Even though there is a distinction between the children of God and the children of the world the scripture says to be kind to all men. Galatians 6:10.
However, we're not all Brothern.
John 1:11-12 says "He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the "sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"
Jesus also said in Matthew 12:50 "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Ephesians 2:19 states Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
So, there is a clear distinction in scripture between God's children and those who haven't received him.
1 John 3:9-10 covers this well, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
"Sons of God" emphasizes a natural, internal relationship with God rather than an external adoption. Becoming God's children involves a real change and transformation, not just a change in title or position. We partake in the divine nature.
All people are not naturally God's children. We must be born again through faith in Christ to become God's children.
This separates us from Adam.
We are now joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:14-17 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Having wiped out my last posting AGAIN by pushing the wrong button I will have more to say perhaps later regarding devotionals.
I thought I would shift gears and discuss Catechisms. I expect many know that a Catechism is a sort of reciting of a Doctrinal Statement.
Let's be honest here; although maybe it's just me...such studies can often be the most BORING ones we undertake and if someone is really not a believer it could in my opinion do more harm then good even if it is a scripturally solid one. The first thing of course we must investigate is; when considering becoming a church member in particular is are there any issues that jump out to us that we cannot believe or are unwilling to be dogmatic about? I am from a Protestant and primarily Reformed background; and generally ascribe to things in the Heidelburg confession; for instance. That being said; for whatever reason the designation exist; I find the term "DIVINES" for those who came up with certain Reformed confessions as being a repulsive term. I have shown evidence in the past of certain behaviors among Calvin and Luthor; no matter how critical they were for getting back to "Sola Scriptura" and concepts of Predestination that I don't care to mention them as examples to follow and say instead that they brought out scriptural truths such as are found in the book of John in particular as to God calling and choosing people the Son would reveal Himself to. Such a concept saturates many chapters in John in particular but is found in many other places in scripture. We don't find the term "total depravity" in scripture but there are many places where it says man can do no good and his good works are as "filthy rags" ( Isaiah 64:6).
I mentioned in an earlier post that the Orthodox Presbyterian church (OPC) that existed in Pittsburgh before folding allowed me to be a member but not of full standing as to my take on infant Baptism. We shoudn't rush membership.
How to read scripture: Part 2 on how NOT to read the Bible
In a bullet point presentation I would list things something like this in regard to this subject.
1. Do not regard scripture as just good literature; or as one of many sources of truth. As C.S. Lewis pointed out Christ Himself can only be taken as a liar; a madman or telling the truth. (from Mere Christianity: actually stated as Christ being the Devil Himself rather than a liar because of His claims to be Divine). What this does not mean is that you can't find certain elements of truth in other writings and/or religions. The SOURCE of all truth is in the Bible; but it doesn't mean that elements common to human understanding can't be replicated elsewhere. It also doesn't mean that corroborating facts can't be found elsewhere (such as in Macabees) that explain missing time periods or further explains things such as further details in genealogies; or the history of kings and empires. But the unique claims of truth in scripture are clear enough; there is no wiggle room for other religions which are called out as false with no uncertain terms.
2. Don't think you can figure out how to understand God's ways or Christ's salvation on your own understanding. Proverbs 14:12 warns about what seems right to a man leading to death. Someone can presume to follow the basic concepts in the Sermon on the Mount such as the "Golden rule" about doing unto others. In reality; however no one can love their enemies in their own strength or selflessly serve as our Lord did. To see God clearly we must realize that there is enmity between God an us (see Isaiah 59:1-2 and many other passages on this). If there was any other way; God would not have to send His Son to die on the cross to save His creation (man) from eternal damnation.
3. We can't explain away miracles due to natural circumstances from the Bible. There were some things unique to Christ such as forgiveness of sin; and control over nature.
The Gospel of St Mark is especial for the reason that the life of Jesus is set as the validation of the Messianic prophecies, for instance the divine Will,"Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies,"(Ps.110:1-3). Accordingly God has prepared everything to augur success in his ministry which is to be accomplished both in his humanity but also in heaven. Consequently his entry into Jerusalem is designated as a triumphal entry. At the heart of his ministry is the eternal word. So the evangelist piles up several instances underpinning the assertion of Jesus," Before Abraham was, I am." . We shall study this chapter from this angle.
"And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him." Jesus sent two disciples to Bethphage and the colt was to be found 'in a place where two ways met,' This resonates in his affirmation "I am the way". The colt has never been tried on and it has been reserved for the master's service. The mention of the door evokes the saying of the Good Shepherd. "I am the door."( John 10:7,9)
St Mark informs us in.v.11 that he went to the temple first time and saw for himself and second visit was to cleanse the temple itself. (vv.15-17) This runs parallel with his own advent and he shall slay the wicked when he appears second time. ("and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."-Is.11:3-4;Re.19:15) Only Mark gives two visits to the temple foreshadowing two Advents where the second is as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
In vv.13-14 we have Jesus cursing the fig tree. Only Mark gives this,"and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet." Is it out of sync with rest of the narrative?
God made his Son in charge "And every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Ge.1:28)
"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." (v.6) God is love is a facet of holiness of God. When God breathed into the nostrils of man there was no need for spelling out holiness as such. In his breath all that were needful for his life and godliness was impressed as a candle is lit by another. Quality of light sets both giver and the given on the same stand,- Holiness made it so natural so love of man so learned did not carry any other feeling than was impressed. By the same token in loving the world God made love Person specific. ( John 3:16)
Male and female he created them is with reference to the holiness so love has a body as a candle has and it is quality also speaks about love of two bodies maintain a common purpose. The Spirit presents the House with seven pillars as a body built by Wisdom, which is a feminine principle.(Pr.9:1)God a Spirit is Power dovetailing into Wisdom is how the Spirit presents the divine Holiness. By the same token his Son has a body which is the Word become God loved the world therefore it must be seen and the heat thereof must be felt throughout. In due time God sent Jesus Christ as the true light. While he presented the doctrine of his Father it had to be out in the open fulfilling the saying, "Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?"(4:21).
"Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away./And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept."(vv.4-5) Compare with what John says," In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."( John 1:1) Because of the hardness of heart Moses allowed man put away, which is like the candle put under the bed. Jesus refers to it as adultery of one against the other.
"And in the house" Jesus explained it in terms of the Law of the Spirit. (Matt.19:9-11)
Mark states the principle of Association which is in an altered from than what is presented by St Matthew. "And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them," Jesus sets a child representing the twelve and St Matthew presents the principle accordingly, before he sent them to preach, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." (Matt.10:40). Jesus taking the child in his arms is how we are set in his hands so both Gospels are referring the selfsame idea. In terms of the quality God set his name every other name because he was a child in his obedience. Putting on the mind of Christ is therefore proving your parentage. At the mount of Transfiguration he received the testimony of his Father, "And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him."(v.7). The earth and the fulness thereof belong to God which makes all things in heaven and on earth by him consist. "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." therefore is not to be measured by earthly time but as set forth in the divine Will. As the Word which was from the beginning ( John 1:1) it pleased God that in him should all Fullness dwell.
"And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus."(v.4) Demonstrative of this we have Moses and Elias meeting Jesus at the mount. Before the Advent of Jesus they were sent as stand in for him and while at the mount their roles are reversed! It is how the two worlds of the Spirit and of the flesh and blood revolve about a stationary point of the Son and of the Son of man. Now we shall understand why Jesus said, in vv.38-39. His disciples did not have this 360 degree view while Jesus understood his name before which all knees should bow (Ph.2:5-9) rose above their partisan spirit. They still had a long way to go .
"And how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought." (v.12)
This key verse shall explain this saying of Jesus. It also tells how vital was for the multitude that he called them as well as his disciples, so it goes to the very core of the kingdom of God. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it./For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"(8:34-36). For my sake and for the gospel's sake is distinct from the Son for whom 'this day' is decreed. (Ps.2:7) So the gospel and the Word become flesh, the Son of man fulfills the provision of 'the seven days' in the everlasting covenant.
What God has sanctified covers the body of Christ and the duration of which is 'this day'. God was from the beginning and the Word was with him. Because of Adam and his disobedience sin entered into the world so with obedience what Jesus proved was the excellence of the soul which is the earnest of divine sovereignty of soul. Life of the vile body cannot let go "I will" So when the pomp and circumstance of the king of Tyre wants to impose his will he proves to whom he holds affinity. His will worship sets him as the son of perdition. "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire./Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (Ez.28:14-16; "I will be like the most High./Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell."-Is.14:14-15)
God made man a living soul, and the life is what the Word become flesh made manifest. Humility of Jesus set at nought his own body after the likeness of men. So redemption of one's soul has only single way into the kingdom of God. "I am the Way" Ph.2:5-9)
"Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?/ Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
God breathed into the nostrils of man and made him a living soul. The Gospel of St Mark sets his sights on the Gospel with the Son of man in the glory of his Father with his holy angels.So emphasis is on nations, of light and of the darkness. Nation of Israel and of the Gentiles are besides the point.
