The Mark of the Beast Part 1: The Sea Beast of Revelation 13

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. ...And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:1-5, 7, 8)

Church and State Part 3: The Battle is the Lord's

There has been much contention throughout the world over disagreements on how to address the various calamities that are coming on the earth, who has what authority in addressing these issues, and what to do when we do not agree with how those with authority over us exercise that authority.

As with all things in the Christian's life, let's look and see what the Word of God has to say on these things.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. ...Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. (Romans 13:1-3, 7)

Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. (Matthew 22:21)

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto govenors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. (1 Peter 2:13-14)

Jesus answered (to Pilate), Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. (John 19:11)

What is Heaven Really Like?

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ...But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10, 14)

We've already seen in a previous post that hell is not a place where the Devil will get to torment unrepentant sinners and unbelievers for all eternity, but the misconceptions of the "afterlife" don't end there. For centuries the most common depiction of heaven is a place full of fluffy white clouds where the saint's of God will spend eternity floating around in white robes strumming harps, but what does the Bible say?