. 486) 1John 3:18 . . My little children, let us not love only in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
NOTE: loving in deed is pretty easy, but loving in truth is not so easy. Before anyone can do that, they must first have access to a reliable, non-proprietary source of truth. And they must also have a correct understanding of the reliable, non-proprietary source of truth so that they can apply it.
†. John 18:38 . . Pilate said to him: What is truth?
One of Webster's definitions of truth is: a state of being the case; viz: fact which Webster's defines as: the quality of being actual.
The problem is, truth is often subjective; viz: what's truth today may not hold up as truth tomorrow. Science is often revising its own "truths" in order to be consistent with recent discoveries.
For example, practically ever since Charles Darwin's Origin Of Species was published in 1859; science was sure that homo sapiens and primates descended from the very same ancestor. But In 1992, Tim White of the University of California at Berkeley, discovered the fossilized skeleton of a woman (nicknamed Ardi) in Ethiopia's Afar Rift who lived 4.4 million years ago. His forty-seven member team, over a period of 17 years, discovered portions of the skeletons of thirty-seven more individuals from the same era. The discovery has sent evolutionists into a tail spin because the woman’s age, combined with her physical design, proves that apes and humans are separate and distinct species rather than sharing a common ancestor in an evolutionary chain.
For a number of years, scientists believed the universe was static; until Edwin Hubble, et al, discovered that galaxies, in all directions, are moving away from each other; and that the ones farthest apart are moving the fastest.
Some felt that the effects of universal gravity would limit the cosmos' expansion and make it slow down; eventually stop it from expanding, and make it shrink back to its original state and bang all over again; perpetuating a never ending cycle of banging and shrinking. But we now know from the supernova studies of Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt, that the universe is not only expanding, but contrary to expectations, the velocity of its expansion is accelerating; viz: gravity is not slowing the expansion down at all, it's actually speeding up, so the cosmos will never of its own accord stop expanding in order to shrink itself back into one solid glob of highly condensed nothing.
For years it was thought that egg yolks were bad for human health. Now it's said they aren't; same goes for butter.
So today's truths are truths only until another truth comes along to either replace the current truths and/or to invalidate them all together. Philosophers in the ancient Greco-Roman world spent their lives searching for truth; but it eluded them. This no doubt was at the root of Pilate's question. Essentially, he rhetorically asked Jesus where a truth might be that was consistent and dependable: one that would be just as true 2,000 years from now as it is deemed truth today.
You'd think that Christians would know the truth, yet the very people who ought to know it disagree as to its details and as a result the sphere of Christianity is fragmented into many diverse denominations, all claiming that theirs has the truth and the other denominations don't. As a result, not only the outside world, but also Christians themselves are wondering: What is truth?
My opponents often insist I am wrong. But I must ask them: Is it impossible that it is you who are wrong rather than me? Of course they have to admit that it is not impossible, and so I counsel them to be very cautious about using words like "you are wrong" lest the day comes when they have to eat them.
487) 1John 4:1 . . Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
NOTE: the Greek word for spirits is pneuma (pnyoo'-mah) which means, among other things; a current of air; viz: winds and breezes; for example:
†. Eph 4:11-15 . . And He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.
In order to "test" the winds; one must first have access to an independent, non-proprietary source of truth. That in itself is an impossibility for religions like Catholicism because rank and file pew warmers depend entirely upon the integrity of Rome's magisterium for the truth.
What I'm saying is this: if the magisterium itself is wrong, then the world's current 1.12 billion Catholics will be wrong too through their trust in the integrity of Rome's magisterium; viz: a Catholic is the perfect patsy because Rome has convinced the rank and file that the clergy alone has the truth, and convinced them that, on their own, they cannot find the truth without the clergy's help: a classic catch-22.
In the study of logic, that's called circular reasoning; viz: pointing to a religion's own proprietary teachings to prove that it's right. That kind of evidence is inadmissible in a court of law because it's like dismissing the charges against a defendant simply by virtue of the fact that he says he didn't do it. In other words, Catholics are confident Rome has the truth because Rome's teachings say it does. Thus the average pew warmer is a naive child who renders an utterly thoughtless compliance to the string-pulls of an organization which the rank and file have absolutely no way to validate except by taking its own word for it.
