A Jewish Day vs. A Gentile Day

A Jewish Day vs. A Gentile Day

You know, we Gentiles look at a typical day the exact opposite as does a Jew. I mean to say, they start their day, in biblically correct fashion, in the evening! 6:00 P.M. starts the Jewish day, at sunset. I will use an unusual piece of text where it is written verbiage that defines the end of a day. "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." (Deut. 21:22-23) So here we see in Deuteronomy that in order for a body to be buried "that day", and not hang there in the night, it could not be on the cross it hanged on any later than twilight, which in the Talmud is called Shema, or hour of prayer. For the Jew, each day begins with a time to sleep. "And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep." (Gen. 28:11) Now if there was business to be taken care of, sometimes that continued from one day to the next! "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." (Exod. 17:12) "And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day." (Josh. 8:29) Note here that Joshua obeyed the law set in Deuteronomy!

Now there are English divisions of the new day of the Jews that are typical designations of the Jews. For example, the first watch ends at 10:00 P.M.; "Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street." (Lam. 2:19) Midnight for the English is the same as for the Jew, and there is scripture for that. "And Moses said, 'Thus saith the LORD, "About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts."'" (Exod. 11:4 - 5) "And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet." (Ruth 3:8) We can see here, too, that Jews aren't necessarily interested in sleeping during the dark of night, not anymore than God; but of course, God NEVER sleeps! Jesus spoke on two occasions of Jews being busy during the night, one of a wedding (Matt. 25:6), another of one merely going to a neighbor to borrow bread (Luke 11:5)!

At 2:00 A.M. is another division of the Jewish day, and that is when the second watch ends. "So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands." (Judges 7:19) Now it may seem that the Jews are awfully busy at night, but it was typical then, because someone had to guard camps and cities all night from enemy attack, and those that were awake at night had to resort to sleeping in the day!

3:00 A.M. for the Gentile has the designation of rooster crow for the Jew; "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping." (Mark 13:35 - 36) "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, 'Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice.' And he went out, and wept bitterly." (Matt. 26:75) So here is revealed a little piece of trivia; you can ask people what time of day was it when Peter denied Jesus for the third time, and you'll have many scratching there heads for days!

4:30 A.M. is designated as second rooster crow in the Jewish division of the day. "And Jesus saith unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.'" (Mark 14:30) In the Talmud, this is twilight of sunrise, as opposed to the twilight of sunset.

6:00 A.M. is designated as sunrise, and this is when the third watch ends for the Jew. In the Talmud, it is called for that there be three trumpet blasts. "The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar." (Gen. 19:23) Ah, another brain buster of Bible trivia! What time was it when Lot entered Zoar? "And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians," (Exod. 14:24) Note on this verse the last watch of nightfall ends. "Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as He hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD'S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising." (Josh. 1:15) Another brain buster to stump the congregation Bible whiz! "And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together." (1 Sam. 11:11) From this information we can gather that it took at least 6 hours for Saul to slay the Ammonites. Now for two armies to battle it out in that short of a time, either the Ammonites were well-outnumbered, or The Israelites were some pretty good warriors! Gives authority to the verse, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31)

9:00 A.M. is the first hour of prayer for the Jew. "For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day." (Acts 2:15) Now this verse is obscure in designating the time of day for the Gentile, but for the Jew, the third hour is 9 A.M., when Jews engaged in the exercises of the synagogue. On feast days they neither ate nor drank until 10:00 A.M. or noon, and this was what Peter was using to prove that the amazing feat of the apostles speaking in many tongues was not the result of being drunk with wine.

12:00 A.M. is noon, first Mincha, according to the Talmud; a time to pray and eat! "And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon." (Gen. 43:16) "And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, 'O Baal, hear us.' But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made." (1 Kings 18:26)

1:30 P.M. for the Gentile is great vesper time for the Jew. Called the second Mincha in the Talmud; prayer time! 3:30 P.M. is designated as small vesper time for the Jews. A time of 9 blasts on the trumpet, according to the Talmud.

6:00 P.M. comes once again, sunset. The Talmud calls for 6 blasts on the trumpet on the eve of the Sabbath. "Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them." (Luke 4:40)

Now wasn't this an interesting peek into the typical day of the Jews? Their day starts in the evening - "And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Gen. 1:5), and many noteworthy things happened in biblical history. Can you hardly wait to use the newly given Bible trivia you now have?

One Death Or Two?

One Death Or Two?
 

I have been conversing with an unusual Jehovah witness who doesn't act anything like the ones here in the U.S., and one thing unusual about him is that he doesn't go away like the others when you tell them what church you belong to. Even stranger, he made wrong assumptions what we talk about, and seemed very determined to control the conversation, and didn't want to talk about commonly known false doctrine of their church, and even when you talk to him pointedly about it, he refused to answer, but rather wanted to be accusatory of what I believed rather than face the facts of his church's doctrine. He was obsessed with talking about hell fire, which he thought we constantly talk about (which we don't), and he was also obsessed with talking about burning in hell, and burning in torment for all eternity, and apparently thinking his doctrine controls what our God does and will do. I have called this putting our God in a box, and it's not a new concept. There are many people who want to believe God works under the rules they give Him, not the rules He gives us. I also noted to myself he never once mentioned Jesus, although I often did. As a matter of fact, he would not touch it when I asked him if he knew that Jesus was the full embodiment of Jehovah, according to Col. 2:8 - 9, but he referred to what I was saying as a human philosophy! So much for Jehovah witnesses, who don't believe in the divinity of Jesus, apparently. In any case, he was quite insistant that I answer the question, "Will God give eternal life to sinners too for the pleasure of torturing them for eternity?" He wanted a yes or no answer, and the answer is actually yes and no.