The healing of the blind was a case in point. He would be taken apart from Bethsaida, a disbelieving town as Jesus joining his disciples in the ship was a signal to calm the seas. Similarly as with the symbolism of the house, the vessel was separate from the boisterous sea, a metaphor for the wicked world. The blindness of the man shall be only cleared when he saw the holy angels as men set apart in the world of the Spirit. Breath of God is the expression of the eternal word so his divine will is a sign for the truth set in his inward parts. Soul is the inner man for which he is accountable to Him.
In the night vision of Daniel the Spirit refers to the Son"and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven." One like the Son of man considering it was a night vision we can be certain that we are looking at the everlasting covenant when "the judgment was set, and the books were opened."(Dan.7:11,13). The Gospel sets with the generation of Jesus Christ those who are his and those who rejected it as belonging 'in this adulterous and sinful generation'. So predestination merely refers to the calling and we who are his, are warned to make our calling and election sure.
Jesus would yet preach in Bethesda so his obedience to the Word overrode everything else. "woe unto thee, Bethsaida!,"(Matt.11:21-22)
That's a good question. I have heard many different speculations. Recently, during COVID, many people felt that getting vaccines was connected with the mark of the beast. I did some research on verse 18 for the number 666 and this is what I found.
1. Biblical numbers have meaning. So the number 7 is "good" and represent completion. 6 is less than 7, so it represents imperfection. The 6 is tripled "666" so the mark of the beast is gross imperfection. Basically, it symbolizes an organization ( maybe an entity) that represents man's fall from God's glory.
2. The beats is in opposition to God and Jesus. Those that support organizations, thoughts, and ideas that oppose God and his word would have the "mark" of the beast. ( Revelation 19:19-21) So what I understood, is that the mark is not a literal mark, but a symbolic mark. Afterall, I don't believe I have ever seen anyone with a divine "666" mark placed on them.
Good Question. I hope I added something to the discussion.
While studying the significance of the command numbers Twelve and Seven respectively their place in the body of Scriptures is to fix the role of the Son as the heir of all things and the Son of man who is the Word become flesh. It is in the latter role whose humanity sets the doctrine of God as the good news since he died and rose again. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."(He.2:9). So he appointed the twelve in obedience to the Word who was with God.( John 1:1). By healing two, where twelve years are a reminder of the word of God stated in Ge.6:3. As the Word become flesh he obeyed the word of God. Similarly when virtue went out Jesus it was the Spirit's way of reminding that he was anointed for his ministry. He was the Servant-Messiah, fulfilling what was spoken of him by the prophets, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."(Matt.8:17)
For this reason the Spirit gives us the number of baskets as twelve, which serves as a testimony to God. "And they did all eat, and were filled./And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes."(vv.42-43)
The Holy Spirit tags the entities who made the everlasting covenant as the Father and the Son. Of the latter John says,"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made./In him was life; and the life was the light of men."(John1:3-4). Fulfilling the divine Will of the Father we have the tag Seven which is Perfect number. Seven provisions in the covenant therefore are seven days. Thus when the angel warns "for the hour of his judgment is come" the hour is set in heaven and it is not as we count earth time. Ministry of Jesus is from heaven so what role did all the prophets until John did? ( Luke 16:16)
"And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;"(v.7)
This number is constant and it broadly signifies the gospel. When God sent forth his word it signaled the good news of fellowship where all are invited in his Son. So 3x4 makes up the command number. For this reason when Judas Iscariot left the original twelve it necessitated choosing one to fell into the breach. "Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." Besides those who were assembled in the number were multiples of 12."12x10 clues us in what bonded them, - it was the word, the peace which the Lord had left them with, -or the presence of the Lord, the word is set down by the command number (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)"Ac.1:26,15; John 14:27).
This gospel outreach was in the divine Will when he appointed a day for the Son with the emblem, the slain Lamb before the foundation of the world(Re.13:8) Pre-eminence of Jesus Christ was established in heaven and on the earth and the lower parts. So the Four and twenty elders (8x3) are as memorial before the throne of God. This significance we see in the multiplying of loaves in vv.37-43. "And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes." These baskets are memorial of his ministry.
In the preceding chapter Mark prepares us with the number 12. The woman with the issue of blood and the daughter of Jairus are both tagged by the number 12. Jesus commanded the word "Talitha cumi" and was in keeping with the divine Will.(Ps.107:20; 5:41) "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years," Her faith completed the divine Will and the healing. What connected her with Christ while she was among a throng? His virtue went out to establish that he was Christ. How a believer can deny the truth? "Thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." (Ps.45:7)
Mystery of heaven or of the earth is not in itself but is in the Son. Mystery of his Father was in his Will and consequently it as the unseen world was made to appear. God framed the worlds by his world and this mystery can only be explained by what is made to appear. (He.11:3). This being the case the Spirit gives us this line, " If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."(v.23). The key is faith, nothing else. So Jesus employed parables mystery of the kingdom of God can only be opened by faith and enter therein with the help of the Son. All other vain exercises, are temporal and not from God. So the world and how the system works so any fool may aspire to the highest office and sit there is temporal. "while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."(2 Co.4:18) So when we saw a dictator like Joseph Stalin striding like a Colossus for some 30 years, there was this mystery of divine Will also at work. Having caused some 20 million deaths he went out like a flesh. What was he but a flash in the pan! What is seen is temporal. Crooks fools innocents saints and all, have had their day. But the earth abides forever because the mystery of the Will is in lockstep with the Son fulfilling it. It is to this the key text refers. "He (man) knoweth not how./For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." It is as deep calls unto the deep.
In an astonishing cosmic cycle that occurs every 2.4 million years, Mars' gravitational pull is shifting Earth's path around the sun, warming its climate and increasing vigorous deep ocean circulation, according to a new study published a week ago in the journal Nature Communications. God is in charge, for sure. So nations beat the drum, instead of joy what it brings, destruction! The Soviet empire collapsed within 8 decades.
Jesus was ever dutiful Son who would while hanging on the cross entrusted the care of his mother to John, "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!/Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."( John 19:26-27). By literal approach how false teachers consistently strip passages of their pith and serve the husks instead. This is one example. Covenant between God and Man entrusts man with His creation and does he care?
God had prepared a worm as he a great fish to instruct Prophet Jonah. At the end of the book He tells Jonah,"And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?"( Jonah 4:11) Family of man is incomplete without this same care for His creation. The Four beasts in heaven is a memorial.
Pilgrims in 1630 settled in the Americas to make a New Canaan. However it was like sewing old garment to the new in the manner the divine Will was shortchanged. Salt crystal is made up of chlorine and sodium which by themselves have their distinctive characteristics. Sodium is metal, and corrosive while chlorine is a gas and poisonous. How billions of these atoms are precisely arranged by force keeping the formation gives the table salt its savor. In the manner culture wars have dogged the country tells making a family or nation without fulfilling the will of the Father is a non-starter. "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles."(2:22)
Jesus says to the Samaritan woman "God is Spirit" Jn. 4:24.
This means that God is not just "a" spirit being, like angels. But He is pure Spirit. He is ALL Spirit, without components or parts.
Some say He is "simple" in this way, not made up of parts that He must derive outside of Himself. He is all of His attributes, they are not "things' that He possesses. He is Love, Power, Life, etc.
It is difficult for us who are material creatures to imagine what God is like in this, His "aseity" (what He is in essence)
How beautifully "OTHER" He is than any beings He created.
Also, the Holy Spirit is God, a distinct person in the Godhead along with the Father and the Spirit. He is spoken of as having a will, thoughts, can speak, pray, be grieved, be lied to, can regenerate, sanctify, and convict; teach, resurrect, and cause conception. He indwells, believers and the Father and the Son. He unites believers to God. He is not the Father, nor the Son, but has all the attributes of God and of a distinct person who has all of the divine nature fully.
Is. 19:20 says that God will send a savior and defender. ad God identifies the Savior as the Holy One of Israel ( a name of God) in Is. 43:3. In 43:11 God says that apart from Him there is NO Savior. Also Hos. 13:4
God calls Himself Savior in Is. 45:21; 49:26; 60:16. Jesus is called the Savior of the world John 4:42; Acts 5:31; 13:23, 1 Tim. 4:10,
the Father sent the Son to as Savior ( 1 Jn. 4:14)
and Jude 1:25 says that Jesus our only God and Savior and He should be glorified and honored the SAME as the Father who is God ( Jn. 5:23) thus claiming equality with the Father. (also see Jn. 5:18; Jn. 10: 30-38; 8:58)
So, in light of these truths of Scripture, It is fact that God alone is our Savior, and the Father sent His Divine Son into the world to save sinners.