This situation isn't peculiar to Catholicism. It exists in other religions too whose primary source of truth is an in-house collection of man-made teachings like Rome's Catechism, Judaism's Talmud, the Jehovah's Witnesses' WatchTower publications, Mormonism's Book of Mormon, and Mary Baker Eddy's Science & Health With Key To The Scriptures.
I personally believe the Bible to be an independent, non-proprietary source of truth. So then, if I were to put a Bible in your hands, could you use it as a sort of sacred Geiger counter to test the winds of religious thought? No. And the reason for that is the Bible's custodian is God's Spirit. So then, before anybody can use the Bible as a sort of sacred Geiger counter, they must have the Spirit on-hand to assist them to not only recognize the truth, but also to accept it.
†. 1John 2:26-27 . . These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
Christians need human Bible teachers (Eph 4:11-15). But human teachers cannot train your intuition to recognize the truth when it sees it; viz: human teachers cannot give you a feel for the truth. Nor can human teachers soften your resolve to reject the truth once your intuition recognizes it.
So then, the only infallible path to truth is that anointing John wrote of. Sans that anointing, the human mind and will are at the mercy of treacherous winds even though somebody might be in possession of a dependable source of truth. For minds and wills void of God's Spirit, the Bible is of little more spiritual value than one of Giada di Laurentiis' cook books.
C.L.I.F.F.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 2nd November 2009 at 02:51 PM.
. 488) 1John 4:20-21 . . If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
NOTE: well, if that commandment is the litmus test of genuine love for God, then all I can say is there sure are a lot of actors playing at church in the sphere of Christianity. They're like the figurines in a Barbie dollhouse. None of the Barbies and Kens are real people; they're just mannequins.
†. Jas 3:14 . . But if ye have bitter envying and contention in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
489) 1John 5:16-17 . . If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
NOTE: listed below are a number of sins for which offenders merit the death penalty.
Murder (Gen 9:5-6, Ex 21:12-14, Lev 24:17, Lev 24:21, Num 35:31-34)
Assault and Battery upon parents (Ex 21:15)
Kidnapping (Ex 21:16)
Execrating parents (Ex 21:17)
Harboring a dangerous animal (Ex 21:28-29)
Adultery (Lev 20:10)
Marrying a mother and her daughter (Lev 20:14)
Sleeping with a daughter-in-law (Lev 20:12)
Homosexuality (Lev 20:13)
Sleeping with the wife of one's father (Lev 20:11)
Necromancy (Lev 20:27)
Contempt of court (Deut 17:8-13)
Perjury (Deut 19:16-21)
Breaking the Sabbath (Ex 31:12-17)
Propagating cults and isms (Deut 13:1-18)
Blaspheme (Lev 24:13-16)
Malicious miscarriage (Ex 21:22-24)
Bestiality (Ex 22:18, Lev 20:15-16)
Tainted Virgins (Deut 22:13-21)
Naughty Fiancée (Deut 22:23-27)
Sorcery (Ex 22:18)
Chronic juvenile delinquency (Deut 21:18-21)
In addition, there are a number of civil and military felony crimes that merit death such as treason and desertion.
Christians who do such things should be encouraged to man-up and face the music rather than expect sympathy from either their church or their Christian friends. Christians who pray otherwise are not only attempting to obstruct justice, but also in shameful rebellion against Almighty God's sovereign wishes.
†. Rom 13:3-4 . . For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
But now, supposing you live in a despotic country like North Korea, China, or Zimbabwe and one of your congregation is arrested and sentenced to death for nothing more serious than dissent. Can you pray for that? Yes. But will your request be granted? Maybe and maybe not since successful prayer is dependent upon consistent obedience.
†. John 15:7 . . If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
†. 1John 3:22 . . And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
490) 1John 5:21 . . Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
NOTE: the Greek word for idols is eidolon (i'-do-lon) which means: an image (for worship) viz: by implication, a heathen god.
Religious art such as paintings and sculptures don't really qualify as idols until somebody gets a little too carried away; for example:
There's a statue of Ste Peter in Rome whose big toe has been eroded over the years by the lips of people kissing it. I would have to say that easily qualifies as idolatry. I've no objection to paintings, statues, and stained glass, but when people kneel to, pray to, speak to, and/or kiss those items, then I believe they've trespassed into forbidden territory, and broken the very first of the Ten Commandments.
