Our Inner Struggle Untangled: Revelation Deciphered

By Wayne Mullins Sr.

The book is concerned with a deciphering process that enhances the texts of Revelation with data regarding the "End Times" of individuals rather than the "End Times" of the world. The deciphered texts do not usurp the original texts, but are dependent on them. The

• Language: English
• Publisher: GoldTouch Press, LLC
• Release date: Dec 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781956803655

Wayne Mullins Sr.

The author has a Bachelor's Degree in Bible from Phila. College of Bible and a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from Moravian Seminary. He considered for Catholic Social Agency for many years in Allentown, PA and Philipsburg, NJ before opening a private practice in the Greater Bethlehem Area of PA, where he still practices.

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Our Inner Struggle Untangled

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Revelation Deciphered

Wayne Mullins Sr.

Copyright © 2021 by Wayne Mullins Sr.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2021924268

HARDBACK:    978-1-956803-64-8

Paperback:    978-1-956803-63-1

eBook:            978-1-956803-65-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

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Contents

Preface

PART ONE

THE DECIPHERING PROCESS

Chapter 1: Making Excuses

Chapter 2: Human Nature and Soul Growth

Chapter 3: The Written Word

Chapter 4: The Living Word

Chapter 5: People of the Gospel

Chapter 6: Ancient Hebrew Symbolism

Chapter 7: Meanings of Numbers

Chapter 8: Guidelines for Deciphering

PART TWO

REVELATION DECIPHERED

Chapter 9: Faith and Relationship

Chapter 10: Messages to the Churches

Chapter 11: God‘s Assurances

Chapter 12: The New World Order

Chapter 13: Choosing Consequences

Chapter 14: Apocalypse Within

Chapter 15: Judgment and the New Jerusalem

Bibliography

To my wife Judith,

who supported me spiritually and

emotionally with much patience,

and to my good friend Gerard Maicher,

whose theological insights and technical assistance were invaluable.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it righteousness of God is revealed by faith to faith; as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.

- Saint Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus)

Romans 1:16, 17 NASB.

For just as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

- Saint James (the brother of Jesus Christ)

James 2:26 NASB

Preface

THE FINAL IKON

He felt that he would find it, find it yet – The clarity he sought with all his breath.

And when he had found it? Why did he grieve? And why did he find it so hard to breathe?

- Richard O’Connell

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Revelation is an act of making known; to unveil. It also means to communicate a divine truth. Apocalypse is a prophecy revealed, and also is a coming cosmic cataclysm.

Many have been involved in the pursuit of fame and fortune in some way. They want knowledge and influence, and expend much time and effort to achieve these goals. For some people, this is a life-long endeavor and they do not think of much else. This is because these pursuits really do not satisfy, so they become stuck in being consumed by them.

Others in this grouping become aware of this change in their life goals. They realize that what they have been seeking in life has no real meaning for them. They become aware that these aims are temporary, and have no eternal consequences. So they go on a spiritual quest to find meaning in their life. They turn to religion for answers. But they soon find that they have difficulty in giving up their personal power, and their way of life. So they give up!

On the other end of the economic scale, some seem to feel stuck in poverty. They fill with resentment toward others. They feel pity toward themselves. They develop addictions that eventually ruin their lives. They run afoul of the law. They go in and out of rehabs. They ultimately lose their family. They turn to religion for answers. But they soon realize they are too undisciplined, and have difficulty letting go of their resentment. So they give up!

Those in between the above life stations work hard to get ahead.

They get caught up in acquiring things and in keeping up with the Joneses. They begin to feel like they are treading water, or stuck in a rut. Becoming envious of others, they lament their lot in life. They turn to alcohol or drugs to dull the anguish. They turn to religion, but soon realize they have difficulty accepting inner change. So they give up!

There are some Christians who have committed to Jesus Christ, and attend church. But they have become confused by what they hear from the pulpit. They discover unacceptable behavior going on behind the scenes. They become upset regarding a change of focus in the message and ministry of their church or denomination.

As a result of these and other reasons, they attend church to continue friendships, but their belief is shaken. As time goes on, they lose their spiritual focus. They hear about divisions in seminaries and scholarly institutions, and begin to doubt their faith. They read books written by Christians that undermine the Bible and start to question their belief system.

They see programs on television that question or deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They hear the early Church punished as heretics those with different beliefs. They read Internet articles denying Jesus’ existence. So they give up!

These are a few broad stroke examples of the type of people the message of Revelation is intended for. The problem is psychological and spiritual fatigue! There are literally many millions of people taking antidepressants in order to deal with the above situations. Famous personages and average people commit suicide. Not-so- famous people go on killing sprees.

People are tired and depressed because, without being aware of it, they are victims of societal manipulations. Among these manipulations are cultivating greed in consumerism, use of sexual exploitation in advertising, personal dishonesty in politics and misinformation and disinformation in the media.

