Today; we seem to think little on the next generation; hence kids have found that there isn't much value in their existence. With so many cut off before birth it is no wonder that kids would feel unvalued today and with such poor parenting skills undisciplined themselves. Hosea 4:6 indicates that because of a lack of knowledge people are perishing. Life is as a vapor as several scriptures indicate ( James 4:14). Not only are things accelerated today ( Daniel 12:4) but as I said in the last piece the value of everything has diminished. There will be no suffering loss; I assure you for cell phones; computers and other high tech entertainment sources NOT being present in heaven. We need to be careful in earthly treasures as well (See Luke 16:11); such behaviors show what is really in our hearts as to our conduct in this world.
In light of these facts; do we consider how great it is that we are saved from having to be in an unregenerate state for all eternity? Isaiah 66:4 describes how God "chooses their delusions" and later on at the end of that chapter a vivid description of hell is given. Phillipians 1:21 states that Paul said "to live is Christ; to die is gain." and other verses show that it is better to be in the house of mourning rather than mindless happiness ( Ecclesiastes 7:2).
In light of all this; we do well to see how we approach the House of Worship but also how we live out the rest of the week. It is sad today how many people insist on having beepers and other cell phone distractions interrupt the services. Personally; I feel a need to have a cell phone only in case my elderly parents have an emergency at home. That was the original use of "beepers". For every moment here on earth there are eternal ramifications; we need to focus on working while it is yet day ( John 9:4). As for Christ it is also for us in that respect our time to serve here is short and we need to focus on the Great Commission.
Not for quibbling sake but for clarity ,I'd like to point out that there is a great difference between tribulation and " the great tribulation". " in this world " said Jesus all the children of God will " suffer tribulation" it comes with the job .
This has been the lot of every child of God from Abel onwards
" The great tribulation " however is of such a character that if God had not shortened the time no one would be saved .
The great tribulation breaks out when the Bride has gone who being filled with the Spirit was a break on the spirit of anti christ that " now is in the world".
Once the Bride has gone in what is called the rapture but more accurately should be called the translation ( see Enoch) then that restraining power of God has gone also and the devil is given his rope and we have the emergence of the Antichrist .
Those who were not ready ;foolish virgins: the unsaved will find themselves in a world given over to corruption .
Those professing Christian's will be proved as in fire and martyred . The unsaved will suffer what was foreseen to come and recorded for our benefit admonishing and learning .
The Jews will go into " jacobs trouble " and be proved as well .
The Bride is the first fruits .
Those who are saved during the great tribulation are as it were the main harvest .
Those who are saved after the millennium reign of Christ are the gleanings .
Then cometh the end .
The nature and character of the great tribulation is where evil prevails for a season .and that spirit of antichrist who totally fills the heart of the antichrist is seen by all for what it was and always has been .
Who in due time gets his just deserts .
To be born again qualifies us to run the race . Every true born child of God is called to that " high calling" of the bride of Christ .
But to be found there you have to run the race lawfully or rightly .
And be ready for the coming of the Lord .
" To them that look for Him shall He appear the second time ."
I have accepted Jesus as my savior. I've been thinking about being cremated after I die, but wondering if I will still go to Heaven? I've heard someone say "a body that has been burned can not rise." But I've not been able to find this in the Bible.
1 John 2:17 makes it clear that the world is fading away and the lusts thereof. Zephaniah 1:18 also makes obvious that all attempts to save us in the day of wrath; i.e. Tribulation will not save a person; whether spiritually or physically. James 5:3 warns about hoarding such things in the last days.
In all of today's answers; Satan is more than content to distract us from the fact that our greatest enemy is ourselves. As a society there is always an accelerated need for a new "fix" whether it be the latest catchy tune; the next financial gain; the next big social gig; the next high or buzz etc. We have all sold out to the lowest common denominator to accomplish our goals. There are plenty of characteristics in 2 Timothy of the times we are living in; and other Bible verses on the bad fruit we see today.
Imagine how much worse things would be without modern medical breakthroughs for life expectancy today in this self destructive society. We seem to have numbed ourselves to the hopeless state of the unregenerate souls today and are caught up in endless ways to make this life more comfortable. As believers discernment is sorely deficient to the messages either conscious or unconscious that are being pushed into our brains each day. Somehow we feel that everyone just needs to hear how much God loves them and that God is not "angry" with us or going to judge us when scriptures tell the opposite. He is angry with the wicked every day. Psalm 7:11 makes it clear that God judges the righteous; and is angry with the wicked EVERY DAY. God may chastise the believer and judge at the Bema seat rather than the Great White Throne Judgment but there are rewards to lose as Christians if we are not careful ( Rev. 3:11). This inoffensive Gospel of cheap grace rather than a pearl of great cost ( Matt. 13:45-46) is in reality more dangerous than no Gospel at all if we try to dumb down His righteousness and Word to create a more "acceptable" view.
As opposed or rather in contrast to worshipping God in the flesh in or towards Jerusalem .
Jesus in conversation with the woman at the well said " we ( the Jews ) worship what we know "
They say worship God in that mountain you in another .
The Old Testament teaching by the true prophets of God taught the children of Isreal you can only worship God in or towards Jerusalem . As testified by Daniel who was thrown in the lions den on this issue when he worshipped towards Jerusalem through his open window .
