All Discussion PAGE 687

Thank you so much, Gigi, for your prayers! It means a lot to me that you take the time to sincerely pray for prayer requests. May God bless you always!

Please pray for Jeremy he has to do community service and anger management courses for something he was wrongfully accused of. I can tell it is saddening him.

I pray that the Lord will keep him protected, he'll have favor, and that he will have some fun and or meet some good people during these months/weeks.

Please pray for me to get back on track with God so many distractions these past weeks I need motivation again and hunger for God. I feel sad ,upset ,and stressed at times. Please pray for the joy peace and love of God to fill me and our homes.

Who is the owner of this physical world ..aaj in whose hands this world has been taught....we have taught the truth according to the Bible ... O brother, I am not accepting anything (other brother pastor) says that God is the master of this physical world.

"4And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads."

I've squandered the last few years speedily absorbing anything and everything in a never ending research in global events - studying all things Jewish - and studying Christianity, attempting to understand what's happening in the world, by whom, why, and what it means - or what I should do.

I know for multiple reasons, there is simply not enough time to come even close to one full reading of the New Testament. If the world doesn't implode, well my health is... quite bad, which i've come to terms with. Life always being overrated imo, yet I have found comfort in Christs words, though remaining conflicted & confused. I know Revelations warns twice not to be deceived I'm hopelessly deceivedconfused.

I'm aware of the "mark of the beast" branded either in the forehead, or the right hand. That being said, I've on occasion heard, or read snippets of something of this above line, Christ's people who reject the mark of the beast, six hundred and sixty six, no buying, selling, being beheaded, and em, much unpleasantries of Tribulation (The general idea of it anyway), but what can you tell me of a mark that followers of Jesus Christ, faithfully, are supposed to haveget?

One other please, I'm familiar with the names, "Lucifer Lightbringer" & "Lucifer Morningstar" and reading an insinuation that Jesus is Lucifer from a randomly encountered commentary bringing me here:

"16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."

Reading it... didn't dispel their claim. Can this be a translation confusion from Greek to English, or am I just a total idiot? Why is Jesus saying he is the "Bright" (Lightbringer?) and "Morning star" (Lucifer Morningstar?!)

Not even sure if this'll get read, but apologies for the foolish questions. I have a million more, but if anyone responds to these two, thank you.

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Kerr. I am looking for asking for a pray for getting away from certain ex lovers and family that's stalking me and won't leave me alone. I am praying they will move on. I just want me to fine a christian Husband and have a children that are dedicated to the Lord something I was thinking about for awhile. That loves me for who I am am and is interested in what I do.

Oops Guy, I meant "being" not "big"

Hello again Gerald,

Part 2.

The 12 apostles did hat God had commanded them to do, go into all of the world and make disciples of all nation, not just the Jews. They baptized new believers in water as Jesus commanded in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They healed people of diseases and did miracles. They dedicated their lives to spreading the Gospel of Jesus to all who would receive it and be converted. The spread of Christianity to the whole known world at that time is attributed to all of these people called by Jesus along with Paul. And I am thankful they all were obedient even to the point of martyrdom, which happened to all but John.

Dear Gerald, Interesting reply. I always find it helpful to know the Greek or Hebrew meaning of words used in our English Bibles.



On another trac. The Scripture nowhere says that Paul's time in the desert with the Lord was to teach Paul to "rightly divide the

Scriptures" as you stated. Although I do think that Jesus opened up the Scriptures to Paul as He did to the apostles before He ascended. I do think that Jesus enlightened Paul's intellect to gain deep understanding of the Gospel Jesus preached, concerning grace and the law, and connecting the O.T. to what Jesus told Him about Himself.

Jesus chose a very gifted man, Paul, to be the be a missionary evangelist on a large scale and an inspired writer of Scripture to help the Christians in the churches he planted and spoke in their congregations multiple times. Paul knew the O.T. better than most Scribes and Pharisees. He had first-hand experience with the Greek and Roman world, knew Hebrew, Greek, and Latin and was used of God to spread the one Gospel Jesus taught Him and the apostles to communicate to the world. Paul was chosen by God to write the profound spiritual truths Jesus taught him in ways that others can understand and wrote out defenses for the faith against false teachers. The other apostles did the same thing, but we do not have their writings preserved like Paul's.

