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I hope that you mom is doing well in recovery. I did not get to your request earlier but I am sure praying for her recovery now. Keep us updated.
Such an uplifting post. I do hope that things are going better for you and your loved ones. I am glad you continue to ask for prayer. I am always glad to do so.
Yes, it is a funny thing, as you say. We try our best, even with all of the Hebrew names and places in the O.T. But being able to pronounce names accurately is not necessary to understand Scripture, thankfully. I do appreciate your help with Greek. Thank you.
In John 3:9 Paul is speaking about Diotrephes, who must have been a leader or elder in the congregation. Diotrephes was prideful, arrogant, and wanted to be the "top dog" in this congregation and to be admired by the congregants. He would not show hospitality to traveling missionaries such as Paul, refused them to enter their congregation and do any preaching, as he thought only he should preach. He also told the members of this congregation to not show hospitality, or meet with, or listen to these missionaries preach. If they did, Diotrephes put these members out of the church. He spoke maliciously about these traveling missionaries, disparaging them to those in his congregation. Diotresphes showed many signs of being an aberrant cult leader.
This is an interesting conversation. What I would like to add is that God is still drawing people to Jesus by the Holy Spirit and empowering the Gospel of Christ unto the salvation of those given to Jesus by the Father. So, as we know that to the unregenerate, the Gospel is not what they want to listen to, they hate its message and Messenger, they despise the true things of God. But, because God is merciful and desires to redeem mankind through the Son, many are drawn to Jesus and, by grace, prepared to receive the Gospel and be saved. Hallelujah that God does not change and is always true to His Word and promises.
With this said, those of us who believe have been changed, we are new creations. The unsaved can detect this. Some will be repelled by us and others, whom God has chosen will be drawn to us and will answer to the call of God through the Gospel message. We need to pray for opportunities to share the gospel and for people to be sent to us to hear it. We especially should pray for those we know who still need to come to salvation in Jesus. We are part of their lives for this very purpose.
Such a wonderful account of how the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and then brings answers and/or confirmations from outside ourselves. This happens to me often, and I am so thankful that God stoops to bring me such occurrences. It touches my heart and also builds my faith.
Between the fifth and sixth trumpets is tribulation. Between the sixth and seventh trumpets is the GREAT tribulation, as Jesus Christ called it himself, Mathew 24:21. We are on the heals of destruction (sixth trumpet), so that means looking back in recent history to pin point the fifth trumpet event, like 9/11/01, Revelation 9:1-11.
Do you know what occurs at the sixth trumpet, day of the Lord? The abomination of desolation, Matthew 24:15, is brought upon modern day Israel, and the world, setting forth the GREAT tribulation. The world will be a curse, Malachi 4:5-6.
We are currently in tribulation, at the tail end of the fifth trumpet, and in the midst of Revelation 17. America is pushing a $70 billion proxy war with Russia. The king of the south is facing the mighty Russian beast, whose Dec 25, 1991 deadly wound has healed into the king of the north, Daniel 11:40. It's Esau vs Jacob, leaving Jacob without root nor branch, Obadiah 1. It's also the beast and Babylon, making 3 allegories to confuse you for a lifetime if you can't make the connections.
We are literally waiting for the US/Israel to strike Iran (or the like), Revelation 6:14 sixth seal, and eventually bring about the sixth trumpet overthrow of the whole house of Israel. US NATO Israel receive their visitation.
You see, there is a big difference between tribulation and GREAT tribulation.
About faith again. An experience of mine.
A few years ago I had a problem and I was desperate to get an answer from God and get what I was asking for. So I was trying to find out how to move God's Hand for me. I thought that God may have a "button" in His Heart like people. In my country we say that all people have a button in their heart that if you find it and press it then they give you everything they have, even themselves. It is a metaphor. So I was thinking what that button may be in God's heart. Is it that that I become completely devoted like Paul and the apostles, is it that I become always thankgiving to God no matter what, is it that I suffer persecutions for God, is it that I go out and preach the Gospel to people in cities squares, is it that I write hymns and songs for God like David did? What should I do to impress God, to make Him like me a little bit more and give me what I wanted from Him? Anyway I was thinking this sort of things.
