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Barnabas 15:9
"Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended into the heavens." (The eight day is the day after the last/seventh day of the Jewish Sabbath, that is Sunday or Lord's Day as the early christians used to call it)
Justin the Martyr, chapter 67
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen;.... But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.
Galatians 4: 9-11 Again this deals with the corruption of the laws, statues and ordinances that Moses gave; the Laws of Moses, not the Commandments of God. Moses' laws were done away with through the Cross, Jesus summed up the Commandments of God into 2, Matthew 22: 37-40 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. (First 4 of God's commandments) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Last 6 of God's commandments). On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Verse 40 is referring to the real laws and words from the prophets that God gave, not the corrupted versions of the people. Just like today as most people use the modern translations of the bible written by men instead of the one true translation written by the Holy Spirit. Those true believers who go to church on Sunday and read modern versions of the bible are doing NO wrong, not unless God has revealed the truth to them and they deny it. I'm not talking about these discussions I am presenting to this group, as being revealed to you, I am talking about a real conviction of the Holy Spirit as I have received. Those experiences are between the believer and God, but I won't remain silent on the subjects either. God Bless :)
PS As I said, these postings were premature. They need corrections. More later."
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Galatians 4: 9-11 Again this deals with the corruption of the laws, statues and ordinances that Moses gave; the Laws of Moses, not the Commandments of God. Moses' laws were done away with through the Cross, Jesus summed up the Commandments of God into 2, Matthew 22: 37-40 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. (First 4 of God's commandments) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Last 6 of God's commandments). On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Verse 40 is referring to the real laws and words from the prophets that God gave, not the corrupted versions of the people. Just like today as most people use the modern translations of the bible written by men instead of the one true translation written by the Holy Spirit. Those true believers who go to church on Sunday and read modern versions of the bible are doing NO wrong, not unless God has revealed the truth to them and they deny it. I'm not talking about these discussions I am presenting to this group, as being revealed to you, I am talking about a real conviction of the Holy Spirit as I have received. Those experiences are between the believer and God, but I won't remain silent on the subjects either. God Bless :)
PS As I said, these postings were premature. They need corrections. More later.
2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
GOD bless all on this forum. Happy New Year! The LORD to shine HIS face on all and to gloriously bless all who love and wait for HIS coming.
January 1, 2024.
It was not the Catholic church that established Sunday instead of Sabbath. Untill 1054 AD when the scism/split between the Western Catholic Church and the Eastern Ortodox Church occured, the church was a united universal church. That church came as continuation of the first church and kept many of the traditions and ordinances of that early church. Apart from the Bible there are many other writtings of early christians who wrote about Sunday. Some of them are: Justin the Martyr (100-165 AD), Ignatius of Antioch (50-120/140 AD), The Epistle of Barnabas (70-130 AD), The Teachings of the 12 Apostles (Didascalia Apostolorum) 70-200 AD
Galatians 4:9-11, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."
1 Corinthians 16:2 "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, t
Romans 14:5 "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."(Question? Does your church only meet on Sunday to fellowship and hear preaching and teaching? Is Sunday the only day of the week you might hear preaching from the minister? This verse just tells of believers gathering on Sunday to fellowship and listen to Paul preach because he had to leave the next day. It doesn't interpret as abolishing their regular worshiping on the Sabbath.)
Collisians 2:14 & 16 "Blotting out the handwriting of ORDINANCES (my caps) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or the new moon or of the sabbath days." (This judgment is speaking of situations on the sabbath as when David fed his men shewbread that was only to be eaten by the Jewish Priests on the Sabbath. 1 Samuel 21:1-6, Christ feeding His disciples from the cornfield on a Sabbath. Matthew 1:21 and pulling an ox out of a ditch on the Sabbath. Luke 14:5; if there are things that needed to be done out of necessity on the Sabbath, you should not let men judge you for doing that.)
I don't know how any of the verses I noted can be interpreted as showing that the early church willingly changed it's weekly worship and fellowship from the sabbath to the first day of the week. As I presented, there is historical proof that they didn't. As the "ravening wolves in sheep clothing" ( Matthew 7:15) began to creep into the church, a change was eventually made to abolish the sabbath and worship and refrain form labor on Sunday. Constantine and the Catholic Church mainly changed it and the world followed.