There are two kinds of sinners, and all of mankind, save Jesus Christ, has been and still is a sinner, but some of us are saved by grace, and many are not We who have accepted Christ as our personal Savior and have repented our wicked ways and have taken on the yoke of Christ and are constantly reading the Bible to hone our Christian walk and ambassadorship, though we are sinners, we will have eternal life - "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Rom. 8:1-2) Herein is an answer regarding some sinners, those who have accepted Christ. They will not be condemned, therefore, they will have eternal life in heaven, and their judgment will be concerning their works in this way; "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." (1 Cor. 3:11 - 15)

Now everyone knowing true Christian doctrine knows that we will die and go to judgment one way or the other. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Heb. 9:27), but Jehovah witnesses think you just wait somewhere and know nothing until judgment day. In this scripture, it is explained that you are judged after you pass from this life! Jesus told the saved criminal, "And Jesus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.'" (Luke 23:43) So this sinner and criminal hanging on the cross next to Jesus on His cross was guaranteed eternal life in paradise, which we all know is heaven. The criminal died, and went to heaven. He did not wait, or Jesus would have said so. Since this was a criminal, and apparently sinned a lot, this also destroys the concept of a "purgatory", which appears nowhere in the Bible.

Okay, now one of the Jehovah witness' greatest concerns was about whether our God would be so cruel as to make someone burn in hell and the lake of fire for all eternity. This is where he wants desperately for God to fit into his box, his set of concepts concerning God. When we were young, we had to fit into our parents' set of rules. We couldn't make our parents' rules bend to our will, nor can we make our God's rules bend to what we want them to say or mean. Let's look into this great concern he had in the second death.

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:6 - 15) Sorry for the length, but this much Scripture was necessary for points to be made. The Bible makes it very clear; the lake of fire is for torment day and night forever and ever. The sinners who were saved by accepting Christ as their Savior, who resisted taking the mark of the beast, these who took part in the first resurrection will not see the second death, as it is written in Rev. 20:6; however, in the next chapter of Revelation it is written; "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8)

Now he was really concerned about this second death, and denied that God would be so cruel as to torment anyone in hell and the lake of fire forever. Called our God insane because of it, even! And he kept asking if God would give eternal life to sinners for the pleasure of torturing them for all eternity. Our God did not want for us to be tortured for all eternity, that is why He sent Jesus to pay our sin debt, that we should not have to be in eternal punishment. God does not take pleasure in torturing us, our God is a loving God, who spared not His Son, that we should hope on Him for eternal life in heaven. Whoseover rejects Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, whosover will not repent and take up their cross and follow Christ, whosoever will not be His bondservant, these rebels put THEMSELVES into condemnation of hell and the lake of fire, not God. God put His rules in this Bible so that it would be plain to us how to receive eternal life in heaven after our first death on earth. If we reject it, by His rules, which we have, then He punishes us, and if we expire and with our last breath we have rejected Christ, then we have put ourselves in eternal punishment, not that God wanted us to be there, not that He likes that idea, else He would not have sent His Son to be sacrificed to pay our sin debt. We cannot put God in our box with a set of rules that appeal to us. It's the same as our parents; they gave us rules, and if we did not abide by them, we were punished according to their rules. God will punish us by His rules, and there is no Jehovah witness who can change the rules by twisting the Scriptures to mean what they want them to mean and have God go along with it. We couldn't make our parents change their disiplinary rulings, how can we fool ourselves to believe we can change what God has put forth?

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt. 10:28) Now here is a place where interpretation is very necessary. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Matt. 25:46) Does not everlasting punishment mean punished forever? "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Dan. 12:2) "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:28 - 29) I hope he reads this and understands, and that this answers what he thinks is a yes/no question.

Let me put this out there; I told him that Jesus was the full embodiment of Jehovah, so his church should be called Jesus witnesses, not Jehovah witnesses, because it is written, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:8 - 9) If the Jehovah witness cannot accept Christ as Savior and Redeemer, and refuses to believe in the deity and divinity of Jesus, then his rejection of Christ will put him in that lake of fire where the second death is. Pray for all who reject Jesus to this end, they are blind to Christ's saving grace as their Savior!

Christ's 4 Appearances To Paul

CHRIST'S 4 APPEARANCES TO PAUL
 

Everyone realizes Christ appeared to Paul on his way to Damascus (see Acts 9:4 - 6), but how many know Jesus appeared to him three more times? And why? It was very important that Paul be converted on the first appearance, but what were the other three appearances for?

"Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.'" (Acts 18:9 - 10) Jesus foreknew, obviously, that Paul would be fearful of speaking at Corinth, where he would stay for 18 months, so He edified him that he should speak freely whenever needed, which at one point proved Jesus' words to Paul, because Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, protected Paul's preaching under Roman law. Furthermore, the Greeks' anger against the Jews made Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, a scapegoat worthy of a beating right in front of the judgment seat. If you look to 1 Cor. 1:1, Sosthenes is referred to by Paul as a brother, a convert to Christ! The beating made him convert? Perhaps so! In any case, Paul was untouched during His stay there.

"And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; And saw Him saying unto me, 'Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me.' And I said, 'Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on Thee: And when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.' And He said unto me, 'Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.'" (Acts 22:17 - 21) Here again, Christ is commanding His servant Paul to leave Jerusalem, that he might be protected from the mob that inevitably was set off by his preaching. Upon being bound with thongs, he spoke up of his Roman citizenship, which caused the chief captain to abandon scourging him. Even furthermore, the chief captain rescued him the following day from the Sanhedrin, where Paul baited the Pharisees against the Sadducees!

"And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, 'Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.'" (Acts 23:11) On this his last visit to Jerusalem, Paul hears from Jesus for the last time in his flesh. Christ's words of support were for Paul's spiritual strengthening for his task in Rome, already named to him before he got there! Imagine not only being talked to by Christ not just one time, but four times in your lifetime?

