Today at 5:06 AM Beware of the false teaching in the church today concerning generational curses. Satan has implemented this false doctrine to detract the individual from the truth that personal sin is our problem and not a generational curse. Satan’s newest campaign against the word of God is to remove the notion of sin entirely. He is even promoting a sinless gospel. “Just come to Christ because He does good things and is wise”. But we are to come to Christ in repentance of sin, in order to receive the gift of salvation. Ezekiel 18:1-20 is critical. God says that there is a lying teaching that says a father eats sour grapes and his son’s teeth are set on edge. He says it is a lie. He goes into great detail to say, “the soul that sins, it shall die.” In other words, each man is responsible for HIS sin, not his father’s. God even reiterates it by explaining that a son who sees his father committing sin, sees that it is bad, determines to not do what his father did, he shall live, meaning not be guilty and therefore not suffer the consequences of his father’s sin. We can suffer for someone else’s sin (if my brother is in prison for his sin, I suffer because I love him, etc.) in a way, but we do not suffer the consequences of something we did not do. Proponents of this teaching will cite the Lord warning that He will visit punishment to the fourth generation. But the difference is that this was a judgment and not a curse. We cannot pray God’s determined judgment away. This generational curse teaching says that there can be a sin of generations gone by that can wreak havoc in a life connected to that family. They say in order to remove the trouble, you have to break the curse. This is found nowhere in the Bible and is nothing more than WITCHCRAFT and SUPERSTITION. We can teach our children to do as we do and they learn by example, but this is not a curse. We can suffer as children from a sinful home but Jesus comes in and changes everything if we let Him. Salvation brings newness, not the imagined breaking of some curse. God goes to great lengths to explain that each man is responsible for his own sin. A man reaps what HE sows, not what his father sowed.
Good morning! I just wanted to share something lovely I found last night while reading King Saul’s story. One of my favorite verses is in the Psalms. David expresses that he is following hard after God. There is a beautiful song “To know and follow hard after You”….one of my favorites. Well, this thought is self explanatory and very descriptive. It pictures a heart sold-out completely to God, in every thought and action and inclination of heart. I love how the Holy Spirit uses concepts like this one. It is even more fascinating when He uses them consistently . It is very fun, and revealing of His heart, to find a concept repeated elsewhere in the word. It intensifies the meaning and our understanding of the heart of what is being said. There is always some similitude, or picture, idiom, that is being expressed when He does this. Look at this one: I only know of one other place in the word where this thought, this sentence, this same arrangement of words is used. Interestingly, it is in a battle scene in 1 Samuel 14:22. The picture is of men of Israel (Hebrews who were at one time on the side of the Philistines) allying themselves with King Saul because they loved Jonathan, his son…a mighty warrior, and man of God. It says that they joined Jonathan and “followed hard” after the Philistines. Now picture what this means: It means they were 1-relentless, 2-the Philistines couldn’t shake them. 3- they were on the Philistines heals, 4- they were grabbing hold of them by violence, 5- not taking defeat as an option, 6- If the Philistines were to look behind them what would they have seen? Capture, overcoming, seizing. 7- The end is a pursuer, who will not settle for anything but seizure of that which is pursued. We see this in a parable too. There is a king. A woman has a request. She is so doggedly determined that she won’t leave the king alone but pesters him till he is so weary of her she gets what she went in for. This concept has nothing to do with the getting of anything but Christ Himself. I love how God uses exaggerated parables to really communicate a point. Of course He wants us to “pester” Him. It is not possible to “pester” God. He desires it. It is seen also when the woman with an issue of bleeding for 12 years grabs hold of His garment and there is an appearance of “pestering” Christ. He is showing many things here with this woman. One is that she had the right idea out of everyone there. It was a set up. He wanted it to happen exactly as it did to show the others that this is how He is “got” so to speak. Just grab hold and don’t let go!!! What did He say when she did? Tim, Garrett and I were discussing this a few days ago. I felt power go from Me. Did we get that? I felt power go from Me. Then all He could say was that He marveled at her faith. She didn’t even want to be seen or recognized. She just wanted His life. What a perfect picture of the violent grabbing hold of God. This is how to get hold of Christ, after He has got hold of you. Seize Him. Follow hard after Him and do not give up. “With all thy getting” get Him…(Wisdom…which is Christ). Nothing can beat the King James in so many instances. The following hard is another way to say, get with all thy getting. This is the overcoming life in Christ. Get Him with all thy getting. We see this concept first when the Passover was instituted. The Israelites were to kill the Lamb and eat it. But listen to this: They were to eat all of it…leaving nothing till morning! Jesus said if you do not eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no part in Me! This is not just referring to communion. This is a visceral picture of consuming Christ for life, the overcoming life in Him. It is following hard after Jesus. It is grabbing hold of His heals and refusing to let go. Again…eat His flesh and drink His blood! Jesus is to be consumed. Remember that the Kingdom of God permits violence…and violent men take it by force. The Christian walk is nowhere seen as a passive one. It is aggressively holy. It is aggressively hard. It is aggressively passionate. Aggressively determined. Aggressively believing God. Aggressively seeking out His Mind, His heart, His ways. It is therefore, aggressively satisfying!!! And nothing else but this is. Here is where the believer is transformed into the overcomer…in the relentless getting and consuming of Christ! God by You!Pass it on!Love,C
Forgiveness?
