Correction to part 13. I meant Luke 18:8. Also, in Part 15, I misquoted 1 Peter 2:2. However, the word of God is without duplicity or double meaning. My apologies!
2 Timothy 3:5 - Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Having a form of godliness. They can have any one, if not all of these characteristics. Denying the power thereof: To deny doesn't mean that they deny that God has power. Everybody that believes in God believes He has power. It doesn't mean that somebody denies that. It means to reject.
We're seeing this right now more and more amongst the church, having a form of godliness (outward form and system), but rejecting God's power, and instead doing it ourselves. Jesus said ( Luke 18:1) that when the Son of man comes, will He find the faith upon the earth? The apostasy of the last days will be a challenge to faith.
It has nothing to do with our performance. It's denying the power of God if it's my performance. God promises to do His work through us, not for us to take His work into our hands and run it for Him. It's gotten worse over the years. There seems to be a philosophy in the church that Jesus ascended up into heaven to the right hand of the Father, and He has left us to do His work for Him until He gets back. It's like He's not here, like He's not the head of the church, like He doesn't run things.
When Jesus comes, will He find the faith on the earth? Will He find people saying "Lord, we have been waiting for your coming according to your word, because we believe you can fulfil your word?" That's faith!
The command at the end of Verse 5 says from such turn away, disassociate yourself with such people. That's hard and stern advice. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that corrupt morals affect good morals. It's not the other way around.
If I decide to hang out with people that are not of good morals so that I can influence them, the bible says that these people with their corrupt morals will influence me, not me influencing them. Paul says to disassociate with such people because they will affect you. You'll get caught up in it.
One has to discriminate the OT from the NT. Many things in the OT are not valid in NT, eg in Psalms King David always asks God to take revenge against his enemies, which is something we should not do in NT, we must love our enemies.
Yes God is angry and dissapointed with the man He created. But when we talk about God's wrath we mean God distructing people not just the feeling of being angry.
So lets have a look in NT.
Jesus said in John 3:17, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
When the disciples asked Jesus if He wants them to bring fire from Heaven to burn the Samaritans since they didn't accept them Jesus said, "... But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.". Luke 8:54-55. Not to mention the case with that woman condemned for fornication whom Jesus let her free
We live in the age of grace. We must distinguish the spirit of the OT which was condemnation/punishment from the spirit of the NT wich is grace/mercy. We are "of another manner of spirit" in this age. So God is.
Doesn't it seem strange to you that God asks us to love our enemies while He is angry with them? Or is He not angry? He actually loves His enemies, that is why we become God's true children by also loving our enemies "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:..." How de we really become God's true children? By being in "His likeness".
The will of God is all people to be saved, If you search the word 'wrath" in NT you will find it always refers to the Judgement Day. Only in the OT and in Rev we can find it in this life. And to me this is another point that grace will not be available after the rapture of the church. People will have to be slaughtered to be saved. The grace will go together with the church and another age will start. I will not use the word dispensation since I am against that idea, but still the grace will be gone at that time
Mark 10:45 talks about Christ coming not to be served but to serve and giving His life as a ransom for many. This is also quoted in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45. This theme again is played out through His preaching to the masses as we saw in the last posting; or to His Disciples. Service goes beyond Him being a "Cosmic Vending Machine" however ( John 6:26). What people needed was salvation of their souls resulting from forgiveness of sins; and He would emphasize this when performing His miracles even though His own life was threatened. He knew of course that He couldn't be touched until His time had come; and while He was on the earth His 12 Disciples also were protected; which we see when the soldiers came to arrest Him in Gethsemene. He was there to rebuke Peter when necessary and even offered what was considered the choice sop to Judas Iscariot before His betrayal. Unlike us as mortal men Jesus had us on His mind even facing death on a cross the next day; praying for all those who would come to Him eventually being as one; and as I mentioned before for Mary his mother to have John look after her as a mother showing that Joseph was almost certainly deceased at this time. He even reached out to the repentant criminal on the cross next to Him when dying assuring he would be with Him in paradise. Luke 23:34 is the ultimate forgiveness to those who didn't know what they were doing.
Part of service and having others as a priority over our own needs is taking time out for prayer. Jesus prayed all night before picking His 12 Disciples and this wasn't the only time He did this. Communicating with His Father in heaven was a constant ongoing process as He only said what the Father told Him ( John 12:49 etal). Service therefore for the Christian must involve a commitment of time not only for prayer for others but for ourselves; He may have been restricted while on earth to live as one of us but prayed to focus on God how much more should we seek Him?
There are many verses explaining Christ's perfect; sinless life. Hebrews 4:15 says For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. A casual search will find lists of dozens to 100 or more verses on this subject. These are fine studies and I will try to incorporate many more into this series. My main focus is on how He lived this way in varying situations whether with His inner circle of Disciples; the larger public; the Pharisees and Sadducees or private prayer.
As I brought up briefly in an earlier post; Jesus lived His first 30 years with scanty details written about it. Although there are spurious extrabiblical writings that mention outrageous miracles; signs and wonders ascribed to this period of His life; the fact that the Spirit came down on Him and even John didn't know who He was should tell us otherwise. John was born to Elizabeth; Mary's cousin (according to the way most understand the text). If anything extraordinary occurred you would expect John would have been aware of it before this time. Mary knew certainly that all that Christ said should be paid attention to; we see this with the miracle of the water turned to wine in the Cana wedding in John 2:1-11. We will start there and leave the general conclusion that Jesus served His parents well and with the family business; which some have said is more representing general labor of construction work rather than just a carpenter. He did with the incident when He was 12 years old briefly "disobey" His parents in appearance doing work in "His Father's house" ( Luke 2:49); which shows how God was His true Father hence it could trump Joseph His earthly father; nonethless this was a one time incident; perhaps I'll surmise being a rite of passage like a BarMitzvah although I could be wrong about that; just a thought.
Is God an "angry God" (when we are away from Him)?
Acts 15:3, "And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion (the grk says "returning") of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren."
Acts 9:35, "And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned (the grk says returned") to the Lord."
In both verses above we read about gentiles returning to the Lord.
But let's read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-12.
Some points we can point out in this story.
Was the father of that kid angry after his son left the house? Answer: No he wasn't. He was actually very sad. His heart was broken and his mind was always in his son. "Where is he? How is he doing? Is he ok?". How do we know all this?
In v 20 it says, "And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."
How was it possible for the father to see his kid when he was a great way off? Not accidently. But because he was standing every day at a high place in his house (upper floor?) expecting to see his child coming back. This shows the agony (not anger) that that father had for his kid to come back home safe.
"... and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.". "Kissed" is not a very precise translation of the grk in this verse. The grk means kissing him all around again and again. The father couldn't keep his hands off his son. He kept hugging and kissing him. So the same question again. Was he an angry father while waiting for his son's return?
We must understand our Father's heart when we are away from Him and the agony He is going through until we finally return to Him. This is our Father in Heaven. He is Love.
But let us change the ending of that story. Let's assume that his son never came back home an died in his sins. Then and only then God pauses being a dear Father and becomes a righteous Judge.
7. Christ was unpredictable. Unlike the imaginary sage or wise man that everybody loved who never said anything hurtful to offend people's feelings; Jesus Himself admitted that He came to cause division rather than peace ( Luke 12:53); yet He also said "blessed are the peacemakers" in Matthew 5:9. He would be invited to homes of the Pharisees; then excoriate them as to how He was treated (see Luke 7:45). His own Disciples were confused as to the necessity of dying in Jerusalem despite many statements about it He had to rebuke Satan when Peter spoke about these things never occurring ( Matt. 16:23). This was the same Peter who shortly before that stated who Christ truly was which only could have come from God ( Matt. 16:15-16). He sidestepped about 10 attempts on His life that we know of; but then deliberately headed toward Jerusalem where He knew He would die. Thomas at least understood it ( John 11:16-26 when he knew of the opposition faced when going back to raise Lazarus from the grave which was within weeks of the crucifixion I believe). His Resurrection sadly wasn't expected once the report came back from the women who were the first to arrive at the grave to see evidence and hear from the angels that He had risen. Women were an important aspect along with the Samaritans and Gentiles which the Pharisees couldn't understand.
