Hi AV, Dave, ScottsMen, Paul and All:
While my posts are usually on topic and filled with supported statements, this one is the exception. I have now received a sufficient number of private messages, so that some public explanation is needed. Some among the professing Dispensationalists here must be wondering why this Terral chap continues to come out in constant disagreement of many issues and topics. I now feel obligated to make a few statements about my past and bring you up to date on my current growth in Christ. Years ago (early eighties) I did study with a group who called themselves Dispensationalists. I went to Bible Study every Monday night for a period of about five years to a woman named Judy Bailey here in St. Petersburg, Florida. One or two nights every week I spent with Judys crippled mother in private lessons over the Pauline Epistles. When my feet left the path of truth and reason, then she picked me up and placed my feet back in the right direction. There is truly no substitute for the deep seated desire to know God through His Word, and the assistance of a knowledgeable tutor in Christ. They introduced me to Things That Differ from C. R. Stam. My bookshelf is now cluttered with many of his works: Acts Dispensationally Considered (Four book set), Romans, Ephesians, Pastorial Epistles, etc. I have many of Clarence Larkins books also: Dispensational Truth, Rightly Dividing the Word, etc.. However, Stam saw still in part, and Larkin saw in part also. I lived as a recluse for many years and devoted myself to knowing the truth of Gods Living Word.
Years when by and I revisited my old group here in St. Pete. While I had used these teachers and writers as tutors in Christ, I never lost sight of the fact that Paul is our father in Christ through the gospel. 1Cor. 4:15. Every single statement all of my tutors spoke was to be sifted through the Holy Scriptures themselves. Walking toward the truth and light of Gods Word is like eating fish, as you eat the meat and throw away the bones. At intervals in my life, everything was shaken severely, so that which remained could be revealed as His Truth. I spent time overseas writing letters of instruction to the members of the Body of Christ. During the time I spent writing my work, light would be shined on various topics, and I continued to grow in Christ, and He in me. On one specific occasion I was in the middle of writing one of my letters, and I ran across the words of 1John 5:6-8. It was as if my train had run right into the side of a mountain, and my hand laid down the pen. I prayed to God through Christ to know how this truth applied to my work, and refused to write another word until this was known. Days went by and the eyes of my growing spirit could not make out what was there in the distance. More days went by and still there was something ahead, but still nothing came into clear focus. Then, in constant prayer and dedication to understanding this single aspect of Scripture, God presented me with the truth concerning the Mystery that would change my life forever. At that instant I returned to my work and picked up the pen and completed the sentence I had started the week before. That experience took place over a decade ago, and my growth in Christ from that day began to accelerate to a rapid pace. There are many things that I wish to share with all of you that simply cannot be written in this forum. My writing here has been restricted thus far, and many here already believe me to be insane or possessed by something. How much more if I wrote on everything God has given me to see?
After this period of growth in Gods Word, I returned to America and devoted myself to debating the truth of Gods Word on the internet. I would spend up to thirty hours straight providing supported arguments, according to the light given me, on Andrew Tongs Biblical Contradictions Forum out of UCLA. Then, the day came when he decided to pull the plug on the whole site, and thousands and thousands of my posts were lost. Then, my studies hit a rather large bump in the road, over the truth revealed in 2Thes. 2:7-12. The fact that our God was using Satan and the deluding influence to blind the eyes of men here on earth was simply too much for me to bear. How is it that He calls us from our heavenly position in Christ in the heavenly (Eph. 2:6) to bear witness of the gospel of His Sons blood, then blinds others from seeing it? The realization grew inside me that He who opposed me was God. Who among men has the power to remove the deluding influence placed within a man by Almighty God Himself? Everything within my being was shaken and the longest period of testing I ever endured was now in full force with persecutions and being spitefully used and disowned by family, etc.. As my pen was lifted from the page there in my flat on Lacock Street W13 in West London, my writings on the truth of Scripture ceased entirely for years. A roadblock had been placed in my way, and there was no way around it. Once again I was placed into the position of requiring God to show me something that remained masked in the foggy domain of the spiritual realm.