It seems that there are conflicting sentiments in the body of believers about the all-important and life-giving truth of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the very heart of God. If that is true then it ought to be the very heart of the believer too. We see this all through out the word.Forgiveness is freeing and nurturing and spiritual food for the forgiver even more than for the one who receives so much by being forgiven. And we all need forgiveness, right?
It is the unique quality of followers of Christ. The parable of the wicked servant is a picture of who we do not want to be. The servant was forgiven tremendous debt by his master. He was over joyed but when it came time for him to pass on that forgiveness to his debtors, he would not. This is what made him the most despicable of servants. He was a taker and not a giver…a hypocrite.
But is there occasion where a believer is not to forgive? Is there something that must happen first in order for the one who needs forgiveness to be forgiven? Yes!
” Take heed to yourselves. If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3) “And if he trespasses against you 7 times a day, and 7 times a day turns again to you and says I repent, you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:4).
So there is a qualification for forgiving others. They must repent. Now is there anything wrong with forgiving even if they do not repent? Of course not! Forgiveness brings joy and peace and is the heart of God. But is there occasion to retain one’s sin against him? Yes. But the aim is so the person WILL repent. It is not to exact vengeance. God says vengeance is His and not ours. He repays.
So Jesus sent His disciples out and breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit. Then look ” Whose soever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins you retain they are retained” (John 20:23).
Now this is an example of the obligation of believers to act as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. The reason for retaining ones sins against them (and we have the authority to do it if we are disciples of Christ…not just believers but disciples (mature and fruit bearing believers). Why? It is in order to help other believers caught up in sinful ways to grow and change; to repent and become more like Christ. It is exactly what a good parent would do for the child he loves who has been disobedient and refuses to admit it and correct it. The parent who provides no consequences for sin and bad behavior will encourage the child in the bad behavior. This is exactly what we see here. What happens to the child whose parent never corrected rightly? The world will correct him and then it is a very painful thing to watch. The world is not so loving as the parent. Best for correction to be done in-house.
Now elsewhere in the Bible it simply says that if we do not forgive then we will not be forgiven. But we have to put that in context with the whole word on the subject. When we do we see that this obviously is referring to one with a spirit of unforgiveness and that even when the offender is sorry and repents, they still won’t forgive. And forgiving someone does not necessarily mean buddy buddy friendship now. It just means that we have remitted the sin against them in our hearts and really do hope and long for their mending.
Now the reason this authority is given to the mature, or spiritual believer only (you can do your research on that and will see this conclusion in the word) is because the immature believer will assert his own interests and not God’s. He will probably act vengefully and this has NOT been given to man. Only God can do that in all holiness.
But to retain an offender’s sin against them (if we are spiritual in Christ…the immature do not have that ability, God won’t hear it) is a very beneficial thing for the offender. We can actually see the hand of God pressing down upon the offender with Fatherly discipline and it is a result of the prayers and petitions of the disciples who would die for the sheep if it were necessary…but at the moment must retain their sin against them for their own good.
May we all get to the point where forgiveness is something so welled up inside of us that it is a burden when we know that the forgiveness we long to give is not right at the moment . May we be so forgiving that the abundance of it in our hearts has to be restrained in some rare and unusual circumstances…all for the lifting up and purifying of the church, the body of Christ.
