Who are the 144,000?

Twelve thousand sealed from each tribe of Israel

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

      I once had a man of Hispanic decent knock on my door and asked me if I had ever heard of the prophesy of the Revelation of God. I told him that I had, that I was a child of God and I had given my heart to him in 1992. He asked me if that was when I joined the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness. I told him that I had not, that I made Jesus Lord of my life and was a Christian who, at the time, went to a Baptist church.
      He then proceeded to tell me that unless I was a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness, I would not be one of the 144,000 that would make it into heaven. I then did what every non-Jehovah's Witness in America would do. I bid him good day and closed the door. I missed an opportunity to utilize scripture to show this man where he had been misled.
      Revelation 7 tells us that John sees four angels in a vision, standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth so that no wind blows anywhere on the earth. Then he saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. The angel cried with a loud voice to the four angels, who were there to hurt the earth and sea.
      The fifth angel told the other four angels not to hurt the earth, the sea or the trees until they had sealed the servants of God on their foreheads. John then heard the number of them which were sealed was one-hundred-forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Is'-ra-el; the tribe of Ju'-da, Reu'-ben, Gad, A'ser, Nep'-tha-lim, Ma-nas'-ses, Sim'-e-on, Le'-vi, Is'-sa-char, Za-bu'-lon, Jo'-seph and Ben'-ja-min were all sealed, twelve-thousand from each tribe.
      Had I had the knowledge then, that I have now about the 144,000 sealed, I could have gotten my Bible and showed this gentleman where the church that he had put his faith in had misled him. First of all, our faith should never be put in a church or a preacher, but in the God who established His church and called the preacher to send the message. How else will people hear, unless God calls someone (a preacher) to tell them.
      This man was not Israeli descent, he was Hispanic. I later found out that these men will also be virgins, who pure in heart, will be the last people after the rapture, during the tribulation, who will tell the people in the deepest, darkest parts of the earth, who haven't heard the gospel. These will all be males too. This man was married, had three children with him. He was not a virgin, Jewish male. He had been lied to. The Bible tells us that there will be people in the last days who will twist and pervert the gospel and try to pass off a lie to lead others astray. The Bible says not to let them darken your door-step, neither bid them God's speed. II John 1:10.
      In the case of the new Christian, this is very important to adhere to, which, at the time, I was. When we are babes in Christ and the grace of salvation is new to us, it is easy to get confused and mix words that won't help the matter. God has equipped those who are mature in their Christianity and their growth in the spirit, who can handle such a situation. The best thing to do is ground yourself in the word and make sure you know the difference between false teachings and teachings that are Holy Ghost inspired.
     On the other side of that, I have also been approached by people in spirit filled services and was told (before being Baptized in the Holy Ghost) that if I didn't have the gift of speaking in tongues, that I wasn't a Christian. That man was obviously misled as well. That's probably the reason why that church didn't last. It's foundation was not based on grace through faith, but rather works. Salvation comes first, to the accepting heart. Then the gifts of the Holy Ghost follow afterwards.
      It is best to stay grounded in the Word or God and have a good prayer life. The best way to tell that a Christian doesn't have a good, strong prayer life is if they transplant from one church to the other due to doctrine. I should know, I have been guilty of that in the past. The Word of God is the cornerstone as to which growth in our knowledge and discernment of the truth comes from. The truth is in there and it is up to us to seek after it. When inspiration comes to us by way of the Holy Ghost, the truth will be seen in our daily walk. We won't have to walk around touting that we are Christians. Others will see in in our witness and example we set.
       So, if someone comes and knocks on your door talking about being the 144,000, ask them if they are virgin, Jewish males. If not, break open your Bible to Revelation 7 and lead them in the right direction. Then take them to Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the grace of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
      If a Jehovah's Witness works (or any man's works) could save them then God would have never had to leave His perfect heaven and come down to the earth and be crucified for our sins. That salvation is free. Grace paid the price and became the sacrificial lamb to cover our sins completely with His blood. We have no other way unto heaven, but through Jesus.

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.

Protecting our Bill of Rights

The sleeping giant called the Church needs awakening

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

There are 52 furious fourth-grade students in Prosper, Texas who attend Grace Christian Academy, due to the political correctness, or in my opinion political ignorance of the policies of the North Texas Veterans Administration System. The students worked hard on creating a kind gesture in the form of Christmas cards to hand out to wounded and sick veterans at the Dallas VA Hospital.

Representatives from the VA told the fourth grade teacher that they could bring the cards to hand out to the veterans as long as they didn’t reference Christmas (in other words they had to say, “Happy Holidays,” or “Season’s Greetings,” or something of the like), could not be religious in nature and could not include any Biblical scriptures. I bet passages from the Quran would have been okay though.  

It is long over due for the church to wake up. In fact, over the last 21 years of my Christianity, I have heard cliche` after cliche` explaining that very need. No more cliche`s; it’s time for action. 

