Are we Speculating?

Just after Peter passed away last year my son Ari asked me,
“Mum was there ever a time that you did not believe in the return of Jesus?”

After some thought I was able to answer,

“No, I have always believed that – ever since I was a little girl.”
This makes death a very temporary state for those who love the Lord. But it does far more than that – it makes the Kingdom a reality. Not something to just look forward to but something to long for. It stirs the imagination as we take opportunity for visualisation of that Kingdom and what it will be like. Let me say at the outset that visualisation is a very personal thing and even though we may use scripture as proof of what will happen each person’s imagination comes into play as we try to visualise what that Kingdom will be like.

Now when we really come to think about it, we do this extensively with scripture. If I was to ask you, what the Garden of Eden was like, or the flood, or Abraham on his journeys, Egypt for Moses, David’s killing Goliath, Solomon’s magnificent Temple, Jesus his life, his teaching style, his death, his resurrection, your imagination would come into play as you told me about each part of the scriptural narrative. In your mind you might have certain pictures and the same story might vary from person to person. God gave us our minds, and imagination and visualisation is all a part of what is natural. But truly it is said in Proverb 20:18; “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Visualisation is necessary for survival. What can visualising the Kingdom do for you? It give you hope, it stimulates your faith, gives you a future focus, gives you purpose and can fill you with joy.

When our two oldest boys were very young, we had an opportunity to travel to England. My Mother was also there at the time and we met with her for a visit to Windsor Castle. This was just before the fire that gutted a substantial part of the castle, so we were able to see it in its former glory. I remember to this day walking through the huge doors to the xxx with a little boy on either hand and gasping at the splendour of the painted ceilings, gold painted fresco’s and plush velvet curtains and gilt furniture. Until then, I suppose, I had only really seen gold in jewellery. It was more than my eyes could take in. I called to Mum who was lagging behind, and said, “Oh Mum, take a look at this.” She came in behind me and looked up and without a moments hesitation said “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” She lived for Christ’s return and God’s glorious Kingdom and in her mind she knew exactly what it would be like. Whether her thoughts were accurate or not is not really important, but she knew that whatever it was going to be would be better than anything man might create.

Since then I have seen other grandeur such as the Schonbrun Palace in Vienna where Marie Antoinette was born and Versailles where she finished her life. Magnificent buildings with magnificent décor and spacious gardens, but my perspective has changed and I saw them as just small cameos, a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

In discussion with different folks on this subject, so many times I came up with the comments, “We don’t really know…” We cannot tell…”, “Scripture does not tell us much”. In answer to this last comment I would like to disagree and for the purpose of this class I am asking that you might put away any negatives that you might have at the moment and enjoy the adventure of looking at the positives. So let’s board the magic carpet and take off for the Kingdom of God.
The Notes

Some areas are listed in our notes and these are the things that we want to look at together today. These references are not new. We may have heard them at lectures time and again as Biblical proof of the coming Kingdom of God. Is that where we stop? Cold hard logic? God wrote this stuff to whet our appetite. To stimulate our imaginations – blow our minds and He has given us insight into His glory to come. His glory not mans. This whole set-up is about GOD not man. Man is able to be the fortunate beneficiary of the fulfilment of that plan but it is still all about God.

No Tropical Paradise

We indeed do need the guide of scripture to direct our imagination of the Kingdom of God. Left to ourselves we would surely seek only that which we understand could give pleasure to us and we would be limited by earthly thoughts. For instants, I think we can safely say that the Kingdom of God is not going to be a Tropical paradise in which the righteous can enjoy lazing by the pool in idyllic natural surroundings sipping passionfruit punch.

As we have already said fundamentally the Kingdom of God is to glorify God Habakkuk 2:14 and Numbers 14:21. In glorifying God, the inhabitants of the earth will appreciate, praise and echo His ways – His righteousness. The physical earth will also reflect this glorified state, “All creation groans”… Romans 8 tells us as it awaits the redemption of mankind so that it too might be freed from the curse of Adam. It is a place where the meek are inheriting the earth as we read in the Beatitudes and Psalms (37:11); a place where those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will dwell. This does not conjure up thoughts of self-indulgent self-centredness people, but men and women who are indeed God centred.
Desire is Okay

We should not be afraid of longing for that time. While we should not see the Kingdom of God as a “carrot” to attract us forward to something that will benefit us, it is okay to desire it’s appearance and it’s possession as the ultimate time of seeing God’s Glory in the earth. Just imagine a two weeks vacation in such a place – but that it will last forever is truly more than our finite minds can comprehend.

This is not our resting place

God does not want us to feel too comfortable in this world with its excesses. I am not just referring to material excesses. There are also excesses of tragedy and worry all around us. We only need to consider the agonies of this world with its earthquakes, Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Bird Flu, Aids, disease and death as well as wars, fighting, abuse of all kinds and financial worry. When you look at it there aren’t too many reasons for satisfaction even for believers whose strong hope is in the Lord. Dissatisfaction in this case is a good thing. It is what God wants. We often quote “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you” as though it only applied to unbelievers and young people. It is for all of us to seek the Kingdom of God. Matt 6:30 – 34. All that we can imagine and strive for in this present life is incomparable to the Kingdom of God. For now we need to seek and strive to develop a love of God’s characteristics Our desire for the Kingdom of God is because righteousness is glorified there.
God wants it too

This is also what God wants.

He wants the Kingdom on the earth. . He wants Jesus to be the reigning King. He wants peace on earth and good will among men, a time of rejoicing and worship and rest for mankind. He wants it for Himself and He wants it for us. That is why he planned it and He has told us of His plan so that we will want it as much as He does.
Let’s Investigate:

1. HEAD OF GOVERNMENT

 Luke 1:31-33 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

 Isaiah 9:6-7 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

 Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Where God places His Name we find His presence. Although at this time God is not all in all, His righteousness is present in the earth because of Jesus the King and the Royal Household – King/Priests.

2. CENTRE OF GOVERNMENT

 Micah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

 Matthew 5:35 In the context of not swearing by heaven or earth etc. Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

 Zechariah 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

 Zechariah 8:22-23 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days [it shall come to pass], that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard [that] God [is] with you.

While, today, Israel and its surrounding countries might seem to be some of the unlovely parts of the earth, Jerusalem is “the apple of God’s eye” (Deuteronomy 32:9-10), and like a rippling groundswell, His glory will spread and change everything until the whole earth is affected. But ZION will be the central point of Government.

3. RULERS

 Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

 Revelation 5:10 And (he) hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

 Luke 19:17 And he said unto him, Well done, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
As royalty in training, there is a lot to learn now. We need to learn how to conduct ourselves as King/Priests. We need to focus on subjects such as demeanour, decorum, integrity, graciousness, self control, management and rulership of the little kingdom of self that we now possess. These are some of the characteristics of royalty. Just what roles in the royal court we will play will be up to the King. Whether we are rulers over cities, singing in choirs, teaching others, working the land or showing people around the City of the Great King, whatever our task it will be done with the above noted characteristics and our service to our King and the glory of God will be our one desire.

4. WORSHIP

 Zephaniah 3:9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.

 Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

 Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

A pure language – One might suggest Hebrew, but I do not have the evidence for that, but it does seem that there will be no confusion of language in that day.

Why the Feast of Tabernacles? The Feast of Tabernacles was also called the Feast of Ingathering. It followed the Passover. It was a celebration of deliverance. All the nations shall come to Jerusalem to celebrate it. It was great spiritual event with people dwelling in booths (camping). It was a time for reflection and renewal. In the Kingdom the nations will consider the blessing of the past and the hope of the future as a yearly celebration.

5. DEFENCE

 Psalm 46:9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

 Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

 Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion [shall be] from sea [even] to sea, and from the river [even] to the ends of the earth.

 Isaiah 60:12 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion [shall be] from sea [even] to sea, and from the river [even] to the ends of the earth.

Since 3,600 BC humans have fought more than 15,000 recorded wars. This means an average of two and a half wars a year for the past 5,600 years, and of course not all have been recorded and some of them lasted many years. One actually lasted 100 years. What a waste of lives and resources.

Just think of the resources and time that now is spent on war and how much more beneficial it will be to the people when it is spent on agriculture.

In one of the troubled African countries, there was a small boy named whose name is David. When he was four years old the soldiers took him from his mother to become a boy soldier. He was with the soldiers until he was ten years old and miraculously the authorities were bribed so that he might get away and at that age he became a refugee and found his way to Australia. He was one of the lucky ones. He was a water boy in the army and unlike some of his young compatriots the soldiers had not drugged him and place a gun in his hands to fire at the enemy. Sickening isn’t it. In the kingdom there will be no more boy soldiers; no more conscription; no more suicide bombers. “…the battle bow will be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen…”

6. EDUCATION

 Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

 Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

 Isaiah 30:20-21 And [though] the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

The older I get the more befuddled my brain becomes. Have you ever been asked by a child something that you did not know the answer. There’s a good chance someone is going to ask is going to ask me something about this topic that I don’t know. Can you imagine the minds and intellects of immortals. There is nothing that they cannot know. The Saints will be spread throughout the whole world to teach the people, but the joy of the people will be to come to Zion to learn of God’s ways.

7. JUSTICE AND JUDGEMENT

 Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

 Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
Where there are two human beings, there is always a chance of two diverse opinions. While the unrighteous and the oppressors will be removed people will still be people. With Divine counselling and judgement problems between people will be more easily solved. “The law will go out from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people.” Isaiah 2:4

8. HEALTH

 Isaiah 35:5-6 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

 Isaiah 33:24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein [shall be] forgiven [their] iniquity.
What joy for some to leap about after laying prostrate, unable to move. All the guide dogs will be retired. Spiritual blindness and deafness will also be healed. What an interesting comparison of healing the sick and forgiveness. Jesus said which is easier to say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee or take up thy bed and walk.” He had the power to forgive sins. In immortality sins of omission and commission will be far from us and the power to forgive the sins of others will be as easy as healing diseases. Remember, the forgiveness of sins is brought about by repentance. If the angels in heaven rejoice for us when we repent, imagine the joy of the saints over a mortal repenting. Food for thought.

9. TEMPLE TO BE BUILT

 Micah 4:1-2 But in the last days it shall come to pass, [that] the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

 Isaiah 56-7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
This is a whole study in itself and one worth doing

Listen to Psalm 48 from the Message
God Majestic,
Praise abounds in our God-city!
His sacred mountain,
Breathtaking in its heights – earth’s joy.
Zion Mountain looms in the North,
city of the world-King.
God in his citadel peaks - Impregnable
…Be glad, Zion Mountain:
Dance, Judah’s daughters!
He does what he said he’d do!
Circle Zion, take her measure,
Count her fortress peaks,
Gaze long at her sloping bulwarks,
Climb her citadel heights –
Then you can tell the next generations
Detail by detail the story of God
Our God forever,
Who guides us till the end of time.

11. SOCIAL SERVICES

 Psalm 72:12 For he shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and [him] that hath no helper.

 Psalm 72:5-8 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers [that] water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

 Psalm 72:11-13 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and [him] that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
Peace on earth and good will among men. Is that what we see today? – hardly! This is not just about absence of war, but an abundance of peace. That peace that the Bible says “passes understanding”.

There are many people even in this country who face the battlefront every day. Perhaps their home life is in disarray – family crises, arguments, abuse, fears of all kinds, loneliness or depression. Depression is not a new affliction. It seems both David and Saul suffered from it. In times gone by they referred to it as Melancholia. Today doctors, psychiatrist, psychologists, care workers and social workers are kept in employment because of confusion of the minds of men and women. Not so in the Kingdom age. In that time there will be no need to be poor in spirit or in need of encouragement. While today it is good that we acknowledge our need of God’s presence in our life, in that time His presence will surround us in all things. Unimaginable – just try – feel the peace that washes over you when you let go and know that God is fully in control.

10. DESERTS PRODUCTIVE

 Isaiah 35:1,7 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, [shall be] grass with reeds and rushes.

 Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.

 Isaiah 41:17-18 [When] the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue fail for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Picture this: The Sahara market gardens, with neat rows of lettuces and tomatoes, cucumbers, leeks and garlic if that’s what you like. Vineyards in Nepal, roses in the Negev, wheat crops in the Gibson Desert, with new rivers close by to water them. Not that there is much need for the rivers as the rains will come at the right time. Imagine Sudanese people with full bellies, growing rice, potatoes and all manner of nutritious vegetables. It’s like a fairytale – but it’s true.

12. AGRICULTURE

 Amos 9:13-14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

 Psalm 72:16-19 There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and [they] of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and [men] shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed [be] the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed [be] his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled [with] his glory; Amen, and Amen.

 Isaiah 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.

 Isaiah 65:21-25 And they shall build houses, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree [are] the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they [are] the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust [shall be] the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

No filling out forms for unemployment benefits. There is work for everyone. Happy people busy from dawn til dusk. Self-employed and self-sufficient, we can imagine neighbours helping neighbours and the only taxes, that which might be and offering to God. Whole families will benefit from their own labour, while the kids skip around with lions and wolves and lambs. Nothing to hurt them, no fear – Not in God’s Holy Mountain saith the Lord

In Summary

No one would doubt that the world is in a mess and although many people desire to make the world a better place, the odds are definitely against their success. The environmentalist might lobby governments and plant trees. Scientists try to come up with better industrial designs to save the ozone or find cures for the latest virus. International aid workers bring supplies to war torn countries and supply disaster relief to national disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes; while teachers and social workers battle issues of drugs, poverty and abuse.

For all that the earth seems to have potential for exquisite beauty and goodness. But there is only one government and leader who can remedy all these problems. So God gives us the promise of His Kingdom, with Jesus Christ as its King. Jesus will be a perfect ruler, unlike any ruler in the history of mankind. What makes him so different? He loves us more than he loves himself. Christ will rule on behalf of his Father, bringing about God’s will on the earth. Reigning from Jerusalem the future capital of the whole earth he will rule with a true balance of justice and mercy (Isaiah11:2-4,9).

While people will praise God in various places throughout the whole world in that day, the Temple in Zion will be the focal point and people from all nations will go up year by year to worship and enthusiastically learn of God’s ways, that they might worship him in the way He has appointed.

With the world’s resources and energies no longer spent on war, soldiers will become farmers and like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, men and women will become responsible for caring for the land. The whole earth will become fruitful from Mountain tops to deserts and the harvest will be plentiful. There will be equality and all people will benefit and no one will go hungry. No longer working hard for the profit of others, the worker will satisfy himself and God and people will enjoy the fruit of their own hands.
The blind shall see and the lame shall walk. Diseases will be cured – no more aids, bird ‘flu or cancer for His healing power will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God and Isaiah (65:19-22) tells us that “Never again will there be in it (the Kingdom) an infant who lives but for a few days, or an old man who does not live out his year; he who dies at an hundred will be thought of as a mere youth.”
In that time the mortals, who have not had a chance to learn about Christ, will hear about him and answer his call. The Saints will teach them and rule over them so that they too, will have opportunity to learn of God’s plan and choose to serve Him. Their reward of immortality will come at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ (Revelation 20).

As for the Saints, how rewarding their work shall be. They will be helping to fill the earth with God’s glory. For this has been the whole purpose for His creation from the beginning, that “the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the water covers the see. (Habakkuk 2:14. No longer weighed down with sickness, sadness and sin, the Saints will be filled with the indescribable joy of serving God and being a part of His purpose.
And then what?

After the 1000 years – “The end will come, when he (Christ) hands over the kingdom to God the Father and after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. When he has don this, the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God will be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26,28)
Can you see it? Can you believe it? Is it real for you? Do you want it? God does. Since the beginning of time God sent forth prophets and teachers; he gave us His Word the Bible and even sacrificed His only Son to bring this about for us.
“Even so, come Lord Jesus”

More Information in
www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

Comments

Dr. James Dobson is founder and president of Focus on the Family, a media and educational organization consisting of 72 separate ministries, each dedicated to the preservation of the home. He is heard on more than four thousand radio facilities around the world and publishes 11 magazines read by 3 million people each month.
Dr. Dobson has been a licensed psychologist and marriage, family, and child counselor for 24 years. (Taken from the back inside dust jacket of Dobson's book, Solid Answers.)
During these 24 years, Dr. James C. Dobson has been propagating the gospel of self-esteem, and self-esteem is still (to this day) his "good news".

In the book of Galatians, we see how Paul dealt with anyone who would propagate a false gospel. In Galatians 1:8-9, Paul writes,
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
What false gospel was Paul dealing with in Galatians? It was a perversion of the true gospel (Galatians 1:7, "pervert the gospel of Christ"). It was Jesus plus the law, Christ plus circumcision. Paul pointed out that following such a gospel would actually separate them from Christ. In other words, it would damn their soul (Galatians 1:6; 5:2, 4). Dr. Dobson's gospel is just as damning, and even more erroneous.

The Galatian heresy did not redefine the basic problem of mankind (which is sin, Romans 3:10-18). All this heresy taught was that the law must be kept. Faith was still to be placed upon Christ, but the law also must be kept to be found righteous before God. Dobson's false gospel actually redefines man's basic problem into a problem of low self-esteem, and then gives the answer to this basic problem -- high self-esteem. It is all in intense deceit, because he speaks of sin and Christ also. But, nonetheless, it boils down to a perverted gospel.

If you are familiar with Dobson's teaching, you would know that Dobson's basic tenet is this low self-esteem/high self-esteem dilemma and answer. He has propagated this "gospel" at least since the publishing of his book in 1974, Hide or Seek, How To Build Self-Esteem in Your Child. Note how Dobson redefines man's basic problem into "low self-esteem". With emphasis (the three last sentences being written in italics), he writes,

The matter of personal worth is not only the concern of those who lack it. In a real sense, the health of an entire society depends on the ease with which its individual members can gain personal acceptance. Thus, whenever the keys to self-esteem are seemingly out of reach for a large percentage of the people, as in twentieth-century America, then widespread 'mental illness', neuroticism, hatred, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and social disorder will certainly occur. Personal worth is not something humans are free to take or leave. We must have it, and when it is unattainable, everybody suffers. (p. 21)

There you have Dobson's definition of the problem of mankind. All these problems, according to Dobson, exist because of a shortage of "personal worth". This is Dobson's fiction. The truth is, the reason all these problems exist is because "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge" (Romans 1:28). Therefore,
God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness [mental illness, neuroticism]; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud [high self-esteem], boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving [hatred], unforgiving, unmerciful; [alcoholics (drunkards) and drug abusers] (Romans 1:28-31).

Thus, we have "social disorder" because men have refused to "glorify Him as God, nor were thankful" (Romans 1:21). In other words, all these things are a result of sin (Romans 3:23), not because "the keys of self-esteem are . . . out of reach"!
So, we have Dobson's gospel which begins with the problem of low self-esteem. His answer ("good news") is, of course, high self- esteem. As he writes in this same book (Hide or Seek),
The heart of this book, then, is devoted to a description of ten comprehensive 'strategies' for building self-esteem, . . . (p. 21)
There we have the gospel of Dr. James Dobson in a nutshell. Man's problem? Low-self esteem. The answer? High self-esteem. Compare this with the true gospel. Man's problem? Sin. The answer? Jesus Christ.
If there was any question as to whether self-esteem was really Dobson's "good news" and his core doctrine, note what Dobson wrote in his book, What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women,
Joyce Landorf, the gifted authoress of His Stubborn Love, recently asked people to answer the following question: What would you change about women in general if you could wave some magic wand? My answer, which is now published with the other replies in her book, The Fragrance of Beauty, is quoted below: If I could write a prescription for the women of the world, I would provide each one of them with a healthy dose of self-esteem and personal worth (taken three times a day until the symptoms disappear). I have no doubt that this is their greatest need. (p. 35)

Dobson has "no doubt that this is their greatest need."! Who is Mr. Dobson speaking of? Christians? Non-Christians? He says, ". . . the women of the world,". What is the greatest need for ANY woman? The Lord Jesus Christ! It is NOT ". . . a healthy dose of self-esteem and personal worth . . ."! This is another gospel (Galatians 1:8-9).
Dr. Dobson is a deceiver, and has deceived the masses. The above is actually only the tip of the iceberg of the false teaching of "America's foremost family counselor". Psychological deceit pervades his writings and material. Several have documented some of this fallacy, yet most refuse to identify the man for what he really is -- a false teacher (2 Peter 2:1-3). The fear of man and political correctness saturates the "Christianity" of today.
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More studies en:
www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

Comments

A reader (Richard) wrote and suggested that Psalms 83 might contain the 10 kings. So, I started to look and this is what I found.

Firstly, we have a confederation in favor of destroying the nation Israel (against the purposes of God.)

A Song or Psalm of Asaph. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people , and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation ; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent : they are confederate against thee: -- Psalms 83:1-5

Just who is part of this confederation? And where are they located? Are kings listed and how many? Since they are to consult together with one consent , then, (upon identifying these) it will be clear that this is a future confederacy because all these have never consulted together in the past.

The tabernacles of Edom , and the Ishmaelites; of Moab , and the Hagarenes; [Hagar’s descendents?] Gebal [1], and Ammon [2], and Amalek[3]; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur [4] also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. -- Psalms 83:6-8

Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera[5], as to Jabin[6], at the brook of Kison: Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. -- Psalms 83:9-10

Make their nobles like Oreb [7], and like Zeeb [8]: yea, all their princes as Zebah [9], and as Zalmunna [10]: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. -- Psalms 83:11-12

O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth. -- Psalms 83:13-18

The LORD will not be known as the most high over all the earth until He returns. Consequently, these verses are yet future.

The general locations of these kings is given as " Edom", "Moab ", the " inhabitants of Tyre ", the " Midianites ."
The Edomites are located in Western Jordan, in the southernmost part. The Moabites are located in Western Jordan in the central portion, and Tyre was a city in what is now modern Lebanon . (originally Tyre was shown incorrectly as in Syria).

What do we know of Midian? We quote from Encyclopaedia Judaica .

"MIDIAN (Heb. Nydm, Mynydm Gen. 37:28, Mynydm), name of a people or a group of (semi-) nomadic peoples in the Bible (LXX, Madian, or Madiam; 1QIsa 60:6, Mydm). The Midianites are among the sons of Abraham and Keturah who were sent to "the land of the East" (Gen. 25:1–6). "Midianite traders" are mentioned in the episode about the sale of Joseph (Gen. 37:28). Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, was a Midianite priest living in the land of Midian (Ex. 2:15–3:1); he met Moses in the wilderness of Sinai (Ex. 18: 1–5), and the members of his family accompanied the Israelites in their wanderings in the desert (Num. 10:29–32). The elders of Midian displayed hostility toward the Israelites on the plains of Moab (22:7) and the Israelites fought the Midianites, killing many of them (31: 1–20).

In Greek-Roman and Arabic sources Midian is mentioned in Arabia, as well as on the shore of the Red Sea , and, according to Josephus (Ant. 2:257), this is the biblical Midian (cf. Eusebius, Onom. 124:6).

It may be said of the Midianites that were directly involved in both the travels of the nation Israel INTO and OUT of Egypt. It was the Midianites who sold Joseph into Egypt and it was Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, in whose land Moses prepared for 40 years to lead the nation Israel OUT of Egypt. The Sinai is part of modern Egypt . In Judges 6:33, the Midianites did ally with the Amalekites against Israel. Perhaps the Midianites refers to the Gaza strip because the Gaza was ceded to Israel by Egypt.

So far, we have involved the nations of Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and perhaps the north-western part of Saudi Arabia. Let's talk about the ten kings themselves.

[1] Gebal
The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. -- Ezekiel 27:8-9

Other than Psalm 83, Gebal appears only in the above verse, which clearly shows that the modern nation Lebanon/Syria includes Zidon, Arvad, and Gebal. Zidon and Gebal are in Lebanon and Arvad is in Syria.

[2] Ammon
Amman is the capital of Jordan . In fact, the King of Jordan has recently decided to "democraticize" his country and divide it into 3 parts which have elected regional officials or appear to make Jordan similar to western republics. These 3 parts could easily be Edom, Moab, and Ammon, about which we are speaking. There are 91 occurrences of Ammon in the Bible. Curiously, the last one is as follows-

Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. -- Zephaniah 2:9

We know that the above has not happened yet.

[3] Amalek
And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek : these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife. -- Genesis 36:12

Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek : these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom ; these were the sons of Adah. -- Genesis 36:16
Amalek is therefore an Edomite in the country of Jordan .