God Bless :)
There have been a number of posts where I have brought up the fact that God chastises all those He loves ( Heb. 12:6; Proverbs 3:12). The alternative to that is eventually the judgment of our works; which of course without Christ leads to damnation as no one does good; not even one ( Rom. 3:11-12; Psalm 53:3).
What hasn't been discussed is the fact that those living through the same event could personally be experiencing chastisement or judgment depending on the state of the individuals in question. This can be illustrated in 1 Cor. 10:1-5 where everyone went through the sea but God's displeasure caused many to die. In fact; only Joshua and Caleb were to survive from that generation to enter the Promised Land. Moses himself could only see it from afar. This is not to say that all were lost who came out of Egypt who peerished in an eternal sense (as we see with Moses); but the pattern is there. God performed what He promised in deliverance; despite the complaints in the wilderness He provided for their needs.
This pattern can be seen in the judgments of Revelation. God uses the Tribulation to purify His people and bring a countless multitude to the Lord through martyrdom ( Rev. 7:9-11 etc). There are also those with the mark of God who may be so spiritually pure that chastisement is not really needed ( Rev. 7:1-8).
Clearly even today the attitude of someone in this life in a similar situation is vastly different depending if they are walking in the Spirit or in the flesh. Luke 12:48 shows the principle of more responsibility to those who are given much; that is we have the Spirit of God who has overcome the world living in us as saints. We have overcome the world but are still living in the world ( John 17:16-26).
We must always remember that Christ has won the war; we are in battles leading to the inevitable victory against a vanquished foe. Let your light shine therefore before men ( Matt. 5:16).
I am glad to have you back once again. No need to explain to me about your circumstances. I am just happy to hear from you!
God has blessed us with yet another day and the beginning of another year. May we all be fruitful unto the Lord in our daily lives.
Thank you for your prayers for my family members. I know that God hears all or our prayers and is more than able to answer to our requests, especially for the salvation of ones we pray to be saved.
There is a reason for God tarrying in answering some of our requests, and I trust Him in all things. There also is a reason we have been instructed to persevere in prayer for answers to come and to bring every concern to the Lord in prayer. I am keeping these things in mind and practice as much as I can.
Have a good day, Giannis. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Let us stay close to the "ROCK" of our salvation, and the wisdom of our GOD through our diligent study and application of HIS word. Let us walk in the LORD and not fall to the lust of this world. Galatians 5:16
GOD bless everyone as we enter into this new year 2024!
January 1, 2024
The Lord to shine HIS face on all who love HIM; and bless us gloriously.
We have all come another day closer to the return of Christ. Isaiah 51:6 and other verses in Psalms refer to the earth waxing old like a garment; but as Job said there will be a resurrection and we shall see Him in our own flesh ( Job 19:26 and surrounding verses). The suffering of the saints which is part of God's purging process in our own lives will come to an end; certainly if Paul with the immense suffering promised him in Acts 9:16 could state that sufferings now are no comparison to what is to come ( Romans 8:18) heaven is too wonderful for words.
Whatever is left will be restored during the Millennium so that people can live fulfilled long lives in a peaceful existence. The earth will produce its fruit in abundance and Satan will be restrained. Only this will bring about the end of war ( Isaiah 2:4).
I will be the first to admit; and I doubt that I'm the only one that it seems almost a cruel joke to hold on to such hope; especially in regard to the Rapture which was rather obsessed over in the 1970s and 1980s and today hardly discussed in traditional church settings. We have come to a point where it is not discussed in church; but there are numerous online sites which are pretty much obsessed with the topic and endless dreams and visions that individuals are supposed to have had on the issue. It is hard to imagine just how great it will be not to have Satan and his emissaries like a spider with tentacles removed from what is now a chokehold on almost everything in the world today. Nonetheless we have a cloud of witnesses ( Heb. 12:1) which are of every saint who has died since the time of Christ and in fact some are the "first of the firstfruits" as it were of the O.T. saints resurrected in Matthew 27:52 and 53.
To imagine society without the violence and lawlessness of today is a stretch. When Christ comes to rule with a rod of iron He will also be just (see Isaiah 11:3 and other verses). Today may He reign in our hearts.
