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My question is about Matthew 22-23. Who is this prophet, and why is he told to use the name Emmanuel?
I look forward to any answers, thoughts or ideas,
DanYells
Concluding thoughts on family: Division is promised in scripture with family members being enemies in some sense ( Matt. 10:21). Such realities are harsh but necessary; or we hold onto memories or loyalties that are more important than God in our lives. In my case prayer is in order for all situations with my aging parents; for practical reasons with my dad's mental state at present and mother's frail physical and emotional condition the stress of many decisions are on my shoulders with a balance of that and allowing them to still have the autonomy of making their own decisions unless it is a danger to themselves. It is helping me be stronger in that sense; but I would advise anyone else to be in prayer with others as I was before making the decision to move back home under such circumstances. Having others such as the church family I have at present praying for their salvation; as well as hearing of others whose parents came to the Lord in the last months of their lives is also an encouragement.
I am fortunate at least not to have direct resistance or persecution in regard to taking time out for church and several other related activities. Under the circumstances; of course I am restricted as to some activities when chores need to be done to help out at home and can't do things late at night or be out of town very long.
Friends
I am tying this into this concluding page on witnessing; as it regarded a similar situation. I had an elderly friend who knew my now ex wife as a close friend of her stepfather who in reality was the only real father she had. I would do shopping for him and his lady friend before she passed around 2012. He was Jewish; and I made a couple concerted efforts to explain from Romans his need for Christ. I told him I understood if he wanted to sever ties; he said he wouldn't do that but never came to saving faith unless on his deathbed. He passed about 2 years ago now.
Matthew 10:36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Jesus despite His statement in Matthew 12:48 (He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?) Jesus demonstrated at the cross his concern for his mother's care and had John live there with her in John 19. It was even worded in the same way "behold your mother"and "behold your son" in verses 26 and 27. We see from the verses above as well as others that family is often the most dificult to reach; even in Christ's case James only believed after the cross. ( John 7:5) shows this; along with unbelief of other brothers at the time. If a sinless Christ was viewed in His hometown as merely being the Son of Joseph and Mary at the time despite the virgin birth being a reality; then of course the only other option would have been as the Pharisees said in John 8:41. And of course we can't expect anything more; since we indeed are all sinners saved by grace. Our family will see something different about us from what we once were; especially if there is a dramatic change in behavior due to certain outward manifestations of behavior radically different after salvation. Of course all of our past mistakes and human weaknesses will be scrutinized by those who grew up with us.
We have challenges from Jesus in both loving God more than our own family as well as the mandates to honor our Father and mother. Clearly our Lord understood the right balance and we should learn from His example. Our natural family isn't our spiritual one; it may or may not become that in time. In my own life not only do I have 2 unbelieving parents in their 90's; NO one in my family to the best of my knowledge are saved. Having to live at home at present therefore means my walk and behavior has to be consistent. Preaching is not going to accomplish much; they are aware I have been a believer 40 years+
In fact; I am sure you will agree that mere "confessional regeneration" is a misnomer; otherwise known as "accepting Christ". Christ is already Lord just as much as Lucifer is now the Devil if we are merely to state a fact. For Christ to be Lord and Savior; of course He is to be our Master.
There can be a point when we ask God to help us with our unbelief. As for my own walk I can only say that I believed in the existence of a Creator but didn't get why things were so messed up in the world; only later did I realize that I myself with all my affections and such was part of the problem separating me from that God.
Telling the wheat from the chaff; however isn't something we can always do. You know them by their fruits but God will listen to the pleas of some and abandon others ultimately even when they cry out to Him. We can't take this concept to the level that we are cold toward those crying out to the Lord for help; in that we say if they are the elect they will receive a response. That is because until we believe this concept of election really can't be fully understood. I have seen "hyper" Calvanists say things like that when the Lord would use them to have a listening ear and compassionate heart to those struggling with sin. The difference of course is that the unregenerate only want to avoid the consequences (worldly sorrow leads to death); and those who end up being saved are those who have Godly sorrow. This is why we don't make Calvanism or the doctrines therein as our faith but we believe in the God who Himself chooses to act in this way ( Deut. 29:29).