[4] Assur
Assur was a town located in what is now modern Iraq north of Tikrit near Mosul. (see Harper Atlas of the Bible page 126)

Is it not interesting that this verse is as follows?
Assur also is joined with them : they have holpen the children of Lot [the Moabites ]. Selah. -- Psalms 83:8
Who is the THEY?
The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; (Hagar’s descendents?)-- Psalms 83:6 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek ; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre ; -- Psalms 83:7

Is there any doubt that Jordan (Edom, Ammon, and Moab), Lebanon (Sidon and Gebal and Tyre), Syria (Arvad), and Iraq (Assur) will be JOINED together?

Look at the route of antichrist from his place in the north . The route passes through the joined countries.

Curiously, the last of the 2 Bible verses with Assur in them says-
Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. -- Ezra 4:1-2

In other words, lying to the Jews who want to rebuild the temple will happen during the 70th week of Daniel just like it did here and the " King of Assur " will be involved. Will the antichrist from "Assur" send his emissaries to Jerusalem to tell this lie again?

[5] Sisera
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. -- Judges 4:2
According to the National Geographic Atlas of the World on page 76, Hazor is just west of the Golan Heights in Israel!!!!! Of course, anything too west of the Golan Heights in Israel is in the Mediterranean. So we know that west of the Golan Heights is a short distance.

[6] Jabin
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor ; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. -- Judges 4:2
Hazor is in northern Israel just west of the Golan Heights (see above).

[7] Oreb
And they took two princes of the Midianites , Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. -- Judges 7:25
Oreb is therefore a Midianite and is positioned in the Sinai, southwest of Israel in what is now Egypt.

[8] Zeeb
God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. -- Judges 8:3
Zeeb is therefore a Midianite and is positioned in the Sinai, southwest of Israel in what is now Egypt.

[9] Zebah
And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian . -- Judges 8:5
Zebah is therefore a Midianite and is positioned in the Sinai, southwest of Israel in what is now Egypt.

[10] Zalmunna
And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian . -- Judges 8:5
Zalmunna is therefore a Midianite and is positioned in the Sinai, southwest of Israel in what is now Egypt.
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Here is a schematic showing the relative geographical positions of Israel and the 10 Kings. The 10 Kings are in bold face. Talk about Israel being surrounded.

Syria ASSUR in Iraq
GEBAL in Lebanon
SISERA, JABIN in Golan Heights AMMON in Jordan
Israel
Moabites in Jordan
(children of Lot helped)
OREB, ZEEB, ZEBAH, ZALMUNNA in Sinai AMALEK in Jordan

Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. - Psalms 83:8

Let us think on this - If there are ten kings and three of the ten kings are, in effect, REPLACED by the antichrist, will this not leave 7 kings? However, they may not be REPLACED, they may GIVE WAY to the antichrist. We know from Revelation 17:12-13 that the ten kings RECEIVE power as kings for ONE HOURWITH the antichrist.

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. -- Revelation 17:12-13

This seems to imply that the antichrist receives power along with the 10 kings. Who is the donor of such power? Since the antichrist receives power at the mid-point in the tribulation,

And there was GIVEN unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was GIVEN unto him to continue forty and two months. -- Rev 13:5

it seems that the ONE HOUR begins at this time or somewhat later. The donor of such power is Satan with the agreement of the ten kings.

In Daniel, we read of the same situation occurring at the same time –

And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings . -- Daniel 7:24

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots : and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things . -- Daniel 7:7-8

Since Rev 17:13 says that they (all 10 kings) GIVE their power and their strength unto the beast, this must mean that the antichrist assumes power (as the antichrist) IN THE LOCALES of these THREE KINGS simultaneoulsy in such a manner that they will effectively be JOINed (see Psalms 83:8) together as ONE entity.

If you read the text very carefully what you have is the JOINING of ASSUR, AMMON, and AMALEK (all 3 of whom will still remain kings, but their kingdoms will be united under the antichrist.) Is it any wonder that the Jordanian monarchy is seeking to give democracy a chance in Jordan by dividing his country into 3 parts, 2 of which (Ammon and Amalek) could become included in the 10 Kings?

from the website-
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/050127/2005012716.html
we read-

King Abdullah discusses the division of Jordan to three districts

Jordan, Politics, 1/27/2005

The Jordanian King Abdullah II said he will reconsider the administrative divisions in the Kingdom in order to form three districts of elected local councils, with each district including several governorates.

The Jordanian King said that he will form shortly a royal committee with a mission of "including this inclination from various aspects and draw an appropriate mechanism to implement it and convert it from a theory to a tangible practice."

In a televised statement, the Jordanian TV underlined the importance of this political development "starting as from people's organizations up to the centers of decision making, not the opposite way round."

Is it any wonder that the policy of the United States is to create just such a "central democratic state" in the Middle East? Is it any wonder that the WHOLE world is rushing toward the UNIFICATION of Sunni, Shia, and Kurd to prohibit chaos in Iraq (especially the King of Jordan)? Is it any wonder that (for at least two years) political analysts have openly called for Iraq and Jordan to be merged?

All that can be said about this is - Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh - and praise the Lord for the accuracy of His Word!!
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Look at this verse again very carefully. It is concerning the joining process-

The tabernacles of Edom , and the Ishmaelites; of Moab , and the Hagarenes; [Hagar’s descendents?] Gebal [1], and Ammon [2], and Amalek[3]; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur [4] also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. -- Psalms 83:6-8

When it is said- Assur also is joined with them , the two kings Ammon and Amalek cover the northern and southern areas of the Jordan-Israeli border. That part of the border which has NO king, the Moabites (aka the children of Lot), is being helped. These assuredly appear to be the Palestinians presently caught on the border. The joining helps them. Ammon (with King Ammon)
Moab (no king) Edom (King Amalek) is the north-south alignment on the border.

Wonder if this has anything to do with the Jordanian King's recent change in the Crown Prince? Yes, if it leads to Palestine joining Jordan and promotes Palestinian good will as is being suggested today.

The town Assur was also known as Ninevah. The book of Nahum says the antichrist arises in Ninevah-
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. -- Nahum 1:1

There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.
-- Nahum 1:11

So, when Assur (Ninevah in Kurdistan ) joins with Jordan (Amalek and Ammon), the antichrist rises.
See also the invasion route of the antichrist.
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Post Script

So much for the "western" view of political prophecy. These ten kings and their locale (and the locale of the antichrist ) put the generally accepted EU theory into the waste basket. The West is so proud that we can not imagine how we are just bit players.(This does beg the question - are we (the U.S., etc) " dwelling carelessly in the isles?" We know that a "fire" devours those. See Ezekiel 38-39)

The Bible is clear about the location of the endtimes empire . These 10 kings are in the same location as that part of Alexander the Great's empire (Seleucid, Assyrian) which is prophesied to play a role before Christ returns. In fact, the SHAPE of this joined empire is nearly exactly that of ancient Assyria (because Ammon, Moab, and Edom are the western part of Jordan). Large portions of Southern Iraq and Southeastern Jordan are not part of the ancient Assyrian Empire.

This also seems to imply that the "Shia" nation is destroyed in the Magog invasion . See this for timing .

The Lord views things in the 70th week from the viewpoint of Israel. It is Daniel's 70th week for a reason.

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01-31-2005

This page was originally constructed using those "Kings" whose names were actually given in the text. However, since it might be said that the named "Kings" (starting with Sisera ) are under the descriptive words "Do unto them (those named in verses 6-8, who ARE yet future) AS and then Sisera and the rest are listed. Consequently, it can be correctly argued that the Kings starting with Sisera were historical and they serve as examples of what will happen to the future 10 kings.

So, where does that leave us? It still leaves us with the FUTURE 10 KINGS. Here they are (the bold print were also kings in the original list)

The tabernacles of Edom [1], and the Ishmaelites [2]; of Moab [3], and the Hagarenes [4]; [Hagar’s descendents?] Gebal [5], and Ammon [6], and Amalek [7]; the Philistines [8] with the inhabitants of Tyre[9]; Assur [10] also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. -- Psalms 83:6-8

This still leaves us with 10 Kings in the immediate environ of Israel which will be JOINED and a schematic that looks like this-
GEBAL in Lebanon ASSUR in Iraq
TYRE in Lebanon
HAGARENES ?? PHILISTINES?? ISHMAELITES ?? AMMON in Jordan
Israel
MOAB in Jordan
(children of Lot helped)
AMALEK in Jordan
EDOM in Jordan

The above schematic is certainly more descriptive of FUTURE kings that will be confederated against Israel. They will do so WHEN ASSUR (Northern Iraq) is JOINED with the other 9 Kings. This is a 100 PERCENT Moslem confederacy against the nation Israel.

Since this occurs at the mid point of the tribulation (at least for ONE HOUR) and since the "Shia" nation is not represented in the Old Assyrian Empire, it seems that the destruction of the "Shia" nation is completed with the invasion of Israel by "Persia" et al in Ezekiel 38-39 prior to this confederation . This seems to confirm our hypothesis regarding the timing of the Gog invasion.

Southern Iraq is a "Shia" nation and will likely side with Iran against Israel. Even though this strategy for Iran is risky, remember that "hooks" will be put in the "jaws" and they will be compelled to invade by the Almighty Himself.

End 01-31-2005
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In any case, one of the significants points of this discussion is that the JOINING of Assur (Ninevah), a city in northern Iraq, and Ammon (the northern portion of the West Bank in Jordan) becomes the moment of the rise to power of the 10 kings and the antichrist. This is a slightly different twist than is presented on this page . Translation - the "Cheney doctrine" (advocated by many in the Bush White House) of joining Iraq and Jordan (and in so doing extending the authority of the antichrist) becomes a significant Biblical reality.
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02-14-2005
from the following website we learn how the recent elections in Iraq will increase pressure on the United States to unite the northern (Kurds, read Assur) with the Jordanians (read Ammon, Moab, Edom).

http://www.juancole.com/2005/02/shiites-kurds-win-big-bush-loses.html
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Shiites, Kurds, win Big
Bush Loses Election in Iraq (hardly the way it is being reported)

The three big winners were the United Iraqi Alliance [read Shiites] (about 48 percent), the Kurdistan alliance (26 percent) and the Iraqiyah list of interim prime minister Iyad Allawi (about 13 percent). These three account for 88 percent of the seats in parliament, or so. The other eleven percent go to tiny parties like that of al-Yawir, the Sadrists (Cadres and Chosen List) and the Communists.

Although Allawi's list is among the three with more than two digits, in fact he lost big. Allawi had all the advantages of incumbency. He dominated the air waves in December and January. He went to Baghdad University and made all sorts of promises to the students there and it was dutifully broadcast, and there were lots of photo ops like that. Allawi's list also spent an enormouos amount on campaign advertising. The source of these millions is unknown, since Paul Bremer passed a law making disclosure of campaign contributions unnecessary (the Bush administration's further little contribution to "democracy" in the Middle East). Despite these enormous advantages, clear American backing, money, etc., Allawi's list came in a poor third and clearly lacks any substantial grass roots in most of the country. It seems to have been the refuge of what is left of the secular middle class.

Allawi's defeat (he will not be prime minister in the new government) is a huge defeat for the Bush administration, though it will not be reported that way in the corporate media.

The system is set up so that a two-thirds majority is necessary to form a government. The United Iraqi Alliance needs to pick up 18 percent or about 50 seats to go forward. The easy place to get those 50 seats is from the Kurds, who have 70 or so. This step will require that substantial concessions be made to the Kurds, who want the presidency, a redrawing of the provincial map of Iraq to creat a united Kurdistan province, and substantial provincial autonomy or "states rights."

The US now hopes to use the Kurds to blunt the push for Islamic law from the UIA. This is the significance of Allawi's visit to Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and his support for Talabani as president. The Kurds and Allawi together control nearly 40 percent of seats in parliament. They can be outvoted on many issues, but they can't be ignored. Allawi is trying to ensure that Talabani's position is unassailable and to pressure the UIA to give up its own candidates for president, so as to bloc any rush to Islamic law .

The chief allies of the United States in the Mideast (other than Israel) are Jordan and the Kurds. All three (US, Kurdistan, Jordan) are in a struggle against the Shia nation. The Jordanian monarch is terrified of a Shia Iraq. The pressure will increase to unite these factions. When this confederacy takes place we will be witnessing the one hour during which the antichrist and the ten kings unite.
Of course, the believers will be gone and the timetable looks like this . The JOINING takes place in the 2nd half of Daniel's 70th week.

The antichrist will arise from this alliance. He will come from this area (when his power is established and the JOINing together takes place)..

End 02-14-2005
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02-15-2005

from the website-
http://debka.com/article.php?aid=983
we read how that the recent bombing assassination of Rafiq Hariri in Lebanon was the direct result of his support of a direct (without Syria) link of Lebanon to Israel in the peace process .

Last year, Hariri stepped down in protest against the extension of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud’s presidency and was about to take the lead of the opposition. A towering figure in Lebanese politics, Hariri was expected to fight the election due to take place in April or May.

The Lebanese hammer blow that came down on the Bush administration from Beirut set back its plans to bring democratic reforms to the Middle East . US officials were still digesting the import of Iraq’s general election the day after its results were released in Baghdad. They were also still waiting for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to come up to scratch in fighting terrorism. Its impact will be regional in magnitude, affecting the next stage of Iraqi insurgency and the chances of a Palestinian-Israeli accommodation.

According to DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources, the assassination was staged by Syrian military intelligence headed by General Rostum Ghazala. It capped two years of attempts by the Bush administration to engage Assad by diplomacy. On February 14, the confrontation between Washington and Bashar Assad’s regime abruptly shot up to a new level: the Syrian president had decided to resort to the vicious tactics of Iraq and Lebanon’s ugly past, finally impelled by a circumstance that DEBKA-Net-Weekly 193 revealed on February 1:

For the first time in the annals of the Arab-Israeli dispute, Lebanon’s senior opposition politicians are pressing for the government in Beirut to recognize Israel and sign a separate peace treaty with the Jewish state – without
reference to Damascus .

The reason I am bringing this to your attention is that after hearing about the assassination I went back to the maps in the historical Harper Atlas of the Bible and the National Geographic Atlas of the World for comparison purposes. Originally, when I published this page, I incorrectly listed GEBAL as being in Syria. It is not in Syria, but right on top of Beirut!!!!! Tyre is south of Gebal in Lebanon as well. I have updated the second schematic of the ten kings accordingly and as you can see there is no representation among the ten kings for Syria, only Lebanon, the very nation whose political leader was assassinated because he is in favor of negotiating the peace with Israel. It looks like when Assur (northern Iraq) joins with Jordan, it will be with Lebanon and without Syria. Syria is willing to assassinate to stop the process.

I would not mess with the WORD of GOD. It is all coming to pass EXACTLY as He said in the prophets. I might add that Psalms 83 is a Psalm of Asaph. Asaph had 12 Psalms - 50 and 73-83 inclusively. The 83rd Psalm is the last thing Asaph had to say in the Bible. Looks like his silence is still speaking.
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www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

Comments

One of the most perplexing features of Christadelphianism is the persistent tendency to want to expunge from the New Testament records the presence of demons. In view of the excellent treatment of Scripture we find in Christadelphian literature dealing with the Kingdom of God, the nature of man and the Unity of God, this "demythologizing" is all the more remarkable.

Before beginning our discussion it will be helpful to insert a quotation from a 19th-century writer, Robert Hall, who observed that ideas which become part of a fixed system of theology are dislodged with the greatest difficulty. Christadelphians, along with the rest of us, must accept the need to verify all teachings against the scriptural standard, and realize that non-biblical tradition can be just as firmly settled in their denominational "family" as in any religious community. Robert Hall is right when he says that "whatever holds back a spirit of inquiry is favorable to error; whatever promotes it, to truth. But nothing, it will be acknowledged, has a greater tendency to obstruct the exercise of inquiry, than the spirit and feeling of party. Let a doctrine, however erroneous, become a party distinction, and it is at once entrenched in interests and attachments which make it extremely difficult for the most powerful artillery of reason to dislodge it. It becomes a point of honor in the leaders of such parties, which is from thence communicated to their followers, to defend and support their respective peculiarities to the last; and, as a consequence, to shut their ears against all the pleas and remonstrances by which they are assailed. Even the wisest and best men are seldom aware how much they are susceptible to this sort of influence" (Works, Vol. 1, p. 352).

It was Peter Watkins, a leading Christadelphian writer, who warned his brethren that in dealing with the demon question "we must state categorically that it is not sufficient to say that the New Testament writers were using language that would have reflected current superstitions" (The Devil, the Great Deceiver, p. 65). Yet most Christadelphians do use that very argument. How else can they dispose of the demons which the New Testament describes as personal articulate entities quite distinct from the victims they influence? Peter Watkins is quite right to add that "it was not the limitations of language that compelled gospel writers to make such elaborate use of demon terminology, it was the spirit of God" (Ibid., p. 65). We can only encourage Christadelphians to take note of Peter Watkins' wise words.

It cannot, however, be right that Peter Watkins should be taken seriously when he states dogmatically that "the subject of demons must be thought of as one elaborate sustained parable" (Ibid., p. 64). We might just as well argue that all the miracles of healing were parables. The exorcisms and the healings are equally presented by the New Testament writers as facts of history.

Christadelphians should recognize that if the gospel writers did not believe that demons exist, the very last thing we would expect them to do is to use the term "demon" with such frequency! There are perfectly good Greek words for disease and madness (which appear in the New Testament). Yet the term "demon" appears throughout the story of Jesus' ministry and quite naturally in Paul's and James' and John's writings. It would be surprising to find the word "angel" used consistently by an author who did not think such beings existed. There is therefore the strongest prima facie evidence that if Luke speaks of demons, he means demons.1

Another distinguished Christadelphian writer, Thomas Williams, who deals with the Kingdom of God and the mortality of man in a most logical manner, finds himself in serious difficulty when trying to explain the demons, while not believing in their existence. The section in question is headed "A difficulty" (The World's Redemption, p. 370). How to avoid the demons proves to be a greater problem than Thomas Williams can cope with. He says: "The greatest difficulty in understanding some of the New Testament accounts of casting out demons is in the fact that the language sometimes seems to make them appear to speak independently of the person whom they are supposed to possess" (emphasis mine). This analysis tells its own clear story. Williams shies away from facing the facts which would, if believed, force him to change his thinking. "Seems to speak"? "Supposed to possess"? Luke does not share Thomas Williams' uncertainty:

"Now there was a man in the synagogue who was under the power of an unclean demon, and he screamed with a loud voice, 'Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One.' But Jesus reproved him saying, 'Be quiet! Come out of him!' So the demon threw him down in their midst and came out of him without doing him any harm" (Luke 4:33-35).
This account simply states that Jesus addressed the demon as a personality distinct from the man ("Come out of him!"). It is also quite dear that the demon speaks as one of a class ("What do you want of us?"). The evidence before us shows that Jesus understood the demon, not the man, to be the author of the outburst, "Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One."

The student of Scripture who "trembles at the Word of God" must decide between a theory which denies the existence of demons, and Luke's account which presents Jesus as responding to a personal articulate being, the demon, who is not the human sufferer, though the demon speaks through the victim. A refusal to face the evidence of Scripture can amount to nothing but unbelief. If demons exist, no explaining is necessary; the narrative is in harmony with the facts. Tragically, the Christadelphians have mounted a theory by which the facts of Scripture can be avoided. The Christadelphian theory, however, implies that the biblical narrative is not in harmony with the facts. It places their own authority above that of the Bible, a technique which they have rightly detected in so much "theology" which avoids the Kingdom of God or even the Resurrection. Ultimately the Christadelphian theory commits them to the belief that a being uttering articulate sentences and displaying intelligence and emotion does not exist!

In Luke 4:40 Luke makes his usual careful distinction between healing and exorcism, and reports that "even demons came out of many people, [the demons] shrieking and saying, 'You are the Son of God.' But he reproved them [the demons] and would not let them [the demons] speak, because they knew that he was the Christ" (Luke 4:41). Once again Luke records intelligent speech on the part of the demons, as distinct from their victims. This fact is even more strikingly conveyed by the Greek text, in which the participles "shrieking" and "saying" are neuter to agree with the demons which are grammatically neuter. They cannot refer to the men who are grammatically masculine. It is also the neuter demons whom Jesus reproves, not their masculine victims ("he would not let them speak").

These important texts will put an end to Thomas Williams' ambivalence when he says that the language "sometimes seems to make the demons appear to speak independently of the person they are supposed to possess." One might as well say that if I tell my child, "Give him the book" I seem to be in the presence of more than one person! Or that I appear to be addressing one person in the company of another! Language has no means of demonstrating the independent personality of the demons other than that employed by Luke (and other New Testament writers). Luke simply states that a demon speaks and that Jesus answers him, not the man under the demon's control. These are the facts of the Scriptural record, and they demand our belief. Demons do exist. The Bible says they do!

Faced with this overwhelming evidence Thomas Williams is frank enough to concede: "Allowing that this difficulty forces the conclusion that the demons were entities and that they actually did speak…" (emphasis mine). It is a relief to find him admitting that the evidence "forces that conclusion." But he is unable to face his own findings; he quickly sidesteps the conclusion to which, he says, the evidence points. It is exasperating that he then completes his sentence: "The question will arise, Why is the same phenomenon not to be found in similar afflictions today?"

That, of course, is a quite separate issue, and the assumption underlying the question is open to argument. The point to be underlined, however, is that the "difficult" evidence in Williams' words "forces the conclusion that the demons were entities and that they actually did speak…" Which is to admit that Jesus and Luke believed in the existence of demons as creatures having the power of speech as well as intelligence, emotion and will. May Christadelphians bow before the Scriptures and abandon a theory which opposes the veracity of the inspired record. The Scriptural record is to be accepted, not explained away.

In conclusion we note that Robert Roberts, another Christadelphian writer, wrestled unsuccessfully with the theory imposed upon him by his denomination. The widespread theory of "accommodation" by which Christadelphians (and many others) "read out" the demons from the New Testament is found in the work of Robert Roberts, whose verbal gymnastics have trapped the unwary (this is not for a moment to underestimate his lucid explanations of other biblical topics): "The statement that the devils (demons) made request, or cried out this or that must be interpreted in the light of a self-evident fact that it was the person possessed who spoke and not the abstract derangement" (Christendom Astray, p. 126). But this is precisely what Luke does not say. In Luke's account the demons are there as intelligent beings with supernatural knowledge of the Messiah. Roberts may say they are "abstract derangements." Luke does not. The demons utter coherent sentences as reasoning creatures, distinct from their victims (see also Acts 16:18). Roberts dismisses Luke's evidence as "rough popular forms of speech," but how does he know this? He then finds what he believes to be the truth in his own rationalizing theory, having made up his mind a priori that demons do not exist. The Christadelphian must choose between Luke and Roberts.

The self-evident facts of the gospel records are that Jesus believed in personal demons. They addressed him and he addressed them. Though invisible, they exist as beings no less real than any other person to whom Jesus spoke.

------

1 The favorite argument about our use of "lunatic" without thinking of the moon is not valid. If we addressed the moon and told it to cease its evil influence, it would be clear that we were taking the term lunatic literally. The New Testament writers do take demon phenomena quite literally. Much more is involved than just the single term "demon."

Comments

GOD

I believe that only one person is God, and that He is a literal being -- almighty, eternal, immortal, and the Creator of all things. -- Deut. 6:4; Isa. 45:18; 1 Tim. 2:5.

JESUS CHRIST

I believe that Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, is the sinless and only begotten Son of God. He existed only from His birth. -- Lk. 1: 32, 33, 35; 3:22; 1 Pet. 1:18-20.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

I believe that the Holy Spirit is God's divine power and influence manifest in God's mighty works and in the lives of His people. It is not a person. -- Gen. 1:2; Rom. 8:11.

THE BIBLE

I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, given by divine inspiration. It is the only authoritative source of doctrine and practice for Christians. -- 2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21.

MAN

I believe that man was created innocent, but through disobedience to God fell under condemnation of death -- the cessation of all life and consciousness. All persons, being both sinful and mortal, are in need of salvation. -- Gen. 2:7, 17; 3:4, 19; 5:5; Eccl. 9:4, 10; Rom. 3:9-11; 6:23.

SALVATION

I believe that salvation is by the grace of God, through the atoning blood of Christ. It consists of God's forgiveness of sin, the imparting of His Spirit to the believer, and finally the gift of immortality at the resurrection when Christ returns. The steps in the gospel plan of salvation are:
- 1. Belief of the things concerning Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Kingdom. -- Acts 8:12; Rom. 1:16.
- 2. Sincere repentance and confession of sins. -- Acts 2:38.
- 3. Baptism -- which is immersion -- in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. -- Mark 16:15, 16; Rom. 6:1-6; Acts 22:16.
- 4. Indwelling of the believer by Christ through God's Spirit. -- Gal. 4:6; Eph. 3:16, 17.
- 5. Growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. -- 1 Pet. 2:1-3.