I will attempt to look at several specific instances in the life of Christ to show how His approach; forethought and actions represent a perfect man; and how His example and those of the Apostles in the early church show about how and how not to do God's work as everyone had their character traits; flaws and at times outward sins. We therefore can conclude we all should emulate Christ and the Apostles; but we also all live in different situations and have different responsibilities incorporated into the good works He has given us to do planned since the foundation of the world ( Eph. 2:10).
More specific purposes of Christ during His earthly ministry
4. Calling out of His Disciples. He spent all night in prayer prior to this event. ( Luke 6:12-13). Some may think that He had to decide who to choose; but I doubt it. That was something I would think was foreknown; especially since the son of perdition Judas Iscariot had to be picked as well although I am not sure where in scripture the initial meeting was with him; maybe someone can let me know about that. No doubt He prayed for them to readily accept Him and for obstacles from the enemy not to thwart things to come. Overall this would complicate His mission as times had to be set aside with this "inner circle" for further discussion of matters and discipling through hard sayings. This would be the beginning of the church which He would further develop in the absence after His death and Resurrection when the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost.
5. Warning of destruction to come. The future persecutions of the Disciples and travail of the nation of Israel as a whole eventually were expanded to the birth pangs of the world in general as illustrated in Matthew 24. Everything familiar to the Jewish nation would be shook; with the destruction of the Temple and many Jews during AD 70; largely due to their blindness of Christ and who He was ( Matt. 23:37). He deliberately talked very little about ruling and reigning in the Millennial Kingdom as no doubt that was the expectation and hope even of the Disciples at that time of His soon arrival in that mode. This is mentioned in Acts 1:6 as something alluded to have happened earlier.
6. Always considering others needs above His own. Jesus came to serve and not be served. ( Mark 10:45). This could perhaps be best demonstrated in His statement to John when hanging on the cross ( Luke 19:25-29). It appears Joseph was dead at this time and Jesus knew John would live the longest so he was to take Mary in.
My last post brought out the fact that indeed Gentiles were part of God's plan; and we can further see this in many other O.T. scriptures ( Isaiah 49:6; etc). Man's pride couldn't square the suffering servant made so clear in describing Christ's first coming in Isaiah 53 as characterizing the Messiah. They even denied that their heritage came from people that were enslaved numerous times in their history! ( John 8:33). Even if they called Him teacher being a good man wasn't enough to save them from their sins; but of course when He made such claims they called it blasphemy! ( Luke 5:21).
Let's do an introductory overview of Christ's many itineraries which He had to fulfill the purposes God intended in His ministry. Some of these things are unique to Him but certainly lessons can be learned as to how we plan our days in service to the King.
1. Doing all things the Father willed. John 5:19 perhaps sums this up the best. In His mission there was the inevitable death on the cross on His mind following a perfect sinless life; albeit brief walking on the earth for 33 or so years as the perfect Man. ( Luke 9:22 and many similar verses in the Gospels).
2. Salvation by forgiveness of sin was a theme that overrided any of His miracles; nonetheless there is no clear statement that everyone He healed became saved. (see John 8:45 with deliberate disobedience in His command not to start a media "circus" as a result of healing). It was imperative that Messiah forgive men's sins but then they would have to realize that He was indeed the "I am" ( John 8:48-59 further on in the passage of John quoted above).
3. Coming to display obedience to His family before the predestined time to reach full manhood and the onset of public ministry.
Jesus had no obligation to be obedient in this way; and it was not in order to simply give in to His parents wishes but to do God's will. He was the perfect worker; brother and son.
John 5:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Isaiah 52:14 "As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:"
Belief in the Son was emphasized even by John the Baptist as a second witness as Jesus started His public ministry ( John 3:23-36). Nonetheless He often hid who He was; particularly early in His ministry ( Matt. 16:20 may be a later statement to this affect). As stated in my last post He often told people to tell no man about who did a miracle ( Matt. 8:4) so He didn't want any necessary noteriety. Those who didn't have eyes to see and ears to hear ( Matt. 13:16) simply thought He was a Prophet; or good man at best; or an illegitimate child to Mary ( John 8:41).
Given these facts and the blindness of man without the revelation of God ( 2 Cor. 4:4) we shouldn't be surprised by the world's expectations of a superman or bermensch as Neche called this individual. Men who didn't see the Lord as coming to save rather than destroy men were blind to their own state. They should have realized who Christ was regarding the clear prophecies particularly in Isaiah 53. There was a reason for the delay in what indeed will involve Christ coming to destroy His enemies and establish His Kingdom on earth; and some Jews seem to have the concept of two different figures to make sense of apparently diametrically opposed characteristics of Christ as suffering servant and conquering King.
The fact is that God planned it so the nation of Israel would be blind in part until the fullness of the Gentiles came in ( Romans 11:25). Given the fact that Naaman the Syrian and the widow who Elijah helped to feed and raise her child to life were Gentiles (Jesus enraged the Pharisees mentioning that God exclusively met her need at the expense of many others with similar situations that were Jews at that time ( Luke 4:25) was important.
In one sense Christ was different than everyone else in His humanity. His thoughts and life were pure yet certainly the enemy likely put thoughts of sins in his mind common to man such as lust; hating his enemies; etc. Being the Son of God Satan couldn't accuse Him of anything done wrong; and also had unique temptations as we see when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast for 40 days. Making stones into bread isn't something anyone can do as a mere man. Throwing Himself down in a suicidal move wasn't going to fly and neither was worshipping Satan. The enemy may offer these things from time to time but only will succeed with Antichrist in the future.
Regarding my last post the Messiah WAS according to the Prophets supposed to come to rule and subdue the nations of the world but that was in the Second Coming; the first was as the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 51; hence Isaiah 61 was cut short in His temple proclamation ( Luke 4:16-30). Thus everything according to man's understanding was backwards. Jesus did not come:
As from a regal or wealthy family of notoriety although fulfilled the prophecies as being a descendant of David
To show off His Divinity by signs; wonders and miracles as brought out by the faithlessness of His own hometown ( Mark 6:4).
To allow Himself to be made King by force (as shown in a verse quoted earlier ( John 6:15).
To escape persecution; or to die a peaceful honorable death.
These things bring out what the world's standards are for the "Perfect Man" and who the truly perfect man was. Being considered a pathetic low life is what made Monty Python's sarcastic and disgraceful skit about the Crucifixion as "entertainment" in "Always look at the Bright Side of Life" means. In the next post I will examine further what the world is looking for (soon to be fulfilled in Antichrist); as their superhuman hero to save the planet.
Under the assumption that most here are aware that Christ came to earth as fully God; fully man and He died was buried and rose again; and is now seated at the right hand of the Father and will return a second time to rule and reign on earth along with other basic scriptures I wanted to start with some questions that hopefully can be answered with careful inspection into the Word. We don't fully comprehend all things and may never; certainly on this side of eternity.
Question One: How can we wrap our heads around a member of the Godhead coming to earth to die in our place and not only that but the fact that this was predetermined from before the foundation of the world in eternity past to happen? ( Acts 2:23 etc)
Not only that but He Resurrected with the marks on His body and is the only one in heaven who will always be scarred to remind us of what He did for us. He is still God but His appearance is changed; we ask ourselves did His time on earth change Him in any other way? Since God created time we could say that it was as good as done or in some sense had already happened before it did. Such things are too great to understand; surely Christ's sufferings are over but is it something He can forget? For us mere mortals there will be no more suffering and death so maybe it is in His plan to forget also? We certainly can see how serious sin is but for the Creator of all to do this of course is beyond words. For us to understand His request for the cup to be taken from Him ( Luke 22:42) shows that not only that He condescended to be one of us but had to go through all the doubts which other humans have as part of His suffering; although surely He knew the outcome. I can't wrap my head around it. I'll try to get into some of the answers later; spoiler alert it does help us to understand why we must suffer if He had to go through it surely we puny mortals must suffer as well but there is a plan to bring purpose.
Am humbly praying that I get a friend, a companion, a husband who will help me know and be hungry to always seek you LORD GOD and the rest will never be impossible because you in charge Lord as its written in Luke 1:37 'For nothing will be impossible with God'. Amen
Luke 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
Matthew 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." ( Ephesians 4:28).