Hallelujah! Because every human that has ever lived needs to be saved from their sins, and Jesus, God the Son, is this Savior, and no mere man can save anyone.
When I consider that the righteousness of Jesus is the righteousness of God lived out in the incarnation of His Son, then I am awed by how great must be the pure and holy way Jesus lived on this earth in His lifetime here. He must have stood out among all other people because NO ONE could lay any charge against Him of wrongdoing or ill-will or disobedience to God or offense against any man. he was completely and divinely pure and holy, without any taint of sin, no corruption of soul, no part of his human nature in rebellion against His Father or divine nature. In Him was perfect harmony of God and man without any conflict or dissonance. He as altogether righteous and because He was God in the flesh, His righteousness was infinitely immense enough to cover the sins of every person who every lived or will live.
We can know that all of our own sin can be covered by His righteousness and that His perfect sacrifice was infinitely sufficient to save my from my sins, death, hell, and the devil. His righteousness provides me with justification before God and awards me salvation and eternal life with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. What a priceless treasure and gift God has given us. he gave us Himself. Hallelujah!
Mt. 1:23 quotes Is 7:14 as being fulfilled in Jesus. He is "Emmanuel, God with us"
John 20:28 Thomas calls Jesus, "My Lord and my God" and Jesus did not tell Thomas that that was NOT true.
1Peter 1:1 says our righteousness comes from God, and it comes to us in Jesus our Savior. The righteousness
of Jesus is the righteousness of God because He is God.
Is. 9:6 says that Jesus is the "Mighty God"
Rev.1: Jesus says that He is the "Almighty"
Col. 2:9-10 says that in Jesus the fulness of the Godhead dwelled bodily. He is Emmanuel, God with us. God revealed bodily.
Jesus is worshipped by believers (only God is to be worshipped) and Jesus accepted this worship.
Mt. 2:1-2 (by the magi)
Mt. 28:8-9, 17 (by the apostles)
In Rev.5:13 we read of the worship of God in heaven. Both the Father and the Lamb (Jesus) are given worship and it is said that this worship is to be given to both forever.
it is important for us to realize that only God is righteous enough to be our Redeemer, and that He became man in order that his holy blood could be shed for us as a sacrifice. No other blood would cleanse but the blood of God the Son. In His divinity, God has no blood because the divine nature is Spirit, but in His humanity as God in the flesh, He had divine blood to shed.
Jesus is the most unique person in all of creation and in God's transcendent realm, being both God and man in one person.
I have heard this quote often, don't know the author, but it is worth pondering (this is not a direct quote)
If Jesus is not God, then there is no Christianity and those who worship Jesus are nothing but idolaters. But if He is God, then those who deny He is God are blasphemers in the worst sense of the word, because they believe in another Jesus than what Scripture presents to us.
God's Word is truth. He revealed Himself to mankind in Scriptures so that we can know the truth about Him: what He is in His divine nature and who He is in His Persons.
Luke and Matthew also give the context and the quote, "And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."( Luke 6:5;12:8) The everlasting covenant is between two equals so the eternal word is the Law backed by the kingdom of the Father. In case of faith we have the basis of these two worlds (He.11:3) which we shall leave aside for the moment. What are the equal entities here? They are Power on the part of God Wisdom on the part of Man. St Paul separates Man as the Lord of heaven, from man who is the earthy. "The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven."(1 Co.15:47-48)
When Jesus was born of woman his deity was never in jeopardy since he is the Word become flesh and sent with the divine Mandate. ( John 3:16)
When Jesus spoke "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" it is this Word was God it refers.( John 1:1; 5:17-23)
Speaking of the context Mark 2:24 we have the Pharisees questioning "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him."
Next point of Sabbath is that the day Seven. God has decree the day which touches his Alpha Omega aspect. " I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee./Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."(Ps.2:7-8) There is no sanctity for observing Sabbath without the Son element incorporated in our lives. This heresy has arisen because the Christians interpret the word of God literally and assume it is the seventh day of a week. It is an error. It is thus approaching the Bible with out the aid of the Spirit. John's epistle speaks of those who have the Son has also the Father.
OK getting back to my postings about God's attributes:
"R" GOD IS RIGHTEOUS
He always does what is good and right. He never deviates from being sinless. He always thinks, says, and does everything righteously from pure and holy motives. There is no shadow of "darkness" in Him as to evil. His righteousness is far above whatever righteousness man can perform because even our righteousness is tainted by sin.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" In all of history, there has never been and strictly human person who is sinless. so, there has never been a strictly human person who is able to save himself from the condemnation of sin let alone anyone else.
Because of the complete and utter fallenness of mankind, there can be no redeemer from among humanity. There is no one whose righteousness is so pure and complete to be efficacious for the removal of God's judgment upon ALL of mankind.
It takes the righteousness of God to save mankind and God determined that his righteousness would come to save mankind by His divine Son becoming a man, righteous in every way, since He is God and cannot be unrighteous, and dying as our sacrifice.
The divine Son of God was incarnated, as John says in John 1:1, 14, ad became man for our sake. As God said in the OT, it is God alone who is Savior (Is 43:1, 11; 45;21; Hos 13:4) therefore, Jesus is God who is our Savior. If He is not God, then He is not our Savior because no strictly human man can save anyone. It is God who saves, who, though God the Son, took on human flesh and nature to be the only Kinsmen Redeemer who can take a way our sin, be a perfect, worthy, and more than sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and to be able to bear the complete wrath of God for mankind for all their sins. No mere human can do that,
In Titus 2:13 Jesus is called our "Great God and Savior"
What is the meaning of created? Does it mean something that is made out of nothing? I would have to say no, Jesus is the Son of God who was conceived in the womb of Mary, Matthew 1:20Luke 1:35, I do not think I would say He was created.
If so, when did He come into existence?
In God's plan before anything and physically when He was conceived in Mary's womb.
Do you believe that the Son is only human in nature?
Jesus is the Son of God fully human but without sin same as the first Adam, Scripture is clear when Jesus was baptized, He was anointed with the Holy Ghost/Spirit without measure, John 3:34. All the works of Jesus were done by the Spirit of God, Matthew 4:16Matthew 12:28Acts 10:38.
Do you believe that Jesus became "the Christ" during His lifetime (Adoptionism)?
I had never heard of Adoptionism until now, I had to look it up, it's false. Christ and Messiah are the same; Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of God after He was baptized by John, He then was made the Messiah/Christ fulfilling the prophecy in Daniel 9:25. Jesus is the Son of God conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Ghost/Spirit.
Do you believe Jesus ever aquired a divine nature in His earthly life?
If you mean a divine nature is to have all the attributes that make God who He is I would have to say no. If so, Jesus could not sin or be tempted, Matthew 4:1Hebrews 4:15. If so, Jesus living a perfect life without sin is meaningless. Jesus could not have died; Jesus was given the power of the Holy Spirit when He was anointed the Messiah. After He rose from the dead God gave Jesus all power in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28:18. God raised and placed Jesus on His right side, Ephesians 1:21-23. Jesus did not return to where He was before, God the Father placed everything under Jesus God's only begotten Son's feet and Jesus will reign until the last enemy is destroyed, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.
So why would a true believer not want to believe in the Trinity? We know God the Father, our creator. We know Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, God Himself becoming incarnate as man so He could shed His divine blood for the salvation of mankind. We know the Holy Spirit, the fire that came to the Church so she can be wholly sanctified so the Bride can make Herself ready for the Marriage to Her precious Groom, the Lamb of God. A Bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, including the sin nature we are born with. All of it gone because Jesus isn't going to marry a grimy bride.
God is God so if He is all three in one, then He is. It is very plainly seen in the scripture for any child of God who rightly divides the word of God, which, I don't believe means arguing about His sovereignty. God Bless :)
I wish to enter this conversation with you even though we have discussed together this topic in other past converstations. I hope you do not mind.
In regards to the doctrine of the triune nature of God, several questions come to my mind.
Is God and has He always been one solitary person?
Before creation was He always and only alone, without anyone to love?
Did Jesus exist before creation? Did the Holy Spirit exist before creation?
If so, who were they in relation to the Father?
How did the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all create all that is, seen or unseen?
What does Scripture say about these questions?
Does Scripture teach that God is only one person who manifest in three forms, but all these manifestations are only one person?
(Modalism)
For those who do not believe in the triune nature of God (three persons that share equally one divine nature) I would like answers to these questions. Since you have declared you to be non-trinitarian maybe you can give me your views in answer to these questions in this post.
Do you believe the Son is a created being?
I so, when did He come into existence?
Do you believe that the Son is only human in nature?
Do you believe that Jesus became "the Christ" during His lifetime (Adptionism)?
Do you believe Jesus ever aquired a divine nature in His earthly life?