The next day in the evening we had a congregation in my church. A preacher from another city from another church passed by and he started preaching. It was about faith. And among the others he said "Do you want to know what is God's button? That button is called faith. Have faith in your heart that you will be given your need and do not hesitate at all and God will definetely do that...". An immediate response to my thoughts from God.
GBU
Very good reply.
GBU.
Diotrephes? I always enjoy how English people try to pronounce greek names. Since phonetics are very different something that is very easy to pronounce in grk is very hard to pronounce in Eng. I'll wait until somebody answers and then I will tell you how it is pronounced in greek. (If you get a Spaniard or an Italian he'll get it right).
You are mighty! You understand Your children perfectly. And feel for us
so deeply . You know it's not easy and I'm touched by Your constant
Faithfulness. I know by faith alone that I will be celebrating for the
outcome of this passing trial. And by Your grace, my spirit can declare
Your Faithfulness in weariness tonight. Thank You for Your strength.
For carrying me through. Alleluia!
Many theologists have the belief that that "wisdom" mentioned in Proverbs is Jesus Christ personally. Why do they think that? Because of verses like in 1 Cor 1:23-24 or 1 Cor 1:30 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption". They take those verses literally. Is this right? Many opinions. Mine is no it isn't. In the previous verses what Paul says is that through Jesus God's wisdom was revealed to people, not that He is the Wisdom Himself. It was Jesus who revealed God's truth to people, he revealed the mysterious plan of God to save mankind. God's wisdom can not be explored by people, many believe it is "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness" (verse 18), but it really is " but unto us which are saved it is the power of God".
Going back to Proverbs God's wisdom takes a human nature and talks like a man. It was something that even todays writters do, they personify things, to make a stronger impression. Paul does that when he personifies sin in Romans, or when he talks about Death and Hell(Hades) in Corinthians. Besides that, wisdom in Proverbs is described as a woman not as a man, since in Hebrew this word is of feminine gender, like in Proverbs 2:4. In Hebrew "am-thbqshNE kksph ukmtmunim thchphshNE". In English "if you are seekingHER as the silver and as the buried treasures you are searching for HER"
GBU
Hello Richard
Some thoughts of mine about revival and preaching the gospel in these last days.
Firstly I think God will trust in and use churches that are near to the Truth and live in their lives what they preach. I say Truth because there are so many different beliefs between us christians, varrying from little to too much. Again we read the same gospel but somehow we end up with different conclusions.
In the early days God used primarily miracles to make people believe. Not everyone who saw miracles believed but the real sheep did believe. Nowadays these things do not happen, at least not in the degree that occured at that time. But if ancient people who had a limited knowledge about everything and who were relatively easy to convince and easily believed in any "fairy tale" they were hearing, were in a need to "see" things happening, how about modern people who have so much knowledge and are not at all easy to persuade? Don't we need the guidance and power of the Holly Spirit to preach the gospel to the world? Don't we need people who have the gift of miracles and healing? People like Peter and Paul who even their shadows and clothes were used by people to be healed? Assume Jesus and later the apostles didn't perform any miracle at all. Assume they preached the same preachings, lived the same lives but didn't do any miracle at all. Do you think many people would have believed? My opinion is no, not many.
I often think about that story in the Acts with Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus, ch 13. They meet Sergius Paulus, a wise, prudent man. But that prudent man had a servant who was a devil. Didn't Paulus understood that? No he didn't. But he was a wise man. Still he couldn't realize that that man next to him was a fake prophet, a devil. Similarly todays full of knowledge people have next to them theories, philoshophies, various beliefs and can not understand that they are fake. Paul preaches to him the gospel. The sorcerer tries to hinder Sergius from believing.