These verses show that our actions should be part of what we verbally confess in order to bring restoration to those we have offended. THere are cases like with Paul where Barnabus stated in Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. This reminds us of the verse Proverbs 27:2 where another is to praise us rather than promotion of ourselves. In this case the early believers had to hear it from someone other than Paul himself for no doubt they feared he would entrap them and were doubtful that he was truly converted. This could be compared in some ways with a convicted criminal who sincerely is apologetic with a family of a victim when he has nothing to gain for himself-anyone can repent and part of OUR repentance is showing God's love toward those who offended us.
Repentance also involves a permanent turn from sin and not replacing one sin for another. This is one danger of those who say that they have a demon of "lust" or some other specific manifestation. The enemy will substitute one temptation for another; that is clear from the verses of Christ's temptation to go from satisfying hunger; to being suicidal and worshipping the Devil rather than God. We need to repent from actions and the lifestyle that leads to the broad road or directly to sin
Yes Luke 3:8 that mentions fruits worthy of repentance shows that repentance is a way of thinking, living, facing life, not just a mere feeling of regret.
Now, I wouldn't agree to present God as an angry God. Definitely we must talk to people about the consequences of unbelief. That hell is very serious thing, it is not a weekend trip to a bad place but a horrible eternity away from God in the lake of fire.
Not everybody comes to Christ for the same reason. Others come to God because of fear of death or hell, others because they are looking for God, others for healing or solution to a serious problem, others are looking for freedom from a sin or passion etc etc. This is in the begining. But as we spend time near God and start understanding His character and His love for us and what He has done for us, then we are attracted to Him by His love for us. And God uses this method often. He gives various gifts to people to draw us to Him and then He gradually reveals His true character to us, God is Love. And He expects us to love Him back. The first and most important commandement is to love God with all yourself. But one can not do that if they don't understand His character and if one never gets anything from God.
Is a man drawn to God because they are regenerated first OR one is regenerated first and thus they are drawn to God? Difficult question. There are good arguments on both sides. Was Paul regenerated before Jesus appeared to him in his way to Damascus? Honestly, I do not think so. But what I can tell is that God often uses specific methods to approach a person whom He knows they will believe. Methods that He may never use for a person who will never believe. But often He does that latter thing. So what we can say for sure is that we can not place God in a pattern. It seems that God alters His methods according to whom He deals with, believers or unbelievers.
The Bible consistently indicates that souls can die and cease to exist. For example, Matthew 10:28, it mentions that the soul can be destroyed, implying it is not immortal. The Greek word translated as soul is psuche, which has several meanings, including the vital breath, the breath of life, the human soul, the soul as the seat of affections and will, consciousness, a human person. Essentially, it includes who we are, and is inseparable.
This does not happen until we are resurrected, when Jesus Christ returns, it is a gift of God, Romans 2:5-7. Immortality is not given until the resurrection from the dead, only then will we be absent from this flesh and blood body and present with the Lord, Revelation 19:11-21, Revelation 20:1-6. The Bible never describes the soul of man as immortal or eternal. We die and are buried mortal, dead in corruption, and we will be raised incorruptible, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. Every part of us is mortal, and we must put on immortality, 1 Corinthians 15:52-54.
The spirit: The spirit is the breath of life given to us by God, in Luke 25:46 Jesus said to His Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. In Acts 7:59, Stephen said Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. The spirit empowers us to experience God's profound love, it is through the spirit that we are empowered to live according to the ways of God, embracing righteousness and walking in His ways, in God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, rather than walking in the ways of the world.
Our spirit is how we communicate with God, Job 32:8, Proverbs 20:27, John 4:24, 1 Corinthians 2:10-12. God inspires or motivates us by stirring up the spirit in a person, 1 Chronicles 5:25-26. God inspired King Cyrus to issue a decree, allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, Ezra 1:1.
Many people interpret Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, as a literal account rather than a parable. However, in Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10, Jesus explicitly states that He spoke to others in parables. We must consider the entirety of Scripture when evaluating this story, as I have referenced only a few relevant passages.
If this story were literal, it would imply that individuals receive their rewards immediately after death. This notion contradicts the rewards are given after the resurrection, as indicated in Revelation 22:12, Luke 14:13-14, 2 Timothy 4:8, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, along with what we see in Revelation 20:4.
What was the purpose of this story? Is it our choices, what we have faith in, God, or do we crave wealth, or do we have faith, and charity, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. This story shows the rich man rich in worldly things, but poor in morality, and Lazarus the opposite. This story also points to Jesus' death and resurrection, Luke 16:31. We see that is what happened, they still rejected Jesus after He was hung on a cross and died, put in a tomb, rose from the grave, and spoke to them for 40 days, and it did not convince them.
Exodus 32:14 And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
This verse proves along with some others that the Lord; who is sinless can change His mind based on people's repentance or change of heart. Such subjects get into different aspects of God; His eternal plans and truths stand and of course His heart is perfect and pure. Some of this perhaps can be understood in this time (I won't use the word dispensation) but His patience before inevitable and final judgment when there is no turning back.
I am sure you are aware of verses that state God grants repentance; as mentioned above a change of heart initiates our ability to desire to serve the Lord out of love; not just fear and dread of a just sentence of punishment. Sadly today of course we have a lack of much good preaching such as "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" by Jonathan Edwards. To cry out to a God we know we have offended and has an enmity with unregenerate man should be part of sharing the Gospel; not some way to make people feel they can cozy up to a Holy God based on any merits of their own.
No need to quote the verse you already know about worldly repentance leading to death; and Godly repentance salvation in 2 Cor. 7:10 (roughly translated); I'm sure you know how that applies to Judas Iscariot. Really repentance like salvation is a beginning of something. A believer is sanctified after being saved; and repentance means not turning back and reorienting our whole lives. We have to plan as much as possible to avoid sin; and that means individuals that are bad influences need to be removed from our social life; and replacing our days with things that please the Lord. It includes sins of commission and omission. It means trusting God ( Psalm 37:4) to meet our desires and needs in His timing rather than trusting in our own understanding.
Luke 3:8 mentions fruits worthy of repentance. I'm glad the Lord supplies all our need for that task.
AndJudasIscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
Satan enter in Judas Iscariot.
Luke 22:3
Then entered Satan intoJudassurnamedIscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
Because Judas Iscariot hung himself and Satan pushed out his body , there's a possibility that Judas Iscariot went to hell.
Acts 1:17-18
17For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
Peter ask Jesus who betray you ? Jesus told Peter not to worry about it, just follow me. I believe by reading this verse, Judas Iscariot will be resurrected in the Antichrist, in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ .
John 21:22
22Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
Jesus said that Judas Iscariot shouldn't been born .
Mark 14:21
The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man ifhehad never beenborn.
Judas Iscariot went to hell .
Acts 1:25
That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his ownplace.
May we all believe the gospel of grace, so we don't have to be in the Tribulation, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ( Heb. 11:38-39). Note-I used the New KJV for testimony to replace good "report" as their testimony resulted in suffering. God will wait to glorify the O.T. saints and those N.T. ones in new bodies until the Resurrection immediately preceding the Rapture. Let us hope we can live up to these examples!
Emphasizing once again the fruits of true repentance and salvation; it certainly is noteworthy that the history of the so called "hall of fame" of saints listed in Hebrews 11 showed many martyrs and great suffering among those who waited for the heavenly country over any riches and pleasure of this world (Moses as an example I pointed out yesterday). This is "normal" Christianity both historically and in much of the world today where persecution abounds. Hopefully short term missions trips will help wake some believers up to these realities or at least supporting missionaries.
Looking at another example in Luke 5:8 Peter says after fishing all night and catching nothing and reluctantly casting the net because Jesus told him to in broad daylight and the resulting tsunami of fish... When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Studying that verse in the church service I attended this week the point was brought home that Peter called Him Lord because of the uncontrollable reaction to the awesome fear of who He was. Too many I think believe Christ's work was done at the cross like a one stop shopping trip rather than it being the beginning of Him working out salvation through fear and trembling (Phillipians 2:12) where He is Lord and Master over our whole life. Someone made the quote Jesus is either Lord over all or nothing at all. Let me know who that was.
The most dangerous thing in the Bible is being deceived by false prophets, false apostles, false accusers, false witness and false Christs . Satan will use anyone to do his work in deception.
Jesus warns his Twelve Disiples of people that will say bad things against them.
Matthew 5:11
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against youfalsely, for my sake.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false prophets.