As also by Jonah who when he had repented in the belly of the great fish turned towards Jerusalem and worshipped God .
Testified also by God who not nay taught that in the flesh it can only be in and towards Jerusalem . But judged the children of Isreal when they did not but went after the Samaritans .
If one who claimed to be a prophet teaches that now you worship God in or towards that other place or ' mountain' all the evidence is against that assumed prophet who contradicts every other prophet .
But what of Jesus who some claim they honour also as a true prophet ?
He said " God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth " not in this or that mountain .
Thus that false prophet contradicted Him who he said he honoured in the Spirit also.
In truth? " Thy Word is truth" according to to Word of God as to who and what God is and all that He is .
In Spirit? In by and through the Holy Spirit who by the Word of God enlightens and leads us into that true worship of God .
Why then in the flesh is it taught in or towards Jerusalem?
Because He who is God incarnate will one day sit on His throne of David ,in Jerusalem and all flesh will come and worship .
alex1939...Gerald Gbu But we have to keep in mind that the Kingdom does NOT come till the woman births the manchild...Rev.12:10...Its the Kingdom we are all hoping for...Remember Jesus said the Kingdom of God will come as a man who sows seed in his field...And our hearts is that field where the good seed is sown...Thats y he is saying unless you receive the Kingdom of God as a lil Child you will in no wise enter there in...( A spiritual pregnancy ) via his seed the word...The woman in Rev 12 had to go thru a spritual pregnancy...By hearing his word his seeds as he said the good seed is the words of God...The book that he wrote with his own blood contains the living words of God and is that New Covenant in his blood...Drink ye all of it...Remember when he took the cup and said drink ye all of it this is the New testament in my blood...( the new covenant. )
.....And we have to keep in mind that the manchild fits the spirit of truth that is gonna rule all nations....Goes back to Jeremiah 1 when Jeremiah said he cd not speak he was just a Child...Jesus said the spirit of truth cd not speak of himself....Thats b/c he is gonna be born in Humanity...He is just an infant...A Spiritual infant...She brought forth a manchild a kingdom Child...As Jesus said that which is born of the spirit is spirit...Our new innerman has to be born in us via the seed of Jesus...As his seed/word triggers a spiritual pregnancy Which is Faith the substance of a baby Christ the Kingdom ...That New Born Babe desiring the sincere milk of the word is the H.G. and is that Child of Promise, the H.G. The Kingdom...Unless you receive the Kingdom as a lil Child you will in no wise enter there in...Remember even back in the O.T. only the babes cd enter the promise land... Numbers 14:31..That woman in Rev. 12 is a beautiful picture of the Church birthing Christ...The son of man...mankinds fruit unto God...Keep in mind Gerald this analogy fits the New Birth via his blood..The New Covenant..An Israel of God.k
Faith has no real substance at all if it is not resting in God.
All men have faith but not all men have their faith in God .
It is often said in the UK that people are losing faith in their politicians .
For decades the vast majority of the electorate has blindly voted for a party and elected someone they have never seen,heard met or had a decent conversation with . Thus have no idea what sort of people they have elected to represent them ..
That is more a vain hope than faith .
Real transparency is knowing with some degree of certainty what principles ( if any) rule and govern a candidates life .
A man who cannot keep his oath to his wife is unlikely to keep his oath to those who elected him .
A politician who cannot judge on such a simple matter as to what is a man or what is a woman will find it increasingly difficult to judge aright on the more graver issues facing a nation.
People have but a vain hope they will do otherwise .
The whole sorry mess this world is in is primarily due to not believing God in the first place as to what was good and what was in effect evil to eat .
For man shall not LIVE by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God .
Did not God say to Adam " of all the trees in the garden you may freely eat. This included the tree of life .
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat for in the day you eat of it ye shall surely die"
Thus God gave him ,HIS knowledge of what was good and what was evil and by that word they lived .
Unbelief is not just no believing God its believing another message .
In doing so " she SAW that the tree was good to eat " and reasoned thus " it would make her wise "
When you don't believe the truth you will believe the lie and once you believe the lie you become blind to the truth .
But thanks be unto God mJesus came " to restore sight to the blind".
God was right and true in the beginning ( as He is now)and for ever shall be .
A farmer sows in hope because of the promise that is in the seed .
Unless he sows in faith he will not get a harvest but believing in the promise he sows .
And gives substance to his hope . Faith without works is dead .
Real faith is not blind but sees that which is as it were afar off and being convinced of it acts accordingly .
"It is the evidence of things as yet unseen .."
When no one is at the bust stop you nearly always think you have missed the bus . But if someone is there you have hope .
By you standing at the bust stop not only do you give substance to yiur hope ( in the promise) but you are the evidence of things as yet unseen .The bus!
And in due time your faith is rewarded and you get on the bus or you have a harvest or you get your flight .
The bus company says you must stand at a particular bus stop . If you think the bus will stop for you anywhere else you will be disappointed . The airline states the time of departure if you think it will wait for you ,you will be disappointed .
The farmer knows he has not only to sow that seed but that there is a time for sowing .
Faith has rules! Wether you faith is in God or something else .
It is not something you have to get you already have faith and use it every day . Faith in God works by the same principles as to what faith IS . It is not a different faith it's simply put in its right place .Or rather in the right person .
Faith can grow and a new born child of God has a measure of faith in God .