There was absolutely no way that this soldier in Christ was ever going to pen another word for a God who used Satan as his tool to blind others from seeing the light of our gospel. Is God our example on how to use trickery and deception in order to fool men, so that He can sit upon His throne and pass judgment? Are we being given admission into a realm where scoundrels like the devil are our tools? Do our hands remain clean when men and women are given over to the realm of darkness and deception; only to be thrown into the lake of fire for failure to believe a gospel that was hidden from their sight? The righteousness of God in me could in no way reconcile the truth regarding my own eternal security in Christ (Col. 3:1-4), and the eternal damnation of those who stood just beyond seeing the light of the gospel. I felt as a participant in Gods Plan of deception, and I found myself at odds with our Creator. This was the explanation of why folks had so much difficulty in seeing what God had shown me through years of dedicated study; prayer on hands in knees in search of the truth. Little did I know that God was in control every step of the way. He was again shaking everything within my being so that only His Truth would remain.
He led me to the truth that there are two bodies being fashioned through this Mystery time of the Gentiles; the body of Christ and the body of the antichrist. Those who have accepted false gospel messages have called God a liar. Therefore, He sends upon them the deluding influence (2Thes. 2:11) in the same way that we have Christ in you. Col. 1:27. I learned that for every one of Pauls lessons about the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4), that there is an opposing precept of doctrine that applies to the mystery of iniquity (2Thes. 2:7). Our Father in heaven had opened my eyes to seeing these two opposing spiritual bodies that are currently being fashioned during this current time of the Gentiles. Those who have our gospel wrong believe themselves to be saved, but they are actually serving the wrong master. Therefore if you are counted among those who disagree with many of my positions, but cannot refute those things using Scripture, then you are a prime candidate for being under the spell of the deluding influence. It is not my intention to prove anyone wrong in these discussions, but to shed light upon the truth of what is written in Scripture. The only way I gained my current position in the body of Christ is by conceding weaker positions, when my debating opponents proved me wrong using Scripture. I had to place myself into the position of repentance while prayerfully seeking light from our Father in heaven concerning His Word. The same goes for you and everyone else here on earth; no exceptions.
Gods Hidden Wisdom remains a covered secret to everyone who fails to be taught according to His Divine Plan. Do you feel that men carry knowledge and wisdom of Him to be passed back and forth like mere human possessions? Our Creator is much more clever and capable than that. The greatest among us down to the very least have this trait in common: All of us carry nothing in our bag except seeds. 1Cor. 3:6. Gods truth is learned in three phases. First we plant the seeds that must be accepted by faith. Seeds and faith go hand in hand and are planted in the very central core of your being/soul. Only after a period has passed, and the seeds are watered and nurtured do the shoots of knowledge appear. Can a mere shoot bear the weight of fruit? No. Again, this is Gods way of protecting His Hidden Wisdom. God causes the growth, and in time these little shoots become a magnificent tree. Then, when the season is right, the fruit begins to appear as buds. Slowly, very slowly the fruit begins to mature, until the whole tree is heavy laden with the harvest. However, nobody here on earth has the ability to simply hand anyone the fruit of wisdom. We can only partake of it ourselves, because this tree is within our being. And, the greatest part is that inside the fruit is what? Thats right, more seeds; thus, a second generation of understanding that is deeper than the first. Therefore, time is the factor that God uses to gradually reveal Himself and the truth of His Word to those He has chosen to reveal Himself.
It is in this light that it should be understood that I am not writing you; but He is revealing Himself through this earthen vessel, and all He is carrying is seeds. Larkin, Stam, Vine and all of your Dispensationalist writers are tutors in Christ. Paul is your father in Christ through the gospel. However, He who is in you is the One who will lead you into the knowledge and wisdom of all things. His Written Word is the sifter through which every single word from all these tutors (including mine) must be sifted. Your failure to acknowledge and carry out the working of this truth will allow for the sowing of bad seed within your being. Bad seed yields rotten fruit that is of no use to anyone. Then your life is spent either handing out bad seed, or laying the ax at the base of all those bad trees.
And lastly, if anyone here sees one thing in my posts that seems written in error or unsupported, or one verse appears used out of context, then please bring that to everyones attention by using supported statements and Gods Word. That is how we all grow to see Him in a brighter light.
God bless,
Terral