Do you believe that the will of the Father and the will of the Son are always the same or different?
Do you believe at a human being can truly save all men from sin and death by a perfect life in their own will?
How would a human being know that they are the Messiah from birth and thus know not to ever sin?
Do you believe that Jesus lived a sinless life?
Do you believe that the Father and the Son are one as Jesus said in Jn. 17 or that He and the Father are "in" one another and if they see Jesus, they see the Father?
How is it that Jesus AND the Father send the Holy Spirit if there is only one person as God?
" Genesis 1:26 many apply the Trinity to this verse but then we must ignore verse 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. This could also easily be first-person plural." No it is not. "
I, God changeth not"(Mal.3:6) Neither does He give his glory to another. Ge.1: 27 says " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Ge. 1 refers to the MOU or the everlasting covenant between God the Father and God the Son. Thus the Will of God in v.26 and the Son completes it. "It was so" at the end of each day is as though the Son in agreement.(v.7)
The v.28 God blesses them (man). The covenant is between God and Man. In primary sense it is man say Adam. In secondary sense it is set down by the Holy Ghost in terms of God as Being as well as in terms Christ and the Church.
As Being what is God? He is one. ("Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"-De.6:4) Jesus Christ as the visible image of the invisible God is both glory as well as body in Trinity. The Father Son and Holy Spirit are not considered separate entities but manifestations of the same Being. The Son of man expresses the Word become flesh. Similarly the Word was God. The same Spirit but expressed as separate. Jesus did not require baptism by water but in obedience to the Word and in human likeness he undertook so in all things he was as human as you and me.
When we say that the scriptures must be fulfilled Jesus in his humanity met the criteria. The third office in Trinity serves by bringing events, persons connect according to the divine Will. He therefore brought Evangelist Philip to meet the Ethiopian. The entire scripture is organized on a reconstituted time.
"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;/And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me."(vv.9-10)
Here St Matthew refers to a quote from the book of Zechariah. In order to give them its proper context we shall consider the v.10. "And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.' This covenant with Israel refers to the Law of Moses. Beauty symbolic sign for Jesus ("For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"- Luke 23:31) In cutting off the Son they were repudiating the covenant and God. Jeremiah then smashing the potter's vessel at the east gate in Je.19 was a public event. Now the crucifixion was going to be a public event.
The inspired writing of the Evangelist did not err, an example of which we have seen in the preceding chapter. The verse"that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" referred both Isaiah and Zechariah.(26:56) The Spirit presented the potter's vessel as a sign for the Son and where Prophet Jeremiah had begun we have Prophet Zechariah leading to the field, which in general sense signifies the whole land. "The land is mine" and the divine potter "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."(Je.18:6)
"And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goat."
It is remarkable that there is a time appointed and several other events also should occur in conjunction with it. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:"(v.31) The cloud of witnesses come into their own because the apotheosis of Jesus Christ means the emblem which was in the divine Will of the Father has become the throne of glory. The slain Lamb before the foundation of the world was an emblem. (Re.13:8). Right hand of the most high mentioned in the epistle to the Hebrews is no long determined by left or right but by the throne. "My Father and I are one" Jesus said in his humanity. It also shall be established. Thus we have the Throne of God and of the Lamb.(Re.22:1)
Jesus promised his disciples, "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me." While he delivered the doctrine of his Father against the backdrop of 'a mountain' as witness he stated, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(5:3; Luke 22:29). All the promises of God are yea in the Son. We are looking at the Alpha and Omega aspect of the Son so the word spoken before the worlds establish the beginning and in him was fulfilled in every case. Similarly God blessed us before the worlds began. (Ep.1:3-4) The holy angels in v.31 refer to what St Paul refers," According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." We have been held in the Alpha aspect from the beginning. Because we endured with him in his temptations we have set throne. " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(5:10; 1 Pe.5:10)
" Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
The driver is "faith" which activates his body, spirit and soul and when God breathed into the nostrils of man so no one may say he is an exception. The parable of the foolish virgins inform their failure was in quenching the spirit, the oil in their lamps. Without trimming the wick and all other motions are waste of time. Either they replenished their store or let it go waste. They were like the unprofitable servant who simply did not put the one talent he was entrusted with, to work for the glory of his Lord. The wise virgins gathered with the Lord were blessed to be found ready. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."(13:12)
The bride hath made herself ready. The bride is distinct from the five foolish virgins who shall be shut out from the joy in heaven. "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us./But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. "(vv.11-12) "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."(Re.19:7)
Either Or is rooted in the very first separation. "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." (Ge.1:4) Based on this your labor in your field or at home shall not deliver you. Jesus refers to the antediluvian world
" But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
But selection shall follow the divine Will (Ge.1:4)
"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left./ Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left./ Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."(24:37-42)
Jesus refers to his coming at the end of v.28. The Spirit inserts the outbreak of the Tribulation which has been going before we have in v.30 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." This narrative mode of Parenthesis we have seen in other places, for example in the vision of Daniel, we have one week isolated from the Seventy Weeks. (9:24-27). We shall come to that anon.
The point is the east and west mentioned in v.27 is with reference of cardinal direction while Judgment in the Spirit's parlance is with regards to divine Judgment. Pride of Satan said,"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north."(Is.14:13). God raises the Gentile nations from the north to punish Israel. (Je.1:14). "The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit" who would kill the two witnesses, spiritually is labeled as the son of perdition. The lament over the king of Tyre sets him as another son of perdition. "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God." (Ez.28:13-15)"Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." The fallen man is a son of perdition and king of Tyre and so many of his ilk belong to the Gentile nations. Pride is the DNA of the beast while Jesus revealed humility and faith proved he was the Son of God.
"But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (8:23-27)When Jesus stilled the storm it was a proof that the Lord has set his throne over the floods."So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."(Is.59:19) This is the sign Jesus is referring to.
"Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers." Here we can understand the world of the body is a closed system where law of sin run through the whole lump of flesh and blood, so being 'woke and cancel culture' are merely BandAid that nation applies to a sepulcher of the past. Statues erected to commemorate men of yesteryears fall in disrepute but fighting the past is only to clear the way for those who shall be thrown down in future. Thus man fights the phantoms of the past. The real culprit is the law of sin.
The Don Quixotes who tilt at the windmills are themselves "whited sepulchers,"and as such Jesus observes,"Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity"(vv.27-28).
St Paul writes of being born again. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new./And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ."(2 Co.5:17-18). What is this new creation but brought out of the world of the flesh to the everlasting life. Father of mercies accepted us in his Son. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:/Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."(Col.1:12-13).
Despite of this liberty if man would prefer darkness what shall we call them. They are enemies to Christ. Jesus denounced the Pharisees and scribes and it applies in our times as well. Their culture wars shall continue since they have by rejecting the prince of life has rejected the wisdom that Jesus Christ of God signifies to us. (1 Co.1:30)
v.33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption(2 Pe.1: 4)
"Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ./But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant./And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
Jesus as he delivered the doctrine of his Father he had as a man no place to lay his head. But God chose him as the Savior of the whole world. His holiness is founded not any world seen or in externals but on an quality, which is the DNA of the Father Son relationship. Faith is accordingly based on the Word which is eternal, and is the Law. He assured that his Father would never let go his divine nature. " Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"(6:26) 'Behold' in this verse tells man to think of the word as already sent out and it is as good as done. So faith is what man would require as His children to take a lesson from the fowls. Similarly ants. Their worlds are organized vastly different from what we have devised so faith exercised by them no less true that we understand the term. Faith is one as the Gospel is. Holiness of God covers His creation.
Jesus set an example with his life so at every turn we read that at Bethphage he sent out for his carriage, "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,/Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass."(21:4-5). His itinerary had been set even before the worlds began so word concerning would never change. Faith is thus serves every believer so there is no Master servant considerations to go into. He is sent exactly as he sent his disciples and everything concerning their ministry is thus arranged so any conditions demanded would be inappropriate.
Sermon on the Mount was an occasion for Jesus for presenting the doctrine of God. The emblem mentioned in 5:1 served as the witness. "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples."
Blessedness was the portion for the multitudes and his disciples which was stipulated in the everlasting covenant. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."(2 Pe.1:4) Blessedness allowed access to be partakers of the holiness of God to which he was the way. Now what Jesus presented was condemnation for those who refused to receive him.
It explains also the significance of the number of the beast. 666 applied to the tripartite nature of man whose body, spirit and soul resisting the day sanctified by God. This day was by a decree, the everlasting covenant, to his Son. The Pharisees and chief priest engaged in talk with him in order to trip him up than receive the good news gladly.
It was to a multitude Simon Peter preached the good news and their response was,"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"(Ac.2:6,37-40) They heard the word of salvation,"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."(v.41)
The Spirit gives us an additional clue, where Command Number Three refers to the Son.(Three Thousand refers to number of souls saved in that day as the basis for the founding of the church age.)