So now we have the reasons why that Jesus spoke to Paul three other times during his converted life. The first after his conversion was to build his confidence, as was the last, and the second after his conversion was to get him to go out of town (Jerusalem), and go preach to the Gentiles. While Paul did not die an old man, yet he lived quite a life! He went from a Christian-hating Pharisee who condoned the stoning of Stephen to a converted Christian visited by Jesus Himself on the road to Damascus. He made three missionary journeys, wrote plenty of epistles, and was stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake with no ill effects, had audiences before two governors and a king; Felix and Festus, the governors, and king Agrippa. What a life he had!

Born AGAIN!?! Say WHAT?!?

 

Born AGAIN!?! Say WHAT?!?

A muslim friend has been curious for a long time now about Christianity, the Bible, and how to interpret all it says, and so much about it, and recently he asked me about being born again. Seems like an easy subject to understand, and yet, many neither understand it, nor can some others explain it deftly with diction. May the good Lord help me do it so well...

"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, 'Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him.' Jesus answered and said unto him,

'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" (John 3:1 - 3) What an interesting Pharisee this was, in that he did not doubt Jesus was from God. He also knew the rest of the Sanhedrin would not approve of him confessing Jesus was from God, so he came by night, and perhaps also he wanted uninterrupted time with the King of kings!

Unbelievers may be totally stumped by this concept. Others may be familiar with the term, but not fully grasp the total picture of being born again. See here what Nicodemus' response is to Jesus; "Nicodemus saith unto Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?' Jesus answered,

'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'" (John 3:4 - 6) While Biblical scholars debate the exact meaning of Jesus about the water, it is unmistakable what He meant of the Spirit - a new birth from God through the Spirit!

"'Marvel not that I said unto thee, 'Ye must be born again.' The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.' Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, 'How can these things be?' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.'" (John 3:7 - 15) Unsaved mankind does not pay much attention to the comings and goings of the saved, because both pay attention only to the travels of their own. The born again and unsaved may be found anywhere, just as wheat among the tares. An unsaved "Christian" may even be found preaching from the pulpit! Jesus further speaks to Nicodemus of how no man has been to heaven and back to witness of heavenly things, and while He tells of earthly things and they fail to believe Him, how can they believe of the heavenly things He speaks of, as He is witness of how it is there? What follows is how Jesus explains that He is the door and the gate, and how one gains access to heaven through Him...

"'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.'" (John 3:16 - 21) So many preachers fail to give the whole picture; they love to preach John 3:16, but I feel they do people an injustice not giving them John 3:17 - 21 as well, so they can see how they need only make a choice, and find salvation. Choose: do you want to believe in Jesus and go to heaven, or do you reject Him and go to hell? Do you want to be evil and hate and behave wickedly, or do you want to do good, and love and behave righteously? Amazing how many people reject Him!

Let's look a little deeper into this born again concept. "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." (Gal. 4:8 - 11) Paul spoke to the Galatians how he did not understand why they would act like they were not heirs of God, because they were supposed to be born again, that is, they repented of their old ways and false gods, and accepted Christ as their Savior. He was afraid of the way they were acting, because the saved are supposed to be new creatures in Christ. New creatures, you say?

Those who are not yet born again do not recognize Christ as the Son of God. If they respected Him for His position, they would do what the saved people do. "Born again" results in a new lifestyle. The grace of God not only justifies, but makes us new! Starts us out afresh! Salvation causes a decisive change from our past lifestyle! "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore 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, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (2 Cor. 5:16 - 20) I have related to some before how I was born again, how my behavior has been very different from what it was 12 years ago. Oh, I habitually went to church, but God only received one hour of choredom, and then I behaved as I wanted, and even then, even my car was witness of my lack of being born again. I had bumper stickers on that thing that even made the priest wince to read them! I did not donate to charities, I did not know about tithing, and because the priest had never taught me on it, to the hurt of the church! I gave $2 every Sunday, and $3 if I liked his sermon! I had no interest in reading the Bible, and if I had, I would have found out in Malachi that I was being a God robber out of ignorance! If anyone had told me 12 years ago that I would be writing Bible studies, witnessing to all nations, preaching in the pulpit, giving good sums of money to churches and charities, even feeding families, giving clothing to strangers...I'd have said they were crazy!

I want now to focus on the bottom part of what I wrote concerning the previous Scripture: "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. 5:18 - 21) Was that a deep message, or what? There is a trade-off when we accept Christ as Savior. Our relationship is changed now, because we no longer have condmenation for our sins! "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom. 8:1) We are now bondservants of the one true God. We have entered into the spirit of adoption, and in so doing, we have committed ourselves to being ambassadors of Christ; this requires us to read the Bible cover to cover, and to get learned through our reading what Christ wants of us, how we should act, that we might demonstrate a Christian walk unmistakeable to Christians and unbelievers alike, because both expect it! Now one might say they like this emancipation from sin, but what's with this "bondservant" I mentioned?

"What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Cor. 6:19 - 20) Remember what I wrote of John 3? How one has a choice? Well, Jesus paid our sin debt, so acceptance of Jesus makes us acceptable to God. But acceptance of Jesus means we accept living God's way! We behave as the new creature we are thereby expected to be! No booze, no drugs, no sex outside of with our marriage partner, church weekly, and constant Bible study; how else would we come to understand how to be a Christian? We have to read what He wants of us! We may choose to act as though we are our own before being born again, but when we behaved so, we were only fooling ourselves. After all, in the end is the white throne judgment, and there is also judgment at the bemis seat, so the unsaved deny His ownership, and the saved confess it, even revel in it!