THE CHURCH OF GOD

I believe that the Church of God is the scriptural name for that body of people who have been called out from among all nations through obedience to the gospel plan of salvation. Christ is the Head of the church; and the nature, work, and government of the church are set forth in the New Testament. -- 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 5:23-25.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

I believe that the Christian life is primarily a life of consecrated discipleship to Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, and Teacher. It will be exemplified by love, prayerful dependence on the fruit of the Spirit, stewardship, and tithing. The
church will recognize those members who, because of their religious conviction, claim exemption from military service. -- 1 Tim. 4:11-16; Titus 2:11-14; and Mal. 3:10.

ISRAEL

I believe that "Israel" is the name of the literal descendants of Abraham through Jacob. As God's chosen nation, Israel was given the land of Palestine, but because of disobedience they were scattered throughout the world. In accordance with God's covenant with them, they will be restored to Palestine as the head of the nations in the Kingdom of God. -- Ezek. 36:21-32.

THE RETURN OF CHRIST AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

I believe that the Kingdom of God will be established on earth when Christ returns personally and visibly to reign as King in Jerusalem over the whole earth, with the church as joint-heirs with Him. His millennial reign will be followed by the final judgment and destruction of the wicked, after which will be established "new heavens and a new earth" wherein there will be no more death and God will be all in all. -- Acts 1: 11; I Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 5-10; 20:4, 5; 21:1-4, 7, 8; 2 Pet. 3:12-14."

See more of my studies in www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

Comments

by Anthony F. Buzzard

A contemporary of John Thomas, the founder of Christadelphianism, produced a controversial work in 1842 entitled The Devil: A Biblical Exposition of the Truth Concerning That Old Serpent, the Devil and Satan, and a Refutation of the Beliefs Obtaining in the World Regarding Sin and its Source. A critic of this book described it as “a labored attempt to dispose of the existence of the Devil, adding one more proof of the awful fact.”

Clearly there is a matter of the greatest importance at stake here. It is tragic that there should still be doubt and division amongst students of the Bible about what the Scriptures mean by the Satan, the Adversary, the Devil, the Serpent, the Tempter.

Alan Eyre’s informative book, The Protesters, traces the fascinating history of those who through the centuries have shared the “unorthodox” beliefs of the Christadelphians and groups such as the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith. These tenets include the firm belief in the future millennial reign of Christ on earth, in the mortal soul, in One God, the rejection of the Trinity, and the refusal to take part in war. It is however very remarkable that Eyre was able to find only two references to the extraordinary belief that Satan in the Bible refers to the evil in human nature, and not to a personal being.

It is a fact that the believer in the non-personality of Satan must hold that belief against practically all of his brethren who share with him a rejection of traditional dogmas. The works of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, spokesmen for the Church in the second century, show no Trinitarianism in the later, Chalcedonian sense (though they do not retain belief in the fully human Messiah of the New Testament); they contain no belief in the survival of the soul in heaven after death, nor in eternal hell-fire; they are also strongly millenarian. The notion that Satan is not a personal being, however, is utterly foreign to their writings. This will mean that Irenaeus, the “grand pupil” of John the Apostle, through Polycarp, had gone badly astray on this major point: the proper understanding of Satan. Is such a proposition credible?

It will be our purpose to show that it is not only most unlikely on any reasonable view of the history of doctrine; but, more important, the non-personality idea is based on an unjustifiable treatment of Scripture. It is a dangerous mistake, divisive in its effects, and liable to cast doubt on the credibility of its exponents as responsible teachers of the Bible. It is an error, however, which can be corrected, provided there is a willingness to lay aside tradition and examine the matter carefully, if necessary over an extended period of time.

There is no doubt that the popular medieval devil, with pitchfork and stoking the fires of hell, is a caricature of the scriptural devil. We must, however, guard against the natural tendency to jump from one extreme to another and attempt to do away with the personal devil of the Bible. If that personal devil exists, nothing will please him more than to have his existence denied by those exponents of Scripture who have seen through the mistaken teachings of “orthodoxy.”

To say that the Trinity, in the popular sense, is not in the Bible is in fact only to say what numerous scholars admit. To proclaim the future millennial reign of Christ is to echo the opinions of the first 250 years of Christianity and of many noted theologians of all ages. To deny the immortality of the soul is to align oneself with scores of scriptural experts from all denominations. To deny that the Satan (i.e. Satan as a proper name) is an external being in Scripture, is, however, virtually unknown in the history of exegesis. Such a situation demands an explanation which will fit the facts of history as well as the facts of the Bible.

The writer has examined in detail scores of tracts written by Christadelphians and discussed the question at great length with their leading exponents. One very important fact emerges from these studies: the exponents of “non-personality” constantly blur the difference between a satan and the Satan. On this unfortunate blunder, the whole misunderstanding about the meaning of the word “Satan” is built. No one will deny that there are occurrences in the OT of the term “satan” where a human adversary is intended (just as in the New Testament “diabolos” (devil) can occasionally refer to human accusers, I Tim. 3:11). The question we are facing is what is meant by the Satan or the Devil in Job and Zechariah and some sixty times in the New Testament (not to mention numerous other references to the Satan under a different title).

When Matthew introduces the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven, he assumes that his readers are familiar with these phrases. When he introduces the Devil (Matt. 4:11), having already called him the Tempter (v. 2), he uses a title well recognized by his readers. He nowhere speaks of a tempter or an accuser. If we realize the importance of the definite article here our subject can be clarified without further difficulty. The celebrated New Testament Greek authority, Dr. A.T. Robertson, states: “The definite article is never meaningless in the Greek…The article is associated with gesture and aids in pointing out like an index finger…Wherever the article occurs, the object is certainly definite” (Grammar of Greek New Testament, p.756). Thus a savior may be one of many saviors. The Savior means the one and only Savior. An “ecclesia” is an assembly of people gathered for many different reasons (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). But no one would consider confusing this with the Church. Similarly, the Satan, the Devil, the Tempter is that well-known Satan not requiring definition, because the writer knows that his readers understand who is meant. Will anyone deny that a book carries a very different meaning from the book?

It will be instructive to see how Christadelphian literature confuses the issue from the start: “The word Satan...simply means an adversary, as will be evident to the least instructed from the following instances of its use: ‘The Lord stirred up an adversary (a ‘satan’) unto Solomon, Hadad, the Edomite’ (I Kings 11:14). ‘Lest in battle he (David) be an adversary to us’ (I Sam. 29:4)...There are New Testament instances, such as where Jesus addresses Peter as ‘Satan,’ when he opposes Christ’s submission to death (Matt. 16:23); where Pergamos, the headquarters of the enemies of truth is described as Satan’s seat (Rev. 2:13). Now if Satan means adversary we will read the scriptures intelligently if we read adversary wherever we read Satan” (The Evil One, by Robert Roberts, p. 12).

Unfortunately, however, Mr. Roberts has misled us by introducing the quotation from Revelation 2:13 without any indication of the fact that the text says that the Satan (not “a satan”) has his seat there.[1] The Satan is very different from the indefinite adversaries (satans) cited from the OT.

The fundamental error is now established and the argument proceeds on the false premise: “The trial of Jesus is usually cited in opposition to our conclusions. The great feature of the narrative relied upon is the application of the word ‘devil’ to the tempter: but this proves nothing. If Judas could be a devil, and yet be a man, why may the tempter of Jesus not have been a man? His being called ‘devil’ proves nothing” (Ibid., p. 19).

What we are not allowed to see is that the tempter of Jesus is not called a devil; he is called the devil (Matt. 4:5, 8, etc.), that is, the one and only Devil we all know. The Christadelphian argument continues with the basic error entrenched: “‘Devil’ proves that it was one who busied himself to subvert Jesus from the path of obedience. Who it was it is impossible to say because we are not informed” (Ibid., p. 19).

The average reader of the book of Job and of the temptation accounts in Matthew and Luke will find it very difficult to believe that the Satan who acted as the Tempter was an unknown human being, as Christadelphians propose. John Thomas and his followers, despite their invaluable work of biblical exposition on other subjects, have regrettably distorted the Scripture by doing away with the definite article. This we dare not do. The Satan, the adversary, is the external personality who tempted Jesus and Job. A tragic mistake was made by Roberts when he wrote: “Why may not the tempter of Jesus have been a man? His being called ‘devil’ proves nothing.” He was not, however, called ‘devil,’ but the devil. Roberts has effaced the word “the” from the text, and by implication from the sixty or more occurrences of the Satan and the Devil throughout the New Testament.

When a group of Bible students arrive at the same conclusion but cannot agree amongst themselves on the arguments upon which the conclusion is built, there is usually cause for suspicion that the conclusion is faulty. They are accepting the creed because it has been dictated to them by their leader. They have very probably always believed the tenets of the group. They have not personally examined the arguments in detail, very often because they have had so little exposure to contrary points of view and have never been challenged. They may accept the excellent truths taught by their founder and in their enthusiasm swallow an error as part of “the package.” We are all prone to make this mistake. God requires of us a passionate desire to know the truth; we must stand personally responsible before Him for everything we teach as “the oracles of God.”

The Christadelphians are unable to agree about the identity of the Tempter of Jesus. Most contemporary Christadelphians insist that Jesus was talking to himself in the wilderness. Apart from the difficulty which this raises about the sinlessness of the Lord, it is arbitrary in the extreme to say that when Matthew reports that the Tempter “came up to Jesus and spoke” (Matt. 4:3), he meant that Jesus’ own mind produced twisted versions of the Scriptures. Matthew ends the description of the Temptation by saying that the Devil departed and angels “came up to him” (Matt. 4:11) to minister to him. On what principle of interpretation can we justify taking the words “came up to him” in two totally different senses in the same paragraph? Where in Scripture does human nature come up to a person and speak, and hold an extended conversation? It is most unnatural to think that Jesus invited himself to fall down before himself and worship himself! If the departure of Satan means the cessation of human nature’s temptation of Jesus, why may not the arrival of the angels be no more than the comfort of the spirit of God within him?! Can anyone fail to see that the treatment of Scripture which the Christadelphians propose in this passage involves the overthrow of the plain meaning of language?

The older Christadelphians are rightly indignant that anyone could suggest that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by his own mind. One Christadelphian writes: “Some think that the devil in the case of the temptation was Christ’s own inclination; but this is untenable in view of the statement that ‘when the devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from him for a season.’ It is also untenable in view of the harmony that existed between the mind of Christ and the will of the Father (John 8:29). It might be added also that it is untenable because a tempter or devil, i.e. one who attempts to seduce to evil, is invariably a sinner (Matt. 18:7, RSV) whether it is oneself or another...[This is] illustrated also in Mark 4:19: ‘The lusts of other things entering in choke the word.’ Lusts, then, that ‘enter in’ and ‘draw away’ (James 1:14), being not legitimate desires...are forbidden and therefore sin. Jesus was not thus ‘drawn away’ or inclined from the right and consequently could not have been the devil or ‘satan’ in the case. The devil was obviously a sinner who aimed to divert Jesus from the path of obedience and wrested the Scriptures (Ps. 91:11, 12) in the attempt. So that those who believe that Jesus himself was the ‘devil’ and Satan [i.e. fellow Christadelphians] make him a sinner, their protestations notwithstanding” (The “Devil” and “Satan” Scripturally Considered, by E.J.R.M., pp. 14, 15).

It is remarkable that the numerous attempts of the Christadelphians to explain away the personal Devil nearly always avoid a detailed analysis of Matthew 4, the temptation story. It should be obvious to any reader of the passage (it has been clear to millions of readers over the ages!) that an external person tempted Jesus; and that external person was called the Tempter, the Devil, the Satan. The use of the article means only that it is “the Devil we all know about.” (To suggest, as some Christadelphians do, that it was the High Priest is a desperate evasion!) Scripture likewise speaks of “the Jesus” (with the definite article in Greek), that is, “the Jesus we all know.” If the Devil is well known in Matthew’s mind, we must go to the Old Testament, the Intertestamental Jewish literature, and to the rest of the early Christian literature of the New Testament to find out what was meant by the personal name Satan.

There is not a single reference in the Old Testament to Satan as an internal tempter. The Serpent in Genesis was clearly not Eve’s human nature! It was an external personality who spoke and reasoned with refined subtlety. Likewise the “satans” of the OT (without the definite article) who provided opposition were invariably external persons. It is therefore amazing that anyone should propose that the devil of Matthew 4 (where the term occurs for the first time in the New Testament) is an internal “person,” i.e. human nature. The suggestion imposes an alien idea upon Scripture. Moreover, the “spiritualizing” method of exegesis necessary to obscure the fact that a real person came up to Jesus and spoke to him will, if applied elsewhere, render the whole biblical account meaningless. This very technique has been successfully used by the churches to do away with the millennial Kingdom of the Coming Age.

It is proper that we establish our understanding of biblical terms both from the evidence of Scripture as a whole and from sources current at the time of Jesus. We have ample evidence, for example, of the Kingdom of God referring to the future Messianic reign. We know from Matthew 4 that the Devil cannot be human nature; no such idea is to be found in the Old Testament. Nor can the Devil be an unknown human being. The presence of the definite article, which the Christadelphians have been keen to drop, forbids us to understand the Satan as an unknown person. The fact that Matthew introduces the Satan as well known to his readers shows that we must connect him with the external Satan of Job and Zechariah 3 and I Chronicles 21:1 (where Hebrew scholars take the reference to be a proper name).

It would be hard indeed to think that the Satan who appears amongst the Sons of God (whom the book of Job identifies with the angels: Job 38:7) and can “walk to and fro in the earth,” call down fire from heaven, generate whirlwinds and inflict Job with boils, was a human being. Was the Satan appearing opposite the Angel of the Lord a man? (Zech. 3). Where in these passages is there the faintest hint that the Satan means human nature? And in the New Testament, on what principle shall we say that the “Prince of this world,” “the Father of lies,” “the Original Serpent,” “the god of this age,” “the roaring lion going about to destroy Christians,” “the one who shoots darts at us” is internal human nature? The idea that these are personifications and not a person is an invention created by liberal Protestants of the 19th century who rejected the supernatural and whose philosophy did not allow them to admit a spiritual personality in opposition to God. But man is in opposition to God. Why not a fallen angel? It is the teaching of the New Testament that Satan is an angel of darkness. Paul describes him as transformed into an angel of light (II Cor. 11:14). A word study on the verb Paul used (“metaschematizetai”) will show that Satan changes his outward appearance to masquerade as an angel of light. He is by inward nature an angel, but he changes himself into an angel of light by an external transformation. Only an angel can become an angel of light by this means. Paul states the belief, common to his contemporaries, that Satan is an angel, albeit a fallen one. He states the same thing in so many words in II Corinthians 11:3, 4, 14 where he identifies the Serpent with the transformed angel (verses 5-13 represent a parenthetical section).

This identification is well known in the writings of Paul’s contemporaries. It is clearly made in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2. The fact that the Serpent of Genesis is to be crushed by the seed of the woman Eve alerts us to the fact that the Serpent continued to exist until the times of the Messiah (Gen. 3:15). The Serpent was cursed for its wickedness. It should hardly be necessary to point out that the curse was imposed because of the Serpent’s guilt. Every Christadelphian must weigh carefully whether to follow the Scripture at this point or embrace John Thomas’ extraordinary statement that the Serpent was “not morally accountable” — “it did not intend to deceive”; “it did not intend to lie”; “it did not intend to cause the woman’s death” (Elpis Israel, p. 88). These statements from the founder of Christadelphianism will suffice to show that he has misunderstood the subject at the outset. He has God cursing an innocent creature! He goes on to propose his fundamental theory; that the Serpent is henceforth to be equated with the sin he produces; that “Satan” equals sin (Elpis Israel, p. 91). By this twist the real Devil disappeared as a synonym for human nature, where he has remained ever since, but mostly only in the minds of John Thomas’ followers!

Students of the Bible should never think that Satan is as powerful as God! He is not omniscient or omnipresent. Nor need he be feared by those who are properly instructed Christians and who seek the strength and protection of God, their Father. The Satan of the New Testament is the god of the present age — the age until the coming of the Kingdom (II Cor. 4:4). As Beliar (a common Jewish term for Satan) he is contrasted with the supernatural Christ (not with the “good” in human beings — II Cor. 6:15). He is also the prince of the demons (Matt. 12:24). Jesus made no effort to challenge this idea. He assumes it along with a belief in the reality of demons. He had himself stated that Satan is chief of a host of angels (Matt. 25:41). Satan is also seen in conflict with Michael, the Archangel, in Jude 9. Any attempt to explain this passage in terms of human beings, as Christadelphianism does, involves a desperate effort to eradicate supernatural evil from the Scriptures.[2] This is matched only by John Thomas and his followers’ attempt to remove the demons from the gospel records and the epistles.

It is the Christadelphian attempt to explain the demons which demonstrates most clearly the extreme difficulty of trying to erase them from the New Testament records. Once again the Christadelphians cannot agree on the right explanation. They must deny that demons exist, because their creeds demand it. How to explain the constant presence of demons in the New Testament is a real problem. Their most detailed treatment of the demons is found in their publication The Devil, the Great Deceiver, quoted below. Many Christadelphians have not read carefully what Peter Watkins has to say. They are confident that his explanation must be sound, for it has been approved by the movement. Some, however, are beginning to question the traditional Christadelphian view of the demon stories, sensing that there is something amiss with the treatment of the subject by Roberts. To say that Jesus and the writers of the New Testament invested the term “demon” with a meaning unknown to the Greek language of the time is a bold theory indeed.

The average Christadelphian will propose that the demons of Scripture are to be explained as an accommodation to the ignorance of the times. They will maintain that Jesus did not disturb the superstition of the contemporary Jews, in order to assist in the cure of the demon-possessed. The important question is whether there is any other example of Jesus allowing superstition to pass uncorrected. Another problem is Luke’s (and the other reporters’ of Jesus’ miracles) insistence that the demons spoke in their own person, and recognized Jesus as the Messiah when the ordinary people did not. The New Testament records make an absolute distinction between the victim who is “demonized” and the demon who has possessed him. Jesus is concerned with addressing the demon as a person distinct from the sufferer.

In Luke 4:33: “There was a man in the synagogue who had a spirit, an unclean demon. [Luke’s Gentile audience might have understood demons as supernatural personalities, both good and bad. Thus he makes it clear that it was an unclean demon.] And he cried out: ‘Ah! What have we to do with you, Jesus, the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you, you are the Holy One of God.’ And Jesus rebuked him and said: ‘Hold your peace and come out of him.’ And when the demon had thrown him down in front of them, he came out of him without hurting him...” Verse 41: “And demons went out from many, the demons crying out and saying ‘You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ And he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew him to be the Messiah.”

We must note that the demon spoke as a member of a class of demons: “What have we to do with you?” Jesus then addressed the demon as distinct from the man: “Come out of him.” In verse 41 the Greek participles “crying out” and “saying” are neuter plural agreeing with and referring to the demons. They cannot refer to the men. To suggest that the men cried out (though clearly the demon spoke through them) is to overlook the laws of the Greek language. Jesus then rebuked them (neuter plural, the demons, not the men). Throughout the accounts, as everywhere else in the New Testament, the demons are treated as a well-known class of personalities quite distinct from the victims they oppress. To blur this distinction, as Christadelphian literature does, is simply to undermine the truth of the historical records.

The International Critical Commentary makes the wise statement that if demons exist, there is no problem at all with this passage. “The narrative is in harmony with the facts” (Plummer in ICC on Luke, p. 136). Note that any other explanation means that the account is not in harmony with the facts, another way of saying that it is untrue!

Christians will do well to avoid the attack on Scripture implied by the denial of the existence of demons. They should understand that to say that Jesus merely accommodated himself to the ignorance of his times makes him less than honest. There is no hint anywhere in the New Testament that Jesus knew better than to believe in demons! He discussed them privately with his disciples, as well as in front of the Jews (Luke 10:20, see also Luke 11:14-28, where Jesus talks at length about the demons). The comment of Henry Alford, the distinguished British theologian and a leading millenarian, is very much to the point:

“The Gospel narratives are distinctly pledged to the historic truth of these occurrences [the accounts of demon possession and expulsion]. Either they are true or the Gospels are false...They form part of the general groundwork upon which all agree. Nor can it be said that they represent the opinion of the time, and use words in accordance with it. They relate to us words used by the Lord Jesus in which the personality and presence of the demons is distinctly implied. Now either our Lord spoke these words or he did not. If he did not then we must at once set aside the concurrent testimony of the evangelists to a plain matter of fact; in other words establish a principle which will overthrow equally every fact related to the Gospels. If he did, it is wholly at variance with any Christian idea of holiness in him to have used such plain and solemn words repeatedly, before his disciples and the Jews, in encouragement of, and connivance at, a lying superstition. It will be unnecessary to refute the view of demoniacal possession which makes it identical with mere bodily disease...We may observe that it is everywhere in the Gospels distinguished from disease...” (Alford, Greek Testament, Vol. I, p.79, emphasis his). Henry Alford’s well-worded statement is a defense against liberal theologians and critics of the reliability of the New Testament. It is sad that his defense must be used against Christadelphians.

The notion that Jesus was accommodating to the ignorance of his times when he spoke of demons was so problematic to the Christadelphian writer Peter Watkins that he wrote: “Let it be stated categorically that it is not sufficient to say that the New Testament writers were using language that would have reflected current superstitions...It was not the limitations of language that compelled the Gospel writers to make such elaborate use of demon terminology. It was the Spirit of God” (The Devil, the Great Deceiver, p. 65). Peter Watkins correctly opposes the arguments which his colleague Christadelphians almost always use to defend their belief in no Satan or demons. Watkins, however, instead of accepting the New Testament facts, proposes a solution which no one, surely, including other Christadelphians, will take seriously. He says: “The subject of Satan and the demons — or the Devil and his angels — must be thought of as one elaborate New Testament parable” (Ibid. p. 64). What extraordinary lengths Bible students will go to avoid the truth! The idea that the exorcism stories are meant only to be parables is without foundation. We might just as well say that all the healing miracles are parables. Fortunately the biblical writers did not intend their readers to be so hopelessly confused. They make it clear when Jesus spoke in parables. They never say that the accounts of the casting out of demons were parables.

We are left with the simple explanation that Satan is the chief of an army of demon spirits, fallen angels; that the Serpent of Genesis is the Devil (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). The identification of the Devil with the Original Serpent (Rev. 12:9) was the common belief of the times. It is merely confirmed by the Scriptures. Paul implies the same identification in II Corinthians 11 (discussed earlier). He equates the Satan with the Serpent in Romans 16:20 where he says that Satan will shortly be bruised, a reference to the future bruising of the Serpent by the Messiah, as promised in Genesis 3:15. The Nachash (serpent) of the third chapter of Genesis appears again in the third chapter from the end of the Bible, where he is bound and imprisoned so that he cannot deceive the world any longer (Rev. 20:1-3). The Serpent appears in the religious books of nearly all ancient cultures; so also does the flood. The millennial idea is known to the Persians. These facts do not mean that the ideas are all false. Major theological truths are held by the Bible in common with other faiths. The belief in the personal Devil and in demons is a prime example.

The connection of the Nachash (serpent) with the Seraphs, the shining angelic beings who surround the throne of God (Isa. 6), provides further evidence of the identification of Satan with a fallen angel (Num. 21:6-9). Though the origin and ultimate fate of Satan are obscure, this is no excuse for not accepting the united testimony of the New Testament writers to his existence as an external personality. Would anyone refuse to accept the existence of angels in Scripture simply because the details of their origin and future are not made clear? There is nothing in the Bible to say that the life of Satan must be prolonged indefinitely. Immortality is conditional upon God granting it. He grants life to Satan at present as part of the divine plan.

The believer in the non-personality of Satan will have to explain how it is that the Satan is everywhere external in the Old and New Testaments. In the parable of the sower the “birds of heaven” devoured the seed (the message of the Kingdom) which fell by the wayside. Jesus’ explanation of the birds is that “the devil comes and takes away the Message from their heart so that they may not believe and be saved” (Luke 8:5, 12). Will anyone seriously suggest that the birds of the sky represent internal human nature? The analogy is of course parallel to Paul’s description of Satan as the Prince of the power of the air, the wicked spirit in heavenly places (Eph. 2:2; 6:12). How can the air be the seat of human nature? The air, in Paul’s terminology, is located above the earth (I Thess. 4:17). The very atmosphere is polluted by the presence of Satan and the demons who at present “energize” the children of disobedience, just as the Spirit of God “energizes” the children of God (see Eph. 2:2, Phil. 2:13, where the same Greek word describes the activity of Satan and God). That the air is contaminated by evil spirits is evident from the need for Christ to reconcile to himself things both in heaven and on the earth (Col. 1:20).

