Peace of Christ to you and your home, family and husband. Please reach out and see what resources are available to you. Do not do this on your own. I pray that resources find their way into your life stay strong. I too have some very serious health concerns, but this is not about me. But I can say that I give it all to God. I cry often. I'm a single father to a small child, and I pray constantly for strength and healing. I love you as a brother in Christ. May God's will be done.
Pray. Use your discernment. I too do not have a physical church, but I found a very biblical pastor. All he does is preach the Bible. Charles Lawson. Look him up. Blessings are coming your way, you will live how he shares the word of God. He neither adds nor takes away from the scriptures.
Praying for you now and him. This is not easy for either of you. His pain is now yours, and also spreading beyond him into his family. May God open his eyes and soften his heart. I pray for restoration in your family. I'm Jesus' name. Amen
I am glad that you are coming to me with your concerns and grief concerning Arthur. I do not know what God has in store for Arthur as to the number of his days. I just suggest that you treasure each day you have with him do your best to care for him. I will continue to pray for both of you and that God bring a care giver for him to do some of the things that are very difficult for you to do and even those things that are out of your ability to perform for him. Your situation is so serious and emotionally demanding of both of you. I do hope you will find strength from reading Scripture and spending time in prayer. God is your best friend, Donna, and I pray that you will grow in what you know of Him more and more each day. I pray for Arthur to begin to inquire about God and call on Him for help, comfort, peace, and most of all forgiveness and faith towards salvation for himself in the days he has yet to live here and for the life to come.
You are a trooper, Donna, and serving your son in love. God bless you for doing so.
Hello Tvkdmk and thanks for your question. Yes, we read of that event in Mark 14:51,25 and unfortunately, we know nothing more than what the Bible tells us about this young man.
Two suggestions are put forward, and I repeat, these are only guesses, since we can have no certainty from the Word of God. One, that this man was Mark, the writer himself; similar how the Apostle Paul introduced himself as this person who was given a special vision & revelation of Heaven ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-9). But then, why would Mark only be wrapped in a linen cloth?
And two, that this young man wasn't a disciple of Christ, but maybe asleep in the garden, and upon hearing the noise & commotion, went to see. The armed multitude, believing that this young man was also a disciple of Christ, proceeded to grab him, since Christ's disciples earlier took fright & fled. So, this young man also fled, but his outer garment was all they got when they tried to grab him, & he ran away naked (probably still with an undergarment on). But all this is conjecture, as we really don't know who this young man was & why he was in Gethsemane at that time, but we could learn from this account, that this multitude who came to arrest Jesus, were prepared to do anything & grab anyone associated with Him, displaying their rage & determination to get rid of Jesus & His followers.
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 is too much in these chapters to cover in this study. The rest of Chapter 5 gets into the law and the further extent that is expected in regard to men's minds where man's sin nature imagines all sorts of evil and where only grace will suffice. One Old Testament example of this is David with Bathsheeba. Having her husband deliberately sent to the front lines to die and committing adultery would according to the law warrant the death penalty. Chapter Six and seven get into subjects regarding how we are not to judge others (and also how to help others by having our own lives cleaned up); how to fast and pray and finally it ends with the judgment to come warning of those who don't DO what Christ says to do; reminding us of John 14:15 about loving Christ and following His commandments. In the end it is said Jesus taught with authority ( Matt. 7:29) not like the teachers of the law; which was also said about His synagogue teachings early on in His ministry.
Adhering to the method of God's calling of His chosen sheep; Jesus preached to multiple individuals with a general message; much as John the Baptist did. There were clearly individuals involved throughout His travels that He would challenge but again one basic point I see in scripture is that individuals were never targeted for a challenge to come to Christ or be saved. The closest I can find is with Paul speaks to Agrippa in Acts 26:28. That is the result of one of Paul's courtroom testimonies where scripture is quoted to a great extent to Festus and others. The seeds were cast forth and they would prosper who they would.