Richard
I try to put myself in Sergius' shoes. I imagine myself being between those two people and they both bring their arguments to me. They both seem right to me. Paul speaks under the power of the H.S. but Elymas is good in speaking too and I imagine he uses good and persuasive arguments. And although Paul speaks while being full in Spirit, Sergius can not understand who is right. They both seem to be right to him, he cannot make his mind up who is right. Similarly todays people listen to us but they also listen to all those wordly theories about the creation of the world, about ancient Gods and religions and can not make their mind up who is right or even worse they don't believe us, they think we are some sort of old fashioned fanatics. So who is right? Paul or Elymas? The christians or the "scientists"? "Fairy tales" about Eden and Adam and Eve and the apple or the "Big Bang theory" and similar theories? Who is right? The one that can prove that he is right. When Paul orders Elymas to get blind, it was then when Sergius' eyes opened and saw the truth. If Paul didn't do that miracle they could go on and on talking and talking without any result for ages and ages.
So I think dear brother we need God's power more than ever in these last days. People must "see" so to get freed from devil's trap. Fake science (of course not all science is fake) traps a lot of people in its nets. People grow up being told and tought false things and by the time they are grown people they have solid but wrong beliefs about many things in the world, like we come from sponges and monkeys and so on. Without the church performing miracles not that much will be gained. Few people here and there like it happens now. And all our prayers will be almost in vain. We need the power of the Holly Spirit to come to the church like it was in the begining, so that thousands and thousands of people will be saved like in Acts. This is what we should primarily praying for. My opinion.
GBU
Then Matthew confirms that this would happen because of the prophecy that went before Jesus (i.e. in Isaiah 7:14), that His Name will be called, Immanuel. So, it seems that Matthew is giving further proof from prophecy that what the Holy Spirit was about to do was entirely from God and not man - i.e. Jesus would be Immanuel, God with us. So, Jesus is His Name, but Immanuel explains His Origin and Coming to the World.
Do you think the last day is here now?
Matthew 1:23 is a quote from Isaiah 7:14 a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. In Matthew 1:25 we see Joseph named Him JESUS. The Hebrew name is Yehoshua the shorter Yeshua, a Greek form of Joshua a derivative of the word Hoshea meaning Yahweh saves.
His name became Iesous in Greek because of the Greek alphabet and from there to Latin, so the modern name Jesus comes from the Latin word Iesus which does not mean hail Zeus. If we call and pray in the name of the English word Jesus, I think God understands what we are saying. I am sure in all the other languages in the world there are many names for our savior.
Some things have entered into traditions and interpretations, but this is not one of them.
Hope this helps.
God bless,
RLW
Once again; we need to understand that with knowledge comes responsibility. There are some who are immature in the faith that simply don't know scripture well enough to clearly see parameters that they should follow and hence that slip into sin. But those that willingly sin and know the truth are going to be in a worse state than those who never knew the truth. (See Hebrews 10:26).
We need to avoid slipping into violence to solve our problems as God states "vengeance is mine; I will repay ( Romans 12:19). Extremism is pushing us in that direction of violent opposition. We need to wisely choose our battles; remaining wise as serpents; innocent as doves. ( Matt. 10:16).
God will even use babes and children to praise Him ( Psalms 8:2). He has his armies of angels to stand before and behind us to defend us when He chooses to do so. It is His sovereign will to either deliver us FROM judgment or through it (although His people are delivered from wrath according to Romans at least related to the end of the Tribulation. Those who are martyred in the end will be lifted up to rule and reign with Christ if they indeed stood in the true faith.
May we be watchmen as Ezekiel warns or the blood of those who are destroyed will be required of us. Only God can laugh at the calamity of the wicked; our job is to lovingly rescue those who are taken captive by the devil to do his will. God knows who will and won't respond; even if no one we talk to does; we are to declare His victory as faithful servants. In this we honor God.
That is the main concern of revivals that appeal to a "numbers game" as many churches do today to gain prominence; financial benefits etc. We should warn to flee the wrath to come but also exhort those that the road is narrow and few will come to faith.
The days of the "easy peasy" belief system may be passing since COVID took out some churches and probably irreversably reduced the percentage of those who go to church.
Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
One practical thing to do is to go to the unreached with the Good News. We are commanded to make disciples; but it would appear te unreached are likely going to be the most receptive if indeed there is any large or medium scale repentance. Remember; Thessalonians warns that because people didn't LOVE the truth they believed the lie. Most have heard the Gospel; that doesn't mean we shouldn't share where we are; but those who haven't heard it may not have calloused their hearts as much as those who have.
As I've stated in other writings as well; there are those who have come out of the most grievous lifestyles of sin that have repented. They by and large are isolated and further discipleship especially among today's youth is needed. We need to be on our knees praying for this self destructive and suicidal generation that Satan is trying to take out; and that those who do come to faith will be equipped to reach others. Revival could still start in schools; despite the pressure of political correctness. The students themselves need a vision; with enough numbers I believe change could happen. Again; being as late in the game as it is; we should at least seek to reach individuals and of course spend much time in prayer.
I'm not sure how best to pray on these matters. I'm not trying to push my viewpoint that we shouldn't focus on prayer for revival. More prayer is needed; but focused on what the Spirit is revealing; and when we get to know God better hopefully His role as High Priest will help reveal things to us. We should DEFINITELY be open to those who are tested and proven faithful that do NOT say things most of the crowd want to hear. We need to consider how the Prophets of old were treated by their own; certainly different than much of today's so called Prophets and Apostles who never seem to suffer persecution. I recommend Ray Comfort as one good example today of a selfless preacher who has been willing to be persecuted.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I'm sure that I've shared that many times in this platform; but who can honestly say that there are more than a handful of the major players in Christian media today or big ministries that demonstrate this in their personal lives? We can tout all day how loving God is; but if we don't accurately preach the scriptures and cherry pick what we want to hear than we are at best showing a shallow view of the God of Israel; at worst creating one of our own imaginations. Christ is Lord; the same yesterday today and forever. He will honor no rivals. The fate of the earth itself along with every soul that He created is exactly what He states in the Word. But with today's view of the Bible being a self help book; or suitable for motivational speaking rather than a literal view of the Prophetic future with a literal hell; heaven and new earth we are warping it's meaning to fit our agenda. Judgement begins with the House of God ( 1 Peter 4:17). We are called to be separated from the world; salt and light. Yes we are "all things to all people" ( 1 Cor. 9:22) but that doesn't mean we have to join in with approval of cussing; drinking; toking and other activities that ingratiate us with that crowd. That is a little different than concerning ourselves with eating an "unclean" food set that may have been set aside for idols; for instance. I won't argue the point of God vomiting out the Laodicean church and if that refers to the Tribulation; but at the very least we can lose our rewards ( Rev. 3:11); or not truly be saved if not hearing the Spirit and what it says to the churches. We also do well to wisely heed verses warning us how to avoid some of the calamities of the wicked; wisely planning supplies and food for multiple disasters that may be ahead. If He tarries it isn't hard to see things could get a lot worse. We also will face growing resistance as one world religion develops. ( Matt. 10:22)
Antichrist must come as God allows it to happen to fulfill all things and He will soon remove the restrainer to facilitate this. This is to convict those left behind; consolidate ALL false religions into one; as well as the geopolitical and economic controls. There will be no atheists in the Tribulation; only God worshippers and Satan worshippers. Right now; the gates of hell cannot prevail; but according to Daniel the saints WILL be overcome in the days worse than any that were or will be in the Great Tribulation. This is to finally bring Israel to repentance when they are at the verge of total annihilation but only after two thirds perish. (see Zech. 13). It is astounding to me that we have lasted this long although our nation could be wiped out before the Tribulation even starts; although I would say that some would survive until then as those raptured represent all nations; tribes; languages and tongues. Economic collapse along with God's judgments have been delayed longer than anyone could expect.
As believers we can rejoice but need to warn the world of what's coming.