My say on the subject is this; there needs to be a “Million-Man-March on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. in the next coming months of 2014. If I’m the one that has to call for it, set it up, organize and lead it, then so be it. There will either be a Million-Man-March or a One-Man-March on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. I don’t know the date or the time as of yet, but I am doing it. MARK IT DOWN!

The march will be a peaceful one with the message: "We Will Carry Out The “Great Commission!” 

God told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father, The Son and Holy Ghost. That was no more a request than the 10 Commandments were suggestions. 

The Bible clearly defines the consequences of a nation not seeking out and following the will of God. Blessed is the nation that makes its Lord the God of the universe. It doesn’t get more clear than that., despite the differences in points-of-view in this country. 

My own friends on my Facebook are very diverse, with different beliefs and all sorts of walks of life. I have yet to be told that sharing Christ with my blog on my Facebook page was offensive. It’s as easy as this; if the truth of God’s word offends you, you have just as much right to click on the “Back” button and continue surfing, as I have to post my Christian Conservative blog in the first place. 

For the kids, there was no “Back” button on their cards. Their efforts were completely shut down and flat out denied. Their voices were silenced from wishing these veterans a Merry Christmas and sharing their faith as that God of the universe commanded them to do. 

For these kids, the rights and freedoms that these veterans were wounded for and for the sake of Jesus, who is the reason why we celebrate Christmas in the first place, I am calling on the Christian churches of this nation, regardless the denomination, to stand up and assist me in organizing the march and telling Congress, the Senate, the cabinet and this President of the United States that we are serious! We are here in the name of God and we will defend our rights to carry out “The Great Commission” of Jesus Christ!

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative. 

Unto us a Child is born

The virgin born Son of the Living God

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

The Messiah that was to come into the world to save all of humanity from the deceiver, Satan, was prophetically foretold by the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah wrote that unto us, a child was born and the governments would be upon His shoulders. He was to be born of a virgin and would be in the lineage of King David. His name would be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

For some reason, people believed then as they do now, that the Messiah would come and did come to do away with the law, so that the grace of God abounds. Paul wrote in Romans 3, that God forbid we live in such negligence toward sin. 

Jesus came so that the law would be fulfilled. Therefore, we are not under the pressure of laws, but under the grace that living according to the law gives us, if we make Jesus Lord of our lives. 

John, the Apostle wrote that ‘in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jesus).’ John goes on to say that the world knew Him but knew Him not. They saw the carpenter’s son that moved to Nazareth when He was a young boy. 

Luke actually told the story that we now refer to as  ‘The Christmas Story.” In the days of Caesar Augustus, a decree came to all the people that the nations of the world should be taxed. Rome was the dominating empire and those who followed after one another as emperor were looked at as gods. So the tax was to pay tribute to Caesar.

So it was ordered that every family went to their hometowns to be counted for the census for taxation. Joseph had been betrothed to marry Mary, who was a virgin, but through the power of the Holy Ghost, became pregnant. 

Joseph considered divorcing Mary because of possible infidelity, The angel of God came before Joseph and explained that the baby she was carrying was the Messiah that Isaiah spoke of in the prophesy because Mary had won God’s favor. 

So when it was almost time for Jesus to be born, Joseph put Mary on donkey-back to make the estimated 80 mile trip to Bethlehem, because Joseph was from there in the house of David.  (Side note: When King David was a boy tending Jesse’s sheep, he did so in a place that he later wrote about in the 23rd Psalm, “Yea through I walk through the Valley of The Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” This same valley, between Jericho and Bethlehem, according to tradition in Jerusalem, is a place that Mary stopped to rest on hers and Joseph’s long journey from Nazareth.)

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, the city was filled with people who had come to register for the census as Augustus had commanded. Therefore, there was no room for them in any of the inns in the town. Joseph talked to an inn owner who told Joseph of the stable that was available next to his inn. There were animals in the stable, but the manger could be cleaned out so that the couple would have a place to lay their newborn baby.

I know you’re asking yourself, “What? The Creator of the Universe was born in a feed troth in a smelly stable where horses, cows and sheep ‘do their business?’”

Most definitely! See, Jesus didn’t come as a military conqueror as the Jews would have liked. They only wanted to get the Romans out of their business so they could continue corrupting the Jews and leading them away from the one God sent to save them. The Pharisees were the immediate law of the Jews and kept them under a tight fist, that is, when the Romans weren’t looking. 

Jesus came as a humble servant of man, who was there to do the will of His father who sent Him. He came to teach the Jews that they were to love their enemies and pray for those that spitefully used and mistreated them. It was a very inconvenient message for that time, as well as today. The truth usually is. 

The “Gift” came into the world to basically save it from itself. The contrite and self-centered heart is one that is like beast that is hard to tame. It is hard to convince a person that it is holier to give up one’s life so that other’s may see the love  of God through their actions when a person’s first instinct in a crisis situation is to save their own life by throwing others under the bus. 

But still, the “Gift” came to give life, and life more abundantly than most people are used to living. What do you want for Christmas this year? That’s a good question considering the unlimited possibilities we have as a civilization. As for me and my house, we choose Christ, the reason for this Christmas season to begin with. 

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.