All Discussion PAGE 157

Matt.12:18 "Introduction" (2 of 2)

Jesus sent the 12 disciples to preach 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand. His upbriading of Capernaum and Bethsaida leads us to discuss the clause in the key text, "And he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles".

Earlier we read that "And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities."(11:1) He was there as the Word become flesh and it was the power of God that equipped the ministry of the twelve.Did Jesus himself receive a good reception. Obviously not. "Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not." (11:20)

The Pharisees were ever at his heels to accuse him of blasphemy, "Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him./ But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all.(12:14-15).

"And departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon." (15:21).This was in accordance with the Scripture

Matt.12:18 "Introduction" (1 of 2)

"Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles."

With Chapter 12 we see the narrative shift from 'the lost sheep of Israel' to the Gentiles. The Spirit invites our attention with the familiar term,"Behold" and here also the association of the Son is typical and the only begotten Son is the Messiah, the anointed and the Spirit literally refers the clause, 'I will put my spirit upon him' which we have seen fulfilled as the Holy Spirit descending on him in the form of a dove at the baptism, He was indeed the Word fashioned in human likeness. He was sent as a servant to witness the eternal word. He administered in in the preceding chapters to the nation of Israel.

The first part of the Gospel was about the Doctrine of God. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."(5:5) The doctrine was presented as coming direct from his person and not second hand, which we have in his confession,"For I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."(11:29)

He chose 'the little ones" not because of their gifts but God has entrusted them as he made clear in his Prayer, ("Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.") They were to serve the Word even as he did so their association brought all those who were poor in spirit into the kingdom of heaven. "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.) The kingdom-building became in right earnest which is what the Sermon on the Mount signifies. Israel was given the first opportunity and they gave a cold shoulder to the Son and his associates. Thus his upbraiding of Capernaum and Bethsaida marks a change. "And he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles."

I agree Momsage, there is no clear instruction or evidence of departed souls in Heaven looking down upon us. I feel that this belief developed from certain passages, such as Matthew 18:10 (angelic activity & witness on behalf of children); 1 Peter 1:10-12 (angelic interest in the workings of the Gospel & people's response to it); and Hebrews 12:1 (the cloud of witnesses: are they actually witnessing/observing our lives on Earth, or is the message for us, 'to lay aside sin & run the race with patience, since we have those who have done so before us which should be our example, or witness to us?). So, if there is angelic observance, some might be inclined, even for comfort sake, also believe that departed souls also have similar opportunity, interest & power to do so. This is probably a belief best left aside for the Word is not specific on it & should not be taught as fact. And I've always thought, that if souls are in the presence of the Lord, would there even be any desire to cast the 'mind' or 'eyes' anywhere else, rather than behold the Glory & Beauty of God in continual worship of Him?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts GiGi as you progress on the Attributes of God using the alphabet - very interesting & edifying as also the great submissions from Richard. As I read yours, and you quoted Deuteronomy 4:7, my thoughts went to the very Name of God in respect to this.

The Israelites were indeed reminded that the LORD God was always near to them - with them; and yet they should have known (or, maybe it wasn't revealed to them at that stage), that this God is also known by His compound Name, YHWH-Shammah: "The LORD Who is Present". And this we see in Ezekiel 48:35, the very last statement in the very last verse of Ezekiel's prophecy (which is generally understood to refer to Israel's existence in the Millennial Kingdom; Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48).

In that verse, the Hebrew reads, "wasem ha-ir mi-yowm Yahweh sammah" ('and the name of the city from (that) day (shall be) YAHWEH (is) THERE'). Israel of old knew that God was with them by all His marvelous Works yet they still resorted to the flesh & idolatry. But the day will come when they will truly know Him as Yahweh Shammah, the LORD Who is present, with them, very near to them, for Christ Jesus their Messiah will be the Lord Whom they will know & Who will rule over them (also speaks of Christ's indivisible Deity). And what we, as those who have now received Christ's Spirit in our hearts, know Him in a personal way & a powerful Presence in our lives, still remain to them as a distant hope & a vain search, all the while clouded in disbelief, darkness, & rejection of their Messiah's first coming. Thank you for reminding us that the LORD has never left us - He has constantly been involved in all our affairs, even though at times in our personal & global existence, He might appear absent. But unto 'us who believe, He is precious' & we ought to live in such a manner befitting His Name, 'the LORD Who is Present with(in) us'.