Now there was also a question from my muslim friend concerning the Holy Ghost teaching the saved, and it is written how Jesus said He would teach the apostles; "

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26) When I became born again, I picked up a Gideon pocketsized Bible and was looking for something on being forgiven, because I wanted someone to forgive me. I found it, but I couldn't throw that Gideon Bible away. After reading it, I was attending my usual church, but I noted a very discernable discomfort of being there; I was given the conclusion I was in a false doctrine church, and had to come out from among them! "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters', saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor. 6:14 - 18).

So let my muslim friend read and accept the invitation, knowing what it means to be born again. Let all who are weary and laden with sins and all the troubles of the world come to Christ, and be born again! Believe the Bible promise; Jesus gave it Himself out of His own mouth! Believe on Him, and find salvation. Choose Christ, and live in heaven eternally; damnation's fire is never quenched in hell, and there is guaranteed weeping and gnashing of teeth!

10 Commandments Or 2?

10 Commandments Or 2?

I thought it would be neat to expound on the Old Testament 10 Commandments and the New Testament 2 Commandments, and to show that they are different, and yet, very much the same! First, let us print both versions, the Old Testament, and then the New Testament and then discuss what we have.

"I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." (Exod. 20:2 - 17) Okay, now let's see these two New Testament Commandments; "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'" Matt. 22:36-40 (KJV)

Are Jesus' Commandments different than those of the Old Testament, or no? I tell you, they are the same! The new are a consolidation of the old! Look very closely at the first 4 Commandments of the Old Testament; are they not inclusive of loving God with all your heart, soul and mind? Look at the other 6 of the Old Testament; are they not crafted in wisdom such as that one in obedience of them has no alternative but to love thy neighbor as thyself? And here is another wonder to you, because Jesus' 2 new Commandments are yet of old! "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:" (Deut. 6:5 - 6) "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." (Lev. 19:18) So what have we got here? Jesus has abbreviated the wording out of the 10 Commandments into 2 derived from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, and look what He said; "ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS." His 2 Commandments give us that we have to think before interacting with our neighbors, don't we? Whatever I do, will my neighbor appreciate it? If I were my neighbor, would I like what I'm doing? Sort of a "WWJD - (What would Jesus do). Then also there is the greatest and first that He gave. We can all be in deep pondering as to what all we can do to demonstrate our love for God, and our best source for that information is right there in the Bible, cover to cover! Jesus made it easy to know how to love Him; "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15) One can see how Jesus equates love with obedience here. So it's really quite simple: read and obey. Whatever commandments He has in the Bible, commit them to our behavior, and we are loving Him!

So let us obey the 2 Commandments, and in doing so we will be obeying the 10! Treat others how we want to be treated at all times, and obey God in all the commandments and statutes that He gave, and we have done all He wants of us!

Shades Of Heaven And Hell

SHADES OF HEAVEN AND HELL

A man in Africa was telling me of a spot in the Bible where it is written that Christ was in hell, and not able to recollect where that was, for I never remembered seeing it written, I asked him where, and he told me where in Acts to find it, and it gave me inspiration to write this new study. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2 Cor. 12:2-4) Well, now, that’s an interesting passage of Scripture; “third heaven”? So there’s more than one heaven? Yes, there is, according to the Bible. In this case, this is the third heaven, paradise, Where God sits on the throne. It is the invisible heaven, the one only a small chosen number have ever had a glimpse of before dying. So what about the other two? Which are they?

“And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear:’ and it was so.” (Gen. 1:7-9) Now this makes it apparent that this is the first heaven, the one we can see with our naked eye, what we call the sky, what the Bible also calls the firmament. Now we need to see an example of that second heaven which Paul mentioned there were three of…

“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swarest by Thine own self, and saidst unto them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.’” (Exod. 32:13) Can you see stars during the day? You cannot, because the first heaven is lit, and the only star you can see is the sun. But at night, you can see the second heaven, where the stars and comets and other heavenly bodies can be seen outside our atmosphere, which is the first heaven. This is why the things above the first heaven are called “heavenly bodies”.

So in knowing now there are three heavens, does that mean there are perhaps more than one hell? “Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.” (Ezek. 32:18) This is the hell called the grave. The Bible says Jesus was in hell, and indeed, He was in the grave for three days, as we know. “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.” (Acts 2:31) This is the physical hell, the one where, as we know, if our body is in a grave for even a short time, it begins to decay, or corrupt. “Jesus said, ‘Take ye away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, ‘Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.’” (John 11:39) Lazarus was in the grave four days, and Martha expected he would have a stench, typical of the corrupting of the body in the grave.

Now let’s look at the spiritual hell, the one where souls are tormented. “Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath no covering.” (Job 26:6) The grave hell is not naked, it is covered with dirt, isn’t it? The grave is covered, but the hell for lost souls, it has no covering, else how could it burn with unquenchable fire? Let’s get a clearer picture of the hell for lost souls from Jesus Himself! “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.’” (Luke 16:22 - 26)

Is there yet another hell? Or perhaps, something worse than hell? Consider this Bible passage: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:13 - 15) “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire”. If all the lost, including Satan’s angels, are in hell, and the lake of fire is big enough to contain hell and the entirety of the unsaved, this is certainly the way it is written worse than hell. After all, it’s a lake of fire! Now there is no further mention of the lost, so as it is written “This is the second death”, I don’t see any reason for debating whether the souls are destroyed or not. Some people will say it means the souls are destroyed and you are no more, while others will say you have a resurrection body that doesn’t get destroyed, you just get eternally burned in the lake of fire without death. Well, it says second death, and since they are not mentioned hereafter, what’s the use of debate?

So here we have three shades of heaven, and at least two, debatably three shades of hell, the last not named hell, but it is written that hell is thrown in it. Both are lost soul burners. May God bless all whom He will with faith in Christ Jesus, that they only taste the grave, except that they taste the joy of His second coming before tasting death!