Doctrine of Jesus stated, " But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant."(23:11) The Pharisees and the scribes instead sit in Moses' seat, "And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues." Are we in our times any better?
Part 1
Even though there is a distinction between the children of God and the children of the world the scripture says to be kind to all men. Galatians 6:10.
However, we're not all Brothern.
John 1:11-12 says "He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the "sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"
Jesus also said in Matthew 12:50 "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Ephesians 2:19 states Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
So, there is a clear distinction in scripture between God's children and those who haven't received him.
1 John 3:9-10 covers this well, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
"Sons of God" emphasizes a natural, internal relationship with God rather than an external adoption. Becoming God's children involves a real change and transformation, not just a change in title or position. We partake in the divine nature.
All people are not naturally God's children. We must be born again through faith in Christ to become God's children.
This separates us from Adam.
We are now joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:14-17 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
See part 2
Having wiped out my last posting AGAIN by pushing the wrong button I will have more to say perhaps later regarding devotionals.
I thought I would shift gears and discuss Catechisms. I expect many know that a Catechism is a sort of reciting of a Doctrinal Statement.
Let's be honest here; although maybe it's just me...such studies can often be the most BORING ones we undertake and if someone is really not a believer it could in my opinion do more harm then good even if it is a scripturally solid one. The first thing of course we must investigate is; when considering becoming a church member in particular is are there any issues that jump out to us that we cannot believe or are unwilling to be dogmatic about? I am from a Protestant and primarily Reformed background; and generally ascribe to things in the Heidelburg confession; for instance. That being said; for whatever reason the designation exist; I find the term "DIVINES" for those who came up with certain Reformed confessions as being a repulsive term. I have shown evidence in the past of certain behaviors among Calvin and Luthor; no matter how critical they were for getting back to "Sola Scriptura" and concepts of Predestination that I don't care to mention them as examples to follow and say instead that they brought out scriptural truths such as are found in the book of John in particular as to God calling and choosing people the Son would reveal Himself to. Such a concept saturates many chapters in John in particular but is found in many other places in scripture. We don't find the term "total depravity" in scripture but there are many places where it says man can do no good and his good works are as "filthy rags" ( Isaiah 64:6).
I mentioned in an earlier post that the Orthodox Presbyterian church (OPC) that existed in Pittsburgh before folding allowed me to be a member but not of full standing as to my take on infant Baptism. We shoudn't rush membership.
In a bullet point presentation I would list things something like this in regard to this subject.
1. Do not regard scripture as just good literature; or as one of many sources of truth. As C.S. Lewis pointed out Christ Himself can only be taken as a liar; a madman or telling the truth. (from Mere Christianity: actually stated as Christ being the Devil Himself rather than a liar because of His claims to be Divine). What this does not mean is that you can't find certain elements of truth in other writings and/or religions. The SOURCE of all truth is in the Bible; but it doesn't mean that elements common to human understanding can't be replicated elsewhere. It also doesn't mean that corroborating facts can't be found elsewhere (such as in Macabees) that explain missing time periods or further explains things such as further details in genealogies; or the history of kings and empires. But the unique claims of truth in scripture are clear enough; there is no wiggle room for other religions which are called out as false with no uncertain terms.
2. Don't think you can figure out how to understand God's ways or Christ's salvation on your own understanding. Proverbs 14:12 warns about what seems right to a man leading to death. Someone can presume to follow the basic concepts in the Sermon on the Mount such as the "Golden rule" about doing unto others. In reality; however no one can love their enemies in their own strength or selflessly serve as our Lord did. To see God clearly we must realize that there is enmity between God an us (see Isaiah 59:1-2 and many other passages on this). If there was any other way; God would not have to send His Son to die on the cross to save His creation (man) from eternal damnation.
3. We can't explain away miracles due to natural circumstances from the Bible. There were some things unique to Christ such as forgiveness of sin; and control over nature.
The Gospel of St Mark is especial for the reason that the life of Jesus is set as the validation of the Messianic prophecies, for instance the divine Will,"Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies,"(Ps.110:1-3). Accordingly God has prepared everything to augur success in his ministry which is to be accomplished both in his humanity but also in heaven. Consequently his entry into Jerusalem is designated as a triumphal entry. At the heart of his ministry is the eternal word. So the evangelist piles up several instances underpinning the assertion of Jesus," Before Abraham was, I am." . We shall study this chapter from this angle.
"And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him." Jesus sent two disciples to Bethphage and the colt was to be found 'in a place where two ways met,' This resonates in his affirmation "I am the way". The colt has never been tried on and it has been reserved for the master's service. The mention of the door evokes the saying of the Good Shepherd. "I am the door."( John 10:7,9)
St Mark informs us in.v.11 that he went to the temple first time and saw for himself and second visit was to cleanse the temple itself. (vv.15-17) This runs parallel with his own advent and he shall slay the wicked when he appears second time. ("and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."-Is.11:3-4;Re.19:15) Only Mark gives two visits to the temple foreshadowing two Advents where the second is as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
In vv.13-14 we have Jesus cursing the fig tree. Only Mark gives this,"and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet." Is it out of sync with rest of the narrative?
God made his Son in charge "And every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Ge.1:28)
"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." (v.6) God is love is a facet of holiness of God. When God breathed into the nostrils of man there was no need for spelling out holiness as such. In his breath all that were needful for his life and godliness was impressed as a candle is lit by another. Quality of light sets both giver and the given on the same stand,- Holiness made it so natural so love of man so learned did not carry any other feeling than was impressed. By the same token in loving the world God made love Person specific. ( John 3:16)
Male and female he created them is with reference to the holiness so love has a body as a candle has and it is quality also speaks about love of two bodies maintain a common purpose. The Spirit presents the House with seven pillars as a body built by Wisdom, which is a feminine principle.(Pr.9:1)God a Spirit is Power dovetailing into Wisdom is how the Spirit presents the divine Holiness. By the same token his Son has a body which is the Word become God loved the world therefore it must be seen and the heat thereof must be felt throughout. In due time God sent Jesus Christ as the true light. While he presented the doctrine of his Father it had to be out in the open fulfilling the saying, "Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?"(4:21).
"Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away./And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept."(vv.4-5) Compare with what John says," In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."( John 1:1) Because of the hardness of heart Moses allowed man put away, which is like the candle put under the bed. Jesus refers to it as adultery of one against the other.
"And in the house" Jesus explained it in terms of the Law of the Spirit. (Matt.19:9-11)
Mark states the principle of Association which is in an altered from than what is presented by St Matthew. "And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them," Jesus sets a child representing the twelve and St Matthew presents the principle accordingly, before he sent them to preach, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." (Matt.10:40). Jesus taking the child in his arms is how we are set in his hands so both Gospels are referring the selfsame idea. In terms of the quality God set his name every other name because he was a child in his obedience. Putting on the mind of Christ is therefore proving your parentage. At the mount of Transfiguration he received the testimony of his Father, "And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him."(v.7). The earth and the fulness thereof belong to God which makes all things in heaven and on earth by him consist. "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." therefore is not to be measured by earthly time but as set forth in the divine Will. As the Word which was from the beginning ( John 1:1) it pleased God that in him should all Fullness dwell.
"And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus."(v.4) Demonstrative of this we have Moses and Elias meeting Jesus at the mount. Before the Advent of Jesus they were sent as stand in for him and while at the mount their roles are reversed! It is how the two worlds of the Spirit and of the flesh and blood revolve about a stationary point of the Son and of the Son of man. Now we shall understand why Jesus said, in vv.38-39. His disciples did not have this 360 degree view while Jesus understood his name before which all knees should bow (Ph.2:5-9) rose above their partisan spirit. They still had a long way to go .
"And how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought." (v.12)
This key verse shall explain this saying of Jesus. It also tells how vital was for the multitude that he called them as well as his disciples, so it goes to the very core of the kingdom of God. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it./For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"(8:34-36). For my sake and for the gospel's sake is distinct from the Son for whom 'this day' is decreed. (Ps.2:7) So the gospel and the Word become flesh, the Son of man fulfills the provision of 'the seven days' in the everlasting covenant.
What God has sanctified covers the body of Christ and the duration of which is 'this day'. God was from the beginning and the Word was with him. Because of Adam and his disobedience sin entered into the world so with obedience what Jesus proved was the excellence of the soul which is the earnest of divine sovereignty of soul. Life of the vile body cannot let go "I will" So when the pomp and circumstance of the king of Tyre wants to impose his will he proves to whom he holds affinity. His will worship sets him as the son of perdition. "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire./Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (Ez.28:14-16; "I will be like the most High./Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell."-Is.14:14-15)
God made man a living soul, and the life is what the Word become flesh made manifest. Humility of Jesus set at nought his own body after the likeness of men. So redemption of one's soul has only single way into the kingdom of God. "I am the Way" Ph.2:5-9)
"Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?/ Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
God breathed into the nostrils of man and made him a living soul. The Gospel of St Mark sets his sights on the Gospel with the Son of man in the glory of his Father with his holy angels.So emphasis is on nations, of light and of the darkness. Nation of Israel and of the Gentiles are besides the point.