This situation and others like it are not disobeying the Sabbath. But if you get a part time job helping your fiend with his moving business on The Sabbath, this is disobeying the Sabbath. If you need the extra money, pray and God will provide it to you without you having to break the Sabbath. Remember David and his feeding his men the shewbread. ( 1 Sam. 21: 1-6). It wasn't something he did all the time, it was something of need at the time. The same with Christ feeding his disciples from the cornfield on the sabbath ( Matt. 12:21) or someone pulling their ox out of a ditch on the sabbath ( Luke 14:5). So the Holy Spirit is telling us to not let others "judge" you for this kind of behavior on the Sabbath. It does not say to no longer keep this day Holy.
Corinthians 16:2, "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
Excuse me but how-in-the-world does this scripture indicate that the church met on Sunday? Paul is asking them at the beginning of each week to set aside an amount of money for whatever so this won't have to be bothered with when he visits them again. This is not work and he certainly doesn't say for them to switch to Sundays to have church until he comes. Please use some discernment.
Colossians 2:14 & 16 "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days." God did give Moses statues and ordinances for instructions on His 10 commandments to give to the Jews but they eventually added foolish ones of their own. Verses 14 explains this by calling these ordinances that were "against" them and which caused the Jews much confusion in following the real laws of God and Moses.
OTHER VERSES OF IMPORTANCE:
1 Corinthians 16:" Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." This can't be the Sabbath, Paul is asking them to do work.
Romans 14:5 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. Question? Does your church only meet on Sunday to fellowship and hear preaching and teaching? Is Sunday the only day of the week you might hear preaching from the minister? This verse just tells of believers gathering on Sunday to fellowship and listen to Paul preach because he had to leave the next day which was the Sabbath.
( Col. 2:14 & 16 God." Blotting out the handwriting of ORDINANCES (my caps) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or the new moon or of the sabbath days: In the 10 Commandments of God there is only 1 day that God commanded us to keep hollowed out for Him for our good; the sabbath. There were other sabbath days during festivals that were not all on Saturday but were kept during the festivals that were a week or longer. These were sabbath dayS. The statues and ordinances in Moses' laws is what this verse is talking about but, not the commandment, if you don't agree with me and believe it is talking about the last day of the week, let me give you an example of this verse's meaning: A friend calls you on a Saturday and says he needs your help right away moving some things out of a garage he was storing them in because the person who owns the garage said if he doesn't do it immediately they were going to haul it all of to the dump. So you help your friend move his things. A lot of work, that took some time.
HISTORICAL EYEWITNESS OF CONSTANTINE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CHANGING THE SABBATH TO SUNDAY.
*"The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version, was originally printed between 1907 and 1912 in fifteen hard copy volumes."
"The Bible says "remember" that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. The Catholic church says No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And low
the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic church." American Sentinel, Father Enright, June 1893
"The primitive Christians did keep the Sabbath of the Jews before the Christians, for a long time together, did keep their convocations upon the Sabbath in which some portions of the law were read: and this continued TILL the time of the Laodician council." The Whole Works Of Jeremy Taylor, Vol. IX p416.
"Constantine published the Edict of Milan, granting freedom of religion in the empire and establishing Sunday as a day of worship." Collier Encyclopedia
vol 7, p. 212
"It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the 1st day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Ladiocea, AD 364, anathematized (cursed) those who kept the Sabbath and urged all persons to labor on the 7th day under penalty of anathema (excommunication)." Catholic Priest T. Enright, CSSR, Kansas City, MO
Thanks for letting us know Mr. Neville's prayer needs. I will be praying for him and his family.
Today; one of the Deacons in our church gave a thought provoking sermon which was boiled down to looking up to the Lord; and not sugar coating where things in the world were headed going into 2024.
There are general parameters that would steer a Christian toward one side of the two political parties. If any of us possess the slightest wisdom (whether worldly or above) it becomes clear to us that promises that are made and the media spin should never be taken without the preverbial "grain of salt". We also need to hold politicians accountable. It is very unclear to me why Americans aren't protesting what is becoming clearly a plan for our country to be invaded and overrun. We have become accustomed to letting government handle all of our problems whether it is financial; "birth control"; or so called national security. The big picture for everyone in a fallen world is that there are many chameleons out there; people either find a new way to do the same old sin; or they find a new sin to embed themselves with. This is clear from the abortion issue; now it is "safe and easy" according to how it is spun to terminate a human life with a pill these days which is where the majority of abortions are done today. One could; perhaps seem the same logic with the beheadings during the Tribulation; it is a quick and compared to other techniques more painless method of mass killings than other means which I suppose martyrs will be grateful for.