Matthew 7:15
Beware offalseprophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
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Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false witness.
Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,falsewitness,
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false prophets.
Matthew 24:11
And manyfalseprophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false Christs.
Matthew 24:24
For there shall arisefalseChrists, andfalseprophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false witness.
Mark 10:19
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bearfalsewitness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false Christs and false prophets.
Mark 13:22
ForfalseChrists andfalseprophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false witness.
Luke 18:20
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bearfalsewitness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Why should we follow Paul ? ? But what about following Jesus ? ?
All Twelve Disiples followed Jesus earthly ministry in the four gospels for the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Matthew 4:19
And he saith unto them,Followme, and I will make you fishers of men.
Mark 1:18
And straightway they forsook their nets, andfollowed him.
Luke 5:11
And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, andfollowed him.
John 1:37
And the two disciples heard him speak, and theyfollowed Jesus.
Why should we follow Apostle Paul ? ?
Jesus Christ in Heaven did say that Apostle Paul was a chosen vessel for the Gentiles.
Acts 9:15
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is achosenvesselunto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Jesus Christ is the author of the whole Bible.
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus theauthorand finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ wants us to follow Apostle Paul's epistle for doctrine and Salvation.
1 Corinthians 11:1
Be yefollowers ofme, even as I also am of Christ.
Apostle Paul's doctrine is from Jesus Christ in Heaven.
Romans 16:17
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to thedoctrinewhich ye have learned; and avoid them.
Apostle Paul said that we can always learn from the Old Testament and the caring down kingdom of gospel in the four gospels. The death of Jesus Christ started the New Testament
Hebrews 9:16
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of thetestator.
Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for ourlearning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
I follow Apostle Paul's epistle in Jesus Christ for Doctrine and Salvation.
If we search the Sermon on the Mount; there are several layers to the meanings. General statements of those persecuted being blessed; along with peacemakers; etc. could certainly be applied to people such as Ghandi and others who were clearly not of the Christian faith IF we take only the surface level to this. The higher concept is that only the love of Christ allows us to love our enemies unconditionally; and this is at least partly due to the fact we realize in true faith that we all were once enemies of God reconciled by the cross at Calvary as the atonement for our sins.
How many out there have been told you're a "good person". My unbelieving Aunt said that to me in regard of the care I gave to my mom and now my dad who is in a Memory Care facility; and not too happy about it. He says that I am crazy; have him imprisoned there; etc. My relatives understand that to care for him and for his safety I had to get him placed there; but this is something my unbelieving Cousin had to do for her mom who is now in Hospice Care. God did give me strength to do things but I have no inherent goodness. My Christian friend also said not to be too hard on myself and thinks highly of me. I take it as the same as being told I am a hypocrite as my mom would say to me when she was still alive; or those who cursed me when sharing the scripture with them from someone in my High School in 1982 to those on the street witnessing a few years back.
I say all this; hopefully to prove a point; that we as believers have a responsibility to care for our families but also Christ has to be our top priority. Thus; I see the very real risk of losing touch with my whole mom's side of the family who is Jewish as I don't have the heart to attend my Aunt's funeral since she isn't a believer. "let the dead bury their own dead". ( Luke 9:60).
To study scripture with open eyes we have to believe ALL scripture and not cherry pick
And theearthwas without form, andvoid; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The second was Noah's food.
Genesis 6:17
And, behold, I, even I, do bring afloodof waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
The third is the church age and the Rapture inwhich was revealed to Apostle Paul in a revelation and we are living in it right now.
Jesus stop reading in the middle of the verse. Did Jesus Christ keep the third Gap Theory a secret ?
Luke 4:18-19
18 The Spirit of the Lordisupon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Note: Jesus was reading Isaiah 61:1-2 , but stop in the middle of chapter 2. Jesus knew the Church of Grace was going to begin.
What Jesus said that day was important in describing the times in which he ministered, but he closed the book before he finished the sentence in Isaiah.
Equally important as what he read before he sat down, was what he purposely did not read all of the verses
The sentence inIsaiah 61:2continues:
"and the day of vengeance of our God" - Isaiah 61:2
Why did Jesus Christ keep the resurrection a secret from the Twelve Disiples ? ? ?
Mark 9:9-10
9And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
10And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Here is another time when Jesus was explaining his death and resurrection and they understood nothing.
Matthew 16:21-22
21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
John 20:6-10
6Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
10Then the disciples went away again unto their own home
The Disciples couldn't understand the future resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Luke 18:31-34
31Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
32For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
Why do Jews in the Old Testament and including the four gospels don't talk about Heaven in the Godhead ? ?
The earthly Kingdom will appear again, but the grace age believes in the Body of Christ Jesus will be taken up in the Rapture first.
2 Peter 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look fornewheavens and anewearth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
New Jerusalem will be the new kingdom on earth.
Revelation 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which isnewJerusalem, which cometh down out ofheavenfrom my God: and I will write upon him mynewname.
Jesus Christ will be the New Messiah drinking the cup in New Jerusalem.
Mark 14:25
Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in thekingdomof God.
The Twelve Disiples will have there New Jerusalem, the kingdom on earth.
Luke 22:30
That ye may eat and drink at my table in mykingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
I think you have misunderstood me. when I said the philosophy of my church is to "save your house first". I meant "house" as "country". So our focus is mainly for what can be done inside my country and nation and secondarily for other nations, as far as our hand can reach. I find it somehow strange to give your energy and time for others when your own people are in a desperate need. Our own comes first. Isn't this sensible and right? Of course there is a need for all the world, but not everybody can do that. Even in the early church, there were a few that worked as missioners outside Israel, mainly Paul with Timothy, Luke, Silas and the rest forming a small team. But the rest of the apostles stayed home and worked there. And also there is need to look carefuly what is done inside the church because times are tough and the world has started invading the church bringing inside the spirit and mind.of the world. And the young generations are very volnurable. They are affected. So everybody has to stay in their position. Not everybody is a head in the Body of Christ, not everybody is a hand, not everybody is a leg, but everybody has to take their own position in the church and work according to their gift or physical talent. So lets start spreading the good news of gospel to our neighbor first and then go a little bit further away. Thanks for the inspirational stories you have shared. I would like to read more in the future. Blessings.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast intohellfire.
Where is hell now ? ?
Proverbs 15:24
The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart fromhellbeneath.
Hell was inlarged when Jesus Christ took out all the Saints in Paradise .
Luke 16:26
And beside all this, between us and you there is a greatgulffixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Apostle Paul was caught up in the spirit and saw paradise.
2 Corinthians 12:4
How that he was caught up intoparadise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Now we have to worry about death and hell being cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:14
Anddeathandhellwere cast into the lake of fire. This is the seconddeath.
May we all believe that's there a hell in the center of earth where it's very hot .
So Paul seems to be suprised and asks them in which name were they baptized in?. Strange question, isn't it. One could think what this has to do with the Spirit. "We were baptized dear Paul in the name of the Lord Jesus, what are you implying with your question, what does this baptizm you are saying in the name of Lord Jesus has to do with the Spirit of God?" The answer is that it has nothing to do. Absolutely nothing.
But Paul's question gets very relevant if the baptizm was done in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So Paul asks them "How come you never heard of it? In which name were you baprized, weren't you baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit as well? How is it posible that you don't know about the Holy Spirit?" Paul knows exactly what he is asking them. So you see that Paul's question is justified now?
So why Luke in other verses uses only the name of Lord Jesus? The most common answer is for brevity reasons, he avoids writing in detail. Or any other reason. This also shows that the name of Lord Jesus has the same importance as the name (one name, not three names) of The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). One name that represents the full Godhead. So Matthew in his last chapter of his gospel was not writting something false.
Thanks brother and sorry if I tired you. God Bless You.
Last post of mine on this topic (and you will get rid of me:)
About which name christians should be water baptized, lets see firstly two well known scriptures from Luke's Acts:
Acts 2:38, 'Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Acts 8:16, "(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they (the Samaritans) were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
It does matter that I mention that Luke wrote the Acts, because in another incidence in Luke's writtings of the Acts it is implied someting diferent than before. It is the incidence when Paul meets some disciples in Ephessus and asks them if they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. (This could also make some christians who consider that they get the Holy Spirit when they believe or get reborn, to think if their belief is right. Because then it seems quite weird that Paul asks such a question. Because Paul considers that those disciples are already water baptized, so they should had been born again before that. But this is a different topic and ask for discussion anyone who wish to do so)
So the dialogue goes as follows:
Acts !9:2-3, 2 "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism."
