power and an age of darkness and destruction comes to the world stage, we are to be doing what
Christ called us to do: to tell the world about Him and to live according to
His wisdom.
Regardless of the wars between nations, ultimate
reality will come down to who we chose to stand with and serve. We can choose
to go with God and share the hope of Jesus as a living expression of our faith
or we can choose the ways of the world, religious systems that deny who Jesus
is, or our own personal philosophies and agendas that separate us from
God.
Jesus Christ came to earth to give us life
and life more abundantly. Having faith in Christ and trusting that the Lord is
in control means that we follow Him regardless of the circumstances that
surround us.
So keep walking and talking with God. See
the good in the world and share the hope that transcends the evil that men do,
the hope that gives us everlasting life, the hope that lies in Christ
alone.
Today’s Bible verses come to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verses are:
Matthew
10:29-31 (NLT2)
29 What
is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall
to the ground without your Father knowing it.
30 And
the very hairs on your head are all numbered.
31 So
don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Today’s Bible verses encourages us to not fear, as our sovereign Lord knows everything that is happening and has deemed us to be very valuable.
Today’s verses are the words of Jesus, Himself, and prior to this section of scripture Jesus is telling us that we should not fear men who could kill our physical bodies but to instead fear God who could destroy both our bodies and souls in hell!
Yup, that’s the kind and gentle Jesus that we know and love, warning us of the wrath of God and the consequences of not making peace with Him.
But Christ doesn’t want to scare us, He wants to save us. He wants us to be assured that as scary as the world can be, God knows what is happening in the world and considers us to be valuable.
Jesus contrasts the value of sparrows with that of man who is made in God’s image – indicating that we are not created equal with the beasts of the earth. Jesus seeks to assure us that God is in control over the matters of life and death and that He is aware of when things will die, even sparrows. God’s knowledge is so great that He even knows the insignificant details of life, like the numbers of hairs on our heads.
All of this is said by Christ, to reveal the Father’s omnipresence and His sovereign control over life and death matters.
Jesus assures of us of the immense value that we have in the Father’s eyes and that God seeks us to give us the assurance of our safety by being reconciled to Him through Jesus. If we put our faith in and follow Jesus, we don’t have to fear other men or the death they could dispense through violence. In Christ, we are brought under the protection of God and assured our value and safety.
So don’t fear man, and don’t fear death. Fear God and make peace with Him through
Jesus Christ to know the peace that comes from knowing that you are very
valuable to Him and that He will give you life everlasting.
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from June Hunt’s Codependency: Balancing an Unbalanced Relationship.
As always, I share this
information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own private study and to
support his work. This resource is
available on many websites for less than $5.00.
IV. Steps to Solution
The primary problem with codependency can be called
"idolatry"—giving a greater priority to anything or anyone other than
God Himself. Our God is the One who created you and who has a wonderful plan
for your life. He is the Lord who loves you and knows how to fulfill you. If
you are in a codependent relationship...
- Your excessive
care causes you to compromise your convictions.
- Your excessive
loyalty leaves you without healthy boundaries.
- Your excessive
"love" allows you to say yes when you should say no.
However, our Maker and Master has the right to have primary rule in our
hearts and over our lives. Any other substitute is simply idolatry. The Bible
says.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
A. Key Verse to Memorize
No other verse in the Bible is better at helping us set our priorities
straight... put our relationships in the right order. We must put "first
things first" or else we, in our relationships, will never have the
fulfillment that God has planned for us.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying
to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant
of Christ." (Galatians
1:10)
Biblical Counseling Keys: Codependency: Balancing an
Unbalanced Relationship.
---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”,
"Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts,
Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured
Email me
at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be
encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook
Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean
(https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
Encouragement for the Path of Christian
Discipleship
