You Can't: God's Amazing Grace In an Age of Darkness by Andrew Paul Cannon - HTML preview

¹ Whether this verse is interpreted as a literal serpent or a symbol to mean Satan, the creature (whether physical or spiritual) has somehow acted against the Creator and the Creator has allowed it.

² Apocalyptic literature is a prophetic genre in both the Old Testament (Daniel) and here in the New Testament. It does not refer to the end of the world, but is a term that refers specifically to the types of symbolism used.

³ Conclusion based on Ezekiel 9, 2 Timothy 2:19

⁴ 2 Corinthians 5

⁵ Jackson, James. "Ready, Session 5 (Ready When Homosexuality Devastates): Morality in First Century Rome." Bible Studies For Life. 2015.

⁶ Interesting, here, is that the plagues of the witnesses are described in a parallel fashion with the bowls of God’s wrath and end with a great earthquake just as the bowls end with an earthquake. I will not at this time draw this out to make any proposition, but I did want to point out the parallels. God’s people, with God, though will be issuing testimony against the kingdoms of the earth.

⁷ Or Nicholas Cage?

⁸ Luhby, Tammy. "71% of the world's population lives on less than $10 a day." CNNMoney. 2015.

⁹ Luhby, Tammy. "Typical American family earned $53,657 last year." CNNMoney. 2015.

¹⁰ A popular interpretation suggests that the second resurrection is a resurrection of the dead for the purpose of judgment, but i am not convinced because it doesn’t seem to fit the natural reading of the book of Revelation. The first resurrection seems to precede the forming of the New heaven and New earth, at which time the New Jerusalem (representative of Christ’s bride or the church) will be finally and eternally restored.

Acts 24:15- Refers to the resurrection of the just and the unjust. In context, the “just” seems to refer to those under ritual law (i.e. the Jews) and the “unjust” seems to refer to those not under ritual law (i.e. the gentiles). This makes sense regarding the nature of the book of Acts.

John 5:29- Refers to a resurrection of life and a resurrection of judgment. Jesus was playing on the expectations of the religious Jews who expected, by their work, to become participants in the resurrection. Essentially Jesus’ message was, “You’ll receive a resurrection alright; a resurrection of judgment because your works are evil!” This was not a description of the second death (John’s description in Revelation 20), but an accusation of ritualism (evil works) amongst the religious teachers of the day.

There seems to be a second resurrection and a second death, not to be confused with one another. Resurrection is a bringing into life, the first resurrection on the current earth (experienced specifically by martyrs) and the second resurrection on the New earth. Death is a loss of life, the first death on the current earth and the second death for eternity. Throughout the New Testament, the resurrection is always mentioned in contrast to death, not to describe a type of death.

¹¹ Not everyone is called to give up their life physically to the point of martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel, which is why I believe this specific reward does not last forever, but merely 1,000 years.

¹² In the case of church by-laws, they are necessary for an organization in light of the civil law of the United States. The by-laws of a church, though, should only reflect the Biblical mandate for the local church: nothing more and nothing less. A church should never be so attached to its by-laws that it is unwilling to change them in light of Scripture.

¹³ Statistics taken from http://www.intothyword.org/apps/articles/?articleid=36562