Pleasing Man Or God?

Pleasing Man Or God?

You know, there are some people out there who seem to be in a hurry to pronounce someone as pleasing man instead of God, and I don't mean the servitude God intended us to give to our fellow Christians and neighbors, but choosing to please men and/or women over God. Some of these people should be more tedious in their obsevation before being quick to judge, and remember that God is He who judges righteously, because He tries the hearts of men; "And He said unto them,

'Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.'" (Luke 16:15) So when this is said of someone, the choice that person is being told to think about, is whether or not they are putting God first, or someone else!

"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins." (Psa. 7:9) This is to say that because of God's omniscience, He knows where the heart of evey soul He created is seating itself. If a person means to please Him, He will know it, and accordingly, if they are pleasing someone other than Him, that He will know also!

The Lord even reproved one of His prophets when they made a mistake judging on first sight by the tabernacle than the character. Your tabernacle, or what is seen of you, is not how to judge who and what kind of person you are. Someone wise will give you a long period of observation before making a decision whether or not you choose to please God or men. Read here how Samuel misjudged Eliab; "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)

"And Saul said unto Samuel, 'I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.'" (1 Sam. 15:24) What was righteous in this situation of Saul is only that he confessed that he sinned. Correct also is the statement that he transgressed the commandment of the Lord. Samuel gave complete instructions to Saul, and he obeyed them only in part, not wholly, so in this he sinned a great sin in the eyes of the Lord, because not only did he rebel against the Lord in the sight of the people, but there is another commandment he disobeyed, thus his sin was twofold; "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." (Exod. 20:2 - 3) When someone puts any thing or anyone before God in what they do, say, or think, have they not disobeyed this commandment? Can't we restate this commandment, and be correct, by saying that anything or anyone regarded above that which God commands is disobedience of this commandment? Here is a clear example of the first king of Israel choosing to please man instead of God. Let's get a little insight from a couple passages of Scripture; "And Saul said, 'They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.'" (1 Sam. 15:15) "And Saul said unto Samuel, 'Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.'" (1 Sam. 15:20-21) Why do you suppose Saul told

Samuel "thy God" instead of "my God" in both of these passages of Scripture? A slip of the tongue, or did he unconsciously show his rejection of God hiding in his heart?

Jesus used His omniscience to embarrass the Pharisees and scribes for choosing men over Him. Imagine one intelligence, in His perfection, embarrassing a collective group of thinkers like the Pharisees! "And they come again to Jerusalem: and as He was walking in the temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, And say unto Him, 'By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority to do these things?' And Jesus answered and said unto them,

'I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer Me.' And they reasoned with themselves, saying, 'If we shall say, "From heaven"; He will say, "Why then did ye not believe Him?" But if we shall say, "Of men"; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, "We cannot tell." And Jesus answering saith unto them, 'Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Mark 11:27 - 33)

"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever." (1 Chron. 28:9) Pretty straightforward from David to his son, wouldn't you say? Now if one should want to serve Him with a perfect heart, that person will not even put themself first, would they? After all, if they did all with a perfect heart, they wouldn't even put themselves first! Sadly, we know that Solomon forgot this sage advice in the end, and followed his wives to their gods!

"

He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me." (Matt. 10:37 - 38) Wouldn't you say this could be quite a challenge for someone to decide if they are going to please man or God? What a test to have to choose between pleasing Jesus or pleasing your parents or children? Your spouse? To choose between being put to death and pleasing God? And remember the passage from 1 Chron., God knows the heart, which way it will choose!

I thought this next piece of Scripture was good for an example of a person pleasing himself for glory due to God, that he denied Him; to his own death! "And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, 'It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.' And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." (Acts 12:21 - 23)

So here we have quite a study. It keeps us thinking, if we want to please men or God, up to and including self! We must discern the manner in which we serve others, because while there is a servitude of men that please God, yet there is also a servitude that doesn't and even brings Him to wrath, in the case of Herod's! If we serve mankind's needs in the manner of being our brother's (or sister's) keeper, then we please God; but if we serve in the manner that is a choice between pleasing God or mankind, then by what is written here, let us always choose to serve God, and not the vanity of any man, including our own selves!

Shades Of Faith

SHADES OF FAITH

While some may say there are fixed degrees of faith, such as no faith, little faith, and great faith, I would say it comes in varying degrees. I might take a pencil and, depending on the sharpness of the point and the hardness of the lead, I could make varying degrees of marks on paper. Well, I feel each person has a shade of faith at different times in their lives. One day we wake up, and we might feel strong in the faith; another day one may wake up, and it isn't the way it was before. A good example would be when you had your eyes opened to a saving knowledge of grace. Before that, you had a small, if anything at all, degree of faith in God, because you rejected Him. Then you came to believe, and look at the degree of faith you have now! Shall we find some degrees of faith in the Bible?

Let's start with Gideon. Here was a man who, when told he would save Israel from the Midianites, expressed not faith, but doubt, in that he did not see how a poor Manassite, and least in his family to boot, could possibly save Israel. This was an expression of no faith. As a matter of fact, his faith was so puny, He tested God in this manner: "And Gideon said unto God, 'If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.' And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, 'Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.' And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground." (Judges 6:36 - 40) No faith and all guts, to ask God to prove Himself more than once, don't you think? But you know, there is a song about how I've proved Him o'er and o'er, and many build their faith by observation, while others build it by simply hearing/reading the Bible and accepting it.

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.'" (Mark 12:41 - 44) Consider that Jesus also meant for His disciples to discern that this woman not only cast in all she had, but in doing so, she exhibited great faith that God would supply her need thereafter. It would seem that the more money people have, the less faith in God, because as He pointed out, the rich cast in out of their abundance, that is, there extra money, while upon her cast, she had absolute poverty. No money, but much faith!