There is " little faith " there is "great faith " there is faith as "small as a mustard seed "
Peter had little faith despite the fact that he had just walked on water .
The only two people who the Lord said had " great faith" were interestingly ; gentiles .
Abraham " the father of the faithful" had faith but it had also to grow .
He was only partial in his obedience to God at the beginning . So also are we .
Beg to differ.For given much misunderstanding of what faith is on the one hand and none sense on the other by the world not only do we need a biblical definition of faith and thus a proper understanding of it but also need to recognise what is faith and what is not .
Now faith is
It should first be understood by the scriptures that " God has given every man a measure of (true )faith to profit with all "
Everyone has a measure faith and uses it everyday Wether saved or not . The difference between a true born child of God and the lost is that a child of God's faith is in God or should be and the unsaved faith is in the world .
Now faith is . Faith can only be exercised in the now the present . Not the past or future .
"The substance of things hoped for " Real faith is not blind it has to be founded or rest upon spiritual reality .
What is called today " world faiths" is nothing of the kind . All of them are but vain and empty hopes that the scriptures says " will die with them" for when a man steps from time into eternity you are faced with that eternal spiritual reality of God and you religious ' hope' will die in the light of it . The only sure and certain hope is having your faith in Jesus Christ .
The substance of things hoped for .The Word of God ,the promises of God . For faith in God comes not only by hearing the Word of God but by also understanding of it .
Being convinced of and by the Word of God you act or obey in accordance with what you are convinced of irrespective of prevailing conditions . Thus you give substance to your hope in the Word of God .
The word or promise of a London bus company or an airline are well known and understood . You can believe it till the day you die but if you do not act in faith on what you believe and obey the instructions you will never fly or catch the bus .
Going and standing at the bus stop gives substance to yiur hope . Going to the airport likewise .
Hebrews 1:1 is a description of faith, not a definition of faith. The only definition is found in the meaning of the word itself.
In the Greek text, ( Hebrews 1:1), this is a description of what faith does. The description of faith is two things: The substance, or basis of things hoped for, and the evidence, more literally conviction, of things not seen.
Now if I take this description of what faith does, and its definition of persuasion, that faith is the basis of things hoped for, why do I have hope for the coming of Christ?
Why do I have a living hope that one day when I die, I'm going to go to heaven? Either it's something that I am persuading myself to believe, which means there's a possibility that someday someone will persuade me not to believe.
Or, my hope is based upon, which the next phrase says, the conviction of things not seen. It's a conviction. That's a persuasion! It's not a definition, but describes what faith does.
There are times when we as human beings doubt what the bible says. Have you ever had those moments when you look over at the bible and you think "It's just a book?"
I mean you open it up and it has ink words in it. It didn't fall down from heaven, somebody printed it. How do I know that it's not just our western culture religious book? Other religions have their book, so what's the big deal?
But I can't get away from it. It's a conviction. I can stand before you right now and make the announcement that I am denouncing the Lord and His word, and I'm finished.
But I will never be able to get away from Him, never! I have never been able to get away from it, and I can't now! My beliefs are based on the conviction of God's Spirit that lives in me. That's faith. It's not my faith. My human faith waivers.
But when I look down deep, there's something there that is a stabilizing force that is the basis of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, spiritual things, spiritual truth.
I'm happy to answer your questions on these scriptures.
Galatians 5:16 starts off by saying, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit." That's a Present Tense Imperative. What it is saying is "Be (continually) walking under the influence of God's Spirit." That's actually a command. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The word filled means influenced. Seek to be influenced by the Spirit. Paul focuses on the influences in our life, the persuasions and the various things that influence us and take us captive.
Romans 6:12, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." That's easier said than done. But again, it's the sin. Let not the (sin principle) reign in your mortal body. How can he say that? It's because he is leading us into the fact that when we get to Verse 14, where it says that sin shall not lord it over you, that is a factual statement, (not should not, but it cannot). If I sin, it is because I made the choice. But once I'm saved, it's the power of God's Spirit in me that gives me the power over sin.
Lastly, 1 John 3:6, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."
It sounds like a Christian does not sin according to scriptures. But here's what it's saying: The word abides is a Present Participle, (abiding). Whoever is abiding in Him "is" (Present Tense), not sinning, (continuously as a habit of life). It's not talking about committing an act of sin. It's talking about committing sin continuously, a lifestyle of not surrendering to Christ.
It's a condition. Whoever is continuously remaining (Abiding/MENO) in Him, does not practice sin, ever!
As someone who has been born of the Spirit of God, I can never go back and live the old lifestyle I lived before I received Christ. It's impossible!
The contrast: "Whoever sins, and again that's a Participle. Whoever is (continuously sinning) has not seen Him, neither have they known Him.
Thank you brother Jesse for sharing those comments & particularly this passage which is so precious to me ( Philippians 2:5-8).
The point of Paul's teaching here is Jesus' Servanthood. His Coming in the flesh was purely as a Servant & a Sacrifice, for how could God ever present His Glory, Divinity & eternal Nature to secure man's redemption, unless He first condescended to man's finite, lowly estate. Thus that glorious Nature was hid from the world (though in time, some realized that He was no ordinary Man) and then coming to full realization of this Truth with great joy & power, as God's Spirit made the full Person of the Godhead clear to them.
