Bible Questions Page 22

  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION (Part 6):

    VII. THE DIVISION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION:

    This is probably one of the most important facts that we need to know, just in understanding Revelation, and the various teachings that we hear about the book of Revelation, which I'll get to here in a moment.

    The division of the book of Revelation is given to us right in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:19 provides the division of the book. Jesus tells John, write the things which thou hast seen (which would be the vision of Christ), in Chapter 1 Verses 9 through 20.

    Secondly, write the things which are, that is, presently in John's day. That would be Chapters 2 and 3, the messages to the seven churches.

    And write the things which shall be hereafter;

    The term hereafter is a Greek phrase that means after these things. Revelation 4:1 begins with after these things. After what things? After the things of the church which are existing in John's day. That would be Chapters 4 through 22, which actually present to us the Tribulation Period that breaks out upon the earth.

    There's a threefold division in the book of Revelation. If someone has a method or system of interpretation of the book of Revelation, it must fit into the structure that Revelation itself sets out.

    VIII. SECTION OUTLINE OF REVELATION:

    REVELATION 1:1-8: Prologue

    REVELATION 1:9-20 PART ONE: The Things which Thou Hast Seen

    REVELATION CHAPTERS 2-3 PART TWO: The Things which Are

    REVELATION 4:1-22:5 PART THREE: The Things which Shall Be Hereafter

    REVELATION 22:6-21: John signs off with the promises for all those that hear and keep the words within this book.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION (Part 4):

    III. ABOUT THE DATE AND LOCATION:

    The Book of Revelation was written around 95 A.D., about a year before John was brought back off the island of Patmos, during the reign of Domitian.

    John received the Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos.

    Again, according to the early church fathers, John was sent to the island of Patmos as a criminal to work the mines with the other prisoners. After the death of Domitian, Nerva released John around 96 A.D.

    IV. ABOUT REVELATION:

    John received the Revelation in order to encourage the believers who were under extreme persecution from Rome. The believers were weary and confused. They wanted to know that if Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, where is the victory? It seemed like things were getting worse. They were being beaten, imprisoned, and even put to death.

    So, they wanted to know "Where's the victory? I was better off before I received Christ!" And so, they were discouraged and confused. So, John wrote to encourage them to endure and to wait for the victory, that the victory is yet to come, maybe not seeing it in our day, but it will come.
  • DisPer on Numbers 31 - 7 months ago
    I see absolutely nothing good about this, and the justifications I see from other comments are abhorrent to me.

    Is this really the God-breathed word I'm supposed to follow? Is this supposed to be relevant to the future of Christianity, completely unchanged and unadapted for future situations? Should one take this "as a warning" for what happens when you disobey God? Is this supposed to instill a reflection of His love?

    Or, should I accept this as a method used at the time, and it's God-breathed nature is in the fact someone factually recorded this historical occurrence?

    I am much more willing to accept the latter than try to justify genocide as "ordained by God" in any way, shape, or form. That can send us living today down an exceptionally slippery slope to recreate something as horrendous as the Holocaust while saying, "It's all the Lord's Will."
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO 3 JOHN (Part 6):

    So, this movement of Gnosticism is beginning to take several forms. Obviously, Diotrephes thought that he had special knowledge.

    But the apostle John and his knowledge was a threat to that, especially since John said if anybody listens to us, they're of God, and if you don't listen to us, you're not of God. That's a pretty strong statement to make!

    But here's a man that says that what the apostle John thinks is the truth, is not true. I have special knowledge. There are even churches today that tell their people to stay away from Paul's writings because Paul only had "limited" revelation.

    They say that he didn't understand the full truth of God, but now, we have complete revelation that's given to us, a special enlightenment that's given to us that's not in the bible. But it's given to us as we pray and as we seek the Lord.

    And they did the same with the apostle John. Now if they rejected the teachings of the apostle Paul and John back then, wouldn't you think that that would happen today? And the answer is yes. Many teachings from the scriptures are rejected!

    VII. ABOUT THE THEME AND STYLE OF JOHN'S LETTERS:

    John's main theme is the correct doctrine of the humanity of Jesus Christ. The subtheme is the assurance of salvation for genuine believers.