Food for thoughtLove in Him,C
Hey again everyone. I have a brief thought I’d like to share about apparent discrepancies found especially in the Gospels. There are so many but I thought I’d expound upon one in particular and in doing that show a pattern for thought concerning all the others. They are all so explainable. If we have read much in the Word we know that there are differences in the account of the thieves on the cross in the Gospels. Luke is the only Gospel account that shows us the one thief who came to Christ while he was on a cross beside Him. The other accounts leave that out. They just say, they reviled him. End of story. But this is no contradiction. You may have heard what seemed to be far-flung attempts at reconciling these things and your spirit said, uh uh. But the answer is so simple. Matthew and Mark give accounts of what they knew. This means that at first, both thieves expressed disdain for Christ and doubted Him, reviling Him. This is what they recorded and they are correct in the recording of it. So we know at the beginning both reviled Him. We can be correct in an account of something yet incomplete. This is the case here. Luke comes along and has a peculiar role. Read the entry to Luke and you will see how very delicate he is in laying out the account in perfect order and completeness. Luke is the only gentile writer among the 4 Gospel accounts. He and Ruth are the only gentile writers of the entire Bible and this is by design. The 4 Gospels are represented through out the entire Bible in hidden ways. If we look at the tribes of Israel in the dessert setting up camp in the exact order they were instructed to do, at an aerial view we would see the shape of the cross. At the head of one camp there is a symbol that delineates that camp and it is a Lion (Matthew who reveals Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah). At another point, the symbol given is an ox (Mark, who reveals Christ as the Suffering Servant). The third is an eagle (John strictly reveals the majesty of Christ, Christ as Yahweh, Jehovah God). And the forth is a man (Luke reveals Jesus as fully God yet fully man, the humanity of Christ, that He came to save all men and not just Israel…this may be why He had a gentile write it!!!). Now this same pattern is seen to some extent in Daniel’s vision, Ezekiel’s vision and John’s. Ezekiel very beautifully says that the creatures with the 4 faces are not creatures at all (some have missed this and think these are cherubim, but they are not). He clearly says that the weird “creatures” he sees are simply the “APPEARANCE of the LIKENESS of the GLORY of God…in case anyone is tempted to misunderstand what is seen. God is Spirit so Ezekiel is miraculously given a visual representation of the likeness of the glory of God! And it is a foreshadowing of the 4 Gospels or the 4 roles of Christ. The image moves in all directions in an instant (God’s omnipresence). It has eyes all around (His all knowing) etc. All this is to show how perfect the Gospels are even in their seeming imperfections! Here is an example of how the Holy Spirit has written the Word; for we are told that men under His guidance have written it. Just think of how we are told in the gospels that Jesus baptized. This is to convey a thought. But then shortly after that the statement is clarified. It says, well actually it was His disciples who did the baptizing but still it was the Lord’s doing. We can choke on the letter of the Word if we hang on the dissection of it rather than breathing in the truth of it and tasting the Word as truth and for truth. Another example is this: We are told that the Lord said He was so fed up with Israel that He was going to wipe her out for good. Then in the next few sentences it is clarified for us and it says, but He won’t totally destroy her, for there is a remnant. God is passionate and speaks just as we do, or we speak just as He does, for we were made in His image. Also, the Bible interprets itself. So where we see an apparent contradiction, if we know well the rest of the scriptures, all is interpreted flawlessly for us. The Word is perfect. I’ll leave you with a really cool thought about the “creatures” in Ezek. with the 4 faces that represent the 4 Gospels. Notice that they move up and down like an elevator moves. Ezekiel is known for his attempts to describe things in his vision that will be in the last days that in his time were not invented (possible nuclear weapons, etc.). Why then wouldn’t he be describing an elevator of sorts? In Jacobs day, he saw a ladder extending into the Heavens. Jesus tells us that Jacobs vision was of Himself. He said, I was the ladder in Jacobs dream. So warp forwards thousands of years and now the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God has all the attributes of a modern ladder…an elevator!!!! Just a crazy thought. God is so much fun and so hilarious! God bless, Godspeed and God’s love!
Hey again everyone. I have a brief thought I’d like to share about apparent discrepancies found especially in the Gospels. There are so many but I thought I’d expound upon one in particular and in doing that show a pattern for thought concerning all the others. They are all so explainable. If we have read much in the Word we know that there are differences in the account of the thieves on the cross in the Gospels. Luke is the only Gospel account that shows us the one thief who came to Christ while he was on a cross beside Him. The other accounts leave that out. They just say, they reviled him. End of story. But this is no contradiction. You may have heard what seemed to be far-flung attempts at reconciling these things and your spirit said, uh uh. But the answer is so simple. Matthew and Mark give accounts of what they knew. This means that at first, both thieves expressed disdain for Christ and doubted Him, reviling Him. This is what they recorded and they are correct in the recording of it. So we know at the beginning both reviled Him. We can be correct in an account of something yet incomplete. This is the case here. Luke comes along and has a peculiar role. Read the entry to Luke and you will see how very delicate he is in laying out the account in perfect order and completeness. Luke is the only gentile writer among the 4 Gospel accounts. He and Ruth are the only gentile writers of the entire Bible and this is by design. The 4 Gospels are represented through out the entire Bible in hidden ways. If we look at the tribes of Israel in the dessert setting up camp in the exact order they were instructed to do, at an aerial view we would see the shape of the cross. At the head of one camp there is a symbol that delineates that camp and it is a Lion (Matthew who reveals Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah). At another point, the symbol given is an ox (Mark, who reveals Christ as the Suffering Servant). The third is an eagle (John strictly reveals the majesty of Christ, Christ as Yahweh, Jehovah God). And the forth is a man (Luke reveals Jesus as fully God yet fully man, the humanity of Christ, that He came to save all men and not just Israel…this may be why He had a gentile write it!!!). Now this same pattern is seen to some extent in Daniel’s vision, Ezekiel’s vision and John’s. Ezekiel very beautifully says that the