All religions are being threatened or undermined by extremist elements and paganism. There is a sort of moral sickness in the world that is definitely on the rise. God is reviled and Christian faith is under attack from without and from within! Evil is on the rise in the world! What to do?

We need to realize ways in which we have been led to think the unneeded is necessary. We are pressured to believe self-esteem is from having the latest hi-tech phone or style of clothing. We learn that personal success is determined by the expense of the vehicle we drive and the size and plushness of the dwelling we live in. We are intimidated into believing that things are more important than morality.

The Creator God of the Christian Bible is undermined and humanism is glorified. We hear of humanity’s destiny to conquer the universe, with science as its God. But science only discovers how some aspects of physical reality, including energy, are made. Science does not create what does not already exist.

A deciphering process for The Book of Revelation has been discovered. In the deciphered text of Revelation, Jesus exposes human soul-sickness that occurs as a result of our unwitting practice of self- delusion. We all need to heed the wake-up call of Jesus in these texts. We all need to become aware of the extent to which our thinking has become faulty! The evil that is increasing in the world is due to the malice and greed of our human nature being poured out into the world.

Satan has increased in influence over humans. He has said in his heart, "I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will make myself like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14). Thus Satan is called the Spirit of Self-will.

Jesus’ message in deciphered Revelation is the divine truth of the inner condition of the human soul. It exposes our struggle with the forces of evil. Jesus tells us how God, in His mercy, has provided the way for us to identify our purpose in life. In addition, Jesus shows us how, with His help, we may determine a positive outcome in this life, and a positive ultimate destiny in the next life!

Jesus, the Risen Christ, shows the roles and functions of each member of the One - the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! He unveils for us God’s Divine plan to reclaim corrupted human souls for entry into God’s Purpose, the Kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem, and the Family of God!

The deciphering of the texts adds to the original texts in the book of Revelation. It shows that the Risen Christ prods us to give serious thought to the consequences of our actions. He urges us to look at our inner motives, and not allow ourselves to be deluded by the forces of evil. Jesus counsels us to strive to grasp the meaning of our lives. He wants us to renew our thinking, so that we may reconcile with God for soul-cleansing and eternal life! Moreover, He wants us to seek His help!

The deciphering process is complex because of the Ancient Israelites’ symbolic use of colors, minerals, metals, animals, plagues, numbers, time, geography, flora and fauna, the sun, moon and stars, gems, geometry, and the definitions of names! Also, the complexity of deciphering is due to changes in the defining of words to fit the context. This will be explained later on in this book.

Having experienced deep spiritual growth in writing this book, I have learned that God really doesn’t leave us! When we feel He has, it is because we have turned from Him! When we become aware of this situation, we need to make an all-out effort to strive to reconcile with God. We need to pray to God to help us in our struggle to quell the rebelliousness that is the trademark of our human nature! In the New Century’s My Time With God, W. Phillip Keller writes:

Most of us don’t want to be broken in the storms of life. We much prefer to protect our personalities from the stresses and strains of our days. We would rather, much rather, be tough and rugged and self-assured than contrite before Christ, repentant in soul before His Spirit…

Many of us would like to avoid the mills of God. We are tempted to ask Him to deliver us from the upsetting, tumbling tides of time that knock off our rough corners and shape us to His design. We plead for release from the discipline of difficulties, the polish that comes from long perseverance.

We are a restless generation…and want and insist on instant results. We demand a quick fix. We look for shortcuts and immediate results. We are quite sure we can be a rough slab of stone today and a polished gemstone tomorrow.

But God’s ways and our ways are not the same. His patience is persistent. His work is meticulous. His years know no end. His perception of time is that one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as but a single day.

The shattering of rock, the smoothing of stone, the polishing of a jewel in the sea requires eons of time. Can I then expect the breaking of my hard heart, the smoothing of my spirit, the shaping of my character as it is conformed to His own, to be any less time-consuming? p. 543¹

Christianity has existed for almost 2,000 years. During that time, it has had to deal with many attacks from without, and divisions from within. This is because Satan, ruler of evil, invades people’s screen of consciousness without them even knowing it! He steers them into engaging in self-will and self-glory by luring them into making excuses for bad behavior!

This is called rationalization, and is defined as: to cause something to seem reasonable and/or to credit one’s actions to sensible and honest motives without analysis of true and especially unconscious motives. Making excuses for bad behavior has had a crippling effect on humans for millennia.

The Book of Revelation clearly identifies the reality of making excuses for bad behavior arising in the thought-life of believers and non-believers alike. The arrival of post-modernism has brought with it a great apostasy (a falling away) within the Christian Church.

The deciphering of Revelation speaks especially to followers of Jesus Christ who have lost their way, and are not aware of it. Be of good courage; heed Jesus’ call for repentance and reconciliation with God that you will find in this book!