    John presents these themes in factual statements rather than generalizations.

    I John contains a series of conditional phrases describing the differences between doctrinal truth and error, as well as contrasting a genuine believer with a false one.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO 1 JOHN (Part 5):

    In our day, we have some legalism. Most of the problems we have today come from Gnosticism, special knowledge and revelation that's not found in the scripture, but that God seemingly gives to those "special people" who can determine what we call insight.

    You hear somebody speak, and they take two pieces of scripture and put it together a certain way, and you go, "Wow, how did they come up with that? That person really has some spiritual insight. I never would have seen that." That's because it's not there!

    The main teaching about Jesus from this movement denied the Lord's humanity in order to support the Lord's sinless nature. Their reasoning was that if He was sinless, then He couldn't have had a physical body.

    But we will see in 1 John that he will use language to address all of the issues that were going on with the Gnostics. He's writing to the believers, but he writing to them in light of the Gnostic doctrine that is just beginning to spread through the churches.

    V. ABOUT 2 JOHN:

    2 John is one chapter long. It was written right after 1 John. How do you like that for insight?

    2 John was written to combat the infiltration of Gnostic teaching into the church. And what I mean by that is that the church met in homes. They didn't meet in public church buildings. So, they had a problem, because in order for the Gnostics to infiltrate the church, they had to come to the church meeting in the homes. And so, John had some instruction there, not to let them into your home.

    I think it is interesting, because in our day, we love to have non-believers come. I'm not saying that they shouldn't, but sometimes we actually highlight that, like "We're here for one reason, and one reason only, to bring in the unsaved!"

    But John says if you bring the unsaved in, spiritually you will have a big problem. We'll see that in 2 John.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO 1 JOHN (Part 4):

    It's kind of interesting that the false teachers that taught Gnosticism didn't come from outside the church, but inside the church. They started spreading this in the church, and so the church had to do something about it.

    Gnostic doctrine was based on dualism which asserted that physical matter was inherently evil, and spirit was good. They taught that everything physical is evil, and everything spirit is good.

    At the time John was leading the churches in Asia, Gnosticism had two main groups. One was the Docetic Gnostics. They taught that Jesus's physical body was not real but only seemed to be physical. This is known as asceticism from a Greek word that means "to appear."

    They said it appeared to be a body, but it was not a physical body because physical is evil, therefore He could not have had a physical body. So, they denied His humanity. They believed in His Deity, but they denied His humanity.

    Then there were the Cerinthians, led by Cerinthus, who taught that Christ's Spirit descended upon the human Jesus at his baptism, but left him just before the crucifixion.

    So, what they came up with was that Jesus really did have a physical body, but it was like their version of "rent a body," in that here's Jesus standing there to get baptized, and the Spirit of Christ comes upon Him, and Christ takes over Jesus' body and uses Him for three years.

    And right when they went to crucify Jesus, Christ left Jesus and they crucified Jesus up on the cross, and that's why He says "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

    But hey "it's scripture if you piece it all together!" This is what is meant by Gnosticism.
  • Oseas - 7 months ago
    Get ready

    Isaiah 33:10-14KJV

    10 Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

    11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

    12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

    13 Hear, ye that are far off(the Gentiles peoples), what I have done; and, ye that are near (the Jews, the clay), acknowledge my might.

    14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us SHALL DWELL with the devouring fire? who among us SHALL DWELL with everlasting burnings?

    1 CORINTHIANS 3:13-15KJV

    13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

    14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

    15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
  • Shylesh - 7 months ago
    In KJV it says

    Jude 1:19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

    (looks like, this speaks about causing problem to himself)

    But in Tyndale it says

    Jude 1:19 These are makers of sectes fleshlie havynge no sprete.

    (looks like, this speaks about causing problem to the church)

    In BSB it says: These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit.

    Which one is correct "separate themselves" or "makers of sectes" or "cause divisions" as in other translations?

    Because both "separate themselves" and "cause divisions" are different in meaning.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO 2 PETER (Part 4):

    VIII. THE OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF II PETER:

    II PETER CHAPTER 1: The Presentation of the Gospel.

    There are three phases that teach us about the gospel message and the Christian life, and we can study those in depth in 2 Peter.