creatures with the 4 faces are not creatures at all (some have missed this and think these are cherubim, but they are not). He clearly says that the weird “creatures” he sees are simply the “APPEARANCE of the LIKENESS of the GLORY of God…in case anyone is tempted to misunderstand what is seen. God is Spirit so Ezekiel is miraculously given a visual representation of the likeness of the glory of God! And it is a foreshadowing of the 4 Gospels or the 4 roles of Christ. The image moves in all directions in an instant (God’s omnipresence). It has eyes all around (His all knowing) etc. All this is to show how perfect the Gospels are even in their seeming imperfections! Here is an example of how the Holy Spirit has written the Word; for we are told that men under His guidance have written it. Just think of how we are told in the gospels that Jesus baptized. This is to convey a thought. But then shortly after that the statement is clarified. It says, well actually it was His disciples who did the baptizing but still it was the Lord’s doing. We can choke on the letter of the Word if we hang on the dissection of it rather than breathing in the truth of it and tasting the Word as truth and for truth. Another example is this: We are told that the Lord said He was so fed up with Israel that He was going to wipe her out for good. Then in the next few sentences it is clarified for us and it says, but He won’t totally destroy her, for there is a remnant. God is passionate and speaks just as we do, or we speak just as He does, for we were made in His image. Also, the Bible interprets itself. So where we see an apparent contradiction, if we know well the rest of the scriptures, all is interpreted flawlessly for us. The Word is perfect. I’ll leave you with a really cool thought about the “creatures” in Ezek. with the 4 faces that represent the 4 Gospels. Notice that they move up and down like an elevator moves. Ezekiel is known for his attempts to describe things in his vision that will be in the last days that in his time were not invented (possible nuclear weapons, etc.). Why then wouldn’t he be describing an elevator of sorts? In Jacobs day, he saw a ladder extending into the Heavens. Jesus tells us that Jacobs vision was of Himself. He said, I was the ladder in Jacobs dream. So warp forwards thousands of years and now the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God has all the attributes of a modern ladder…an elevator!!!! Just a crazy thought. God is so much fun and so hilarious! God bless, Godspeed and God’s love!
Hey family and friends in the Lord. I have a sweet thought to ponder today and to share if I may. This scripture has been explained in so many ways by the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, that is, all of our brethren who are still here, and those who have gone ahead of us who have left an impression upon our hearts concerning the Word, the Logos. “He who blasphemes the Son of God it will be forgiven him. But he who blasphemes the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.” Now, I am certain that we all know what this means because it is very obvious, plus, the Holy Spirit bears witness with ours, if we are His, as to the meaning of it. It means that the one and only thing that will not be forgiven is the rejection of the indwelling presence of God, the Holy Spirit. This is refusing to receive the gift of forgiveness of sin by the slain Lamb of God, Jesus. However, there is more to articulate here if we ponder, and today as I was reading Mark 15 it hit me like a ton of bricks and the sweetness of it is overwhelming. Have you ever asked what God meant, that Jesus can be blasphemed but not the Holy Spirit? It is a good and high question. Again, even though our indwelt spirits know this, it may not be easily articulated as high spiritual truth is often too much for mere words. For instance, we know like we know that this has nothing to do with ugly, angry, faithless outbursts against God, whether we say Jesus or the Holy Spirit. This has nothing to do with what is meant here. Well here are some clumsy, and according to Garrett, verbose, words to perhaps savor concerning the idea: Of course all blaspheming the Son of God will be forgiven us, of course!!! Why? Because He is God in the flesh, the second Person of the Trinity, who in His very roll as the Slain Lamb, the sacrificial Lamb of God, came in order to be blasphemed, spit upon, beaten, bruised, hated, despised of men, regarded as nothing, CRUCIFIED. It’s why He came! He is God, condescending Himself to receive rejection by the very object of all His affection (us), so that we might live. Man has no greater love than this, that He would lay down His life for His friends. Bless Him! One coming to Christ today but slowly or hardly blasphemes Him and it is not held against him. He is beaten by us before we believe yet it is not placed to our account. He came to be the whipping post for all our sin and selfishness and death. The blows to His head, the tearing out of His beard in primal hatred that is seated so deeply in the human heart, He came to receive upon Himself, so He could give His blood to us; forgiveness, life. Now blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not forgivable because the Holy Spirit did not come to be crucified, hated, rejected, despised of men…blasphemed. Ponder that…selah. He came to indwell the heart who has received Christ, which is forgiveness of sin. So until sin is forgiven, the Holy Spirit cannot come to a heart. 1 Corinthians tells us plainly, though we know it spiritually, that Christ is the Spirit of God, so they are one in the same, yet in different rolls as redemption is accomplished. The Holy Spirit is the glorified Christ…He cannot be blasphemed. But the Holy Spirit is the Person of the Godhead, Christ Himself, the Father, Yahweh, Jehovah God, who has been sent now that the Son has ascended, returned to His throne, so that He can tabernacle in the hearts of those who will receive Christ. Before God crucified Himself to pay for our sin, the human heart was unfit for the Holy Spirit. He dwelt among His people, even within them in a certain sense that takes into account that the Lamb was slain before time began. But to tabernacle in the human heart, which was His plan even before creation, He had to clean the heart of man, which God has shown us is desperately wicked and without cure if we do not receive forgiveness of sin by faith in Christ. This is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost then, to reject His indwelling. Hebrews explains to us how once a man has been enlightened to the truth but then chooses that he does not want this gift, there is no hope for this man. Now where there is life there is hope so this is out of our territory to know. But God sees the heart. This does not mean a man can be saved and then lose his salvation. That is impossible. Hebrews explains that as well when Paul says, “But I speak better of you brethren…” So while we may see someone who rejects Christ and delays rsvp-ing His invitation to “Come to Me”, this is not the blaspheming of the Holy Ghost. Someone who has blasphemed the Holy Ghost has permanently and eternally rejected salvation by faith through grace. How wonderful is God! Love y’all and pass it on if you find it worthy!