In verse 5 it says that Paul baptized them in the name of Lord Jesus. But lets have a close look at their discussion. Paul asks them if they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. They say they have never heard of the Holy Spirit. (this doesn't mean that they have never really heard of It, because the Spirit of God is mentioned many times in the O.T, OT's prophets were prophesing through the Spirit etc, etc,, but they have never heard of such an action of the Spirit in believers.)
2 Timothy 3:5 - Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Having a form of godliness. They can have any one, if not all of these characteristics. Denying the power thereof: To deny doesn't mean that they deny that God has power. Everybody that believes in God believes He has power. It doesn't mean that somebody denies that. It means to reject.
We're seeing this right now more and more amongst the church, having a form of godliness (outward form and system), but rejecting God's power, and instead doing it ourselves. Jesus said ( Luke 18:1) that when the Son of man comes, will He find the faith upon the earth? The apostasy of the last days will be a challenge to faith.
It has nothing to do with our performance. It's denying the power of God if it's my performance. God promises to do His work through us, not for us to take His work into our hands and run it for Him. It's gotten worse over the years. There seems to be a philosophy in the church that Jesus ascended up into heaven to the right hand of the Father, and He has left us to do His work for Him until He gets back. It's like He's not here, like He's not the head of the church, like He doesn't run things.
When Jesus comes, will He find the faith on the earth? Will He find people saying "Lord, we have been waiting for your coming according to your word, because we believe you can fulfil your word?" That's faith!
The command at the end of Verse 5 says from such turn away, disassociate yourself with such people. That's hard and stern advice. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that corrupt morals affect good morals. It's not the other way around.
If I decide to hang out with people that are not of good morals so that I can influence them, the bible says that these people with their corrupt morals will influence me, not me influencing them. Paul says to disassociate with such people because they will affect you. You'll get caught up in it.
One has to discriminate the OT from the NT. Many things in the OT are not valid in NT, eg in Psalms King David always asks God to take revenge against his enemies, which is something we should not do in NT, we must love our enemies.
Yes God is angry and dissapointed with the man He created. But when we talk about God's wrath we mean God distructing people not just the feeling of being angry.
So lets have a look in NT.
Jesus said in John 3:17, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
When the disciples asked Jesus if He wants them to bring fire from Heaven to burn the Samaritans since they didn't accept them Jesus said, "... But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.". Luke 8:54-55. Not to mention the case with that woman condemned for fornication whom Jesus let her free
We live in the age of grace. We must distinguish the spirit of the OT which was condemnation/punishment from the spirit of the NT wich is grace/mercy. We are "of another manner of spirit" in this age. So God is.
Doesn't it seem strange to you that God asks us to love our enemies while He is angry with them? Or is He not angry? He actually loves His enemies, that is why we become God's true children by also loving our enemies "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:..." How de we really become God's true children? By being in "His likeness".
The will of God is all people to be saved, If you search the word 'wrath" in NT you will find it always refers to the Judgement Day. Only in the OT and in Rev we can find it in this life. And to me this is another point that grace will not be available after the rapture of the church. People will have to be slaughtered to be saved. The grace will go together with the church and another age will start. I will not use the word dispensation since I am against that idea, but still the grace will be gone at that time
Part of service and having others as a priority over our own needs is taking time out for prayer. Jesus prayed all night before picking His 12 Disciples and this wasn't the only time He did this. Communicating with His Father in heaven was a constant ongoing process as He only said what the Father told Him ( John 12:49 etal). Service therefore for the Christian must involve a commitment of time not only for prayer for others but for ourselves; He may have been restricted while on earth to live as one of us but prayed to focus on God how much more should we seek Him?
There are many verses explaining Christ's perfect; sinless life. Hebrews 4:15 says For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. A casual search will find lists of dozens to 100 or more verses on this subject. These are fine studies and I will try to incorporate many more into this series. My main focus is on how He lived this way in varying situations whether with His inner circle of Disciples; the larger public; the Pharisees and Sadducees or private prayer.
As I brought up briefly in an earlier post; Jesus lived His first 30 years with scanty details written about it. Although there are spurious extrabiblical writings that mention outrageous miracles; signs and wonders ascribed to this period of His life; the fact that the Spirit came down on Him and even John didn't know who He was should tell us otherwise. John was born to Elizabeth; Mary's cousin (according to the way most understand the text). If anything extraordinary occurred you would expect John would have been aware of it before this time. Mary knew certainly that all that Christ said should be paid attention to; we see this with the miracle of the water turned to wine in the Cana wedding in John 2:1-11. We will start there and leave the general conclusion that Jesus served His parents well and with the family business; which some have said is more representing general labor of construction work rather than just a carpenter. He did with the incident when He was 12 years old briefly "disobey" His parents in appearance doing work in "His Father's house" ( Luke 2:49); which shows how God was His true Father hence it could trump Joseph His earthly father; nonethless this was a one time incident; perhaps I'll surmise being a rite of passage like a BarMitzvah although I could be wrong about that; just a thought.
More on the Cana miracle in part 2
Acts 15:3, "And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion (the grk says "returning") of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren."
Acts 9:35, "And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned (the grk says returned") to the Lord."
In both verses above we read about gentiles returning to the Lord.
But let's read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-12.
Some points we can point out in this story.
Was the father of that kid angry after his son left the house? Answer: No he wasn't. He was actually very sad. His heart was broken and his mind was always in his son. "Where is he? How is he doing? Is he ok?". How do we know all this?
In v 20 it says, "And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."
How was it possible for the father to see his kid when he was a great way off? Not accidently. But because he was standing every day at a high place in his house (upper floor?) expecting to see his child coming back. This shows the agony (not anger) that that father had for his kid to come back home safe.
"... and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.". "Kissed" is not a very precise translation of the grk in this verse. The grk means kissing him all around again and again. The father couldn't keep his hands off his son. He kept hugging and kissing him. So the same question again. Was he an angry father while waiting for his son's return?
We must understand our Father's heart when we are away from Him and the agony He is going through until we finally return to Him. This is our Father in Heaven. He is Love.
But let us change the ending of that story. Let's assume that his son never came back home an died in his sins. Then and only then God pauses being a dear Father and becomes a righteous Judge.
7. Christ was unpredictable. Unlike the imaginary sage or wise man that everybody loved who never said anything hurtful to offend people's feelings; Jesus Himself admitted that He came to cause division rather than peace ( Luke 12:53); yet He also said "blessed are the peacemakers" in Matthew 5:9. He would be invited to homes of the Pharisees; then excoriate them as to how He was treated (see Luke 7:45). His own Disciples were confused as to the necessity of dying in Jerusalem despite many statements about it He had to rebuke Satan when Peter spoke about these things never occurring ( Matt. 16:23). This was the same Peter who shortly before that stated who Christ truly was which only could have come from God ( Matt. 16:15-16). He sidestepped about 10 attempts on His life that we know of; but then deliberately headed toward Jerusalem where He knew He would die. Thomas at least understood it ( John 11:16-26 when he knew of the opposition faced when going back to raise Lazarus from the grave which was within weeks of the crucifixion I believe). His Resurrection sadly wasn't expected once the report came back from the women who were the first to arrive at the grave to see evidence and hear from the angels that He had risen. Women were an important aspect along with the Samaritans and Gentiles which the Pharisees couldn't understand.
I will attempt to look at several specific instances in the life of Christ to show how His approach; forethought and actions represent a perfect man; and how His example and those of the Apostles in the early church show about how and how not to do God's work as everyone had their character traits; flaws and at times outward sins. We therefore can conclude we all should emulate Christ and the Apostles; but we also all live in different situations and have different responsibilities incorporated into the good works He has given us to do planned since the foundation of the world ( Eph. 2:10).