†. Ex 20:3-5 . . Do not worship any other gods besides me. Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, Yhvh your God, am a jealous god who will not share your affection with any other god!
Using that as a guideline, I would have to say that praying to, and/or looking to, patron saints for providence and protection easily qualifies as both polytheism and idolatry; as well as marginalizes the Bible's God and diminishes one's affections for Him. If somebody loves the Lord their God with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind, and all their strength, there will be nothing left for patron saints and artworks; and so idolatry would never be an issue.
. 491) 2John 1:5-6 . . And now I beseech you, lady, not as writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
NOTE: the precise identity of the "elect lady" in this epistle is impossible to know for sure. Some have construed it to be Jesus' mom, and yet others as a local church to which John mailed his letter. I tend to think it was a local church since 2John 1:13 indicates the elect lady had an elect sister; viz: a sister church.
In item #486, John directed his readers to love in deed and in truth. Well, 2John 1:5-6 is the answer to Pilate's question: What is truth? When believers walk according to God's commandments, they will be walking in truth; and as a result, will be loving their believing brethren. And not only loving their believing brethren, but also loving God. (cf. item #488 and John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:10, 1John 2:5, and 1John 5:3)
So then, the bottom line is: though Christians obsess and chirp about love till the cows come home, the bald fact is that if they are not keeping God's commandments, then they are loveless Christians— just actors playing a role. You know what the Greek word for actor is? It's hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace') which is normally translated hypocrite.
492) 2John 1:8 . .Watch yourselves, that we might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
NOTE: the Greek word for lose is apollumi (ap-ol'-loo-mee) which doesn't mean to lose as if stolen or misplaced, but rather, it means to lose something by its destruction like when people's homes were demolished in New Orleans by the hurricane Katrina.
Apollumi gets around. It's first appearance in the New Testament is when Herod sought to get rid of the baby Jesus at Mtt 2:13. And then Jesus utilized apollumi when speaking about the horrors of Hell at Mtt 5:29-30.
Some have tried to construe apollumi as annihilation; viz: that something goes completely out of existence. But that's not the idea at all. It simply means destroy, ruin, wreck, or render unfit for an intended purpose; like when a glass tumbler is dropped to the floor and it shatters into thirty pieces. It's no longer of any use for holding a liquid.
Where the Bible says people will "lose" their souls (e.g. Mtt 16:26) it doesn't mean souls go out of existence, it means they'll be injured rather than annihilated. The correct interpretation of a soul destroyed in Hell is like cooking meat. When the meat is done, it's no longer suitable for grafting back into the animal from whence it came because the freshness of the meat— its life and its blood —has been utterly ruined.
†. Mtt 10:28 . . Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.
That 's a ghastly picture of the people who end up in the reservoir of liquid flame depicted at Rev 20:11-15. Their bodies will be cooked beyond the point of recovery; and stay that way forever. And in some manner, their souls will be cooked beyond recovery too. The fires of Hell are mysterious fires in that they are able to cook not only natural objects but also supernatural objects— both flesh and spirit. Compare Rev 20:10 where the Devil, a spirit being, will suffer torment in fire forever and ever.
Anyway, what John is talking in about in 2John 1:8 is the ruin of one's own accomplishments that were done in a Christian service capacity for Christ; thus causing one's self to forfeit the reward they would have earned for the accomplishment. In some cases we might call that professional suicide but even the rank and file can do it to themselves if they get careless. So then, it's not what believers set out to do that counts in this respect, it's what they end up doing that will determine their reward.
An extreme case of this is the church at ancient Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). What began as a solid Christian endeavor ended up so far removed from Christ that in the end he was outside banging on the door trying to get somebody's attention to let him in. Not even the pastor and his staff were right with the Lord in that church.
The saddest example of this is the famous nun known the world over as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She began her endeavor in India with the best of spiritual intentions, but Teresa's private letters reveal that she feared Christ never really approved; and in point of fact, came to the end of her life actually unsure that a God even exists. I don't think I have to tell you what that means.
†. Heb 11:5-6 . . Without faith it is impossible to please God— for he who approaches God must believe that He is; and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Teresa died at the age of 87. When a Christian gets to that age, and still not sure there's really a God out there, I think they can pretty much forget about a reward.