Do we as believers really understand the beauty of redemption? If we did, would we be more patient and expectant concerning the lost? I think so.
When we look at the fact that ALL mankind needs redeeming, we can be put off. We can feel even disgusted by the fact that God has to redeem so many lost people, sinners…yuck. Ah, but I have seen something else. I think if the church would rightly handle this truth, that all mankind is lost until they are born again, that we would have most softness for the lost world. God does. We should as well.
A newborn baby though innocent of any practical sin is doomed at birth. He was born with a sin nature. He is innocent because he is unable to choose sin yet but filled with the fallen sin nature nonetheless, and therefore destined for Hell.
One of the saddest things I’ve seen in the church, especially the denominational churches where truth has really been lost, is that parents are so eager to save their baby that they baptize them and tell themselves that they are saved or confirm them and force them under duress to claim they are saved.
Have you ever thought of King David and his sin with Bathsheba? He is a great example of what I want to convey. But this is what I want to convey first, then we will look at his sin for a perfect illustration.
What a glorious thing to be born a sinner. Yes, that’s right. We will all see one day. How can I be redeemed if I need no redemption? How can I be died for, and covered in His precious blood, and indwelt with His Holy Spirit, if I were not in need of redemption? How dark in my eyes. How desperately sad. What would I have been then? An angel? Oh please no! Bless God Almighty that I was born lost and needed to be found!!! How else would He have found me if He never had to run after me? How else would I know the ominous beauty of His death, and the all-consuming depth of His love toward me, if my heart were not black to begin with and worse, I had no knowledge of it?
How would I be able to comprehend His jealousy for me if I had not been sought by Him!!!! There would have been none…no comprehension of it! Oh, my sin before I knew Him was great but one day He has promised to put it out of my mind. And in His heart and mind it is already done; so much so, that I believe, that in THAT day, He will have made it so that it never occurred. He can turn the clock back you know!
I am not by any means saying that sin is good. It required the crucifixion of the Chosen One. But I am saying that there is a mystery here. It involves free will. God’s Love is so great that it requires a free willed creation to choose it. That same free willed creation will always and eventually choose revolt. But once that same one chooses repentance and salvation, the picture is clear.
Let a man see his sin so he can delight in salvation. That’s what God did with David. Look: David was raised in a godly home. David had a heart receptive to God. This is why he was chosen to be king. But David never had an opportunity to see his depraved heart, so salvation was only so sweet to him, maybe.
God, in His mercy, allowed David to fall. He fell big. But all you have to do is read the Psalms where he laments in agony over his sin and praises God to the utmost for his salvation. We can see that his heart truly did pant after God. David, like us, had to see how depraved his heart really was, so God allowed it. It is because he saw that he loved God so much. Its the same with us.
Ah, but He grants repentance to whom He will! And what a beautiful thing repentance is! How horrible that the apostate church has robbed poor lost souls of the glorious gift of repentance. The false church lies and says repentance is not necessary unto salvation. How horrible. There is an exquisite euphoria to true repentance. Satan is jealous of it. God has not granted it to him or to those who deny the doctrine of repentance. They have no idea what they are missing.
The thing of course they are missing is salvation but let’s look at what salvation is: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit… they cannot know this. Being saved from the second death, damnation…they are doomed. We cannot know the infusion of God within us, without it.
So when we see friends, family, strangers, lost in their sin, don’t despise them…not yet. God hates the evil doer, so despise is not too strong a word. We are to hate the evil and love the good, just like God does. But hold your judgment. Instead, pray, watch, preach, love, and did I say pray?
Let them see!!! Let them see!!! Had I not seen my lost heart I would have never entered rapturous repentance and then salvation. Don’t be guilty of robbing anyone of that.
