Monthly Archives: September 2019

The World in Prophecy: Ruined by Rebellion

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There are many things which are beautiful and nice about our present world. Even so most of us are soon aware that something is wrong, or more than one thing is seriously wrong in this present world.

It hasn’t always been like this

In a way we even sense this inside us. Man was once in a perfect place, and had a perfect job, tending a beautiful and bountiful garden. Our ancestor’s rebellion against God’s instructions changed all of this, so,

“17 … cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.”
Gen 3:17-18 WEB

And that was just the beginning.

Sin ruins things

Sometimes things can go back and forth because of our stubbornness or repentance.

“33 He turns rivers into a desert,
Water springs into a thirsty ground,
34 And a fruitful land into a salt waste,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
And a dry land into water springs.
36 There he makes the hungry live,
That they may prepare a city to live in,
37 Sow fields, plant vineyards,
And reap the fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly.
He doesn’t allow their cattle to decrease.”
Psa 107:33-38 WEB

It is sin that pollutes our world

“4 The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the lofty people of the earth do languish. 5 The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants of it; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”
Isa 24:4-6 WEB

God looks for and tries to encourage repentance

“8 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. 9 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.”
Jer 18:8-10 WEB

In Physics these laws of decay are called “entropy.”

Entropy in everyday terms means that things run down, decay, fall apart. In Rom 8:20 Paul says that the world was subjected to this frustration, this futility, this vanity/emptiness, by God’s decision. But He says that one day

“that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”
Rom 8:21 WEB

Entropy is not an eternal law, but a temporary dilemma of our present universe because of sin. We have become a part of a cosmic rebellion.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: An Evil World System

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All of us like to be liked. We wish everyone liked us.

But there is a world system which is evil.

Satan is allowed to tempt us and to try to seduce us. He is allowed to offer such rewards as a temporary existence here may carry. Satan said of what he offered Jesus, that

“I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want.”
Lk 4:6 WEB

Jesus rejected this offer. The beast will accet the offer, Rev 13:2. As Jesus went to the cross He said,

“Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.” John 12:31 WEB

That system that Satan has cobbled together is evil to the core. Jesus kingdom is not of this system.

… “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”
Jn 18:36 WEB.

We are a bred living for the wrong things.

The people of this world are very astute in living for this present world. In fact they are better at living for this world, than Christians are in living for the world to come. A certain rich man had a dishonest manager, who very cleverly skinned his employer. The rich man could only admire his shrewd behavior.

“His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.”
Lk 16:8 WEB

It is comparing the children of this age with the children of the age to come.

This Age is in rebellion against God.

“This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.”
Jn 3:19 WEB.

It does not even want to know that it’s ways are evil.

“The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.”
Jn 7:7 WEB

The world system, the media, many large corporations,
many governments, the whole thing,

is not of God. It does not know God, it is against God.

““He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.”
Jn 12:30 WEB

“… If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.”
1Jn 2:15 WEB

The world system is NOT your friend.

James goes further.

“… don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ”
Jas 4:4 WEB

In the end, this will all have to be answered for.

But God wants to redeem us, to the extent of offering His One and Only Son to suffer in our stead, “that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Jn 3:16 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: Being Reconciled to God

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Now the World will be Judged by the Lord God

He will judge the world in righteousness.
He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
Psa 9:8 WEB

The Hebrew word here is tebel, the inhabited world. It cannot be avoided, and God is the judge of not only His own people, but also of the nations.

“ The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness;
The world, and those who dwell therein.”
Psa 24:1 WEB

Here is eretz earth and tebel the inhabited world. Further, not all judgment is future. Our sins can also bring judgment on us within history, and this is taught in both the Old and New Testaments. The Lord speaks of sending ancient Assyria to punish wicked nations.

“5 Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! … 7 … it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.”
Isa 10:5 WEB

Then when God is through using Assyria, He will then deal with their sins, Isaiah 10.

God rules the nations

This idea doesn’t just begins in the New Testament. God is pictured as ruling, and desiring to draw a sinful world to Himself.

“… the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whoever he will.”
Dan 5:21 WEB

And this God who rules over heaven and earth, how does He interface with men? Paul gives us part of the answer in a speech he to the philosophers in Athens.

“He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings,”
Acts 17:26 WEB

Where do the nations live? According to this verse God determines where they live, the boundaries of the nations, and how long they will live there. To what purpose does God work in raising up nations, or then again by His will, bringing them down?