493) 2John 1:10-11 . . If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
NOTE: the greeting in view is the holy kiss mentioned in Rom 16:16, 1Cor 16:20, 2Cor 3:12, 1Thss 5:26, and 1Pet 5 :14. The holy kiss is reserved for brethren, not for outsiders.
Some have construed that 2John 1:10 means believers are forbidden to respond to a knock on their door by Latter Day Saints and Jehovah's witnesses, or invite them in for a chat. That's not really what John's saying. In his day, missionaries were put up in people's homes during their travels; thus assisting them in their mission. So then, if you greet cultists as brethren, and/or put them up for the night, or assist them in any way to accomplish their mission, then you become an accomplice and assist the Devil to reap souls for the wrong place.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 4th November 2009 at 03:52 PM.
. 494) 3John 1:8 . . We ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers with the truth.
NOTE: the "such men" are honest-to-gosh brethren, and genuine representatives of the Bible's Christ rather than the representatives of cults like Mormonism and the WatchTower Society.
†. 3John 1:5-7 . . Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and they bear witness to your love before the church; and you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of The Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.
It's very seldom that The Name is mentioned in the New Testament. Other than here in 3John, the only other place I can think of is in the epistle to the Philippians.
†. Phlp 2:8-11 . .Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him The Name which is above every name, that at The Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Name that is above every name that can be named is Yhvh, the most sacred name for God in the Old Testament.
A Jewish man once asked me how it's possible to worship a human being as God without being in gross violation of the Shema at Deut 6:4-5. I responded by informing him that God promoted the human being in question to the rank of God and conferred upon him the right to use God's name as his own. The man was a bit consternated and said it was unfair of God to pull a trick like that on Moses' people.
It might come as a surprise to some Gentiles that a number of old-time rabbis have always known from the Tanakh that Messiah would in some way be divine; they just didn't know how.
†. Ps 110:1 . . Yhvh said unto my 'adown: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
David held the rank of God's firstborn son (Ps 89:20-27). The only person in a family hierarchy who is higher in rank than the firstborn is the paterfamilias. So then, in order for Messiah to be David's lord, he has to hold the rank of God because there is no intermediary rank in between Fathers and their firstborn. (cf. Mtt 22:41-46)
God himself is seen in another Psalm addressing Messiah as God.
†. Ps 45:6-7 . .Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your contemporaries.
The oil of gladness is a liquid substance commonly used for inaugurating kings in the Old Testament. The king in Ps 45 is the highest ranking of all kings of the Davidic dynasty— including Mr. David the paterfamilias of his posterity —because this particular king is authorized to be addressed, worshipped, and served as God; which is a privilege that David never achieved.
†. Dan 7:13-14 . . I was watching in the night visions and behold, one like a son of Adam, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they escorted him near to Him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
†. Rev 1:8 . . I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord: which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
495) 3John 11 . . Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
NOTE: the "one" to whom John refers is a believer who has not yet gotten with the program. They walk in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. In other words, they habitually give in to the base nature rather than the nature of God about which Peter wrote in 2Pet 1:4.
For now, it isn't possible to literally feast your glims on the Bible's God. But believers can "see" Him on the pages of holy writ by means of Jesus' personal tutoring.
†. Mtt 11:27 . . No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son: and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
So then, a believer who's lazy at Bible study will fail to see God, and subsequently, they will fail to imitate Him simply because they don't know enough about their Father in order to utilize Him as a role model.
†. Eph 5:1 . .Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children
C.L.I.F.F.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 5th November 2009 at 10:45 AM.
. 496) Jude 1:3 . . Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
NOTE: the Greek word for saints is hagios (hag'-ee-os)which just simply means sacred; viz: consecrated. A consecrated item has been selected by God and designated for His personal use. In other words, any, and all, those in Christ are saints, while all those on the outside are not.
†. Mtt 22:14 . . For many are called, but few are chosen.
†. Eph 1:4-6 . . He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
The Greek word for contend is epagonizomai (ep-ag-o-nid'-zom-ahee) which means: to struggle— an ambiguous word that Webster's defines as: 1) to make strenuous or violent efforts against opposition, and 2) to proceed with difficulty or with great effort.
Unfortunately epagonizomai appears in only one verse of the entire Bible so we can't make comparisons with other verses to determine precisely what Jude meant.