God opens a heart to repent unto salvation if that heart is destined for it. That is, if He has seen in His all-knowing way that they will repent…as these are the ones whose eyes are opened. He closes the eyes of the ones who will never repent. He knows who is who. The word says He blinds the ones who are willingly blind and opens the eyes of the ones who are willingly open, and He sees it all in advance but still gives everyone equal opportunity to repent. God longs that none perish but that all would come to the saving knowledge of God in Christ Jesus our savior.
The apostate church today is just prettying up the old, dead man. “Come in and love yourself and be a good citizen and do good works”. “Whatever you do, don’t, don’t, don’t repent of sin unto salvation. If you do, then you will know the secret of God and we can’t have that”. Satan has deceived them.
But if we then have tasted that the Lord is good, lets let others taste as well.
Amen!
Acts 7 :38 tells us that the Israelites in the wilderness according to The Lord was the church! How mysterious is He!!! The birth of the church on Pentecost in Acts 2 is not the beginning of the church like we presume. This is an example of choking on the letter and missing the heart or the fragrance of Truth.
The church was in His heart in Genesis 1:1 and before that if we can receive it. She is a mystical body of both Jew and Gentile… The Bride. Now this is not saying that Israel and the church are the same, they are not. For an intermittent period of time for pattern purposes only, they are two flocks. They will be one in the end. But this only occurs after Christ’s second coming where Israel looks upon Him whom they have pierced and receives their Messiah at last.
The bad thing is that the day the church celebrates Pentecost is not even the right day! We know the day on the calendar yet ignore it and use a pagan schedule to calculate a false day.
The reason Pentecost is used as a day on the calendar to commemorate the birth of the church is because the feasts tell the gospel and the plan of God for creation. This is to show us where we are on His prophetic calendar (for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear).
Lets not separate the two flocks any more than The Lord does and we can better understand prophecy for these days we are in. Now Paul says that not all Israel is Israel so the Israelites who did not receive Messiah when they saw Him were not Israel. But they would have believed if they were really God’s people. It’s the same today.
So the next fulfillment to occur will be feast of trumpets. Remember that Israel is separate for a purpose only to project a pattern for His people, whosoever will believe…ultimately, the church.
During the thousand year reign that is soon coming, there will still be a bit of a separation but all under Christ and knowingly. There will be those who believed before He came of both Jew and Gentile (the Bride or church), the redeemed nation of Israel, from every tribe, who see Jesus and believe. It will be the redeemed nation of Israel that will repopulate the entire earth exactly as Noah did and became many nations and people. During the thousand year reign, the Bride, the church, will be in their glorified bodies and serve as Kings and Priests. Not lording it over nations but ruling and reigning with Him in righteousness.
After that, then there is the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and he New Earth where there will cease to be any difference. All those who believe will be one people of God, forever.
Just as there is a pattern used with Abraham, Sarah Isaac and Ishmael, God tells truth through pattern which is stronger than words!
How cool is this: Abraham is faith. Sarah is grace. Isaac is the son of promise or the new man (redeemed). Ishmael is the “wild ass of a man” who is the unruly old nature or old man. Salvation (Isaac) comes by grace (Sarah) through faith (Abraham).
Ishmael is the son of the bond woman (Hagar). A slave under the law, the old man and he is an unruly, wild ass of a man!!! Our old nature before grace through faith!
The entire word is full of these patterns and Israel and the church are just one of many. Ill show another even better one next time with Adam and Eve that The Lord showed me. It’s amazing!
Love y’all! Pass it on…
Love,
Cheryl
Sent from my iPhone
Correction on teaching of the falling of the Holy Spirit upon believers:
I did hear some incorrect theology concerning these that does prevail in the mainstream churches that is just a lack of study really. May I please mention it for your consideration? Pentecost happened once and will not happen again. The teaching that we can pray for the Spirit to fall on us again as He did at Pentecost is a real misunderstanding of what happened that day. Please hear me out. It is important to correct bad theology.
Jesus was crucified on Passover, the 14th of Nisan, as the Passover Lamb. Never will be done again. It is finished. Paid in full. He ascended to sit on the throne and now any afflictions that come to Christ come to our flesh as the body of Christ as we enter the battle of the Lord to reach the lost.
“I now therefore take up in my flesh, that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of the body that is the church…” Paul
So Jesus is not recrucified again and again either in the eucharist which is blasphemy, or as each person is saved, etc. He dies once for all the scriptures say. It will never be re done. The lost are saved by believing on the already accomplished work.
Jesus was in the grave for 3 days and nights (wasn’t crucified on Friday but on Thursday, as He said, 3 days AND 3 nights). He arose on the feast of firstfruits fulfilling that feast. He presented Himself as the firstfruits of the GREAT harvest which is to come, the resurrection of the dead at the trumpet blast.