Hi Cheryl1655. The passage you read in Revelation 21:1-3 about the new heaven (sky) & new Earth and then the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven, are events (including those in Revelation 22) that will take place right at the very end of earthly time as we know it. This account shows us the end of Satan & his influence on mankind, the end of sin & corruption, & the arrival of a complete renewal of God's original creation, with God in the midst. These are glorious visions which the Apostle John received from Jesus for those end times, and sadly the vision of all those who have rejected Jesus & loved to live in sin, hating the God of Heaven, these will go into punishment of everlasting fire ( Revelation 21:8).

"The meeting in the sky" is what I believe you're referring to as the Rapture, or 'the snatching away' (Latin, 'rapio'; Greek, 'harpazo'), and this is referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, which the Apostle Paul's was teaching to those Churches. Now this event (the Rapture) is a subject that has a whole range of views & beliefs amongst Christians, as we piece together what information we're given in the Bible, figuring the how, when, where, this occurs (or, likely to occur). However, to answer your question, my understanding of the Scriptures is that the Rapture ('the lifting up of the living & dead in Christ & meeting Jesus in the sky') is the next great event in God's 'calendar', where His saved, holy ones are removed from the Earth before His Wrath is poured upon the Earth of unbelievers (otherwise called, the Great Tribulation of God's Wrath (see Matthew chapter 24)). See also 1 Thessalonians 1:10 & 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10.

However one views this 'snatching away' & the Day of God's Wrath upon the Earth, the message to those IN CHRIST is clear: BE READY, Live lives pleasing to the Lord, that we may "not be ashamed before Him at His Coming" ( 1 John 2:28,29). GBU.

This chapter speaks warning to the Israelites before they enter the land.

They are not to be afraid of the strong nations they will encounter when they go forth to take the lands. God promised to destroy the peoples. So it was not up to the might of the Israelites for the victory to occur, but upon the almighty power and will of God.

The part the Israelites will play in the conquest is to destroy ALL the people, ALL their idols and places of worship. The Israelites responsibility was obedience. God named the 7 nations they were yet to conquer.

He commanded them to not intermarry with members of the nations of this land. They are to be a people separate from the idolaters. They were not to intermix with them in marriage, business, and in everyday life. God knows the power of sin and temptation. He was warning them for their good, not just to put restrictions on their lives. It is wise to follow God in this way, to not be involved with idolaters, those who hate God, those who, in ignorance or rebellion fail to worship and serve Him. These idolaters do not have much to offer us in way of relationships. Their company will usually lead us into sin rather than bring reformation to them. But we still are to be witnesses in and out of season.

God promised to make the Israelites fruitful in every way. Being fruitful is a blessing, being barren is not. We should have this same attitude in our lives. We should greatly desire to be spiritually fruitful, fruitful in our work habits, fruitful in our marriage, fruitful in our relations with other believers as we pray and study the Word together.

I am thankful that I married a believer. This was God's doing. It has led us to have a harmonious marriage. We are coming up on our 44th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. God has blessed us so much. May we show gratitude to each other even more so in the years ahead!

God is:

NEAR

He is everywhere present, but the Word says He is specifically near to those who call upon Him.

God came near humanity specifically in the Incarnation of the Son in Jesus

The Holy Spirit is as near as possible within us.

Jesus said He would never leave us nor forsake us.

God is intimate with us. We do not deserve His Presence near to us because of our sinful nature, but He chose to bring us forgiveness in Christ so that He can.

How amazing that the holy God who cannot have sin abide in his Presence has drawn near to us in and through Christ!

Although God is transcendent and in many ways beyond us, He is also near.

He was near His people in the wilderness( Deut. 4:7)

Jesus brought God's kingdom near to us ( Mk. 1:15)

The Perfection of Christ

Christ being a member of the Godhead never sinned. We see that He was tempted in all ways as we are as Hebrews 4:15 states.

In His own strength Christ certainly always had the right to do anything as well as the capability; but as we know God cannot lie ( Heb. 6:18 and other related scriptures). Thus; Satan truly was the only being that had the authority to give the right of rulership over the earth as a temptation; and Christ was the only recipient other than Antichrist who will receive this offer. The man of sin will accept it; and the world will accept THE LIE ( 2 Thess. 2:11-12). It was for our sake that Christ humbled Himself; even to death on a cross emptying Himself of all self promotion of His own glory for the sake of the Father's exaltation later. This encompasses a number of scriptures (see Philippians 2:7; Isaiah 53).