    II PETER CHAPTER 2: The Profile of False Teachers.

    He gives their characteristics. He tells what they teach, and what they teach about. He tells their motives. And you can tell, even if you don't understand what they're teaching, you can understand by their motives whether they're teaching correctly or not.

    II PETER CHAPTER 3: The Priorities of the Believer.

    He presents the fact what's going to happen to this earthly realm. It will be destroyed by fire, in spite of what the scoffers say. And so, he says in Chapter 3, what kind of people ought you to be knowing that everything we handle and everything we do in this earthly life is going to burn?

    And then he sets the priorities out for the believers, what believers should be involved in as a priority in their life, ending up with 1 Peter 3:18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    I will share the introduction to 1,2 & 3 John soon.

    God Bless!!!
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO 1 PETER (Part 8):

    VIII. THE OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF I PETER:

    I PETER 1:1 - 2:10: The Foundation of Salvation.

    So, before Peter even talks about suffering, he wants to teach about the various areas that make up the foundation of our salvation, to show that whatever we suffer, or whatever we suffer by way of persecution, it cannot change our salvation at all.

    I PETER 2:11 - 3:12: The Submission in Salvation.

    If you study Peter's thorough presentation of what submission means in the bible, I think you will find it very interesting. Once a person is saved, they are given the various relationships, both with other believers as well as with the world, and they are to line up with the Lord with each person. And he lists and shows what those relationships should be like.

    I PETER 3:13 - 4:6: The Persecution in Salvation.

    I PETER 4:7 - 5:9: The Exhortation in Salvation.

    I PETER 5:10-11: The Benediction in Salvation.

    I PETER 5:12-14: The Conclusion to Salvation.

    So, it's all based around salvation, but all of these issues of suffering and persecution, and submission, and function, all of these different things are part of our salvation. It should not be looked at as being separate.

    And that seems to be the theme in all of these letters because if you are poor, and suffering, and things are getting worse, you begin to wonder. I mean here in America with all that we have, even we sometimes begin to wonder "Lord, why are you doing this to me?"

    That's often our approach to things as if though we have it bad. But we don't, not compared to these believers that we study about in Peter's letters.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO 1 PETER (Part 3):

    In Matthew 16:18, the text that says, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," the word "this" is called the Near Demonstrative, meaning Jesus was pointing to Himself.

    In the New Testament, Peter (PETROS) is Simon Peter, and Jesus Christ is called PETRA. The church is built upon Christ, not Peter! There is a group that has split off and they believe that this text is saying that Jesus said, "You are Peter, and upon this rock, that Jesus was pointing to Peter and saying upon you, I will build my church." Well, the grammar of the verse, and the usage of the word throughout the New Testament won't even allow it.

    The reason I bring this up is that it allows me to introduce something else to you. What a person believes about a text is important. You can say this person teaches this, and another person teaches that, and somebody else teaches something different, but you can't leave it at that. You can't leave it at what a person teaches. You have to also ask why?

    For instance, a person can come along and say "Well, Jesus is talking about Peter here. He's not talking about Himself," and then just start talking about something else. And it's like wait a minute, you hold that position, but why do you hold that position from the text? So as a Christian, it's not just a matter of saying so and so teaches this, and so and so teaches that. The question has to be asked "Why do they teach it?"

    If somebody comes along and says the two Greek words being used here, one of them means trash can, and the other means pole, then we have a problem because each teacher is using Greek to back up what they're saying it means. So, one of these guys is wrong!