He will never rise again on the the day of first fruits or any other day and present Himself to the Father as the slain Lamb, the firstfruits offering for the sins of the world. It doesn’t need re doing. It was done ONCE for all.
The feast of unleavened bread that went on for 7 days after the Passover Lamb was slain pictures the purifying work of the blood of Christ in our lives and the sanctification of the believers where all the leaven, sin, is taken out of the house, our spiritual house. This looks to the purifying of the heart after salvation.
Jesus could not be touched for 7 days after His resurrection because the first fruits offering cant be touched by any hands but the High Priest.
On the 8th day, Jesus appeared to the disciples and invited Thomas to touch Him. This pictures the 7 days of purifying and then the 8th day it is pure. Jesus needed no purifying but as the sin offering that He became, He is fulfilling that prophecy. In the same way He needed no baptism but fulfilled all righteousness and was a perfect pattern for us.
Again, He will never do this again. It is done. He will never walk around among us unable to be touched until the 7 days are accomplished, then allow someone to touch Him because it is complete. It is finished. He does walk among us but not in this event. No need.
50 days after the last feast is the feast of Pentecost. Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all who would believe. At this event, the church, the whole church for all time, received power from on high to walk uprightly and do God’s good pleasure. This will never happen again because it doesn’t need to happen again. The Spirit came and fell on all who were present at this, once in all time gathering, to picture the eternal and permanent giving of the Holy Spirit in an indwelling way to all who come to faith by repentance for the remission of sins, through Christ Jesus.
We see apostles going around after this event asking those who believed on Christ before but who were not present at Peters preaching that day, if they had received the Holy Spirit. They laid hands on them so that they would. This is a peculiar event that also needs no redoing. They were a small and unique group who had been there at the crucifixion, saw Jesus, believed and were baptised before Pentecost.
They received the indwelling power then by proxy, by the laying on of hands. Not needed today.
The scriptures say we receive the Spirit in full at salvation. The Spirit of God is not given by measure John 3:34, that is, not here a little, there a little. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is totally different than the indwelling. This also only happens once and can happen at any time the Spirit chooses. It can happen at salvation or at some time after depending on the unique circumstances of each believer. There are millions of scenarios. Every believer is continually filled with the Spirit by choice through thinking and acting according to His will. But this is already within him and is not through a prayer but through obedience of that particular believer. By obeying what we know we are filled. By disobeying what we know, the Spirit is quenched (1 Thess 5:19). So having no power means I have not accessed the power already there within me as a true believer. Paul speaks here of the unruly and disobedient believer as the one who will quench the Spirit unless he corrects his BEHAVIOR.
I can pray all I want for a believer but if he chooses to disobey God then he will silence the Spirit within Him. The Spirit never leaves but is silenced. I will never leave you nor forsake you.
We do not once see Pentecost happen again in the scriptures afterwords. We see the Spirit coming upon, again in a special way, a believer for a special task, in an empowering way, like Phillip, who ran faster than the horses of the eunich’s chariot. But we NEVER see the Holy Spirit falling upon a pleading group of believers who have not received His power yet. False doctrine, bad theology.
The full power of the Holy Spirit is given at salvation. The baptism of the spirit comes with obedience to His indwelling Spirit. This is an empowering of the Spirit that is already within if they have believed. We are told to baptize a believer now not just in the name of Christ alone but in the name (not nameS, notice, because they are 3 in one) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It’s complete.
The ones who were asked if they had received the Spirit who were already believers, had been baptized before the Spirit was given at Pentecost. There will never be a group like that again. Everyone who believes today and immediately after the day of Pentecost when He was given to the church receives Him at salvation.
By teaching believers that the Holy Spirit will fall upon you by prayer is false. If they are already true believers, they have all of the Holy Spirit in every way.
If they need the POWER of the Holy Spirit in their lives afterwords, then obedience is the issue. Holy Spirit baptism happens to the obedient, automatically, and as and when He chooses.
It is a popular but erroneous thing these days, in a church that lacks some sound teaching in the word and in doctrine, to ask the Holy Spirit to fall on us in the same way He did at Pentecost.
“My people perish for lack of knowledge.”
So many walk around then with no power from on high because they won’t obey God. And they think they can live like the world and just get hyped up in a church gathering with certain songs and magically God will rain power down upon them. It’s just a lie.
It misleads those who need proper teaching by those entrusted to teach. And It does not glorify God, but does glorify man and the flesh.
The fall feasts are yet to be fulfilled on the actual day, but prophecy seems to show that each event will likely happen on that day. The rapture, the tribulation and tabernacles. He fulfilled the spring feasts with His first coming and will fulfill the fall ones with His second coming.
Please consider it. Search the scriptures to see if it is so.
God bless you all in Christ Jesus,
Cheryl Arnold
Hey. I just thought I’d compile a list that orders this concept taught in the word so it can give you better understanding of it and the ability to peak well on it.