Agape.
That by this faith alone, which is the gift which is from above, (and not that faith which grows either in the wilderness or garden of the old nature, and is fed by the oldness of the letter, and not by the newness of the Spirit) is Christ received. For Christ can be received by the faith alone that comes from him; and that faith which comes from him cannot but receive him. Man's faith refuseth him; it receiveth a literal knowledge of him from what it heareth from men, or from what it readeth related in the Scripture concerning him; but refuseth the nature of the thing. And it cannot be otherwise; for man's faith, not being of the nature of it, cannot but refuse it. But this faith, which is given of God, which is from above, being of the same life and nature with Christ, cannot refuse the spring of its own life; but receiveth him immediately. There is no distance of time; but so soon as faith is received, Christ is received and the soul united to Him in the faith.
There is no distance of time; but so soon as faith is received, Christ is received, and the soul united to him in the faith. As unbelief immediately shuts him out, so faith lets him in immediately, and centres the soul in him: and the immortal soul feels the immortal virtue, and rejoices in the proper spring of its own immortal nature. But the faith of man never reaches this, never receives Christ, but only a relation of things concerning him; and with that faith which stands in the letter, opposes that faith which stands in the life. And here is the spirit of antichrist; here is the mystery of iniquity, working out of one form into another: for antichrist does not directly deny Christ, or deny the letter; but cries up Christ, cries up the letter, cries up ordinances; but so as they may feed the faith of his own nature, and maintain a hope there. And thus the spirit of man is at unity with what will feed his own, with what interpretations his own understanding can gather out of the Scriptures. And thus can he cry up Christ, and say he hopes to be saved by him, while the spirit of enmity against the nature of Christ lodgeth in his heart. This is antichrist, wherever he is found; and this is his faith, and great is his knowledge, and many are his coverings; but the Lord is searching him out, who will strip him, and make his nakedness appear.
That this faith (which springs from the true knowledge) is God's gift, and is not that power of believing which is to be found in man's nature; but of another nature, even the nature of the giver. And when man is called to believe, he is not called to put forth that faith wherewith he believeth other things; but to receive and exercise the gift of faith, which is from above. That which is to be believed in is spiritual; and that must be spiritual which believes in it. Man, with all the powers of his nature, is shut out; it is another thing, distinct from man, which is let into life, and which lets man in. For man receiving the faith, entering into the faith, and becoming new-formed in the faith, then he also may enter; but till then he is shut out, and knoweth not the life, let him believe and read and pray and hear and exercise himself in that which he calls duties and ordinances ever so much; for all these, set up in the wrong part in man, only feed the wrong part; and that, with all its food and nourishment, falls short of the life. Therefore the true entrance into religion is to feel that power which slays man's natural ability and propensity to believe, that so the gift of the true faith may be received: for there is no rising up and living of the second, without the death of the first, with all its natural faculties and powers.
YHWH tells Moses to lead the nation against the Midianites and smite them because of the way they vexed Israel with their wiles and beguilement.
At first, it seems to say the women were Moabites, but here it says they were Midianites. Perhaps it was women from both peoples.
The account of this battle is in Numbers 31.
There are many lessons from this chapter.
The foremost one to me is that we need to be sure we are worshipping the LORD rightly and to never think that we can worship both Him and any other idol and expect to be blessed and spared from punishment. God is jealous for His own honor and for His bride, the Church.
The second lesson for me is how it seems that sexual immorality and idolatry are very serious sins, and especially so when done together as was done in this chapter. We must have God's view on moral sexual expression and not adopt the mores of the popular culture. Our culture today accepts every form of sexual expression as permissible. Even in the church, many are not bothered by people co-habiting prior to marriage with an active sexual relationship. Many are not fazed by the rampant divorce and remarriage in the church, the breaking of the one flesh union and covenant of marriage so readily and the unashamed remarrying after a divorce.
Third lesson is for us to value our commitment to the covenant we have with God, realize the cost of attaining it to our Lord and the giving of the benefits of this covenant to us who believe despite our sinfulness. We must commit to staying within the parameters of this covenant and not seek to covenant with anyone else but God.