    My encouragement to you is not just to take various teachings that people teach, but find out why, especially if you are wondering if it's right or not. They should tell you why from the text or be available to tell you why. You can't just ask what. You have to ask why.
  • Shylesh - 7 months ago
    Why there are italic words in the KJV Bible? What does that mean? Are these italic words added by men to fill the gap of missing words in the manuscripts? Are these added words accurate and to be considered for God's word? Are there any references for these added words somewhere else in the Bible?
  • Rugrah - 7 months ago
    Will the saved in Christ reign with Him in heavenly places?
  • Veronicagt7 - 7 months ago
    Does keeping the sabbath still a Command?
  • Queeneslot on Luke 1 - 7 months ago
    looking at the conversation of angel Gabriel to both Zacharias and Mary, we see that Mary is actually a carrier of grace .The word of the lord says I will have mercy on whom i will have mercy on. Both Mary and Zacharias did doubt the message of God but only Zachariah was punished, it was only when Mary received confirmation of how the child was going to be conceived that her faith or believe came into work. Let's take a look at verse 18 "whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. These were the words spoken by Zachariah to the angel, now let's look at verse 14. How shall this be? seeing I know no man" see right? They asked almost the question, but the fact that either Zachariah was a priest and should know better than doubting the word of God or the fact that Mary carries grace and lord Jesus Christ was coming from Mary and she needs to be pampered, angel Gabriel took time to explain to Mary, this only explains that we have grace more than ourselves. As a student I shouldn't follow the footstep of my friend who doesn't read but passes because grace differs, there are also those who will read more than I do but still pass more than them, that is what the scripture calls grace, when grace is in use, all protocols are broken.
  • Goodjbs - 7 months ago
    Is 'KJV Standard' '1769 Cambridge Standard Edition'?
  • Carleton - 7 months ago
    Good evening and morning! A couple of meditations.

    1 Corinthians 9:10 - 11 "Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresherh in hope should be partaker of his hope.

    If we have sow unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing we shall reap your carnal things?

    If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

    Do you not know that they which minister about the holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?"

    Galatians 5:5- 8 " For we through the Spirit wait for the Hope of righteousness by faith.

    For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

    Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

    This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you."
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO JAMES (Part 9):

    VII. OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF JAMES:

    CHAPTER 1: The development of faith

    CHAPTER 2: The activity of faith

    CHAPTER 3: The maturity of faith

    CHAPTER 4: The enemy of faith

    CHAPTER 5: The function of faith

    Do you think the book of James might be about faith?

    I will share my introduction to 1 Peter, and also 2 Peter soon. God Bless!!!
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO JAMES (Part 8):

    Acts Chapter 15 records that by the time the early church was formed, James the half-brother of Jesus was then in charge of and leading the church that was in Jerusalem. In Galatians 1:19, Paul says that when he went into Jerusalem, he looked for the leaders and he spent time with James the Lord's brother.

    So, scripture, as well as tradition, backs up the fact that we are studying a letter that was written by the half-brother of Jesus Christ, a natural born child to Joseph and Mary, and who is the head of the church in Jerusalem.

    There is also another letter in the New Testament that was written by a half-brother of Jesus and that is the book of Jude. It is a one-chapter book right before the book of Revelation. So, we have actually 2 letters in the New Testament by believing half-brothers of Jesus Christ.

    And none of them of course pulled the "I'm the brother of Jesus" card to bring out their superiority or even to get favoritism from the early church. They all presented themselves as the servant and slave of Jesus Christ.

    Can you imagine if your half-brother turned out to be the Messiah, God Himself in the flesh? "I knew there was something about that brother of mine. I mean, he never did anything wrong!" And then they still didn't believe until after His resurrection when He appeared to them. Then they believed.

    But then can you imagine yourself living out your life saying that I am a slave to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ my half-brother? It just doesn't sound right, you know? But that's what they had to go through. And none of them pulled rank within the body of Christ that they should be treated better or different than anybody else!
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO JAMES (Part 4):

    NOW WE HAVE THE INTRODUCTION TO JAMES:

    I. JAMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:

    The Book of James is part of a collection of books in the New Testament that are called the Jewish Literature. The Jewish Literature begins with the Book of Hebrews and continues through to the end of the Book of Revelation.

    II. THE THEME OF THE BOOK:

    The theme of the book is found in James 2:20, "Faith without works is dead."

    Let me just give you a small explanation of where I'm going with this. In the book of Hebrews, there is so much to study about faith. From a language standpoint, from a biblical standpoint, the word faith, PISTIS in Greek, means persuasion. It is a word that describes the influence and the ministry of God's Spirit over our lives. He's persuading us. He's ministering to us.



    And so, when James says faith without works is dead, and you might pencil in there if you are a note taker that the word "works," when we see it in Chapter 2 means activity. Faith without activity is dead. He'll even say in Chapter 2, if you say you have the faith but there's no activity, can that faith save you?