Those who put together the canon of the New Testament did have many writings to consider, but chose the ones that had been read to most of the churches over time, were accepted as Scriptural truth by most of the churches of the time, and presented doctrine in truthful ways. Paul was one of a select group of disciples to have written letters to their congregations and many of his letters were well preserved with multiple copies of the same letters to check for accuracy. Thus, the epistles are filled mostly with Paul's writing.

The other disciples/apostles, bishops, elders, preached and wrote the same things Paul preached and wrote.

Hello Giannis,

I have to agree with you in that we can humble ourselves. I don't think I ever said that we cannot humble ourselves so I'm not sure where the disconnect is coming from?

I do believe that I can humble myself. But if I am doing the humbling then I have to contribute it to my flesh doing so. There is a difference between my flesh doing the humbling and the Lord doing the humbling.

You may not agree with me but I believe there is a difference between my flesh and the Spirit of Christ who lives in me. My flesh wants nothing to do with the things of the Lord.

It is God's Spirit in me that causes me to remain in submission to Him, not my flesh. My flesh will never humble itself before the Lord. Therefore, I must be humbled, and it has to come from Him. My flesh will never do anything spiritually pleasing to the Lord. It's His Spirit in me that causes me to be humbled before Him.

But can we humble ourselves? Yes we can. But if we're doing the humbling in the flesh, what is that to the Lord? In my own human effort, I can humble myself towards other people, but not toward the Lord.

I do have a question for you. Where you said you will find yourself in trouble and eventually humble yourself, my question is: in trouble with who?

Thank you for responding. I do appreciate the things you share.

You are right, Guy, Jesus as big fully God from eternity was consubstantial with the Father and the Spirit and at conception, as bring fully human, He was full of the Spirit in His human nature, too.

The baptism of Jesus happened to reveal to us the Triune nature of God, I believe. God is everywhere present, therefore each Person of the Godhead is everywhere present. But also, while being omni-present, each Person of the Godhead can be specifically present in a point in time and place and in us while still being everywhere present. Jesus' baptism is a good example of this.

Well spoken, Gerald. Thank you for writing this up for us.

Leviticus Chapter 15 continued

No, we enter heaven with a resurrection body that us our earthly body purified, changed to be incorruptible and immortal, freed from the sinful nature, and completely restored to the perfection of Adam and Eve before the fall.

This chapter reminds me that we all needed to be cleansed by the washing of the word and the blood of Jesus to be acceptable in the sight of the Father. We should not want to bring our filthy bodies, soiled clothing, nor stained handiwork to present ourselves before God. The bathing in this chapter reminds me of the cleansing power of the Word, the washing of the clothing reminds me of the white raiment of Christ's righteousness we are clothed with, and the cleansing of any of our handiwork reminds of doing every work unto the glory of God.

The Israelites were instructed how to be cleansed in such a way to stand in the tabernacle before God. The idea of being unclean until evening (which is the beginning of the new day for the Israelites) reminds me that whenever we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from sin, thus starting anew just as the Israelites could start their new day clean before God having completed the requirements of this chapter. Behold, I make all things new! ( Revelation 21:5)

"even so let us walk in the newness of life" ( Romans 6:5) just as Jesus was raised to life from the dead.

Leviticus chapter 15.

The previous chapter was addressing skin contagions and the God-ordained process to deal with these infirmities and what a person is to do to be considered clean and thus able to join the congregation in the tent of meeting.

In this chapter God is addressing bodily issues. These are liquids that flow from private parts. The first part of the chapter speaks of a man having an infectious discharge. The middle part of the chapter speaks of a man emitting seminal fluid either involuntarily or during intercourse with his wife. The last part of the chapter speaks of the bleeding that happens when a woman does not become pregnant and thus sheds the uterine build up of the lining that builds up to receive a newly conceived implanted child. When conception does not happen, then menses follow. Also, it speaks to ta continued bleeding of a woman not related to a normal menses.