Jesus assures us God’s calling to us does not require, nor is expected to produce, perfection. What is required is faith in Jesus’ sacrifice of His life for forgiveness of our sins, and striving to be obedient to God. Again, in the New Century’s My Time With God, James Gregory Merritt writes:

Many people have the idea that God only calls preachers and missionaries, and the rest of us can do whatever we want to. But God has a calling for all His children…The people that God calls…are common, ordinary people…I thank God for the wise, noble, and mighty who love the Lord. I thank God for any athlete, movie star, or millionaire who will give his or her life to Christ. But God’s work will be done primarily through His ordinary, common people…God called a timid man with a stutter… Moses, and made him the greatest leader in the Old Testament. God called David, a shepherd boy…and made him the greatest king who ever ruled over Israel.

…God’s ways are above our ways, His thoughts above our thoughts, and His calling confounds the wise…When I think of the weak, I recall the life of Jonathan Edwards. He was one of the greatest revival preachers America or the world has ever known…He was an asthmatic. Whenever he would preach, he would cough and hack and wheeze during most of the message. He was a very thin, frail man. He had horrible eyesight…Jonathan Edwards’ sermons, despite his disabilities, caused people to come writhing in anguish down the aisles wanting to get right with God.

…The people God uses and chooses, God’s all-stars, are not people of ability; they are people of availability who have learned the secret of giving praise to God. If you use your life for God’s glory, God will use your life for His glory. p.145²

As Paul writes (Romans 3:23), we all fall short of the glory of God. But God lets us know we may be reconciled to Him through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Take time to search your soul as you read the words of Jesus. You will find relief and guidance in His messages.

Finally, think about Jesus’ words found in Matthew 11:28-30:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.

PART ONE

THE DECIPHERING PROCESS

CHAPTER 1

Making Excuses

All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives.

Proverbs 16:2

There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 14:12

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The original texts of Revelation deal with events in the past, present, and future. But some texts are obviously symbolic. What do they mean? The search for the answers to that question was long and difficult. Discovery of a deciphering (key) process (explained in depth later) enabled the texts to be finally untangled.

Jesus was God incarnate (in a human body)! His message to us through the visions of His Apostle John shows His awareness of our human problems. His intent is to warn and encourage us with faith in Him for true reconciliation with God the Father. He wants us to see and admit to ourselves the true state of our human nature.

We need to be honest about our motives. We need Christ to help align our thoughts and behavior in the direction of God’s righteousness. The corrupting of our human nature happens by making excuses for indulging our selfish motives. This process of making excuses began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.

Genesis reads that Satan, the Spirit of Self-will (he wills to be like God Isaiah 14:13-14)) in the form of a serpent, deceived the first humans by infiltrating their thought life. He placed uncertainty in their minds regarding God. Satan said if they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would not die. His deception was that he left off the word now.

The aging process that leads to death has affected humans ever since, and was triggered by Adam and Eve’s sin. While the aging began slowly, it is relentless and inevitable. Satan has deceived humans in the same way since then. He is so subtle that we mistakenly think it is our own self that is speaking in our mind!

We need to know we cannot stop undesirable thoughts from entering our screen of consciousness. Rather, we must be ready to repel those unwanted thoughts entering our consciousness. In order to do so however, we must admit those thoughts really exist.

Adam’s response to God for indulging himself was "God, the woman You gave me gave it to me, and I ate [italics mine]. Eve’s response was The serpent deceived me, and I ate." These responses are the First Parents’ first time for making excuses for their sin, and they began to engage in the process of blaming.

This is the origin of making excuses for bad behavior. This is rationalizing, meaning To cause something to seem reasonable and/or To attribute one’s actions to rational and credible motives without analysis of true and especially unconscious motives.

This rationalizing process, or making excuses for bad behavior, has had an increasingly decaying effect on human nature, and thus on us all. Making excuses has become a habit in our human nature as it has developed over many tens of thousands of years.

In Matthew 16:23, Jesus says to Peter, Get behind me Satan! He wasn’t saying Peter was Satan, but He knew Satan was tempting Him through Peter and was controlling Peter’s mind at that time! He urged Peter to think on God’s ways, not man’s ways.

The Christian conversion experience is actually a refutation of the habit of making excuses for bad behavior. This is because the individual at first acknowledges, then confesses the corruption of their human nature. This admission enables that person to grow in spirit. They pray to God for forgiveness, and exercise sincere and steadfast faith in Jesus Christ for the cleansing of their souls.

However, the Book of Revelation tells us that the demon agents of the Spirit of Self-will, Satan, subtly entice and influence all believers in Christ. Their aim is to return believers to their sinful habit of indulging their desires and engaging in ungodly behavior. This is brought about by our repeated use of making excuses!

Paul calls this reality a struggle between the new self and the old self (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9-10). The new self is given to believers in this life by God when they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This new self enables them to strive with the Risen Christ within the self against the old, depraved human nature inherited from Adam and Eve by way of Satan.

To show the ill effects of making excuses, a brief exploration of psychologist Sigmund Freud’s (1856–1939) psychological model of personality organization is presented here. The purpose is to use it to explain the habit of making excuses. This process is the basis for the origin and ongoing degrading of the human nature shown by Jesus in the deciphering