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I wrote Richard instead of Ronald, So sorry.
Here's one thing to keep in mind when reading it again if you would please, in ( Jeremiah. 23:16-17) v17 It tells us these prophets say 'Ye shall have peace" and "No evil shall come upon you".
(When is this evil in the Lastdays?)
In ( Eph. 6:10-17) v11 tells us to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand (against the wiles of the devil) v13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the ((evil)) day, and having done all, to stand".
Its called the evil day when the devil is on this earth in ( Eph. 6:11,13) that will be great tribulation.
There are many people today who say they wont be here for that evil day, they say that evil day will not come upon them.
I honestly don't mean to offend anybody here GiGi but this is what the Spirit is showing me to be the Truth in Scripture, and it is far to important to ignore for the time period we are living now. May God open the eyes of all who seek His Truth.
God Bless you.
I don't read this passage as you have shared. I learn that Paul found certain disciples (12 of them) in Ephesus & was keen to find out if they had received the Holy Ghost (i.e. whether they had a re-birth experience). Their answer was that 'they hadn't even heard of the Holy Ghost, let alone receive Him'. So Paul questions them further as to their water baptism experience. And then the Truth comes out: they only received John's baptism, just like all the others who did so as a result of John's preaching. These, fortunately, were among those who believed that there was a coming Savior & so were His followers from afar, but that's all that happened to them. They might have been awaiting more news & more inspiration as to what to do next, not knowing the implications of Christ's death, even if they were aware of it.
Paul then, by the Lord's appointment to be at Ephesus I'm sure, told them that their baptism they received was only of repentance & pointing them to Jesus (which John came to do). But "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." This statement assumes that Paul preached to these disciples about the Cross & the Resurrection, and of faith in Jesus for their salvation. They never knew all this about the Jesus that they had heard about from John - they were only at the point of wanting to believe but had nothing else & no one else to instruct them. They then received the Christian baptism, with Paul laying on of hands to receive the Holy Ghost. As bro S. Spencer has shared, re-birth can only occur when the Holy Spirit enters into a repentant believing person, because it is HE alone Who does this work, brings about a change in life & direction. Jesus' 12 disciples weren't born again until the Pentecost experience; they were just followers who loved Jesus but not yet filled & empowered.
a. John 3:10-13. I understand that this speaks about Jesus asserting that it could only be Him Who brought this wonderful Truth (of rebirth) to Nicodemus since none else before Him had done so. He was the One always in Heaven, & as the Word of God now in flesh, He was even greater than the prophets that went before Him ( Hebrews 1:1,2); in that He, the Living Word, brought out the mysterious Truths of Heaven. There was none other that ascended to Heaven in the past, heard such things & then came back to Earth to deliver the message - only Jesus could do it & has done it. So Jesus isn't talking about a resurrection here, but that none has ever done what He has done now (i.e. entering Heaven & returning with this Word).
b. Then what about Enoch, Moses & Elijah? Enoch & Elijah are understood to have been translated at their final day on Earth, i.e. they weren't resurrected (as I understand that a resurrection can only happen after one dies first). Of Moses, it would be difficult to correctly understand his destiny at death; was it just in the grave awaiting resurrection, or into Heaven itself, or maybe as in the account of the rich man & Lazarus, where the spirit & soul temporarily resides in a 'paradise'. The only way that I can understand Moses' coming (in Matthew 17:1-4), is that Moses was released from his paradise, given an outward form (as also Elijah), for the purposes of this transfiguration & then maybe returned from whence he came.
c. And yes, I would agree that for Jesus to be "the firstfruits of them that slept" ( 1 Corinthians 15:20), then no other before Him could have experienced a bodily resurrection; either they were translated or their spirits/souls went into that paradise hold. Then of those who were resurrected post-Jesus' resurrection ( Matthew 27:51-53), we aren't told what became of them after that - we can only speculate.
1st. The KJB
( Deut. 4:30) "When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days: ((if)) thou turn to the LORD thy God, ((and)) shalt be obedient unto his voice".
(The KJB says ((IF)) thou turn to the LORD thy God, ((AND)) shalt be obedient unto his voice).
This verse is conditional ((If)) thou turn to the LORD thy God, ((And)) shalt be obedient unto his voice.
2nd The Niv
(Deut.4:30 Niv) When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
(The Niv says ((you will)) return to the LORD your God and obey him).
Is the Niv saying when in distress ((everybody)) will return to the LORD thy God and obey him?