It must be emphasized that belief in Satan as an external spirit does not excuse us from responsibility for our sins or false beliefs. We cannot blame Satan for our errors, claiming that “the Devil made me do it.” We are responsible, with God’s help, for learning the Truth, and turning from our sinful ways. The temptation which arises from the heart of man (James 1:14) and the evil thoughts which proceed “from within, out of the heart of man” (Mark 7:21) may be prompted by Satan; they may also arise naturally, since human nature has been poisoned by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. But we must not confuse the evil which comes “from within, out of the heart” with the Satan who comes up from the outside, as in the temptation story (Matt. 4). There is a close connection between sin and the original cause of sin, just as the conductor and the music he produces from an orchestra are connected. But no one would confuse the conductor with the orchestra.

If demon in the New Testament means epilepsy and mental disease, then it must be shown how epilepsy and mental disease can “believe in God and tremble” (James 2:19, “the demons believe in God and tremble”), produce false teachings (I Tim. 4:1), or be the object of the worship of pagan people (I Cor. 10:20, where “demons” are parallel to God). The Greek language has perfectly good words for “mad” and “madness,” and they are used in the New Testament. Despite this, elaborate use is made of demon terminology by the biblical writers. The demons are everywhere treated as living, active, supernatural agents, able to speak through human beings. It is unthinkable that Luke would have written as he does, had he wished to convey the Christadelphian belief that demons do not exist! There is, of course, abundant evidence of demon phenomena, both throughout history and in our own times. Personal experience of the phenomena is quite unnecessary; it should, of course, be avoided. It is sufficient merely to believe the New Testament records.

The view of the Satan as a personification of human nature is a theory imposed upon Scripture. It represents a serious misreading of the Bible which cannot be sustained by sound exegesis. Those who hold such a belief must consider, as we all must, the remark of James that all teachers of the Bible carry a heavy responsibility for teaching the Truth, and may be found guilty of leading others astray. Worst of all, a vagueness or error in understanding the Satan, who has a dozen or more titles in Scripture[3] (and must therefore be a personality of some importance), may lead to others losing confidence in one’s ability as a teacher of the Bible. They will then be deterred from accepting the real Truths which are offered to them. Until the important matter of Satan and the demons is properly explained, according to the Scripture, there is little hope of a group being counted worthy of the task of bringing to the world the whole counsel of God. We must beware of putting a barrier between us and others who are unable to see how we can fail to understand a matter as straightforward as the existence of the personal Satan.

Additional Notes on Matthew 4, Jude 9 and Demon Terminology

The Christadelphian treatment of the temptation accounts is all the more bewildering in view of the fair principles of exegesis they use elsewhere. The fact is that they arrive at Matthew 4 knowing that there cannot be a supernatural Devil. It is then impossible that he should be found there. To avoid him, they must embark on a method of interpretation which distorts the biblical text. This will be illustrated from The Mystery of Iniquity Explained, a Biblical Exposition of the Devil, by Lyman Booth, 1929.[4]

The author lets us know at the outset the technique he proposes to employ, with his comment on Mark 1:13: “And Jesus was forty days in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild animals; and the angels ministered to him.” The “wild animals,” he tells us, “represent the animal feelings in man’s nature” (p. 174). He then suggests as a method of interpretation that “no passage of Scripture can be interpreted partly literally and partly spiritually. If it is to be literally understood, it must be literally understood throughout; if it is to be spiritually understood, it must be spiritually understood throughout” (p. 183). However, he undermines his own principle by admitting that Christ was literally in the wilderness though the temptations were figurative (p. l84). (By “figurative” he presumably means that the temptations did not involve an external person.) Christ’s appetite created an “impulse” within him (p. 185). “The Self-principle, the desire principle in the Christ when he felt hungry suggested at once what was a truth, surely, seeing thou art the Son of God ‘command that these stones be made bread.’ This state of mind was the Devil that tempted Christ” (p.187).

Booth goes on to speak of the “falsely accusing principle, figuratively represented by the Devil” (p.189). “Hence the whole passage is merely a figurative description of the result of the mental examination of the prevalent worldly system.” “The Devil leaves him — that is, these states of mind cease to trouble him; he had gained the victory, and angels, i.e. messengers came and ministered unto him” (p. 190). “Hence the better view of the trials is that which regards them as mental scenes...The whole account of the trial of our Lord admits of an easy, clear and conclusive explanation when viewed figuratively as a picture of the thoughts that passed through his mind in the survey of this great struggle” (p. 191). He then goes on to speak of the “absurdity connected with the belief in the Devil; the atheistical tendency of such a belief in a devil...If there is a God there cannot be a devil” (p. 195).

We must note that the method of interpretation proposed by Booth is abandoned. He admits that Christ was literally in the wilderness and that angels came to him and ministered to him. These facts he dare not treat figuratively.

The question that must be asked is: why should the phrase “came up to him” (v. 3) mean the onset of thoughts within him, when exactly the same phrase “came up to him” (v. 11) means a literal approach of angels? The method used by Booth is quite arbitrary. In the single sentence “the Devil leaves him and angels come up to him,” the first half of the sentence is taken figuratively to mean the end of temptation in the mind of Jesus, and the second half is literally true! This is in contradiction to Booth’s own principle of consistency, quoted above.

The proper and commonsense method is surely to compare the phrase “came up to him” in verse 3 with Matthew’s use of the same phrase elsewhere, and then with the use of the same words in the New Testament as a whole. (In deciphering poor handwriting, we look for other occurrences of an obscure letter to see how it fits in different contexts.) In Matthew 8:2, a leper “came up to him”; in 8:5 a centurion “came up to him”; in 8:19 a scribe “came up to him”; and in 24:3 the disciples “came up to him.” In Acts 22:27, “the chief Captain came up to Paul and spoke.” The words in the original text in all these cases and scores of others throughout the New Testament are exactly the words used of the approach of the Satan to Christ. In no case in the Bible are these words used of thoughts arising in the mind. This will suffice to show that the “figurative” view of “came up to him” in Matthew 4:3 has no parallel anywhere in Scripture. No lexicon known to the writer will allow a figurative meaning for the phrase in question. The theory that no one approached Jesus in the wilderness temptation is a private one, which has simply been imported by ascribing to words meanings which they cannot bear. This involves a revolution in language which if applied elsewhere will effectively overthrow every fact stated in the New Testament.

We must examine briefly the passage in Jude 9 which describes Satan in conflict with the Archangel Michael. The ordinary reader has no difficulty in understanding that the Archangel Michael is the Archangel Michael. Not so the Christadelphians. Booth embarks on a complex explanation which is all the more misleading because of the confidence with which it is presented.

To explain Jude 9, he refers us to Zechariah 3, where he says Satan is Tatnai. The latter opposed the rebuilding of the Temple in the days of Joshua the High Priest. Booth says: “Referring to this event [in Zechariah 3] Jude says: ‘Yet Michael, the Archangel, when contending with the Devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, [and] dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said “The Lord rebuke thee.”’ Here Tatnai is represented as ‘the devil’ because he falsely accused the Jews...The ‘body of Moses’ is merely the Jewish church, and the disputation regarding the body is the disputation regarding the building of the Temple for the Mosaic system of worship. Thus the passage in Jude which has been the cause of much perplexity becomes easily intelligible...As Michael, the chief messenger, did not rebuke Satan, but said ‘The Lord rebuke thee,’ so it was in the case of Joshua” (pp. 101, 102). On page 76 he states boldly: “It is evident that Michael, the chief messenger, and also the false-accuser (Satan) were individual HUMAN BEINGS” (capitals his).

A less intelligible explanation would be hard to imagine. It is evident, says Booth, that Michael, the Archangel, is a human being. Is it evident that the angel Gabriel is a human being? It is evident to Booth that Joshua in Zechariah 3 is Michael, the Archangel, in Jude 9! Booth has not noted that in Zechariah, the Lord said “the Lord rebuke you.” In Jude, Michael the Archangel uttered the same words. Will this mean then that the Lord is Michael and Joshua?! There is no good evidence for equating the two passages, much less for equating the high priest Joshua with the Archangel Michael!

To propose that Michael, the Archangel, is Joshua the High Priest is unprecedented. I Thessalonians 4:16 provides the only other occurrence of the word archangel, and no one suggests that he is a human being! If we consult contemporary Jewish writings (Jude himself quotes from the book of Enoch), we find a reference to the dispute over the body of Moses — which means Moses’ body — in the Targum of Jonathan on Deuteronomy 34:6, and a reference in the church father, Origen, to the Ascension of Moses in which the story of a dispute over his body occurs. The event was clearly well known to Jude’s readers and needed no explanation. The mention of Satan in opposition to an Archangel is further proof of Satan’s reality as a supernatural being, and this is confirmed beyond any doubt by Revelation 12 where a war occurs in heaven between “Michael and his angels (who) made war with Satan and his angels.” To explain these passages away, in an effort to suppress the scriptural evidence for Satan as an angelic being, is strongly discouraged by the verse in Revelation 22:19 which warns us not to “take away from the book of this prophecy.”

Surely a method of interpretation which entails equating the Archangel Michael with Joshua is self-condemned. The desperation involved in the Christadelphian treatment of Jude 9 should point to the weakness of their whole theory about Satan.

It is customary for the Christadelphians to dismiss the New Testament demon terminology as mere terms bearing no relation to the idea behind them. Thus, it is said, we talk of lunacy without necessarily believing in the power of the moon to produce madness. A moment’s thought will reveal that the use of the word “lunacy” is in no way a parallel to the elaborate use of demon terminology in the New Testament. The New Testament records speak of demons entering and leaving their victims. They carefully differentiate between disease and demon possession (Mark 1:32; 16:17, 18; Luke 6:17, 18). The same outward disease may be attributed to natural causes in one case and to demon possession in another (compare Matt. 4:24 with 17:15 and 12:22 with Mark 7:32). As the Smith’s Bible Dictionary says (quoting Trench, On Miracles, p. 135): “Can it be supposed that Christ would sanction and the Evangelists be permitted to record forever an idea itself false, which has constantly been the very stronghold of superstition. Nor was the language used such as can be paralleled with mere conventional expression. There is no harm in our speaking of certain forms of madness as lunacy, not thereby implying that we believe the moon to have or to have had any influence on them...but if we begin to describe the cure of such as the moon’s ceasing to afflict them, or if a physician were solemnly to address the moon, bidding it to abstain from injuring the patient, there would be here a passing over to a quite different region...There would be that gulf between our thoughts and words in which the essence of a lie consists. Now Christ does everywhere speak such language as this.

“In the face of the mass of evidence, it seems difficult to conceive how the theory of accommodation to the language of the time can be reconciled with anything like the truth of Scripture. We may fairly say that it would never have been maintained, except for the proposition that demoniacal possession was itself a thing absolutely incredible and against all experience” (“Demoniacs,” Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible).

The believer in no personal Satan is invited to reread the passages of Scripture referring to Satan, the Devil, the Tempter, etc., allowing the word angel to mean angel, and “come up to” to mean what it says. It will be found that there is a united scriptural testimony to an external, evil invisible being and his demons. Ultimately the arguments used to suppress the facts about Satan will equally obscure the evidence of the true God. Both are clearly presented in Scripture. Only the prolonged holding of a traditional view to the contrary will make the scriptural doctrine of Satan difficult. The Church of God cannot afford to be uncertain on an issue as fundamental as this.

Non-Personality of Satan — Doctrinal Oddity or Biblical Truth?

It is well for those who deny that there is a supernatural personal Devil in Scripture to realize that they must maintain their position against the views of countless millions of Bible students from all denominations. To do this they must produce clear and sound explanations for those passages in the Bible which have always appeared to their opponents to provide unarguable proof of the existence of the external Satan. The defenders of “non-personality” must, for example, show the basic fallacy in the following remarks of Edersheim in The Life and Times of Jesus:

“As regards the reality and outwardness of the temptation of Jesus, several suggestions may be set aside as unnatural, and ex post facto attempts to remove a felt difficulty. Renan’s frivolous conceit scarcely deserves serious notice, that Jesus went into the wilderness in order to imitate the Baptist and others, since solitude was at the time regarded as a necessary preparation for great things. We equally dismiss, as more reverent, but not better grounded, such suggestions as that an interview with the deputies of the Sanhedrin or with a priest, or with a Pharisee, formed the historical basis of the Satanic temptation; or that it was a vision, a dream, the reflection of the ideas of the time; or that it was a parabolic form in which Jesus afterwards presented to his disciples his conception of the Kingdom, and how they were to preach it.”

So unacceptable do these ideas appear to Edersheim that he adds in a footnote that he refrains from naming the individual writers holding such theories. Edersheim continues: “Of all such explanations it may be said, that the narrative does not warrant them, and that they would probably never have been suggested, if their authors had been able to accept the Evangelic history” (Life and Times of Jesus, Vol. 1, p. 296, emphasis added).

We are here at the very heart of the issue. Those who rejected the facts presented by the temptation story were often those who also rejected the resurrection. The proponents of “non-personality” must consider whether they have not been trapped into a form of unbelief by treating such words as “came up to him and spoke” as figurative language for the onset of an inward struggle in the mind of Jesus. It is only fair that they show from Scripture (since we all believe in comparing passage with passage) a single other instance in which those words are used “figuratively.”

Edersheim rightly says that the passage in Matthew 4, “if naturally interpreted, suggests an outward and real event, not an inward transaction; there is no other instance of ecstatic state or of vision recorded in the life of Jesus, and the special expressions used are all in accordance with the natural view” (Ibid. p. 296, emphasis added).

The celebrated Dictionary of the Bible by Smith says: “It would be a waste of time to prove that, in varying degrees of clearness, the personal existence of a Spirit of Evil is revealed again and again in the scriptures. Every quality, every action which can indicate personality, is attributed to him in language which cannot be explained away...This influence is correlative to, but not to be confounded with, the existence of evil within.”

It has not been fully noticed by proponents of “non-personality” that the biblical doctrine of Satan and demons has unmistakable points of contact with rabbinical and other Jewish writings. The Hastings Dictionary of the Bible notes: “Satan is called the prince of the demons in Matt. 12:24 just as Sammael ‘the great prince in heaven’ is designated the ‘chief of satans’ in the Midrash. The demonology that confronts us in the New Testament has striking points of contact with that which has developed in the Enochic literature. The main features of the latter, in fact, reappear...The ‘angelic watchers’ found in Enoch 6-16 correspond exactly with the angels which ‘kept not their first estate’ (Jude 6, II Pet. 2:4). In Enoch the demons...exercise an evil activity working moral ruin on the earth till the final judgment. In exactly the same way the demons in the New Testament are described as disembodied spirits...As in the book of Enoch, Satan is represented in the New Testament as the ruler of a counterfeit Kingdom of evil...Both in St. Paul and in the Apocalypse Satan is identified with the Serpent of Gen. 3. It is also noteworthy that Paul shared the contemporary belief that the angelic beings inhabited the higher (heavenly) regions, and that Satan also, with his retinue, dwelt not beneath the earth, but in the lower atmospheric region: cp. Eph. 2:2, 6:12. Our Lord, as is clearly apparent in the synoptic tradition, recognized the existence and power of a kingdom of evil with organized demonic agencies under the control of a supreme personality, Satan or Beelzebub...that our Lord accepted the reality of such personal agencies cannot seriously be questioned; nor is it necessary to explain this fact away.”

In the article on the Devil in the same Dictionary we read: “The language [used of Satan and the demons], common to all the writers, and pervading the whole New Testament, allows no other conclusion than that the forces and spirits of evil were conceived as gathered up into a personal head and center whose authority they recognized and at whose bidding they moved...For Jesus himself no theory of accommodation can be maintained...The personality of the Devil must consequently be regarded as taught by Scripture.”

Edersheim’s remarks on the existence of demons are highly significant. “The reader of the New Testament must form some definite idea...about persons who were ‘demonized’...The first question here is whether Christ himself shared the views, not indeed of his contemporaries, but of the Evangelists in regard to what they called the ‘demonized.’ This has been extensively denied, and Christ represented as only unwilling needlessly to disturb popular prejudice, which he could not at the time effectively combat. But the theory requires more than this; and, since Christ not only tolerated, but in addressing the demonized actually adopted, or seemed to adopt the prevailing view, it has been argued that, for the sake of those poor afflicted persons, he acted like a physician who appears to enter into the fancy of his patients, in order the more effectively to heal him of it. This view seems, however, scarcely worth refuting, since it imputes to Jesus, on a point so important, a conduct not only unworthy of him, or indeed of any truly great man, but implies a canon of ‘accommodation’ which might equally be applied to his miracles, or to anything else that contravened the notions of an interpreter, and so might transform the whole Gospel narratives into a series of historically untrustworthy legends...We find that Jesus not only tolerated the popular ‘prejudice,’ or that he ‘adopted it for the sake of more readily healing those thus afflicted’...but that he even made it part of his disciples’ commission to ‘cast out demons,’ and that when the disciples afterwards reported their success in this, Christ actually made it a matter of thanksgiving to God. The same view underlies his reproof to the disciples, when failing in this part of their work; while in Luke 11:19, 24, he adopts and argues on this view as against the Pharisees. Regarded therefore in the light of history, impartial criticism can arrive at no other conclusion than that Jesus of Nazareth shared the views of the Evangelists as regards the ‘demonized’...He would be a bold interpreter who would ascribe all the phenomena even of heathen magic to jugglery, or else to purely physical causes” (Life and Times of Jesus, Vol. 1. pp. 480, 483).

We would invite from the exponents of “no supernatural evil” an explanation of the ability of the magicians in Egypt to imitate the miracles performed by Moses and Aaron, and also some reasonable account of the Parousia (i.e. spectacular arrival, as used of the Coming of Christ) of the Man of Sin (II Thess. 2:9), who is able to produce every “power, and sign and wonder” through the energy of Satan. The very same words are used constantly in the New Testament of the supernatural feats of Jesus. How can these be produced by human power alone apart from the intervention of an unseen evil agent?

These are some of the facts that must be explained by those who maintain that the Satan/Devil of the Bible is no more than human nature. It would also be fair to ask them to produce some evidence of this belief having been seriously entertained by anyone other than those who came under the influence of John Thomas and Robert Roberts. The remarkable fact is that where a denomination is divided on this belief, opinions have been formed according to the opinion of the pastors in different congregations. This proves conclusively that “positions” have been taken up not on the basis of individual study but according to the views of individual pastors. Thus the error of one teacher is perpetuated in his congregation — and not only in one generation. On the other hand the Truth is spread by a single pastor and from his congregation to subsequent generations. It is therefore incumbent on every individual to study these important doctrines for himself, weighing the evidence carefully over a considerable period of time. Each of us must recognize that what we have been initially taught will appear to be right. Such is the strength of conviction gained in early years. The need for unity on fundamental biblical teachings, such as Satan and the Demons, is demanded by the Apostolic appeal of Paul, who speaks to us:

“Now I implore you, brethren, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing; that there be no division among you; that you be knit together in the same mind and the same judgment” (I Cor. 1:10).

[1]In Greek "tou satana" and "o satanas."

[2]The average reader will be astonished at the following: “Now turn to Jude 9, where we find another passage where the word, diabolos, occurs and is translated devil: ‘Yet Michael the archangel when contending with the Devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke you.’ The proper meaning of the word diabolos here is false-accuser; and it is evident that Michael the chief messenger, and also the false-accuser, were individual human beings” (The Mystery of Iniquity Explained, Lyman Booth, , Oregon, Illinois: National Bible Institution, 1929, p. 76).

[3]The Devil and his fallen angels are referred to over 300 times in Scripture. In the Gospels alone, these evil forces are referred to at least 116 times. Another 70 references to the devil can be found in the remainder of the NT. 23 of the 27 NT books contain references to Satan or demons.

[4]The source is Church of God (Abrahamic Faith) but the reasoning is Christadelphian.

More Bible studies in: www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

Comments

THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED:
Are Christians to be on the earth during the time following the appearance of the Abomination of Desolation, which all futurists agree is placed at the mid-point of the Septennium (the seven year period just before the end—Dan. 9:27), OR:

Will Christians be taken to heaven by a return of Jesus to raise the dead before the appearance of the Abomination of Desolation? (i.e., before the tribulation).

The following data must be looked at:
According to Matthew 24:15ff., Mark 13:14ff., and parallels in Luke 21:

1. Christians are to flee to the mountains when the Abomination is placed (Matt. 24:15, Mark 13:14).

Question: How would this fit with the thesis that Christians are to be removed to heaven before the Abomination appears?

2. During the tribulation which begins with the placing of the Abomination, Christians are to be careful not to be deceived by false prophets and false Christs (Matt. 24:23; Mark 13:21).

Question: How would this apply to Christians if they are to be removed from the earth to heaven before the Abomination appears?

3. During the tribulation which begins with the Abomination expectant mothers and nursing mothers will experience difficulty (Matt. 24:19).

Question: Does this fit with the hypothesis that Christians will be removed before the Tribulation?

4. After the tribulation the same “elect” who are warned not to be deceived during the tribulation (Matt. 24:23) are gathered from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other (Matt. 24:31). (Isa. 13:5 speaks of an army of nations coming from the end of heaven — showing this expression to be an idiom for a gathering from all over the earth.)

Question: Does the gathering of the elect after the tribulation fit with the idea that our gathering together to Christ is to happen before the tribulation?

5. The Christians who see all the troubles of the tribulation time (Luke 21:21) are to look up and to expect their approaching redemption following the time of trouble.

Question: Why would Christians be looking up towards the sky if they have been removed before the time of trouble?

SUMMARY QUESTION: Why, if Christians are to be removed to heaven before the Tribulation, does Jesus give explicit instructions to Christians for coping with conditions during the Tribulation?

In other words, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 all describe (in a total of about 60 verses) the conflict between Christians and the forces of evil during the Tribulation. How can this fit with the theory that Christians will be removed before the Antichrist appears?

PAUL’S LETTERS

1. Paul promises that Christians will receive relief from tribulation “when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God” (2 Thess. 2:7).

Question: How does this fit with the theory that Christians will be relieved from suffering seven years earlier than this revelation of Jesus in flaming fire?

2. Paul specifically warns the Christians that two things — the apostasy and the arrival of the man of sin — have to happen before the Day of the Lord and our gathering together to him (II Thess. 2:1-3).

Question: How then can it be maintained that nothing has to happen before our gathering together to meet Jesus?

SUMMARY:

What is the relevance of all the warnings about flight to the mountains, pregnancy, deception during the tribulation if Christians are to be removed before the Abomination is placed? Why do Christians look up after the tribulation (Luke 21:28) in expectation of their salvation, if they should expect to be removed before the Tribulation? Why are Christians found in the tribulation (Matt. 24:15ff, Mark 13:14ff, Luke 21:20ff) if Christians are going to be removed to heaven before the tribulation?

THE PROPOSITION WHICH MUST BE EXAMINED IS SIMPLY THIS:

The Bible describes the activities of Christians at the beginning, during and after the tribulation, viz:

Before: “When you see the Abomination...flee.”

During: “Then shall be great tribulation...those days shall be shortened...then if anyone says to you....”

After: “Immediately after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened...and the angels will gather the elect...look up, for your redemption draws near.”

This is a description of Christians on the earth during the tribulation. How then can we say that they are not on the earth but in heaven during the tribulation? (Matthew, Mark and Luke all speak of Christians on the earth during the tribulation, and of their being gathered after it.)

Note: The only way in which the force of the above can be avoided is by saying that none of the descriptions of conflict affect the Church but only Jews who come to faith after the tribulation begins. We could then ask: If Jesus does not mean Christians when he says “you” in Matthew 24, how would we know that anything in the gospels addressed to “you” (disciples) applies to Christians? The theory that Christians are not addressed in Matthew 24:15ff (instructions for going through the great tribulation) sounds very much like an attempt to divorce Christians from what Jesus taught them in the gospels — indeed some ultra-dispensationalists have maintained that none of the material in the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, Luke) is for Christians! When Jesus tells the twelve to go into the world and preach everywhere we all take this as a command to us. It was given to Jewish Christians but the body of Christ constitutes their descendants. What is said to them applies directly to us. When Jesus addresses believers telling them how to cope during the tribulation, this must mean that they must expect to be on earth during the tribulation.