How would Jesus' Life, Ministry, & Sacrifice worked out if His Divinity wasn't veiled from the people, & of course Him not taking on human flesh? To the pagans, they might have easily exclaimed, "the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men", but to the Jews, Jesus would never be given any platform or voice as it would be preposterous that God would come to Earth. But as a Man, not only to be able to give up His Life, but to show to His people that indeed God had appeared to them by Word & demonstration of His Power, Jesus was in every way a Man, but came veiled so that they could see Him for Who God wanted them to see. The clear-thinking, clear-seeing Jew would have seen a truly holy Man, serving others in every way by word & deed, and that God was with Him & speaking to them. "A prophet?" Maybe, "more than a prophet", to some.
Had Jesus held onto His Glory & Position, He could never take on the "form of a servant", for these positions oppose each other. Jesus knew that he could not 'grasp/tenaciously hold onto' (= "robbery") His Glory & Position & then identify with His people in their sufferings, grip in sin & ignorance, and their need for salvation & new life in Christ. So it seems, Jesus chose the path of Servant-hood, that which was necessary; a display of pomp & power would surely negate God's Plan.
Hi Deniyzce. God is wholly a Spirit Being ( John 4:24), hence He, or any of those in spirit form are color-less. Likewise, we too might have color because of skin pigmentation, but our spirits know no color.
No worries. When I read what you sent me, I was thinking oh no, I gave the wrong impression on who I believe Christ is. I believe we're on the same page.
And my apologies for not responding to you by name. I'm not sure why I did that. Probably because I was still working on my first cup of coffee.
Given the medium and the time misunderstandings can occur . My apologies then.
The number of questions I have raised should not be taken as being troubled by any question the Bible may throw up . But rather they were put to provoke thought not needlessly stir up dust or in anyway undermine peoples faith in the Bible .
But rather to show that many long held thinking and concepts do not hold up in the light of scripture .
Sound doctrine always does .
But you know the seed that fell by the way side in the parable of the sower?
I think that is a well trodden path of our own thinking or passed down and accepted without scrutiny .
So well an habitual way of thinking that no seed can last and the fowls of the fair simply take it away and produces no fruit .
Nothing wrong with the seed " but by our traditions we make the Word of God of none effect "
The world is going crazy and millions are chained to the chariot of the devil and are on their way to hell.
I fear the church is too busy ' celebrating' to notice .
When in truth such good news should be bursting at the seems of the church .
Just as all the angels of heaven being a very disciplined lot held their peace while the message was given but once given heaven could no longer restrain itself and burst its banks in giving glory to God for having fulfilled His promise to mankind in the garden of Eden .
Psalm 55. An impreccatory Psalm; not mincing words about destruction and hell for the wicked. This Psalm also has prophetic implications as well.
The first five verses show at the very least an anticipation of death; verse 4 discusses the "heart is sore pained within me."...The description of this could be David himself but also as with many other passages in Psalms could also be describing Messiah's sufferings.
Verses 6 through 8 reflect the desire to escape such as was stated by other Prophets and by David himself in 1 Samuel 27:1.
Verses 9 through 11 also discuss a general observation of Jerusalem; which was particularly true before God's judgments such as with the Babylonians; although it could apply to other times as well.
Verses 12 through 15 describe a prophecy of Judas Iscariot and betrayal; although conceivably it could describe a friend of David's as well. ( Matt. 26:21 and 30 other verses discuss this in the N.T.)
Verses 16 through 18 talk of the importance of prayer and deliverance. Verse 19 and 23 talk again of the destruction of the wicked. Verse 22 just beforehand gives the opposite promise that He will "never suffer the righteous to be moved."
Verses 20 and 21 could very well signify the Antichrist himself with the 1st Seal behavior also mentioned in Daniel 9:27. It is not evident that this had any relation with a direct experience David was having.
It's Israel, because the twelve stars represent 12 tribes. See Genesis 12:9: "And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.". The church does not have 12 stars, but SEVEN: "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." ( Revelation 1:20). And as for Mary, she does not represent all twelve stars, save in the fact that she's an Israelite.
alex1939...Amen Gerald Hebrews 11:1 is the best description of faith, Its simply a spritual pregnancy that precedes the New Birth...The Child is the H.G. THE Child of Promise...When a woman is pregnant she has the substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen...But in the spritual realm the bridegroom is Jesus and his words are his seeds...Thats y he has to know us, Thats when the good seed the living word is sown in our hearts...Forming Christ in us...My lil Chidren of whom i travail in Birth till CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU...Thats y he always refers to himself as the son of man...Impling mankinds fruit unto God as Romans 7:4 tells us...Thus the Wheat is truly a baby Christ...Simply b/c the sower of that heavenly seed is Christ the bridegroom...Our hearts is the womb in the spirit...Thats y he is saying that which is born of the spirit is spirit thus the Child IS OUR NEW INNERMAN the H.G. the multiplication/regeneration of Christ in us..The Child is the Evidence we have known the bridegroom.