In every crowd there are those who would hear the Word and then it would fall to the wayside; or be in shallow soil with no root and a few would have good soil and produce good fruit. One major characteristic of the Lord is He didn't reveal Himself to just anyone and the Parables were designed that way. Likely explains Matthew 7:6.
gigi: Once Again-Fear- set into me. I went to take care of business to set up a care worker for Arthur and when I got back, he was vomiting a lot. so I changed him and his bedding. He was telling me he is tired. I started to cry as usual and told him I am scared and he even cried. I keep in my mind the song: The lord is my Shepard, to calm my mind, His been so weak (Arthur) his body is so wounded, and I try to bandage them and not enough bandages for him, Arthur does not want me to leave him alone, truthfully, I do not want to leave him alone. Dang now what do I do? I pray while I am bandaging him or cleaning him and say, I hope that I am doing right on taking care and Arthur answers, I guess I am saying it aloud. gigi what? am I losing him sooner than soon.
Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God ( Matthew 5:3). Another translation attempts to define this as
'God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)
This first verse should burst the bubble for those who think they can earn their way to rightousness in their own merit.
Focusing attention on this series about Christ being the perfect man; He would say things not to please men but to preach the truth. In this case it is perhaps a unique one where He doesn't get a stern rebuke; death threat or actual attempt at His life as He is speaking to the crowds or the "common people" those who are at least potentially truly blessed as that is the meaning of the "Beatitudes" as this section of scripture is often referred to. We of course see this pattern with the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 followed by curses in the end of this chapter (and also a bunch in the preceeding one as well). Jesus would spend much time excoriating the Pharisees with no holds barred in later chapters of the Gospels. We will get into that later; in short it is safe to say that the meek; mild Jesus who never caused division or strife is at best misguided at worst delusional. We need to keep in mind that ALL of Jesus' actions were righteous; whether in anger or praise. We are reminded of this verse:
John 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
I feel that in the church this is even more important than anger as a general problem; anger at least addresses an issue while empty praise reminds us of the hymn Be thou my vision written in the 1920s by Mary Byrne but based on a 6th Century poem by Dalln Forgaill
1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me save that thou art. ...
2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word; ...
3. Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; ...
The Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the most famous and well known sections of scripture that many; even outside the Christian faith often quote. The intent of this section of scripture stretching from Matthew 5 to 7 is often misconstrued; and yet it has been set as a sort of moral standard for humanists and those of other religions who in their surface level analysis believe that man can all learn to love one another by their best attempt to follow these virtues. Frankly; I think these verses are INTENDED to be understood that way by those who are foolish enough to believe there is no God or that they can attain to His righeousness by following His words as a sort of guideline to live life.
As a sidenote it is interesting how the movements in the 1960s in America espoused "peaceful protests" and universal "love and peace". It at least started this way from what Martin Luther King, Jr. espoused as to the way to effectually bring change such as civil rights for African Americans in particular which drew in many others to rally for his cause. The effects of Eastern religions into this movement and the drug culture as well as outbursts of anger with his and others assassinations late in the 60's turned many demonstrations violent. The free love concept which started with nudity and fornication into the late 60s and early 70s eventually turned to what we have today with the often violent and obscene demonstrations of those espousing alternate lifestyles today; I won't put certain words here to be flagged; you get the point. It is ironic that Biblical verses which often relate to scriptures such as the Sermon on the Mount about peace and love now are so easily forgotton by those who call for "freedom" today; equal representation has transitioned to flagrant anarchy and debauchery such as seen in Sodom and Gomorrah.
In rhe next post I will dissect some of these scriptures to bring out the truth.
It is unclear in my mind exactly when this occurred; it was the first miracle where Christ did something publicly at least. It is brought up by some that Mark 3 shows how some of the Disciples such as Matthew came up later; so this is likely an informal group or part of the original 12 that were actually invited to this event. My aim here is to list things roughly chronological; to put all the pieces together based on the 4 Gospels in perfect order is something for another study.