It is interesting how specific God is about determining cleanness of someone who will enter the tabernacle to worship Him. The infection is not in itself sinful. Neither seminal flow, nor intercourse, being normal relations between husband and wife by which they are fruitful and multiply as God commanded in Genesis 1. Neither is it sinful for a woman not to become pregnant and thus have her menses. The cycle of fertility is designed by God and good. So, I wonder why they are to offer a sin offering or burnt offering for things that are not in themselves sinful? I understand how they should bathe and wash clothing and for others to avoid touching them for hygienic reasons, but God is speaking more than about hygiene or disease control.

I think that God has these laws concerning normal bodily functions that are not sinful to remind the Israelites and us that we are fallen creatures even when we are not directly sinning. We are sinful through and through due to the fall of Adam and Eve. This is why we do not enter heaven in our this life's body...continued

What is truth (4)

"Thy Word is truth " confessed Jesus .

John the Baptist denied not the truth but confessed the truth "He was not the Christ"

Jesus " gave a good confession before Christ"

With the heart a man believes and with his mouth confession is made unto salvation .

"God demands we speak the truth in the inward man "

"If we say we have no sin the truth is not in us"

God is light and when we draw near to God He reveals that which is hidden .

For man is lost and in darkness and does ot know even the condition of his own heart. " The heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful above all others and who can know it?"

But God in his great mercy and love leads us to the truth about our own heart .

In such a manner it is irrefutable and undeniable to ourselves and in private .

If we can't recognise the truth about ourselves who we do know ,how then could E recognise the truth about God who we don't?

And if we do not speak the truth ( confess it to God) about ourselves who we do know . How then could we speak the truth about God who we don't yet know?

False religions do not speak the truth about God about themselves or about you .

Yet all claim to know God and say theirs is the way .

Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the Life no man cometh unto the Father accept by me"

He spoke the truth did the truth walked in the truth and was and is the truth and the Light of the world .

What is truth (3)

I once had a number of conversations with a sincere and dedicated Moslem who on one occasion held in his hand a book with thee Koran on one page and on the opposite the English translation of it .

The conversation had been going on for a while and at one point he said " only thecKoran in Arabic is the true word of God.'.

I looked at him in surprise and replied ' have you been lying to me then? ( we had been speaking in English) he replied ," No!"

I then pointed to his book and said is that too lying?

He replied ,No.

Then I said is God an Arab? He looked astonished and replied no.

I said is God an englishman? They thought once perhaps He was ,but God is not .

Is God Chinese? Indian? And a few others to press home the point .

I then pointed out that all these languages are mens languages therefore God must as it were have His own language ..

It is not then the message of God that changes but how accurate the translation .

I am not saying the Koran is the Word of God he said it was . Nor do I think or believe the god of Islam is the God of Abraham . If it was there would be no war in the Middle East . For one thing .

I am saying however that God is quite capable of inspiring a child of Isreal to write what should be written in Hebrew .

Even as He is capable of inspiring men to understand what is written and give them the wherewithal to accurately translate the message .

I can think of any number of reasons why this in the main is not done .

The primary cause is that man no longer leans upon the Lord ,but rather upon ; they assert their understanding of the ' original text' but do not know the originator of them .

What is truth(2).

Today much of the world thinks that they have their truth and another has their truth .

If that was true then clearly everyone must have their truth . If that too was true ,everyone must be speaking the truth and no one is lying !

I don't believe it . For one thing ,I'm not a three year old who with some justification thinks everyone tells them the truth .sadly this too is not true especially around Christmas perhaps .

But also I know for a certainty that I have not always told the truth as I know shy reader of this has not always told the truth .

But surely most people still know when they are speaking the truth and when they are not?