The Pre-/Post-Tribulation Rapture discussion can therefore be reduced to a simple question: Why do Christ and Paul give instructions to Christians for going through the final tribulation if they are going to be removed before the Tribulation begins?

If someone were to warn you of an approaching typhoon and give you instructions about what to do in order to survive the storm, it would be strange if at the same time he told that you will not be in the locality of the typhoon at all. Both the gospels and Revelation speak of saints battling the evil forces of Antichrist during the tribulation. Jesus gave specific orders to Christians in Judea about what to do when the “storm” was approaching. To say that Christians will observe the tribulation from heaven simply contradicts and renders pointless Jesus’ commands to Christians alive when the Abomination of Desolation appears (Matt. 24:15, Mark 13:14). There is no need to flee if you have been raptured.

The importance of this question is underlined by the following fact: Paul expressly warns Christians not to be deceived by anyone saying that the second coming can occur immediately (2 Thess. 2:1-3, KJV), or that it has already happened. Paul then distinctly explains that two things must happen “before the coming of the Lord and our gathering together to him” (v. 1). These two events are: 1) The Apostasy and 2) The appearance of the Man of Sin. It follows that unless the Man of Sin has already appeared the Coming of Jesus cannot happen. The passage deals deliberately with the sequence of events preceding the Coming of Jesus.

Paul’s reference to the man of sin who “exalts himself above all that is called God” (2 Thess. 2:4) takes us back to Daniel 11:36 where we can identify the Man of Sin as the “King of the North.” This “King” is the subject of a long prophecy beginning in Daniel 11:21. The King of the North, historically, was Syria or Assyria (these nations attacked Israel from the north. Their modern counterparts are Syria and Iraq). Fortunately we are told in the postscript to Daniel 11 (Dan. 12:7-11) that exactly 1290 days will elapse from the time that this King of the North places “the Abomination of Desolation” (Dan. 11:31) until the end of all the events of the vision, including the Tribulation (Dan. 12:1) and Resurrection (Dan. 12:2).

This critically important chronological data is found in Daniel 12:11: “From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the Abomination of Desolation is set up there will be 1290 days.”

Remarkably, Jesus also refers to the career of this same final King of the North when he speaks of the Abomination of Desolation appearing in Jerusalem (see Matt. 24:15, where Jesus directs us to Dan. 11:31, 12:11, as well as Dan. 9:27, 8:13). The appearance of the Abomination means the onset of the great Tribulation — again Jesus refers to the same prophecy in Daniel 12:1.

The picture of the final time of trouble is very clearly laid out by Jesus and Paul who both base their understanding on Daniel, especially the prophecy of Daniel 11 and 12. If we start with Jesus’ clear instructions (rather than our own preconceived systems of interpretation) we will find a simple prediction of a final tyrant whose career climaxes with the placing of the Abomination of Desolation (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 11:31). Following this the saints who have not escaped are cruelly persecuted: “The people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that be wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame and by captivity and by spoil for some days” (Dan. 11:32, 33).

The final tyrant comes to his end (Dan. 11:45) and the Kingdom of God is then established (Dan. 2:44, 7:18, 22, 27). For these terrible events of the end Jesus warns us to be prepared — though we do not know when they will begin. It is not helpful for Bible teachers to promise their students complete exemption from the time of final trouble when Jesus has gone to great lengths to instruct us on how to survive in the coming time of trouble! “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13).

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Introduction

One request on our survey/questionnaire was for “all that would help me understand better about Christ.” This Morning we ask, What is your concept of Who He is? What would you say? What are the thoughts that people have of Jesus?

I. He is the Son of God.

A. There is Peter’s well-known confession.

In Mat 16:13-17, we find Jesus asking this same question, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" {14} So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." {15} He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" {16} Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." {17} Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

B. It was one repeated by the Ethiopian.

(Acts 8:36-37 NKJV) Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" {37} Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

C. John repeatedly called Jesus the only begotten Son.

1. The first reference is in the prologue.

(John 1:18 NKJV) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

2. The second reference is in what has been called the golden text of the Bible.

(John 3:16 KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

D. Paul refers to Jesus as the last Adam.

(1 Cor 15:45-47 NKJV) And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. {46} However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. {47} The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

II. How was Jesus described when He walked on earth?

A. He obviously did many good works.

(John 10:32 NKJV) Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"

B. His actions were often described as being moved with compassion.

(Mat 14:14 NKJV) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

1. He was moved to tears at the tomb of Lazarus.

(John 11:34-36 NKJV) And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." {35} Jesus wept. {36} Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"

2. He was touched by a widow who had lost her son.

(Luke 7:12-16 NKJV) And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. {13} When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." {14} Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." {15} So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. {16} Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us"; and, "God has visited His people."

3. He touched lives – literally.

a. He touched a leper.

(Mat 8:1-3 NKJV) When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. {2} And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." {3} Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

b. He touched the eyes of blind men.

(Mat 20:31-34 NKJV) Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" {32} So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" {33} They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." {34} So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

C. He went about doing good.

(Acts 10:38 NKJV) "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

D. God gave Jesus the Spirit without measure.

(John 3:34-35 NKJV) "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. {35} "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.

III. He went about teaching.

A. As He finished the Sermon on the Mount, the people were impressed.

(Mat 7:28-29 NKJV) And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, {29} for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

B. He taught that His words were to be heeded and obeyed.

(John 12:48 NKJV) "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him; the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

C. We must know His words because they are life.

(John 6:63 NKJV) "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

IV. Who is your Christ? – What does He mean to you?

A. Is He your Lord?

1. What does it mean for Him to be Lord?

(Luke 6:46-49 NKJV) "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?"

2. Jesus obviously expects our total obedience.

(Mark 8:34-35 NKJV) When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. {35} "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.

B. Is He your Savior?

Conclusion

I. Have you accepted Jesus as Your Lord and Savior?

II. Have you been baptized into Christ?

(Rom 6:3-4 NKJV) Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? {4} Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

A. All spiritual blessings are in Christ.

(Eph 1:3 NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

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by John Clayton

There is probably no subject in matters related to the existence of God where there is more confusion than what has popularly been called the big bang. Much of the problem has come from not understanding what the theory proposes. Historically, the first suggestion that would propose the idea came in 1916 from Albert Einstein's field equation of general relativity predicting an expanding universe. In 1916, the accepted philosophical position was that the cosmos had always existed, and Einstein's proposal clearly dictated that there was a beginning, so his theory was altered to conform to the accepted position. That position also contradicted the Bible which delighted atheists. In 1925, Abbe Georges Le Maitre, an astrophysicist and Jesuit priest promoted a hot big bang creation event. In the late 1930s, Edwin Hubble gathered spectra data that supported the fact that the cosmos was expanding. Since that time, more and more data has been gathered to add to the hot big bang event concept. In later years, Arno Penziar and Robert Wilson measured temperatures that fitted the picture and were awarded a Nobel Prize. Most recently evidence has shown that the cosmos is not only expanding, but in fact is accelerating in its expansion.

All of this is in strong support of the Bible's assertion that there was a beginning. In cosmology, the view is that the big bang involved the creation of time and the creation of space (space/time) which again agrees with the notion that the creation was not just a rearrangement of energy/mass but a process that had a cause. The biblical concept of what God is fits this cause very well.

What is especially interesting in this discussion is that the literal meaning of words in the Hebrew and Greek strongly support the expanding universe concept. It is this relationship of the big bang and the Bible that we would like to explore in this article.

God's Predating the Universe

The first point that needs to be made about this subject is that the Bible clearly points to God existing before the universe existed. This is not just the obvious point of Genesis 1:1, but is also stated in Proverbs 8:22-31, Colossians 1, John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:20. The biblical concept of God is that He is a being outside of time and space and is the cause of the existence we have. Acts 17:28 clearly states it as ".in Him we live and move and have our being." It is also important to note the name of God chosen in Genesis 1 is Elohim. There are many names used in Hebrew for God, each indicative of the properties of God being discussed. Jaweh is used when one is talking about the promises of God. Adonai is used when the ruling aspect of God is the subject. When the power and creative nature of God are involved, the word is Elohim, and that is used exclusively in Genesis 1. In modern English, we might refer to our mate as our wife or husband, our old woman or old man, our lover, our battle ax. All of those convey different conceptions of the person we are married to.

The Creative Process

The word used in Genesis 1:1 to describe the creation is the Hebrew word bara. This word is never used in reference to something a human can do. Seven times in the Old Testament, it is used in reference to the creation (Genesis 1:1; 2:3-4; Psalm 148:5; Isaiah 40:26; 42:5; and 45:15). Hebrews 11:3 states that the cosmos we can see is made out of things which we cannot see. Numerous passages indicate that God is the sole source of the cosmos, further supporting God as the creator. (see Isaiah 45:5-22; John 1:3; and Colossians 1:15-17).

The Expansion of the Cosmos

The word shamayim is used in the Bible to refer to the astronomical universe. The word itself is connected with the phrase stretched out eleven times in the Old Testament (Job 9:8; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; 48:13; 51:13; Jeremiah 10:12; 51:15; Zachariah 12:1). The concept here is that the cosmos is not static but the verb natah is used in an active participle form indicating that the process is ongoing.

You do not have to be a Hebrew scholar to understand the concept (I certainly would make no claim of personal credibility at all). Just take a concordance and look up the words and see what the common usage is. In Young's Analytical Concordance, for example, shamayim is referred to as heaved up things because of its connection to the stretching or expanding concept.

It is important to understand that the concept of the big bang and the expansion of the cosmos makes no statement of it being something that is a product of blind chance. If a person takes that position, it is a religious assumption. The evidence that design is mandatory for a life-bearing planet to exist from the hot big bang model has been discussed many times in this journal.

The fact that the universe had a beginning that involved the creation of space/time and that the expansion of the cosmos is ongoing is supported both by the scientific evidence and by biblical claims. The Bible continues to hold an amazing record of accuracy and knowledge far beyond its day. We argue that the big bang is just one more of a massive number of examples that show it is the word of God.

Much of the material for this article is from an article by Dr. John Rea, specialist in Old Testament languages and archaeology, and Dr. Hugh Ross in Facts for Faith, Quarter 3, 2000, pages 26-32.

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Today, many people are fascinated with the miraculous gifts of the New Testament. In various ways, I have been asked if I believe in miracles. That sounds like an easy question, but let's be sure we are "on the same page." If you are asking if I think men today can raise the dead, restore hearing to the deaf, and sight to the blind, or cause the paralyzed to walk, my answer is no.

If you are asking if I think that prayers for the sick are answered, my answer is yes. On March 4, 1998, my aorta dissected at about 9:30 in the morning. Untold prayers were prayed for me. By e-mail, prayer requests went to Europe, and perhaps other countries. Obviously, I am still alive. Is that a miracle, or an answer to prayer? I call it an answer to prayer! Why? Because I have been told that only one in twenty ever live to tell of their experience. I thank God for sparing my life. As great as that is, it isn't the same as raising someone who is dead, and has been dead for some time. My heart was stopped for 18 minutes, but I was not dead.

What does the Bible say about miracles? I think Acts 8 is a great starting point. (Acts 8:5-8 NKJV) Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. {6} And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. {7} For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. {8} And there was great joy in that city.

In few words, these verses tell the story very well. Philip preached the word, and the people listened. Here is the statement: "hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." That was the reason for miracles. Miracles were to confirm the word. The Hebrew writer says, "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, {4} God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" (Heb 2:3-4 NKJV) What does this passage say? It says basically that "signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit," were for the purpose of confirming the word.

John, in his gospel, used the word "sign" for miracles in numerous cases. Near the end of the gospel he recorded, he said, "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; {31} but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30-31 NKJV)

A very similar thought is expressed here in John as was expressed by the Hebrew writer. The purpose was to confirm the word, or the teachings of Jesus as the New Testament age began. Now the question is, when did miracles end? Before we answer that question, we need to know how one came to possess the gift of miracles to begin with. I only know of two ways. (1) A direct act of God through His Holy Spirit. Examples of this are the apostles on the Day of Pentecost, and on Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. and (2) The apostles could lay their hands on someone and impart the miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit to others.

Returning to Acts 8, we see Simon the sorcerer wanted to buy this power. There are several important points in this story, but two that we want to point out especially. Here is the story: (Acts 8:14-21 NKJV) Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, {15} who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. {16} For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. {17} Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. {18} And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, {19} saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." {20} But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! {21} "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God."

What are the two points? First: The miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit could only be passed on by laying on of the apostles hands. Notice two points in this regard. (1) Highlighted in verse 17 is the statement that Peter and John were sent to Samaria. Why? "that they might receive the Holy Spirit. {16} For as yet He had fallen upon none of them" How did it happen? {17} 'Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." What follows? "And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, {19} saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." So what is the first point? It took the laying on of the apostles hands to pass on the miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit. What is the second point? We know of no case where anyone besides the apostles was ever given the power to pass this gift on to others. There were only two groups that had miraculous power so as to be able to perform miracles: (1) the apostles, and (2) those on whom the apostles had laid their hands. When these died, that was the last of those who could perform miracles.

One other thought should be added. Paul said, "Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." (2 Cor 12:12 NKJV) Very clearly, "signs and wonders and mighty deeds" were the "signs of an apostle." The apostles are dead. Those on whom they laid their hands are dead, so miracles have ceased.

The miracles were "signs" to confirm the word and the the teaching of Christ. That was accomplished early in the history of the church. Miracles have ceased because those who had this power all died a long time ago. As much as we might like it to be otherwise, I find no evidence to give us any hope that there is a single exception to the rules I have just outlined above; therefore, it is my conclusions that there are no genuine miracles today.

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Many years ago, I preached a sermon entitled, “Shall We Gamble?” The outline is available on my website at http://www.harleypinon.com/shall_we_gamble.htm At the time I preached the sermon, state sponsored gambling was not a part of life in Texas. That changed. Governor “Ma” Richards was the one who supported a state sponsored lottery.

The purpose of the lottery was to raise money for the state. That, in itself, should speak volumes. The purpose of gambling it to make money for someone, but whom? If you are the gambler, it isn’t intended that you win. Now, please understand what I am saying. I don’t mean to imply that no one at any time will ever win, but the “cards are stacked” against you.

Let me explain it in simple terms. The combinations have been changed, but at one time, the odds of your winning the Texas Lotto, was one in 16,000,000. The jackpot starts at $4,000,000 so do the math. Yes, do the math! I taught math for 33 years in Texas, and the more you know the numbers, the more you know to leave gambling alone.

In order to be sure of winning that $4,000,000, you would need to buy all 16,000,000 combinations. So let’s assume that you can figure out how to buy all 16,000,000 combinations. Are you now a sure winner? Yes and No. I love that answer: Yes and No. As a math teacher, there was normally only one correct answer, so how can you say the answer to the question is yes and no.

The answer is yes in that you will win. The answer is no in that you are not sure that you will get the entire $4,000,000 because if someone else buys “the winning ticket,” then the two of you will get to split the $4,000,000. I often have said that life comes with few guarantees, and gambling certainly has no guarantee of winning.

As a math teacher, I actually taught students about gambling. It was part of the course. In the example we are studying, students were taught to study the actual “value” of their lotto ticket. The way you do that is by dividing the value you can receive by the cost of being sure you would get it. In this case, the answer is found by dividing $4 million by $16 million, and the answer is $0.25. In other words, each ticket that you buy for $1 is worth $0.25 as far as your chances of winning are concerned.

So how do you win at gambling? If you buy only one ticket, you only have one chance of winning, but you have only lost $0.75 in actual value. So what if you want to be surer of winning? Why not buy 100 tickets? Now you have bought $25 worth of chance at a price of $100. When the numbers are drawn, the greatest likelihood is that you will have lost your $100.

Let’s look at some other aspects of gambling. Is it wrong? Doest the Bible say it is wrong? We probably all know that no where in the Bible does it say, “Thou shalt not gamble,” but does that mean it is okay?

Let’s be honest: Gambling is fired by the fuel of greed. As Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Tim 6:9-10 (NKJV), he said, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. {10} For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Part of the appeal of gambling is something for nothing. “The traditional American dream based on the work ethic—if one works hard, he succeeds—has been replaced by a new dream: something for nothing.” Charles Colson – Christianity Today, July 10, 1987. But “something for nothing” just doesn’t work. If we truly get “something for nothing,” or a whole lot for very little, it is because someone else, or in the case of a state lottery, millions of others have lost a little, or much, for nothing in return. I’ve often heard gamblers reason like this: Someone is going to win, and it might as well be me. That sounds good, but there is a real problem with the statement: it’s false! In Texas, the Texas lotto rents billboards where they advertise the value of the next lottery. Why does it change? It goes up when no one won in the last drawing. Think about that a moment: no one in the entire state of Texas won!

I just returned from a Builders convention in Orlando. I put my business card in a fishbowl for a drawing. In fact, they drew for 5 prizes, and I didn’t win when I was in a room of only a 1,000 or so people. Think about it! I didn’t win in a drawing where I had 5 chances, and only 1,000 people. What is the likelihood of winning in a Texas Lotto where there are normally millions who participate and sometimes, no winners? So the idea that “Someone is going to win, and it might as well be me,” just isn’t sound thinking.

God’s plan for man is that we are to produce with our labor. Even in the Garden of Eden, before man sinned, he was to care for the garden. (Gen 2:15 NKJV) “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” God designed man to work. Work is rewarding. Ask someone where they work, and they will usually gladly tell you. Some may not be too proud of where they work, but what is the alternative? “I’m unemployed,” or “I’m retired.” I’ve never known anyone to say, “I’m unemployed,” and say it with pride. Employment is something we can be proud of. It’s how we produce something of value for ourselves, and for others.

Paul spoke of work this way: (2 Th 3:10-12 NKJV) For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. {11} For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. {12} Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.” Gambling produces nothing. It is a process by which a lot of money changes hands. A few are winners, but most are losers.

Who is the real winner in Gambling? Let’s go back to the math problem. If you bought the ticket, you got a $0.25 chance of willing for $1.00, so who got the $0.75? Is that hard to figure out? It’s the one who sold you the ticket! I’m reminded of a friend of mine who says he goes to Las Vegas to gamble—just for fun. He has a certain rule. He goes to spend only a certain amount, and when that is gone, he quits. At least, that’s what he tells me. He told me of being in Las Vegas and hiring a taxi to take him to a Casino. He was telling the driver how he had come to gamble, and hoped he would win. As he was about to get out of the taxi, the driver said, “Just remember, Sir, you and your friends are the ones who pay for this place.”

As a home builder, I went to Las Vegas for a builders’ convention. I didn’t spend a cent on gambling, but it was obvious that huge amounts of money had been spent on buildings, lighting, etc., and whose money was it? As the taxi driver reminded my friend, Las Vegas was built with the losses of those who came to get rich.

Gambling is addictive.

In 1 Cor 6:12 (NKJV), Paul said, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” Gambling becomes additive for many, many people. That’s obvious from the fact that there is a Gamblers’ Anonymous. “Compulsive gambling is now estimated to claim one million citizens—people like the New Jersey woman who embezzled $38,000 from a bank to buy lottery tickets, and like the Pennsylvania youth who was so distraught after dropping $6,000 trying for a $2.5 million jackpot that he attempted suicide.”

Gambling is poor stewardship.

As Christians, we must be good stewards of the blessings God has given us. In Luke 16:10-13 {NKJV) we read Jesus words as he said, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. {11} "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? {12} "And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? {13} "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

It is rather well established that some who gamble deprive their families of the necessities of life. This is a very serious matter. Paul said in 1 Tim 5:8 (NKJV) “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” How can you get worse than an unbeliever: yet that is what Paul says of those who do not provide for their families?

But Who Gambles? Can’t they afford it?

One report stated, “What is especially unfair is that the lottery exploits those who are particularly vulnerable to the promise of a sudden windfall. A Maryland study found that the poorest one-third of state households bought half of all weekly lottery tickets. New York’s busiest lottery agent reports, “Seventy percent of those who buy my tickets are poor, black, or Hispanic.” Another study concluded that the lotteries in Connecticut and Massachusetts were equivalent to a state sales tax of 60 to 90 percent on lower income groups. A Texas Baptist official put it well: “A lottery is the sale of an illusion to poor people who view it as the only possibility for breaking out of the cycle of poverty they live in.”

We are accountable to God for all that we possess.

The cost of gambling is too high. In 1984, Americans wagered an estimated $177 billion—twice as much as they spent on higher education, 15 times what they donated to churches and over half what they spent on food. Illegal gambling had the biggest share of that total, with 28%, but state lotteries ran a close second with 22 %.

Gambling and Risks—they are Different!

Many people like to compare gambling to taking risks. If you get in your car and take a trip, or just drive to work, there is the chance that you will not return home alive. That is a risk that we take, and there are numerous risks that we take everyday. Every business owner risks his money as he invests it in his business. My sons and I are in the home building business. We invest our money to buy land, and to build homes. When we are successful, what is the result? The result is that we hope to make a profit for our risks and our labor, and in turn, we have provided someone a home to live in. There are millions of business men in various kinds of business. All are taking risks, but that doesn’t make them gamblers. Gamblers produce nothing. The risks of life should have a purpose, and most do.

What about the Stock Market?

Some may make the stock market gambling for them, but the stock market is basically nothing more or less than partial ownership of a company. How is the value of that company determined? It’s determined by what people think it is worth. It is driven by the emotions of people as well as the true value of the company.

What happens when the price of stock goes down? Some will perceive it as an opportunity to buy a bargain and hope the price will rise. Others will sell out of fear and drive the price down further. In the end, I call it an investment with a risk involved. Some stocks are far more risky than others. Maybe some make gambling of it, but in its worst form it is still investing in a company. It may be foolish investing, and can become very poor stewardship for some who seem driven by poor motives.

Isn’t there “recreational” or innocent gambling?

Some have the idea that there are certain forms of gambling that are okay. For example, my dad worked in a service station where the workers would “pitch for a coke.” Those participating would pitch a quarter at a designated crack in the concrete. The one whose quarter landed the farthest from the crack would have to buy cokes for everyone who participated. Some defended this practice as fine, since it was only a way of deciding who would buy the cokes.

While it is true that those who “lost” did not lose much, the fact remains, they lost. Yes, it’s less “creative,” but why not change the system. Let someone say, “Let me buy the cokes!” What’s the difference? Well, it’s going to cost him, but isn’t he going to be appreciated for what he did?

In the case of the coin toss, the recipients may thank the “giver,” but it isn’t quite the same. Everyone knows he’s the giver because he’s the “loser.”

Is Gambling Wrong?

As we said earlier, the Bible does not say “Thou shalt not gamble.” In fact, the words gamble, gambler, or gambling, do not occur in the Bible, but for all the reasons given in this article, I believe that gambling is wrong and should not be participated in in any form. Again, I didn’t say we should not take risks, but there is a difference.

www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

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"In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was something shocking, now anything goes!" Too true with too many implications. The moral standards of our country, and even more so of the world, have been in a tail spin for decades. Sexual promiscuity has become all too common among the young unmarried and the married as well.

In no way do we intend to make light sexual sins of this nature, but in this article, we will confine our remarks to Homosexuality: What does the Bible say?

Let’s begin with the Beginning

We don’t read far in the Bible until we come to this statement: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. {28} Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Gen 1:27-28 NKJV)

In its own discreet way, the Bible has already indirectly dealt with the issue of homosexuality. God created us as male and female. As such, we are to "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it;” The filling the earth has been taken care of and I do not believe this verse can be used as a prohibition of birth control as is done by the Roman Catholic Church, but part of the purpose of sex is to produce children. The future of the world and the economy of the world depend on it. Without young people getting married and buying homes in which to rear families, our economy and cities would soon go into decline. There is great wisdom in God’s plan of reproduction.

Intended for Pleasure

It is also clear that God intended the sexual relationship for pleasure, but He made it very clear that this pleasure was reserved for a man and his wife. Sexual relations between a man an woman who are not married to each other is clearly forbidden in passages such as (Heb 13:4 NKJV) “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” In this passage, both fornicators (unmarried people engaging in sexual relations with each other) and adulterers (married people engaging in sexual relations with someone other than the one to whom they are married.)

God intended that we marry and that we have a good marital relationship. Paul makes this very clear in (1 Cor 7:2-5 NKJV): “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. {3} Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. {4} The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. {5} Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

Rather briefly, we have dealt with God’s plan for our sexuality. Basically, that we marry a member of the opposite sex. That we have sexual relations to produce children and to provide for each others sexual needs and desires. That is God’s plan, and it is a plan which provides the very best for all involved. As with many things, man sometimes becomes self centered, and becomes interested in anything that brings him pleasure without regard for other people, or for God’s laws.