In studying this yesterday in church even my Pastor couldn't figure out exactly what Jesus meant "before the time" in John 2:4.
Again this would seem to be before He did any public miracles but certainly that soon followed within weeks or a few months of His 3.5 year ministry. The uniqueness of providing something that wasn't a necessity of this miracle could be at play here too.
Nonetheless I am sure Jesus had God's approval to do this; and His miracle reminds me of the miraculous provision for the widow mentioned in 2 Kings 4:1-7. These were huge stone pots and at least 100 GALLONS of wine were made; enough no doubt to sell for years to come. It is interesting that all of His miracles mentioned of feeding the thousands were outside; an in fact most of His healing miracles were outdoors as well; He was summoned to the homes normally of certain wealthy men of important status.
It appears from Matthew 4 that after He was tempted in the desert; He called at least some of His Disciples and started doing miracles. The temptation in Matthew 4 was a standard 40 days period as we see Moses also fasted actually TWICE for that time (no mention if he ate anything in between after the rebellion occurred). Nonetheless it was the total trust in the Spirit that allowed for Him to get through it and scripture being deep within as the one offensive weapon against Satan. I believe I mentioned this already; so off to Matthew 5.
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.
Psalm 7:11 says that God is a righteous judge and angry at the wicked every day. But He does rejoice whenever a person turns to Him.
In the case of the prodigal, I believe that He was an "elect son" as being part of the Father's household, as it would be if a believer turned from God for a time and then returned back to the Lord, as this son did with his father.
But, yes, Scripture does say that God is angry with the wicked all the time. But at the same time, He does provide rain for the wicked and the good.
For us who believe, I think it is hard for us to understand how God can be both of these ways at once because WE find it difficult to be that way.
God's Being is so very different that our being. He is always all of His attributes at once, not one day angry and another day loving because He is not bound by time in His essential nature. He does act within time and creation, but these do not change His nature in any way.
We live in a time and society that does not want to face the fact of God being just in His anger and wrath towards sinners. But it is the truth because sin is a very serious offense against Him and why He made hell and the lake of fire for judgement for the wicked angels and unsaved humans. It is a severe judgment for severe offense. It is a good thing to believe this and consider the holiness of God in light of our corruption by sin. When we understand this more clearly we will count ourselves as sinners and wretched ones at that and realize all the more how desperately we need His mercy and grace. We are worthless in our sinful state and have nothing acceptable to offer God and no way to bridge that enormous gulf between sinners and God.
There is need in our churches and in our conversations with others for declaring this sad and unsettling truth about God and our wickedness. When this teaching is neglected, the church becomes full of weak-minded, halfhearted, and fair-weather Christians who are at risk of being drawn away
Asking for prayers against all the spiritual warfare and dysfunction in my family. Asking for mercy and the Lord's intervention and healing for a teenager and for the Lord to work salvation and deliverance for us and fight our battles. Asking for strong protection. Also asking for our church to rise and shine in these last days. May the Lord glorify Himself and bring many into His fold. May we live lives pleasing to Him. Also asking for help at work to do a good job for Him.
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.