The fourth is that God is not mocked. What we sow, we reap. So, we should sow to that which is lasting, given unto eternal life rather than sowing evil and reaping unto death and judgment. We cannot run with the world and have peace with God. Jesus is our peace and we have peace when we abide in Him.
Cont.
It seems that these two were engaging in sexual immorality either in his own tent or within the tent of meeting. The text is unclear concerning this. It says that Phinehas having observed this from among the congregation makes me think it was an open act before where Moses and Phineas (the high priest) were seated. Phinehas is said t have rose up from his place. This action by Phinehas caused YHWH to stop the plague that was taking the lives of so many men in the camp.
YHWH commended Phinehas to Moses for his zeal for the honor of YHWH and for putting and end to these two flagrant idolaters. Phineas was given a covenant of peace and everlasting priesthood because by slaying the man and the woman he made atonement for the people. This was a shadow of Jesus, our High Priest, only the way of atonement is reversed; instead of slaying the guilty party as Phinehas did, Jesus, the sinless one was slain to make atonement and take away the wrath of God on sinners. This covenant with Phineas (and the house of Levi) was rescinded as Malachi 2:1-9 because of the corruption of the priesthood by the Levites. Jesus is the only SINLESS one who was zealous for God and made atonement. (vs. 13)
Both the name of the Israelite and the Midianite woman were named in this chapter. Perhaps they are so pointed out because maybe the Israelite thought that He could worship YHWH in the same manner as the Moabites worshipped Baal. God hated this severely. The Israelite was the prince (son) of the chief of the tribe of Simeon. The Midianite woman was the daughter of the head over the people of Midian, of a chief house of the Midianites. Both were people of prominence. They may have been involved at the first of this adultery/idolatry and led others to follow. They were bold and brazen in their outward display of such debauchery. So, God made a them an example before the people by stirring Phinehas to slay them both at once.
...cont.
God knew all along what Balak and Balaam would try to do to the Israelites and how Israelites would break His covenant. Nothing came as a surprise to God. He cannot be fooled. He also cannot go back on His word once declared. God brought punishment upon Israel by telling Moses to hang all of the leaders (heads) of the tribes publicly so that all of the Israelites would see how YHWH punished them for not leading a resistance to the advances of the Moabites and/or participated in the sexual immorality and idolatry with the Moabite women. Also, Moses instructed the judges of Israel to slay every man that participated in these incidents, having joined themselves to Baal through their acts of worship which included sexual forms of worship.
Israel was to be joined to YHWH, as a woman is joined to her husband. Just as fidelity in marriage is expected, so did YHWH expect Israel to refuse to worship any idol/false god. They were not to be joined to YHWH in covenant and also joined to any idol/false god through worshipping these, especially in sexual ways. Baal was the god of fertility, so this immorality was to entice Baal to bring fruitfulness of the womb and fields for the people. These feasts/sacrifices/orgies were celebrated out in the open before the idol set up in the groves of trees or on the mountain tops. 24,000 Israelite men were slain that day, either by the Moses, judges, or the plague that God sent into the camp.
Many Israelites seemed to be remorseful and came before the door of the tent of meeting weeping before the LORD.
One Israelite rashly brought a Midianite woman (apparently the Midianites were traveling among the Moabites at the time, since they were nomadic) before these people, flaunting her before the tent of meeting in the site of Moses and Phineas, son of Eleazar..
Phineas went after the two and thrust a spear through the man and woman in one thrust, killing them both. ...cont.
In this chapter, the Israelites are camping near an Acacia Grove. Such groves were often used by pagans to worship Baal and Asherah. They were still in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River and Jericho. Balaam had taken leave of Balak at this time. Israel did not know what Balak and Balaam were plotting. Because Balaam knew that God would not go back on His word and curse Israel whom He had blessed, he came up with a new way to bring harm to the nation of Israel. Revelation 2:12-17 speaks of Balaam's involvement in the incidents in this chapter of Numbers, saying that Balaam instructed Balak to have the women invite the Israelite men to their idol feasts and to entice them into sexual and spiritual immorality by participating in sexual immorality associated with the worship of Baal. Soon, the men were also bowing down to Baal.