Let's look now at a man with faith so great, he is the only person in all the gospels, that it is written of him that Jesus marvelled. "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, 'Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.' And Jesus saith unto him, 'I will come and heal him.' The centurion answered and said, 'Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, 'Go', and he goeth; and to another, 'Come', and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this', and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, 'Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.'" (Matt. 8:5 - 10) I marvelled myself when I first read this, because this man was not a Jew, but a Roman!

Now if Jesus were here to tell you that you have no faith, well, since God cannot lie, you would have to be ashamed of having no faith, because God is omniscient! Here is a case wherein Jesus says it of His own followers! "And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto him, 'Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 'Peace, be still.' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, 'Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?' And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" (Mark 4:36 - 41) They really needed it to sink into their minds that they had God with them, Emmanuel, and how could they fathom that God would let it be said that His own perished in His presence? So for this reason Jesus told them, "How is it that ye have no faith?"

Let us look at Jesus' exhortation not to worry about the worldly possessions that you need, His speech persuades us to trust in the Father! "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 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? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or, 'What shall we drink?' or, 'Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:25 - 33)

Too long for printing here, if you go to Exod. 4:1 - 17, you will find a number of objections from Moses about being sent to straighten out Pharaoh. When first God made Himself known to Moses, Moses doubted! He made these objections; "Oh, they won't believe me!" "Oh, I'm a poor speaker!" These things I write are only in essence of what he actually said, but Moses, too, did not initially have faith, but look through the rest of his life, and he became God's friend and servant, a man of faith so great, he put a tenfold whopping on Pharaoh, 10 plagues strong, and Pharaoh not only cried "uncle!", but at the Red Sea God used Moses to totally defeated the Egyptian army because of the power of God, and all through his lifetime, Moses' faith was very great, save the bringing forth of water of Meribah in the desert of Zin.  In Exodus God spoke to Moses; "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth." (Exod. 9:16)

So here we have varying shades of faith, some people demonstrating great faith, all the way down to those whom Jesus declared had no faith. So how's your faith these days? I pray God abundantly bless you with great faith, for without faith, it is impossible to please God! (Heb. 11:6)

What About This "Trinity"?

I have been friends with a fellow in Canada for some time now, and I was disappointed to find out he did not believe in the Trinity the way I do. I have been reading my Bible so much, even if I have only three minutes, I read it. I can't imagine someone not holding the Trinity concept the same as I do without them not being saved, so I will pray for him, but perchance someone else out there has the same theology, and I can present a Bible study about the Trinity to convince them from Scripture that there are three persons in one God; three personnas, if you will...

I would like to start with the Holy Spirit, because this part of our God seems the most mysterious for most Christians. To present His omniscience, counsel, wisdom, omnipotence, and wisdom, let me take you to this one spot in the Old Testament: "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;" (Isa. 11:2) Are these not all qualities of God as we know Him from the Bible?
As my friend astutely put it, the Father is the dominant personna of God. What makes me conclude this? Take what Jesus said in the garden; "He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.'" (Matt. 26:42) Let's look at this; Jesus was not in an anxious hurry to be nailed to the cross, as you can read His words, but He knew the plan of the Father, He knew the will of the Father, and although He was and still is God, yet He subjected Himself to the will of He who sent Him. Now this leads to an attack on Jesus' deity, because His submission to the Father in the text may seem to the undiscerning that Jesus is less than deity. Here is one place where Jesus stood firm under fire concerning who He was; "But Jesus held His peace. And the high priest answered and said unto Him, 'I adjure thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God.' Jesus saith unto him, 'Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.'" (Matt. 26:63 - 64) Plainly He was painting Himself as our deity, our Savior, and our God; and there are more verses to this effect. "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt. 28:20) Here Christ is affirming that He is onmipresent, something only God can be. Scrutinize John 1:1 - 14, 18;John's first verse declares Jesus to be with God and God at the same time, doesn't it? It also declares Him to be the pre-existent Christ, does it not?
There are times when Christ's deity is attacked, and it is said by those who don't believe in Him, but we believe Christ to be the bodily representation of God; for it is written, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:8 - 9)

"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Eph. 4:4 - 6) This is a piece of Scripture that identifies the unity of God; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Here the Spirit is identified, Jesus is identified in the Lord and one faith (because believing in Jesus is paramount to salvation (John 3:16)), and one Father is of course, the Father in the Trinity. Note the three relationships between the Father and all mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ, and all believers. I also have some Old Testament text to prove God is not just one He, but an Us and Our! "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:26) Here is proof of the Trinity from the very beginning of Scripture, the first book of the Bible! A blind man could read it in braille and believe in the Trinity from this and all the rest I've presented!

While this selection of Scripture shows God's triune unity, there is another piece of text that also shows their distinct separateness! "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" (Matt. 3:16 - 17) This is the only place in all the Bible wherein the three are represented apart from each other. Jesus in a human form, the Holy Ghost as a dove, and the Father as a voice!
Jesus also said some things that go along with the God = egg analogy; you know, ther is one egg, but it has three parts; the shell, the albumin (white), and the yolk. Or how about God is like a book; the book is contained within one binding, but it has three chapters in one book. Finally, there are three persons in one God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let's look at some more unifying statements. "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30) "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John 1:18) "Jesus saith unto him, 'Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, "Shew us the Father?" Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake.'" (John 14:9 - 11) Clearly Jesus is saying much to make Him intimately united with the Father. Is it any wonder why I think there should be no doubt that Jesus is one of the three speaking in Genesis saying, "Let Us make man in Our image..."?

Finally, I want to offer one more proof of Jesus' deity. "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:11 - 15) Jesus is He who sits on the great white throne. If He has the power to throw you in the lake of fire (and He does!), then that makes Him God enough for me!
Our God is a complex God, three personnas in one; It is simple to say God is love, and He is, but it is more complex to say He is our all in all, and even moreso to say He is the Triune God, because not everyone can grasp or find the credulity in the concept!