The healing of the blind was a case in point. He would be taken apart from Bethsaida, a disbelieving town as Jesus joining his disciples in the ship was a signal to calm the seas. Similarly as with the symbolism of the house, the vessel was separate from the boisterous sea, a metaphor for the wicked world. The blindness of the man shall be only cleared when he saw the holy angels as men set apart in the world of the Spirit. Breath of God is the expression of the eternal word so his divine will is a sign for the truth set in his inward parts. Soul is the inner man for which he is accountable to Him.
In the night vision of Daniel the Spirit refers to the Son"and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven." One like the Son of man considering it was a night vision we can be certain that we are looking at the everlasting covenant when "the judgment was set, and the books were opened."(Dan.7:11,13). The Gospel sets with the generation of Jesus Christ those who are his and those who rejected it as belonging 'in this adulterous and sinful generation'. So predestination merely refers to the calling and we who are his, are warned to make our calling and election sure.
Jesus would yet preach in Bethesda so his obedience to the Word overrode everything else. "woe unto thee, Bethsaida!,"(Matt.11:21-22)
1. Biblical numbers have meaning. So the number 7 is "good" and represent completion. 6 is less than 7, so it represents imperfection. The 6 is tripled "666" so the mark of the beast is gross imperfection. Basically, it symbolizes an organization ( maybe an entity) that represents man's fall from God's glory.
2. The beats is in opposition to God and Jesus. Those that support organizations, thoughts, and ideas that oppose God and his word would have the "mark" of the beast. ( Revelation 19:19-21) So what I understood, is that the mark is not a literal mark, but a symbolic mark. Afterall, I don't believe I have ever seen anyone with a divine "666" mark placed on them.
Good Question. I hope I added something to the discussion.
While studying the significance of the command numbers Twelve and Seven respectively their place in the body of Scriptures is to fix the role of the Son as the heir of all things and the Son of man who is the Word become flesh. It is in the latter role whose humanity sets the doctrine of God as the good news since he died and rose again. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."(He.2:9). So he appointed the twelve in obedience to the Word who was with God.( John 1:1). By healing two, where twelve years are a reminder of the word of God stated in Ge.6:3. As the Word become flesh he obeyed the word of God. Similarly when virtue went out Jesus it was the Spirit's way of reminding that he was anointed for his ministry. He was the Servant-Messiah, fulfilling what was spoken of him by the prophets, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."(Matt.8:17)
For this reason the Spirit gives us the number of baskets as twelve, which serves as a testimony to God. "And they did all eat, and were filled./And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes."(vv.42-43)
The Holy Spirit tags the entities who made the everlasting covenant as the Father and the Son. Of the latter John says,"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made./In him was life; and the life was the light of men."(John1:3-4). Fulfilling the divine Will of the Father we have the tag Seven which is Perfect number. Seven provisions in the covenant therefore are seven days. Thus when the angel warns "for the hour of his judgment is come" the hour is set in heaven and it is not as we count earth time. Ministry of Jesus is from heaven so what role did all the prophets until John did? ( Luke 16:16)
"And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;"(v.7)
This number is constant and it broadly signifies the gospel. When God sent forth his word it signaled the good news of fellowship where all are invited in his Son. So 3x4 makes up the command number. For this reason when Judas Iscariot left the original twelve it necessitated choosing one to fell into the breach. "Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." Besides those who were assembled in the number were multiples of 12."12x10 clues us in what bonded them, - it was the word, the peace which the Lord had left them with, -or the presence of the Lord, the word is set down by the command number (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)"Ac.1:26,15; John 14:27).
This gospel outreach was in the divine Will when he appointed a day for the Son with the emblem, the slain Lamb before the foundation of the world(Re.13:8) Pre-eminence of Jesus Christ was established in heaven and on the earth and the lower parts. So the Four and twenty elders (8x3) are as memorial before the throne of God. This significance we see in the multiplying of loaves in vv.37-43. "And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes." These baskets are memorial of his ministry.
In the preceding chapter Mark prepares us with the number 12. The woman with the issue of blood and the daughter of Jairus are both tagged by the number 12. Jesus commanded the word "Talitha cumi" and was in keeping with the divine Will.(Ps.107:20; 5:41) "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years," Her faith completed the divine Will and the healing. What connected her with Christ while she was among a throng? His virtue went out to establish that he was Christ. How a believer can deny the truth? "Thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." (Ps.45:7)
Mystery of heaven or of the earth is not in itself but is in the Son. Mystery of his Father was in his Will and consequently it as the unseen world was made to appear. God framed the worlds by his world and this mystery can only be explained by what is made to appear. (He.11:3). This being the case the Spirit gives us this line, " If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."(v.23). The key is faith, nothing else. So Jesus employed parables mystery of the kingdom of God can only be opened by faith and enter therein with the help of the Son. All other vain exercises, are temporal and not from God. So the world and how the system works so any fool may aspire to the highest office and sit there is temporal. "while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."(2 Co.4:18) So when we saw a dictator like Joseph Stalin striding like a Colossus for some 30 years, there was this mystery of divine Will also at work. Having caused some 20 million deaths he went out like a flesh. What was he but a flash in the pan! What is seen is temporal. Crooks fools innocents saints and all, have had their day. But the earth abides forever because the mystery of the Will is in lockstep with the Son fulfilling it. It is to this the key text refers. "He (man) knoweth not how./For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." It is as deep calls unto the deep.
In an astonishing cosmic cycle that occurs every 2.4 million years, Mars' gravitational pull is shifting Earth's path around the sun, warming its climate and increasing vigorous deep ocean circulation, according to a new study published a week ago in the journal Nature Communications. God is in charge, for sure. So nations beat the drum, instead of joy what it brings, destruction! The Soviet empire collapsed within 8 decades.
Jesus was ever dutiful Son who would while hanging on the cross entrusted the care of his mother to John, "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!/Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."( John 19:26-27). By literal approach how false teachers consistently strip passages of their pith and serve the husks instead. This is one example. Covenant between God and Man entrusts man with His creation and does he care?
God had prepared a worm as he a great fish to instruct Prophet Jonah. At the end of the book He tells Jonah,"And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?"( Jonah 4:11) Family of man is incomplete without this same care for His creation. The Four beasts in heaven is a memorial.
Pilgrims in 1630 settled in the Americas to make a New Canaan. However it was like sewing old garment to the new in the manner the divine Will was shortchanged. Salt crystal is made up of chlorine and sodium which by themselves have their distinctive characteristics. Sodium is metal, and corrosive while chlorine is a gas and poisonous. How billions of these atoms are precisely arranged by force keeping the formation gives the table salt its savor. In the manner culture wars have dogged the country tells making a family or nation without fulfilling the will of the Father is a non-starter. "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles."(2:22)
Jesus says to the Samaritan woman "God is Spirit" Jn. 4:24.
This means that God is not just "a" spirit being, like angels. But He is pure Spirit. He is ALL Spirit, without components or parts.
Some say He is "simple" in this way, not made up of parts that He must derive outside of Himself. He is all of His attributes, they are not "things' that He possesses. He is Love, Power, Life, etc.
It is difficult for us who are material creatures to imagine what God is like in this, His "aseity" (what He is in essence)
How beautifully "OTHER" He is than any beings He created.
Also, the Holy Spirit is God, a distinct person in the Godhead along with the Father and the Spirit. He is spoken of as having a will, thoughts, can speak, pray, be grieved, be lied to, can regenerate, sanctify, and convict; teach, resurrect, and cause conception. He indwells, believers and the Father and the Son. He unites believers to God. He is not the Father, nor the Son, but has all the attributes of God and of a distinct person who has all of the divine nature fully.
God alone is the Savior of men.
Is. 19:20 says that God will send a savior and defender. ad God identifies the Savior as the Holy One of Israel ( a name of God) in Is. 43:3. In 43:11 God says that apart from Him there is NO Savior. Also Hos. 13:4
God calls Himself Savior in Is. 45:21; 49:26; 60:16. Jesus is called the Savior of the world John 4:42; Acts 5:31; 13:23, 1 Tim. 4:10,
the Father sent the Son to as Savior ( 1 Jn. 4:14)
and Jude 1:25 says that Jesus our only God and Savior and He should be glorified and honored the SAME as the Father who is God ( Jn. 5:23) thus claiming equality with the Father. (also see Jn. 5:18; Jn. 10: 30-38; 8:58)
So, in light of these truths of Scripture, It is fact that God alone is our Savior, and the Father sent His Divine Son into the world to save sinners.