Homosexuality Has Been Here a Long Time.

The first mention of the problem is found in (Gen 13:13 NKJV) “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.” There is no mention in this verse of the specific nature of their sins, but that becomes clear as the account continues: (Gen 19:4-5 NKJV) Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. {5} And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally." If this version isn’t clear enough, I’ll share two others: (Gen 19:5 NASB) and they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them." (Gen 19:5 NIV) They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

I think most people have heard the expression, “Sodomy” as a reference to one form of homosexuality. Most people also know the punishment that God measured out for this sin which God regarded as especially serious. (Gen 19:27-29 NKJV) And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. {28} Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. {29} And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

The New Testament Clearly Condemns Homosexuality!

(1 Cor 6:9-11 NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, {10} nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. {11} And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

This passage teaches two very important concepts: (1) homosexuality is wrong, and (2) if can be forgiven, but it not something that we are to continue doing Paul included homosexuality in a short list of sins as he wrote to Timothy: (1 Tim 1:9-10 NASB) realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers {10} and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,

Some of the harshest words are used as Paul wrote to the Romans: (Rom 1:20-32 NKJV) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, {21} because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. {22} Professing to be wise, they became fools, {23} and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. {24} Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, {25} who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. {26} For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. {27} Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. {28} And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; {29} . . . {32} who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

Of what other sin does the Bible say God gave them up to vile passions. Just consider the statement: God gave them up Of what other sin does the Bible say God gave them over to a debased mind? Of what other sin does the Bible say, “receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” In our day, is this penalty AIDS? Whether it is or not, one thing is certain: God condemns the practice in no uncertain terms. Not only that, but he concludes by saying, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (v. 32) In that statement, I see a prohibition of approving “same sex marriages,” or anything else that approves, or encourages the practice.

Excuses Don’t Count!

Many want to argue that they were just born that way. I don’t believe that God condemns something in such harsh terms if we have no control over it. I’m thankful that the practice is totally repulsive to me, hence, not a temptation, but we have the clear promise of God for those that are tempted, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13 NKJV) If this is a problem for someone, he needs to do what we should always do with temptation: Ask God to help us with the problem. Sometimes it helps to share with a trusted friend, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16 NKJV)

The Bible treats homosexuality very seriously from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to Paul's statements to the church at Rome. It is to be taken seriously. It isn't a problem that judges and law making bodies can make okay. The One Great Lawgiver has spoken, and He has very clearly said, "It isn't okay!"

www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

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By. Mario Olcese

Key Text : “Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;” (Rom 2:7 NKJV)

The Mistaken Concept of Glory

Millions of people have listened to sermons in churches that state that God has called their friends and loved ones to his celestial glory. Also, in funeral sermons, the Pastor or Bishop may say that the dear deceased brother is right now with God in His glory, being synonymous with heaven itself. However, what many Christians are ignorant of is that this promised glory by God and His Son for the faithful, has to do with a possession, or inheritance, of a Kingdom on the earth at the the Parousia (the coming or appearing) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of God's Kingdom.

This brief study will demonstrate that the Glory to which all believers are called has to do with the coming of Christ’s millennial kingdom to the earth. This primary study is intended to remove the doubts that we can still partake of the glory which we have been offered. The Catholic tradition is a distortion of the biblical view of the glory we are offered. It has largely gone unexamined by many Christians.

In Search of Glory

The apostle Paul refers to glory as the Christian's goal: the OBJECTIVE. We are to seek for it tenaciously. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle says to them:

“God "will give to each person according to what he has done." {7} To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” (Rom 2:6-7 NIV) So, all Christian believers must seek and long for the future glory (see the parallel words of Jesus in Matthew: “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33), that will be granted to the believer after his mortal body has been clothed with immortality by the resurrection of the last day, in the parousia (or coming of) our Lord Jesus Christ. These are Paul's words: “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:4). So you see that nobody yet possesses the glory that we have been offered through the teaching of the Bible. And again the apostle Paul tells the believing Romans about this end-time glory, in the following: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Here Paul says that we must suffer tribulations before receiving the glory, which agrees with other writings of his that say: “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Here our suffering will bring glory as a reward: Glory which will come when we REIGN with Christ.

It is a fact that our glory is inseparably linked to the future kingdom of Christ. One cannot be in glory, without being in the Kingdom and vice versa. In 1 Thes. 2:12 Paul shows this inseparable connection between the glory and the kingdom. He writes to the faithful of Thessalonica the following words: “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory”. Paul says concerning the Kingdom and glory that they are future when he says that our glory will come when Christ appears. “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:4 NKJV)

The Glory in the Old Testament

King David, singer of beautiful praise Psalms, says it this way in Psalms 145:11-13: “They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and tell of thy power, to make known to the sons of men thy mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of thy kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations”. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. David predicts that men will recognize the kingdom of God as something glorious and magnificent. Besides, King David's Kingdom, including his descendants, was the very same kingdom of Yahweh. 1 Chro. 28:5 reads: “And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel”. Solomon, the successor of David, took his seat in the same throne of Yahweh's kingdom in Israel. And this kingdom that Solomon inherited was a glorious kingdom in the judgment of all men! God's dominion or government over His people through His anointed kings was God's glorious kingdom in the Promised Land. That kingdom was established to last for many generations (Psa. 145:13) and exercising divine authority on the nations of the earth in the long term (Psa. 72:8). God had sworn to David that his sons would continue to sit on the throne without fail. (2 Sam 7:16 NKJV) "And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."' " (1 Ki 9:5 NKJV) "then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' Also he promised that some day a last and final Davidic king would restore David's throne (Eze. 21:25-27). The glory of the Kingdom would someday be established in the earth with a Jewish king of David's line. And Daniel (in chapter 7) spoke of that kingdom-glory as an inheritance that would be possessed by God's saints in the future. Note especially, verses 18 and 27 “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever.' And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them” This is the glory that the Most High's saints will receive!

Ezekiel 39:21 says the following: “And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have executed, and my hand which I have laid on them”. Here God talks about putting his glory among the nations, that glory that has to do with His tabernacle, his dwelling place among the saints (Rev. 21:1-3). God Himself will place His sanctuary among men. Finally, His presence and His rulership as King of kings will be absolute in the world. He will first reign in His kingdom through His Son, Jesus (The King of kings), for a thousand years, and then The Almighty Father will personally reign with Christ and his church as the Sovereign over His whole creation forever. Then the world will enjoy peace and justice never seen before by any human being, when the devil and his followers will be eradicated from the earth forever.

An Already Present Glory by Faith, but Not Yet Realized

It is certain that today we can have the glory, the salvation, the everlasting life, and the Kingdom through our faith. Each believer is already in the book of life in God's sight, and in a way, right now we possesses that glory and immortality by faith (“…those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” Heb. 6:12). But let's remember that we must keep that faith in order to get the final realization of our salvation (See Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5). Jesus “has given” us glory by faith (John 17:22). Christ had it while He was on the earth, although He received it after his victory over death in his resurrection (Heb. 2:9). In the same way, Christ will take us to glory (not heaven!) when we are raised from the grave, having also been made perfect through the present tribulations. "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22 NKJV)

The Gospel of Christ's Glory ( 2 Cor. 4:4 )

Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 Says: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God”. Here Paul reveals that Christ's glory – which is like the glory that is promised to us, is the glory of the gospel. Paul preached ‘the Kingdom of God’ as related to the message of the gospel concerning Jesus. Consider (Acts 28:23 NKJV) “So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.” (Also Acts 28:30, 31)

So That ALL RELATED with Christ's glory is the true Gospel, because this glory is an important part of the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Mat. 24:14). (Mat 24:14 NKJV) "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

We have just seen that kingdom and glory come side by side. So, each time that we are promised glory, in reality what is promised to us is the Kingdom. In short, to talk about the gospel of Christ's glory is to talk about the gospel of Christ's kingdom. The glory is part of the Kingdom, and the Kingdom involves the glory that we will obtain completely in the Parousía (or return of Christ). All believers are moving by faith to that monarchical glory (Heb. 2:10).

Peter “Took Part” In The Coming Glory (1 Peter 5:1)

The apostle Peter says it this way: “…So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed” (1 Pet. 5:1). With these words the apostle Peter recognized that right now he was also participating with the other believers of the glory that has not yet been manifested. That participation in glory was, for Peter, the participation of the divine nature (see 2 Pet. 1:4), by which one can obtain “…an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (See 2 Pet. 1:11). This agrees with what has been said by Paul when he assured the faithful of Corinth that: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50). One must earnestly desire the divine nature! Besides, for Paul, this participation in the glory of the Kingdom was equivalent to the participation of GRACE (Phil. 1:7), the true gospel of God's grace or the gospel of God's Kingdom in the earth (Look for my two articles on the subject in Google: “ Is the Gospel of Grace Paul's New Gospel? And “The Part is not the whole: A Study of the Complete Gospel!”).

The Apostle John Also Was a Participant in the Kingdom

John, just like Peter and Paul, was a participant of the glory which he called “the Kingdom”. In Revelation 1:9 he says: “John, your brother, who shares with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”. Did you notice, dear reader, that partnership in the Kingdom for John was the partnership of glory for Peter, and in turn was the partnership of grace for Paul? That is, do You Understand now that the 3 terms (glory, kingdom, and grace) are closely related? It is evident than John participated in the kingdom; that is to say, in the glory that had not yet become manifest. And if glory had not become manifest, then neither had Christ's Kingdom. Christ's Kingdom was for John, a subject of the future, because he finalized his book asking for the coming of the King of the kingdom (Rev. 22:20 ).

What does John and James's Petition reveal?

It is interesting to compare Matt. 20:20-21 with Mar. 10:35-37, where we will discover what was clearly the glory for the disciples. These verses in Matthew' and Mark have been overlooked by many students of the Bible, and are key verses to understand what glory is promised by Christ. Unfortunately many believe that the glory is to be in the third heaven as white winged little angels playing a harp or a golden lyre for all the eternity.

Let's compare these two passages:

Matt. 20:20,21: “Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your KINGDOM."

Mar. 10: 35-37: “And James and John, the sons of Zeb'edee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your GLORY."

If we compare both texts that refer to the same subject, but with slightly different perspectives, we will see that Matthew says that the mother of Zebedee's children (James and John) requested of Jesus a position of privilege in the KINGDOM for her two children. On the other hand, Mark writes saying that James and John asked Jesus for a place of privilege in His GLORY. Why this difference between both evangelists? Well, the only possible explanation is that there was little or no difference, since it was obvious that for the first Christians they associated the glory with the Kingdom and vice versa. With these verses it’s again demonstrated that the gospel of Christ's glory (2 Cor. 4:4) is closely related to the gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Mat. 24:14). Rresent-day preachers should understand this subject, and not speculate with interpretations that get away from the pristine truth of the Scriptures. Definitively the gospel of grace, the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of glory, the gospel of peace, the gospel of salvation, Christ's gospel, the gospel of the promise, etc, are all basically the same unique biblical gospel (Gál. 1:6-9).

The Glory that the three Witnesses saw: Peter, James and John

It is extremely interesting what the apostle Peter wrote in his second epistle that carries his name, chapter one, and verses 16-18: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (of the transfiguration)”. This reminds us of what Jesus said in the Parable of the Tares when the nobleman went to heaven to RECEIVE a Kingdom, according to Luke 19:12. So Jesus went to heaven to receive glory and honor (2 Pet. 1:17), part of his glory and honor was in receiving the kingdom (Luke 19:12).

Now please notice this: In Luke 9:32 we are told that three selected disciples, Peter, James, and John, saw Jesus' GLORY. Notice that in Luke 9:27, Jesus had promised that some would see HIS KINGDOM. Also in Mark 9:1 Jesus announced to his disciples that it would be His kingdom that was to come and would be seen by some of His disciples in an event that we now know was his TRANSFIGURATION that occurred 6 days after. The three disciples, Peter, John, and James, really saw the majesty or the Messianic King's GLORY or His KINGDOM, like a preview of the glorified Lord in order that they might be witnesses of his glory and Kingdom.

Crowned to receive the Glory

The apostle Peter says that there is a crown of glory for the faithful. 1 Peter 5:4 says, “And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory”. This means that we will be crowned like kings in the Kingdom as was Jesus Christ according to Heb. 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” (Rev. 5:10: NKJV) “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." (Rev 3:21 NKJV) "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

This tells of our glorification. Only the crowned are the nominees to be the executives of the messianic Kingdom, and this event the prophet Daniel foresaw clearly for the conquerors ((Dan 7:18 NKJV) “ 'But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.' . . . (27) Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'”

Thrones of Glory

We read in Matthew 19:28: “Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”. See clearly that Christ's glory has THRONES. And where can there be thrones but in the kingdom? In this case we discovered that in Christ’s glory (his kingdom) there are thrones for Him and for the saved. Those thrones are Messianic Kingdom's thrones. So the GLORY again relate with THE KINGDOM of the Messiah in the new earth. In addition, take notice of the Psalm 122:3-5, where we are given more details on the thrones and the geographic location: “Jerusalem, built as a city which is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David”.

So you must be aware that the glory has nothing to do with a stay of the just in heaven like winged little angels, but with the dwelling of the saints in positions of authority at Christ's millenarian Kingdom in the promised land. That promised land is not the heaven, but Jerusalem, Christ will govern with his followers. Notice (Mat 19:28 NKJV) ‘So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ At that time Christ's Kingdom will be glorious. Psal. 72:7-20 says: “In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live, may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may men blossom forth from the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name for ever; may his glory fill the whole earth! Amen and Amen! The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.”

But it is equally necessary to emphasize that our Lord Jesus Christ has not yet taken a seat on the throne of His glory in spite of the fact that some theologians have propagated the opposite. Notice what Jesus Himself says about the time of his being enthroned at his kingdom or glory: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” (Mathew 25:31). So Jesus has gone to heaven to receive the power of the kingdom (Luke. 19:12; Dan. 7:13,14), but he has not yet taken a seat on HIS throne, but on His Father's throne. He says : “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” ( Rev. 3:21 ).

Glory and Power

We read in Rev. 5:13: “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!". And in Rev. 19:1 we read: “After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”. So the glory has to do with the power that Christ and His saints will have in the kingdom over the entire world.

Power, Authority and the Kingdom

In Revelation 12:10, talking about our Lord Jesus Christ's future kingdom and his saints, says: “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”. Well then again, power, glory, and authority are intimately linked with Christ's Kingdom. The saints will have power in glory, or that is the same as saying: Authority at Christ's kingdom. In the parable of Luke's ten Mines, Jesus explains that the faithful will receive authority over entire cities, and the power exercised on human groups means authority (v.17). Also Rev. 2:26 “He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations”.

Satan has obscured The Gospel of Christ

We have seen that Satan has blinded the unbelievers' eyes in order that they not perceive or understand the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom; that is, the gospel of grace, or the gospel of coming Christ's glory. The devil does not desire that potential believers welcome this message of God because it means his own ruin, and of his kingdom in this world (See Mark 4:15). He has exchanged the gospel of a literal kingdom of God in the earth for a “spiritual reign in the believer's heart”, or for an “ecclesiastical kingdom”. The devil obstructs the human beings' reasoning, making them believe that God's Kingdom has nothing to do with a personal reign of the Messiah over the new earth. He has managed to convince millions that the Davidic covenant and the Abrahamic covenant, which insures for Christ and his church a kingdom on this planet, were not to be realized. Such preachers maintain that those covenants expired because of the infidelity of God's pristine people, and that these now have proceeded to being the inheritance of a new people (the gentile church) but with a purely spiritual significance. Augustine of Hipona was one of the responsible fathers for this crass mutation of the original pact. For Augustine, the Messianic Kingdom became an ecclesiastic kingdom, and David's throne transferred, from the earthly Jerusalem, to the celestial Jerusalem itself. This grave error was propagated subtly by Romanism for centuries, obscuring and making almost dissappear the true earthly Kingdom, as it is displayed in the Scriptures from cover to cover.

Summary

1.- Looking for the Glory ( Rom. 2:6,7 ) is to look for the Kingdom ( Matt. 6:33 ).

2.- The afflictions precede the glory ( Rom. 8:18 ) and it precede also the Kingdom ( 2 Tim. 2:12 ). Therefore glory and reign are equivalent.

3.- the Gospel of Christ's Glory (2 Cor. 4:4) is the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Matt. 24:14), and is the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24).

4.- To be participating in the Glory (2 Pet. 1:4) is to be participating in the Kingdom (Rev. 1:9).

5.- To receive the Glory (2 Pet. 1:16-18) is to receive the Kingdom (Luc. 19:12).

6.- To see the Glory (Luke. 9:32 ) is to see the Kingdom ( Luke. 9:27 ).

7.- Christ is sitting now on His Father's throne, not on His ( Apo. 3:21 ).

8.- The Glory is associated with the Power, and the power with the kingdom, and the kingdom with Authority ( Rev. 5:13; 19:1; 12:10 ).

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By Mario A Olcese

Introduction

It's quite interesting these words from the Apostle Paul to the Galatians on the issue of faith and justification: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” ( 2:16 KJV ). But to the Romans Paul wrote something similar: “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (including Jesus, Mat. 1.1) Take note that Paul speaks about the faith of Jesus to the Galatians, and to the Romans, about the the faith of Abraham. ¿Will it be that both sentences (faith of Jesus & Faith of Abraham) are equivalent or that they point out to the same faith? We will find the answer in few moments.

The Apostle Paul is very clear when he say that the faithful are justified by the faith of Jesus. However, they great majority of "Christians" claim to have attained the justification for the mere fact to have believed in Jesus Christ but without understanding absolutely nothing what the faith of Jesus is all about. Yes, Jesus was a man of faith, and he had a faith that should be ours too. This, unfortunately, do not understand millions of Catholics, evangelicals, and members of the sects or cults.

The Faith of Jesus

Those men that believe that they can please God keeping all his laws, but ignoring the faith of Jesus, are lost. Many certainly have the faith in Christ but no Christ's faith or the faith of Jesus. And this I want again to underline in order that you can keep it in mind. You must know the faith of Jesus to obtain God's justification. Unfortunately the majority of Christian believers do not have the faith of Jesus but the faith of a Gnostic Christ. You can ask to any Christian on which was the faith of Jesus that can save us and you will get surprised on finding that they all will almost answer in a different ways.

But let's see first two more passages before continuing our investigation on the faith of Jesus. Certainly you had read these thousand times, but maybe you have not stopped to reflect what precisely means that expression (the faith of Jesus).

Romans 3:26 “for [the] shewing forth of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just, and justify him that is of [the] faith of Jesus”

Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”.

These two texts, along with the one belonging to Galatians 2:16, are further than enough to prove us that there is a faith of Jesus, or a faith that Jesus had, and that it is vital to know and believe to be really justified and finally, saved.

The Faith of Abraham

Now then, also we found that not only we must have the faith of Jesus, but also the faith of Abraham, because without a doubt both notable individuals had faith in a singular and equal promise, for the simple reason that there is only one faith, and not two or more (See Eph. 4:5). The faith of Abraham, like the faith of Jesus, was focused on the same goal and toward the same hope or promise that right away we will discover .

We read again in Romans 4:16 the following statement from the apostle Paul: Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (including Jesus, Mat. 1.1) Take note that Paul speaks about the faith of Jesus to the Galatians, and to the Romans, about the the faith of Abraham” (including Jesus, Mat. 1:1).

The Faith of Abraham, like the faith of Jesus was related to a promise, and that that promise was that Abraham and his seed (Christ) will be heirs of the world (Rom.4:13). Remember that to Abraham the gospel or good news was preached to Abraham in advance, and it consisted that the blessing of God would come for the world through a his seed (Gen. 12, 2, 3). Paul says: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.” (Gal. 3:8 ).

This is the faith of Abraham. And that same faith that Abraham had, Jesus had, when he came to confirm the same promises or Good News to the world of his times. This says Paul in Romans 15:8, when he tells the faithful of Rome: “For I say that Christ hath been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given unto the fathers”. This task to confirm the promises done to the AT's fathers was the faith of Jesus, and the reason of his coming two millennia ago (see Luke 4:43). Now I ask you: ¿Is this one the same faith that you have? ¿Do you have the same faith of Jesus and of Abraham that The Son of God (The Christ) will be the coming inheritor of the future world of justice at the millenarian kingdom? You certainly are thinking that the promise is only for the Jews, and not for the church, to whom Jesus has promised the "kingdom of heaven". But stop an instant, and take note that Paul said that Abraham is the father of all of us, and when he said that, he told it to the Church of Rome. If Abraham is the father of faith, then we are his children by faith and heirs of the same promise or of the same faith. That is, if we have the faith of Abraham, then we also have the faith of Jesus. Remember always that there is only ONE faith—The faith of Jesus or also called ‘the faith of Abraham’ (Eph. 4:5).

To the Galatians Paul said: “Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:16,29). So then they that are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham (v.9).

Now I hope that you understand that you must be of the faith of Jesus to be justified (Rom. 3:26). You have to believe in the gospel that was preached to Abraham in advance, and that Christ did of his own when preaching to his peasants two millennia ago (Luke 4:43). That gospel that was preached in advance to Abraham, remember, had to do with the blessing that Christ (his seed according to the flesh) would bring into the coming world of Justice when he establish his millenarian kingdom in the earth. ¿Do you believe it with all your heart as Abraham and his seed believed it? If you do not share this same faith, then you will not be able to be Abraham's child and Christ's brother. You will definitively not be able to be a part of that wonderland of blessings that Jesus will bring in his parousia when he reign among men. In the Parable of the Ten Mines of Luke 19, Jesus is plainly clear saying: “But these mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me”. The opponents to his kingdom will be definitively destroyed. There will be no contemplation.

Faith and works

Jesus showed his faith acting in consequence. For example, he began his ministry talking about the proximity of the Kingdom and calling to repentance (Mark 1:1,14,15 ). His parables— the Kingdom's parables— talk to us about his coming kingdom and the blessings that it will bring when it become established. To his disciples Jesus offers a kingdom and then he send them off to preach and to announce God's kingdom to all the world (Luke 8:1; Luke 9:1,2; Mat. 24:14). To another, Jesus said: “go and announce God's kingdom” (Lc. 9:60). To others Jesus ask to look first for God's kingdom and his justice (Mat. 6:33) and after his resurrection, Jesus spends 40 days speaking to his disciples about God's Kingdom (Acts 1:3,6). It is clear that God's kingdom was the theme of all the preaching of Jesus, and the raison d'etre of his coming as mortal (Luke 4:43). All these verses make us clear that God's kingdom was the faith of Jesus. Remember that of the heart abundance speaks the mouth.

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Escrito el 07/05/2007 08:15 por apologista | Comentarios (0)
THE AMAZING MEANING OF THE WORD GLORY IN THE BIBLE
THE GLORY: DO YOU KNOW

WHAT IT REALLY MEANS?

By. Mario Olcese

Key Text : “Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;” (Rom 2:7 NKJV)

The Mistaken Concept of Glory

Millions of people have listened to sermons in churches that state that God has called their friends and loved ones to his celestial glory. Also, in funeral sermons, the Pastor or Bishop may say that the dear deceased brother is right now with God in His glory, being synonymous with heaven itself. However, what many Christians are ignorant of is that this promised glory by God and His Son for the faithful, has to do with a possession, or inheritance, of a Kingdom on the earth at the the Parousia (the coming or appearing) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of God's Kingdom.

This brief study will demonstrate that the Glory to which all believers are called has to do with the coming of Christ’s millennial kingdom to the earth. This primary study is intended to remove the doubts that we can still partake of the glory which we have been offered. The Catholic tradition is a distortion of the biblical view of the glory we are offered. It has largely gone unexamined by many Christians.

In Search of Glory

The apostle Paul refers to glory as the Christian's goal: the OBJECTIVE. We are to seek for it tenaciously. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle says to them:

“God "will give to each person according to what he has done." {7} To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” (Rom 2:6-7 NIV) So, all Christian believers must seek and long for the future glory (see the parallel words of Jesus in Matthew: “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33), that will be granted to the believer after his mortal body has been clothed with immortality by the resurrection of the last day, in the parousia (or coming of) our Lord Jesus Christ. These are Paul's words: “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:4). So you see that nobody yet possesses the glory that we have been offered through the teaching of the Bible. And again the apostle Paul tells the believing Romans about this end-time glory, in the following: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Here Paul says that we must suffer tribulations before receiving the glory, which agrees with other writings of his that say: “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Here our suffering will bring glory as a reward: Glory which will come when we REIGN with Christ.