In general; we should continue as long as we are able to work out the command of the Great Commission until the government forceably stops us en masse through whatever means necessary; or the mobs in the streets decide to execute vengeance themselves on who they will with impunity (which sadly we are clearly approaching with current events).
IF the Lord tarries the best we can hope for with a regime change is many months; probably at least a couple years of great sacrifice.
May we add daily unto our knowledge and wise application the attributes and character of our GOD the LORD JESUS. Colossians 3; 2 Peter 1
(many more)
Numbers 6
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Happy New Year everyone!
December 30, 2023
May we saints be diligent, faithful in our prayers for all areas of our life.
Happy New Year brethren!
December 30, 2023
Some would claim not to believe in anything; while many who claim to be atheists are involved with Satanism. This could be twofold; there is some fascination with rebelling against society (which "coincidentally" intersects with man's perverse fleshly tendencies). Otherwise; some wish to hide their true intentions by stating they are atheists who are in reality closet Satanists.
Again from a purely logical viewpoint it becomes clear that as a spiritual entity; worship; prayer and various rituals make such individuals just as "religious" as their Christian counterparts just focusing on the enemy rather than God.
There are some who follow their own maxims and would be turned off by the thought of the evils committed by others in such occult practices. It is sad but true that there may actually be MORE marriages held together among nonbelievers than in the "Christian" community; although some are content today to live with someone without making a legal commitment of a marriage certificate. There are; no doubt those who volunteer more; donate larger gifts to charities and perform other "good deeds" that often can outmatch what we as believers perform. When we leave things to unregenerate men; however we see the quick decay from the humanistic idealism of the late 19th Century to the "Free love" of the sixties to today's society with sodomy; and other same sex relationships and what is heading rapidly toward pedophelia.
Of course history has shown the bloodbath of those who are worshipped as dictators but officially demand atheism otherwise of their citizenry. Just as dangerous; of course is nationalism which usually attempts to assimilate the "Christian" cause in their own form of adulation for the man in charge. No doubt an amalgamation of all the characteristics of the old fallen empires will constitute the final "Beast" system ( Dan. 7:23 and following verses). Antichrist will exalt himself above all and claim to be God.
God states that those who say there is no God are fools ( Psalm 14:1-2). I suppose I should capitalize the word atheism as it indeed is a belief system or "religion" albeit man made. Even the demons believe and shudder as James 2:19 states.
From a purely logical and scientific level; of course any such logic is seriously flawed. First of all not believing in God (as opposed to being "agnostic" removes any hope of life after death that is verifiable). God in His infinite wisdom has allowed such items as the shroud of Turin that seems to defy logic and appears to be the image of Christ Himself. The integrity of the scriptures prophesying Jesus' birth death and resurrection and future ramifications are hard to argue against; and the lack of any body found are pretty clear indications of the Resurrection. The deaths of all the martryrs (12 Disciples) which except for John were martyred would be for naught if the Resurrection weren't real.
We also can't explain things such as decay from the second law of thermodynamics if indeed evolution is true and things evolved to MORE complex structure and order from lesser; and we can't prove so many of these "missing links" which when not turning out to be proven fraud (such as with "Piltdown man") often are proven to be separate genus or even kingdoms of animal species. When we see the ancient giant structures of great complexity which are being discovered all the time the concept of man being primitive also is challenged; and the story of fallen angels and their offspring of "men of renown" seems the likely answer for such large building blocks and scientifically complex structures pointing to the stars. ( Gen. 6:4).
Our own moral structure proves to any objective outside observer at least to be sorely deficient; we are incapable of externally keeping the law and our hearts don't have the desire to serve selflessly or to worship our Creator. Surely the complexity in nature proves a Creator.