Thus; we see that the relationship among the Godhead brings humility followed by exaltation. We also should follow that guideline; knowing that no servant is greater than His master; we are also to suffer while in this brief earthly existence. ( John 13:16). How much of our own troubles are caused by our own sins varies; it is something we should overcome if we are truly to embrace His sufferings.

When we consider sinless perfection on a surface level we think of avoiding commission of acctions against God as well as avoiding omission of things we ought to do which is often neglected at the expense of the first issue. We can think of someone who never makes mistakes; never says a word that is unfitting; and other like characteristics. When examining in depth this subject we see how eternal spiritual laws and principles were always first and foremost; undergirding Christ's miracles. Salvation was shown to be more crucial than just healing (see Matthew 9:6); as the paralytic received healing along with forgiveness. Salvation is complete at the Resurrection of the just; inheriting new bodies

You are right about people, even Christians (so sad), who believe loved ones who were believers are watching them while in the beautiful, unimaginable Prescence of God and looking down on this wretched, cursed earth that they have left behind. It makes no sense in any way other them it gives them a false comfort while grieving for loosing that loved one. Unfortunately, as you said, the secular world has picked up on this and they believe a dead loved one is looking down on them and helping them in some way. Why would God allow this? Does he need the help of these souls to watch over people because He is to busy to do it himself or does he feel the loved one there with him needs to be able to do this if they want to (I certainly wouldn't) to give them some kind of peace of mind to be sure their loved ones are doing ok? All of this is totally ridiculous to me and, as I said, very sad. I have never had the opportunity to talk to someone who believe this, I've just seen it on TV or in movies or in testimonies on YouTube. Another popular false doctrine that is very prominent now is that people who seemed to have died are coming back from supposedly being dead with all kinds of stories of what they saw, what God told them, etc. They were just in a deep dream and if they are supposedly told something while visiting heaven and/or God that they couldn't have known before it is just their subconscious bringing it up. They may not realized they heard it but they must have at one time and then it was buried in their subscience. For example, the little boy that claims to know about a baby he shouldn't have known about or his mother going to the hospital chapel while he was unconscious. The parents or anyone may have talked in front of him while he was unconscious about these things and then he would know it when he wakes up. When you die physically, God takes care of you accordingly, heaven or to hell. These things are bordering on idolatry. God Bless :)

>"The soul does not exist without the body."

He says this above and that not believing his opinion is "extremely dangerous doctrine". Interesting.

What matters is what God says, not one man's opinion, regardless of how loud he shouts it. I'm not aware of any scripture supporting his claim, but know of some saying the opposite.

1 Corinthians 6:19 The Word says our bodies are not our own, implying that it only temporarily hosts us.

1 Corinthians 5:3 - Paul says his spirit is present with them, although his body is absent.

Verses about sleeping awaiting judgment. The body is obviously dead, but the soul obviously is in a state of waiting.

Daniel 12:2, Job 14:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

What are we: a body or a soul/spirit? If a hand gets cut off do we really lose part of our soul too, or is it just a physical appendage separate from us?

Many have out of body experiences- well documented in books and videos, where people have hovered over their bodies watching and noticing things they could not have noticed if they were actually confined to their body.

In summary, Biblical evidence and personal testimony evidence does not support that claim above.

"The soul does not exist without the body" I was wondering what exactly do you mean by this comment? I've heard it before but have never understood it very well. God Bless :)

Please don't misunderstand my comment to the two scriptures you used in this discussion. I won't say if I believe in soul sleep or being in God's presence immediately but I do want to say in these scriptures, I believe, that Jesus was saying in John 11: 25-26 and John 10: 27-28 simply that once someone is saved they have eternal life promised them and will be with Him when He is ready for them to be, whether sleeping first or going right away. Whether He meant it one way or another the promise of eternal life is what matters. God Bless :)

My comment was directed exclusive to the Body of Christ. Why do we differ in this belief when it doesn't matter to those of us who are believers. We will be in God's presence when He wants us to. We should be a witness to those outside God's church, who need salvation, that believe all those false doctrines and "ghost stories," but in the church why have this disunity. It does make for good discussions but let's discuss how we can help sinners who believe these things to find Jesus and then they will be in the Church and they can decide if they want to believe if they sleep or are in God's presence right away. Just Saying God Bless :)

Verse 2 & 3 new heaven & earth come dowsn from heaven, then what is the meeting in the sky ?