.....But this is gonna initiate war in heaven...Its gonna be Kingdom against Kingdom...Simply b/c satan is gonna sow a tare in
us which is satans seed...Remember satan the dragon the tare wanted to kill the woman with Child Rev 12:5 a great warfare with in us...This war rages in our hearts and minds simply b/c the Kingdom is gonna be with in us...The woman is the world as God so loved the world but she is also bride the good ground where the good seed was sown impregnating her with that heavenly seed...The Children of Promise an Israel of God...But these things are hid from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes...Thats y Jeremiah saw all men in travail and birth pains... Jeremiah 30:6...Men & women are gonna birth a baby Christ...Kings shall be your nursing father and women are gonna be your nursing mothers..Faith under this New Covenant is gonna fulfill the great promise of multiplication n regeneration in humanity....ok lemme go
My wife is a lapsed catholic , so that's a definite no for me . The only thing I still really miss is the bread and the wine . That's such an enormous privilege to me , and of course the great sermons from someone who really knows their Bible . However ! This site is keeping me stimulated in that area so I'm very glad to have found it , thanks to you all , past and present , for so many illuminating posts , please keep it up folks ! I'm guessing that maybe I'm not the only one on here who isn't able to attend a church and is getting their spiritual food from here . This site is a very special place and important to a lot of people I think .
This all happened a long time ago so I'm over it now . Bizarrely , since then , my Biblical understanding and appreciation has grown so much . I'm a totally different person to the one I was twenty years ago . Maybe I just grew up and that would have happened even if I had stayed in my congregation . When I left , I was determined to stick with my God , I was so afraid of loosing myself in this world that I clung even tighter to my Bible . So it all worked out in the end . My denomination is very tolerant in many ways except for a couple of strict rules about marriage / divorce , homosexuality and criminal behaviour . This site is a joy to me and I love reading posts from different people with different perspectives and I really appreciate you all . Keep up the good work !
I think you misunderstood me Gerald. I was simply seeking to praise the lord! Brother Gerald, you asked me 11 questions?! I see you are passionate about god and his word brother. I pray god gives you the wisdom of when to speak and when not to speak. We as Christian men and women need to be able to express ourselves in love to one another. Not every word we say is going to be perfect, brother Gerald. I pray god wraps you in his love today! We need more AMENS! More alleluia's! Christ must reign. Yes, brother Gerald! I'm saying AMEN to you brother! I pray joy over your life! Moreover, I pray peace in your heart from anything that is troubling you. Jesus loves us Gerald! I appreciate your comments and questions very much! May the lord bless you in all you do!
Today; we seem to think little on the next generation; hence kids have found that there isn't much value in their existence. With so many cut off before birth it is no wonder that kids would feel unvalued today and with such poor parenting skills undisciplined themselves. Hosea 4:6 indicates that because of a lack of knowledge people are perishing. Life is as a vapor as several scriptures indicate ( James 4:14). Not only are things accelerated today ( Daniel 12:4) but as I said in the last piece the value of everything has diminished. There will be no suffering loss; I assure you for cell phones; computers and other high tech entertainment sources NOT being present in heaven. We need to be careful in earthly treasures as well (See Luke 16:11); such behaviors show what is really in our hearts as to our conduct in this world.
In light of these facts; do we consider how great it is that we are saved from having to be in an unregenerate state for all eternity? Isaiah 66:4 describes how God "chooses their delusions" and later on at the end of that chapter a vivid description of hell is given. Phillipians 1:21 states that Paul said "to live is Christ; to die is gain." and other verses show that it is better to be in the house of mourning rather than mindless happiness ( Ecclesiastes 7:2).
In light of all this; we do well to see how we approach the House of Worship but also how we live out the rest of the week. It is sad today how many people insist on having beepers and other cell phone distractions interrupt the services. Personally; I feel a need to have a cell phone only in case my elderly parents have an emergency at home. That was the original use of "beepers". For every moment here on earth there are eternal ramifications; we need to focus on working while it is yet day ( John 9:4). As for Christ it is also for us in that respect our time to serve here is short and we need to focus on the Great Commission.
You could add ,listen to what the Spirit says to the church es
" Behold I stand at the door and knock . If any inside have ears to hear and open the door ,to THEM " is the promise given .
This has been the lot of every child of God from Abel onwards
" The great tribulation " however is of such a character that if God had not shortened the time no one would be saved .
The great tribulation breaks out when the Bride has gone who being filled with the Spirit was a break on the spirit of anti christ that " now is in the world".
Once the Bride has gone in what is called the rapture but more accurately should be called the translation ( see Enoch) then that restraining power of God has gone also and the devil is given his rope and we have the emergence of the Antichrist .
Those who were not ready ;foolish virgins: the unsaved will find themselves in a world given over to corruption .
Those professing Christian's will be proved as in fire and martyred . The unsaved will suffer what was foreseen to come and recorded for our benefit admonishing and learning .
The Jews will go into " jacobs trouble " and be proved as well .
The Bride is the first fruits .
Those who are saved during the great tribulation are as it were the main harvest .
Those who are saved after the millennium reign of Christ are the gleanings .
Then cometh the end .
The nature and character of the great tribulation is where evil prevails for a season .and that spirit of antichrist who totally fills the heart of the antichrist is seen by all for what it was and always has been .
Who in due time gets his just deserts .
To be born again qualifies us to run the race . Every true born child of God is called to that " high calling" of the bride of Christ .
But to be found there you have to run the race lawfully or rightly .
And be ready for the coming of the Lord .
" To them that look for Him shall He appear the second time ."
