The Hopeful Martyr:

Luke 12:37 “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching:…”

Rom 8:17-18  “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18} For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

About

The intent of this blog is to encourage believers to clarify their expectation of the Millennium, the coming thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth. Only Jesus Christ is capable of successfully administering this earth, and He will be coming to do exactly that. Man has failed in every aspect, but Jesus will finally bring that perfection that mankind has been hoping for and been striving for, but failed to achieve. He is mankind’s only hope for such perfection, not only on this earth, but also for eternity.

Our beliefs are based on scripture only and based on the King James Bible. They are as follows:

• We believe that we are saved from eternal death by the merciful grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ only and not by any good works a person may do. Jesus Christ died in our place on the cross, was buried and was resurrected the third day. He has already done all the work required to save us and offers eternal life with Him as a gift to all men. To trust in Jesus Christ and to believe in His finished work on the cross is the only ‘work’ any person has to do to be saved. This is the only requirement for our salvation and for receiving His gift of eternal life.  Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
• We believe in one God existing in three distinct persons (the trinity): the Father, the Word (Jesus Christ, the Son), and the Holy Ghost. 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
• We believe that Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. Therefore, when he walked this earth, he was 100% man and 100% God at the same time. 100% God because only He could live a sinless life and qualify as a pure sacrifice for our sin, and 100% man to qualify as our representative before the Father. 1 Timothy 3:16 ‘And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.’ Col 1:22 ‘In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:’
• We believe that salvation cannot be lost. Being saved is a one time event that can never be reversed by a failure on our part. We are kept saved by Jesus and not by any efforts (good works) on our part. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
• We believe that repentance, in regards to being saved, is when a person turns from their unbelief or stops trusting whatever else it was before they put their full trust and hope on Jesus Christ alone. “Turning from your sins” is a good work believers should strive to do but it is not a requirement to be saved. Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
• We believe that those who are not saved will spend eternity in a literal lake of fire. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
• We believe that God has preserved his word exactly like he wants it communicated to us. For English speaking people, the King James Version is considered as the authoritative translation of the word of God into English. Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
• We believe that water baptism is not a condition for salvation. It is an act of obedience illustrating Jesus’ work in us, and is by immersion for born-again believers. Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
• We believe that life begins at conception and any process that intentionally terminates a pregnancy after conception is murder. Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
• We believe that marriage is a life-long, monogamous relationship between a man and a woman and any sexual act outside of this institution is a sin. Matthew 19:5-6 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
• We believe that God created the world in 6 literal 24 hour days approximately 6000 years ago. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
• We believe that the resurrection of the deceased believers together with the rapture will take place after the tribulation but before God pours out his wrath on this earth. Revelation 1:7 Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
• We believe that Jesus is coming back to establish his millennial kingdom on the earth. This will be followed by the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, the eternal state with his saints, as explained in our videos https://vimeo.com/user98387850 . 2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.

What is the common denominator in the teaching about our salvation between Catholics, Islamists, Judaists, Jehovah’s witnesses, Mormons and cults? They all teach that we can secure our salvation by being a good person, that mankind has to contribute something to earn their way into heaven. They believe if our good deeds somehow exceed our bad, we will be OK. Or, “If we work hard in building our faith, have more faith, we can be surer to make it to heaven”. Regularly confessing sins, giving a lot, etc, etc. are seen to provide one with better chance of making it. This is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. (See  appendix F)

My wife and I live in Australia, were schooled and married in South Africa, and have grown up attending conservative protestant churches. We have since spent many years in Baptist and Pentecostal denominations, but have unfortunately seen them all weaken, in both countries, by going into the direction of ‘seeker sensitive’ sermons, with a watered down the Word of God so as not to ‘offend’ visitors. This compromise has weakened the church and removed its source of power, which is God’s pure and life giving Word. We believe that daily focused reading of the bible is essential to maintain spiritual health, without it we will weaken. John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Table of Contents

Version 18-10-’19

1.1 The vision: Will there be Millennium of Peace?

1.2 The Gospel of the Kingdom

1.3 Watch and Pray

1.4 …whoso readeth, let him understand.

The Millennium

2.1 The Jesus millennium

2.2 The vision: Who has part in this Millennial Kingdom?

2.3 The vision: What is life like during the Millennium?

2.4 The vision: The significance of the Millennium

2.5 Jesus reigns from Jerusalem

2.6 List of Biblical Sources

Prophetic patterns

3.0 Envisage the timing: the D-day.

3.1 God patterns in scripture.

3.2 God’s 7000 year plan.

3.3 Jesus’ prophecies

3.4 Daniel’s prophecies. (Dan 7 & 9)

3.5 Revival of the remnant :Hosea 6:2

3.6 The 2000 year plan

3.7 Prophetic pattern of Thirds.

3.8 Pattern of 7000 years: The Jewish ceremonial Calendar.

3.9 Inside the 7-7-7 timetable

3.10 The 7-7-7 timetable and the A.O.D.

3.11 The Trumpet, Thunder and Bowl Judgments.

The Enemy

4.0 Knowing the Enemy: Satan’s strategy for the end time Christians:

4.1 The ‘Rapture’ and Amillennialism

4.2 The ‘New’ gospel

4.3 Christian Zionism

4.4 Evolution*

4.5 Bible Version Confusion.

Preparation

5.0 An overcoming spirit

5.1 Seated in Christ

5.2 The gospel and the battle

5.3 Physical preparation.

5.4 Worship.*

5,5 Preparing for Tribulation*

5.6 The Word, Our food

Taking stock

6.0 Assessing our spiritual condition

6.1 My passion

6.2 My courage

6.3 My purity

6.4 My deliverance

6.5 My works

6.6 My perseverance

6.7 My heart

The Battle

7.0 The battle scenarios, the Day of the Lord.

7.1 The witnesses.

7.2 Babylon, the Whore.

7.3 The Great Escape.

7.4 The Great Persecution.

7.5 The Martyrs

7.6 The sealed.

7.7 The mark, the number

7.8 The Great Apostasy

7.9 The Bride

7.10 The Victor

Appendix A: Hope, not Fear

Appendix B: Revelation Study

Appendix C: Revelation overview

Appendix D: Bible Version Explosion

Appendix E: Lining up millennial O.T. prophesies with the N.T.

Appendix F: That you may know that you have eternal life.

Future: refer to KJV verses on Topics

References:
This blog is mostly based on our own Bible studies, but was also influenced by sermons and various internet articles which we have encountered over a number of years (mainly since 2016). However, some fundamental Baptist pastors such as Steven Anderson have made a lasting impact which we must acknowledge. On the one hand, he is  a confronting, abrasive and controversial preacher, at the extreme opposite end of the scale to the typical theologian. On the other hand, his bible knowledge and insights by far exceed that of any other of the more ‘elegant/gracious’ preachers we have heard. Some of the many valuable perspectives, such as on the post-trib pre-wrath rapture (Matt 24:29-31), are included in post 3.9, 3.10 and appendix F. (http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/page5.html). Also, his insights on Revelation 12 being a reset in the Rev 6-11 chronology was extremely valuable. From that it became clear that Rev 6-11 and Rev 12-16 were parallel passages, covering the same chronology but viewed from a different perspective.

Anko & Theresa Griffioen

(contact: anko.griffioen@gmail.com)