These 2 verses have different wordings, and very different meanings which both cannot be the Truth!
( Proverbs. 30:5-6) It would seem the Niv in this verse has been found to be a liar!
If a person lies to you, do you believe them after that, Or do you see them as a liar?
Blessings.
i am happy to keep you in prayers as you seek to return to work. I can imagine that you feel somewhat apprehensive about what you will be able to do safely. I will pray for God's guidance on you and that He will strengthen you for the tasks at your job. I will pray that you will be able to "read" your body well and know when to take breaks or cut back on your work day if needed.
I am happy to pray for your teeth and gums today. Keep us posted as to how this is resolving.
God does not need to have faith or trust in anyone. He is faithful always and can be trusted thoroughly by us, His children. God is in need of no thing. In Himself He possesses all that is needed for His existence, happiness, satisfaction, state of blessedness.
I do wonder though, did the human nature of Jesus need to have faith in the Father or in His divine nature?
My thoughts on this is that as both God and Man, Jesus would not need to believe in His divine nature because the human nature and divine natures were in perfect union with each other, but were not mixed.
But the human nature of Jesus may have needed to have a human relationship with the Father. This seems to be evident in that He prayed to the Father, He said "Not My will but Yours (the Father) be done." in the Garden of Gethsemane. These are uniquely human things to do.
AS far as the interactions within the Godhead towards each other, we do not know how they related to one another in areas of agreement as we know that they are always in total agreement with one another. They always works cooperatively to accomplish the will of God. But most of this is still a mystery to us as it has not been fully revealed to us in Scripture. Perhaps when we enter the eternal state we will learn more about this.
For now there is not a way for those on this forum to speak privately to another poster. I wish this was in place.
I have been praying for her this week and will continue to remember her as the school year comes to a close.
My sons were also pretty driven as far as academics when they were in school. They put a lot of pressure on themselves when we as parents did not do so. We just wanted them to do according to their abilities (which were very high). But we never expected all A's. They put this burden upon themselves. But overall they graduated with high GPA's that earned them a few scholarships.
Now that they are in their 30's and they found out what we all found out. When you are 30 or older, your GPA does not really matter anymore. It had its place in performing well with integrity and in college placement. But once they earned their degree and were hired in their fields, people are just pretty much level.
Yet, some students are far too hard on themselves and can have problems with anxiety and depression. It is my prayer that your niece will continue to do well in school, but avoid all of the pitfalls or being an overachiever.
It is fine that I do not know your niece's name. I'll just refer to her as Rico's niece in my prayers for her.
Good afternoon. I read Jeremiah 23:9-40. This section of Jeremiah is addressing the deceit and wickedness of those who proclaim themselves to be prophets whom God never called to be nor sent them to Hid people. They were prophesying peace and well-being for those who acted out of the imaginations of their own hearts. They did as they pleased and the false prophets pretty much said, "That's OK. You will be blessed in your way"d
The false prophets were saying that the Lord spoke to them, but He didn't and therefore their words were lies. They would claim to have a "burden of the Lord" to speak out their visions, dreams, or prophetic words that were all false and not from God.
As for Verse 30, it seems that God considers anyone prophesying in the name of the Lord who were not told to do so by God as stealing HIs words. Perhaps they were mixing in some Scripture with their false prophesying. The priests were corrupt too. God said that He sees all that happens and what is done in secret. He saw all that the priests and the false prophets did and said and claimed about Him speaking through them. This is a serious matter to God.
Even today there are many false prophets and false dreams, visions, and prophecies going out into the church family often doing much harm and not benefiting anyone spiritually.
You have raised some good points. I really can't say I know the answers for you. I guess we both may need to do more searching.
I've had to deal with dental complications my entire life and I had to get a root canal last year and then a permanent crown about three weeks ago to replace the temporary one I got 3 months ago and I'm only 15 years old.
I know this might be late, but you will be in my thoughts and prayers. God bless you.
Yours truly
Josiah Skiff
Spencer.
So Paul makes a strange question to them, doesn't he? Shall I assume again that Paul means that one always has just a knowledge about Christ then get w/baptised and then get born again? As I said I have never heard anybody teaching such a thing.
Question. Why does Paul ask them if they had received the Holly Spirit? How would they know? Unless there is an external sign that manifests the presence of the Holly Spirit, how could one know that they had received the Holly Spirit? Note that Paul didn't ask them if they just BELIEVED that they had received it, but if they had ACTUALLY received it.
GBU
Spencer.