Jeremiah 17:8 along with Psalm 1 bring out the benefits of a tree whose roots are planted near the water. This steadfast faith in the Lord is contrasted in the next verse which describes the vicissitudes of the heart of unregenerate man. These vital concepts describe the state of a soul; who needs to be vigilant to bearing fruit and testing themselves to see if they are in the faith is a necessary prerequisite ( 2 Cor. 13:5). Those who do not bear fruit are cut off and burned; a figurative statement describing a very real state of the lost at Judgment Day (see John 15:2).
Surely all flesh is as grass ( 1 Peter 1:24) and like a vapor this life soon passes away ( James 4:14). Eternity is in men's hearts showing that indeed the nature of man is for their spirit to live forever after the body and soul perish ( Ecclesiastes 3:11). This means their legacy is either eternal glory and recognition of those things done while living for the Lord; or eternal damnation for the lack thereof. (see Matthew 25:34 and associated verses).
There is some hope for us who still are producing works of wood; hay and stubble ( 2 Tim. 2:21-23) to change to better works if we have a foundation in Christ ( 1 Cor. 3:11). This results in varying degrees or levels in the harvest and subsequent reward for those who are saved (see also Mark 4:20).
Those in the flesh and not Born Again can only interpret what they see around them in the world (the actions of others who serve as their peers and interpreted through their own understanding). God alone as I see it through predestination determines who will be saved. On our end it takes a fair evaluation of who we really are as compared to a righteous God which then leads to godly sorrow and repentance (which is indeed a gift from God as about half a dozen scriptures indicate). John 16:8 must enlighten us to our desperate plight that SHOULD be aided by proper evangelism appealing for individuals to repent.
Ephesians 4:
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
2 Timothy 3:
.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Although the work may be important, there is nothing more important than to spend a "rest time" with the LORD.
As CHRIST always had a time of rest, and prayer with HIS FATHER; let us do the same that we may be restored spiritually, physically as we await the coming of our KING of Glory, the LORD of HOST.
Ps 24:8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Numbers 6:
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Happy New Year, brethren! Our redemption is near.
December 30, 2023
First Timothy 5:24 states:
Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
What is interesting is the next verse which contrasts this with good works that also become clear even if they start off being hidden.
The effects of sin are what is known as bad fruit. The cause of sin is of course from a corrupt and fallen nature (see Jeremiah 17:9 on the state of a human heart without saving grace).
James 3:6 states this:
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
This figurative expression no doubt will eventually lead to one's destruction in fire; as well as the destruction of the earth in like manner as we see stated in 2 Peter 3:10 and numerous other verses. God made everything good; but the fall of man led to death for all forms of life; as well as even the stars not being pure in His sight ( Job 25:5 seems to corroborate this with Job 15:15). He is going to create therefore a new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells ( 2 Peter 3:13 and see Revelation 21 and 22.)
God had to bring a total cure for the total corruption in what was made originally pure in His sight (see Ecclesiastes 7:29). This brought Christ part of the Godhead to personally die as our atonement and also of course to restore all nature from the fall which consummates when He returns and eventually at the end of the Millennium when the last enemy death is destroyed ( 1 Cor. 15:26). Judgment comes to the angelic realm who fell after Lucifer's rebellion. Some have already been judged ( 1 Peter 3:19-20 also read book of Jude). The rest of mankind; of course lives on borrowed time and because God is patient to ensure all His elect come to Him people try to get away with all they can ( Ecclesiastes 8:11).
A spoonful of sugar won't help this medicine go down; God's love will
A-dorn' (Gk: kosmeo) has its primary meaning, "to arrange," "to put in order," "to decorate."
"So are my ways higher than your ways"(Is.55:8-9)
We shall compare the simplicity of Christ required of women in the early church, 'that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array';(1 Ti.2: 9; 1 Pe.3: 3) on the other hand we have the bride of Christ, "the holy city, new Jerusalem". (Re.21:2;19:7)"
How come?
"Marriage of the Lamb is come" is a time for rejoicing. The honor of the bride is in the newness of relationship begun with Christ , from betrothal to the marriage supper where the array of precious stones mentioned in Re.21:19-21 are created under the true Light and created in heaven! "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Re.21:2;19:7)." What is most precious in earth is glass catching the rays of the sun and natural eye is deceived.
King Abimelech of Gerar while compensating Sarah for causing distress to her modesty made amendments, "And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee,"(Ge.20: 16)
Abraham as 'a covering for her eyes' has an equivalent. "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes."(De.6:8) The Spirit implies Abraham as the double for the Son, the word become flesh. ("I am the Way").