“27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’”
Acts 17:27-28 WEB

Then to finally bring men to reunite with their God,

“God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to himself,

“not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2Cor 5:19 WEB

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” 1Tim 1:15 WEB

Jesus said,

“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness”. Jn 12:46 WEB

In one way, it is not that rejecting Jesus means we will be lost forever.

“One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobey the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Jn 3:36 WEB

We were already lost. Our only hope of recovery is through Jesus.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: The Words

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The main New Testament word for “world” is the Greek “kosmos.”

It had the idea of something orderly, even beautiful, and is used in passages like Mtt 4:18. and Mtt 5:14. We moderns associate kosmos with the entire universe, and I think this New Testament word may overlap many of our ideas of the universe or kosmos. The general Hebrew equivalent would be ezret, which can be used for either land, or a country, or the “earth.”

It carries with it the idea of all mankind,

“… God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Jn 3:16 WEB

The word for an age is often translated as “world.”

The Greek word is ai?n, and it is variously translated as age, ages, time, eternity, forever, etc., or even “world.” Satan is spoken of as the “god” of this world, 2Cor 4:4, that is to say, god of this age. It speaks in Mtt 13:22 of a man being overcome with the cares and worries of this world, that is to say, the cares and worries of this age.

“Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. ”
Jn 9:32 WEB

Since this age began. Also we are told to not copy this age.

“Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, …”
Rom 12:2 WEB

This age thinks it is smart, but long range, they are not.

“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”
1Cor 1:20 WEB.

A final word that is used is for the inhabited world

When Luke tells the story of Jesus temptation, he says that Satan “showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” Lk 4:5 WEB, and the world translated “world” here is oikoumen?, and this Greek word means the inhabited world. Oikoumen? is used of preaching of the gospel to the entire world in passages like Mtt 24:14. Or again is speaks of Caesar Augustus having a census of the inhabited world in Lk 2:1. The general Hebrew equivalent to oikoumen? is tebel, which is often translated as “world.” Many Old Testament prophesies of the end of the age use both the words ezret earth, and tebel world.

But the main word of the New Testament is “kosmos”

Christians are the light of the world, Mtt 5:14. The field in which we are work is the entire world. “the field is the world;” Mtt 13:38. Or again,

“For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?”
Mtt 16:26 WEB

Especially since this world is soon to pass away.

“The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.”
1Jn 2:17 WEB

The world here is kosmos, and forever is ai?n.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Mystery Babylon

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life. Now Mystery Babylon the Great is first seen by John in a deserted place in Rev 17:4. Despite that, her operations come to be centered in a particular city, called “the great city,” Rev 16:19, etc.

Yes, Mystery Babylon is a false religion

She is evidently a “mystery religion,” a special type of religion that is either secret or semi-secret. See the earlier post on “Mystery Religions: An Overview.”

Yes, Mystery Babylon is very rich

So rich that she can make kings or other merchants rich, Rev 18:3, and she is dressed in the most expensive finery that can be imagined, Rev 17:4.

Yes, Mystery Babylon is very nasty

She drinks from a golden cup filled with the filthy fluids of fornication, Rev 17:4.

Yes, Mystery Babylon is drunk with the
blood of the saints, Rev 17:6

Yes, Mystery Babylon is ALSO a business entity

Such a success is she, that she can make others rich, as has been shown. I call her a religio-commercial entity. When she falls it says,

“11 The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more; 12 merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all expensive wood, every vessel of ivory, every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, sheep, horses, chariots, bodies, and people’s souls.”
Rev 18:11-13 WEB

Yes, Mystery Babylon evidently was working
in the first century of our age

Yes, Babylon is in existence until near
the end of our present universe

Mystery Babylon and the beast work together to “overcome” Christianity near the end, Rev 13:7. Then the beast and ten kings work to destroy Mystery Babylon completely within history, Revelation chapters 17 and 18.

Then, the beast is personally destroyed by Jesus Second Coming and thrown alive into hell, Rev 19:20.

So Mystery Babylon exists and works and sells, all through the Christian Age, until very near the end of our present universe.

Yes, evidently many Christians evidently have worked
for Mystery Babylon, age long

Scripture does not seem to indicate that many Christians are part of the Satanic Mystery of Lawlessness. But it does indicate this of Mystery Babylon. I don’t think it is indicating necessarily that they are all part of the secret cult, but rather that they work for her businesses and do not realize of what they have become a part.

Christians are commanded to come out of
Mystery Babylon the Great

“4 heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don’t receive of her plagues, 5 for her sins have reached to the sky, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
Rev 18:4-5 WEB

Scripture is here assuming that Mystery Babylon is recognizable, and that we can come out of her … unless we are in the dark!