Lets assume your are right about people in Samaria. So how about the apostles? Weren't they born again before Pentecost? But Jesus called them clean during the last supper i.e. in John 13:10.
When Peter preached to the Jews on Pentecost he said at the end, Acts 2:38, "..., Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.". Shall I assume that Peter said to people to just have a knowledge about Christ then get water baptised and then get born again? Hard to believe. I don't think there is any christian church of any denomination that teaches such a sequence of salvation.
Question. What is baptism? In Colossians 2:12 says "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.".
Also in Romans 6:3-7, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: ..."
So the baptism among other is symbolic for the burial of our old sinful man and the subsequent erection of the new man. But we bury something that is dead not alive. Baptism has to come after the death of the old man, not before.
Lets go to that incident that Paul met those disciples in Ephessus.( Acts 18:1-7). He asks them if they received the Spirit after they believed? Strange question, isn't it? He also asumes that they were water baptised, because he asks tthem in what name they were baptised. (since they told him that they had never heard of the Holly Spirit, he wonders how come they had never heard of it since we are baprised in the name of the Father, the Son and HTE HOLLY SPIRIT). So Paul assumed in the begining that they were also w/baptised.
Hello Spencer
1. ( Luke 1:16-17) "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord"
John's ministry apart from revealing the Savior to the Jews was to teach people to obey God's commandments (the OT ones), hence the "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord"
People came by and asked him what to do, Luke 3:7-18, (the people, the publicans and the soldiers). Note v18 " And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.".
Of course perfection came with Jesus but there were people in OT that strived to live according to God's Will. The scriptures call those people "righteous". An OT type of righteousness, not like of course the type of perfection in NT. Like Joshef in Matthew 1:19, "Then Joseph her husband, being a JUST man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.". Also Zacharias and Elisabeth in Luke 1:6, "And they were both RIGHTEOUS before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
So John with his teaching led people to repentance for their sins (what they knew in OT). John could not introduce the Savior to people who live and enjoy a sinful life. It was needed to become "clean" (the type of OT "cleanliness") first and then he led them to Jesus. He prepared their hearts to receive Jesus.
God is logical, He does not act in strange, abnormal ways. We often think that He is not logical because we don't understand Him and His plans. But He is logical. He knows how to approach people, every single one according to their own peculiaritiy.
But at that time the repentance and the subsequent remission of sins was done in baptism, in public.
Your post is on point, fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, Jesus and Paul used that saying many times. This is not to generate a back-and-forth; just thought you might want to look at it. I agree the transformation was awesome and like you said we have the law and the prophets and the Messiah in the middle a true picture of the fulfillment of scriptures by the Messiah, Jesus.
I have heard it said by many, Moses and Elijah were there and were alive and I have a hard time understanding that. Does it matter? This was before the resurrection of Jesus and Jesus is the firstfruits of those who slept, 1 Cor. 15:20. So, before Jesus defeated death and was resurrected no person who ever lived had not ascended to heaven, John 3:13.
Paul tells us in Acts 2:29,34 David is dead and buried and has not ascended to heaven. How do we explain Enoch and Elijah being taken? There are some things about that like them being the two witnesses, but I do not know, by the scriptures, I have not found it. But if Moses, after he died, Deuteronomy 34:1-5, was taken up to heaven Jesus would not be the firstfruits.
We see this in Matt. 17:9 Mark 9:9 Jesus said it was a vision and do not tell anyone what they saw and in Luke 9:32 they were heavy with sleep and John did not write about it. All three covered the cloud, (the Shekinah Glory), and what God said, "This is my beloved Son: hear him." Peter also repeats it in 2 Peter 1:15-18. Was it a vision? Was it to reinforce their faith?
Like I said, this is not to start a ruckus, I just cannot get an understanding of Moses and Elijah alive and being there when John wrote this after Jesus had ascended, because he said Jesus was in heaven; only Jesus who came down is the only one who has ascended to heaven, John 3:13.
In love thank you for what you do.
God bless,
RLW
Where is Heaven ? Is it the kingdom that Christ established at His resurrection?
Is it the heavens that we will arrive in someday? Can we experience the heavenly now?
Paul calls us Saints, imagine what it is to be a Saint. Holy, . blessed children in the here and now! This is something to see and yet we can celebrate heaven in the here and now! If you are Saint you are a blessed child of God ,"Which is come unto you" . We can receive these things and realize the joy that living in the Spirit brings unto the Saints. Growing into the things that belong to those who Love Him!
Repent and be Baptized