Monthly Archives: October 2015

Who Is The True Israel?

Teaching, ,

Jesus, The Prophet Like Unto Moses

Acts 3:22: “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, ‘A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (23) And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.'” [KJV Referring to Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19.]

Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken….(17) And the Lord said unto me, ‘They have well spoken that which they have spoken. (18) I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. (19) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.'” KJV

Deuteronomy 18: 20-22: “But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. (21) And if thou say in thine heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?’ (22) When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” KJV

Jesus was that “Prophet like unto Moses.” All those that refused to hear Him were destroyed from among the people. They were no longer Israelites.

Jesus said: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (46) For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. (47) But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” John 5:45-47 KJV

Jesus, the True Vine, Israel

Jesus said: John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman….(6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Those who heard Jesus speak and refused to believe and abide in Him, were cast into the fires of the final destruction of the literal nation, Israel, the City, Jerusalem, and the people, the Jews, as foretold by Daniel 9:24-27 and Jesus in Matthew chapters 23-24. This was all fulfilled according to Jesus’ own words in the time from Jesus death in about 30 AD to 70 AD when Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the people left alive were dispersed.

Jesus Fulfilled the Promises: Acts 13:32-33.

In our times, it is often quoted that the Jews are now being gathered and returned to the land, but the promises of a literal return to the land were made to those who were taken captive to Babylon in circa 605 BC. That captivity was for 70 years and the return happened as promised at that time according to the Biblical account in Ezra and Nehemiah. To take these promises of return out of context is to pervert the truth. After that there were no more promises to a literal return to the land.

The eternal promises cannot be fulfilled in temporal flesh, but are being fulfilled in the Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord and eternal King and Savior. In Him all the promises are “Yea” and “Amen.” Jesus is the only Savior. To Him be glory in the Church, now and forever, Amen.

Law And Grace – Bonhoeffer

Teaching, , , ,

[From Dietrich Bonhoeffer – (The Psalms-) The Prayer Book of the Bible ‘Classification’]

“The Law”

“The three Psalms (1, 19, 119) that in a special way make the law of God the object of thanksgiving, praise, and petition, wish above all to make clear to us the blessing of the law. Under ‘law,’ then, is to be chiefly understood the entire redemptive act of God and direction for a new life in obedience. Joy in the law, in the commandments of God, fill us when God has given to our life the great transformation that comes through Jesus Christ. That God might sometimes hide God’s own command from me, (Ps. 119:19), that God might someday not let me recognise the divine will, is the deepest anxiety of the new life.

“Grace”

“It is grace to know God’s commands. They free us from self-made plans and conflicts. They make our steps certain and our way joyful. We are given God’s commands so that we may fulfill them, and ‘[God’s] commandments are not burdensome’ (I John 5:3) for those who have found all salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus himself was under the law and fulfilled it in total obedience to the Father. God’s will became his joy, his food. So in us he gives thanks for the grace of the law and grants us joy in its fulfillment.* Now we confess our love for the law. We affirm that we hold it dear, and we ask that we continue to be preserved blameless in it. We do not do this in our own power, but we pray it in the name of Jesus Christ, who is for us and in us.”

*In the Lord’s Prayer: “… Thy will be done….”

Gifts of the Spirit Their Use and Abuse

Teaching, , ,

Reply to comment on FB, October 12, 2015.

I agree with you, totally except that the gifts of the Spirit did not stop with the first generation of Christians. They are alive and well on planet earth now, today, although much maligned, misunderstood and abused. Since the Great Commission is not yet tottaly fulfilled, the Gospel of the Kingdom has not yet gone throughout the whole world to every tongue, tribe and nation, then we are still obligated to go, even as Christ commanded.

Anyone who professes the healing powers as if from himself  is operating just like the old witch doctors in the unenlightened areas of the world. Oral Roberts always declared and emphasized that it was God that did the healing. He often spoke of how God had warned him never to touch the gold or the glory. All those who operate in the gift of healing should and must emphasize that it is God Who does the healing: We are only instruments and vessels through which He works.

Yes, we can and must go to God directly through Jesus Christ. What a privilege! Yet, we also learn from the Scriptures that we are to pray for one another, James chapter 5:13-20 is good and also look in your Concordance under “pray” and you will see many more references to praying for one another.

Yet, there is the necessity that the gifts of the Spirit be operative, not only in our private, personal worship, but also in the Church. My Mother worshiped privately and rejoiced and spoke in tongues when she didn’t know anyone else was listening. I, myself, enjoy praying in the Spirit in tongues that I do not understand mentally, yet know that the Holy Spirit knows how to pray through me for needs that I am not even aware of.

I fully understand how people can object to speaking in tongues because it has been abused. Yet, the abuse does not nullify the promise: It is for us today. Jesus’ great commission to His Church was to “Go ye into all the world, and preach to gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover,” Mark 16:15-18.

Yes, there is also the gift of the ability to learn new languages, as I found out from working with the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Theirs is an amazing gift of tongues! They have and yet are translating the Scriptures for every tongue, tribe, nation and people! It is wonderful, marvelous, and miraculous!!

Yes. There has been much abuse of these miraculous gifts, as Paul deals with in his writings. Yet, there is definitely a spiritual gift of speaking in tongues, I Corinthians chapters 14-15. These are not always intelligible to everyone that hears them, even to the speakers themselves, yet they have their function in the Church. There are also testimonies of ministers who have found themselves in a situation where they do not have an interpreter and the LORD miraculously gives them the ability to speak a language unknown to them and see the powerful results in the people.