These prophecies are pertinent to the ENTIRE Christian age

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: The Man of Lawlessness

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life.

A World Wide Revolt against ALL authority must happen
BEFORE the Second Coming

We should not be shook up as if the Second Coming has already happened, 2Thes 2:2. A great revolt against God must happen first, 2Thes 2:3. The Greek word is apostasia, and its main meaning is a defection, a revolt. Louw & Nida in their Greek-English Lexicon … 1989, UBS, NY, says it means “to rise up in open defiance of authority, with the presumed intention to overthrow it or to act in complete opposition to its demands …” (emphasis added). It is a much stronger word than the English word “apostasy,” or the KJV “falling away.” Translations that right on target in this instance include the English Standard Version (ESV) and the New English Translation Bible (NET), both of which translates it as a “rebellion.”

A special “man of lawlessness” will be worshipped

as the one and only “god,” 2Thes 2:4

He will be accompanied by “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,” 2Thes 2:9 WEB. The whole world, all of the unsaved, will worship this man, and God Himself will help this man deceive the lost, 2Thes 2:10-11 WEB.

This man will be destroyed BY THE
SECOND COMING of Christ, 2Thes 2:8

So this is talking about things just before the end of our present universe.

Nothing this big has EVER happened.

No king, no revolutionary, no president, no religious leader, has ever been this big … so far! But Jesus says Scripture cannot be broken, Jn 10:35. This man is called “the beast” in Revelation. It says of when John is writing the book of Revelation, that this man,

“… was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. …”
Rev 17:8 WEB.

Then here is the Clincher:

There is a Mystery Religion that “already works”
in the first century of our age.

and which will work

until it seats this “god,” 2Thes 2:7

There have been, and there are, continual attempts throughout the Christian age to seat such a man as the “true” and one-and-only “god” of this world. You and I have read of such men in history, often without realizing the ultimate objectives.

Prophecy Principles describes some of the false christs of the Christian Age in the section called “Lab Work.”

Some of the men who have claimed the be current “savior” are reviewed in my book Prophecy Principles, in the section called “Lab Work, What does all of this mean to me?” The Christian age has been filled with false christs.

“For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.”
Mtt 24:5 WEB

If it will mean eternal destruction to worship this final false “god” in history, how much worse would it be to be sucked in by one of the many failures down through history, not realizing of what we have become a part.

There is even a competition among various occult groups world-wide, to see who will be able to produce the “real” “beast” of Revelation.

These prophecies are pertinent to the ENTIRE Christian age

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: The Second Coming

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life. It was shown in the previous posts that this is true even of everyday things in life. Also it is also true of the outstanding powers and events of our age. Know and believe these prophesies, and it will change your conduct! In fact knowing these things is necessary for changing our conduct for the good.

Jesus is coming again, to judge the world

“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2Cor 5:10 WEB

He will come in flaming fire, 2Thes 1:7; and,

“… there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.”
Mtt 10:26 WEB

“10 But the day of the Lord will come

“as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore since all these things are thus to be destroyed, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness,”
2Pe 3:10-11 WEB

The prophecies themselves beg their own importance to our future … and if believed will radically alter our conduct. Really that is true of all prophecy. Isaiah 13 describes it this way.

“10 For the stars of the sky and the constellations of it shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. 11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
Isa 13:10-11 WEB

And what is the penalty?

“9 who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired among all those who have believed …”
2Thes 1:9-10 WEB

Remember! You and I will be there … somewhere!

We may be on the ground looking up as the saints arise to meet Jesus. Or we may be among the saints rising to meet Jesus in the air, and

“… who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.”
2Thes 4:17 WEB

But on the ground or in the air, we will be there, for it says,

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.”
Rev 1:5 WEB

Prophecy is never just a theoretical exercise.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Our Jobs

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life.

You might say, It is just a prophecy.

“ 23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
Col 3:23-24 WEB

Paul tells us to do certain things. These are commands. In fact, these commands even apply to Slaves. In the verse just before these, it says,

“Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.”
Col 3:22 WEB

But the word translated a “Servants” here (and also in the KJV) is really the Greek word dulos, or slave. So these commands even apply if you are a slave. Also it includes a good reason for the command.

Prophecy is NEVER pointless sayings
about the future.

Paul says that the reason you should do good work, even if you are a slave, and act in good conscience not just as men-pleasers, is because you “will receive the reward of the inheritance.” Even if you are a slave, the present reality is that “you serve Christ.” These verses promise a heavenly reward for good service in your “secular” job.