More specific purposes of Christ during His earthly ministry
4. Calling out of His Disciples. He spent all night in prayer prior to this event. ( Luke 6:12-13). Some may think that He had to decide who to choose; but I doubt it. That was something I would think was foreknown; especially since the son of perdition Judas Iscariot had to be picked as well although I am not sure where in scripture the initial meeting was with him; maybe someone can let me know about that. No doubt He prayed for them to readily accept Him and for obstacles from the enemy not to thwart things to come. Overall this would complicate His mission as times had to be set aside with this "inner circle" for further discussion of matters and discipling through hard sayings. This would be the beginning of the church which He would further develop in the absence after His death and Resurrection when the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost.
5. Warning of destruction to come. The future persecutions of the Disciples and travail of the nation of Israel as a whole eventually were expanded to the birth pangs of the world in general as illustrated in Matthew 24. Everything familiar to the Jewish nation would be shook; with the destruction of the Temple and many Jews during AD 70; largely due to their blindness of Christ and who He was ( Matt. 23:37). He deliberately talked very little about ruling and reigning in the Millennial Kingdom as no doubt that was the expectation and hope even of the Disciples at that time of His soon arrival in that mode. This is mentioned in Acts 1:6 as something alluded to have happened earlier.
6. Always considering others needs above His own. Jesus came to serve and not be served. ( Mark 10:45). This could perhaps be best demonstrated in His statement to John when hanging on the cross ( Luke 19:25-29). It appears Joseph was dead at this time and Jesus knew John would live the longest so he was to take Mary in.
My last post brought out the fact that indeed Gentiles were part of God's plan; and we can further see this in many other O.T. scriptures ( Isaiah 49:6; etc). Man's pride couldn't square the suffering servant made so clear in describing Christ's first coming in Isaiah 53 as characterizing the Messiah. They even denied that their heritage came from people that were enslaved numerous times in their history! ( John 8:33). Even if they called Him teacher being a good man wasn't enough to save them from their sins; but of course when He made such claims they called it blasphemy! ( Luke 5:21).
Let's do an introductory overview of Christ's many itineraries which He had to fulfill the purposes God intended in His ministry. Some of these things are unique to Him but certainly lessons can be learned as to how we plan our days in service to the King.
1. Doing all things the Father willed. John 5:19 perhaps sums this up the best. In His mission there was the inevitable death on the cross on His mind following a perfect sinless life; albeit brief walking on the earth for 33 or so years as the perfect Man. ( Luke 9:22 and many similar verses in the Gospels).
2. Salvation by forgiveness of sin was a theme that overrided any of His miracles; nonetheless there is no clear statement that everyone He healed became saved. (see John 8:45 with deliberate disobedience in His command not to start a media "circus" as a result of healing). It was imperative that Messiah forgive men's sins but then they would have to realize that He was indeed the "I am" ( John 8:48-59 further on in the passage of John quoted above).
3. Coming to display obedience to His family before the predestined time to reach full manhood and the onset of public ministry.
Jesus had no obligation to be obedient in this way; and it was not in order to simply give in to His parents wishes but to do God's will. He was the perfect worker; brother and son.
Isaiah 52:14 "As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:"
Belief in the Son was emphasized even by John the Baptist as a second witness as Jesus started His public ministry ( John 3:23-36). Nonetheless He often hid who He was; particularly early in His ministry ( Matt. 16:20 may be a later statement to this affect). As stated in my last post He often told people to tell no man about who did a miracle ( Matt. 8:4) so He didn't want any necessary noteriety. Those who didn't have eyes to see and ears to hear ( Matt. 13:16) simply thought He was a Prophet; or good man at best; or an illegitimate child to Mary ( John 8:41).
Given these facts and the blindness of man without the revelation of God ( 2 Cor. 4:4) we shouldn't be surprised by the world's expectations of a superman or bermensch as Neche called this individual. Men who didn't see the Lord as coming to save rather than destroy men were blind to their own state. They should have realized who Christ was regarding the clear prophecies particularly in Isaiah 53. There was a reason for the delay in what indeed will involve Christ coming to destroy His enemies and establish His Kingdom on earth; and some Jews seem to have the concept of two different figures to make sense of apparently diametrically opposed characteristics of Christ as suffering servant and conquering King.
The fact is that God planned it so the nation of Israel would be blind in part until the fullness of the Gentiles came in ( Romans 11:25). Given the fact that Naaman the Syrian and the widow who Elijah helped to feed and raise her child to life were Gentiles (Jesus enraged the Pharisees mentioning that God exclusively met her need at the expense of many others with similar situations that were Jews at that time ( Luke 4:25) was important.
In one sense Christ was different than everyone else in His humanity. His thoughts and life were pure yet certainly the enemy likely put thoughts of sins in his mind common to man such as lust; hating his enemies; etc. Being the Son of God Satan couldn't accuse Him of anything done wrong; and also had unique temptations as we see when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast for 40 days. Making stones into bread isn't something anyone can do as a mere man. Throwing Himself down in a suicidal move wasn't going to fly and neither was worshipping Satan. The enemy may offer these things from time to time but only will succeed with Antichrist in the future.
Regarding my last post the Messiah WAS according to the Prophets supposed to come to rule and subdue the nations of the world but that was in the Second Coming; the first was as the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 51; hence Isaiah 61 was cut short in His temple proclamation ( Luke 4:16-30). Thus everything according to man's understanding was backwards. Jesus did not come:
As from a regal or wealthy family of notoriety although fulfilled the prophecies as being a descendant of David
To show off His Divinity by signs; wonders and miracles as brought out by the faithlessness of His own hometown ( Mark 6:4).
To allow Himself to be made King by force (as shown in a verse quoted earlier ( John 6:15).
To escape persecution; or to die a peaceful honorable death.
These things bring out what the world's standards are for the "Perfect Man" and who the truly perfect man was. Being considered a pathetic low life is what made Monty Python's sarcastic and disgraceful skit about the Crucifixion as "entertainment" in "Always look at the Bright Side of Life" means. In the next post I will examine further what the world is looking for (soon to be fulfilled in Antichrist); as their superhuman hero to save the planet.
Under the assumption that most here are aware that Christ came to earth as fully God; fully man and He died was buried and rose again; and is now seated at the right hand of the Father and will return a second time to rule and reign on earth along with other basic scriptures I wanted to start with some questions that hopefully can be answered with careful inspection into the Word. We don't fully comprehend all things and may never; certainly on this side of eternity.
Question One: How can we wrap our heads around a member of the Godhead coming to earth to die in our place and not only that but the fact that this was predetermined from before the foundation of the world in eternity past to happen? ( Acts 2:23 etc)
Not only that but He Resurrected with the marks on His body and is the only one in heaven who will always be scarred to remind us of what He did for us. He is still God but His appearance is changed; we ask ourselves did His time on earth change Him in any other way? Since God created time we could say that it was as good as done or in some sense had already happened before it did. Such things are too great to understand; surely Christ's sufferings are over but is it something He can forget? For us mere mortals there will be no more suffering and death so maybe it is in His plan to forget also? We certainly can see how serious sin is but for the Creator of all to do this of course is beyond words. For us to understand His request for the cup to be taken from Him ( Luke 22:42) shows that not only that He condescended to be one of us but had to go through all the doubts which other humans have as part of His suffering; although surely He knew the outcome. I can't wrap my head around it. I'll try to get into some of the answers later; spoiler alert it does help us to understand why we must suffer if He had to go through it surely we puny mortals must suffer as well but there is a plan to bring purpose.
Luke 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
Matthew 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." ( Ephesians 4:28).
These verses show that our actions should be part of what we verbally confess in order to bring restoration to those we have offended. THere are cases like with Paul where Barnabus stated in Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. This reminds us of the verse Proverbs 27:2 where another is to praise us rather than promotion of ourselves. In this case the early believers had to hear it from someone other than Paul himself for no doubt they feared he would entrap them and were doubtful that he was truly converted. This could be compared in some ways with a convicted criminal who sincerely is apologetic with a family of a victim when he has nothing to gain for himself-anyone can repent and part of OUR repentance is showing God's love toward those who offended us.
Repentance also involves a permanent turn from sin and not replacing one sin for another. This is one danger of those who say that they have a demon of "lust" or some other specific manifestation. The enemy will substitute one temptation for another; that is clear from the verses of Christ's temptation to go from satisfying hunger; to being suicidal and worshipping the Devil rather than God. We need to repent from actions and the lifestyle that leads to the broad road or directly to sin
Yes Luke 3:8 that mentions fruits worthy of repentance shows that repentance is a way of thinking, living, facing life, not just a mere feeling of regret.