The only offensive weapon in Ephesians 6 is the sword of the Spirit. Today's megachurches have tended to make things into a sideshow by defining success as someone with a lot of possessions. Indeed God CAN honor a prayer regarding material things but it is unwise and naive to ignore verses such as Deuteronomy 17:17; for it can lead to total apostasy later when greed takes over.
Playing games to underestimate the intensity of the evil we face does no one any favors either. Those who would be hesitant to warn sinners of their grievous state and need of repentance so as not to "offend" anyone are probably the same ones who downplay how serious the conflict is with the demonic horde under Satan that have pretty well taken over society; and worse the church in a large part making those who want to engage in serious battle seem like they are outcasts. Worse still there are many who look at Satan as somehow ruling over hell (as opposed to perhaps guarding Hades in the past as seen in those held captive described in Psalm 68:18). Men are blinded because of their own sin but 2 Corinthians 4:4 shows how Satan is the agent the Lord allows to keep men in this state. Part of praying for someone may indeed be for the enemy to cause enough misery for them to cry out to the Lord; this seems commonplace for those who are Prodigal type individuals.
We see when multiple people in particular persevere in prayer for someone things often eventually happen. For those who won't respond; often they are taken away and we never have contact with them again. We don't have the luxury of knowing if anyone has another day on this earth; but we do know the Lord will save all of His elect.
Also; of course the praiseworthy attributes of God's Holiness; power; might; honor and glory should be acclaimed with conviction. This comes from TRUE worship in song and scripture reading. It also comes from a broken and contrite heart ( Ps 51
Matthew 5:44 states:
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
The scriptures show multiple times such as Matthew 27:19 with Pilate's wife (who may or may not have come to saving faith) and with Paul in particular (with the jailor who he had a chance to bring to faith along with his whole family) in Acts 16:30-33. The jailor even showed compassion in washing the stripes from whipping of Paul that apparently occurred earlier. There were others who Paul was able to bring to faith who were often wives of important officials.
Jesus; of course knew what He was talking about since we ALL start out as enemies of God. This puts us on an even playing field so to speak; so that we cannot understand how God can change the heart of a serial killer but not of someone who always seems to be a "nice person" whether our family members or friends. It isn't so much important to browbeat someone as to their sinfulness to convince them to repent; ASSUMING that we are preaching about the sorry state of human souls in general with unregenerate hearts. This is how the Gospel was preached; those in authority were given general and very harsh rebukes by Christ as part of the general call. WE certainly need to clearly speak of how Jesus saved us from total depravity or however we want to describe our sorry state before salvation.
Matthew 10:28 shows what we should NOT fear (our death) and what our persecutors SHOULD fear (see also Philippians 1:28).
Easier said than done; actually not possible apart from the Spirit giving us the utterance (see Luke 12:12).
We must remember God determines when our last day is on earth not Satan or man. No doubt Satan desires 24/7 to destroy us so we must always be vigilant and not let our guard down. The same should be said in prayer for those suffering persecution today.
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Romans 8:38-39 says:
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It would seem that we are coming to the fulfillment of both Psalm 83 and one of Isaiah 17:1 very soon as well. At some point a false peace will take over at the first seal of Revelation and it could appear to head that way immediately before then; followed by the Rapture. We probably have years ahead; if He tarries of unprecedented persecution and sad to say martyrdom. We are said to be hated of ALL nations; then the end will come ( Matthew 24:9). This could have a final fulfillment during the Tribulation but also could be speaking of today.
Prayer of course is paramount. I know someone who has recently moved to Israel in the ministry (I will leave out his name and position for security sake). He and his wife see firsthand the displacement of hundreds of thousands from the border areas being attacked on multiple fronts. There are those behind the scenes funding and staging the mass demonstrations in several cities today who no doubt will not stop until they are forced to and have no less goal than overthrowing our government and making this into a Muslim country with Sharia law. No doubt we should continue to pray for individuals the Lord puts into our lives. Some things are better avoided; but we all need to search our hearts to trust God if we need to defend the life of another in these situations of mass looting and no doubt increasing violence. We all need to prepare for martial law at the very least. The end is near and now it is vital that we preach it and trust God iving obediently