"And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Spirit clearly makes a distinction between the deep and the waters. The Spirit moving upon the face gives a point of contact. Thus the generations have the wherewithal to know the working of the Spirit. The v. 2 simply states darkness was on the deep. Subsequently in v.4 "and God divided the light from the darkness."Darkness and light are alike unto God. (Ps.139.12)
The beast rising from the sea in Rev.13 is similar to the one rising from the bottomless pit. "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."(Rev.11.7). Both are enemies to Christ. "and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."(Rev.13.1) In this context we have the four beasts arising out of the sea, and from the same bottomless pit. (Dan.7.2-5) One of the angel reveal to Daniel the mystery of these four beasts,"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth./ But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." The Spirit is referring to the same kings mentioned in the mystery of Babylon in Rev.17. "they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time."(Dan.7.12). Season and time are separated a millennium during which saints of God reign with him in heaven. Thereafter Gog and Magog make their final bid and are sent to their doom."And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away." Heaven and earth which are shakeable the one framed by the devil is destroyed. New heaven and new earth denote the will of God has been completed. "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev.21.5)
So, I found a Church that teaches the total Depravity of man, the Doctrines of Grace, correctly teaches the Trinity, Three who are One, not One who can become Three, teaches that Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man, correctly teaches what the role of The Holy Spirit is, convicting of sin and righteousness, correctly teaches the gifts of the Holy Spirit, teach that the Miraculous gifts of the Apostles have ceased, teaches Baptism by submersion and that baptism is not an act that must be done to be saved, but a command to be obeyed to show one's new life in Christ, teaches that their are no Apostles today, no new revelation or prophetic words being given to a select few, but that the Word of God is sufficient, and that the 66 books that make up the Holy Bible are in fact Inerrant, infallible, and in fact sufficient to learn and obey the One and only God as revealed in its pages from Genesis to Revelation. This Church holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith and Westminster Confession of Faith, and finally, it teaches the command of our Lord to assemble together in corporate worship and giving of ourselves with our time, talents, and spiritual gifts for the building up of the Saints. This is a Church, though not perfect, one sure seriously consider attending.
I found another Church that holds to all that is listed above, and has a female pastor.
If you would kindly pray for The Salvation of David and Stephen. Also, pray for their health, well being, and that God helps them through their struggles in life.
I am glad that you are coming to me with your concerns and grief concerning Arthur. I do not know what God has in store for Arthur as to the number of his days. I just suggest that you treasure each day you have with him do your best to care for him. I will continue to pray for both of you and that God bring a care giver for him to do some of the things that are very difficult for you to do and even those things that are out of your ability to perform for him. Your situation is so serious and emotionally demanding of both of you. I do hope you will find strength from reading Scripture and spending time in prayer. God is your best friend, Donna, and I pray that you will grow in what you know of Him more and more each day. I pray for Arthur to begin to inquire about God and call on Him for help, comfort, peace, and most of all forgiveness and faith towards salvation for himself in the days he has yet to live here and for the life to come.
You are a trooper, Donna, and serving your son in love. God bless you for doing so.
Two suggestions are put forward, and I repeat, these are only guesses, since we can have no certainty from the Word of God. One, that this man was Mark, the writer himself; similar how the Apostle Paul introduced himself as this person who was given a special vision & revelation of Heaven ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-9). But then, why would Mark only be wrapped in a linen cloth?
And two, that this young man wasn't a disciple of Christ, but maybe asleep in the garden, and upon hearing the noise & commotion, went to see. The armed multitude, believing that this young man was also a disciple of Christ, proceeded to grab him, since Christ's disciples earlier took fright & fled. So, this young man also fled, but his outer garment was all they got when they tried to grab him, & he ran away naked (probably still with an undergarment on). But all this is conjecture, as we really don't know who this young man was & why he was in Gethsemane at that time, but we could learn from this account, that this multitude who came to arrest Jesus, were prepared to do anything & grab anyone associated with Him, displaying their rage & determination to get rid of Jesus & His followers.
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 is too much in these chapters to cover in this study. The rest of Chapter 5 gets into the law and the further extent that is expected in regard to men's minds where man's sin nature imagines all sorts of evil and where only grace will suffice. One Old Testament example of this is David with Bathsheeba. Having her husband deliberately sent to the front lines to die and committing adultery would according to the law warrant the death penalty. Chapter Six and seven get into subjects regarding how we are not to judge others (and also how to help others by having our own lives cleaned up); how to fast and pray and finally it ends with the judgment to come warning of those who don't DO what Christ says to do; reminding us of John 14:15 about loving Christ and following His commandments. In the end it is said Jesus taught with authority ( Matt. 7:29) not like the teachers of the law; which was also said about His synagogue teachings early on in His ministry.