IF my concept is wrong; the death and destruction have to be far worse than anything we've seen so far to wake people up. It didn't take too long after 9/11 until people returned to their selfish mentality; just like we did after the 2008 bubble and crash which once again is overdue. We ain't seen nothing yet. There are always a few coming to faith; but to see a national major change first of all it must be God's will that more elected to come to faith will indeed do so in this hour. Even if we believe in free will let's be honest most have no desire these days to believe; and most who do claim to believe aren't willing to repent or believe in the core doctrines because of itching ears ( 2 Tim. 2:4). Those in the church cannot fear weeding out and exposing the tares and damnable heresies; usually it is not financially expedient to do so.
In light of recent events; it seems prudent to take a sober approach to what's going down. It seems to me; despite the fact that everyone who knows the truth seems to find it an inconvenient concept is that we are any moment about to enter the Tribulation.
This is no disparaging of those who have pleaded for revival within; or restoration of the USA in particular encompassing believers and nonbelievers alike. Perhaps this is why there seem to be few sounding the alarm that judgment is at the door; Antichrist about to be revealed; the Mark of the Beast; etc.
It seems as well that we often forget that God Himself is allowing things to come to an expected end; the Rapture of the Church; Jacob's Trouble and the resulting calamities; and the final Millennial restoration of Israel to its promised territorial gains and rulership under the Christ; the Throne of David and all the saints with Him. We also have to look carefully at what has been standard belief that 1948 was the "beginning of the last generation" rather than a signpost. Certainly those who thought so will have to analyze this theory since the limit in 2028 has already passed allowing for a 7 year Tribulation first. In any event many are said to fall away; with damnable heresies within the church in the last days.
Rather than focusing on keeping our material possessions or lifestyle up to par; we should consider how much Grace has been shown to our nation who has murdered countless unborn; and whose sins certainly are stacked up as described for Babylon (whether or not we indeed are mystery Babylon). It is the remnant; like in the days of Lot who remain. Clearly more and more people are demonstating that the "vacuum" inside of God is something NOT desired to be filled; in fact it is increasingly being deliberately handed over to Satan himself. The world is waiting for their superman; savior; Maitreya; Grand Imam or any other candidate to answer the call.
The idea that name Jesus came from a pagan source is untrue. People tend to attribute almost everything to pagan sources as if they own things and have entitlement. No, they don't. For example Dec 25 some people claim its pagan instead of Christian, but there's more evidence of it first being a Christian day before people claimed pagans did it. People also are allowing homosexuality to adopt the rainbow as their mascot, but that too is not theirs. It's God's promise. Pride in sin is evil. I don't blindly accept everything people claim as pagan, because it seems to be a bullying tactic to try to gain "ground" for some people's objectives.
Again; the ceremonial laws Christ Himself deliberately allowed to be broken (such as eating heads of grain on the Sabbath Day). He also corrected the Pharisees as to what "work" truly involved; showing that mercy was more important than blind legalism by healing on the Sabbath repeatedly.
In some sense then the New Covenant or more superior one abrogated the old ( Hebrews 9:15). Even the Old Testament allowed for God's grace to stand above judgment; for instance with David's sin with Bathsheeba that involved adultery and being complicit to murder. These were death sentence penalties according to the law. God also had a greater plan since His lineage came from the line of David. Notwithstanding this; however there was collateral damage such as the loss of the child (who David would see someday in heaven); as well as enemies being a constant thorn in the side.
Our sin is a serious matter; Paul warned the Corinthians about taking communion unworthily ( 1 Cor. 11:27); as well as in the book of Acts Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they lied to the Holy Spirit. We can then be saved but taken out early; if we are saved. Those who continue in an unrepentant LIFESTYLE of sin likely aren't saved as there is no conviction of the Spirit; or new heart showing genuine conversion. We must not only know the truth but LOVE it.
The 10 Commandments therefore are still in force today; but we are unable to follow with the MORE stringent matters of the heart which only again comes from the Spirit. Without this there is an outward obedience only. The only thing which has changed is the Sabbath Day; and I would say that Matthew 12:8 answers this by placing Sunday as the day of rest. This is also the only command that was peculiar to the nation of Israel; rather than universal law which clearly as shown with John the Baptist in matters of divorce holding for pagans as well. Other ceremonial rules changed with Peter's vision in Acts 10.