This incident in Numbers 25 is where Israel was introduced into Baal worship. YHWH was full of anger at this immorality and idolatry from the very people He blessed and set apart for Himself in a covenant relationship. The men so easily broke this covenant. And by breaking it, the curses of this broken covenant came upon Israel from the hand of YHWH. So, Balaam was successful in devising a way for Israel to be cursed, not that God changed His mind or His blessing to a curse, but by the people bringing upon themselves the curses that were a part of the covenantal agreement they made with YHWH at Sinai.
So, Balaam's scheme worked, but he did not get to enjoy his success for long. He was killed in Moab when he abode among the Midianites when Isael came against Midian at God's direction. Israel slew all of the Midianite men in the area and most of the women.
In this era and area of the world, sexual immorality was a part of the way they worshipped Baal and Asherah. Apparently, Moab, descended from Lot, took to Baal worship early on. cont.
We have in Chapters 13 through 17 those teachings and the ministry of Christ to His disciples. It's like the Lord having a one-on-one with you or me, not public, just a one-on-one teaching with us and what it means to be a disciple and to share His message in the Gospel and His love with us. It is a fantastic section!
CHAPTERS 18 AND 19 are The Particulars of the Crucifixion of Christ. Those two chapters tell us of all the events that surround the crucifixion of Christ.
CHAPTER 20 is The Promise of the Resurrection of Christ.
CHAPTER 21 is The Presentation of the Epilogue.
The reason why chapter 21 is called an epilogue is because many scholars, and probably rightly so, they believed that originally the Gospel of John ended at the end of Chapter 20, but that another chapter was added in order to clarify some things from Chapter 20.
But it is, and we can say with certainty that whoever wrote Chapter 21 is the same person that wrote the first 20 chapters. So, we are not looking at John plus somebody else. We are looking at John writing all 21 chapters. But you should know that that last chapter was an addition. It was probably the elders of Ephesus that urged John to clarify some things and he wrote yet a little further in the Gospel.
I will post the introduction to Acts soon. God Bless!!!
VIII. SECTION OUTLINE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN:
CHAPTER 1 VERSES 1-18 is The Prologue. There is a difference between a prologue and a preface. A preface is an introduction. A prologue is a study or message or story within itself. As a matter fact, all of the rest of the Gospel of John will be teachings to support his presentation here in the prologue of the doctrines and theology of Jesus Christ. So, the prologue is the Gospel of John in a nutshell, and the rest is supportive information.
Beginning at Verse 19 of Chapter 1, and going through to the end of the chapter, we have The Preparation for the Lord's Public Ministry, as we study about John the Baptist and about the Lord calling the first five disciples.
CHAPTERS 2 THROUGH 12, it is the only presentation of the Lord's public ministry by John. Chapter 2-12 is The Presentation of the Seven Signs of the Lord's Deity. And this introduces to us that in all of John's writings, if you put them all together and study them, you find that he is heptadic in writing. That is, he uses sevens for learning purposes. John is heptadic in his writing. In Chapter 2 through 12, he presents seven signs, miracles, each one of them different, and each one of them proving that Jesus Christ is indeed God in human form.
CHAPTERS 13 TO 17, we have The Private Teachings for the Disciples. What a great section! The last week of the Lord's life, right before He died, after He made His entrance into Jerusalem, He spent hours and hours with His disciples.
Well, who is the Jesus Christ that John is talking about? In 1 John, he's proving His humanity after he proved His deity. So, you can take the Gospel of John and just shove it off to the side and just use the Lord's name, Jesus Christ. Well, the question is which Jesus Christ are you talking about?
I don't know if you know this or not but in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, Paul says that there is more than one Jesus. He says you Christians in Corinth, when I came and preached to you, after I left teachers came in and you are following another Jesus, a different one, a different Gospel, and a different spirit.