It is a fact that our glory is inseparably linked to the future kingdom of Christ. One cannot be in glory, without being in the Kingdom and vice versa. In 1 Thes. 2:12 Paul shows this inseparable connection between the glory and the kingdom. He writes to the faithful of Thessalonica the following words: “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory”. Paul says concerning the Kingdom and glory that they are future when he says that our glory will come when Christ appears. “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:4 NKJV)

The Glory in the Old Testament

King David, singer of beautiful praise Psalms, says it this way in Psalms 145:11-13: “They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and tell of thy power, to make known to the sons of men thy mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of thy kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations”. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. David predicts that men will recognize the kingdom of God as something glorious and magnificent. Besides, King David's Kingdom, including his descendants, was the very same kingdom of Yahweh. 1 Chro. 28:5 reads: “And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel”. Solomon, the successor of David, took his seat in the same throne of Yahweh's kingdom in Israel. And this kingdom that Solomon inherited was a glorious kingdom in the judgment of all men! God's dominion or government over His people through His anointed kings was God's glorious kingdom in the Promised Land. That kingdom was established to last for many generations (Psa. 145:13) and exercising divine authority on the nations of the earth in the long term (Psa. 72:8). God had sworn to David that his sons would continue to sit on the throne without fail. (2 Sam 7:16 NKJV) "And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."' " (1 Ki 9:5 NKJV) "then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' Also he promised that some day a last and final Davidic king would restore David's throne (Eze. 21:25-27). The glory of the Kingdom would someday be established in the earth with a Jewish king of David's line. And Daniel (in chapter 7) spoke of that kingdom-glory as an inheritance that would be possessed by God's saints in the future. Note especially, verses 18 and 27 “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever.' And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them” This is the glory that the Most High's saints will receive!

Ezekiel 39:21 says the following: “And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have executed, and my hand which I have laid on them”. Here God talks about putting his glory among the nations, that glory that has to do with His tabernacle, his dwelling place among the saints (Rev. 21:1-3). God Himself will place His sanctuary among men. Finally, His presence and His rulership as King of kings will be absolute in the world. He will first reign in His kingdom through His Son, Jesus (The King of kings), for a thousand years, and then The Almighty Father will personally reign with Christ and his church as the Sovereign over His whole creation forever. Then the world will enjoy peace and justice never seen before by any human being, when the devil and his followers will be eradicated from the earth forever.

An Already Present Glory by Faith, but Not Yet Realized

It is certain that today we can have the glory, the salvation, the everlasting life, and the Kingdom through our faith. Each believer is already in the book of life in God's sight, and in a way, right now we possesses that glory and immortality by faith (“…those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” Heb. 6:12). But let's remember that we must keep that faith in order to get the final realization of our salvation (See Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5). Jesus “has given” us glory by faith (John 17:22). Christ had it while He was on the earth, although He received it after his victory over death in his resurrection (Heb. 2:9). In the same way, Christ will take us to glory (not heaven!) when we are raised from the grave, having also been made perfect through the present tribulations. "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22 NKJV)

The Gospel of Christ's Glory ( 2 Cor. 4:4 )

Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 Says: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God”. Here Paul reveals that Christ's glory – which is like the glory that is promised to us, is the glory of the gospel. Paul preached ‘the Kingdom of God’ as related to the message of the gospel concerning Jesus. Consider (Acts 28:23 NKJV) “So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.” (Also Acts 28:30, 31)

So That ALL RELATED with Christ's glory is the true Gospel, because this glory is an important part of the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Mat. 24:14). (Mat 24:14 NKJV) "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

We have just seen that kingdom and glory come side by side. So, each time that we are promised glory, in reality what is promised to us is the Kingdom. In short, to talk about the gospel of Christ's glory is to talk about the gospel of Christ's kingdom. The glory is part of the Kingdom, and the Kingdom involves the glory that we will obtain completely in the Parousía (or return of Christ). All believers are moving by faith to that monarchical glory (Heb. 2:10).

Peter “Took Part” In The Coming Glory (1 Peter 5:1)

The apostle Peter says it this way: “…So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed” (1 Pet. 5:1). With these words the apostle Peter recognized that right now he was also participating with the other believers of the glory that has not yet been manifested. That participation in glory was, for Peter, the participation of the divine nature (see 2 Pet. 1:4), by which one can obtain “…an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (See 2 Pet. 1:11). This agrees with what has been said by Paul when he assured the faithful of Corinth that: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50). One must earnestly desire the divine nature! Besides, for Paul, this participation in the glory of the Kingdom was equivalent to the participation of GRACE (Phil. 1:7), the true gospel of God's grace or the gospel of God's Kingdom in the earth (Look for my two articles on the subject in Google: “ Is the Gospel of Grace Paul's New Gospel? And “The Part is not the whole: A Study of the Complete Gospel!”).

The Apostle John Also Was a Participant in the Kingdom

John, just like Peter and Paul, was a participant of the glory which he called “the Kingdom”. In Revelation 1:9 he says: “John, your brother, who shares with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”. Did you notice, dear reader, that partnership in the Kingdom for John was the partnership of glory for Peter, and in turn was the partnership of grace for Paul? That is, do You Understand now that the 3 terms (glory, kingdom, and grace) are closely related? It is evident than John participated in the kingdom; that is to say, in the glory that had not yet become manifest. And if glory had not become manifest, then neither had Christ's Kingdom. Christ's Kingdom was for John, a subject of the future, because he finalized his book asking for the coming of the King of the kingdom (Rev. 22:20 ).

What does John and James's Petition reveal?

It is interesting to compare Matt. 20:20-21 with Mar. 10:35-37, where we will discover what was clearly the glory for the disciples. These verses in Matthew' and Mark have been overlooked by many students of the Bible, and are key verses to understand what glory is promised by Christ. Unfortunately many believe that the glory is to be in the third heaven as white winged little angels playing a harp or a golden lyre for all the eternity.

Let's compare these two passages:

Matt. 20:20,21: “Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your KINGDOM."

Mar. 10: 35-37: “And James and John, the sons of Zeb'edee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your GLORY."

If we compare both texts that refer to the same subject, but with slightly different perspectives, we will see that Matthew says that the mother of Zebedee's children (James and John) requested of Jesus a position of privilege in the KINGDOM for her two children. On the other hand, Mark writes saying that James and John asked Jesus for a place of privilege in His GLORY. Why this difference between both evangelists? Well, the only possible explanation is that there was little or no difference, since it was obvious that for the first Christians they associated the glory with the Kingdom and vice versa. With these verses it’s again demonstrated that the gospel of Christ's glory (2 Cor. 4:4) is closely related to the gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Mat. 24:14). Rresent-day preachers should understand this subject, and not speculate with interpretations that get away from the pristine truth of the Scriptures. Definitively the gospel of grace, the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of glory, the gospel of peace, the gospel of salvation, Christ's gospel, the gospel of the promise, etc, are all basically the same unique biblical gospel (Gál. 1:6-9).

The Glory that the three Witnesses saw: Peter, James and John

It is extremely interesting what the apostle Peter wrote in his second epistle that carries his name, chapter one, and verses 16-18: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (of the transfiguration)”. This reminds us of what Jesus said in the Parable of the Tares when the nobleman went to heaven to RECEIVE a Kingdom, according to Luke 19:12. So Jesus went to heaven to receive glory and honor (2 Pet. 1:17), part of his glory and honor was in receiving the kingdom (Luke 19:12).

Now please notice this: In Luke 9:32 we are told that three selected disciples, Peter, James, and John, saw Jesus' GLORY. Notice that in Luke 9:27, Jesus had promised that some would see HIS KINGDOM. Also in Mark 9:1 Jesus announced to his disciples that it would be His kingdom that was to come and would be seen by some of His disciples in an event that we now know was his TRANSFIGURATION that occurred 6 days after. The three disciples, Peter, John, and James, really saw the majesty or the Messianic King's GLORY or His KINGDOM, like a preview of the glorified Lord in order that they might be witnesses of his glory and Kingdom.

Crowned to receive the Glory

The apostle Peter says that there is a crown of glory for the faithful. 1 Peter 5:4 says, “And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory”. This means that we will be crowned like kings in the Kingdom as was Jesus Christ according to Heb. 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” (Rev. 5:10: NKJV) “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." (Rev 3:21 NKJV) "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

This tells of our glorification. Only the crowned are the nominees to be the executives of the messianic Kingdom, and this event the prophet Daniel foresaw clearly for the conquerors ((Dan 7:18 NKJV) “ 'But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.' . . . (27) Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'”

Thrones of Glory

We read in Matthew 19:28: “Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”. See clearly that Christ's glory has THRONES. And where can there be thrones but in the kingdom? In this case we discovered that in Christ’s glory (his kingdom) there are thrones for Him and for the saved. Those thrones are Messianic Kingdom's thrones. So the GLORY again relate with THE KINGDOM of the Messiah in the new earth. In addition, take notice of the Psalm 122:3-5, where we are given more details on the thrones and the geographic location: “Jerusalem, built as a city which is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David”.

So you must be aware that the glory has nothing to do with a stay of the just in heaven like winged little angels, but with the dwelling of the saints in positions of authority at Christ's millenarian Kingdom in the promised land. That promised land is not the heaven, but Jerusalem, Christ will govern with his followers. Notice (Mat 19:28 NKJV) ‘So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ At that time Christ's Kingdom will be glorious. Psal. 72:7-20 says: “In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live, may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may men blossom forth from the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name for ever; may his glory fill the whole earth! Amen and Amen! The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.”

But it is equally necessary to emphasize that our Lord Jesus Christ has not yet taken a seat on the throne of His glory in spite of the fact that some theologians have propagated the opposite. Notice what Jesus Himself says about the time of his being enthroned at his kingdom or glory: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” (Mathew 25:31). So Jesus has gone to heaven to receive the power of the kingdom (Luke. 19:12; Dan. 7:13,14), but he has not yet taken a seat on HIS throne, but on His Father's throne. He says : “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” ( Rev. 3:21 ).

Glory and Power

We read in Rev. 5:13: “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!". And in Rev. 19:1 we read: “After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”. So the glory has to do with the power that Christ and His saints will have in the kingdom over the entire world.

Power, Authority and the Kingdom

In Revelation 12:10, talking about our Lord Jesus Christ's future kingdom and his saints, says: “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”. Well then again, power, glory, and authority are intimately linked with Christ's Kingdom. The saints will have power in glory, or that is the same as saying: Authority at Christ's kingdom. In the parable of Luke's ten Mines, Jesus explains that the faithful will receive authority over entire cities, and the power exercised on human groups means authority (v.17). Also Rev. 2:26 “He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations”.

Satan has obscured The Gospel of Christ

We have seen that Satan has blinded the unbelievers' eyes in order that they not perceive or understand the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom; that is, the gospel of grace, or the gospel of coming Christ's glory. The devil does not desire that potential believers welcome this message of God because it means his own ruin, and of his kingdom in this world (See Mark 4:15). He has exchanged the gospel of a literal kingdom of God in the earth for a “spiritual reign in the believer's heart”, or for an “ecclesiastical kingdom”. The devil obstructs the human beings' reasoning, making them believe that God's Kingdom has nothing to do with a personal reign of the Messiah over the new earth. He has managed to convince millions that the Davidic covenant and the Abrahamic covenant, which insures for Christ and his church a kingdom on this planet, were not to be realized. Such preachers maintain that those covenants expired because of the infidelity of God's pristine people, and that these now have proceeded to being the inheritance of a new people (the gentile church) but with a purely spiritual significance. Augustine of Hipona was one of the responsible fathers for this crass mutation of the original pact. For Augustine, the Messianic Kingdom became an ecclesiastic kingdom, and David's throne transferred, from the earthly Jerusalem, to the celestial Jerusalem itself. This grave error was propagated subtly by Romanism for centuries, obscuring and making almost dissappear the true earthly Kingdom, as it is displayed in the Scriptures from cover to cover.

Summary

1.- Looking for the Glory ( Rom. 2:6,7 ) is to look for the Kingdom ( Matt. 6:33 ).

2.- The afflictions precede the glory ( Rom. 8:18 ) and it precede also the Kingdom ( 2 Tim. 2:12 ). Therefore glory and reign are equivalent.

3.- the Gospel of Christ's Glory (2 Cor. 4:4) is the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Matt. 24:14), and is the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24).

4.- To be participating in the Glory (2 Pet. 1:4) is to be participating in the Kingdom (Rev. 1:9).

5.- To receive the Glory (2 Pet. 1:16-18) is to receive the Kingdom (Luc. 19:12).

6.- To see the Glory (Luke. 9:32 ) is to see the Kingdom ( Luke. 9:27 ).

7.- Christ is sitting now on His Father's throne, not on His ( Apo. 3:21 ).

8.- The Glory is associated with the Power, and the power with the kingdom, and the kingdom with Authority ( Rev. 5:13; 19:1; 12:10 ).

www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

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(The Overlooked Old Evidences)

By Mario A. Olcese

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may 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. (NKJV)”

Many of those that mistakenly believe that the Messiah is the true God maintain that the final sentence in this verse: “This is the true God and the eternal life”, refers to Jesus, the Messiah, since the nearest noun to the word “This” is “Jesus Christ”. However, since God and the Messiah are both referred in the first sentence of the verse, the final sentence can refer to either one of them. The word (pronoun) “This” that begins the final sentence, is houtos (in Greek), and a study of it will show that the context, not the noun or nearest pronoun, should determine to which “This” is referring. The Bible provides examples of this, and a good one can be found in Acts 7:18, 19: “Till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This [Gr. Houtos] man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.”(NKJV). It is clear in this example that “this” [houtos] cannot refer to Joseph, although Joseph is the nearest noun. It refers to the other king, the first one, in the verse, although that evil king is not the nearest noun.

If it is true that the pronouns always refer to the nearest noun, the result would be serious theological problems. An example is found in Acts 4:10, 11: “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This [Houtos] is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone” (NKJV). If “This” in the last sentence refers to the noun or to the nearest pronoun, then the man that was healed is really the stone rejected by the manufacturers that has become head of the corner, that is to say, the Messiah. Of course this conclusion is not true.

An even more problematic example for those that don't recognize that the context, not the placement of the noun or pronoun, is the most vital key for the appropriate meaning of 1 John 5:20, where it is stated: “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This [Houtos] is the true God and eternal life”. This [Houtos] is the true God and the eternal life”. Like in the two previous examples, the pronoun “This” in this verse is not related to the nearest noun, but rather it refers to the Father, one of two people that are mentioned in the whole verse.

A last example: 1 John 2:22. This interesting text says: "Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This [Houtos] is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son” (American Standard Version). If we conclude that "This is antichrist" is the same Messiah, the immediate person that precedes this sentence, we would have to conclude that the Messiah is the antichrist…¡and this would be a serious blasphemy! So we see that we cannot conclude that the sentence "this it is the true God and the eternal life" is referring to the antecedent person of this expression, because if we make it this way, we would have to make the same thing with 1 John 2:22 and then we would be blaspheming against the Son's person.

Finally, it is the same Teacher, Jesus the Messiah, who revealed the Father to us, saying: “And this it is the eternal life: that they know you (not, “know us”), the only true God, and to Jesus, the Messiah, whom you have sent”. Here our dear Lord teaches us clearly a truth that few want to accept because of the Catholic and Protestant tradition. And this truth is that the same Messiah taught that His Father is only the True God and nobody else. Even, already in heaven, Jesus continues calling to His Father as “MY GOD” 4 times in Revelation 3:12: “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him my new name”. We wonder this, can a True God have His own True God? I believe that this is a point that deserves serious consideration.

www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

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By Mario A Olcese

DOES THIS SURPRISE YOU? JESUS IS NOT

SEATED IN DAVID’S THRONE!

HE WILL NOT BE UNTIL HIS SECOND COMING!

What does the book of Revelation have to tell us?

INTRODUCTION

Amillennialists and Full Preterists maintain that our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, is now seated on David’s throne in heaven. They allege that the Messiah returned to heaven to govern his people from his personal throne (“the throne of David”), thus fulfilling Luke's prophecy in (Luke 1:32-33 NKJV) "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. {33} "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

However, what these amillennialists ignore is that Jesus the Messiah didn't go to heaven to sit on his own throne but on his Father's throne!. These teachers ignore that The Messiah will have (at his return) his throne AND HIS GOVERNMENT on the earth (2 Sam.23:1, VV.1960, Jer. 3:17), and that His Father now has His own throne in heaven where He is seated with Christ at His right hand. Notice (Heb 8:1 NKJV) "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, Therefore, it is important to clarify this matter that has been ignored by most Bible students. We are going to expose the error of the teaching that says that the Messiah is now reigning on his throne (“that of David”) in heaven, either from the year 33 AD or from the 1914 AD.

THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN AND THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Let us examine what JOHN says in Revelation on the existent thrones in heaven, and then we will examine all the verses where the word “Throne” or “thrones” appear. In this way we will be able to discover if a personal throne exists for the Father and another personal throne for the Son--- and in passing for the Holy Spirit! The texts where the words “throne” and “thrones” appear in the book of Revelation are the following ones: Rev. 4:2,4,5,6,9,10; 5:1,6,7,11,13; 6:16, 7:8,10,11, 15,17; 8:3;11:16; 12:5; 14:3,5; 16:10,17; 19:4,5; 20:4,11; 21:5; 22:3.

REVELATION 4: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10:

Revelation 4

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in (white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

COMMENT:

In these verses ia single Divine Person t is spoken of Who is seated on a throne and surrounded by 24 thrones that are for the 24 elders. Notice that these verses don't says that the 24 thrones are surrounding two thrones, and much less, three.

REVELATION 5: 1, 6, 7, 11, 13:

Revelation 5:

1 I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."

COMMENT:

If we examine carefully these verses of the chapter 5 of Revelation where the word “throne” appears, we won't find evidence that the Messiah is seated on his own individual or personal throne. This is clear.

REVELATION 6:16

Revelation 6

16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”

COMMENT:

In chapter 6 of Revelation we do not find evidence that Jesus the Messiah is seated on his own throne in heaven.

REVELATION 7: 9, 10, 11, 15, 17

Revelation 7

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

15 "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

COMMENT:

In chapter 7 of Revelation we have examined all the verses where the word “throne” appears and we observe that none say anything about the Son being seated on His own throne. In verse 10, for example, we discover that the one who is seated on the throne is the Father and not the Son.

REVELATION 8:3

Revelation 8:

3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.

COMMENT

Again, in chapter eight of Revelation it’s impossible to find that The Messiah is seated on his personal or singular throne.

REVELATION 11:16

Revelation 11

16And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God

COMMENT

Neither can we find in chapter eleven of Revelation that Jesus the Messiah is seated on his personal or singular throne. It is true that it speaks of thrones but these are for the 24 elders.

REVELATION 12:5

Revelation 12

5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

COMMENT

In chapter twelve of Revelation, the word ‘throne' appear once in the verse 5. nevertheless, this throne is not the Son's throne but Yahweh's, the Father.

REVELATION 14:3

Revelaltion 14

3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.

COMMENT

It is clear that again in chapter 14 of Revelation that a personal throne of the Son of God is not mentioned. Verse 5 says clearly that the throne is of God, the Father.

REVELATION 16:17

Revelation 16

17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"

COMMENT

Neither in chapter 16 is there a reference to a throne for the Son of God. It is simply spoken of the throne that is in the temple of heaven.

REVELATION 19:4,5

Revelation 19

4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" 5 And from the throne came a voice crying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great."

COMMENT

In chapter 19 of Revelation, there is no reference to a throne that belongs to the Son of Elohim, but alone to Elohim. This is very important because some people don't distinguish this singular detail.

REVELATION 20: 4,11

Revelation 20

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

COMMENT

This is a vision of the coming era when Yahshúa the Messiah inaugurates his millennial Kingdom in the earth. The thrones that are seen are the thrones of the martyrs that will reign with The Messiah in the earth. In Psalms 122:3-5 it is revealed that the thrones of the trial will be in Jerusalem and not in the sky. (Psa 122:3-5 NKJV) Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, {4} Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the LORD. {5} For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.

REVELATION 21:5

Revelation 21

5 And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."

COMMENT

Neither this verse (nor the context) tells us that this throne belongs to the Son of Elohim, but rather of the Father.

REVELATION 22:1, 3

Revelation 22

1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him.

COMMENT

Chapter 22 refers basically to the era of the Kingdom in the new earth, and the only verse that speaks to us of the Father's throne is the 3rd. But anything in the context indicates us that this vision is one heaven, but of the new earth, when God and its Son dwells with the men (21:1-3).

FINAL COMMENTS:

JESUS THE MESSIAH IS NOW SEATED IN HIS FATHER’S THRONE

We have demonstrated that the Lord Jesus the Messiah is not seated on HIS throne of authority in heaven. It is crucial to mention that the same Lord Jesus makes the following statement: “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”. Take note that the Messiah is seated on His Father's throne--- Not on his! This truth is overlooked by Bible students. Most believe that our Lord is now seated on his own throne (that of David, his father in the flesh) in heaven, but this doesn't have a basis in Scripture. It is impossible that the Messiah is seated simultaneously on his throne and on His Father's throne. But there will be a throne for the Father and another for the Son when the New Jerusalem descends to the earth and God and His Messiah will be among men. Therefore, Jesus has still not been seated on his own throne, because that hour has not arrived, neither the hour of the saints. But it will arrive the day that Jesus and the saints occupy their thrones on the earth (Daniel 7.13,14,18,22,27).

www.yeshuahamashiaj.org

Comments

By Mario A Olcese

Key Text

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-33).

Most of Christians has heard the announcement of the archangel Gabriel about the miraculous conception of the Savior Jesus Christ in virgin Mary's belly, His mother. But these Christians have not realized that the angel Gabriel's announcement included the fact that this Savior would sit on David's throne, his father on the flesh, and that He would reign on Jacob's house forever. Surprisingly, only the minority of Christians know this last promise, and the ones that know it, do not completely understand it.

Also it is well known that Jesus Christ talked about reigning in this world with His glorious and triumphant Church for a millennium (Revelation 3:21; 5:10). The Bible students still dispute if Christ is now reigning or not in the way as it was prophesied, that is, in the throne of David and on Jacob's house. Certain Christians affirm that Christ is right now reigning on his Church (His “Kingdom”) from His throne in heaven, which, according to his interpretation, is David's throne. That is to say: a) Christ is the king, b) The throne of God is David's throne, and 3) the Church is His kingdom.

This a-millenarian school of interpretation keeps out a coming millennium of justice, and neither expects a Davidic Kingdom in the land of Israel. In other words, for the opponents to millenarianism, Christ reigns right now over his faithful and consecrated followers (the church) from His heavenly throne (David's throne). Besides, for the amillenialists, Jesus fulfilled all the messianic prophecies concerning His reign when His Church was established or founded in Pentecost. It can be said that, for example, the Catholic Church is amillenialist and contrary to the belief of the reestablishment of a Jewish national kingdom (David's true throne) in the land of Israel (or Jacob’s house). The Catholics believe that their church is Christ's kingdom, and that she is already enjoying his millenarian rest with Christ.

But amillenialists Catholics and Protestants should remember that there are many indisputable passages that prove that Christ not yet reigns on the Church, and less still, on the nations. Let's remember than Christ's kingdom implicates His command over all of the nations (Daniel 2:44, Psalms 72:8, 11). We will at once examine 7 key passages:

1. - In Mathew 25:31, 34 Jesus says: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”.

Comment: This passage is clear and convincing. Here Jesus Himself is saying that he will take seat in his throne of glory — not when he is resuscitated and taken to heaven but rather for when he come back to the world for a second time. If the ammilenialists affirm that Christ is right now sitting in his throne of glory over His Church, then necessarily the second coming of Christ was already fulfilled two thousand years ago, in Pentecost; occasion according to them, that became established or founded Christ's kingdom.

It’s obvious that from these two verses is extracted the teaching that the church, or the blessed of God, will inherit the kingdom for that opportunity or occasion. But, did Paul —the posthumous apostle of Christ— that already had already turned in the 33 E.C? Take note that Paul, back in the year 65 AD, tell Titus that Christ's coming is still the faithful's blessed hope (Titus 2:13). This would refute any affirmation of a Second Advent in Pentecost.

2.- Mathew 19:28: “Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (NIV).

Comment:

This second passage has to do with the first. Both talks that Christ will take a seat in His throne of glory: The first, in his parusía or second coming; and the second one, in the regeneration. And it is that the re-generation of everything will take place in the second coming of Christ to the earth. This has to do with His kingdom or the overtaking of His throne. And also Peter affirms in Acts 3:21: “whom (Jesus Christ) heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began”. Peter talks about the restoration (regeneration) of everything here. Jesus is in heaven expecting the time of the regeneration or restoration of all things. Everything will be regenerate as it was at the beginning with the beneficial presence of the king Jesus Christ on earth. He will be the universal king that will take David's throne in Jerusalem, the great king's city (Matthew 5:33-35). Look for yourself in a dictionary the definition of the word restoration.