    And the answer is no. He even includes the answer in his question. He says no, it can't. That's just human faith. That's just an intellectual belief and agreement.

    Since faith is a word that describes the presence and activity of God's Spirit in a person's life, faith without activity is a dead faith. With faith being the moving and ministering of God's Spirit, if God's Spirit isn't there and active in your life, you have a dead faith.

    That's from a biblical perspective. That's not religious, and especially here in America, where faith is being promoted as coming from man, human beings, that we produce the faith, that we have to believe in order for God to bless us. Faith without works is dead.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO JAMES (Part 3):

    But James has some very, very hard and very deep teachings for us, even to the point that he says that if you become a friend to this world, you have placed yourself as an enemy of God.

    So which one do you want to do? Do you want Satan to be your enemy where all he can do is rattle our cages in the physical realm. He can't stop us from following Christ. He can't stop us from having a relationship with Christ. He can't take us away from Christ. He can just hassle us.

    So, would I rather have Satan be my enemy, or God? And that's the question and the encouragement that these believing Jews were given, which means that there's going to be teaching and encouragement that even goes beyond what we need to know, because we don't have their difficult circumstances.

    But the teachings are good. They're true, and especially when he's teaching about faith. This entire book is on faith. But after Paul's writings comes the Jewish literature. That would be the book of Hebrews through the book of Revelation. Under the Jewish literature, you'll see all of the Jewish literature, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.

    And again, the book of Revelation is best understood from a Jewish perspective, because of the 404 verses in the book of Revelation, there are 800 allusions and quotes from the Old Testament brought over into the book of Revelation.

    The book of Revelation was written because of Jewish believers who were suffering and even some sitting in prison waiting to die. The book of Revelation is to show them that even if they did die for their faith, the victory would be later when Jesus comes back.

    So, it's the whole panorama of what we have in the scriptures of everything from creation to the end of the world in one book. And we have to handling these from a Jewish perspective. And I think that you will see that it makes more sense that way than to say that James is writing to the Christians in our day.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO JAMES (Part 2):

    As we get more into 1 Peter, he says don't think it's strange that you're going through fiery trials, because in the physical, there's going to be a challenge by Satan to get us to stop trusting the Lord. Because of our natural human senses that we function in naturally, we have a tendency to judge the Lord and His faithfulness based on the help we receive in our physical circumstances.

    And these brothers are turning it around and saying no, the difficult circumstances, and we see this in 1 Peter Chapter 4, that difficulty accompanies salvation because we're talking about two different realms. We're talking about the teaching of scripture that tells us that Satan is the god of this world, the physical realm that we live in. Satan is the spiritual force that's energizing this worlds system and all the physical things around us.

    So, once we switch from living according to our fleshly desires, and we surrender our life to Christ, then everything is reversed. We're no longer at war with God. We're now at war with Satan, or else he is with us, because we have said I'm out of your system and I now belong to Christ. But I still physically live in Satan's system. It's just that he does not own me, he does not possess me. But I still have to go out into his system and trust the Lord.

    So, everything is reversed once you get saved. What used to be friendly to you in the physical realm, even the people who used to be friendly to you in the physical realm, they will no longer be friendly. And the circumstances will be very difficult, trying to get us to the point where we get discouraged and just quit in our trusting of the Lord because we think trusting the Lord is going to change our physical circumstance. And we get tired of waiting, and sometimes the circumstances get worse. So, we say "Why trust the Lord?"
  • Oseas - 7 months ago
    More than opinion is revelation. Matthew 24 has in part been LITERALLY fulfilled. In the year 70AD, verses 1 and 2 were fulfilled with the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews throughout the world during 1878 years of severe plagues and curses, in addition to insufferable pain, according to Deuteronomy 28:15-68, 53 verses of strong and severe punishments.

    Now, verses 3 to 8 are being fulfilled, the beginning of sorrows, and the decay of the Churches with the development of apostasies and iniquities-verses 9 to 14.