1 John 2:17 makes it clear that the world is fading away and the lusts thereof. Zephaniah 1:18 also makes obvious that all attempts to save us in the day of wrath; i.e. Tribulation will not save a person; whether spiritually or physically. James 5:3 warns about hoarding such things in the last days.
In all of today's answers; Satan is more than content to distract us from the fact that our greatest enemy is ourselves. As a society there is always an accelerated need for a new "fix" whether it be the latest catchy tune; the next financial gain; the next big social gig; the next high or buzz etc. We have all sold out to the lowest common denominator to accomplish our goals. There are plenty of characteristics in 2 Timothy of the times we are living in; and other Bible verses on the bad fruit we see today.
Imagine how much worse things would be without modern medical breakthroughs for life expectancy today in this self destructive society. We seem to have numbed ourselves to the hopeless state of the unregenerate souls today and are caught up in endless ways to make this life more comfortable. As believers discernment is sorely deficient to the messages either conscious or unconscious that are being pushed into our brains each day. Somehow we feel that everyone just needs to hear how much God loves them and that God is not "angry" with us or going to judge us when scriptures tell the opposite. He is angry with the wicked every day. Psalm 7:11 makes it clear that God judges the righteous; and is angry with the wicked EVERY DAY. God may chastise the believer and judge at the Bema seat rather than the Great White Throne Judgment but there are rewards to lose as Christians if we are not careful ( Rev. 3:11). This inoffensive Gospel of cheap grace rather than a pearl of great cost ( Matt. 13:45-46) is in reality more dangerous than no Gospel at all if we try to dumb down His righteousness and Word to create a more "acceptable" view.
As opposed or rather in contrast to worshipping God in the flesh in or towards Jerusalem .
Jesus in conversation with the woman at the well said " we ( the Jews ) worship what we know "
They say worship God in that mountain you in another .
The Old Testament teaching by the true prophets of God taught the children of Isreal you can only worship God in or towards Jerusalem . As testified by Daniel who was thrown in the lions den on this issue when he worshipped towards Jerusalem through his open window .
As also by Jonah who when he had repented in the belly of the great fish turned towards Jerusalem and worshipped God .
Testified also by God who not nay taught that in the flesh it can only be in and towards Jerusalem . But judged the children of Isreal when they did not but went after the Samaritans .
If one who claimed to be a prophet teaches that now you worship God in or towards that other place or ' mountain' all the evidence is against that assumed prophet who contradicts every other prophet .
But what of Jesus who some claim they honour also as a true prophet ?
He said " God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth " not in this or that mountain .
Thus that false prophet contradicted Him who he said he honoured in the Spirit also.
In truth? " Thy Word is truth" according to to Word of God as to who and what God is and all that He is .
In Spirit? In by and through the Holy Spirit who by the Word of God enlightens and leads us into that true worship of God .
Why then in the flesh is it taught in or towards Jerusalem?
Because He who is God incarnate will one day sit on His throne of David ,in Jerusalem and all flesh will come and worship .
.....And we have to keep in mind that the manchild fits the spirit of truth that is gonna rule all nations....Goes back to Jeremiah 1 when Jeremiah said he cd not speak he was just a Child...Jesus said the spirit of truth cd not speak of himself....Thats b/c he is gonna be born in Humanity...He is just an infant...A Spiritual infant...She brought forth a manchild a kingdom Child...As Jesus said that which is born of the spirit is spirit...Our new innerman has to be born in us via the seed of Jesus...As his seed/word triggers a spiritual pregnancy Which is Faith the substance of a baby Christ the Kingdom ...That New Born Babe desiring the sincere milk of the word is the H.G. and is that Child of Promise, the H.G. The Kingdom...Unless you receive the Kingdom as a lil Child you will in no wise enter there in...Remember even back in the O.T. only the babes cd enter the promise land... Numbers 14:31..That woman in Rev. 12 is a beautiful picture of the Church birthing Christ...The son of man...mankinds fruit unto God...Keep in mind Gerald this analogy fits the New Birth via his blood..The New Covenant..An Israel of God.k
All men have faith but not all men have their faith in God .
It is often said in the UK that people are losing faith in their politicians .
For decades the vast majority of the electorate has blindly voted for a party and elected someone they have never seen,heard met or had a decent conversation with . Thus have no idea what sort of people they have elected to represent them ..
That is more a vain hope than faith .
Real transparency is knowing with some degree of certainty what principles ( if any) rule and govern a candidates life .
A man who cannot keep his oath to his wife is unlikely to keep his oath to those who elected him .
A politician who cannot judge on such a simple matter as to what is a man or what is a woman will find it increasingly difficult to judge aright on the more graver issues facing a nation.
People have but a vain hope they will do otherwise .
The whole sorry mess this world is in is primarily due to not believing God in the first place as to what was good and what was in effect evil to eat .
For man shall not LIVE by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God .
Did not God say to Adam " of all the trees in the garden you may freely eat. This included the tree of life .
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat for in the day you eat of it ye shall surely die"
Thus God gave him ,HIS knowledge of what was good and what was evil and by that word they lived .
Unbelief is not just no believing God its believing another message .
In doing so " she SAW that the tree was good to eat " and reasoned thus " it would make her wise "
When you don't believe the truth you will believe the lie and once you believe the lie you become blind to the truth .
But thanks be unto God mJesus came " to restore sight to the blind".
God was right and true in the beginning ( as He is now)and for ever shall be .