Now these are Christians who obviously couldn't tell the difference. But Paul says you are following another Jesus. It is very important to realize that even as Christians, not in a perverted way, but a very dangerous way, every believer has their own idea and understanding and realization of who Jesus is. If we were to get in a circle and share about "our" Jesus, we might hear somebody say that is a different Jesus than what I have. But there is only one Jesus Christ, Jesus the Christ.
And if you understand all of John's writings, and you can throw Revelation in with John if you like because John talked about the earthly ministry of God in the flesh, and in the book of Revelation, he presents Jesus Christ as the reigning King of kings and Lord of lords that is going to come and bring judgment.
But 1, 2 and 3 John is all about the humanity of Christ. John says that He is 100% God and 100% man, not 50-50, 100% of each! And anything less than that, as far as early church goes and as far as the scriptures are concerned, anything less than that is not the right Jesus Christ.
V. ABOUT THE THEME OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN:
Again, it is the deity of Jesus Christ.
VI. ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OTHER BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT:
TIME:
The Gospel of John was next to the last book written. Of course, the last one written was the book of Revelation. So, this is an older book, but it is at the beginning of the New Testament.
COMPARISON TO JOHN'S OTHER BOOKS:
Now here's a fascinating thing that about the comparison to John's other books, and you have to know this, again the fool proof understanding of scripture, you need to know this about John's writings.
The Gospel of John was written to establish the Deity of Jesus Christ. But remember, John's gospel establishes the deity of Jesus Christ. That is, that He was, and is 100% God.
1, 2, and 3 John were written to establish the Humanity of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John the deity of Christ. 1, 2, and 3 John the humanity of Christ because the Gnostics came and they believed that all physical was evil and that Jesus didn't have a physical body, so He was not man. And then there are groups that don't believe that he was God, just a prophet, or just one of the gods.
The reason why we need to know this information is because in 1 John Chapter 4 Verse 2, John says hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
You might be thinking how is that a trick statement? Except the cults completely ignore the Gospel of John and they say we believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, so you are saying we are cults, we are false teachers, but it says right here, that every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: Therefore, we are of God!
II. ABOUT THE RECIPIENTS:
It is to the church, the body of Christ. And John wrote based on the encouragement of the elders of Ephesus.
III. ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF JOHN:
About 95% of the information in the Gospel of John is not found in the other Gospels. So, it is new material.
What is interesting about the Gospel of John is that the entire Gospel covers 21 days of the Lord's three-year ministry. Just 21 days! 10 out of 21 chapters cover one week. 237 out of 879 verses cover one 24-hour period. So, these are very selective accounts for us about the things of Christ.
IV. ABOUT THE PURPOSE FOR JOHN WRITING THE GOSPEL OF JOHN:
He wrote in John 20:31, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
He wrote so the people would believe. Now I think it is interesting that even though he wrote so that people would surrender their life to Christ, but his presentation isn't so the people would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He is establishing the deity of Christ. That's his ministry.
If you happen to receive Christ based on that, that is all the better. But this is a document that establishes beyond doubt about the deity of Jesus Christ. If somebody has told you in the past that the Lord never called Himself God, well, they are mistaken. All through the Gospel of John He calls Himself God and we see that as we go through.
I. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The apostle John wrote the Gospel of John. He is a different John than John the Baptist who is going to be introduced to us in John 1:6. This is the apostle, John. John the Baptist, and the apostle John are two different people.
So, John, in his gospel, writes about John but he is not writing about himself. In fact, he doesn't mention himself at all. So whatever John you read of, you know he is talking about John the Baptist. He is identified as the disciple whom Jesus loved in John Chapter 21 Verse 20. He never names himself, but he calls himself the disciples whom Jesus loved in John 21:20.
He is the only original apostle not to die a martyr's death. Tradition says that they tried to kill John by putting him in boiling oil and they couldn't kill him, much like Daniel in the lion's den. And so, they exiled him off onto the island of Patmos because they couldn't kill him. They said let's just get rid of him. He is an old man. He has got a lot of wisdom and knowledge. He has got a lot of influence. So, we will just get rid of his influence, and we won't have to mess with him.