Hallelujah! Because every human that has ever lived needs to be saved from their sins, and Jesus, God the Son, is this Savior, and no mere man can save anyone.
Part 3.
When I consider that the righteousness of Jesus is the righteousness of God lived out in the incarnation of His Son, then I am awed by how great must be the pure and holy way Jesus lived on this earth in His lifetime here. He must have stood out among all other people because NO ONE could lay any charge against Him of wrongdoing or ill-will or disobedience to God or offense against any man. he was completely and divinely pure and holy, without any taint of sin, no corruption of soul, no part of his human nature in rebellion against His Father or divine nature. In Him was perfect harmony of God and man without any conflict or dissonance. He as altogether righteous and because He was God in the flesh, His righteousness was infinitely immense enough to cover the sins of every person who every lived or will live.
We can know that all of our own sin can be covered by His righteousness and that His perfect sacrifice was infinitely sufficient to save my from my sins, death, hell, and the devil. His righteousness provides me with justification before God and awards me salvation and eternal life with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. What a priceless treasure and gift God has given us. he gave us Himself. Hallelujah!
Pt. 2
Mt. 1:23 quotes Is 7:14 as being fulfilled in Jesus. He is "Emmanuel, God with us"
John 20:28 Thomas calls Jesus, "My Lord and my God" and Jesus did not tell Thomas that that was NOT true.
1Peter 1:1 says our righteousness comes from God, and it comes to us in Jesus our Savior. The righteousness
of Jesus is the righteousness of God because He is God.
Is. 9:6 says that Jesus is the "Mighty God"
Rev.1: Jesus says that He is the "Almighty"
Col. 2:9-10 says that in Jesus the fulness of the Godhead dwelled bodily. He is Emmanuel, God with us. God revealed bodily.
Jesus is worshipped by believers (only God is to be worshipped) and Jesus accepted this worship.
Mt. 2:1-2 (by the magi)
Mt. 28:8-9, 17 (by the apostles)
In Rev.5:13 we read of the worship of God in heaven. Both the Father and the Lamb (Jesus) are given worship and it is said that this worship is to be given to both forever.
it is important for us to realize that only God is righteous enough to be our Redeemer, and that He became man in order that his holy blood could be shed for us as a sacrifice. No other blood would cleanse but the blood of God the Son. In His divinity, God has no blood because the divine nature is Spirit, but in His humanity as God in the flesh, He had divine blood to shed.
Jesus is the most unique person in all of creation and in God's transcendent realm, being both God and man in one person.
I have heard this quote often, don't know the author, but it is worth pondering (this is not a direct quote)
If Jesus is not God, then there is no Christianity and those who worship Jesus are nothing but idolaters. But if He is God, then those who deny He is God are blasphemers in the worst sense of the word, because they believe in another Jesus than what Scripture presents to us.
God's Word is truth. He revealed Himself to mankind in Scriptures so that we can know the truth about Him: what He is in His divine nature and who He is in His Persons.
Luke and Matthew also give the context and the quote, "And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."( Luke 6:5;12:8) The everlasting covenant is between two equals so the eternal word is the Law backed by the kingdom of the Father. In case of faith we have the basis of these two worlds (He.11:3) which we shall leave aside for the moment. What are the equal entities here? They are Power on the part of God Wisdom on the part of Man. St Paul separates Man as the Lord of heaven, from man who is the earthy. "The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven."(1 Co.15:47-48)
When Jesus was born of woman his deity was never in jeopardy since he is the Word become flesh and sent with the divine Mandate. ( John 3:16)
When Jesus spoke "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" it is this Word was God it refers.( John 1:1; 5:17-23)
Speaking of the context Mark 2:24 we have the Pharisees questioning "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him."
Next point of Sabbath is that the day Seven. God has decree the day which touches his Alpha Omega aspect. " I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee./Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."(Ps.2:7-8) There is no sanctity for observing Sabbath without the Son element incorporated in our lives. This heresy has arisen because the Christians interpret the word of God literally and assume it is the seventh day of a week. It is an error. It is thus approaching the Bible with out the aid of the Spirit. John's epistle speaks of those who have the Son has also the Father.
"R" GOD IS RIGHTEOUS
He always does what is good and right. He never deviates from being sinless. He always thinks, says, and does everything righteously from pure and holy motives. There is no shadow of "darkness" in Him as to evil. His righteousness is far above whatever righteousness man can perform because even our righteousness is tainted by sin.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" In all of history, there has never been and strictly human person who is sinless. so, there has never been a strictly human person who is able to save himself from the condemnation of sin let alone anyone else.
Because of the complete and utter fallenness of mankind, there can be no redeemer from among humanity. There is no one whose righteousness is so pure and complete to be efficacious for the removal of God's judgment upon ALL of mankind.
It takes the righteousness of God to save mankind and God determined that his righteousness would come to save mankind by His divine Son becoming a man, righteous in every way, since He is God and cannot be unrighteous, and dying as our sacrifice.
The divine Son of God was incarnated, as John says in John 1:1, 14, ad became man for our sake. As God said in the OT, it is God alone who is Savior (Is 43:1, 11; 45;21; Hos 13:4) therefore, Jesus is God who is our Savior. If He is not God, then He is not our Savior because no strictly human man can save anyone. It is God who saves, who, though God the Son, took on human flesh and nature to be the only Kinsmen Redeemer who can take a way our sin, be a perfect, worthy, and more than sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and to be able to bear the complete wrath of God for mankind for all their sins. No mere human can do that,
In Titus 2:13 Jesus is called our "Great God and Savior"
John 1:1 calls Jesus God:" the Word was God"
Part 3 Trinity discussion,
Do you believe the Son is a created being?
What is the meaning of created? Does it mean something that is made out of nothing? I would have to say no, Jesus is the Son of God who was conceived in the womb of Mary, Matthew 1:20 Luke 1:35, I do not think I would say He was created.
If so, when did He come into existence?
In God's plan before anything and physically when He was conceived in Mary's womb.
Do you believe that the Son is only human in nature?
Jesus is the Son of God fully human but without sin same as the first Adam, Scripture is clear when Jesus was baptized, He was anointed with the Holy Ghost/Spirit without measure, John 3:34. All the works of Jesus were done by the Spirit of God, Matthew 4:16 Matthew 12:28 Acts 10:38.
Do you believe that Jesus became "the Christ" during His lifetime (Adoptionism)?
I had never heard of Adoptionism until now, I had to look it up, it's false. Christ and Messiah are the same; Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of God after He was baptized by John, He then was made the Messiah/Christ fulfilling the prophecy in Daniel 9:25. Jesus is the Son of God conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Ghost/Spirit.
Do you believe Jesus ever aquired a divine nature in His earthly life?
If you mean a divine nature is to have all the attributes that make God who He is I would have to say no. If so, Jesus could not sin or be tempted, Matthew 4:1 Hebrews 4:15. If so, Jesus living a perfect life without sin is meaningless. Jesus could not have died; Jesus was given the power of the Holy Spirit when He was anointed the Messiah. After He rose from the dead God gave Jesus all power in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28:18. God raised and placed Jesus on His right side, Ephesians 1:21-23. Jesus did not return to where He was before, God the Father placed everything under Jesus God's only begotten Son's feet and Jesus will reign until the last enemy is destroyed, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.
See part 4.
God is God so if He is all three in one, then He is. It is very plainly seen in the scripture for any child of God who rightly divides the word of God, which, I don't believe means arguing about His sovereignty. God Bless :)
I wish to enter this conversation with you even though we have discussed together this topic in other past converstations. I hope you do not mind.
In regards to the doctrine of the triune nature of God, several questions come to my mind.
Is God and has He always been one solitary person?
Before creation was He always and only alone, without anyone to love?
Did Jesus exist before creation? Did the Holy Spirit exist before creation?
If so, who were they in relation to the Father?
How did the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all create all that is, seen or unseen?
What does Scripture say about these questions?
Does Scripture teach that God is only one person who manifest in three forms, but all these manifestations are only one person?
(Modalism)
For those who do not believe in the triune nature of God (three persons that share equally one divine nature) I would like answers to these questions. Since you have declared you to be non-trinitarian maybe you can give me your views in answer to these questions in this post.
Do you believe the Son is a created being?
I so, when did He come into existence?
Do you believe that the Son is only human in nature?
Do you believe that Jesus became "the Christ" during His lifetime (Adptionism)?
Do you believe Jesus ever aquired a divine nature in His earthly life?
Do you believe that the will of the Father and the will of the Son are always the same or different?
Do you believe at a human being can truly save all men from sin and death by a perfect life in their own will?
How would a human being know that they are the Messiah from birth and thus know not to ever sin?
Do you believe that Jesus lived a sinless life?