Matt.11 "Conclusion" (2 of 2)

Soul of saints redeemed from the earth is man-child. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." As he was so are we in the world. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." How well do we know our own native soil? "And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."(Re.12:5)

How did the saints grow from glory to glory? Not from the bestseller lists touted by the world or from literature of those who hold truth in unrighteousness. We did not learn thus from second-hand sources but from heavenly places being hid in Christ. Be not deceived by those who treat soul sleep. The dead are alive because sovereignty of soul is invested on the Living God. People well meaning and yet they do err not knowing the Scripture as they ought to.

Soul is at rest as the Psalmist testified resting on the bosom of his Lord as Jesus learned of the doctrine of God from the bosom of his Father. Rest of one who is dead to the Law of sin learned actively by taking his yoke upon his natural body. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest./Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls./For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. " Faith is what gives soul its rest and not soul sleep.

Matt.11 Conclusion (1 of 2)

"Because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes./ Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight."

God revealed 'these things' which owe to the quality of truth inherent in the heart of man. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them." (Ro.1:19-20). God fashioned hearts alike signifying God is knowable that there is no denying.(Ro.1:20) Soul is figuratively therefore called a man-child. Jesus called his disciples babes as he did another time 'little ones' as in this verse, "unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple"(10:42)

God breathed into man and made him a living soul so what may be known of God is not created in a higgledy-piggledy fashion but after the image of his Son. It is for this reason the Spirit instructs "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;" It is gradual and growth is not synchronized with physical age but with the grace of God operating in anyone. God knows the proud afar off but nigh like the Psalmist who was like a weaned child, not moved by the hustle and bustle of a world without."Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child."(Ps.132:2)

' Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:' was the will of God; so it gives soul of each believer a template for growth. In Trinity.Body. Spirit and Soul refer to it. God's will is expressed with a specific purpose.'A body has thou prepared me'. Spirit and Soul of God gives that body the wherewithal so a believer may grow unto perfection. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."( 2 Co.3:18).In the vision of the Woman Clothed with the Sun is taken straight into the throne. "(Re.12:5)

please pray for me and my family please pray for my daughter Jessica and her family

Matt.11:24 "Capernaum" (2 of 2)

Daniel interpreted what only the king would have seen and duly forgotten. God revealed it to him and he did ending with these words,"and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."(Dan.2:45) Truth in his heart did not miss; neither did the Gentile king. The Spirit has laid down the truth as knowable. Before the gospel truth as revealed to him he felt prostrate before Daniel who stood there in place of Jesus Christ.

From heaven and from lower earths the Word of God serves as the eternal Law. (Ps.119:89) So what is the centre of the kingdom of God but the heart that God has fashioned alike? This is truth that man in unrighteousness treats as a trifle. As with city so is an ungodly man. Capernaum or Bethsaida are place names and interchangeable. There is only lingua franca by which man may find salvation. By believing in the Son whom God sent in the fulness of time.

Jesus upbraided the cities and pointed to the day of judgment and it is determined. "for God hath avenged you on her." We have a partial list of martyrs in 23:35 and in here it is complete, "For thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived./And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."(Re.18:20-24)

This must occur in the generation of Jesus, "Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." Notice the emphasis given in Matthew? In the light of it does it surprise the disproportionate mass killings all over the earth; it would seem that Satan is aware of his time running out and is a last ditch effort.

" And I saw heaven opened," The final battle begins from heaven since all those cities(the sea-18:21) as we know it are one big charnel house. "And there was no more sea"(Re.21:1)

I wanted to tell you, also, that in a way it's sorrowful if your family is still caught up in the Catholic church but Jesus has made you a light in the darkness and He will use His beautiful light to shine on them with His beautiful truth. When I first heard the gospel I was thrilled. I had no idea that Jesus' death and resurrection actually meant I could be forgiven for all my sins at once as long as I asked Jesus to forgive me and not some grumpy old man every Saturday. I will keep your family in prayer also God Bless :)

Thank you Chris,

you expressed our shared thoughts on this very eloquently.

Hi Momsage,

No problem, I understand that people who have been in a spiritual situation where they have been grossly misled or abused or made to feel guilty if one does not follow their teachings strictly and exclusively can have a very adverse reaction to that situation and can be reactive to things that can trigger strong emotions. It seems that this discussion has done so with you. I am sorry for that. I did not begin this discussion, just responding to you and Hadassah, as many do on this site.

As to the sect you were once associated with that taught against getting medical treatment, viewing it as a lack of faith or some other attitude they found thought God would not approve, I am glad you left that situation. Such teachings and pressures to conform are oftentimes a mark of cultish and teaching. So, My prayer is that you are now in a good church situation that feeds you well from Scripture and promotes a deeper walk with God by His Spirit in you. We can discuss what ever you wish. I usually do not begin threads or discussions but often join in. I am happy to know you and look forward to many discussions. I don't think we need to redress the current one on the errors of Catholicism. I do think we agree that there are some very disturbingly false teachings and practices promoted by this sect. And that is a good place to end on this topic.