Now, I wouldn't agree to present God as an angry God. Definitely we must talk to people about the consequences of unbelief. That hell is very serious thing, it is not a weekend trip to a bad place but a horrible eternity away from God in the lake of fire.
Not everybody comes to Christ for the same reason. Others come to God because of fear of death or hell, others because they are looking for God, others for healing or solution to a serious problem, others are looking for freedom from a sin or passion etc etc. This is in the begining. But as we spend time near God and start understanding His character and His love for us and what He has done for us, then we are attracted to Him by His love for us. And God uses this method often. He gives various gifts to people to draw us to Him and then He gradually reveals His true character to us, God is Love. And He expects us to love Him back. The first and most important commandement is to love God with all yourself. But one can not do that if they don't understand His character and if one never gets anything from God.
Is a man drawn to God because they are regenerated first OR one is regenerated first and thus they are drawn to God? Difficult question. There are good arguments on both sides. Was Paul regenerated before Jesus appeared to him in his way to Damascus? Honestly, I do not think so. But what I can tell is that God often uses specific methods to approach a person whom He knows they will believe. Methods that He may never use for a person who will never believe. But often He does that latter thing. So what we can say for sure is that we can not place God in a pattern. It seems that God alters His methods according to whom He deals with, believers or unbelievers.
Thanks for your comment. GBU
Part 2
The Bible consistently indicates that souls can die and cease to exist. For example, Matthew 10:28, it mentions that the soul can be destroyed, implying it is not immortal. The Greek word translated as soul is psuche, which has several meanings, including the vital breath, the breath of life, the human soul, the soul as the seat of affections and will, consciousness, a human person. Essentially, it includes who we are, and is inseparable.
This does not happen until we are resurrected, when Jesus Christ returns, it is a gift of God, Romans 2:5-7. Immortality is not given until the resurrection from the dead, only then will we be absent from this flesh and blood body and present with the Lord, Revelation 19:11-21, Revelation 20:1-6. The Bible never describes the soul of man as immortal or eternal. We die and are buried mortal, dead in corruption, and we will be raised incorruptible, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. Every part of us is mortal, and we must put on immortality, 1 Corinthians 15:52-54.
The spirit: The spirit is the breath of life given to us by God, in Luke 25:46 Jesus said to His Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. In Acts 7:59, Stephen said Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. The spirit empowers us to experience God's profound love, it is through the spirit that we are empowered to live according to the ways of God, embracing righteousness and walking in His ways, in God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, rather than walking in the ways of the world.
Our spirit is how we communicate with God, Job 32:8, Proverbs 20:27, John 4:24, 1 Corinthians 2:10-12. God inspires or motivates us by stirring up the spirit in a person, 1 Chronicles 5:25-26. God inspired King Cyrus to issue a decree, allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, Ezra 1:1.
See part 3
Part 4
Many people interpret Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, as a literal account rather than a parable. However, in Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10, Jesus explicitly states that He spoke to others in parables. We must consider the entirety of Scripture when evaluating this story, as I have referenced only a few relevant passages.
If this story were literal, it would imply that individuals receive their rewards immediately after death. This notion contradicts the rewards are given after the resurrection, as indicated in Revelation 22:12, Luke 14:13-14, 2 Timothy 4:8, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, along with what we see in Revelation 20:4.
What was the purpose of this story? Is it our choices, what we have faith in, God, or do we crave wealth, or do we have faith, and charity, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. This story shows the rich man rich in worldly things, but poor in morality, and Lazarus the opposite. This story also points to Jesus' death and resurrection, Luke 16:31. We see that is what happened, they still rejected Jesus after He was hung on a cross and died, put in a tomb, rose from the grave, and spoke to them for 40 days, and it did not convince them.
See part 5
This verse proves along with some others that the Lord; who is sinless can change His mind based on people's repentance or change of heart. Such subjects get into different aspects of God; His eternal plans and truths stand and of course His heart is perfect and pure. Some of this perhaps can be understood in this time (I won't use the word dispensation) but His patience before inevitable and final judgment when there is no turning back.
I am sure you are aware of verses that state God grants repentance; as mentioned above a change of heart initiates our ability to desire to serve the Lord out of love; not just fear and dread of a just sentence of punishment. Sadly today of course we have a lack of much good preaching such as "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" by Jonathan Edwards. To cry out to a God we know we have offended and has an enmity with unregenerate man should be part of sharing the Gospel; not some way to make people feel they can cozy up to a Holy God based on any merits of their own.
No need to quote the verse you already know about worldly repentance leading to death; and Godly repentance salvation in 2 Cor. 7:10 (roughly translated); I'm sure you know how that applies to Judas Iscariot. Really repentance like salvation is a beginning of something. A believer is sanctified after being saved; and repentance means not turning back and reorienting our whole lives. We have to plan as much as possible to avoid sin; and that means individuals that are bad influences need to be removed from our social life; and replacing our days with things that please the Lord. It includes sins of commission and omission. It means trusting God ( Psalm 37:4) to meet our desires and needs in His timing rather than trusting in our own understanding.
Luke 3:8 mentions fruits worthy of repentance. I'm glad the Lord supplies all our need for that task.
Agape. RP
Judas Iscariot met with the chief priests.
Mark 14:10
AndJudasIscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
Satan enter in Judas Iscariot.
Luke 22:3
Then entered Satan intoJudassurnamedIscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
Because Judas Iscariot hung himself and Satan pushed out his body , there's a possibility that Judas Iscariot went to hell.
Acts 1:17-18
17For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
Peter ask Jesus who betray you ? Jesus told Peter not to worry about it, just follow me. I believe by reading this verse, Judas Iscariot will be resurrected in the Antichrist, in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ .
John 21:22
22Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
Jesus said that Judas Iscariot shouldn't been born .
Mark 14:21
The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man ifhehad never beenborn.
Judas Iscariot went to hell .
Acts 1:25
That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his ownplace.
May we all believe the gospel of grace, so we don't have to be in the Tribulation, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ( Heb. 11:38-39). Note-I used the New KJV for testimony to replace good "report" as their testimony resulted in suffering. God will wait to glorify the O.T. saints and those N.T. ones in new bodies until the Resurrection immediately preceding the Rapture. Let us hope we can live up to these examples!
Emphasizing once again the fruits of true repentance and salvation; it certainly is noteworthy that the history of the so called "hall of fame" of saints listed in Hebrews 11 showed many martyrs and great suffering among those who waited for the heavenly country over any riches and pleasure of this world (Moses as an example I pointed out yesterday). This is "normal" Christianity both historically and in much of the world today where persecution abounds. Hopefully short term missions trips will help wake some believers up to these realities or at least supporting missionaries.
Looking at another example in Luke 5:8 Peter says after fishing all night and catching nothing and reluctantly casting the net because Jesus told him to in broad daylight and the resulting tsunami of fish... When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Studying that verse in the church service I attended this week the point was brought home that Peter called Him Lord because of the uncontrollable reaction to the awesome fear of who He was. Too many I think believe Christ's work was done at the cross like a one stop shopping trip rather than it being the beginning of Him working out salvation through fear and trembling (Phillipians 2:12) where He is Lord and Master over our whole life. Someone made the quote Jesus is either Lord over all or nothing at all. Let me know who that was.
The most dangerous thing in the Bible is being deceived by false prophets, false apostles, false accusers, false witness and false Christs . Satan will use anyone to do his work in deception.
Jesus warns his Twelve Disiples of people that will say bad things against them.
Matthew 5:11
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against youfalsely, for my sake.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false prophets.
Matthew 7:15
Beware offalseprophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
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Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false witness.
Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,falsewitness,
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false prophets.
Matthew 24:11
And manyfalseprophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false Christs.
Matthew 24:24
For there shall arisefalseChrists, andfalseprophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false witness.
Mark 10:19
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bearfalsewitness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false Christs and false prophets.
Mark 13:22
ForfalseChrists andfalseprophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Jesus warns the Twelve Disiples of false witness.
Luke 18:20
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bearfalsewitness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Ray, in Christ Jesus
All Twelve Disiples followed Jesus earthly ministry in the four gospels for the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Matthew 4:19
And he saith unto them,Followme, and I will make you fishers of men.
Mark 1:18
And straightway they forsook their nets, andfollowed him.