And it goes beyond what we might do that is right.

“But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Col 3:25 WEB

It is talking about what we “will” receive. It is like the prophecy in Romans 2.

“9 oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, on the Jew first, and also on the Greek. Rom. 2:10   But glory and honor and peace to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.”
Rom 2:9-11 WEB

Naturally this has to be talking about the future, and it is. For this is surely not a present reality in this present evil age, is it? No, clearly in context this is speaking of the final “day of wrath,” Rom 2:5.

And it applies to Masters also

“Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
Col 4:1 WEB

Notice that in context it implies that even a slave can be mistreated, something many down through history would not acknowledge. Still it is all in the context of coming judgement and rewards or punishments, and clearly indicates that any master who mistreats his slave, servant or employee will be in for judgment for his actions in the end! Many other passages speak of the same. Compare for instance James 5:1-6.

All of this is of future reality which SHOULD
alter conduct in the present

Prophecy has never been a neutral entity,

Test it. See if what I have told you is so.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Evangelism

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life.

We must acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord,
and declare His word to men.

“9 that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Rom 10:9-10 WEB

Sometimes we reduce this command to a formal acknowledgment of Jesus at our baptism, but that is not how it is stated here. It is true that we must be prepared to acknowledge Jesus as Lord from the time of our entering the body of Christ, the assembly, the church, Eph 1:22-23.

That word “confess” in Rom 10:9 is the Greek word homologe?. It has the sense of acknowledging, admitting, agreeing, or yes, even the King James Version sense of confessing that Jesus is our Lord.

This is also really a very personal prophecy of what “will be” for “you” and for me, given certain conditions. If we “will” acknowledge Jesus before men, and believe in our hearts that He is that special One of God who was raised from the dead, THEN “you will be saved.” That is a statement of future condition, depending and what we will do or not do.

This is all about FUTURE RESULTS OF WHAT WE DO NOW. We believe this, or not. We think it is so and try to do it, and do it or do not.

Acknowledging Jesus is also in other passages.

“32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Mtt 10:32-33 WEB

Yes it is that same Greek word homologe?. IF you will, then He will, it predicts, it promises, it prophesies.

“I am with you to the end of the age.”

“19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Mtt 28:19-20 WEB.

A statement of Christ’s being with us, even in the future, even to the end of the age. If we believe it, then we may have the courage to do as He has commanded.

If we are ashamed of Jesus?

“For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.””
Mk 8:38 WEB

Is this not ALSO prophecy of what will be.

How can anyone say all prophecy has been fulfilled. How can anyone say that a prophecy of what will be, does not matter!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Salvation

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life. This is true of the initial declaration to Mary of the child she would be bear.

“”She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.””
Mtt 1:21 WEB

That means among other things that if you are a Jew, and you wish to be delivered from your sins … you have to come to Jesus. The prophecy has a moral point, an ethical point.

Or take a prophecy about staying with Jesus

In a long sermon in Matthew 10 Jesus says,

“You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.”
Mtt 10:22 WEB

There is a double promise here, two statements of fact. The first promise is that at some point “you,” the Christian, will be hated by ALL men. However it is not by “all,” yet! Despite that, it is a prophecy of what “will be.” The second part has a wider application. You have to endure “to the end,” to be among those that “will be saved.” It is a prophecy, a message of what “will be,” that demands action.

You and I may “keep” this prophecy in order to “be saved,” or we do not believe it, despise the prediction … then we are depending on it to not be true, to not be real.

Prophecy and ethics are inseparable

Jesus says in Mark 8,

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
Mk 8:35 WEB

All of this is a statement of what will be, a statement of the future, a prophecy in every sense. It says, plainly that if we are concentrating on saving our live we “will lose it.”

The Pharisees failed in part because they
did not believe prophecy.

The Pharisees believed that it was blasphemy for any man to say he was the son of God, Jn 10:36 and a host of other Scriptures.

But they heard from John the Baptist that he was the voice crying in the wilderness, to prepare “the way of Yahweh” of Isa 40:3, but did not believe it when it said of Judah, “say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” Isa 40:9 WEB, that God Himself would be in Judah!

They had read but not believed, when it said of the Christ, the son of David, in Isaiah 9,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; … and his name shall be called … Mighty God, Everlasting Father, …”
Isa 9:6 WEB.

They believed the prophecies of the Messiah only to a point … and so they failed in salvation. Prophecy and ethics or morality … cannot be separated. We as men often believe, only to a point!

They merely doubted much prophecy, and so failed in salvation.

Test it. See if what I have told you is so.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901