The first thing is to look at the churches of today to see what happens to churches who do let women teach men. Every single one of them is in apostasy. They all do these things:
1-baptize babies which says in the very act of doing it that we do not come to salvation by faith through grace but by the work of baptism…this is a false gospel.
2- ordain homosexual pastors and accept homosexual behavior, agree with homosexual unions.
3- have adopted every doctrine of demons out there. They have disobeyed God so they have no understanding of doctrine and twist it to fit their needs. Jen told the church to work leaven into the lump which the Bible says is always in every instance sin (a little leaven leavens the whole lump).
4-they have become a social justice organization focused on man’s wants and needs and have ignored the word of God. So man has become the idol and has replaced God.
5-they are pro-abortion. the UMC is pro-abortion, read their bylaws.
6-they affirm sinful living and do not regard the holiness of God.
Take a look at the denominations who have started with women teaching and see the downward spiral.
Read all the scriptures where Paul addresses women teaching men in the church and come to a consensus of what God says about it.
Paul uses hyperbole to a degree when he says women are to keep silent in church and ask their husbands when they get home. We see this all through the word. When God really wants to emphasize a critical doctrine, He exaggerates it to drive home the importance of it. For example: He said He would completely destroy Israel because of her sin against Him. In the next breath He says…not really. But I will discipline her severely. He does it to show how great the offense is. So does He mind if a women speaks in church? No, if it is not in an authoritative and teaching capacity over men. This does not mean that in a group of believers studying together that a woman can’t speak. God is reasonable. But it does mean that she is not to be a mouthy broad, bossing and usurping and annoying and causing trouble. If she is a prophet and God gives her a word to speak then she is to speak it, but in order, simplicity, humility and gentleness with all submission, careful to not be manly.
Jesus warned that religious people adhere to the letter but miss the heart of the word. We get the heart of this issue by knowing all God has said, putting it together, being reasonable but not compromising and letting the truth emerge.
Why can’t women teach men in a church setting or even in a Bible study? Her is why according to God Himself:
The man was not deceived. The woman was deceived. Period. Women, in these earthy bodies, are more susceptible to being deceived by Satan. That is why in every church where they have led men, Satan has come in and has deceived them just as promised.
Only Adam and the angels are direct creations of God…called sons of God. Every single human after him is an indirect creation, that is, pro-created or begotten of woman.
That is our first birth in the flesh, which is dead spiritually. In order for us to be able to be called the sons of God we have to be born again. This means that there is a spiritual birth, now a direct creation of God. So born once in the flesh, we are dead and in need of the direct creation of God. Until this happens we cannot know Him and cannot understand His word. His word is spiritually understood. That is why the ones who argue with it and cannot receive it, show that they have not been born of God but of the flesh…spiritually dead. The born again believer receives His word…he is now able to become a son of God directly.
The first Adam could only beget flesh. The Last Adam (Jesus) begets of the Spirit. In other words…He corrected the sin and brings forth a new birth that recreates fallen man in His image. He accomplished the correction on the cross.
Now Eve was never intended to be a direct creation of God. This is why women can’t teach men. She was made from Adam!!! There is something in God’s order that has to be respected, even if we do not understand it. We show a rebellious heart at its core when we overrule God and go our own way. Instead, we should submit to what He has said knowing He is perfect and wait for Him to explain it. “God said it so it is right and good and He will explain it to me and only good can come from it”. A true child of God will say that. A rebel will not.
Now to disobey this commandment of Christ’s that no women teach men in the church is to mess with God’s creation order. Adam is a picture of God. Eve is a picture of the church. For women to usurp men in the church is as offensive to God as the church usurping God. In other words, it is the same offense as man placing himself in God’s position and placing God in the submissive position. It is gender confusion, which is Satan’s favorite scheme. And gender confusion is Satan’s thumbing his nose at God’s order.
God has created the husband wife relationship within mankind in order to depict the spiritual relationship between God and man. He uses patterns and pictures and structures to teach profound truth. Satan likes to confuse it and distort it. Likewise, Satan confuses male and female roles in the church and society all for the same reason.
So women teaching men in the church reforms Gods order. It becomes a picture then of the church teaching Christ. It is backward and a deadly offense.
The beauty is that women have been given such honor by God. The one thing alone they cant do is teach men in a church setting, that’s all. He has actually bestowed tremendous honor upon women in that she is the one to bring forth life, not the man. Paul even emphasizes this. She can lead the greatest army in the world in battle and win as Deborah did. God is so good.
So the beauty of our redemptive God is this: since the woman was the entry point of sin into the world. God’s mercy has chosen the very source of the sin entry to be the very source then of the entry of salvation. Messiah was born of a woman!!!!!!!! So She, woman, births the Messiah who saves the world and corrects the fall of man.
GOD IS AMAZING!!! Pass it on!
I love you both so much.
Mom