It was off on the island of Patmos that he received what we know as the Revelation of Jesus Christ. After he was brought back to the mainland he settled in Ephesus and became part of the church in Ephesus. As a matter fact, the elders of Ephesus are the ones who urged and compelled him to write the gospel of John before he died because there was not a document that contained just one solid teaching to present the deity of Jesus Christ. So, he wrote it.
Eusebius, one of the church historians writing about the things of the church, he writes, "John received Asia as his sphere of work and lived and died in Ephesus." John also wrote 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and the book of Revelation.
John is written to the church, written around 95 A.D., approximately 30 to 35 years after the other Gospels were written. And the Gospel of John was one of the last letters written. In fact, there's a lot of evidence to say that the Gospel of John, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation which were all written by John, but there's evidence that he wrote all those letters one right after another all at the same time.
John wrote to present Jesus Christ as the Son of God, not the Son of Man, but the Son of God. Son of God is a title known to the Jewish people for two things: Number one, the Son of God is the Messiah. And number two, the Son of God is God.
And here's where some of the cult groups get off track and actually lead people in the wrong way. They say how can Jesus be God if He's the Son of God? Well, the word Son in the title "Son of God" doesn't mean son by birth. There are different words used in the Greek New Testament for the word son.
This is a son by inheritance and so it has nothing to do with a father-mother-son relationship like we know here on the earth or in the human. It has to do with inheritance and that the Son of God is God coming to His inheritance.
I agree that Adam and Eve and Abraham were simply people, not Jew or Gentile as there was not yet such a distinction during their life spans. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not Jewish either, but were considered Hebrews because Eber (Heber) was their ancestor. The nation of Israel began when God gave this name to Jacob in Genesis. He and his sons and daughters were the first Israelites. The Jews descended from Jacob's son Judah. They were not initially called Jews, but Judahites. It was after the Israelites had settled in the land of promise and land was allotted to each tribe, followed by the reigns of David and Solomon, and then the dividing of the Kingdom into Israel (Northern Kingdom) and Judah (Southern Kingdom). It was when Judah was taken to Babylonian captivity that they were referred to as Jews, I believe.
We do not "hard sell" the Gospel to others, but we, by our godly lifestyle and wholesome conversation witness to the change that has occurred in us since conversion. We are to be firm in our stance on the Gospel and at the same time be pleasant and genuine in our approach to others, knowing that we, like them, once walked in error or were unregenerated. We must be humble and sincere, showing care and concern for the one we are witnessing to. If we are harsh, likely the person we are wishing to come to Christ will harden their heart and resist submitting to the Lord because of our behavior towards them.
In regard to prayer; it is good to find one or two people as I have been able to do who focus on other residents as well as desire them to be saved. I have seen staff who are believers and/or are open to the Gospel. Flexibility is needed as well as tolerance for stinky odors and unseemly things. There have been cases where people have cursed or been loud and obnoxious-wisdom is needed in such instances. Finally I have found that there may be more oppenness in places that are run down. One has to be careful not to say anything negative about the facility at risk of being kicked out at least when involving discussion with residents that can be subjective. Also those who want legal help in such cases can be given a phone number but we shouldn't personally take sides or be involved. Obviously if some egregious thing happens we should report it. Usually; we need to be available to help but need to ask if someone can have a drink or snack; but if so we should be willing to help. We should NOT move patients at all without permission unless we are doing other work there and certainly NOT help people move from wheelchair to a bed for instance. Patience helps in such cases.
Prison ministry. The Lord removed that opportunity after training in Feb 2020 and then leaving Pittsburgh in my case. A number of my friends and church members are still doing that ministry which is a good thing. One thing to remember is it is best to work in groups and not easily be intimidated. Also in the case above there were Muslims and all other kinds of religions represented; and there were certain parameters as to where and when we could preach Christ as the only way. That may have been a reason the Lord removed me from that opportunity; it is a word of warning that we need to find out particulars and pray the Lord's will in such instances.