However, since New Testament Christianity is essentially a peaceable religion, then I think it's safe to rule out violent efforts against opposition.
It's sad, but nevertheless inevitable, that church staffs are infected with strife. And the reason for it is quite simple.
†. Jude 1:4 . . For certain men, whose condemnation was written about long ago, have covertly slipped in among you. These are irreverent men, who pervert the grace of our God as a license for unethical conduct; and contradict Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.
Staff members who refuse to submit to Christ as a church's supreme lord and master— legislating their own proprietary rules of conduct rather than complying with Christianity's commandments as they are stipulated in the New Testament — are a serious problem in conservative churches. Even when it appears they are following the New Testament, what they have actually done is construe its words to mean things they don't say in writing.
Those kinds of staff members are toxic, and if given their head and left unchecked, will eventually multiply and take over a church in the same way that tropical, tree-climbing vines eventually smother and kill their host trees and leave them as dried up, lifeless, empty husks of their former beauty. Oh, their churches are architectural wonders, and appear to be the very houses of God; but in reality, they're just fancy mausoleums.
These kinds of people get on staff covertly, which means at first they look like the real deal, but it's only a matter of time before they show their true colors. The Ephesian church is a prime New Testament example of spiritual corruption. When Paul said his farewells to that at-one-time wonderful shining beacon for Christ; here is what he predicted.
†. Acts 20:17-31 . . And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them:
. .Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among your own selves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.
Paul's prediction came true. By the time of the Lord's evaluation of the Ephesian church in Rev 2:1-7, they had become cheap goods.
Not long ago, my computer was attacked by a particularly malicious virus that totally disabled my version of Windows XP so that I was unable to open any files or run any programs. It even deleted the contents of the recovery partition and disabled disc defragmenter and system restore. So destructive was the virus, and so persistent, that I had to pay a professional to wipe my computer and re-install Windows from scratch.
Yes, I had an antivirus program running, and yes it was up to date. But these hackers today are becoming very clever, and very skilled at circumventing controls. Don't ever think your computer is invulnerable because it isn't. These guys will find a way in; it's only a matter of time.
Anyway, when a church becomes as rotten to the core as the one at Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22) nothing short of a wipe can save it. The whole staff has to go; every last one of them from the senior pastor on down; and don't forget the membership committee. Why? Because they are typically interested only in numbers; not believers; I've seen it.
When I applied for membership in a mega church in San Diego some years ago, I had to meet three prerequisites. First off, I had to attend the Pastor's class for candidates. Then I had to make a profession of faith and undergo water baptism. And then finally, I had to be interviewed by the membership committee. For that, I was herded into a room with three other candidates and asked to explain how I came to know the Lord.
I have an excellent testimony in that regard but the other three in the room with me were so vague and generalizing that I thought for sure they would be rejected; but no, they were given the right hand of fellowship same as me. Right then and there I knew that church was infested with unbelievers who were on a sure-fire path to Hell in spite of their membership in one of the biggest churches in San Diego simply because that membership committee was just too accommodating; and I just have to question whether any of them were even saved themselves.
497) Jude 1:20-21 . . But you, beloved— building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit —keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
C.L.I.F.F.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 5th November 2009 at 09:39 PM.
. 498) Jude 1:22-23 . . And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others rescue with fright, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
NOTE: Jude's directive appears to make reference to the human wildlife he depicted in previous verses; both in the church and in the world. Below is his description of their species; and it's loaded with colorful metaphors that really bring out the gravity of the serious condition these kinds of people are in.
†. Jude 1:5-16 . . But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
. . Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said: The Lord rebuke you! But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
. . These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
. . Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying: Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are irreverent among them of all their irreverent deeds which they have committed in an irreverent way, and of all the harsh things which irreverent sinners have spoken against Him. These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own feelings; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.
Some of the beasts can be rescued from themselves; while others are too far gone. Of those with possibilities, counselors have to use a little God-given common sense as it isn't necessary to strong-arm everyone— just the ones who are particularly difficult. Some people can be reasoned with, while others only understand force and can be persuaded to move in the right direction only by literally lighting a fire under them.
Those brute beasts Jude described have one foot in Hell already and don't know it. Somebody has got to get in their face and tell them to wake up and smell the coffee. Some can be brought to their senses with just a gently nudging; while others require one of those canned-air boat horns blasted in their ears to get their attention. Because if they miss the bugle call to Reveille, the next call they're going to hear is Taps; and I think everybody knows what that means.