Do you believe that the Father and the Son are one as Jesus said in Jn. 17 or that He and the Father are "in" one another and if they see Jesus, they see the Father?
How is it that Jesus AND the Father send the Holy Spirit if there is only one person as God?
I appreciate your answers
" Genesis 1:26 many apply the Trinity to this verse but then we must ignore verse 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. This could also easily be first-person plural." No it is not. "
I, God changeth not"(Mal.3:6) Neither does He give his glory to another. Ge.1: 27 says " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Ge. 1 refers to the MOU or the everlasting covenant between God the Father and God the Son. Thus the Will of God in v.26 and the Son completes it. "It was so" at the end of each day is as though the Son in agreement.(v.7)
The v.28 God blesses them (man). The covenant is between God and Man. In primary sense it is man say Adam. In secondary sense it is set down by the Holy Ghost in terms of God as Being as well as in terms Christ and the Church.
As Being what is God? He is one. ("Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"-De.6:4) Jesus Christ as the visible image of the invisible God is both glory as well as body in Trinity. The Father Son and Holy Spirit are not considered separate entities but manifestations of the same Being. The Son of man expresses the Word become flesh. Similarly the Word was God. The same Spirit but expressed as separate. Jesus did not require baptism by water but in obedience to the Word and in human likeness he undertook so in all things he was as human as you and me.
When we say that the scriptures must be fulfilled Jesus in his humanity met the criteria. The third office in Trinity serves by bringing events, persons connect according to the divine Will. He therefore brought Evangelist Philip to meet the Ethiopian. The entire scripture is organized on a reconstituted time.
"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;/And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me."(vv.9-10)
Here St Matthew refers to a quote from the book of Zechariah. In order to give them its proper context we shall consider the v.10. "And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.' This covenant with Israel refers to the Law of Moses. Beauty symbolic sign for Jesus ("For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"- Luke 23:31) In cutting off the Son they were repudiating the covenant and God. Jeremiah then smashing the potter's vessel at the east gate in Je.19 was a public event. Now the crucifixion was going to be a public event.
The inspired writing of the Evangelist did not err, an example of which we have seen in the preceding chapter. The verse"that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" referred both Isaiah and Zechariah.(26:56) The Spirit presented the potter's vessel as a sign for the Son and where Prophet Jeremiah had begun we have Prophet Zechariah leading to the field, which in general sense signifies the whole land. "The land is mine" and the divine potter "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."(Je.18:6)
"And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goat."
It is remarkable that there is a time appointed and several other events also should occur in conjunction with it. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:"(v.31) The cloud of witnesses come into their own because the apotheosis of Jesus Christ means the emblem which was in the divine Will of the Father has become the throne of glory. The slain Lamb before the foundation of the world was an emblem. (Re.13:8). Right hand of the most high mentioned in the epistle to the Hebrews is no long determined by left or right but by the throne. "My Father and I are one" Jesus said in his humanity. It also shall be established. Thus we have the Throne of God and of the Lamb.(Re.22:1)
Jesus promised his disciples, "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me." While he delivered the doctrine of his Father against the backdrop of 'a mountain' as witness he stated, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(5:3; Luke 22:29). All the promises of God are yea in the Son. We are looking at the Alpha and Omega aspect of the Son so the word spoken before the worlds establish the beginning and in him was fulfilled in every case. Similarly God blessed us before the worlds began. (Ep.1:3-4) The holy angels in v.31 refer to what St Paul refers," According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." We have been held in the Alpha aspect from the beginning. Because we endured with him in his temptations we have set throne. " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(5:10; 1 Pe.5:10)
" Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
The driver is "faith" which activates his body, spirit and soul and when God breathed into the nostrils of man so no one may say he is an exception. The parable of the foolish virgins inform their failure was in quenching the spirit, the oil in their lamps. Without trimming the wick and all other motions are waste of time. Either they replenished their store or let it go waste. They were like the unprofitable servant who simply did not put the one talent he was entrusted with, to work for the glory of his Lord. The wise virgins gathered with the Lord were blessed to be found ready. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."(13:12)
The bride hath made herself ready. The bride is distinct from the five foolish virgins who shall be shut out from the joy in heaven. "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us./But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. "(vv.11-12) "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."(Re.19:7)
Either Or is rooted in the very first separation. "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." (Ge.1:4) Based on this your labor in your field or at home shall not deliver you. Jesus refers to the antediluvian world
" But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
But selection shall follow the divine Will (Ge.1:4)
"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left./ Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left./ Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."(24:37-42)
"so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
Jesus refers to his coming at the end of v.28. The Spirit inserts the outbreak of the Tribulation which has been going before we have in v.30 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." This narrative mode of Parenthesis we have seen in other places, for example in the vision of Daniel, we have one week isolated from the Seventy Weeks. (9:24-27). We shall come to that anon.
The point is the east and west mentioned in v.27 is with reference of cardinal direction while Judgment in the Spirit's parlance is with regards to divine Judgment. Pride of Satan said,"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north."(Is.14:13). God raises the Gentile nations from the north to punish Israel. (Je.1:14). "The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit" who would kill the two witnesses, spiritually is labeled as the son of perdition. The lament over the king of Tyre sets him as another son of perdition. "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God." (Ez.28:13-15)"Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." The fallen man is a son of perdition and king of Tyre and so many of his ilk belong to the Gentile nations. Pride is the DNA of the beast while Jesus revealed humility and faith proved he was the Son of God.
"But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (8:23-27)When Jesus stilled the storm it was a proof that the Lord has set his throne over the floods."So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."(Is.59:19) This is the sign Jesus is referring to.
"Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers." Here we can understand the world of the body is a closed system where law of sin run through the whole lump of flesh and blood, so being 'woke and cancel culture' are merely BandAid that nation applies to a sepulcher of the past. Statues erected to commemorate men of yesteryears fall in disrepute but fighting the past is only to clear the way for those who shall be thrown down in future. Thus man fights the phantoms of the past. The real culprit is the law of sin.
The Don Quixotes who tilt at the windmills are themselves "whited sepulchers,"and as such Jesus observes,"Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity"(vv.27-28).
St Paul writes of being born again. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new./And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ."(2 Co.5:17-18). What is this new creation but brought out of the world of the flesh to the everlasting life. Father of mercies accepted us in his Son. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:/Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."(Col.1:12-13).
Despite of this liberty if man would prefer darkness what shall we call them. They are enemies to Christ. Jesus denounced the Pharisees and scribes and it applies in our times as well. Their culture wars shall continue since they have by rejecting the prince of life has rejected the wisdom that Jesus Christ of God signifies to us. (1 Co.1:30)
v.33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption(2 Pe.1: 4)
"Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ./But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant./And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
Jesus as he delivered the doctrine of his Father he had as a man no place to lay his head. But God chose him as the Savior of the whole world. His holiness is founded not any world seen or in externals but on an quality, which is the DNA of the Father Son relationship. Faith is accordingly based on the Word which is eternal, and is the Law. He assured that his Father would never let go his divine nature. " Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"(6:26) 'Behold' in this verse tells man to think of the word as already sent out and it is as good as done. So faith is what man would require as His children to take a lesson from the fowls. Similarly ants. Their worlds are organized vastly different from what we have devised so faith exercised by them no less true that we understand the term. Faith is one as the Gospel is. Holiness of God covers His creation.
Jesus set an example with his life so at every turn we read that at Bethphage he sent out for his carriage, "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,/Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass."(21:4-5). His itinerary had been set even before the worlds began so word concerning would never change. Faith is thus serves every believer so there is no Master servant considerations to go into. He is sent exactly as he sent his disciples and everything concerning their ministry is thus arranged so any conditions demanded would be inappropriate.
Sermon on the Mount was an occasion for Jesus for presenting the doctrine of God. The emblem mentioned in 5:1 served as the witness. "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples."
Blessedness was the portion for the multitudes and his disciples which was stipulated in the everlasting covenant. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."(2 Pe.1:4) Blessedness allowed access to be partakers of the holiness of God to which he was the way. Now what Jesus presented was condemnation for those who refused to receive him.
It explains also the significance of the number of the beast. 666 applied to the tripartite nature of man whose body, spirit and soul resisting the day sanctified by God. This day was by a decree, the everlasting covenant, to his Son. The Pharisees and chief priest engaged in talk with him in order to trip him up than receive the good news gladly.
It was to a multitude Simon Peter preached the good news and their response was,"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"(Ac.2:6,37-40) They heard the word of salvation,"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."(v.41)
The Spirit gives us an additional clue, where Command Number Three refers to the Son.(Three Thousand refers to number of souls saved in that day as the basis for the founding of the church age.)
Doctrine of Jesus stated, " But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant."(23:11) The Pharisees and the scribes instead sit in Moses' seat, "And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues." Are we in our times any better?
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