Adhering to the method of God's calling of His chosen sheep; Jesus preached to multiple individuals with a general message; much as John the Baptist did. There were clearly individuals involved throughout His travels that He would challenge but again one basic point I see in scripture is that individuals were never targeted for a challenge to come to Christ or be saved. The closest I can find is with Paul speaks to Agrippa in Acts 26:28. That is the result of one of Paul's courtroom testimonies where scripture is quoted to a great extent to Festus and others. The seeds were cast forth and they would prosper who they would.
In every crowd there are those who would hear the Word and then it would fall to the wayside; or be in shallow soil with no root and a few would have good soil and produce good fruit. One major characteristic of the Lord is He didn't reveal Himself to just anyone and the Parables were designed that way. Likely explains Matthew 7:6.
Thank you God bless you all
'God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)
This first verse should burst the bubble for those who think they can earn their way to rightousness in their own merit.
Focusing attention on this series about Christ being the perfect man; He would say things not to please men but to preach the truth. In this case it is perhaps a unique one where He doesn't get a stern rebuke; death threat or actual attempt at His life as He is speaking to the crowds or the "common people" those who are at least potentially truly blessed as that is the meaning of the "Beatitudes" as this section of scripture is often referred to. We of course see this pattern with the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 followed by curses in the end of this chapter (and also a bunch in the preceeding one as well). Jesus would spend much time excoriating the Pharisees with no holds barred in later chapters of the Gospels. We will get into that later; in short it is safe to say that the meek; mild Jesus who never caused division or strife is at best misguided at worst delusional. We need to keep in mind that ALL of Jesus' actions were righteous; whether in anger or praise. We are reminded of this verse:
John 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
I feel that in the church this is even more important than anger as a general problem; anger at least addresses an issue while empty praise reminds us of the hymn Be thou my vision written in the 1920s by Mary Byrne but based on a 6th Century poem by Dalln Forgaill
1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me save that thou art. ...
2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word; ...
3. Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; ...
4. Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise; ...
The Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the most famous and well known sections of scripture that many; even outside the Christian faith often quote. The intent of this section of scripture stretching from Matthew 5 to 7 is often misconstrued; and yet it has been set as a sort of moral standard for humanists and those of other religions who in their surface level analysis believe that man can all learn to love one another by their best attempt to follow these virtues. Frankly; I think these verses are INTENDED to be understood that way by those who are foolish enough to believe there is no God or that they can attain to His righeousness by following His words as a sort of guideline to live life.
As a sidenote it is interesting how the movements in the 1960s in America espoused "peaceful protests" and universal "love and peace". It at least started this way from what Martin Luther King, Jr. espoused as to the way to effectually bring change such as civil rights for African Americans in particular which drew in many others to rally for his cause. The effects of Eastern religions into this movement and the drug culture as well as outbursts of anger with his and others assassinations late in the 60's turned many demonstrations violent. The free love concept which started with nudity and fornication into the late 60s and early 70s eventually turned to what we have today with the often violent and obscene demonstrations of those espousing alternate lifestyles today; I won't put certain words here to be flagged; you get the point. It is ironic that Biblical verses which often relate to scriptures such as the Sermon on the Mount about peace and love now are so easily forgotton by those who call for "freedom" today; equal representation has transitioned to flagrant anarchy and debauchery such as seen in Sodom and Gomorrah.
In rhe next post I will dissect some of these scriptures to bring out the truth.
It is unclear in my mind exactly when this occurred; it was the first miracle where Christ did something publicly at least. It is brought up by some that Mark 3 shows how some of the Disciples such as Matthew came up later; so this is likely an informal group or part of the original 12 that were actually invited to this event. My aim here is to list things roughly chronological; to put all the pieces together based on the 4 Gospels in perfect order is something for another study.
In studying this yesterday in church even my Pastor couldn't figure out exactly what Jesus meant "before the time" in John 2:4.