But if any were to still hold to the idea that they have 'their truth'. Then why are they disappointed and sometimes very angry when they find out someone has lied to them ? For is that not by their reasoning simply their truth?

But this strange idea has also crept onto the church with the idea ' well that's your interpretation ,I have mine '.

Or perhaps an even worse one .This translation and that translation .

It might be argued Everyman is entitled to his own opinion , but it would be absurd to assert that every opinion is of equal merit .

In this world an opinion any man can have ,but in the things of God it is not an opinion I want it's the truth .

For if I get that wrong the consequences are eternal in one way or the other .

What is truth?(1)

A question of asked but like Pontius Pilate most never wait for an answer .

For he is recorded as asking that question to Jesus ,but is also recorded as " walking away" after saying it .

In truth as to the Lords innocence he already knew the truth and publicly stated it at least twice .

If anyone has encountered some injustice take a look at Jesus who was tried three times in one night , publicly declared innocent in one ,condemned to death when under oath confessed the truth He was the Son of God in another .

And still condemned to death and was crucified .

Pilate thought Jesus was standing before him . In truth he was standing before the Lord .

So what is truth ?

If you don't understand the truth about anything . You are to all intents and purposes in the dark . Unable to make a right or good decision. Or know which way to go .

When you know the truth you see which way to go and what is the right decision.

The truth then is the light that shines in the darkness .

This then is the truth :

"In the beginning God created the heaveN and the earth "

And it was not heaveN that was in darkness but the earth . Genesis 1:2

For that heaven needed no sun or moon for zGod is the light thereof .

And it is not God who is in darkness but man . For God is light and in Him there is no darkness .

Thus it is that earth that needed heavens light and it is man that " sat in darkness .."

man was created for the light .

His eyes respond to light ,wether he is conscious or not . Put a man in a room with no light for long enough and he will suffer .

Man was created for the light .indeed his default position is that you and I should always be told the truth .

But while all men expect it they do not always tell it .

Indeed demand the truth but do not speak it .

Brother Spencer,

I completely agree. I would even go as far to say that they not only lacked faith (Spiritual faith), but the had none at all. You see, the Holy Spirit had not come yet. They did have human faith but without the indwelling of Gods Spirit, they had no way of coming up with Spiritual faith. That faith is a fruit of Gods Spirit, not man produced.

Acts 3:16 is one of the great verses in the bible that says this man was given the faith by Jesus. And Jesus is glorified by it because Jesus is the one that did this.



Faith is not produced by man. There is a certain kind of faith that man produces, but it's not spiritual faith, and it's not saving faith.

James, in James Chapter 2 discussed that. There is a faith that won't save you. Religious faith, human faith! But there is a faith that is produced by the Holy Spirit. The bible says that God gives us the faith.

Sorry for not replying sooner. I am staying at a Navy facility in Virginia for the next few months and the internet here is hit and miss, some days non-existent!

God bless you for everything you do here.

Hi thanks for that .Very helpful ,I've never thought of it in the context of the whole sentence . But just known there was something amiss as to how so often it's applied .

In Luke 3: 21-22 it speaks of John baptizing Jesus and the Holy Ghost coming down from heaven in the form of a dove. Didn't Jesus already have the Holy Ghost because he is consubstantial with the Father? and why did he seek out John and need to be baptized and cleansed of sin when he was without sin? Or is this baptism symbolic of something else?

Thank you.

I love you bible.

Hi everyone,

Been thinking of some people we haven't heard from for a while. May God's blessings come to:

Fred

Bro Dan

Suze

Mishael

Marke

Kaye

And others.

Hello, KD

My understanding is that Paul wrote this letter to the Laodiceans and it was delivered to them. But it either was not preserved by this church or it somehow went out of print. The church does not have any original nor copied documents of this letter preserved.

Thank you and praise the Lord .

I was unable to finish the last sentence so if you don't mind I'll finish it here fir clarity .

We are therefore not only " translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Gods dear Son .

But we are also translated from one predestination to another !

I am also judt reminded and it is confirmed that ' rapture' is not really accurate and can actually mislead if your not careful .