Pearls Before Swine

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matt. 7:6) In this passage of Scripture, Jesus was instructing the disciples to discern moral distinctions and not allow those who reject the invitation of Christ to treat precious things as junk. He used the animals dogs and swine (which are pigs), because both animals were despised by the Jews. He used these animals as representations of unholy people. We give the good news to people who are not believers in hope that God will give them open eyes and accept Christ's invitation, but the acceptance rate is never 100%, by any means!
Some "Christians" are just hogsfat on the hoof, and the real Christians can't tell immediately. The false Christians may even be convinced they are real Christians, and they don't know, either! We talk about all the things that are precious in the bible, and they may go along with us, but they haven't accepted His invitation. So we may share the promises of God with them, and not realize they are not one of us who have accepted His invitation!
Who else are "swine" and "dogs"? "He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." (Prov. 9:7 - 8) Unbelief knows no denomination, nor is restricted to certain religions. Many muslims will scorn, but not all. Buddhists may scorn, but not all. It's an attitude; a state of mind. A wickedness and hatefulness that is closeminded, and will not receive correction, but rather will turn on the wise and their wisdom with insult and their own rebuke toward they who show the "pearls"!
You may wonder how scorners and the wicked got the way they are, and the answer is that they started out that way! "A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke." (Prov. 13:1) Children who have not been raised right will grow up rebellious, wise in their own eyes, because they have been neglected in discipline by the parent(s). Bad parenting rears bad children. We are to spank the sheol out of them! "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." (Prov. 23:13 - 14) Foolishness needs to be driven out of a child when they are young! "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." (Prov. 22:15) Good parenting rears godly children - "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deut. 11:18 - 19) Here is the failure of many a parent; that they did not raise their child or children in the word of the Lord, in the holy Bible, and thereby did they raise their children to be dogs and swine as adults, because they ignored this command to teach their children the righteousness contained in God's word!
"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." (Prov. 23:9) You can even speak secular wisdom in the ears of a fool, and they will not heed it. I remember a woman younger than me fitting this. She would always ask me advice, presenting two paths for her to travel to reach her goal. i would give her that there is a path, sometimes one she would present, sometimes one she hadn't considered, that would cause her to reach the desired end, and don't you know she would thank me and never take my advice? And she always wondered later why she was in the messes she was in! For a time I was patient with her, and finally I one day asked her, "Why do you so often come to me for advice, when you always later fail to take it? My breath has been so much wasted on unheeded advice, you are like smoking a cigarette; the inhale is a waste of energy." This is the same case for fools, because they may hear whatever biblical wisdom you may speak, but they just let it go in one ear and out the other, and they prove to be seeds eaten up by birds as soon as you let go of them for planting. "And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying, 'Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them.'" (Matt. 13:3 - 4)
Fools and scorners are the opposite of sheep (clean, godly people). Now sheep are characterized by the words of David when he wrote, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." (Psa. 141:5) What David is saying here is that advice from the righteous is welcome, because it profitable reproof. The pearls of the righeous keep us from paths that lead to evil. Wickedness can be subtle, a slow slippery slide away from God. The wicked are already enjoying being away from God. They like it there, and there from comes the scorn and disdain of Godly wisdom!
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." (Gal. 6:1) This brings up a point; we need cast our pearls generously before our family in Christ. True family will always accept reproof when it is due, especially when edified with Scripture. All Scripture is for correction, as it is written, but how we present it is another matter. For the wicked, the backslidden, the stiffnecked, and the wandering family membe, each requires a different attitude of application of Scripture. We must discern whether to deal rightly using outright rebuke or using lovingkindness, or tempered rebuke, case by case. Family requires employing private lovingkindness when casting the pearls of correction in a fault, while the openly wicked may require straightforward rebuke. Those known to be wicked may be in a God given situation wherein they are overcome with contriteness, and they are beaten, broken, and these are ripe for pearls that lead to salvation!
So we need to discern dogs and swine, and treat our children as the gifts from God that they are, give them a godly upbringing, and not spoil them in their enjoyment of rebellion and foolishness, but rather drive it out of them with the rod of instruction properly applied as needed. There is a time when dogs and swine are ready to transform, and at that moment, they are ready for the holy pearls to be cast before them, that they might accept salvation because their eyes have been opened!

WE R FAMILY!

WE ARE FAMILY!