Getting a foot in the door is often the most difficult initial obstacle for such ministries. Usually a place wants to know what church you represent. Sometimes I have found (as with someone in Pittsburgh who started something in 1999) that going into a facility and just asking if there is a need for a study pays off; that is how I am getting a second one started near Philly in August. Previously before I moved here there was a small group in a home church and study that would regularly visit a Rehab facility; the same one I mentioned as being started in 1999. The Lord has seen fit for it to be reestablished once the COVID restrictions ended by one of the brothers who had been in that group previously.
People on the street often enjoy regular conversations; this is accentuated in Nursing Home facilities. Having the boldness to challenge the faith and to confront (lovingly) facts such as mortality need to be addressed. Mercy; service and teaching spiritual gifts are good as a group as well.
It has been hard for me to find consistant attendance from the church members I had in Pittsburgh. Here in Philly a lady from church got me in the door after I inquired about the need; and she has time to sit in on the study and gather people together. The activities director is also saved and apparently recently ministered to a dying man at night. I have found that rather substandard places tend to have better opportunities as there is a less controlling mindset. Usually you have a Jewish service as well as Catholic "rosary" activities. I recently established a second study just doing a walk in and asking in a new facility with the Social Director. Apparently they have a "psychic" hour there and I avoided having my study at the same time so I wouldn't have a spiritual war in the facility at least the first week.
Prayer is key to deal with out of control people; as well as for request for the residents.
The true knowledge is only poured into the new vessel. It is the living soul alone that receives the living knowledge of the living God from Christ the life. The old nature, the old understanding, is for death and destruction. The wisdom of the flesh, though painted ever so like the spiritual wisdom, is not to be spared anywhere; but that wisdom, with all its zeal and growth and progress in religion must perish. All men's knowledge of the Scriptures which they have gathered in that part will profit them nothing, but hinder them. Every building which the leprosy of sin hath overspread, is to be pulled down; therefore he that hath only the old house swept and garnished, never received the true knowledge, from whence the true faith springs, but his life lies in the oldness of the letter, in the conformity of the dead part to that, and he knows not the virtue of the knowledge of God in the newness of the Spirit (the veil being over his heart) which is only given to the new understanding.
Issac Peningtion
That Christ's immediate revelation of the nature of his Father is to his babes. Not to the wise, not to the zealous, not to the studious, not to the devout, not to the rich in the knowledge of the Scriptures without: but to the weak, the foolish, the poor, the lowly in heart. And man receives not these revelations by study, by reading, by willing, by running, but by being formed in the will of life, by being begotten of the will of the Father, and by coming forth in the will, and lying still in the will, and growing up in the will, here the child receives the wisdom which is from above, and daily learns that cross which crucifies the other wisdom, which joins with and pleases the other will, which loves to be feeding on the shadowy and husky part of knowledge, without life. Therefore, if ever thou desire to receive this knowledge from Christ, know that eye in thyself that is to be blinded, which Christ will never reveal the Father to: read at home, know the wise and prudent there, whom Christ excludes from the living knowledge. And if thou canst bear it, that eye that can read the Scriptures with the light of its own understanding; that can consider and debate, and take up senses and meanings of it, without the immediate life and power; that is the eye that may gather what it can from the letter, but shall never see into the life, nor taste of the true knowledge; for Christ, who alone opens and gives the knowledge, hides the pearl from that eye.
Issac Peningtion
As you imply, we are not "salesmen for Christ". The task of the True Believer is to be a witness for the True Gospel in our life and in the Gospel that we proclaim.
But it must be the True Gospel as circumscribed by the Bible Alone and in its Entirety. It must be the Whole Counsel of God. And that starts with the fact that by nature we are sinners under the Judgment of God for every sin that we have or will ever commit as God describes us in
Romans 3:10-18 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
And so we are under the Wrath of God for our sins, Eternal Death. But God has provided a way of escape by paying the full penalty required for the sins of those whom He has chosen to save. So we can come to God like the Publican in Luke 18:13, striped of any self righteousness, pleading for Mercy with a broken and contrite heart. There is then the very real hope that God might save us.
Joel 2:12-14 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God.
We, by nature, do not want this kind of a Gospel. God saves us by His Grace Alone. We are not in control.