All glory be to God in the Highest and on earth, Peace, good will to men! May His Kingdom come and His will be done on this earth as it is in heaven, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

I Met A Saint in the Nursing Home

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

After six weeks in the hospital, it was a challenge to my hope when my loved one was dismissed to a nursing home under hospice care. Only those who have had to commit a loved one to a nursing home can fully understand my grief.

In order to spend as much time with him as possible and to try to alleviate any suffering he might be enduring, I went almost every morning to feed him breakfast. After breakfast the Home would have a devotional and worship service and I sat with him and held his hand during this service. I often left the home blinded with tears.

Sister Pat

But soon after he was committed to the home, a large black lady was seated at his table. That morning I started hearing a soft, sweet, melodious voice singing an old hymn. It just created a tangible peace in the atmosphere. She was singing. Although she was a little hard of hearing, we became fast friends. We would sing together, and with her, it was always a worship service and the tangible presence of the Lord was with us. Although my heart was sore with grief, this time was like a healing balm for my soul. We called her “Sister Pat.”

I soon learned that she did not just while away her time there in self-pity or complaining, but she always asked that her wheelchair be situated where she could look out through the big glass double doors and there she sat, singing, praying and worshipping, — and sleeping some too.

Her Life and Ministry

During those months she told me about her life and ministry. She had lived in Alabama and had a family. She said her regular place of worship was down by the river. She would preach wherever she could. She said that one time she was preaching and a swarm of bees entered the room through a knothole. They settled at the back of the room. Did she evacuate the room? No! She went back there and commanded those bees to leave just like they came. They immediately left through the same knothole that they came in through.

She told me about another time when she was preaching in her yard with a congregation of her neighbors. A neighborhood dog came and was barking and disturbing the service. She commanded it to shut up and it rolled over and died! Another time in her yard a goat came through and went into her house. She went in and commanded the goat to leave and it fell down dead. Another time she was preaching in her yard and a child came to the front of the congregation and was acting in such a way as to distract the attention of the people. She told them that whoever the child belonged to had better get it. The parents immediately got the child.

She had also had a big tent and held revivals where many were saved, healed and delivered. Then she went on the air on a radio station and ministered there for many, many years. She gave me the address of the station and the ministry she had served and she still sent them a small offering each month. I contacted them and found that her story was all true. She still wanted to get back to her big tent ministry. We started holding Sunday morning services there in the home and several of the residents attended. She told me that we might have to set up the big tent again.

A Precious Memory

When the time came that we had to move our loved one to another home, we passed her hall where she was sitting in her wheelchair. She waved and I waved back. I never saw her again, but the memory of her ministry to me in a time of my great need will never be forgotten. If I ever met a saint in my life, she was definitely one of them.

Life, Death and Resurrection

Christ Life, ,

The Beginning of Eternal Life

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. And God said, ‘Let there be light:’ and there was light.” – Genesis 1:1, 3 RSV

“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:” – Colossians 1:15 RSV. Jesus was firstborn as Light.

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.” – Colossians 1:17-18 RSV. Jesus was the firstborn of the dead in the resurrection.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life, (the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us–) ” – 1 John 1:1-2 RSV. Jesus was manifested in the flesh to Mankind in the birth in Bethlehem.

Jesus came to die on the cross that we might never die.

“And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.” – 1 John 2:25 RSV’

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:11-13 RSV’

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” – 1 John 5:20 RSV’

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:14-16 RSV.

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.” – John 3:36 RSV.

Jesus’ Words Are the  Spiritual Bread of Life:

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. … This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” … It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” – John 6:54, 58, 63 RSV.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.”” – John 8:51 RSV.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.” – John 10:27-28 RSV’

Jesus Is the Resurrection

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’” – John 11:25-26 RSV.

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.’” – John 17:1-3 RSV.

“I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” – Revelation 1:18 KJV.

The Origin of Human Life

The original law: “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Hebrew ruah, also translated “spirit”] of life; and man became a living soul.” – Genesis 2:7 KJV. This is the Law of the Spirit/Breath of Life. Adam operated under this Law until he sinned.

The Law of Sin and Death: Genesis 2:16-17: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17 KJV.

But Adam and Eve ate of that tree of death and so their Spirit died: “And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” – Genesis 3:6 KJV.

So death came upon all Mankind: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” – 1 Corinthians 15:22 KJV.

Christ came to restore Mankind to the Breath/Spirit of Life:

“For the law of the Spirit [Breath] of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:2 KJV.

“8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. … 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: … 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) … 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:8, 12, 17, 21 KJV.

Resurrected Life Requires Crucifixion of the Flesh

“20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20 KJV.

This crucifixion of the Flesh happens when we come to true repentance. John 6:44: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: And I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 12:32: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me.”

This drawing of God to Himself must be responded to by total, complete surrender and acceptance of God’s will and plan. It is not a time to bargain with God for your own ways. It is likened to a death, the death of your own fleshly desires, habits, and will. This sacrifice of ones self will bring about God’s acceptance in the New Birth.

In The New Birth We Are Resurrected A New Creation

“3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. … 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. Romans 6:3, 4, 6, 7.

 This Is The First Resurrection

Romans 6:8, 9, 11-13, 23 KJV: “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. … 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God. … 23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Colossians 3:1-2, 6, 8-10 KJV: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. … For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: … But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”

The First Resurrection

Revelation 20:6 KJV: “Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years, [that is, forever].”

The first death comes when we totally and unconditionally surrender ourselves to God’s will and purpose. The “second death” is when the Spirit leaves the body. For the Christian, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8. This “second death” has no power over the Christian, for he has already been resurrected in the New Birth.

Revelation 1:6 KJV: “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”