If you are a Christian as I am, did you know we are family? That's right! According to Scripture, we are related through the glorious Gospel, family by adoption because we see a mutual duty to do the will of the Father. I have many children in Christ, and these call me "Father" or "Dad", and call my wife "Mom" or "Mommy". I have a daughter in Trinidad, and one in Qatar, and I've lost track how many in the Philippines. I have a son in Mindanao, and another in Ghana. These readily call me Dad, and I call them son or daughter. I also have brothers and sisters in Christ. In India, and South Africa, and even Pakistan. Now you're probably thinking I must be crazy adopting people I haven't met, but according to Scripture, I'm doing exactly what Jesus wants me to do. Shall we go for a spin through the Bible and see what I mean?
"I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." (1 Cor. 4:14 - 15) Here Paul makes plain to the Corinthians that through the Gospel he has adopted them as their spiritual father, to which you might say, "Whaaaaat?"
"Then one said unto Him, 'Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with Thee.' But He answered and said unto him that told Him, 'Who is My mother? And who are My brethren?' And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, 'Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.'" (Matt. 12:47 - 50) This is that wonderful place in the Gospel that unites all Christians in the spirit of adoption as family! Verily I tell you that I have family of my blood who are not family in the Spirit, nor are some of my in-laws related in Spirit; no, not even to my wife! If they heard this, they would be aghast, but it is true! "Why would you say this?" they might ask. Why?
"Not every one that saith unto Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21) Jesus said it this simply. We who do the will of the Father are family, and He will recognize us, and remember our actions demonstrating we are His sheep and not the devil's goats, and we will be one big happy family in heaven. Now there will be some who think they are a sheep, but in fact, they are goats, and many will remain so to their last breath, and Jesus has something to say about them, but it is not that they have been adopted! "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?' And then will I profess unto them, 'I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.'" (Matt. 7:22 - 23) The reason the Master never knew these people is because they had no relationship with Him.  Now one might say to themselves, "How do we identify these goats? If they are doing works in His name, how are they not one of His sheep?" I have an answer for that written by Paul... "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." (1 Cor. 13:1 - 3) It's who in the world are they doing these things for that matters to God! Is that person doing it for themselves and out of selfishness, or are they doing it for God? If they're doing things on TV that seem for God, if they're writing books with Christian topics, their picture on the covers, that could be a clue. I'm not the judge of their hearts, but they can't hide their intentions from God. You don't hear me saying if I don't get some multimillion dollar donation amount by such a time, God is going to take me home, but I've heard tell of it said by one I might suspect a goat. Another has a best seller out, and she had a "nip and tuck" done, and woe unto her if Jesus tell her He never knew her! Relatives say they're saved, and have a ministry, yet there is no transformation to prove they've been converted; they still live in an ungodly manner, unmarried, four children, and condemning others. You smell goat?
Should a Christian call an unbeliever family? Paul gives us the answer to this; "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" (2 Cor. 6:15) So how can we call a nonChristian "brother" while he has not accepted Christ as Savior? Or how can we call a young woman "daughter" if she knows only a false god, such as Dagon of the Old Testament false gods? "Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)" (2 Chron. 6:30) I would like cveryone reading this to note what is written in the parentheses of this verse of Scripture. God knows the hearts of us all! If you are doing something for yourself instead of God, you can fool every person who thinks you are soooooo religious, but in His eyes, you are so busted! So why am I talking about the placement of love discerning whether or not a person is a sheep or a goat? Look again above at what Paul said about not having charity. Charity is unselfish love. It is love for anyone but yourself. If he didn't have charity for the others or for God, it didn't profit him anything! If I buy a bunch of poor people bags of rice, but I did it to look religious instead of because I pitied the people and was moved with compassion for them, then I profited nothing by doing so! God knows what is on my heart for motivation, and if it's not candid love for other than myself, it's so much hay and wood!
Now I present you how a father in the Spirit of the gospel spoke to his spiritual son in those days..."Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine," (1 Tim. 1:2 - 3) Let's give this a little study. Paul is greeting Timothy as though he were his own son, and he speaks a blessing on him at the first. Additionally, he is giving him directions, instructions on what he wants him to do. Now Timothy is a good son in Christ, and will do what Paul is instructing him to do, as all children in Christ would be expected to obey the instructions of their parents. After all, if a child cannot obey their parents, how more so will they rebel against Christ?
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:" (Eph. 4:11 - 15) So while we are all family, we also have different functions toward each other. Some are listed here in this letter to the Ephesians, but also, we are servants to one another. Yes, servants to our family in Christ. I have a God-given brother who serves Christ (and me) by proofreading what I write before I post it, that whatever you whom we serve read might be most correct, because we revere His word, and God forbid that we should agree on any issue that could be regarded as false doctrine! We serve well to bring the truth, but anything less would be dreadful!
"He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. Then cometh He to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto Him, 'Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.' Peter saith unto Him, 'Thou shalt never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.' Simon Peter saith unto Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.' Jesus saith to him, 'He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.'" (John 13:4 - 10) Jesus was always setting the example, and here is no different. Of course, most Christians realize Jesus was serving His apostles by symbolically washing them clean of their sins, forgiving them, and is setting the example that we need forgive one another, because, after all, we are family! Let me speak more of family and of goats...
"Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples, Saying, 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 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.'" (Matt. 23:1 - 12) Ah, the Pharisees; religious? No. They know religion, but they don't practice it, for then they would be religious! These are the goats that would say to Jesus, 'Lord, Lord'. Okay, I know it's coming. Someone is going to notice that Jesus said not to call anyone your father on the earth. What's going on with Paul having Timothy acknowledge him as his spirituaL father?
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:" (2 Cor. 1:1) "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Tim. 1:2) Now I've really confused you, perhaps, by writing two pieces of Scripture wherein one has Paul addressing Timothy as "brother", and another as "son". The fact of the matter is, Paul has used these two terms as addresses of endearment, not that he should lord his apostleship over Timothy so much as being in place of the heavenly Father, but rather as considering Timothy as family in Christ, perfect endearment according to what Christ meant concerning His adopted family, those who do the will of the Father!
We also have a selection of Scripture where Paul denotes one to be considered a sister; "I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also." (Rom. 16:1 - 2) And we have yet another where he calls all the men of Corinth brothers (brethren)! "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Cor. 1:10) How different we are now, that we have divisions called denominations, and how sad that many in some denominations consider everyone in the other denominations heretics instead of family, whether they speak it or keep it only as thought.
"And John answered Him, saying, 'Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.' But Jesus said, 'Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My name, that can lightly speak evil of Me. For he that is not against us is on our part.'" (Mark 9:38 - 40) So what reason do I have for writing this piece of Scripture? Let me add this: "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (1 Cor. 12:3) Let the other denominations be considered family in Christ, so long as they agree He is Lord, Savior, and God, and let Him handle the differences that separate us into denominations. Whoever does not confess that Jesus is God, that He died on the cross to save us from all our sins, and rose from the dead, and He is Lord and Savior, these R not family, but collateral damage and antiChrists. These we pray for, that God would save them, open their eyes, and redeem them!