    Then, the last week- Daniel 9:27- is about to start and with this event the persecutions of the first half of the week-42 months- Revelation 13:5- by the Beast of sea, culminating with the establishment of the Abomination of Desolation for 1,290 days in the second half of the week (plus 30 days)-verses 15 to 27 combined with Daniel 12:11 and 11:v.31. It is the END of this world and a sign of the coming of JESUS: Matthew 24:3 combined with Revelation 11:15-18. Blessed is he who waits and comes at 1335 days- Daniel 12:12 , 45 days after finishing the Abomination of Desolation. GET READY
  • Oseas - 7 months ago
    To all

    Greetings in Christ JESUS

    I'm astonished/surprised by the fact of the readers /students of the Bible don't discern that MAN already existed before GOD said: "Let us make MAN in our image, after our likeness: and ... "

    Yes man already EXISTED, but NOT in the IMAGE of GOD; MAN was only and only made of the dust of the earth whose breath was in his nostrils- Genesis 2:7 and 15-17, and Isaiah 2:22.

    Well, only after the fall GOD planned(GENESIS) to make man in His image, but how? GOD is Spirit, invisible. What is the image of a spirit?

    First step: GOD's decision. Genesis 1:26-GOD said(to JESUS, the beginning), Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness( Hebrews 1:3 combined with John 5:17 and John 1:11-13): and let them have dominion over the ...

    2nd step: Execution of GOD's plan: Genesis 1:27 -So GOD created man in His own image, in the image of GOD created he him; male and female created He them. John 1:11-13 and John 5:17

    .

    Remember: 1 Corinthians 15:45-47

    47 The first MAN is of the earth, earthy; the second MAN is the Lord from heaven(is from a celestial /spiritual environment)

    45 The first MAN Adam was made a living soul(whose breath is in his nostrils- Isaiah 2:22); the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

    46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual

    Genesis 1:31

    And GOD saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (This sixth GOD's Day just finished)

    Revelation 11:15-18

    15...The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever

    ...

    And the nations will be angry, and GOD's wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be Judged, and that should give reward unto the servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear His name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth

    GOD BLESS
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS (Part 1):

    All of Paul's writings are at the beginning of the teaching section. And the second section of the New Testament teaching section is the Jewish literature section (Hebrews through Revelation). The book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrews (Jewish people).

    We have to understand it from a Jewish standpoint. Even in the book of Revelation, there are 404 verses, but there are over 800 allusions or direct quotes of the Old Testament, the Tanak. It's very Jewish. All the symbolisms come from the Tanak. We have to understand the Jewish literature from a Jewish background.

    We as Gentiles get lost. Sometimes people will take things out of Paul's writings, and some out of Peter's writings, and they try and connect the two. But Peter is talking about Jewish things, and Paul is talking to the Gentiles about something else. We have to be careful about how we connect these together.

    Again, the Jewish literature by the writer of Hebrews, and James, and Peter, the apostle John, and Jude, the truth or the concept in their teachings will also match Paul's. It's just applied in a Hebrew or Jewish way to a Hebrew person. So, we can still learn from them. We just have to properly in context understand.

    Now, when I said that the New Testament is like a proof text, it's because anything said, even in the Jewish literature, if it doesn't line up with Paul's teachings and understanding, if all of that doesn't line up with the teaching of Christ, then it's not of God.

    We can discuss prophecy in the Old Testament and disagree with each other, but the bible is very clear about the prophecies of the Old Testament. Do people still prophesy like they did in the Old Testament? Do they still do that today?

    Whatever the message is, even if it is presented as a "message from God", one's own belief, or whatever the presentation is, we must stay with the arrangement that I just mentioned. If what someone is saying to us is from God, Paul would have taught it.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO PHILEMON (Part 3):

    VI. SECTION OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF PHILEMON:

    PHILEMON CHAPTER 1: THE PORTRAYAL OF THE GOSPEL

    VERSES 1-3: The Introduction

    VERSES 4-7: Paul gives the Description of Philemon.

    This is not to describe him so that people recognize him. But Paul knew how to address people and how to get people to be receptive to the things that he would like them to do.

    What happened was, here in Colossae, a man named Philemon had a slave by the name of Onesimus. Well, Onesimus decides that he's going to steal his master's valuables and run away. And he wants to get as far away as possible because if he's caught, he could be killed. That's one of the punishments.