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I do at times share with a few RC friends, & they also read the Bible themselves (a wonderful permission now granted to them), so they are asking questions, some even searching for the Truth (as in your cases). And some even now are saved within that Church, yet unable to leave probably because of the indoctrination of damnation in their early years, to any who considered leaving her. But I remain hopeful that the Spirit will continue to work in (& amongst) them, just as He has done in both of you.

An example: In the Qur'an there are a lot of verses that bring great honor to God, even mirroring the belief some hold to Jesus' position within the Godhead ( John 1:1); and this is found in Surah 3:45 (Qur'an), "When the angels said, 'Mary, God gives thee good tidings of a Word from Him, whose name is Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; highly honoured shall he be in this world and the next". Here, the claim is made that Jesus is the Word of God, came from God as His Messiah, yet most Muslims reject this meaning as it's incompatible to God being One, without any association. Would I then use the Qur'an as a reliable source to complement the Bible in my readings (Never), or should I be aware that there are truths in there also, yet the 'whole' is so corrupted offering no hope & salvation to the Muslim?

So, even those truths can be the foundation to access the hearts & minds of others (Muslims, RCs, others), where in most cases, a total rejection to the biblical Truth will shut us off completely from them. Here of course, I'm thinking of ministry to such folk lost in darkness & sin, & also as a teaching between Truth & error, learning of what others believe & what has caused them to "err from the truth". So yes, we can at least appreciate when the RC does believe according to the Word: some Light is still evident there amongst the lies & so we have a good basis to build up on our common beliefs, striving to lead them to the perfect & final Work of Jesus for them.

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Hello Momsage. If I may intrude a little here in spite of your converstion now going a different way, & in reference to GiGi's position on this matter of RC doctrine & teaching, I understand GiGi's comments a little differently to how you & Hadassah do. As you know, she is not condoning all the beliefs & practises of that Church, rather as I understand it, & from her other posts, that she is stating those RC beliefs that are actually according to the Bible & are to be noted.

However, your position is that 'if there are so many erroneous teachings emanating from a group such as the RC Church, then the whole is to be rejected & given no regard in any way'. But what I see here is that GiGi is airing those teachings that are clearly un-biblical & dishonoring to God, but even within such a misguided Church, there can still be teaching that are clearly biblically-based. For example, I know that some say that 'those who believe in the Trinity are believing a Catholic doctrine initiated by RC Church; and since they themselves don't believe it & the RCs do, therefore we follow a Catholic teaching'. Which is totally erroneous & misrepresenting both the Bible & those who subscribe to it.

Yet, there are teachings that RCs hold to that are biblical, e.g. the Trinity, of Judgement & Hell, of Christ's Virgin Birth, Death, Resurrection & Second Coming, the sanctity of marriage, Sunday (the Lord's Day), & others. And yet there are other teachings, many more that are against sound biblical doctrine. I doubt that neither GiGi, nor I & most others, would voluntarily attend & worship at an RC Church, given their beliefs & practises, but can we truly say that ALL that they believe in, is wrong? Could we not find some ground of common belief that we can use to measure how far folk have deviated from Truth; or, to assist those so grossly misled, to come to the Truth? To Page 2.

I'm sorry I overreacted. Yes, you have been respectful toward me and I appreciate it. I would still like to have discussions with you. Do you have something in particular we could discuss?

I use to belong to a church where one of their main teachings was devine healing but they became so stirck in the teaching that going to a doctor or taking medicine was looked down on. Basically you were being unfaithful to God and His word if you did. What do you think or if you'd rather discuss something else that's OK. God Bless :)

Dear Momsage,

It is fine if we end this thread of conversation between us. I was not saying that you were bring prideful about your knowledge. I was said that "we", meaning any believer, should be careful about it. Sorry if you thought I was pointing you out specifically. I was not.

Also, in all of this conversation I have maintained that we should not be hateful in our speech about others. I stand by that and have been respectful to you. But if you think I have not been so to you, please let me know how you think I have been disrespectful because I do truly want to know.

I hope you have a blessed day and evening.

Hello Oseas.