Luke 5:11
And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, andfollowed him.
John 1:37
And the two disciples heard him speak, and theyfollowed Jesus.
Why should we follow Apostle Paul ? ?
Jesus Christ in Heaven did say that Apostle Paul was a chosen vessel for the Gentiles.
Acts 9:15
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is achosenvesselunto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Jesus Christ is the author of the whole Bible.
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus theauthorand finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ wants us to follow Apostle Paul's epistle for doctrine and Salvation.
1 Corinthians 11:1
Be yefollowers ofme, even as I also am of Christ.
Apostle Paul's doctrine is from Jesus Christ in Heaven.
Romans 16:17
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to thedoctrinewhich ye have learned; and avoid them.
Apostle Paul said that we can always learn from the Old Testament and the caring down kingdom of gospel in the four gospels. The death of Jesus Christ started the New Testament
Hebrews 9:16
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of thetestator.
Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for ourlearning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
I follow Apostle Paul's epistle in Jesus Christ for Doctrine and Salvation.
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Multiple meanings.
If we search the Sermon on the Mount; there are several layers to the meanings. General statements of those persecuted being blessed; along with peacemakers; etc. could certainly be applied to people such as Ghandi and others who were clearly not of the Christian faith IF we take only the surface level to this. The higher concept is that only the love of Christ allows us to love our enemies unconditionally; and this is at least partly due to the fact we realize in true faith that we all were once enemies of God reconciled by the cross at Calvary as the atonement for our sins.
How many out there have been told you're a "good person". My unbelieving Aunt said that to me in regard of the care I gave to my mom and now my dad who is in a Memory Care facility; and not too happy about it. He says that I am crazy; have him imprisoned there; etc. My relatives understand that to care for him and for his safety I had to get him placed there; but this is something my unbelieving Cousin had to do for her mom who is now in Hospice Care. God did give me strength to do things but I have no inherent goodness. My Christian friend also said not to be too hard on myself and thinks highly of me. I take it as the same as being told I am a hypocrite as my mom would say to me when she was still alive; or those who cursed me when sharing the scripture with them from someone in my High School in 1982 to those on the street witnessing a few years back.
I say all this; hopefully to prove a point; that we as believers have a responsibility to care for our families but also Christ has to be our top priority. Thus; I see the very real risk of losing touch with my whole mom's side of the family who is Jewish as I don't have the heart to attend my Aunt's funeral since she isn't a believer. "let the dead bury their own dead". ( Luke 9:60).
To study scripture with open eyes we have to believe ALL scripture and not cherry pick
God does things in three's .
The first is the earth was made void.
Genesis 1:2
And theearthwas without form, andvoid; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The second was Noah's food.
Genesis 6:17
And, behold, I, even I, do bring afloodof waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
The third is the church age and the Rapture inwhich was revealed to Apostle Paul in a revelation and we are living in it right now.
Jesus stop reading in the middle of the verse. Did Jesus Christ keep the third Gap Theory a secret ?
Luke 4:18-19
18 The Spirit of the Lordisupon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Note: Jesus was reading Isaiah 61:1-2 , but stop in the middle of chapter 2. Jesus knew the Church of Grace was going to begin.
What Jesus said that day was important in describing the times in which he ministered, but he closed the book before he finished the sentence in Isaiah.
Equally important as what he read before he sat down, was what he purposely did not read all of the verses
The sentence inIsaiah 61:2continues:
"and the day of vengeance of our God" - Isaiah 61:2
Why did Jesus Christ keep the resurrection a secret from the Twelve Disiples ? ? ?
Mark 9:9-10
9And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
10And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Here is another time when Jesus was explaining his death and resurrection and they understood nothing.
Matthew 16:21-22
21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
John 20:6-10
6Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
10Then the disciples went away again unto their own home
The Disciples couldn't understand the future resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Luke 18:31-34
31Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
32For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
Ray , in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
The earthly Kingdom will appear again, but the grace age believes in the Body of Christ Jesus will be taken up in the Rapture first.
2 Peter 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look fornewheavens and anewearth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
New Jerusalem will be the new kingdom on earth.
Revelation 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which isnewJerusalem, which cometh down out ofheavenfrom my God: and I will write upon him mynewname.
Jesus Christ will be the New Messiah drinking the cup in New Jerusalem.
Mark 14:25
Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in thekingdomof God.
The Twelve Disiples will have there New Jerusalem, the kingdom on earth.
Luke 22:30
That ye may eat and drink at my table in mykingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
The Kingdom of Heaven on earth will appear again.
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
I think you have misunderstood me. when I said the philosophy of my church is to "save your house first". I meant "house" as "country". So our focus is mainly for what can be done inside my country and nation and secondarily for other nations, as far as our hand can reach. I find it somehow strange to give your energy and time for others when your own people are in a desperate need. Our own comes first. Isn't this sensible and right? Of course there is a need for all the world, but not everybody can do that. Even in the early church, there were a few that worked as missioners outside Israel, mainly Paul with Timothy, Luke, Silas and the rest forming a small team. But the rest of the apostles stayed home and worked there. And also there is need to look carefuly what is done inside the church because times are tough and the world has started invading the church bringing inside the spirit and mind.of the world. And the young generations are very volnurable. They are affected. So everybody has to stay in their position. Not everybody is a head in the Body of Christ, not everybody is a hand, not everybody is a leg, but everybody has to take their own position in the church and work according to their gift or physical talent. So lets start spreading the good news of gospel to our neighbor first and then go a little bit further away. Thanks for the inspirational stories you have shared. I would like to read more in the future. Blessings.
Matthew 18:9
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast intohellfire.
Where is hell now ? ?
Proverbs 15:24
The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart fromhellbeneath.
Hell was inlarged when Jesus Christ took out all the Saints in Paradise .
Luke 16:26
And beside all this, between us and you there is a greatgulffixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Apostle Paul was caught up in the spirit and saw paradise.
2 Corinthians 12:4
How that he was caught up intoparadise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Now we have to worry about death and hell being cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:14
Anddeathandhellwere cast into the lake of fire. This is the seconddeath.
May we all believe that's there a hell in the center of earth where it's very hot .
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
The gospel saves us from hell
So Paul seems to be suprised and asks them in which name were they baptized in?. Strange question, isn't it. One could think what this has to do with the Spirit. "We were baptized dear Paul in the name of the Lord Jesus, what are you implying with your question, what does this baptizm you are saying in the name of Lord Jesus has to do with the Spirit of God?" The answer is that it has nothing to do. Absolutely nothing.
But Paul's question gets very relevant if the baptizm was done in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So Paul asks them "How come you never heard of it? In which name were you baprized, weren't you baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit as well? How is it posible that you don't know about the Holy Spirit?" Paul knows exactly what he is asking them. So you see that Paul's question is justified now?
So why Luke in other verses uses only the name of Lord Jesus? The most common answer is for brevity reasons, he avoids writing in detail. Or any other reason. This also shows that the name of Lord Jesus has the same importance as the name (one name, not three names) of The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). One name that represents the full Godhead. So Matthew in his last chapter of his gospel was not writting something false.
Thanks brother and sorry if I tired you. God Bless You.
Last post of mine on this topic (and you will get rid of me:)
About which name christians should be water baptized, lets see firstly two well known scriptures from Luke's Acts:
Acts 2:38, 'Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Acts 8:16, "(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they (the Samaritans) were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
It does matter that I mention that Luke wrote the Acts, because in another incidence in Luke's writtings of the Acts it is implied someting diferent than before. It is the incidence when Paul meets some disciples in Ephessus and asks them if they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. (This could also make some christians who consider that they get the Holy Spirit when they believe or get reborn, to think if their belief is right. Because then it seems quite weird that Paul asks such a question. Because Paul considers that those disciples are already water baptized, so they should had been born again before that. But this is a different topic and ask for discussion anyone who wish to do so)
So the dialogue goes as follows:
Acts !9:2-3, 2 "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism."
In verse 5 it says that Paul baptized them in the name of Lord Jesus. But lets have a close look at their discussion. Paul asks them if they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. They say they have never heard of the Holy Spirit. (this doesn't mean that they have never really heard of It, because the Spirit of God is mentioned many times in the O.T, OT's prophets were prophesing through the Spirit etc, etc,, but they have never heard of such an action of the Spirit in believers.)
See pt2