. 499) Rev 2:11 . .He who has an ear, let him hear what The Spirit says to the churches.
NOTE: in this instance, Christ is identified as The Spirit's prophet; and in that capacity He speaks for God and he speaks as God.
†. Rev 1:8 . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says The Lord: who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
†. Rev 1:17-18 . . Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
An agent of God speaking for God, and as God, is not unprecedented.
There's a fair number of angel sightings recorded in the Old Testament. One celestial being in particular (called Metatron in sacred Jewish literature) appears to be so high ranking, and so holy, that it's authorized to go by God's name and to be treated, regarded, received, and worshipped, as Yhvh himself. Just exactly what the story is on that angel is hard to know for sure; but in the Scripture texts it's clear that the demarcation between God and the angel (whose name is his Master's) is so blurred that the two often appear to be one and the same person.
Targum authors struggled with Metatron and paraphrased the Bible's language in several places attempting to sidestep the obvious because they just couldn't cope with that angel's rank. But it is far and away better to just let the Old Testament say what it has to say and go along with it no matter how disturbing it might appear. A study of Metatron is pretty interesting; and well worth the time and effort.
Anyway, back to the ear thing. Not everyone has an "ear" to hear The Spirit because what The Lord is actually talking about is spiritual acuity
Yhvh's people began as spiritual dunces.
†. Deut 29:2-5 . . And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them; You have seen all that Yhvh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders. Yet to this day Yhvh has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.
The condition persisted to Isaiah's day,
†. Isa 6:9-10 . . And Yhvh said; Go, and tell this people: Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and come back to Me and be healed.
Continued in Ezekiel's day,
†. Ezek 12:1-2 . .Then the word of Yhvh came to me saying; Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.
Was chronic in Christ's day.
†. John 12:39-40 . . For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says: He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor repent —and I would heal them.
And still a problem in Paul's day too.
†. 2Cor 3:12-16 . . Since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull; for to this day the same veil remains when Torah is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to The Lord, the veil is taken away.
That being the case, it should surprise no one that modern Judaism will not accept the correct interpretation of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Apparently the problem is systemic rather than theological. A large percentage of Yhvh's people are just quite naturally stiff-necked and obtuse.
†. Deut 9:23-24 . . And when Yhvh sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, He said; Go up and take possession of the land I have given you. But you rebelled against the command of Yhvh your God. You did not trust Him or obey Him. You have been rebellious against Yhvh ever since I have known you.
†. Jer 3:25 . . we have sinned against Yhvh our God, we and our ancestors; since our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of Yhvh our God.
†. Dan 9:8-14 . . Open shame belongs to us, O Lord: to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against You . . we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice Yhvh our God, to walk in His Law which He set before us through His servants the prophets.
. . Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.
†. Zech 7:11-12 . .They refused to pay attention; stubbornly they pulled away the shoulder and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to The Law or to the words that Yhvh Almighty had sent by His spirit through the earlier prophets.
BTW: the curse about which Daniel spoke is located in Deut 28:15-68. It's in that passage that you will find the root and reason for the Holocaust.
Do all Christians have an ear to hear? Nope. Just the ones with a special anointing, and though I already commented in msg 181, item #487, this is so important that it bears repeating.
†. 1John 2:26-27 . . These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
Christians need human Bible teachers (Eph 4:11-15). But human teachers cannot train your intuition to recognize the truth when it sees it; viz: human teachers cannot give you a feel for the truth. Nor can human teachers soften your resolve to reject the truth once your intuition recognizes it.
So then, the only infallible path to truth is that anointing John wrote of. Sans that anointing, the human mind and will are at the mercy of treacherous winds even though somebody might be in possession of an independent, non-proprietary source of truth. For minds and wills void of God's Spirit, the Bible is of little more spiritual value than one of Giada di Laurentiis' cook books— for those minds and wills; The Spirit's voice is just as mute as if He spoke nothing at all.
C.L.I.F.F.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 8th November 2009 at 02:22 PM.
. 500) Rev 13:9 . . If any man have an ear, let him hear.