    So, he decides that he's going to take all the valuables and pay for his way to Rome because if you get to Rome, nobody's going to find you, and nobody's going to come all that way just to find you as a runaway slave!

    Somehow, as Paul is in prison, Onesimus can't keep his hand "out of the till" there in Rome either, so he winds up in jail. And he runs into another prisoner by the name of Paul. And so, he hears Paul preaching and teaching the gospel. And Paul is ministering to him, so Onesimus receives Christ and is saved.

    And Onesimus tells Paul what he did. He stole from his master and ran away, and that's why he's in Rome. So, Paul inquires as to where he's from and he says Colossae. So, Paul says I've been to Colossae, and I know some people from Colossae. What's the man's name? He says Philemon. And Paul says I know Philemon. He has the church in his home in Colossae.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO TITUS (Part 3):

    We have documents and accounts of how if you were a believer, and if you happened to know who a Christian was, and you said I need a fellowship to go to, they would check you out first to make sure you were not a spy or some kind of government official.

    But you would be interviewed at least two or three times to see if they want you in the fellowship. Are you going to be a problem? What are your motives? How sincere are you?

    It's just the opposite of today where churches are trying to get in as many people as they can, almost not caring who they are. Just show up!

    But back then they were very selective as to who they received into their fellowships to make sure that they're not going to have a problem, and to make sure your motives are in sincerity.

    So, Paul left Titus there on the island of Crete, and Titus was known as a bulldog type of person, not like Timothy who was timid and needed to be reminded to have a little courage and to stand up for the truth of Christ. But Titus was the other way around. You didn't want to tangle with Titus. So, Paul left the right man in the right spot.

    III. THE HISTORY OF TITUS:

    His name is mentioned 13 times in the New Testament; 9 times in 2 Corinthians. He was a Gentile and was saved during Paul's first missionary journey ( Galatians 2:3).

    Paul called Titus three things:

    1) My genuine son in the faith ( Titus 1:4).

    2) My brother ( II Corinthians 2:13)

    3) My partner and fellow worker ( II Corinthians 8:23).

    Titus traveled with Paul in all of his missionary journeys and was used by Paul to minister mostly in the city of Corinth. After Paul's first imprisonment, he traveled through the Island of Crete with Titus. Paul left Titus there while he went on to Macedonia.
  • Jesse - 7 months ago
    INTRODUCTION TO TITUS (Part 2):

    So, can you imagine somebody being left behind to be in charge of all of this? And we're talking about multiple fellowships. When we say churches, we're not talking about church buildings in every city. We're talking about home fellowships. There were no public worship services until around 313 A.D. when Constantine legalized Christianity and combined it with Sun worship, which is the primary form that we have today.

    But it is interesting that these churches, the Jewish people, and the formation of churches in the homes, seems to have come from the Jewish regulations that in order for a synagogue to be formed as an official synagogue, you had to have at least 10 Jewish men in the city. If you have at least 10 Jewish men, you can have a synagogue.

    Now Jewish people can still meet together, but they're not considered an official Jewish synagogue unless they have at least 10 Jewish men. Well, the fellowships in these home churches, the rule was, according to historical documents, that they could only have between 10 and 15 people per home fellowship. They could have no more than 15. This was for the purpose of keeping track of one another, making sure everybody's taken care of, and also for accountability purposes.

    In the church, not only in the island of Crete, but all through the body of Christ in these home churches, they held people accountable. If they weren't walking with the Lord like they should, they held them accountable.

    And when the great persecution broke out in 64 A.D. by Nero, it lasted until 313 A.D. All that time, there was persecution against believers, and churches had to meet underground. They had to meet privately and out of the way of everybody knowing.
  • Jwes1 on Matthew 6 - 7 months ago
    Am having trouble with Matthew 6:22-23. Can see it's a metaphor, but not really sure what the metaphor is. Read the commentaries, but don't feel solid with them. Feedback, anybody? Thoughts and guesses welcome.
  • Fredscanlan - 7 months ago
    How did Christ heal the young man with palsy?

    His friends letting him down before Christ ,Christ is sitting and waiting, perhaps even smiling as the dust clears as this person arrives before Him!

    Why didn't Jesus touch him and let Him go? What instead would Jesus do and what would be the outcome?


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