Amen
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for ..
A farmer sows in hope because of the promise that is in the seed .
Unless he sows in faith he will not get a harvest but believing in the promise he sows .
And gives substance to his hope . Faith without works is dead .
Real faith is not blind but sees that which is as it were afar off and being convinced of it acts accordingly .
"It is the evidence of things as yet unseen .."
When no one is at the bust stop you nearly always think you have missed the bus . But if someone is there you have hope .
By you standing at the bust stop not only do you give substance to yiur hope ( in the promise) but you are the evidence of things as yet unseen .The bus!
And in due time your faith is rewarded and you get on the bus or you have a harvest or you get your flight .
The bus company says you must stand at a particular bus stop . If you think the bus will stop for you anywhere else you will be disappointed . The airline states the time of departure if you think it will wait for you ,you will be disappointed .
The farmer knows he has not only to sow that seed but that there is a time for sowing .
Faith has rules! Wether you faith is in God or something else .
It is not something you have to get you already have faith and use it every day . Faith in God works by the same principles as to what faith IS . It is not a different faith it's simply put in its right place .Or rather in the right person .
Faith can grow and a new born child of God has a measure of faith in God .
There is " little faith " there is "great faith " there is faith as "small as a mustard seed "
Peter had little faith despite the fact that he had just walked on water .
The only two people who the Lord said had " great faith" were interestingly ; gentiles .
Abraham " the father of the faithful" had faith but it had also to grow .
He was only partial in his obedience to God at the beginning . So also are we .
To be continued
Now faith is
It should first be understood by the scriptures that " God has given every man a measure of (true )faith to profit with all "
Everyone has a measure faith and uses it everyday Wether saved or not . The difference between a true born child of God and the lost is that a child of God's faith is in God or should be and the unsaved faith is in the world .
Now faith is . Faith can only be exercised in the now the present . Not the past or future .
"The substance of things hoped for " Real faith is not blind it has to be founded or rest upon spiritual reality .
What is called today " world faiths" is nothing of the kind . All of them are but vain and empty hopes that the scriptures says " will die with them" for when a man steps from time into eternity you are faced with that eternal spiritual reality of God and you religious ' hope' will die in the light of it . The only sure and certain hope is having your faith in Jesus Christ .
The substance of things hoped for .The Word of God ,the promises of God . For faith in God comes not only by hearing the Word of God but by also understanding of it .
Being convinced of and by the Word of God you act or obey in accordance with what you are convinced of irrespective of prevailing conditions . Thus you give substance to your hope in the Word of God .
The word or promise of a London bus company or an airline are well known and understood . You can believe it till the day you die but if you do not act in faith on what you believe and obey the instructions you will never fly or catch the bus .
Going and standing at the bus stop gives substance to yiur hope . Going to the airport likewise .
to be continued .
Hebrews 1:1 is a description of faith, not a definition of faith. The only definition is found in the meaning of the word itself.
In the Greek text, ( Hebrews 1:1), this is a description of what faith does. The description of faith is two things: The substance, or basis of things hoped for, and the evidence, more literally conviction, of things not seen.
Now if I take this description of what faith does, and its definition of persuasion, that faith is the basis of things hoped for, why do I have hope for the coming of Christ?
Why do I have a living hope that one day when I die, I'm going to go to heaven? Either it's something that I am persuading myself to believe, which means there's a possibility that someday someone will persuade me not to believe.
Or, my hope is based upon, which the next phrase says, the conviction of things not seen. It's a conviction. That's a persuasion! It's not a definition, but describes what faith does.
There are times when we as human beings doubt what the bible says. Have you ever had those moments when you look over at the bible and you think "It's just a book?"
I mean you open it up and it has ink words in it. It didn't fall down from heaven, somebody printed it. How do I know that it's not just our western culture religious book? Other religions have their book, so what's the big deal?
But I can't get away from it. It's a conviction. I can stand before you right now and make the announcement that I am denouncing the Lord and His word, and I'm finished.
But I will never be able to get away from Him, never! I have never been able to get away from it, and I can't now! My beliefs are based on the conviction of God's Spirit that lives in me. That's faith. It's not my faith. My human faith waivers.
But when I look down deep, there's something there that is a stabilizing force that is the basis of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, spiritual things, spiritual truth.
I'm happy to answer your questions on these scriptures.
Galatians 5:16 starts off by saying, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit." That's a Present Tense Imperative. What it is saying is "Be (continually) walking under the influence of God's Spirit." That's actually a command. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The word filled means influenced. Seek to be influenced by the Spirit. Paul focuses on the influences in our life, the persuasions and the various things that influence us and take us captive.
Romans 6:12, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." That's easier said than done. But again, it's the sin. Let not the (sin principle) reign in your mortal body. How can he say that? It's because he is leading us into the fact that when we get to Verse 14, where it says that sin shall not lord it over you, that is a factual statement, (not should not, but it cannot). If I sin, it is because I made the choice. But once I'm saved, it's the power of God's Spirit in me that gives me the power over sin.
Lastly, 1 John 3:6, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."
It sounds like a Christian does not sin according to scriptures. But here's what it's saying: The word abides is a Present Participle, (abiding). Whoever is abiding in Him "is" (Present Tense), not sinning, (continuously as a habit of life). It's not talking about committing an act of sin. It's talking about committing sin continuously, a lifestyle of not surrendering to Christ.