The better word would be " translated " for not only are we ,as it is written " translated " spiritually from one kingdom to the other other . We ,if found ready and alive will be translated physically from the earth to meet the Lord in the air and in a twinkling of an eye be changed physically as well .from mortal to immortal from a corrupt body to an incorruptible body .

Glory to God forever .

Hi Sammy.

Here us the scripture where some try to use as measurement for the way the Lord sees a day.

This verse is not emphasizing the length of a day but the patience of the LORD.

The clue is in verse 9.

2 Peter 3:4-9. And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; BUT IS LONGSUFFERING TO US-WARD, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, but that all should come to repentance.

You see if we are going to use the first half of verse 8 as a tool for measuring ""But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years"", ( Which is very long)

We would have to also consider the second half of verse 8.

""and a thousand years as one day.""

( That's very short)

God and his longsuffering is not confined by time.

GB.

Thanks for your reply . I must confess to no knowledge of Greek but do have some knowledge of English though even that is limited . But I am wary of this habit of always referring to ' to the original text' be it Greek or Hebrew as proof of the correct meaning . For I am aware that in this day and age people do not accept the plain text of a good translation into English . I hold that there are many bad ones some boasting in their " better understanding " but proving they have little or no understanding .Most in the very first chapter of the very first sentence .

Moreover I also know that every langauge has a great deal of surrounding understanding that is quite simply taken for granted when it is your mother tongue. But unknown to the learner of the language. Who may take years to grasp it albeit they may have the mechanics .

Yet even with this fact and Hebrew was the Pharisees mother tongue did they understand the message? No.

Saul of Tarsus who's mother tongue was Hebrew probably knew Greek well ( I don't know) and Latin ( ditto) did not understand the scriptures either . And once converted and filled with the Spirit spent over three years in the " Arabian desert " getting his vast biblical knowledge in its right order and able to " rightly divide " the Word of God .

Having said all this , I do not doubt your sincerity or that you think this the correct greek .

I cant argue with you in greek . But I perhaps ' argue' ( in the correct sense) in English .

You say the greek word means " destined" my reply would be when was it destined? Was it not Before the foundations of the world ? Then it was predestined before the event . Even if as you say it means destined it was destined before the foundation of the earth , which in my mind is not exact enough in English and contained in the context .

To say we were destined implies an inherent property in ourselves for something. This is not true .I was predestined by the foreknowledge and working of God .

Hi Sammi.

That wouldn't quite add up.

That would make Adam about 300,000,000 years old.

GB.

Yes, Giannis, as S. Spencer said. Thank for bringing a deeper meaning to us from the Greek. Very Helpful.

Hello David

You have written "If we are trusting that obedience to any commandment of God, including the sign of water baptism, is a requirement for our salvation or affects our salvation in any way, we have a works / grace gospel that cannot save and we are under the Law and not under Grace". So obedience to God has no effect on our salvation. Likewise disobedience to Go has no effect on our salvation too,. So I can spent my whole life in disobedience, which is sinning and still be saved, because sometime in my life I was born again by God, right? Logical sequence, isn't it?

Matthew 7:21-2e "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. 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"

Those who say Lord, Lord are saved people or not? They are saved because in the next verse Jesus talks about them saying that they prophesied and made miracles. But there were left out of Heaven. Why? Because they were sinning (workers of iniquity), although been gifted. Why does Jesus tells them that He doesn't know them? Because Jesus only knows His true children, people who obey Him and keep themselves pure and clean of sin. A father knows his own children. Children must look like their father, not have the appearance of a stranger, say of devil's

Now I have a few questions for you (another topic):

1. When were the apostles saved(born again)? Before or after Pentecost (when they received the Holly Spirit)? When were they water baptized, before or after Pentecost? When were the Samaritans that Phillip preached to, baptized in The Spirit? Before or after water baptism? When were they saved, before or after Spirit baptism?

2. Water baptism preceds or follows salvation(new birth)?

GBU