What I said is that we are to hate any false doctrine no matter the sect. But that does not mean that we are to speak hatefully to those who are in these sects or to oppose ALL that is taught by such sects as long as the teaching is Scripturally sound. We can choose to not be members of such sects or to associate with those in these sects, nor should we recommend people to join them, but we are not to be hateful to them. We are to be winsome in our language to those in sects that teach things that are not in accord with Scripture, endeavoring to find common sound beliefs to speak with them about in hopes of drawing them to the Scriptures to seek more truth.

As for the rest of your post to me, I guess that I really do not have much more to address of it. I hope you have a good day, Oseas.

GIGI

You said to Momsage that there are many false teachings in Protestant churches today, so, we should hate these as much as the ones taught in Catholicism, and after you made an extense description of sects which have spread false and devilish doctrines.

Reading the content of your post, I was compelled to remember you and all that from now on GOD Almight will LITERALLY fulfill

His Word given to Isaiah about His WRATH against this current generation of satanic religions, and their respective devilish doctrines and teachings. As my GOD said- Isaiah 33:10-14-, Now will He rise, now will He be exalted; now will He lift up Himself.

My GOD is a devouring fire, understand? So the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

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-1Cor.3:12-13.

2 Peter 3:7

&11-12&17-The heavens(the 1st and 2nd heavenly places in Christ- Ephesians 1:3-or 1st and 2nd Covenant-Old and New Testaments)and the earth(the current Israel infested of idolatries and sorceries,whose holy city is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt),which are now,by the same Word are kept in store,RESERVED UNTO FIRE against this Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.(that is the seventh and last Day or seventh and last millennium)

11Seeing then that all these things shall be DISSOLVED,what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of GOD,wherein the heavens being on fire(GOD is a devouring fire) shall be DISSOLVED,and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

17Ye therefore,beloved,seeing ye know these things before,beware lest ye also,being led away with the error of the wicked,fall from your own your own stedfastness.

"Cor. 13:12 We should be careful and resist spiritual pride concerning our knowledge of right doctrine." I think it is time for us to stop communicating. I have not accused you of spiritual pride, lack of compassion for sinners, etc. I have been respectful of you and your comments, I have just disagreed with them. I don't agree that "serving God or serving manna" doesn't apply to what I'm saying about the Catholic Church. The Vatican is one of the wealthiest entities in the world. It is worth billions, and yet local parishes have had to close their schools because they don't have the funds to keep them open, elderly nun's pensions have been cut or stopped altogether because the parish didn't have the money anymore to pay it to them. The reason the Vatican won't help them is because they basically say they are on their own and the Vatican is not responsible for them. The Catholics choose idolatry over God in their worship of false God's, especially Mary. I would guess that 90% of Catholics worship Mary far above worshipping Jesus. The rosary has a bead where they pray the "Hail, Holy Queen" prayer which greatly and completely calls on Mary as if she is God. It's to long to print here but it is on the Marians of the Immaculate Conception website on " how to say the rosary." Many more Hail Marys are said on the rosary then any prayer to God. So Catholics may believe in God but they certainly don't worship Him as the one and only God. So they love manna and dishonor God. I admit, I haven't studied the Catholic Church like you have, but I did live it for 18 yrs. and the hypocrisy drove me away. What good does the little bit of truth do them when the great amount of lies take them over. I'm not saying you shouldn't witness to them or anyone else who believes in false doctrine but, I believe condoning the "false" while witnessing to the right is counter productive but, of course, that is your business. If you respond I will read it but I won't answer. God Bless You :)

Matt.11:24 "Capernaum" (1 of 2)

"But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee."

vv.20-24 The Spirit gives us several place names, all of which are set in terms of a day of Judgment. What Jesus here implies that is this: rise and fall of world empires cities and persons come under the sovereignty of the Word . "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"(Ro.1:18) God set his truth equally and also tries their actions. Capernaum in particular where Jesus resided ("Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not."-11:20) is set against Sodom which only had Lot who would rather merge with the local color that sound an alien. Jesus however lived In Capernaum, as 'I am the Truth.' In their indifference the townsfolk treated the article Truth in light esteem. Similarly Jerusalem in rejecting Jesus was judged and in 70 AD the ransacking of the city was not the end. The real judgment would be only which the Spirit refers as the day of judgment. This wrath that serve as coup de grace comes in Re.18:21. "Babylon has fallen" is holdall for every city come up for reckoning. "Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come."(Re.18:10). and as with the mode of narrative characteristic of the Spirit, Min-Max mode it includes all. "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." This stone is none other than the stone not cut with hands refers to the King's dream. "Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

Asking for strong protection, peace and breakthrough for us and all in need.