It's a condition. Whoever is continuously remaining (Abiding/MENO) in Him, does not practice sin, ever!
As someone who has been born of the Spirit of God, I can never go back and live the old lifestyle I lived before I received Christ. It's impossible!
The contrast: "Whoever sins, and again that's a Participle. Whoever is (continuously sinning) has not seen Him, neither have they known Him.
Very well said, Amen and thank you!
The point of Paul's teaching here is Jesus' Servanthood. His Coming in the flesh was purely as a Servant & a Sacrifice, for how could God ever present His Glory, Divinity & eternal Nature to secure man's redemption, unless He first condescended to man's finite, lowly estate. Thus that glorious Nature was hid from the world (though in time, some realized that He was no ordinary Man) and then coming to full realization of this Truth with great joy & power, as God's Spirit made the full Person of the Godhead clear to them.
How would Jesus' Life, Ministry, & Sacrifice worked out if His Divinity wasn't veiled from the people, & of course Him not taking on human flesh? To the pagans, they might have easily exclaimed, "the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men", but to the Jews, Jesus would never be given any platform or voice as it would be preposterous that God would come to Earth. But as a Man, not only to be able to give up His Life, but to show to His people that indeed God had appeared to them by Word & demonstration of His Power, Jesus was in every way a Man, but came veiled so that they could see Him for Who God wanted them to see. The clear-thinking, clear-seeing Jew would have seen a truly holy Man, serving others in every way by word & deed, and that God was with Him & speaking to them. "A prophet?" Maybe, "more than a prophet", to some.
Had Jesus held onto His Glory & Position, He could never take on the "form of a servant", for these positions oppose each other. Jesus knew that he could not 'grasp/tenaciously hold onto' (= "robbery") His Glory & Position & then identify with His people in their sufferings, grip in sin & ignorance, and their need for salvation & new life in Christ. So it seems, Jesus chose the path of Servant-hood, that which was necessary; a display of pomp & power would surely negate God's Plan.
No worries. When I read what you sent me, I was thinking oh no, I gave the wrong impression on who I believe Christ is. I believe we're on the same page.
And my apologies for not responding to you by name. I'm not sure why I did that. Probably because I was still working on my first cup of coffee.
The number of questions I have raised should not be taken as being troubled by any question the Bible may throw up . But rather they were put to provoke thought not needlessly stir up dust or in anyway undermine peoples faith in the Bible .
But rather to show that many long held thinking and concepts do not hold up in the light of scripture .
Sound doctrine always does .
But you know the seed that fell by the way side in the parable of the sower?
I think that is a well trodden path of our own thinking or passed down and accepted without scrutiny .
So well an habitual way of thinking that no seed can last and the fowls of the fair simply take it away and produces no fruit .
Nothing wrong with the seed " but by our traditions we make the Word of God of none effect "
The world is going crazy and millions are chained to the chariot of the devil and are on their way to hell.
I fear the church is too busy ' celebrating' to notice .
When in truth such good news should be bursting at the seems of the church .
Just as all the angels of heaven being a very disciplined lot held their peace while the message was given but once given heaven could no longer restrain itself and burst its banks in giving glory to God for having fulfilled His promise to mankind in the garden of Eden .
The first five verses show at the very least an anticipation of death; verse 4 discusses the "heart is sore pained within me."...The description of this could be David himself but also as with many other passages in Psalms could also be describing Messiah's sufferings.
Verses 6 through 8 reflect the desire to escape such as was stated by other Prophets and by David himself in 1 Samuel 27:1.
Verses 9 through 11 also discuss a general observation of Jerusalem; which was particularly true before God's judgments such as with the Babylonians; although it could apply to other times as well.
Verses 12 through 15 describe a prophecy of Judas Iscariot and betrayal; although conceivably it could describe a friend of David's as well. ( Matt. 26:21 and 30 other verses discuss this in the N.T.)
Verses 16 through 18 talk of the importance of prayer and deliverance. Verse 19 and 23 talk again of the destruction of the wicked. Verse 22 just beforehand gives the opposite promise that He will "never suffer the righteous to be moved."
Verses 20 and 21 could very well signify the Antichrist himself with the 1st Seal behavior also mentioned in Daniel 9:27. It is not evident that this had any relation with a direct experience David was having.
Welcome to the site and if at all possible find you a bible teaching church along with what you have here.
May the Lord bless you on your journey.
.....But this is gonna initiate war in heaven...Its gonna be Kingdom against Kingdom...Simply b/c satan is gonna sow a tare in
us which is satans seed...Remember satan the dragon the tare wanted to kill the woman with Child Rev 12:5 a great warfare with in us...This war rages in our hearts and minds simply b/c the Kingdom is gonna be with in us...The woman is the world as God so loved the world but she is also bride the good ground where the good seed was sown impregnating her with that heavenly seed...The Children of Promise an Israel of God...But these things are hid from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes...Thats y Jeremiah saw all men in travail and birth pains... Jeremiah 30:6...Men & women are gonna birth a baby Christ...Kings shall be your nursing father and women are gonna be your nursing mothers..Faith under this New Covenant is gonna fulfill the great promise of multiplication n regeneration in humanity....ok lemme go
Thank you for explaining. It makes more sense to me now.
Thank you and God bless you.