NOTE: the hearing ear in this instance isn't related to the churches about which The Lord spoke in Rev 2:1-3:22. It's related to predictions recorded in the 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th chapters of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.
The interpretation of those predictions, and their application, is reserved for the time of their fulfillment. In other words, the interpretations, and their application, are on a need-to-know basis only. Since there is no need to understand and/or apply those predictions for now, then for now their particulars remain secret.
The rapture spoken of in 1Thss 4:13-18 occurs prior to the awful events of the book of Revelation (1Thss 1:10, 1Thss 5:9). When it does, a great number of rank and file pew warmers, along with pastors and their staffs all over the world, will be left behind. The reason is because people like that only play at church, sort of filling out their social résumés, but never really Jesus' sheep.
A good number of those left behind will be in the category of anti-milleniarians; viz: Christians who do not believe in a pre-Tribulation rapture. When the rapture does occur, guess what? Yes, the light will come on and those people will realize what a bunch of dunces they were for not listening to the pulpit pounders. Anyway, some of those "Christians" will be PhD's with doctorates from seminaries and subsequently indoctrinated with a well-rounded, practical knowledge of the Bible; including the book of Daniel. They are the ones to whom The Lord says: If any man have an ear, let him hear. Yes, they will hear alright; finally. Anyway, they will become, through no merit of their own, the light of the world and assist it to correlate the book of Daniel with the rather remarkable political machinations that will be taking place in world events as per the book of Revelation.
†. Dan 12:4 . . But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Yes, knowledge shall be increased alright, but not the knowledges of science and industry; no— prophetical knowledge; and those many running to and fro will be the PhD Christians who miss the rapture. As a result, huge numbers of people will be saved during the Tribulation.
†. Rev 7:9-17 . . After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
. .Then one of the elders answered, saying to me: Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him: Sir, you know.
. . So he said to me: These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
*I left out the 9th chapter of Daniel because its key event is the precise date of Messiah's first arrival. Since that's already taken place there's no need to "interpret" the chapter.
C.L.I.F.F.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 9th November 2009 at 12:42 PM.
. 501) Rev 14:6-7 . . And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the everlasting gospel to preach to the people who dwell on the earth— to every nation, tribe, language, and people. Fear God! he shouted. Give glory to Him! For the time has come when He will sit as judge. Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all the springs of water!
NOTE: I think most everybody tends to think of the gospel as depicted in the first four books of the New Testament. But according to that angel, the gospel is a lot older than that. It begins with the words: "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Gen 1:1-2)
So the gospel, in its most elementary form announces: 1) there is a supreme being, 2) there is a creator, 3) the cosmos is the product of intelligent design, and 4) human beings are accountable to God, and getting away with nothing.
Those elementary truths are as relevant in our day as they were in Adam's; and will still be relevant in that angel's day; viz: the gospel, as per that angel, is timeless.
502) Rev 22:16-17 . . I, Jesus, have sent my messenger to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say: Come! And let him who hears say: Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
NOTE: the water of life is the mysterious liquid Jesus spoke of in John's narrative.
†. John 3:5 . . Jesus answered: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Jesus revealed the nature of the mysterious water in the very next chapter— not to a rabbi, nor to a pope, nor to a seminary professor; but rather, to an insignificant promiscuous woman. It's not water for bathing, nor for baptizing, nor for irrigation. On the contrary, the water is for drinking, and it's not even natural water at all, but rather, a kind of supernatural water.
†. John 4:10 . . Jesus answered and said to her: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who asks of you "Give Me a drink" you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.
†. John 4:13-14 . .Whoever drinks of the water in this well will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him like artesian water gushing up into everlasting life.
People who look to natural water as the liquid of John 3:5, will perish as did the unfortunate Mr. Walter Donovan in the Indiana Jones movie: The Last Crusade. So then, since the "water" is eternal life, rather than natural H2O, how does one obtain it? Easy. Simply by believing the gospel.
Below are some Bible passages that relate belief to eternal life. Be sure to note the grammatical tense of the verb "have" because it will be in the present tense rather than future; indicating that believers are in possession of eternal life right now— no delay and no waiting period.
†. John 3:36 . .He who believes in the Son has eternal life
†. John 5:24 . . I assure you, those who heed my message, and believe in God who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from Death into Life.
†. John 6:47 . .Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
†. 1John 5:13 . .I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
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