Again this would seem to be before He did any public miracles but certainly that soon followed within weeks or a few months of His 3.5 year ministry. The uniqueness of providing something that wasn't a necessity of this miracle could be at play here too.
Nonetheless I am sure Jesus had God's approval to do this; and His miracle reminds me of the miraculous provision for the widow mentioned in 2 Kings 4:1-7. These were huge stone pots and at least 100 GALLONS of wine were made; enough no doubt to sell for years to come. It is interesting that all of His miracles mentioned of feeding the thousands were outside; an in fact most of His healing miracles were outdoors as well; He was summoned to the homes normally of certain wealthy men of important status.
It appears from Matthew 4 that after He was tempted in the desert; He called at least some of His Disciples and started doing miracles. The temptation in Matthew 4 was a standard 40 days period as we see Moses also fasted actually TWICE for that time (no mention if he ate anything in between after the rebellion occurred). Nonetheless it was the total trust in the Spirit that allowed for Him to get through it and scripture being deep within as the one offensive weapon against Satan. I believe I mentioned this already; so off to Matthew 5.
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
That is a relief!
I will join you in prayer for the matters you have requested.
Psalm 7:11 says that God is a righteous judge and angry at the wicked every day. But He does rejoice whenever a person turns to Him.
In the case of the prodigal, I believe that He was an "elect son" as being part of the Father's household, as it would be if a believer turned from God for a time and then returned back to the Lord, as this son did with his father.
But, yes, Scripture does say that God is angry with the wicked all the time. But at the same time, He does provide rain for the wicked and the good.
For us who believe, I think it is hard for us to understand how God can be both of these ways at once because WE find it difficult to be that way.
God's Being is so very different that our being. He is always all of His attributes at once, not one day angry and another day loving because He is not bound by time in His essential nature. He does act within time and creation, but these do not change His nature in any way.
We live in a time and society that does not want to face the fact of God being just in His anger and wrath towards sinners. But it is the truth because sin is a very serious offense against Him and why He made hell and the lake of fire for judgement for the wicked angels and unsaved humans. It is a severe judgment for severe offense. It is a good thing to believe this and consider the holiness of God in light of our corruption by sin. When we understand this more clearly we will count ourselves as sinners and wretched ones at that and realize all the more how desperately we need His mercy and grace. We are worthless in our sinful state and have nothing acceptable to offer God and no way to bridge that enormous gulf between sinners and God.
There is need in our churches and in our conversations with others for declaring this sad and unsettling truth about God and our wickedness. When this teaching is neglected, the church becomes full of weak-minded, halfhearted, and fair-weather Christians who are at risk of being drawn away
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.
"And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Spirit clearly makes a distinction between the deep and the waters. The Spirit moving upon the face gives a point of contact. Thus the generations have the wherewithal to know the working of the Spirit. The v. 2 simply states darkness was on the deep. Subsequently in v.4 "and God divided the light from the darkness."Darkness and light are alike unto God. (Ps.139.12)
The beast rising from the sea in Rev.13 is similar to the one rising from the bottomless pit. "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."(Rev.11.7). Both are enemies to Christ. "and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."(Rev.13.1) In this context we have the four beasts arising out of the sea, and from the same bottomless pit. (Dan.7.2-5) One of the angel reveal to Daniel the mystery of these four beasts,"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth./ But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." The Spirit is referring to the same kings mentioned in the mystery of Babylon in Rev.17. "they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time."(Dan.7.12). Season and time are separated a millennium during which saints of God reign with him in heaven. Thereafter Gog and Magog make their final bid and are sent to their doom."And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away." Heaven and earth which are shakeable the one framed by the devil is destroyed. New heaven and new earth denote the will of God has been completed. "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev.21.5)
I found another Church that holds to all that is listed above, and has a female pastor.
What Church was KJV only?
I am reading your posts and find them helpful.
I will be praying for your Dad to adjust more comfortably too his new living space. Thanks for the update.
The same thing happens to my posts. They stay in moderation que for many hours before being posted.