If Christ is now seated in David's throne, then that would mean that right now everything has been regenerated or reconstructed on the earth. However, we see that in the earth nothing has changed and is worse. There is more corruption, violence, impiety, atheism, indifference, insensibility, lack of respect, lack of love, divorces, child abuses, sexual depravation, satanism and occultism, etc. Without a doubt Christ has not yet taken David's throne (His human father) to regenerate the world of today that you are in chaos and disorder.

3.- Revelation 20:1-5: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a[a] thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection” (NKJV).

.

Comment:

This passage describes the previous events to Christ's reign. First, the devil and his angels must be tied at the abyss for ten centuries. Then John receives the revelation that Christ and His martyrs proceeded to reigning during that lapse of ten centuries without the devil's and his demons presence. Now then, if we say that Christ is reigning since He ascended to heaven two millennia ago, then the devil continues tied at the abyss in order that he can not more deceive the nations. But, ¿will you believe that this world is not deceived by the devil at all? ¿From where originates so much crime, perversion, violence, materialism, atheism, witchcraft, occultism, Satanism, etc, etc? ¿doesn't it comes obviously from the devil? (see John 8:44). And John, some decades after Pentecost of 33 AD, affirmed that the entire world still lay under the devil's power (1 John 5:19). This proves that Christ could not begin to reign from heaven when the church was founded in Pentecost a little after His ascension to the Father, as ammilenialists affirm.

4.- Acts 1:6,7: “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (NKJV).

Comment:

These verses are interesting, because there are those who believe that Christ will never again restore the Davidic kingdom in Israel, and that rather he is already reigning today from heaven over His church. If this is truth, Jesus would carry two thousand years reigning, that is, a thousand years over of what it was prophesied. But Jesus never said that He would go to heaven to take David's throne, and reign from heaven. Rather in Acts 1:6,7 Jesus tacitly confirms the truth of the restoration of the Davidic kingdom in Israel by means of giving a suggestive answer in the verse 7. See that Jesus did not correct them (to His disciples) to suppose the possibility of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. He did not say something like this: “You are wrong, because never more it will be a restoration of the Davidic Kingdom to Israel”. What really Jesus told them is that they must not be finding out the exact time for that so longed and fair messianic hope.

These verses of Acts of the Apostles confirm that Christ will come to restore David's throne (his father’s throne) in order to retake his throne and scepter promised. That he had already expressed in Matthew 25:31, 34 and in Matthew 19:28.

But there still are Christians that believe that the question of the disciples in Acts 1:6 was the result of their misunderstanding of God's kingdom. But as I said before, Jesus did not reprehend or corrected them for that misinterpreted supposition. And besides, it turns out strange for all disciples to have apparently asked the same thing. Were they all clumsy people? Impossible!

5.- Revelation 11:15-18: “15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. 18 The nations were angry…” (NKJV).

Comment:

Take note that the seventh angel announces Jesus Christ's reign, which makes that this world's kingdoms be His, and get under His command. But the nations won't keep the crossed arms waiting to be dominated by the Messiah. They will get angry because of the establishment of the messianic kingdom and will oppose fierce resistance, but they will be neutralized and subdued. Can it be said that this has already happened in the earth? Can it be said that nations have gotten angry for the supposed establishment of Christ's kingdom in the earth? No! Mostly, the church lives in relative peace and without persecutions. Even in Russia there is bigger opening to Christian religion and parishioners can meet without fear to be chased as it happened under Marxism.

Also you are interesting to indicate that Christ's kingdom will be made evident when had been fulfilled the others six preceding trumpets that announce: hailed and fire mixed with blood in the earth that burnt the third part of the green grass, and also the third part of the sea became blood, dying the third part of the maritime beings, and the third part of the ships. The third angel announces the destruction of the third part of the rivers and water sources, causing the death of many people. The fourth trumpet announces the injury of the third part of the sun, the moon and the stars, in order to shorten the daylight in a third part. The fifth angel trumpeter announces lobsters' plague with caning of scorpions to wound the impious. The sixth angel trumpeter announces the death of the third part of men by fire, smoke and sulphur. And the seventh angel, as we said, announces the establishment of Christ's kingdom and his worldwide regime. ¿Can the ammilenialists say that all six trumpets have right now come true before the supposed establishment of Christ's kingdom 2000 years ago?

6.- Psalms 72:7,8: “In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (NKJV).

Comment:

Here there is a prophecy relating to Christ's reign. It’s announced that it will flourished in His reign justice and abundance of peace until there be no moon, and that He will have the control sea to sea, and from the river to the boundaries of the earth. But it is unlikely for this prediction to have come true today, because there are not justice neither peace in the entire world. Still China, a country that lodges 20 % of the worldwide population, does not know Christ, and less still, belong to His church. It is common knowledge than only 0,5% of Chineses have heard the gospel of the kingdom due to the prevailing Communism. Obviously Christ still not reigns at China. And if He does not reign in China, in the Islamic countries, etc, ¿how is that there are Christians who think that Jesus is right now reigning all over the world?

But, ¿why does there be no peace and justice in the world? It is simply because Christ has not yet taken David's throne in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Only when he return glorious and powerful from heaven the transformation of the human society will become reality. That was already mentioned by Peter in Acts 3:19-21, and the same Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:31, 34.

7.- 2 Samuel 23:3: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (NKJV).

Comment:

This is a messianic prophecy that predicts the Government of a Righteous among men. Take note that the prediction does not say that a righteous will reign on the men, or from the heights, or from heaven. What it clearly says is that a righteous will govern among men, that implies that his Government's throne will be located in the earth the.

The campbelites, for example, owe an explanation to us, because they press the point that David's throne is in heaven, and not in Jerusalem. Besides, the ammilennialist interpretation twists the prediction carrying the reign of the righteous to a cosmic and no earthly sphere.

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CHRIST'S CHURCH

By Mario Olcese Sanguineti

Many Christian Churches confuse God's Kingdom with the Church of Christ without realizing that exist substantial differences between both entities.

1.- God's Kingdom has a headquarters: Jerusalem (Mat. 5:33-35), while Christ's Church not.

2.- God's Kingdom is one, singular, while the Church of Christ can be pluralized (example: Churches of God, or Churches of Christ, Rom. 16:16 ).

3.- In God's Kingdom all the members are saved, while in the Church of Christ not everybody that is a member will be saved (remember the Parable of the Wheat and tares).

4.- In God’s Kingdom the discipline will be not exercised, while in the Church of Christ's it is applied the correction (Heb 12:7).

5.- God's Kingdom is a theocracy (Isa. 32:1), while the Church of Christ is a democracy (Acts 15:22-25).

6.- In God's Kingdom there are not Teachers, Pastors, and Deacons, while in the Church of Christ, yes (Eph. 4:4).

7.- In God's Kingdom there are not rituals and ordinances, while in the Church of Christ, yes (example: baptism, communion, marriage, prayer, Praise, etc ).

8.- In God’s Kingdom membership is for ever, while in the Church of Christ we can lose our membership (Acts 15:24, 1 John 2:19).

9.- The Church of Christ preaches the Kingdom of God (Matt. 24:14), while God's Kingdom never preach the Church.

10.- To God's kingdom one enters with immortal bodies (1 Cor. 15:50), while in the Church of Christ one enters with deadly bodies (1 Cor. 15:53).

11.- To God's Kingdom only the spiritual matures enters (2 Pet 1:5-11), while to the Church of Christ enters the spiritual babies that will be made perfect by their Pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:4; 1 Pet.2:2; Heb. 5:13).

12.- One enters to God's Kingdom after having borne many tribulations (Acts 14:22), while one enters to the Church of Christ to begin suffering many tribulations (John 16:33).

13.- God's Kingdom is a Christian promise and a inheritance for the future (James 2:5; Matt. 25:31,34), while the Church of Christ is a Christian possession for today.

14.- God's Kingdom is something that requires to come (Matt. 6:10), while the Church of Christ is already here (1 Cor.1:2).

15.- God's Kingdom existed in David's times (1 Chron. 28:5), while the Church of Christ began with Christ (Matt. 16:16-18).

16.- God's Kingdom belonged to the Jews (2 Chr. 28:5; Acts 1:3,6), while the Church of Christ is compound by born again believers (Jews and gentiles alike).

17.- God's Kingdom will be restored in the future (Acts 1:6), while the Church of Christ is being built now (Matt. 16:16-18).

18.- The Father gives God's Kingdom to the Church of Christ (Luke 12:32), but it is never said that the Father gives the Church of Christ to God's Kingdom.

19.- Sinners and unworthy enters to the Church of Christ (Matt. 9:13), while to God's Kingdom only enters the saints and worthies (2 Tes. 1:5,11; Rev. 3:4).

20.- The unrepentant sinners can see the Church of Christ, on the other hand, God's Kingdom will be seen only by “born again” people (John 3:3,5).

21.- Many rich people can enter and even belong to the Church of Christ, but to God's Kingdom will hardly enter the rich people (Matt. 19:23).

22.- God's Kingdom does not come with warning (Luke 17:20), but the Church of Christ definitely came with warning, when it was founded in Pentecost with the Holy Ghost's coming with signs and wonders few days latter of the announcing (Acts 1:5,8 ).

23.- God's Kingdom was conceded to Christ in heaven (Luke 19:11,12), while the Church of Christ was conceded on earth.

24.- It is said of God's Kingdom that it is eternal (2 Pet. 1:11), instead, of the Church of Christ it is never said to be eternal.

25.- God's Kingdom has thrones (Ps. 122:5, Rev. 20:4), while from the Church of Christ it is never said to have thrones.

26.- God's Kingdom is named ‘the gospel’ (Matt. 24:14), but the Church of Christ is never called this way.

27.- It is necessary to look or long for God's Kingdom (Matt. 6:33), on the other hand, the Church of Christ now is in all parts of the world, and we are never commanded to look or long for her.

28.- God's Kingdom was compound of many incredulous or unfaithful Jews (Matt. 21:43), while the Church of Christ was first (and still is) compound by credulous Jews (and gentiles) that came to believe in God and His Son Jesus as the messiah, and were repented of their sins, and got baptized by immersion (Acts 2:36-47).

29.- God's Kingdom will appear and will be inherited at the Second Coming of Christ (Matt. 25:31,34), while the Church of Christ is already present since the First century AD.

30.- Christ's Kingdom does not consist in food and drink (Rom. 14:17), but the Church of Christ definitely consists in food and drink (Remember the communion service, John 6:55).

…………………………………………..

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(¡Based on the interesting dialogue between Christ and the rich young man!

By Mario A Olcese

Christian theology teaches that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. But, What does the Bible really mean with the word salvation? From what would we have to be save, and for what? It is necessary to answer these questions with the Bible and not accordingly to the ideas of tradition

The Savior of Men

The Bible talks us that there is one that saves men, and that one is the Creator, God the Father. He says: “... Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (Isaiah 49:26). "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16,17). So we see that the Father is the Savior of all men through His unique Son, the Lord Messiah Jesus.

Salvation from Condemnation

In the previous biblical text of John 3:16, Jesus says that He came to the world to save sinners from condemnation or from doom. But, what did the world do to merit the condemnation? Two verses later Jesus answers: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." (v.19). It is clear that Christ came to save men that were in spiritual darkness and that were doing bad things. In this account, Jesus came to save the sinners that were, in fact, already convicted for God.

Paul will say latter: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Yes, the gift of God is everlasting life by means of Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. And it is that sin's payment is death, and as they all have sinned (Romans 3:9), then we all are doomed for death. But Jesus took our sins and paid them for us dying on the cross of Calvary. His death gave us life, and it canceled the outstanding debt that we owed God. The only thing that we are supposed to do for our part is to accept that payment that Christ paid for us, and as retribution, serve Him for life, as a symbol of gratitude. We were slaves to sin, but Jesus set us free through his expiatory sacrifice. Now you, and all men, have a new opportunity to approach God and live as new men and in sanctity. Now God has gone back to welcome us in his breast, as that father did with his repentant lost son in the famous parable of the Prodigal Son.

There Still Remains a Future Salvation

Even though Jesus saved us from our crimes and sins passed, nevertheless, it still remains that our salvation must be culminated. In fact, we have not yet received all our salvation. Surprising, but real! Let's see what Paul says : "So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring SALVATION to those who are waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:28 ).

Let's take note that Christ's first coming had to do with sin. This means that Christ's first coming was in order to treat the subject of the sins of the world, and to cancel them with his death on the cross. Now, His second coming is no longer for dying for the sins of the world, but to complete His salvation for those whom He has forgiven for their faith and good works. This means that Christ will complete the process of salvation for those that have accepted Him as their Savior, at all the times and places, and that have lived as they should during his absence. Also Peter says with regard to this matter: “who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5)

What does Future Salvation Mean?

So far we have seen that there are: a past salvation (Luke 23:35), a present salvation (1 Peter 4:18), and even another future salvation (Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 1:5). Also we have seen that the past salvation has to do with our past sins and God's pardon. Nevertheless, there are few people that know of what the future salvation is all about.

Some suppose that we are already saved, and that another salvation is not necessary to wait. These people suppose that the ones that be meant to be in grace will go to heaven once physical death happens unexpectedly to them. According to these believers, Jesus did not talk about any future salvation, ignoring Hebrews 9:28 and 1 Peter 1:5, and of course Matthew 24:13, texts that affirm that there will be a future salvation when the end comes.

The Bible is clear about what the future salvation is all about. Nevertheless, only few have noticed that that future salvation is hidden in Jesus dialogue with the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-25. Yes, in this short dialogue the significance of the true future salvation is hidden. Only those who examine the Bible with prayer and with the aid of the Holy Spirit's help can discover it.You must open your heart and mind to reflect, unbiased, upon the main verses of the mentioned dialogue. We are going to write them just as they appear in the Bible:

"16And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain ETERNAL LIFE?"

17And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."

18Then he said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS;

19HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

20The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"

21Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

22But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

23And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

24"Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the KINGDOM OF GOD."

25When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can BE SAVED?"

Here there are THREE KEY PHRASES that clearly define what future salvation is all about. Those phrases are: ETERNAL LIFE (Verse 16), KINGDOM OF GOD (Verse 24), and BE SAVED (Verse 25). These three sentences have not been noticed by the majority of Bible students, thus failing to understand what future salvation was for Jesus and His disciples.

The rich young man wanted to inherit EVERLASTING LIFE, but he was not willing to give everything to the poor in order to follow Christ. Jesus, it seems, needed to say that a rich man will hardly enter the KINGDOM OF GOD. The disciples then ask Jesus: “Then who can BE SAVED?” Now, What is salvation according to this dialogue? The answer is as clear as pure water. You will have to open your heart and mind to understand what our Lord is teaching to all of us. The formula is this: The only thing you have to do is to accommodate or arrange the three KEY SENTENCES: Eternal Life, Kingdom of God, and be Saved. What is the result? Salvation is then ETERNAL LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD or TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITH ETERNAL LIFE This simple explanation is not known to millions of Christians. Most Christians believes that salvation is to be with God in heaven (the third heaven). But this is not what Jesus says. Here Jesus speaks of a kingdom and of a future salvation that will come with the second coming of Christ. Then Rev. 12:10 will be fulfilled. This verse says: “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ”. Take note here that salvation is correlated with the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ. Salvation and the Kingdom walk always side by side. Of course none of the dead saints have inherited the kingdom, but they will be raised from their graves to be included in it in the parousia of Jesus.

If a Bible student compares Hebrews 9:28 and Matthew 25:31,34, he will discover than the salvation of the faithful will happen immediately with the second coming of Christ. This means that these people will inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world. This is Jesus true and pristine gospel that needs to be preached all over the world (Matt. 24:14).

Christ and His Kingdom are the more important themes of the Bible, since they are mentioned so often from the beginning to the end of it. Jesus began his ministry preaching the kingdom of God (Mark 1:1,14,15). Also his disciples preached it (Luke 8:1-2; Luke 9:1-2; Acts 8:12; Acts 28:23,30,31). It was also the last thing that Jesus taught to his disciples, just before going up to the Father (Acts 1:3).

The apostle Paul preached it as part of his ministry to the gentiles (Acts 28:23,30,31; Acts 19:8; Acts 20:25). Also He said that in order to be included in it one must first suffer tribulations in this life (Acts 14:22). He affirmed that it is impossible to inherit the Kingdom with our mortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50). He clarified that the dead and the living would receive transformed bodies at the second coming of Christ in glory (1 Corinthians 15:42, 52).

Will you Pass Up This Great Salvation?

Paul says: "how shall we escape if we ignore such a great SALVATION? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him" (Hebrews 2:3). Now I ask you: Will you pass up this great salvation of God, that is also intended for you ?. Do not postpone your decision to earn that present and future salvation, because tomorrow may be too late. For that reason Paul tells the Corinthians: "...now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of SALVATION" ( 2 Corinthians 6:2b).

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By Mario A Olcese

E-mail: molceses@hotmail.com

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The crucial Questions:

In Matthew 24:3 the disciples ask the following question to the Lord: “Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age?” Here we find basically two questions: One, When will these things be? That is, when the temple of Jerusalem will be destroyed (v.1,2), and the other one: And what sign (see the singular) will there be of your coming and of the end of the age? Some say that there are three questions, but I see only two. Now, many Bible students have not stopped to meditate for themselves that the disciples asked a concrete and specific sign that would indicate for them the real coming or return of the Lord (not his proximity!) and of the end of the world. Yes, the disciples wanted to know A SIGN And only ONE SIGN! This particular detail we all must KEEP IN MIND, because many Bible students have failed to notice it, and are continuing to look for many signs. So, we must focus our attention on the manner of Jesus coming, the same manner as is given by Jesus in Matthew 24:30 and by the angels of God in Acts 1:11.

The Sign of Jonah and the Sign of the Son of Man

¿Which will be that singular sign requested by the disciples to Jesus in Matthew 24:3? In order to understand what we want to say for the sign, let's see the so-called Sign of Jonah pronounced first by Jesus in Luke 11:29-30, and that says: "As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation." (See that also in Matthew 24:30 Jesus expresses us a similar sentence, but this time as: The Sign of the Son of Man). Here basically Jonah's Sign is the same Jonah, because Jesus said that Jonah himself was sign to the ninivites. In the same way, Jesus himself would serve as a sign, or would be sign, for a perverse generation. From there that Jesus spoke about the sign the Son of Man. It is not an extraordinary or mysterious sign like that one of a cross in the sky, or a sound of any trumpet, or any brilliant light, or any spaceship, or some out of common meteorological event. The sign of the Son of Man, as it was with the sign of Jonah, refers to the same mentioned person —that is, to Jesus, the Messiah! Again, Jesus, as Jonah, would be A SIGN. This concept must be kept in your mind: ¡Jesus himself would be a SIGN for a perverse generation that would see His parousia and the end of the age"! Later on we will see how Jesus will be useful as a SIGN for a malignant generation.

His Proximity's Signs:

In verses 4-6 of Matthew 24 Jesus says that before his return, and of the end of the world, many false Christs would say that they are the promised Messiah, or the Christ incarnated in them. Examples of these are many through the centuries. Recently we can mention Jim Jones who died in Guyana with his church, and David Koresh, who died with 80 of his followers in Waco, Texas. Right now, new false leaders (as Reverend Moon) are passing themselves off as the Messiah, and are deceiving a great number of sincere followers (v.5). Also Jesus talked about wars and rumors of wars (v.6), but these wars would not be the sign of the end! (v.6) At this point Jesus does not give us a single or specific sign of the end of the age. In verses 7-14 the Lord Jesus clearly prophesied the international conflicts (v.7). Then Jesus talked about the great tribulation that will come to his chosen because of his name (v.9), and the surging of false prophets or fraudulent teachers eager for money and power (v.11). In verse 14 Jesus announced that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all over the world as a testimony ... and then the end will come. But even here we do not have the UNIQUE or singular SIGN that was requested by the disciples about His coming and the end of the world. Many Christians mix up these signs of the proximity of His coming as if it were proof of his real coming. Being about to come does not mean that His coming already took place. Another group of Christians believe that the sign is really a set of signs. But this idea is an error! The disciples are asking Jesus for A sign, and Jesus will openly and immediately reveal it to them without evasiveness.

Moving on to verse 23, Jesus predicts again the coming of false Christs. Verse 24 repeats the same thing and adds the coming of false prophets that will do portents and will deceive many, even the chosen ones belonging to God. 26 Jesus notices the coming of false Christs and false prophets that will appear (“horizontally”) in the deserts and rooms (Notice: Not from heaven, or “vertically”, of up- down), and whom we must not believe.

It’s in verse 27 where Jesus begins to unroll, so to speak, the unique SIGN (singular) of His true coming or return, contrasting with those false comings of false Messiahs or Christs that shows up from the deserts and rooms (hotels, houses, splendorous temples, etc) of verse 26, and to whom we must not believe. Jesus reveals in verse 29 that after the happening of all the events of verses 4 to 27, 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken”. These strange and hair-raising events that will happen in the sky, PRECEDE the manifestation of the UNIQUE OR SINGULAR expected SIGN.

In verse 30 we find, at last, the clear and concise SIGN given by Jesus of His true Paruosia or second coming in glory and power. He says: "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and ]beat their breasts and lament in anguish, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliancy and splendor].”

In response to the question of the disciples about a clear and singular SIGN of his coming (not His proximity!) and of the end of the world, Jesus says to them that the SIGN IS HIMSELF, PER SE, DESCENDING CONSPICUOUSLY FROM ABOVE (not from the deserts and rooms) WITH POWER And GREAT GLORY. Unlike the false Christ that appear horizontally and secretly, the true Christ comes vertically and visibly, from above downwards, to the earth.

So, if any so called “Christ” does not come VISIBLY AND CONSPICUOUSLY from above downwards, to the earth, with the angels of His power and with great glory, THAT CHRIST IS NOT THE REAL ONE!. There are men that use to proclaim themselves as The Messiah, but THEY HAVE NOT COME vertically from above to the earth, with power and great glory. Besides, no man has yet been seen descending from heaven to the promised land in the biblical way. But when Christ returns in the exact way as it was prophesied, we will know that He is the expected Messiah, and therefore, there will immediately follow a resurrection of the saints (John 5:28,29; 1 Thess 4:16,17). The false Christ will not be able to descend from heaven, neither will he have the power to rise all the faithful dead, in order that these, along with the alive Christians, may be snatched away by Him to the clouds to meet Him (read Again 1 Thess. 4:16,17— see the word meet of verse 17).

Additionally to what has been said previously, in Acts 1:11 we read that two angelic creatures gave more details of the true Parousia of the Messiah, with these words: “Men of Galilee, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven”.

Further, in Revelation 1:7 we read: “He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen”. This prophecy never happened before. Not every eye in 70 AD from all people of the earth saw Jesus coming in the same manner as He returned to heaven. In 70 AD Jesus never descended from heaven and touched the Mount of Olives, as it is prophesied in (Zacariah 14:4 NKJV) "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south."

Summary:

In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked Jesus for a single sign that would indicate to them His coming from heaven and the end of the world, and, of course, the Lord Jesus will give them very clearly and without evasiveness that single sign in verse 30.

The other supposed signs of the verses 4-29 are events that will be presented before His glorious coming, and that they would become more and more notorious and generalized in the measure that Christ's coming came closer, as the pains of a pregnant woman's childbirth. To affirm that wars —including that of the Jews with the Romans— and the rumors of wars, were a sign of Jesus' arrival in glory and in His kingdom in 70 A.D, is to twist what the same Christ taught us concerning His return. Jesus said in Matthew 24:6 that wars, and rumors of wars, would not indicate the end of the era or His second coming but His proximity (Luke 21:9—“for all this must take place first, but the end will not come immediately”). So the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place by the war of the Jews with the Romans, was not the sign of Christ's second coming and the end of the age. Jesus never said that the destruction of Jerusalem would be the sign of His paruosia, or second coming.

The singular Sign that Jesus left us of His real parousia, or second coming, is His personal descending, coming with the celestial clouds in power and great glory. The false Christ have appeared "horizontally" from among men in the deserts and rooms. On the other hand, the true Messiah will come "vertically;" that is, from above downwards, visibly, personally (the same risen human Jesus) from the clouds of heaven with the angels in His power. These specifications given by Jesus Himself and later by the angels for the parousia, were never mentioned by Josephus in his writings for his supposed coming in 70 AD.

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